OF LONDON
saturday november 8 2014 | thetimes.co.uk | no 71349
Making tracks to Lapland Freezing fun on a mini break to the Arctic Pages 52-53
Poppy ‘plot’ smashed by anti-terror police raids
TIM P WHITBY / GETTY IMAGES
IN THE NEWS Cleric’s death fuels terror fears in Kenya
Kenya has become a new crucible of terrorism, with piracy spilling over from Somalia and extremists establishing themselves. In September last year, the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab killed 67 people in the Westgae shopping centre in Nairobi. At least 22 Muslim clerics have been killed in two years, the most recent on Tuesday night when Sheikh Salim Bakari Mwarangi was gunned down outside a mosque. Page 61
Princess faces tax trial
Princess Cristina de Borbón is set to become the first member of the Spanish royal family to stand trial after a court said that she should take the stand to hear tax fraud charges against her. Page 31
Four men under arrest ‘were inspired by Isis’
John Simpson Sean O’Neill Crime and Security Editor
A suspected Islamist attack on Remembrance Sunday ceremonies has been foiled in a series of raids by counterterrorism police. Four men were arrested when police targeted properties across west London and High Wycombe, acting on intelligence from MI5. The arrests came as security was tightened amid increasing tensions surrounding tomorrow’s commemorations after recent terrorist attacks on soldiers and police officers in Ottawa and New York. The alleged plot is thought to have been inspired by Islamic State (Isis) militants in Syria and Iraq. Police and security sources would not reveal whether there was a specific target. The timing of the arrests, overnight on Thursday, suggested an urgency to the operation, pointing to fears of an imminent attack. Firearms officers were deployed in at least two of the locations, prompting concerns that the suspects were armed. Further searches continued at eight properties last night . Yousaf Syed, 19, was arrested at his mother’s house in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and the home of at least one relative was searched. One man, 27, was surrounded by armed
police while in a car in the street in Southall, west London. A man aged 22 was held at an address in Hounslow and another man, 25, was arrested at an address in Uxbridge. They were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. Where MI5 and Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism command unit has more time to plan action, it is usual practice to carry out dawn raids, given the likelihood that the suspects will be at home and asleep. Army guards have stood watch over the ceremonial sentries at Horse Guards, on Whitehall, since the murder last month of the Canadian reservist Nathan Cirillo, who had been on ceremonial duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa. Sources said that the arrests came after an MI5 operation detected concerns that “subjects of interest” were involved in “attack planning”. The arrests began at 8.31pm in Southall when armed officers stopped a car and detained the man aged 27. A quarter of an hour later, simultaneous armed raids took place in Hounslow, where the man aged 22 was held, and High Wycombe, where Mr Syed was picked up. At 2.55am the man aged 25 was detained in Uxbridge. Police emphasised that despite the Continued on page 6, col 4
Burmese generals held
Three Burmese generals have been accused of war crimes after a systematic campaign of torture and abuse, in the latest blow to the reformist reputation of President Sein.
Reality TV star arrested
France’s best-known reality TV star, Nabilla Benattia, 22, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder at her Paris hotel after her partner was taken to hospital with stabs wounds to his chest. Page 62
Inside today
Bryan Ferry: Models, class and why I wish I’d gone to Eton Pages 40, 41
Heart and soul Joss Stone rehearses the poppy appeal single, No Man’s Land, which she will sing at tonight’s Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall. News, pages 4-5
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News INSIDE TODAY
Opinion
News
Hugo Rifkind, page 18
Robin Pagnamenta, page 30
The joke is on Russell Brand when it comes to politics
Sport
Mourinho yet to look back as Rodgers attempts to move forward Matt Hughes, pages 86, 87
FBI probes envoy dubbed ‘Lady Taliban’
Weekend
A little sympathy for the devil that was Stalin George Walden, page 45
Opinion 17 Weather 17 Leading articles 20 Letters 21 Cartoon 22 World 30 Business 63 Markets 70, 71 Weekend 37 Register 72 Sport 76 Crosswords 60, 96 Please note, some sections of The Times are available only in the United Kingdom and Ireland
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of LONDON
Osborne takes a bow as £1.7bn bill from Brussels is cut in half Sam Coates Helsinki
George Osborne claimed victory yesterday after he “halved” the £1.7 billion payment demanded by Brussels two weeks ago, though critics decried the move as a sleight of hand. The chancellor declared he had secured a “result” for Britain as he announced that the UK would hand over £850 million in two instalments after days of intense wrangling with the European Union. EU finance ministers confirmed that Britain could apply the rebate negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 to the sum demanded by the Commission, effectively slicing the bill in half. Downing Street insisted that the announcement marked a hard-won victory in the face of opposition from the European Commission. EU officials claimed, however, that they always expected the rebate formula to apply, and that the change in the headline sum did not represent a big win for Britain. Kristalina Georgieva, vice-president of the European Commission, said: “The adjustments for the UK means that UK has to pay more, but also that as a result of this increase, the UK rebate will go up.” Asked if the rebate had been in doubt, she said: “No, absolutely not.” Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch
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Ukip is on course to secure a second elected MP because three out of five people who failed to vote in 2010 now support the party, according to a leading academic. Matthew Goodwin, an associate professor of politics at the University of Nottingham, said that their return to the polling stations in the Rochester and Strood by-election on November 20 would be a crucial factor in the party’s likely triumph. In an article published on the Times Red Box website today, Dr Goodwin also said the failure of Labour to campaign heavily in the seat had allowed Ukip to win over left-leaning voters. According to a recent poll by Survation, 68 per cent of eligible voters who did not cast a ballot in 2010 support Ukip in the by-election. ComRes, another pollster, puts Ukip’s support among non-voters at 57 per cent. About 35 per cent of the seat’s electorate failed to vote in 2010. Dr Goodwin
figures to see whether the bill can be reduced further. Mats Persson, director of the independent think-tank Open Europe, said Mr Osborne was right to claim Britain would pay half the original demand but also suggested he might not have had to fight too hard to get this outcome. “Nigel Farage has walked in to Osborne’s trap by suggesting that Britain will pay the full amount, but it may well have been the case that the government was always going to get its rebate, meaning that we’ve been tilting at windmills for weeks.” Labour said last night that “not a single penny had been saved for the taxpayer” compared with two weeks ago when Mr Cameron initially opposed the deal in Brussels. Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, said: “By counting the rebate Britain was due anyway, they are desperately trying to claim that the backdated bill for £1.7 billion has somehow been halved. But nobody will fall for this smoke and mirrors.” There was immediate criticism that Britain was still being forced to hand over almost a billion pounds. Patrick O’Flynn, Ukip’s economics spokesman, said: “If [Mr Osborne] thinks that paying the EU an extra £850 million on top of our existing record net contribution constitutes a good deal for Britain then he must have taken leave of his senses.”
said: “Ukip will have to work harder to get them out to vote. There’s no guarantee they will turn out.” A Ukip source agreed with Dr Goodwin that the turnout of non-voters would be crucial if the party were to match its success in the Clacton byelection last month. The insider said: “It’s going to be miles closer than Clacton. I think we’re probably where the polls say we are. The data looks good. It just depends if the non-voters who say they’re going to support us turn out.” Mark Reckless, Ukip ’s candidate, has been criticised for his U-turn on a local housing development. Yesterday the Conservatives accused Mr Reckless of removing from his website a video that showed him arguing in the House of Commons last March in favour of 5,000 new homes while he was still a Tory MP. Mr Reckless has since made opposition to the development a central pledge of his campaign. thetimes.co.uk/redbox
real power
Francis Elliott
George Osborne has credited his 11year-old daughter for forcing him to intervene and ensure that another woman was depicted on a banknote. He says that Liberty wore a suffragette outfit around the family’s flat as she demanded action. “My first attempt was a politician’s answer: ‘You’ve got to understand that although Daddy is chancellor, he doesn’t get to design the banknotes.’ But she saw right through that! And now we’ll have Jane Austen on the £10 note,” says Mr Osborne in an interview in today’s Times Magazine. He brushes aside criticism that he sends his children to private schools. “I’ve never used my family as a political gesture. And surely that would be more inauthentic if you were choosing your children’s school on the basis of what you think people thought of you?”
Calls for Juncker’s resignation over tax breaks Adam Sage, David Charter
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finance minister, said: “It’s not as if the British have been given a discount today. The old mechanism of the rebate will also apply on the UK contribution, which will increase.” Mr Osborne achieved two concessions in other areas: the payment will be made in two instalments, next July and September, delaying the issue until after the general election, and will not be subject to punitive interest charges. The chancellor made clear that yesterday’s deal would not impact on the annual rebate in future years, usually worth around £3 billion. The £1.7 billion bill arose from a recalculation of Britain’s gross national income relative to other EU states going back to 1995, taking in new accounting rules which include the value of black economy activities such as prostitution and drugs. The demand for cash, presented two weeks ago, left David Cameron furious. Most years, the annual bill changes by less than £100 million. Mr Osborne said last night: “Now we’ve halved the bill, delayed the bill and no interest on the bill. Result for Britain . ” He added: “I’ve had intensive and constructive discussions with other countries and the commission. EU rules will be changed for ever so this never happens again.” The deal still has to be approved formally and Britain is still checking the
Return of non-voters may Chancellor’s daughter has hand Ukip another seat Lucy Fisher Political Correspondent
Feel closer to home. Every day.
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Pressure increased on the new head of the European Commission, JeanClaude Juncker, yesterday over revelations that Luxembourg gave huge tax breaks to hundreds of global companies during his years as prime minister of the grand duchy. PepsiCo, Ikea and Deutsche Bank were among companies named by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) after a six-month investigation of 28,000 leaked documents. The revelations led to some calls for Mr Juncker to step down just a week
after taking office as head of the EU’s executive arm. His EU appointment was fiercely opposed by David Cameron but ratified in a vote by 26 of the 28 national EU leaders. Marine Le Pen denounced “the detestable practices of this tax haven in the centre of Europe at the head of which was the current president of the European Commission” as her National Front party issued a demand for his resignation. Sven Giegold, head of the Greens in the European parliament, called the revelations “a major blow” to Mr Juncker’s credibility. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of Arise the Republic, the
French Eurosceptic party, said: “It is impossible for Europe to resolve the problem of tax evasion with Jean-Claude Juncker who was a fervent defender of it for many years.” Yann Galut, a Socialist MP, added: “I am not calling for [his] head at this stage. But I think the situation will become untenable for him. He should . . . himself withdraw from the head of the European Commission.” Mr Juncker’s spokeswoman said that EU regulators were already investigating whether Luxembourg’s deals with the US internet giant Amazon and the financial arm of the Italian carmaker Fiat amounted to illegal state aid.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Oscars fear feeble cast of leading ladies Hollywood observers predict a struggle to find five performances for best actress, Rhys Blakely writes The onset of the awards season will soon plunge Hollywood into an orgiastic fury of backslapping and self-love. This year, however, a worrying shortage threatens to spoil the party: have enough strong female film roles been written for women to fill out the best actress category at the Oscars? There are five best actress nominee spots to fill, but observers are warning that 2014 has failed to deliver a crop of complex female characters. “Handicappers have been scratching their heads trying to figure out which actresses could be drafted to fill out the best actress category,” said The Hollywood Reporter. According to Scott Feinberg, an awards pundit who is closely watched by industry insiders, the female Oscar field is “looking extremely thin . . . everyone’s talking about it”. The actresses seen as likely nominees include Julianne Moore, whose performance in Still Alice, in which she plays a college professor coming to terms with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, has been lauded as exceptional. The film is due for release in January. Reese Witherspoon is also viewed as a strong contender for Wild, the story of an epic journey of self-discovery based on a bestselling memoir by the American author Cheryl Strayed. The premiere is next month. Also potentially in the mix are Rosamund Pike, for Gone Girl, Amy Adams, for Big Eyes, and Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything. By contrast, the best actor category is seen as having a surfeit of meaty performances to choose from. The front-runners include Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game, in which he plays Alan Turing, the brilliant British mathematician who led the charge to crack Germany’s Enigma
code during the Second World War. Another British actor, Eddie Redmayne, is tipped to make the shortlist for his portrayal of the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Considerable Oscar buzz also surrounds Michael Keaton, for Birdman, and Steve Carell, for Foxcatcher. Critics say that the shallowness of the best actress field highlights Hollywood’s longstanding problem with taking women seriously. “It’s not the Academy’s fault that the best actress pickings are slim,” said Gregg Kilday, film editor at The Hollywood Reporter. “It simply reflects the fact that the industry as a whole spends much more time and money on movies about men, and that in turn provides lots of opportunities for male actors to strut their stuff while actresses appear mostly in supportive roles as wives, girlfriends and mothers.” Tinseltown’s shortcomings with incorporating women is no secret. Last year women comprised only 15 per cent of film protagonists and 29 per cent of the main characters. The irony, perhaps, is that the dearth of serious roles comes amid hints that the bombastic blockbusters that make the studios most of their profits are finally recognising that half of their potential audience is female. The first two Hunger Games films demonstrated the potential of female characters, making more than $1.5 billion (£900 million) at the box office. The third instalment, Mockingjay — Part 1, starring Jennifer Lawrence as the rebellious Katniss Everdeen, will be released next week. A sequel to Ghostbusters is in the works that will cast women in the main parts, while Sony has indicated that it plans to release a female superhero movie in 2017. Marvel is said to be pondering a film that would centre on Black Widow, a female assassin played by Scarlett Johansson in The Avengers and Captain America franchises.
Reese Witherspoon in Wild, and Amy Adams, below, in Big Eyes. The
Actresses can teach academy a lesson Kate Muir Chief film critic
T
he lack of supposedly meaty female roles in the upcoming Oscars season can, of course, be blamed on Hollywood’s male-centric box office obsession, but also on the definition of the best actress and best actor categories. Teen and any genre movies are shunned by academy members, limiting prizewinning actors to traditional drama and, where possible, a serious bio-pic. Thus many great women’s roles will be unfairly dismissed this year. The horned Angelina Jolie in Disney’s
Maleficent has all the grandeur of a silver screen grande dame, and Jennifer Lawrence’s feisty, powerful heroine in the upcoming Hunger Games Mockingjay Part I deserve as much attention as many of the male roles. Both are groundbreaking female performances, and both are huge box office successes. Plus Scarlett Johanssen deserves more kudos, not for her superhero cameos, but in the mind-expanding thriller Lucy, and the superb Scottish film noir Under the Skin. Shailene Woodley’s role as a teenager with cancer in The Fault in Our Stars was also a breakout moment for her acting as well as our Kleenex. The obvious traditional high-drama Oscar candidates are Julianne Moore in the Alzheimer’s
story Still Alice, and Felicity Jones’s luminous, conflicted and compassionate Mrs Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Indeed there is an argument that Moore deserves a double whammy, as her role as a past-the-sell-by-date actress in Maps to the Stars was also weirdly electrifying. Many Oscar pundits are also listing Rosamund Pike’s over-the-top killer performance in Gone Girl, Hilary Swank’s frontierswoman in The Homesman and Reese Witherspoon in Wild among their nominations. Are these parts any less juicy than the hefty male roles in the running for best actor, from Michael Keaton in Birdman, to Benedict
British actress Rosamund Pike, circled, is an outsider for Gone Girl
Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything and Steve Carrell in Foxcatcher? The academy itself is changing: latest recruits are more diverse, and more female, than before. Although all the contenders for best actress have not yet arrived in the ring, perhaps by January the wind of change will be in the Sunset Boulevard air.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
News Remembrance
The British Legion unveiled its Every Man Remembered sculpture in Trafalgar Square yesterday, above, while
volunteers continued to plant ceramic poppies for the Tower of London’s Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red
memorial. At 11am on November 11 they will number 888,246, one for each serviceman killed in the Great War
Joy and song bloom with poppies at the Tower
Volunteers serenaded by military wives on another emotional day, writes Valentine Low It was the singing everyone remembers. And the cheering. And the couple who flew all the way from Singapore just to plant poppies at the Tower of London. And, of course, Joan, the woman who kept on coming so often that in the end she was almost as much a fixture at the Tower as the ravens themselves. As the last of the poppies was planted in the Tower’s moat — and they are all there now, all save the very last one which will be planted on Armistice Day — most of the attention has concen-
trated on the extraordinary crowds that have queued patiently every day to see the display of 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for every British and colonial life lost in the First World War. Just as extraordinary, however, is the army of volunteers who have turned out in all weathers to make sure the poppies were planted on time — grandmothers, students, civil servants, airline cabin crew, injured soldiers, holders of the Victoria Cross, charity workers, people of every colour and creed and
every walk of life, united by a desire to take part in one of the most eyecatching installations ever mounted in London. In the room where the volunteers assemble — some 19,000 have been through to date — a map shows where they have all come from. There are red dots everywhere: Australia, the Philippines, Japan, China, Alaska, Peru, Finland, Dubai. There is even one in Siberia. For sheer impact few could match the contribution made by the North London Military Wives Choir. They arrived one day last month, started assembling their poppies and then, before you could say Tommy Atkins, had burst into song, performing a selection of old wartime songs as they worked. “We sang our Vera Lynn medley, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary and Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag,” said Trudi Savage, 46, a former Army major who is married to an RAF officer. “Then we realised that the crowd were not not only watching but also singing. It was a lovely atmosphere.” “The crowd absolutely loved it,” said Mark Gasson, one of the team leaders. “When they burst into song the crowd went ballistic for a while. “It was fantastic . . . until, perhaps, we got the fourth rendition of It’s a Long Way to Tipperary. “We also had the guys from Help For Heroes down. That was quite moving: some of them really struggled to work here because of their injuries.” On occasion, he said, the crowd snaking round the walkways overlooking the moat would burst into spontaneous applause as the volun-
The Richmond poppy factory was set up in 1922 by a veteran of the Western Front
teers planted out poppies. “One person would start clapping and everyone else would join in, or sometimes someone would yell out ‘You are doing a fantastic job’, and that would prompt it.” Many of the volunteers have a connection with the war. Francine Bosco, 46, from Texas, said her grandfather emigrated from Italy to the US only to return to Europe to fight in the war. “His only memory of England was Liverpool, and he did not like it,” she said. “Then he went to the trenches, and they were even worse.” She added: “It has been very moving planting the poppies, because each time you are thinking, ‘This represents a
person’. It was more moving than I expected it to be.” If there were a prize for the most dedicated volunteer, it would surely go to Joan Clayton Jones, 72, from Salehurst, east Sussex, who says she has been to the Tower 22 times. Her great uncle, Godfrey Le Seeleur, was killed on September 19, 1918, aged 24. “His much younger sister lived to a great age, and I knew her very well,” she said. “My daughter and I came here and planted together on September 19. I still get quite emotional about it. His name was on the roll of honour on the first night. I was up there with tears streaming down my face.”
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Remembrance News
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE; GUY BELL / REX
Pension win for war widows who remarry Sam Coates Deputy Political Editor Deborah Haynes Defence Editor
Military widows who find new love will no longer lose their pension after a lengthy campaign forced a change of heart within government on the eve of Remembrance Sunday. David Cameron will today announce that all widows, widowers and civil partners of members of the armed forces will be allowed to keep their military pension if they choose to remarry or move in with someone new. The landmark move, which will affect up to 300,000 current and future widows over the next four decades, followed almost ten years of lobbying and campaigning by the War Widows’ Association and the Forces Pension Society, two military charities. The Times has repeatedly highlighted the plight of widows who have had to choose between financial security and falling in love again. It was “absolutely wrong”, Mr Cameron said, that people who have made sacrifices for their country should be forced to choose between loneliness and the loss of an income. “That’s why I was determined to put this right and to respond to the concerns of many who have campaigned for a long time on this issue.” The announcement also meant that the prime minister dodged what would have been an embarrassing procession on Downing Street by war widows today after a ceremony at the Cenotaph to remember Britain’s war dead. The women had planned to deliver a letter to Number 10 demanding that the rules be changed. They will now be delivering a letter of thanks. “It is very good news,” said Jenny Green, a former chairwoman of the War Widows’ Association. “A lot of people will be able to rebuild their lives because of this. It is right and proper.” The announcement means that from next April, anyone in receipt of a military pension will be entitled to keep that pension for life if they find new love after their partner dies. This will close a loophole in a
The rights and wrongs of poppy etiquette Does it have to be red? The Peace Pledge Union sells white poppies as a symbol for peace and a call to end all wars. There are also purple poppies to remember the animal victims of war. The Royal British Legion says on its website: “We have no objection to white poppies, or any group expressing their views. We see no conflict in wearing the red poppy alongside the white poppy. We do ask that the items are not offered alongside each other, however, as this would confuse the public.” When should you start wearing a poppy? Many people believe poppies should be worn from November 1 until Armistice Day on November 11. Others leave it until the week running up to Remembrance Sunday. The Royal British Legion says they can be worn from the launch of the poppy appeal, which
was October 23. BBC presenters started wearing them on October 25. Should it be worn on the left or the right? There is a school of thought that says men should wear theirs on the left and women on the right, as is the custom with a badge or brooch. The Royal British Legion says there is no right or wrong side “other than to wear it with pride”. What if I don’t fancy wearing one? The poppy
commemorates those who have died in war. Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news presenter, refuses to wear one on air, describing criticism of his decision as “poppy fascism”. But, he says, he wears one on Remembrance Sunday. Stephen Clarke, head of remembrance at the Royal British Legion, said people went to war to fight for freedom of choice. “So wear your poppy or don’t wear your poppy — it’s about individual expression and individual remembrance.” Does it have to be a poppy? Student Tabinda-Kauser Ishaq, 24, designed a poppy hijab to appeal to the many British Muslims who mark Remembrance Sunday. She also wanted to raise awareness of the 400,000 Muslim soldiers and 1.2 million Indian soldiers who fought alongside British troops in the First World War.
complex grid of different military pensions that had meant the spouse of any serviceman or woman with a pension under a 1975 scheme would lose that income upon cohabitation or remarriage after the death of their partner. The change will also benefit a distinct group of 4,000 war widows who lost their husbands between 1973 and 2005 as a direct result of military service. These women were regarded as suffering a particularly acute case of injustice as their husbands never had the chance to switch to a newer armed forces pension that already provides pensions for life to surviving partners. Diana Grewal, who is 50 today, is one
It has taken ten months for the government to act on pensions
of the many women who will benefit from the change. She lost her husband, who served in the RAF, more than 14 years ago when their son was just 17 months old. Worried about the risk of losing her military pension, she never even considered looking for someone new. “It is absolutely fantastic news,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that I will go out
dating next week but it means that you can think of future possibilities.” Mr Cameron will adjust the rules as part of a programme to support the Armed Forces Covenant. The change is likely to cost £120 million over 40 years. Chris Simpkins, director general of the Royal British Legion, said the spouse of a serviceman or woman often sacrificed their ability to earn a pension because of the need to move wherever the military wanted the family to move. “The Armed Forces Covenant recognises that no one should suffer a disadvantage due to Service, and that the bereaved are entitled to special consideration,” he said.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
News
Judge’s permission is needed for the right to assisted dying, peers decide Frances Gibb Legal Editor
Judges would have the final say on giving a lethal dose to a terminally ill patient under safeguards on assisted dying agreed by peers last night. Under the change, a High Court family judge would have to be satisfied that the person seeking the right to die had a “voluntary, clear, settled and informed wish” to end their life. The measure was proposed by Lord
Pannick, the cross-bench peer and barrister, who said that he supported the bill but that adequate safeguards were needed. It brought support from opponents of the bill, with both Baroness ButlerSloss, the former head of the family division of the High Court, and Lord Carlile of Berriew, QC, endorsing the safeguard of a role for judges. The move came during a debate on Lord Falconer of Thoroton’s bill to give
the right to die to terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. Backers of the change still face a struggle to ensure that the measure becomes law before the general election, because peers still have dozens of amendments to debate. Sarah Wootton, of Dignty in Dying, welcomed the acceptance of Lord Pannick’s amendment, one of more than 170 tabled to the bill. “The acceptance of Lord Pannick’s
amendment is evidence that reason and common sense are winning the day. We have moved a significant step closer to a change in the law,” she said. Richard Hawkes, the chief executive of Scope, a disability charity, said: “Many disabled people are really worried about a change in the law on assisted suicide. They are concerned that it will lead to disabled people, and other vulnerable people, feeling under pressure to end their lives.” Several legal figures backed a role for judges if the law were changed to allow assisted suicide. Lady Butler-Sloss, a cross-bench peer, said it was “critical and absolutely essential” that the court should have an input, to ensure that the patient had full capacity to make the crucial decision. Lord Winston, the fertility expert and Labour peer, said that with an increasing number of distressed elderly people in hospital, it was vital to have the safeguards in Lord Pannick’s amendment to protect society. “It cannot be left to the medical and nursing profession to make their minds up,” he said. Baroness Wheatcroft said that the bill was about compassion for people nearing the end of their lives who had “had enough”. She said a legal process, incurring legal costs, was the last thing they would want to deal with. Lord Tebbit, whose wife, Margaret, still suffers pain from injuries sustained 30 years ago in the bombing of the Conservative party conference in Brighton, said: “I fear for the day when she will say again to me, what she said to me a little while ago, ‘You know you would be better off without me’.”
Remembrance Sunday ‘attack’ foiled by raids Continued from page 1
presence of armed officers — which indicates fears of a threat to the safety of police and the public — no shots were fired during any of the raids. Mr Syed’s mother, Somia Syed, 39, moved to High Wycombe after the collapse of her marriage to his father. One neighbour, who requested anonymity, said that there had been a “raid back in April on the same house”, adding: “We don’t want trouble like this with Remembrance Sunday.” Another neighbour, who also did not wish to be named, described having had “several run-ins” with Mr Yousaf. He said that the youngster, whom he described as “angry”, had once flown into rage over some music he was playing at his home, insisting that he turned it off. When he asked the teenager’s mother about it, she told him: “I’m sorry, it’s my son. He’s young and he’s just discovered his faith.” All the curtains were closed at the terraced property, where police were combing the house and garden for clues, while neighbours stood in the street and watched. At an address thought to belong to Mr Syed’s aunt, neighbours said that forensic science officers had spent the day searching the house, carrying out bags of evidence and taking photographs. One said that the man who lived there, whom he knew as “Naz”, “seems all right and always says hello”.
French say John Lewis was right about squalor The boss of John Lewis was not necessarily wrong when he called Gare du Nord in Paris “the squalor pit of Europe”. France’s most senior railwayman has admitted that something must be done about the terminus in the north of Paris, the gateway to France for Britons arriving by Eurostar. Last month Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis, said in a speech to other retailers: “You get on Eurostar from something I can only describe as the squalor pit of Europe, Gare du Nord, and you get off at a modern forwardlooking station [St Pancras International].” Guillaume Pepy, the president of SNCF, the French railway company, said at a dinner in London to celebrate 20 years of Eurostar: “We have a situation at Gare du Nord.”
Accused ‘warned police’ The man accused of murdering a girl aged 16 had warned police he would kill a schoolgirl, Inner London crown court was told. Colin Ash-Smith, 46, allegedly stabbed Claire Tiltman in January 1993. In 1988 he had tried to rape and murder a mother in Swanscombe, Kent. In 1995 police found Mr Ash-Smith’s diaries, the court was told. One entry read: “I even rang the police and told them some details about the attack. I also said if she [the victim] gave any description of me I would kill a schoolgirl.”
Mother knows best A woman who told her widowed mother that she wished she was dead had only herself to blame when she was written out of her will, a High Court judge ruled. Patricia Wright, 64, of Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, was left nothing in the £140,000 estate when Mary Waters died in 2010, aged 80. Ms Wright argued that her mother was “morally obliged” to make provision for her. Judge John Behrens rejected the claim, citing a letter in which Ms Wright wrote: “As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a mother.”
BBC loses female elder A second senior BBC journalist has defected to ITV, after Penny Marshall, who left ITV for the BBC in March, announced her return to ITV. Camilla Mankabady, the senior programme editor for the News at Ten, will take the same position at ITV News. This week Miriam O’Reilly, the former Countryfile presenter, gave a House of Lords communication committee a dossier containing evidence from female BBC journalists who claimed that they had been mistreated because of their age.
£5m for public opinion The Department of Energy and Climate Change spent more than £4 million on surveys and focus groups in the past two years, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent more than £1 million on them in the past two years, written answers revealed. Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, said: “The government doesn’t need to waste millions to find that people think their energy bills are too high.” The department said it used a variety of methods to understand the public’s needs.
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News JOHN SMART; JOAQUIM PINHO; HELEN BLACKBURN / WOODLAND TRUST
The wonders of nature: Joaquim Pinto, from Brighton, has won the Woodland Trust’s annual summer photo competition with his sunset, top left, over
Could the librarians please shush? Gabriella Swerling
Gone are the days when the only noises that could unleash the wrath of overzealous library “shushers” were echoing footsteps or reckless page-turning. The sanctuary of silence has been sacrificed as increasingly dynamic schemes are introduced to entice more visitors. Now authors and campaigners are saying enough, and calling on libraries across Britain to return to their main function as places for quiet reading. An article in Public Libraries News last month suggested that “public librarians, perhaps in reaction to the stereotypical ‘shush’ image, have sometimes gone out of their way to be louder and more energetic and, in doing so, have alienated some of its clientele and core audience”. Now authors have joined the debate saying that libraries, desperate to justify their existence in times of budget cuts, have gone too far by introducing crèches, concerts and dance classes. Alan Gibbons, the award-winning children’s author and library campaigner, said: “Fashionable activities can detract from reading for pleasure and that’s right at the heart of what libraries should be about. “If the peripherals become more important than that, it becomes a problem”. Joanna Briscoe, author of Sleep With Me, a sexual thriller which was adapted for an ITV series, added: “The point of libraries is that they stock those oldfashioned objects, books, in an antiquated atmosphere of silence. ‘Buzzing’
can be found in cafes, parks, and just about everywhere else. “Where but a quiet library can students, academics and keen readers escape to work, think and read? It’s not as though there’s a monastery on every corner. The need for a silent sanctuary is ever more pressing.” Desmond Clarke, 69, a former director of Faber & Faber and library campaign, said: “Libraries are not simply another community centre but places where anyone can go to study, read, access the internet and gain information and knowledge.” Many libraries across Britain hold Baby Bounce and Rhyme sessions where toddlers experiment with percussion instruments and belt out nursery rhymes. The Library of Birmingham offers a business club for budding entrepreneurs, Newcastle’s City Library boasts a crèche and Cardiff’s Central Library holds music gigs on Saturdays. Authorities, however, insisted that libraries must reflect the changing needs of users, without comprising the expectation that they are silent spaces. Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, said: “I’m pleased libraries continue to develop innovative solutions for the communities they serve. “However, libraries need to decide how to balance this against the demands and expectations of users.” Ciara Eastell, president of the Society of Chief Librarians, said: “Libraries haven’t been ‘shhhh’ places for a long time now. But people still look for quiet spaces in their busy lives. The challenge is to balance the need of both. Bounce
All booked up Exeter Library, Devon FabLab provides digital fabrication workshops equipped with the latest laser-cutters and 3D printers. It also runs film screenings, loom band workshops, interactive story time and baby bounce sessions Idea Store, Tower Hamlets and across London These libraries offer language and dance classes, media lounges where you can play video games and a music library where you can learn to play an instrument or use a mixing deck Manchester Central Library Operates an audio-visual media project providing free access to a production studio and training by professionals in design, music, video and media arts
and Rhyme sessions are really noisy and sometimes it can put people off who are looking for quiet. But library staff can mediate, and good design also helps.” Brian Ashley, director of Libraries for Arts Council, added: “There’s a recurring theme in all of this which is that it’s all about the age-old stereotype of libraries as a place where some forbidding person tells you to ‘shut up’ or ‘shhhh’, and it’s frankly something that most of us who work in libraries would like to consign to history. “Having said that, we know that
many library users value them as spaces where they can be quiet and study or just reflect and we know that people see libraries as trusted safe spaces and that’s a quality we would never want to lose.” There are 4,134 public libraries lending 262.7million books a year and there are 10.3 million active borrowers in Britain. However, according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s library survey, published in December 2013, the number of people using libraries declined by six per cent and book lending by 8.6 per cent in one year. Annie Mauger, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, added: “As knowledge has moved beyond books and print, libraries must reflect this.” In January 2011, it was revealed that more than 400 libraries were under threat of closure due to budget cuts, sparking readers and authors to organise the Save Our Libraries campaign. Michael Morpurgo, the former children’s laureate and author of War Horse, and Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials trilogy, voiced rallying cries to stop the closures. Mark Haddon, who wrote The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time, and Alan Bennett also criticised the government for allowing libraries to close. Last summer the charity, Library Campaign, accused the government of “hiding” the scale of cuts and predicted more than 1,000 closures by 2016. Leading article, page 20
Dunraven Bay in Wales. The 6,000 entries also included Helen Blackburn’s red squirrel and John Smart’s majestic tree in Clent Hills, Worcestershire
Six arrested over ‘dark web’ crime market Sean O’Neill Crime Editor
Six people have been arrested in Britain as part of a large international operation in which the Silk Road 2.0 criminal marketplace was shut down and its founder held by the FBI. Blake Benthall, known as “Defcon”, was arrested in San Francisco and charged with being the founder of a “noxious online criminal bazaar” selling drugs, firearms and computer hacking tools which had 150,000 users and generated $8 million (£5 million) in revenue per month. Mr Benthall, 26, is accused of resurrecting the website five weeks after the original Silk Road was shut down last year. Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, said: “Let’s be clear—this Silk Road, in whatever form, is the road to prison. Those looking to follow in the footsteps of alleged cyber- criminals should understand that we will return as many times as necessary. We don’t get tired.” In Britain, the National Crime Agency said that it had arrested a number of administrators of the dark web network and drug dealers who used its encrypted sites to sell their products. Those arrested in Britain included a three men, aged 19, 20 and 30, from Liverpool and New Waltham and Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. A man and a woman, both aged 58, and another man aged 29 were detained in Aberdovey, Wales. All six have been bailed pending further inquiries.
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Get a grip, loyal Johnson tells
Mark Savage, Rachel Sylvester Alice Thomson
Alan Johnson ruled himself out of taking on the Labour leadership last night, warning that covert plots to topple Ed Miliband would end the party’s election hopes. The former home secretary spoke out after the most perilous week of Mr Miliband’s political career, with disgruntled MPs privately calling for the Labour leader’s resignation amid falling opinion polls and collapsing
support in the party’s Scottish heartlands. Many rebels regard Mr Johnson as the natural candidate to take over as a caretaker leader and achieve victory next May. However, he told anyone plotting against Mr Miliband to “get a grip”. “For the avoidance of any doubt, I have no intention of going back to frontline politics,” he said. “I support Ed Miliband, I’m a candidate at the next general election, so I’ve got an interest in it and I think it’s eminently winnable.
Even if I was completely despondent — as I’m not — the law of political gravity is that you do not spend two or three months of a precious six-month period up to the general election having an internal fight about who the leader should be.” His warning comes as Labour plans a relaunch of Mr Miliband’s leadership. His team is to send him on a tour of key constituencies to meet the public directly. Making clear that he would lead the party into the election, Mr Miliband vowed yesterday to “win this
election street by street, house by house, taking our case to the people on every issue”. Lucy Powell, appointed vice-chairwoman of Labour’s general election campaign, acknowledged that the leader needed to find a way to connect with voters and tackle his academic image in the six months before the election. “Ed has done an extremely good job of setting out a clear vision for how he wants to take the country forward,” she said. “The job now is to translate that into the world of individual conversations — can we pass the ‘conversation in the hairdresser’s’ test? “What Ed has said is very populist and we’ve got to make it pithier, distil it down.” She went on: “He speaks human when he talks to people directly. The problem has been that that hasn’t always translated on to the wider stage.” Ms Powell said that presenting Mr Miliband to the electorate would show him to be “a very understanding, decent, principled and empathetic person”. She said that she would love Labour veterans such as Mr Johnson and David Blunkett to be involved in the election campaign. There was a concerted attempt by the Labour leadership to shore up Mr M iliband’s position yesterday after it emerged that some MPs had approached Dave Watts, chairman of the parliamentary Labour party, to voice their concerns. Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham were also forced to deny claims, which were reported in The Times, that they had discussed what to do should Mr Miliband step down. Mr Johnson, once seen as an emergency replacement for Gordon Brown, made clear that he would not put himself forward for the leadership. “My advice to any colleagues who think that they should launch some sort of covert leadership change campaign is — ‘get a grip’,” he said. “It’s not an easy time and it’s not an easy time to be leading a party that had its second worst result since universal suffrage at the last general election, trying to lead them back to power. But, of course, it is all still there for the winning. “Taking the spotlight off what is happening to the Conservative party and the coalition, where you have had a ministerial resignation showing that the coalition is getting fractious, is unwise.” However, there were further criticisms yesterday, with two Labour figures warning that the party was failing to convince voters in England. Lord Glasman, one of the first in the party to spot the threat to Labour posed by Ukip, warned that it had “ignored England for far too long”. He warned that it sometimes seemed as if Labour regarded England as “a nasty, racist, reactionary country”. “Many people in England feel that the Labour party dislikes them, their traditions and values,” he wrote in the Blairite Progress magazine. “It is time to show some love and rediscover England.” Patrick Diamond, a former adviser to Tony Blair and Mr Brown, warned that Labour needed to “demonstrate it was capable of commanding an English majority at the 2015 election”. “The party needs a specific plan to intensively target seats in southern England,” he wrote in the magazine. “Labour urgently has to rebuild its reputation for economic competence and credibility on the deficit, public spending, tax, and the size of the state.” Matthew Parris, page 17
The leading contenders . . . . . . and their odds of becoming leader
Andy Burnham, 44 The former health secretary always receives the loudest cheers at conference. He has defended the NHS in impassioned tones and attacked the Tories’ record but the mid-Staffordshire NHS scandal has damaged his reputation
4-1
Labour’s electoral process The Labour party’s mechanism for removing its leader is a complex and obstructive one at any time, but is complicated further only seven months before a general election. In order to challenge an incumbent leader, 20 per cent of Labour MPs — at present 52 parliamentarians — must come forward to back a leadership contest. For the coup to proceed, a card vote must be held to decide whether a leadership election should take place. Ordinarily this vote would occur at the party’s annual conference, but in the run-up to a general election, a special conference would have to be called. As Labour’s
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the plotters . . . I’m backing Ed Bonfire night falls flat as party fails to set off any fireworks
Chuka Umunna, 36 Attractive, smooth and popular with the City, the shadow business secretary is everything Mr Miliband is not, and would be Labour’s first black leader. He has been criticised for having a large staff and flashy watches
Laura Pitel, Francis Elliott Michael Savage
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Yvette Cooper, 45 The shadow home secretary, and wife of Ed Balls, is a ferocious networker who has always put in the hours on the meet-and-greet circuit, but her lack of charisma makes her an uninspiring speaker and potential leader
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Alan Johnson, 64 Adored by Labour MPs, viewed affectionately by voters and held in high esteem by the unions, Alan Johnson is admired for his easy-going charm and experience in government
12-1 Challenges from within complex procedure might suggest, the party has little flair or tradition for leadership challenges, unlike the Conservatives. Only 15 per cent of Tory MPs need to send confidential letters of no confidence to the 1922 chairman to trigger a vote of no confidence in the party’s leader. The only realistic way for Ed Miliband to go is if he chooses to stand down. If a number of Labour MPs start to call for his removal publicly, or a member of the shadow cabinet resigns or openly revolts, the pressure heaped on the Labour leader could force his resignation.
6 In 1977 Bill Hayden was elected Australia’s Labor opposition leader but in 1982 Bob Hawke, a former union leader, began mobilising against him. In February 1983 Mr Hayden was told he had to resign. He accepted and Mr Hawke was elected unopposed. Later that day Malcolm Fraser, the Liberal prime minister, called a snap election for March 5, which Bob Hawke went on to win. 6 Margaret Thatcher was ousted during her third term. She became unpopular over the poll tax and lost cabinet support
over Europe. In November 1990 Geoffrey Howe quit as her deputy and Michael Heseltine mounted a leadership challenge. Although winning the first ballot, she was persuaded not to fight on and was replaced by John Major. wa 6 Julia Gillard was the Australian Labor party leader from 2010 to 2013 after ousting Kevin Rudd. Elected leader in June 2010 2010, she went on to form a minority government but was replaced by Mr Rudd after an internal party split.
The first fireworks were already exploding over the Thames as Ed Miliband’s office released a list of the ultraloyalists he had rewarded shortly after 7pm on Wednesday. Aides appeared deaf to the irony of announcing a reshuffle, to counter his internal critics, on Guy Fawkes night. “We always conduct these things in an orderly manner,” said one when asked about the timing. The outpouring of anger against Mr Miliband — and his panicked response — has been anything but orderly. Discontent has been brewing ever since a lacklustre party conference in Manchester at the end of September. Activists and MPs alike were weary from a gruelling Scottish referendum campaign. The UK may have stayed together, but many were still absorbing the news that traditional Labour strongholds of Glasgow and Dundee had voted for it to break apart. The week was marred by a flat atmosphere, compounded by a bad leader’s speech. There was brief respite thanks to a second Tory defection to Ukip and a minor sexting scandal on the eve of Conservative party conference. The glee did not last long. Labour strategists had hoped to bask in the defeat of the Tories at the hands of Ukip in Clacton. Instead they had a rude awakening, when Nigel Farage’s party came within inches of beating their own candidate in the Greater Manchester seat of Heywood and Middleton. A further wake-up call came in the form of two polls which showed that Labour could lose as many as 30 of its 41 Scottish Westminster seats to the SNP. However unhappy his critics may have been in recent months, a small poll lead has largely managed to keep a lid on their murmurings. This week, a series of events turned simmering unhappiness into the biggest explosion of anger in Mr Miliband’s four-year tenure. A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times showed that Mr Miliband was even less popular than Labour activists’ favourite bogeyman, Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader. The record low in his personal approval was paired with a shrinking overall lead, with Labour one point ahead of the Tories on 32 per cent. On Monday, a survey commissioned by the Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft put the Tories in the lead. The next evening, a meeting of Labour MPs from the northwest of England descended into open criticism of the leadership, with warnings about the threat of Ukip and problems with the party’s messaging. “At these things you usually just have a quiet moan to your neighbour,” one of those present said. “This time everyone was openly complaining that things are not going well.” The final straw came courtesy of a one-time ally. The left-wing New Statesman magazine was one of just two national publications to back Ed Miliband in the 2010 leadership contest. In a bruising attack published on Bonfire Night its editor, Jason Cowley, described the Labour leader as an “oldstyle Hampstead socialist” who
“doesn’t really understand the lower middle class or material aspiration”. As they walked through the aye lobby to support a Labour motion on income tax that afternoon, MPs began to mutter about a party in “freefall” and “meltdown”. The mutiny was compounded by a shadow cabinet reshuffle viewed by critics as safe and inward-looking. By the next morning, at least two MPs had been to see Dave Watts, the Liverpool MP who chairs the parliamentary Labour party. They told him to tell Mr Miliband that he must stand down. As the frenzy mounted on Thursday, Mr Miliband took a tour of a new bus station in Northampton. After extolling the virtues of giving local people a greater say over regional bus services, he stopped briefly to deny that his position was under threat. The bathos was not lost on his critics. “He needs some big ideas, big strokes that will make him look like an altogether bigger person,” one Labour insider said. “Going on about Northampton bus station is the polar opposite of what he’s got to do.” Mr Miliband’s defenders point to the two dozen or so Conservative MPs who
have privately called for David Cameron’s departure. Polls suggest that the Tories are behind in 38 of their most marginal constituencies and the prime minister is expected to lose another seat to Ukip in the Rochester and Strood by-election this month. Such arguments, however, cannot detract from the uncomfortable fact that the Labour leader remains less popular than his party. The week’s events have been watched not with delight by former David Miliband supporters, but with deep frustration. Many believe that the Labour leader has failed to prove why he felt moved to knife his older brother in pursuit of the top job. They also worry that he is increasingly leading “like Gordon Brown”, retreating to a bunker mentality and including only staunch loyalists. Some are looking to the example of another prime minister as they contemplate how Mr Miliband could possibly be edged out of the door. Despite claims that Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham have been plotting against Mr Miliband, party rules make it all but impossible to oust the leader. Some opponents say that only a petition with the names of a hundred or more MPs would force Mr Miliband to quit or hold a “put up or shut up” leadership contest, a tactic deployed by John Major in 1995. “It’s all about the numbers,” one Labour figure said. “[Mr Miliband] would either have to go, or follow John Major and run again for the leadership. That would be the only way to restore some kind of standing with the party and the public.”
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Meet the real Miliband, says woman chosen to save him Rachel Sylvester, Alice Thomson
Lucy Powell is the woman whose job it is to save Ed Miliband. Appointed this week to run Labour’s day-to-day general election campaign, amid stories of leadership plots and plummeting poll ratings, the Manchester MP has six months to boost party
morale and persuade the voters that they can see the Labour leader on the steps of No 10. “Ed has done an extremely good job of setting out a clear vision for how he wants to take the country forward. The job now is to translate that into the world of individual conversations. What Ed has said is very populist and
we’ve got to make it pithier, distil it down,” she said. Having run Mr Miliband’s leadership campaign in 2010, before becoming his deputy chief of staff, Ms Powell has no time for plots and rebellions six months before a general election. “The idea of a leadership contest at this stage in the cycle is utter madness, she said. The
new vice-chairwoman of the party’s election campaign has seen no evidence of a letter demanding a change at the top. “I don’t think there’s a plot. This isn’t even a tiny minority, it’s two or three people, it’s very insignificant.” As for the idea that Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper might be preparing to run on a joint ticket, Ms Powell insisted: “There’s nothing in that. It’s a completely irrelevant question because Ed’s not going anywhere.” Her priority before next May is, she says, to bring Mr Miliband out of himself and show the voters who he really is — taking him around the country, holding meetings in key constituencies and using social media. “I saw good things in Ed at the beginning and I still see them. He has always understood better than most how much politics and the economy need to change. He is a very understanding, decent, principled and empathetic person.
Lucy Powell: “There won’t be meetings going round and round in circles”
He passionately cares about people, and that can be a rare commodity in politics. He speaks human when he talks to people directly. The problem has been that that hasn’t always translated onto the wider stage.” Ms Powell insists he has leadership qualities. “I think he is charismatic. I’ve seen him be incredibly angry, passionate and funny, give performances head and shoulders above anyone else. We need to get it back out on display.” The Labour leader, is seen as struggling to connect with the party’s traditional working-class voters. She said: “We have got to broaden Ed’s appeal and the Labour party’s appeal. He isn’t the kind of guy who’s down the pub on a Friday night but he has a set of convictions and a clear plan for the country. Often Ed is better when he speaks from the heart without too much over-analysis. There won’t be meetings going round and round in circles when I’m around.” She also wants the party to become less of a one-man band. Other shadow cabinet ministers must, she argues, be encouraged to play a greater role to bolster the leader. There must also be less of an obsession with message discipline. “It doesn’t work to put up politicians who are all saying the same thing and speaking the same language.” With Ukip snapping at its heels in England and the SNP growling in Scotland, she admits that Labour needs to do more to get its message across, particularly on immigration. “We have got some good policies, but not many people know about them,” she said. “ We have got to make clear there is a falsehood at work — the idea that voting for Ukip is going to get us back to some 1950s Britain that didn’t ever really exist.” Matthew Parris, page 17
Ed Miliband cares passionately about
Blair’s old
The left-wing MP who will advise Miliband provides emotional as well as intellectual help, reports Francis Elliott
Tony Blair could be forgiven a wry smile at the news that Ed Miliband has called Jon Trickett in his moment of peril. The left-wing Leeds MP was among the first to break cover to criticise the former prime minister and was a persistent thorn in his side. Even before Mr Blair was forced to make way for Gordon Brown in 2007, Mr Trickett had identified the next leader but one. A former student of the historian and political theorist Ralph Miliband at Leeds University, Mr Trickett is reported to have told Ed Miliband, his former tutor’s son, as early as 2005 that he had what it took to lead Labour. It is likely that Mr Trickett provides important emotional — as well as intellectual — support for Mr Miliband, who has said that it was to protect his father’s legacy that he stood against his brother David in 2010. The Labour leader’s suite of offices has been likened by critics to a university’s senior common room, in part because two of his aides, Lord Wood and Marc Stears, are former Oxford dons. The arrival of Mr Trickett, who once worked as a builder and plumber, could help to blunt that criticism. The New Statesman magazine said yester-
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ALAN DAVIDSON / THE PICTURE LIBRARY
Big brother is waiting in wings Francis Elliott
David Miliband will spend tomorrow in a high-end California resort hanging out with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. With him in Half Moon Bay’s RitzCarlton hotel for the “Techonomy” conference will be the heads of Facebook and Twitter. No doubt Mr Miliband will tell delegates about the success of this week’s fundraising event for the International Rescue Committee, which he runs. It was held about the same time that his brother, Ed, was forced to interrupt a visit to Northampton, planned to
people, his new campaign vice-chairman says. “It’s a rare commodity in politics”
nemesis back on scene day that Mr Trickett would ensure that Mr Miliband kept his radical edge. If true, his arrival is good news for figures such as Jon Cruddas, Labour’s policy chief, an ideological ally who has long argued for the leader to ignore the vestigial new Labour voices constantly urging caution. Explaining Mr Trickett’s appointment, Mr Miliband’s spokesman alluded to his “wide range of relationships” across the Labour party, which include good ties with the union bosses. However, his ability to calm a febrile parliamentary party is being widely questioned. Although the appointment of Lucy Powell to the key role of election chief and the effective sidelining of Douglas Alexander was welcomed by many Labour MPs, others complained that Mr Miliband had only rewarded a small number of staunch allies. One Labour figure said: “Something quite sizeable is happening — that is perfectly clear — of a sort that hasn’t happened before. Some people are saying that putting Lucy Powell in charge of the general election campaign was a sort of last straw. “[MPs] are despairing about him, despairing about Scotland. A lot of Scottish MPs are worried about how they will maintain their position. Then they see this infant being put in charge of the general election campaign, and I think they’re just basically at their wits’ end.” Mr Miliband had for some months been losing faith in Douglas Alexander, the man
brought in to take charge of the election campaign after the departure of Tom Watson, according to a friend of both men. Part of the problem was personal. Mr Alexander had run David Miliband’s leadership campaign and some saw in his appointment an attempt by Ed Miliband to win his brother’s approval but, if so, it failed. “Douglas and Ed had an increasingly fractious relationship. Douglas positioned himself as a critical friend, Ed just thought he was critical.” However, there were other, institutional, factors at play. “One of the key reasons that Douglas had to be moved sideways was that the key seats campaign is in an absolute mess,” said an insider. Labour is pinning its hopes on conducting a better “ground campaign” next May and has invested heavily in a network of local organisers in its target seats, but insiders say that Mr Alexander failed to coordinate the effort or stitch it to a national strategy. As part of its efforts to reassure Labour MPs, sympathetic journalists were told last night that Mr Miliband’s office will move in January from the Commons to the party’s HQ, a small office block some five minutes’ walk from the current location. They will want to see immediate signs of a more functional operation — not just notice of a change of address. Jon Trickett was a student under Mr Miliband’s father, Ralph
publicise his new bus policy, to deny that his leadership was in trouble. It would be no surprise if the elder Miliband considered himself well out of Labour politics as he cruised on the US circuit, fêted as Britain’s former foreign secretary. However, some friends insist that he still hankers for a role in British politics. “If an opportunity arose he’d jump at it. It would take something crazy like a by-election but these are crazy times,” one friend said. Mr Miliband said that he left the UK because he had “too much a sense of being blocked, dead ends”. He found the transition to running a large charity more challenging than expected and
found it hard to settle his family in New York. Earlier this year, a friend revealed that Mr Miliband still paid close attention to British politics, right down to the fine details: “He knows far too much about canvass returns in Stevenage than he should.” There are plenty of his old team who would rally to his side on any return to British politics, not least those MPs who voted for him in greater numbers than for his brother. Other allies insist that he’s out of the reckoning: “When the papers are doing their ‘runners and riders’ pieces, David doesn’t even get mentioned these days — it’s over.”
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News
Mystery of the cat snatchers who torture their prey
An investigation by anxious owners reveals that 200 pets have gone missing in one town, Tom Whipple writes Nigella, one of Louise Catchpole’s two kittens, was missing. Rupert, Nigella’s brother, had come home but was “in a very bad way”. His fur was burnt, in places it had been torn out, he was covered in his own faeces and he had been violently kicked. It would only be later that Nigella was located — alive, but two miles from home. “At the time,” said Ms Catchpole, “I was appalled someone could come into my quiet private street and just take my pets, who are so friendly and gentle, then hurt and dump them”. In the past eight months, almost 200 of Ipswich’s cats have gone missing. Each apparently an isolated incident, no one noticed the trend until a website was set up to collate the reports a month ago and its founder, Deni Parkes, realised that there seemed to be something wrong. This was not just the occasional runaway or vehicle accident. It wasn’t just the numbers involved. Some were returning tortured, their eyes glued together or so badly beaten that they needed operations just to breathe. Most were not returning at all. “You do expect a proportion of cats to go missing,” she said. “They get run over or just die. But we’ve got 190 cats
after fighting back against their captors, which could explain the injuries. Louise Catchpole is not her real name — she was only prepared to speak anonymously. “I’m quite intimidated. The person who injured my cat came on to my property, took my cat, and tortured it. I have children. If they did this, what else could they do?” The group has raised £2,000 in pledges for information leading to a successful prosecution, but she fears it is not enough. “If these cats are being taken for illegal activity, there is so much money in-
‘I was appalled someone could come into my quiet street and take my pets, who are so friendly’
Worried owners, from left, Leyla Edwards, Deni Parkes, Maddie Sharp, Lee Haydon, Richard Salter and Louise Catchpole
missing. Most are chipped. Why have we not found them?” Since setting up her site , other areas have followed her lead and been shocked at what they discovered. In the past month in Peasedown St John, near Bath, 24 cats have gone missing. In just one small area in Northampton in the past six months 30 have disappeared. What is happening? Ms Parkes said
that she had had sightings from several different sources of a couple enticing cats into their car with treats. Most thefts in the area seem to be clustered around the A14. And that is essentially all she has to go on. Someone is taking Britain’s cats, and no one knows why. That is not to say they don’t have theories. What links these disparate commu-
nities across the country? Ms Catchpole believes it could be dog fighting. “You can make the dogs get very angry by using a cat as bait. Once they’ve got a taste for killing you can move on to the real fight,” she says. “It enhances the odds for illegal bookmakers — there is lots of money in this.” She believes her cats may have escaped before suffering this fate, perhaps
volved that two grand isn’t going to cut it.” She and Ms Parkes are encouraging more people to chip their cats, with a discounted RSPCA event organised in Ipswich today. They are also pressing for a change in the law. “There is no protection for cats whatsoever,” said Ms Parkes. “People would certainly notice if 190 dogs went missing. If you hit a dog you have to stop, if you hit a cat you can just drive on.” There are signs now that the law might be beginning to notice. Ms Parkes said that she was in regular contact with the police, but didn’t know if they had any leads. “If they suspected organised crime they are not going to tell us,” she said. “After all, we’re just loony, batty cat women.”
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US adviser ‘helps Tories bypass spending limits’ Laura Pitel Political Correspondent
An Obama campaign guru hired by the Conservatives has been accused of helping the party to bypass election spending limits. A consultancy founded by Jim Messina, a former White House official, has surveyed voters in key marginal seats, by-election contests and the Scottish referendum. The Conservatives insist that they have not commissioned the work by Messina Quantitative Research, describing it as an independent company. However, a party spokesman refused to deny that the business was sharing its findings with Tory strategists. Ukip suggested that the Conservatives had reached an arm’s-length arrangement with MQR in order to bypass the £100,000 spending limit for by-election campaigns, including that in Rochester and Strood. “It’s very odd that Jim Messina is
calling people and saying that it’s for independent purposes,” a Ukip source said. “What are they doing with this information? He’s not polling Rochester and Strood on behalf of Barack Obama.” The expansion of Mr Messina’s work into the UK marks a shift in gear for the American, who was hired by the Conservatives as a campaign strategy adviser in August last year. It also raises questions about the relationship between his company and the Tories. Voters in Rochester and Strood, where Ukip is favourite to beat the Tories later this month, were asked a series of questions that suggested a Conservative bent to the MQR surveys, including whether they preferred David Cameron or Ed Miliband. Call operatives from the company told survey respondents in the constituency that they were not working on behalf of any political parties but added: “If we collect enough infor-
WESTMINSTER DIARY
ANN TRENEMAN week. As long as that, I thought. Then Mr Messina, who was President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, had a little brag. “I’ve never lost an election,” he said. But then, oops, came this week’s US mid-terms and the news that his man, the former Florida governor Charlie Crist, lost.
It seems that Nick Clegg, and his glamorous wife, Miriam, are preoccupied these days with the burning issue of who is going to play Nick in the upcoming Channel 4 drama Coalition. “Is George Clooney available?” Miriam wondered out loud on ITV. But can George look sad in an infinite number of ways, surely the key requirement for playing the Cleggster? Anyway the Radio Times reports that the role has already been filled, by one Bertie Carvel, best known for his role as Miss Trunchbull in the musical Matilda. We must assume that George Clooney was washing his hair. Mark Reckless, the Ukip candidate in Rochester and Strood, is notable for two things. The first is that, unusually among MPs, he has had a total sense of humour bypass. One subject that he is particularly touchy about is his name — which, for the man who got so drunk he couldn’t vote on the Budget, seems perfect to me. I am very taken with the subject of political aptronyms. Over the years, many readers have written to tell me that, in Scotland, a clegg is a large, swift bloodsucking fly. Let me know if you think of any more. At last week’s Tory away day in deepest Oxfordshire, the US political guru Jim Messina told MPs that the average person thinks about politics for four minutes a
The main thing cheering up the Tories is that things are even worse for Ed Miliband and his “team”, who can only hope that voters aren’t spending their four minutes this week on him. Surely it is time to send for Labour’s American guru, David Axelrod, another Obama man (and that’s going really well too, of course). It is said that Ed will try to tackle the problem with, yes, another big speech. Now he only needs to make sure that he remembers why he’s giving it. I do hope that Mr Speaker was reading Balance, the Diabetes UK magazine, which had an interview with Theresa May. The home secretary, a type one diabetic, explained how she has had to cope with long debates in the Chamber: “I had a bag of nuts in my handbag and one of my colleagues would lean forward every now and then so that I could eat some nuts without being seen by the Speaker.” I’m sorry but this is, well, nuts. You can tweet from the Chamber. IDS is a big gumchewer. Surely snacking for medical reasons should be allowed. Karren Brady, now a baroness, has been trying to devise her new coat of arms. Her first thought was a football but then the heraldist showed her some other samples. “Julian Fellowes “Ju has a tortoise,” she told tol the London Evening Standard, “because it took him so long to achieve his success. So I thought I needed better ideas.”
mation we may publish the results.” A spokesman for MQR declined to explain what this meant. A further link to the Conservative party is MQR’s work with a consultancy founded by two young campaigners who worked for the Tories at the previous general election. Their company, Return Marketing, has conducted work for Conservative candidates as well as on behalf of GBQR, the former name of Mr Messina’s company. A Conservative party spokesman said claims that the party had reached an arrangement with MQR to bypass spending limits were “baseless and without foundation”. The company re-
fused to comment on the spending limit claim. In a statement, it said: “MQR is a new start-up firm that will seek to help a wide variety of organisations with market research, including in the UK. As such, we will always respect their privacy while holding ourselves to the highest professional standards.” With the general election six months away, Mr Messina appears increasingly willing to play a hands-on role in the campaign. His involvement with the Conservatives contrasts with that of David Axelrod, his fellow Obama campaign veteran, who was hired by Labour but has made just one visit to the party’s
headquarters since his appointment in April. Mr Messina spent several days at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham last month, even helping with a phone canvassing session alongside grassroots volunteers. Last week, he attended an Oxfordshire away day where he impressed Tory MPs with his fighting talk. He is said to be interested in replicating the data analytics methods that helped President Obama to secure a second term. This work involved targeting undecided voters with carefully tailored messages designed to maximise the likelihood of their support.
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Glimpse of history as Magna Carta is taken for a ride Jack Malvern
Magna Carta does not get out much. As one of the most valuable documents in the world, the City of London’s copy of the liberties granted by a reluctant king has left the Guildhall only three times since it arrived in the 13th century. Today, for the Lord Mayor’s Show, it will move once more in the first public parade of any copy of Magna Carta. As Alan Yarrow, the new lord mayor, travels through the streets of London his coach will be accompanied by a second horse-drawn carriage containing the City’s 1297 copy of the bill of rights. Although the copy is not one of the four surviving original versions that King John approved in 1215 at Runnymede, it is arguably as important. This copy, authorised by Edward I in 1297, is the best preserved of all and was the one consulted by parliament when its clauses became statute law. The parade, which pre-empts a year of celebrations of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015, will allow crowds to catch a glimpse of the document through the window of a coach made for Edward VII. A more detailed view will be available online, beamed from a camera on the coach’s ceiling. Geoff Pick, the director of London Metropolitan Archives, said that the
copy had been moved only under extreme circumstances. The first time was in 1666, when the Corporation of London fled the Great Fire of London for a temporary home in Bishopsgate. The next move was to Wales to escape the Blitz during the Second World War. There was also a brief move, in the back of a BMW, to the London Metropolitan Archives in 2011 when the Guildhall was renovated. “The public will be able to see it through the window of the coach,” Mr Pick said. “The problem is that it’s a two-dimensional object, so it’s not like looking at the Crown Jewels. But we are having a small camera fitted in the coach so people will be able to have access through their mobile devices.” Moving Magna Carta is a fretful moment for archivists, but a support structure has been made for the occasion by Edward Crouch of Croford Coach Builders. “They didn’t want us to bolt anything inside the coach, so we’ve had to build a framework to hold it against the size of the coach, braced against the seats,” said Mr Crouch. Mr Pick said he was not worried about thieves attempting to steal Magna Carta, which is insured for £20 million. “There will be the security that there will be for the lord mayor.”
Hospital allows horse to visit dying woman
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dying woman was granted her final wish when her favourite horse was brought to her hospital bed a few hours before she died. A photographer captured the moment Sheila Marsh, 77, was nuzzled tenderly by Bronwen, whom she raised from a foal 25 years ago. Hospital officials granted Mrs Marsh’s dying wish and arranged for Bronwen to be transported to Wigan Royal Infirmary after her condition deteriorated. Her hospital bed was wheeled outside for the reunion, which her daughter Tina Marsh, 33, described as a “beautiful moment”. She said: “I was crying my eyes out and all the nurses were crying too. She took comfort out of it.” Hours later, her mother, who had been suffering from cancer, died. Gail Taylor, the bereavement liaison specialist nurse, said: “We
listened and acted on Mrs Marsh’s last wishes. “Sheila gently called to Bronwen and the horse bent down tenderly and kissed her on the cheek as they said their last goodbyes.” Mrs Marsh, from Wigan, who has two children and four grandchildren, had a life-long affiliation with horses and had worked at Haydock Park racecourse. Ms Marsh said: “She loved her horses and she loved and adored all animals. She had six horses, three dogs, three cats and other animals. “Her condition did not get any better and the hospital allowed us to bring Bronwen in. It was a matter of hours later that she passed away. “I want to thank the hospital and all the nurses. It was very important for my mum. She was one of the most hard-working people that you could meet and she would do anything for anyone.” Bosses at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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MERCURY PRESS
Foundation Trust said that they acted on Mrs Marsh’s express wishes. Pauline Law, the deputy director of nursing, added: “I am really pleased to have been able to facilitate the visit from Mrs Marsh’s horse. “This was obviously extremely important to her and her family and we feel privileged to have been able to provide this support at this crucial stage of her care. “It is absolutely right that we should pull out all the stops to ensure that our patients and their families receive personalised, compassionate and dignified care at the end of their life and this is what we will always strive to achieve.” The picture was posted on Twitter by Andrew Foster, the chief executive of the trust, who wrote: “With the family’s permission here is how [we] go the extra mile to deliver the wishes of a dying patient.” Twitter users said the image brought tears to their eyes. Gail Francis, of Stratford-upon-Avon, wrote: “What an amazing photograph. Anything that makes the last days/hours bearable should be applauded.”
Charles spoofs the interview that TV journalists swear by Valentine Low
As television interviews go, it was nothing less than a disaster: a textbook example of how not to grill a member of the royal family. Yet decades on from the occasion when an Australian journalist of spectacular incompetence did his very worst in trying to question the Prince of Wales, Charles clearly retains fond memories of the interview. Now the prince has recorded a spoof video message — featuring an uncredited appearance by Jim Davidson — in which he relives his excruciating encounter with Ian “Molly” Meldrum. In 1977 Charles was on a tour of Australia when he gave an interview to the ABC programme Countdown, which is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. The interview did not go well. A clearly nervous Meldrum stumbled his way through the entire interview, tripping over his words, forgetting his script and, once Charles had left the room, swearing liberally at his own ineptitude. In the video recorded for the anniversary celebration, Charles — in a deadpan performance that shows Meldrum how it should be done — says: “There is an old showbusiness saying which warns never to work with animals or children but nobody prepared me for Molly Meldrum.” In the 1977 interview, Charles is seen looking bemused and faintly concerned as Meldrum, a man out of his
The prince recalled his 1977 interview, above, with help from Jim Davidson
Exclusive to members
Video Prince Charles wreaks his revenge On tablet and at thetimes.co.uk/royalfamily
depth even before he began, asks for a glass of water. Meldrum manages to stumble at the very first hurdle, his opening line starting on a less than dignified note. “Your Royal Highness . . . oh, oh, I’m sweating like a pig,” he says, wiping his brow. At one point Charles asks him kindly: “Do you not have one of these teleprompters?” Meldrum becomes so tongue-tied he even sticks out his tongue, swearing in exasperation. “I certainly learned some, um, interesting new Australian words from Mr Meldrum,” Charles said. “And if he could have read my mind, he could have learned some interesting new English words from me.” Meldrum has conceded that it was one of the worst interviews he ever recorded for the show. A Clarence House spokeswoman said that the prince was approached last year to make the video. “He said ‘Of course I remember, it has always stuck in my mind. But if I am going to do something, it has to be funny.’” One of the scenes in the video shows a hand prodding the prince’s shoulder, a reference to the hand seen clasping Meldrum’s shoulder in reassurance 37 years ago. “It’s Jim Davidson’s hand,” the prince’s spokeswoman said. “He asked him to be in the room. He thought he would make him chuckle.” Charles’s overriding memory of the interview, she said, is how sorry he felt for Meldrum.
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Woman facing ‘cry rape’ prosecution killed herself Georgie Keate
The father of a woman with bipolar disorder who killed herself after being accused of falsely claiming that a man had raped her has described how she was “ground down” and left unable to cope. An inquiry is being held into the apparent suicide of Eleanor De Freitas, 23, three days before she was due in court because the man she accused of raping her had taken out a private prosecution, accusing her of perverting the course of justice. Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, said that she would look into the case personally to find out why the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had
agreed to support it, even though it was not obliged to, and the police thought that she should not be prosecuted. Ms De Freitas told the Metropolitan police in January last year that she had been drugged and raped by an acquaintance. When officers told her that they would not proceed with the complaint because of a lack of evidence, the man she had accused decided to launch his own prosecution at a cost of £200,000. Three days before Ms De Freitas was due to defend herself in court in April this year, she left notes explaining Eleanor De Freitas, 23, died three days before she was due in court
how frightened she was of reliving the ordeal, and took her own life. Her father, David, has called for an inquest with a jury, describing Ms Saunders’s inquiry “too little, too late”. “I personally think that it was because she feared being sectioned under the Mental Health Act that she took strenuous efforts to mask her feelings and what she reported to her medical team and to us,” he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I saw a quarter of the Eleanor that used to be there. It was soul destroying and it ground her down. In the end, she couldn’t cope with it and it was tragic, tragic, tragic.” Ms Saunders said: “I have asked the team which dealt with this case for a full
explanation which addresses all of the De Freitas family’s concerns. Prosecuting cases of perverting the course of justice in connection with an alleged false rape allegation is rare, extremely difficult and always complex and sensitive. This case was one of the most difficult I have seen.” An inquest into her death was opened and adjourned at West London coroner’s court yesterday. In 2011, Keir Starmer, who was then the director of public prosecutions, said that he would look at every decision to charge someone with making a false rape allegation. In the 17 months until Ms Saunders took over, there were 121 claims and only 35 charges.
News of the World journalist jailed A former News of the World news editor was jailed for eight months yesterday after admitting being part of the phone hacking plot (David Brown writes). At the Old Bailey, Ian Edmondson, 45, who admitted one charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails, was described as being the “attack dog” for Andy Coulson, the paper’s editor who became David Cameron’s spokesman and is now serving 18 months. Edmondson ordered a private
investigator to hack the phones of Sienna Miller, Jude Law, Lord Frederick Windsor and John Prescott. In total, he ordered phones to be hacked more than 300 times. He even tapped into the phones of colleagues and listened to Coulson’s voicemail messages each morning. Mr Justice Saunders told him: “Accessing voicemails is contrary to the ethics of journalism and any good journalist knew that he should not be doing it.”
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There’s a cheaper way to save the peace of Stonehenge Ross Clark Page 19
Opinion
Labour is the problem. It’s no longer wanted
A left-of-centre party with no coherent message is redundant in an era of austerity and mistrust of state spending messaging it’s getting harder and harder to force people’s attention away from babble about process, and make them to think about the product. The product should be the starting point. The way people are talking about Mr Miliband, you’d think it was incidental. The product here is a left-of-centre political party, financed by a withering 20th-century trade union movement, in an anxious age of financial austerity, and nearuniversal public distrust of the efficacy of government spending. Such is the Labour party, almost any conceivable Labour party. There’s nothing big it can say that could be said by something calling itself the Labour party. Ed Miliband is the symptom, not the problem. “We’ll divide a shrunken cake more evenly,” just isn’t going to hack it. That’s likely to unsettle more voters than it will attract. “We’ll grow the cake faster than a Conservative government could,” isn’t going to hack it either. Nobody will believe it. There is of course a third option:
Matthew Parris
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speranto is an invented international second language: a noble idea but, for all its high ideals and admirable enthusiasts, an idea in long-term decline. If Ed Miliband were the leader of the World Esperanto Association there would be anguished debate within the movement about the quality of his leadership. Some would say he had failed to develop a coherent strategy. Others that he lacked the charisma, the inspiration, to paint the big picture for followers. Some would say he didn’t know where he wanted Esperanto to go. Others that he did, but it wasn’t where it ought to go. Others yet would sigh that his usurped brother, David Miliband, had had the very qualities Ed lacked to lead Esperanto into a new dawn. And there would be a plague of disobliging stories in the Esperanto-sympathetic media: “process” stories, every one. But estas elefanto en la cambro. That’s Esperanto for “there’s an elephant in the room”. This is the elefanto: the world doesn’t want Esperanto. Not under Ed, not under David, not under the Archangel Gabriel, not even under Alan Johnson. There’s a problem with the product. Problems with the leadership would be secondary: mere evasion from the central difficulty. I’m sorry, reader, to have dragged you off into the wacky world of artificial languages, but in an age obsessed by marketing and
The policies are from a drawer marked ‘odds and ends, may be useful’ “We don’t like capitalism. We’ll row back from free-market economics and restructure our economy along interventionist, socialist lines.” Now there’s a bold narrative. In the privacy of his late father’s library it’s probably what Ed actually believes. His critics, who bleat of the need for a “strong leadership,” a “powerful message,” and “authenticity”, may reflect that such a message ticks all those other boxes.
But the box it doesn’t tick is the ballot box. It’s therefore not Ed’s fault that the party he leads has ended up going into an election with an eclectic list of mostly minor policies that don’t add up to the “compelling narrative” critics keep demanding of him. These policies are not all stupid. But a 20-month energy-price freeze, altering zero-hours contracts, extra apprenticeships, a mansion tax (maybe), making a couple of booindustries pay a bit more towards the NHS, rent controls, extra free childcare, a cap on bank sizes, small increases in the minimum wage, abolishing the bedroom tax, something about cancer operations, and, er, that’s just about it . . . these don’t collectively shout out the new kind of government that Labour would be. They read like a Downing Street junior’s draft list of some random candy that the PM might want to consider throwing from his carriage. They’re from a drawer marked “odds and ends, possibly useful”. Nobody can lead a 21st-century British Labour party well, because there isn’t anywhere for a 21stcentury British Labour party to go. The personal attacks on Mr Miliband are lazy, evasive and rather cowardly: a kind of displacement activity for people stumped for ideas as to what their dream leader would actually do, and falling back on shinkicking an inexperienced and somewhat maladroit leader for a gap that he is powerless to fill. We in the media, too, are being shallow about this. Once the world has got it in for somebody, once their “haplessness” is the big story and journalists clamour to reinforce it, there will never be a shortage of trivial incidents to giggle
Yvette Cooper never says anything wrong – or anything interesting
or gasp at. People must eat, and sooner or later the cameras will find a mouth and a bacon roll, just as with David Miliband (when we were casting him as hapless, rather than a lost leader) we once found a banana. I don’t think Ed Miliband is proving at all deft as opposition leader, his performances are limp; but I do think we’d be overlooking a nasal voice or the occasional cock-up in a conference speech if we sensed he really knew where he and his party should be going. He doesn’t know. Nor do his critics. Nor do I, and nor, I suggest, do you. Or else shouldn’t we be citing those brilliant new policies, painting
Labour’s City on the Hill that somehow only stupid Ed cannot see? And if we can’t, if we must keep sidling off into waffle about clarity and narrative without indicating what should be clear, or what the compelling narrative might actually be about, perhaps we should reflect that kicking a Miliband at breakfast is no answer to our own woolly-mindedness. A party that couldn’t dislodge a major disaster like Gordon Brown, won’t dislodge a minor disappointment like Ed Miliband this side of the election. For whom, if they did? Alan Johnson knows he could win a general election but knows too that he would crash and burn the other side of it. It is true that Yvette Cooper never says anything wrong, or anything interesting, and Andy Burnham has lovely eyelashes; but the idea of Andy and Yvette as Babes in the Wood is too delicious not to be fatal. One does sense with Chuka Umunna that there could be flint beneath the moisturiser, and if Blairism has a future Mr Umunna could be it; but while even the Blairites appear to know only that they hate Ed Miliband, there can be no defining a new leadership by Christmas. Mr Miliband’s critics are right: he is incapable of persuading Britain that Labour has a place in the 21st century. That’s because it doesn’t have one.
Morland animation Our cartoonist looks at Barack Obama’s future after the mid-term elections thetimes.co.uk/animations
Today Mostly cloudy with outbreaks of rain and showers. Drier and brighter over central Europe. Max 23C (73F), min -6C (21F) Noon today
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Greece, Cyprus, Malta, southern Italy, Sicily Rather cloudy, but there will be some sunny intervals as well. Heavy showers, especially heavy over Greece, with thunder around coastal areas. Maximum 21C (70F), minimum 9C (48F).
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Scandinavia, western Russia Cloudy with rain or snow in the west, sleet in the east. Maximum 7C (45F), minimum -6C (21F). The Baltic states, Belarus, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia A cloudy day with patchy rain, heavy in the south of the region in the morning, but drier in the Baltics. Maximum 13C (55F), minimum 3C (37F).
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Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, northern Italy, eastern France Cloudy to start but with some sunny spells and hazy sunshine later. Mostly dry, but the chance of the odd shower. Also quite breezy in the north. Maximum 18C (64F), minimum -6C (21F). Western France, Iberia, the Balearics Mostly cloudy with rain over the far west in the morning, then slowly drifting eastwards, heavy at times. Maximum 19C (66F), minimum 3C (37F). British Isles Mostly cloudy with a band of rain drifting eastwards, heavy in places, and still rather windy. Maximum 14C (57F), minimum 3C (37F). Outlook Cloudy with rain and showers in the north and west, with snow over the Alps. Drier in the east.
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Speak directly to one of our forecasters on 09065 77 76 75 6am to 6pm daily (calls charged at £1.50 per minute plus network extras) For more information on the services we can provide, visit our website: quest www.weatherquest.co.uk weatherq
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Opinion
The joke’s on him, but I keep my Brand loyalty The scorning of the comedian who likes to pontificate shouldn’t shut down politics as a subject for satire Hugo Rifkind
@hugorifkind
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ussell Brand has been rudely awakened by the dustmen. Only ten days ago, he was Britain’s foremost messianic political seer, and seemingly unstoppable. Criticisms, bad reviews, outright ridicule and even Evan Davis wielding graphs on Newsnight didn’t so much bounce off him as soak in, only making him stronger, as nuclear weapons did with Godzilla. Abruptly, though, he’s been dealt a mortal blow by a single word. Parklife. For the slightly old or very young, this may need some explaining. Parklife, you see, is the 1994 song by Blur, which features Phil Daniels, of Quadrophenia fame, saying stuff. “Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as . . .” he begins, sounding, in retrospect, quite incredibly Russell Brand-ish. And suddenly, whenever Brand posts on the internet, or pretty much says anything in that loquacious, Fagin-goes-to-a-spellingbee manner of his, hordes of people are chorusing “Parklife!” in response. Just like Damon and the boys do with Daniels, in the song. I think it might have ruined him. Genuinely. How could any orator come back from that? “An eye for an eye only makes the whole world . . .
Parklife!” “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they . . . Parklife!” Mahatma Gandhi would be sobbing into his dhoti. Jesus Christ himself might have decided the meek could lump it. In a way, there’s a populist beauty to it. The great hive mind of the internet will always find a way to neutralise an irritant. You might think of it as an oyster, smothering a piece of grit with a pearl. Why, though, should this hive mind have found Brand an irritant at all? That’s the big question here. Politically savvy, ceaselessly ironic, faintly nihilistic, forever fuming at the closed loop of our politics; these people should be his core. Why the hostility? I suppose a Marxist might see it as an example of false consciousness, with the misled proletariat reinforcing ossified institutional structures that work to their own disadvantage. (Parklife.) But I don’t think so. I think it’s just a mass intolerance for guff. Controversialist that I am, I’m not
Whenever Brand says anything, hordes of people chorus ‘Parklife’ particularly anti-Brand. He has his flaws, obviously, and chief among them is the razor-sharp charge that the American columnist Peggy Noonan once levelled at Sarah Palin, that “she wasn’t thoughtful enough to know she wasn’t thoughtful enough”. But Brand is, for all that, quite thoughtful. Many years ago, as an MTV presenter and still a drug addict, he made a documentary
The funnyman turned activist holds forth at an anti-cuts demonstration
about the BNP’s youth wing. It is funny, but clever; charitable in understanding, but unstinting in conviction, too. Look it up on YouTube. It’s brilliant. Most of all, I approve of the very existence of Brand, because he sets my thoughts a-brewing. Yes, he talks balls, but it is new balls, and not much in this world of ours is new at all. And thus, beautiful as it may be, I worry a bit about this “Parklife!” stuff. Because, what I really hope isn’t going on is that people just saw a jumped-up funnyman and wanted him to get back in his box. Recently quite a lot of Britain’s comedy world has been clambering out of its box. This fortnight, on the fringes of mirthful light entertainment, and in a manner
perhaps too cliquey for most to have noticed, a slightly masturbatory drama has been unfolding. First, a stand-up comedian called Andrew Lawrence wrote a blog in which he noted (not unreasonably) that there was a lazy ubiquity to comedians attacking Ukip on panel shows, but also (unreasonably) hit out at the “ethnic comedians and womenposing-as-comedians” he felt such shows disproportionately feature. In the mêlée that followed, various other comedians — Frankie Boyle, Stewart Lee, Ava Vidal — wrote newspaper columns in which they defended ridiculing Ukip on the fair basis (I simplify) that it is a party both nasty and ludicrous. Along the way Nigel Farage also wrote a column sort of saying the opposite, but it was only in The Independent and Farage doesn’t get on Mock the Week, so nobody noticed. Comedians are clever and funny people (by definition, really) and they tend to write beautifully too. Yet there was a glaring sort of ritualism to all of this. Or, to put it another way, I could not help but notice that for all the wit of their prose (excluding yours, Nigel, sorry) none of the above were really saying anything new. Leaving the box, yes, but not to any great purpose. And, with the spectre of Russell Brand hovering high in my mind, I found myself wondering why not. They can be vexing, the politics of comedians. If there is a corner of hell where some MPs spend an eternity telling their own jokes at you (and I think I got drunk in it once, at a party conference in Blackpool), then I’ve occasionally wondered if there
might not be another one in which some comedians, with no attempt at humour whatsoever, perpetually appear on Question Time. Certainly there are plenty of fantastic comedians who are first and foremost political animals, crafting their acts to vent the fury within. I often sense, though, that there are others who rather do the opposite. They start with the jokes, and extrapolate the politics backwards. And I think that’s why, when the less thoughtful among them emerge from the box in which comedy normally lives, they can end up sounding so surprisingly priggish. It’s because they’re going hell for leather to justify a world view that they’ve forgotten they adopted only to raise a laugh. Some might feel that this is an apt description of Russell Brand too, but I’d say not. This is a comedian who has not so much burst from his box as kicked his way into another one. And however much rubbish he spouts, this I can only admire. There are two ways, after all, that you end up with an insular political world that talks only to itself. One is if it lets nobody in. The other is if nobody knocks. I would rather, I am pretty sure, have a comedy that knew its place less, rather than more; that didn’t just circle and snipe, being against this, or against somebody else who was against that, but which shouted its way into the conversation properly, and risked being laughed at, as well as with. So by all means, is my point, let us shout “Parklife!” at Brand because everything he says is bilge. Except . . . if we’re laughing because he’s the one saying it, then the joke really ought to be on us.
Miriam Darlington Nature Notebook
As scarlet as blood, the holy grail of fungus hunts
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ungus hunts are a highlight of November and every year the promise of the jewel-like blooms of the fly agaric tempt us to go in search. There are few wild places left in the south of England, but the rugged outcrop of Dartmoor stands fast as a place where hints of wildness still nudge up through the surface. Up here there are still wide spaces to do what humans were designed to do. To walk, to breathe, to forage. A fresh fly agaric, right, was our aim and after a night of rain our walk took us slithering over wet grass, in shafts of low sunlight. The sound of the swollen river bounced off every rock and tree trunk, the scent of spray, mulch and peat filled our noses. First we found boletus, or penny buns, their bulbous sulphur-coloured sponges and leathery hides marked with the
nibbles of rodents. Oak moss lichen coated the tree trunks, grey lichen drooped from hawthorn branches and, scattered over the ground, the sallow pink of sickener mushrooms. Semi-circles of fairy rings guided us into the woods. At last we found our grail: a nub of ruby red bulging through the grass. Warted with white speckles, flamboyant in scarlet, this is the glamour-shroom of the woods. All around its blood red was echoed in the hawthorn branches laden with glistening winter berries.
Tree of life
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long the hedges, the hawthorns were clothed in sweeping beards of lichen that swished in the wind. The thorny, knotted character of this tree has always fascinated me. It seems to embody the harsh granite
geology of this wild place and its resolute stance is symptomatic of windswept places. Sometimes a lone tree stands wizened against the wind, its leaves long gone, a generous crop of berries clinging like a promise of sustenance for winter. A hawthorn’s fissured trunk can be twisted and rope-like, and I have always felt its steadfast appearance has something human about it. The “hagger thorn” (from the Anglo-Saxon hagger, meaning hedge, mound or bank), has long been associated with human settlements, and perhaps because the berries are edible and have medicinal properties, the tree has been enfolded in magical beliefs and ancient mythology. The dense hawthorn provided protection from thunderstorms and its hard-wearing wood was used for small objects such as turnery, engraving and tool or weapon handles. Hawthorn burns hotter than any wood in Britain, and as well as being used to make charcoal, was associated in Celtic myth with fire and healing. These days our ecological understanding takes precedence and we know that this prickly lit little tree supports more than 300 invertebrate species including a host of moths: it is fed on by the caterpillars of the orchard ermine, hawthorn, pear leaf blister, rhomboid tortrix, light emerald, lackey,
Better than a finger: a fieldfare uses its agile beak to feast on a berry
vapourer, fruitlet mining tortrix, small eggar and lappet moths. Its flowers are eaten by dormice and the white May blossoms provide nectar and pollen for bees. The haws, or berries, are a rich source of food for migrating birds each winter and flocks of migrant fieldfares and redwings blow in from Scandinavia in a frenzy to feed on the bounty.
Berries and beaks
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e approached the hawthorn thicket to inspect the extravagant Ent-like beard of lichen dangling from the branches, (these must have inspired JRR Tolkien when he conceived his fantastical woodland beings). Although they look like plants, lichens are a
symbiotic combination of two species, alga and fungus. The fungus provides the protective structure and the algae cells live beneath the surface. The algae convert sunlight into sugars by photosynthesis and the fungus feeds on the sugar. Amazing. The closer you look, the more fascinating these organisms become. Just as we discussed this miniature miracle, another one happened: a burst of fieldfares exploded from their rickety perches in the hawthorn. This jittery mob surged upwards and then looped back to their feeding with the speed and energy of incoming missiles. We listened to their nervy “chackchack” calls as they settled back among the twigs to gobble the berries. The poet John Clare describes the hawthorn berries as “awes” in his poem about schoolboys gathering berries in winter; he describes the boys picking berries with “numbed and clumpsing fingers” — a very human contrast to the agile claws and beaks of the fieldfares. We clumpsed home with our minds and bodies zinging with the splendour of the low sunlight and autumn miracles of Dartmoor. Miriam Darlington is the author of Otter Country
@mimdarling
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Opinion
Future sacrifice will swell this sea of poppies
Crowds at the Tower are remembering past loss. But the need for young people to lay down their lives is unending JEFF MOORE
Richard Kemp
@colrichardkemp
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his week I joined the millions of visitors to the Tower of London’s poppyfilled moat. Most seemed deeply moved by Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, which gave them the opportunity to understand visually the vast scale of the sacrifice made by our fighting troops 100 years ago. Their thoughts were no doubt in the past. Mine turned to the future. Among the crowds were school parties and it struck me that in the coming years we will still need teenagers like these to fight and to die for our country; to make the same sacrifices that were made by the 888,246 British soldiers, sailors and airmen each represented by a single poppy (pictured below) below the crowd’s down-turned eyes. The rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), with its threats and assaults on our citizens and national interests, is but one reminder of the constant perils that lie ahead. Even with the march of technology, it will remain not drones and robots but young men and women who must ultimately stand in the path of aggression against us. Despite many often laudable efforts, modern society remains unable to prevent war. But sometimes by accident, sometimes by design, many elements within it conspire to undermine the ethos and spirit necessary to foster a readiness to make the supreme sacrifice that we need to defend our country. One hundred years ago patriotism, duty and honour were imbued in our youth through the education system. This vital contribution enabled the British Army to prevail in the most horrific
There’s a cheaper way to preserve the peace of Stonehenge Ross Clark
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cademic opinion is divided as to whether Stonehenge was a sacred site or just the prehistoric equivalent of a municipal cemetery. But of one thing I’m sure: it is a darned sight more sacred to us than it was to the people who put it up. It isn’t just the stones themselves that must be preserved in the partly reassembled form in which the
commanders and perversely endanger the lives of their men. In 1914 British political leaders were deeply reluctant to go to war in Europe. But when they felt they had no other choice, they dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to defeating a militaristic enemy intent on subjugating the Continent. The opposite is true today. Without properly formed strategy, our leaders seemed only too willing to go to war in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Yet infected with political correctness, they often sought to
False legal claims are brought to reduce our soldiers’ effectiveness
“A war veteran at the Somme: our young people today remain willing to lay down their lives as their forebears did
conditions during the Great War. From my own school, Colchester Royal Grammar, which then had only 200 pupils on the roll, 127 former pupils volunteered for the front immediately the war broke out. Contrary to popular myth this urge to duty was not extinguished by years of mud and carnage. In 1917 my great-uncle, Philip Duncan, won his fight against bureaucracy to get out of a reserved occupation in London and into the trenches. As he knew was likely, he was killed in action three weeks later, commanding a platoon at Passchendaele. Today patriotic sentiment is denigrated and many schools in this country exclude army careers briefings for their students and will not allow the formation of cadet detachments. Teachers are encouraged to show such propaganda films as Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful, with their portrayal of soldiers in the Great War that manifestly distorts Victorians left them. We can’t bring ourselves to put a spade in the ground within several miles of the place. Yesterday the CBI demanded that George Osborne make £600 million available in the autumn statement to dig a 1.3-mile tunnel round the stones, turning one of the last singlecarriageway sections of the A303 into an underground dual carriageway, leaving the druids in peace. Don’t hold your breath. A tunnel around Stonehenge was first proposed by the Major government in 1993. But a straightforward scheme, which could have been open by the millennium, was embellished by more and more demands from the environmental and archaeological lobbies and became too expensive to build. We have spent millions in inquiries and feasibility studies only to be left with the same old bottleneck taking traffic within rumbling distance of the stones. The solution that Mr Osborne is being implored to back is needlessly
the reality of discipline, leadership and military ethos prevalent in that era, yet incomprehensible to many today. The ever-encroaching European Union, with its relentless drive to undermine national identity and create a single, homogeneous and insipid superstate to which no one can
Patriotic sentiment is denigrated today in many of our schools
relate emotionally and for whom no one would fight and die, is working hard to destroy the spirit that motivated young men to serve their country in 1914. The EU’s intention of preventing war between European nations will not succeed under serious pressure. And how effectively can it respond to external threats on its borders, such as the aggressive actions of Moscow in Ukraine? expensive. No one needs to spend £600 million on a short stretch of dual carriageway. The chancellor could lop a third off the cost by going back to the original plan for a cheaper “cut-and-cover” tunnel. In the 1990s English Heritage and the National Trust both supported such a project, which involves digging a channel, filling it with a concrete tube with a road inside, then covering it with soil. The International Council on Monument and Sites (Icomos), which advises on world heritage sites, also backed the scheme.
Don’t dig near these sacred stones
British armed forces are also under ever-increasing attack by insidious political warfare from within. Incited by profiteering and politically motivated lawyers and human rights activists, false legal claims are brought against our soldiers to reduce and restrain their fighting effectiveness. A continuing preliminary examination into allegations against troops in Iraq could lead to the grotesque spectacle of British soldiers being arraigned in front of the International Criminal Court, a distortion of its purpose — which is to deal with brutal dictatorships. This malicious and corrosive scheming is compounded by attempts to apply European human rights legislation to the battlefield in a way that is incompatible with the realities of military combat. For example, the assertion that a soldier in battle somehow has a “right to life” under this legislation can only shackle military Then, as preliminary work began, they all changed their minds, arguing that a cut-and-cover tunnel would damage ancient remains near the surface. So the Blair government came up with a 1.3-mile bored tunnel that could be constructed without disturbing the surface — but would cost half as much again. Still it wasn’t enough. The National Trust demanded an impossibly expensive 2.8-mile tunnel and wanted it dug deeper, at even greater cost. By the time of the £3 million public inquiry in 2004 both the trust and Icomos had lined up against the 1.3-mile bored tunnel, even though both had previously supported a more damaging cut-and-cover version. By now the tunnel was the only thing that wasn’t getting bored. After more consultations the project was ditched in 2007 as too expensive, leaving the southwest still without a direct dual carriageway to London. For the government, the moral is don’t get bogged down trying to
blur the true purpose of military force by publicly postulating ideas such as spreading democracy, equal rights and reconstruction. Failing to resource their campaigns properly, or gain adequate public support when the going got tough, they preferred to precipitately withdraw forces irrespective of the consequences. This approach, driven to an extent by a domestic media ingrained with self-doubt and often spinning to their own political agenda, has led to conflict where it is hard to discern winners or losers, victory or defeat. Recent wars have shown that our young people remain willing to step up to the fight and to lay down their lives for their country and their comrades just as their forbears did in 1914. But the array of obstacles placed in their way is expanding and will further intensify as we leave Afghanistan. If we are to retain this vital spirit of duty and sacrifice, we need to resist further erosion of our patriotic ethos and harness the strength of feeling among the British public that has been so mo movingly demonstrated in recent weeks at the Tower of London. Richard Kemp is a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan
please heritage bodies and quangos. They will never be satisfied however far you dig down to accommodate them. What is wrong with a cut-andcover tunnel, which in 2006 was priced at £193 million compared with £292 million for a bored tunnel? If excavations uncover another henge, I agree the road will have to go elsewhere. But if, as is more likely, the work reveals only a few interesting artefacts, they can be extracted and put in a museum. Digging the tunnel will be a one-off opportunity to cut a cross-section through the Stonehenge landscape and help to understand it. It should excite archaeologists. That is what happens with Roman remains in the City of London. When foundations need to be dug, archaeologists swoop on the site like vultures on a fallen wildebeest. We don’t take the economically suicidal route of declaring an exclusion zone in which no one may undertake any form of development. Why should Wiltshire be different?
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Leading articles Daily Universal Register
German Revolution
Ripping down the Berlin Wall 25 years ago was a momentous moment in history. Now at last a united Germany has to take its full place on the world stage The toppling of the Berlin Wall a quarter of a century ago this weekend was an extraordinary event, comparable with the French Revolution in its defeat of an old, rotten order. Unlike 1789, the upheavals of 1989 were largely peaceful, from the triumph of Solidarity in Poland to the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. The powerful symbol of the collapsing wall deserves to be celebrated as a sign not only of hope but of endurance. Two factors made the wall wobble. The first was western resolve in the face of persistent provocation from Moscow. The long-term commitment of the western alliance to defend the integrity of West Berlin was established throughout the Cold War, from the airlift of supplies to block the Soviet stranglehold on the city, to President Reagan’s sterling 1987 call on Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”. The second was the defiant rise of civil society. In Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, but also in the confused, dying months of the East German communist leadership, protesters risked beatings and their professional futures, sometimes their lives, to stand up for reform and independence. A peaceful outcome to the swelling demonstrations in East Germany was never a foregone conclusion. By October of that year the dissatisfied crowds in
Leipzig had grown to more than 100,000. There was a sudden, common recognition that the authorities had been sucking life out of the societies they were meant to serve. The people lost their fear. From that moment the Berlin Wall was doomed. This determination to fight for a peaceful transition from dictatorship was the lasting legacy of November 9, 1989. Germany came together again, the Soviet empire disintegrated. It also led to a resurgence of nationalism in Europe, a war in the Balkans and, today, an aggressive Russian leadership that has mounted its own celebration of the 25th anniversary of the end of the wall by snatching territory from Ukraine. The qualities of governance and vision that steered the world away from gunfire in 1989 need to be rekindled. Civil society activists in Ukraine and in Russia must be encouraged. The Kremlin of Vladimir Putin has to be shown its limits. That demands not only firm words and a readiness to impose sanctions, but also a commitment to deploy hard power. The rise in US defence spending was one of the elements that strained the communist system to the point where it was ready to offer concessions. This time, as Mr Putin again evokes the spirit of the Cold War, the West has to
make military investments in order to deter Moscow from reckless provocations along Nato’s eastern and northern borders. It falls on Germany, reunited and reassuringly peaceful and stable, to take a special responsibility. It has excluded itself for almost 70 years from taking part in explicit combat missions abroad. Germany anchors the eurozone and in so doing contributes to the stability of the continent. The time has come, though, for the nation to accept broader responsibilities within the alliance. A recent report showed that only seven of the German navy’s 43 helicopters can fly; only one of its submarines can operate. While smaller countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark find the political will to fly bombing missions against Islamic State in Iraq, Germany remains on the sidelines. It has promised to supply trainers for Kurdish soldiers fighting Isis. Their arrival has been delayed because their transport planes lack the necessary equipment. To the United States it seems in many respects to have become a disengaged ally. The time for German diffidence must come to an end. The critical lesson of the Berlin Wall was that liberty can only be won through political resolve. Germany needs to show that resolve again on the world stage.
Seal Team Secrets
The man who killed Osama bin Laden should have remained silent On May 2, 2011, President Obama broke into television broadcasts to announce the death of Osama bin Laden and to thank the special forces responsible. “The American people do not see their work, nor know their names,” he said. This is no longer true. Three years later a former navy Seal identified as Robert O’Neill is to be the subject of a TV documentary in which he will claim to have fired the shots that killed bin Laden. Mr O’Neill’s story is one of the most compelling in the annals of warfare and he presumably has much to gain by telling it. Even so, he should have kept his counsel. Special forces play a central role in the struggle against terrorism, and secrecy is essential if they are to be effective. Their members make legally binding promises not to talk about their work in public and these are promises that must be kept. Having quit the US navy three years ago, Mr O’Neill now works as a motivational speaker under the paradoxical banner “never quit”. He was clearly an exceptional soldier. He won 24 battle honours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the first Seal on to the deck of the USS Bainbridge in the
rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates in 2009 and the second into bin Laden’s bedroom in Pakistan two years later. The interviews being broadcast in America next week will not be the first in which he has given his account of the bin Laden raid. He did so last year in a magazine profile in which he was identified only as “the shooter”. By that time the last hours of the al-Qaeda leader were already the subject of a Hollywood blockbuster, Zero Dark Thirty, with a second feature-length film in the works. The raid had also been described in a book by another member of the Seal team, Matt Bissonette, who disputes the claim that Mr O’Neill’s shots were those that killed bin Laden. Such public squabbling is unseemly and a violation of laws that both men promised to uphold, but the practical effects of their actions are the most worrying. They set precisely the wrong example for anyone thinking of following them into the special forces. The success of special forces’ operations depends on teamwork and mutual trust. That is put at risk the moment one member suspects another may be acting out a narrative in
which he hopes to star in the retelling. More importantly, special forces demand lifelong confidentiality to allow them to go on operating in ways and places off limits to regular troops. War, as von Clausewitz observed, is the continuation of politics by other means. Special forces are the spear-tip of any war machine, and if they stop obeying orders, even after the event, the political mission is compromised. The bin Laden raid is a case in point. Reduced to its essentials it was an important victory against al-Qaeda and a triumph of planning and execution. As the focus of a public argument about who gets the “credit” for an extrajudicial killing, it diminishes the achievement and gives ammunition to terrorism’s defenders. Mr O’Neill is said to be angry over being denied a military veteran’s full benefits because he left the navy after 16 years rather than 20. He is also said to want “control” over a story that was bound to leak anyway. He is still wrong to break cover. He performed brilliantly under unimaginable pressure, but success did not change the rules. He broke them and may be prosecuted. If so, he has only himself to blame.
Shhhh . . .
Libraries should preserve dedicated spaces for private study Libraries thrive. The round reading room at the British Museum, where Marx, Dickens and Thackeray laboured, closed for study in 1997, but the books moved to a new and modern site, the British Library, nearby at St Pancras. New national libraries have likewise been constructed in Germany, France and Denmark. Why, then, would anyone fear for the future of the public library? The answer comes loud and clear. Users are no longer paying heed to the stereotypical bespectacled librarian who urges silence. The sanctuary of a place to study is no longer sacrosanct. Campaigners urge a return to that ethos.
They are right. A public library has many educational uses, yet failing to observe silence in at least some dedicated part of it prevents one of them from being realised. The life of the mind requires a vigorous exchange of ideas, but first the ideas have to be absorbed. That’s where the library comes in. There has rarely been such a place of intellectual ferment as Vienna between the wars. When the philosophers Carnap, Gödel and Schlick, and others of the Vienna Circle, discussed the formalisation of mathematics they went to the Café Arkaden to do it. They didn’t disturb the peace
of their fellow thinkers by expostulating among the stacks. Yes, there is a balance to be struck. In the cartoon Dexter’s Laboratory, the unlovable protagonist, pushing a book trolley, screams “no talking in the library!” at a couple of malefactors — before sweeping up the books from the table and declaring sternly: “No books for you.” The very fact that people use libraries for different purposes, however, requires that the element of choice be preserved. Those who want to study — or slumber — undisturbed should have that choice.
Today: The Lord Mayor’s Show, celebrating the start of a one-year term for the new lord mayor of the City of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow; the Royal British Legion festival of remembrance is held at the Royal Albert Hall; England host the All Blacks at Twickenham; the European Film Awards nominations are announced. Tomorrow: Remembrance Sunday ceremony held at the Cenotaph; President Barack Obama departs on a trip that includes China, Myanmar and Australia; talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme held in Oman between the EU, Iran and the US; the 2014 Children in Need single is released.
Birthdays today Cardinal Vincent Nichols, pictured, Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster, 69; Rupert Allason, novelist and military historian, Historical Dictionary of Naval Intelligence (2010) and Conservative MP for Torbay (1987-97), 63; Joe Cole, footballer, Aston Villa, England (2001-10), 33; Richard Curtis, screenwriter, Love Actually (2003), 58; Alain Delon, actor, The Leopard (1963), Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008), 79; Ken Dodd, comedian, 87; Christopher Hickey, director, British Council Schools, 63; Nerys Hughes, actress, The Liver Birds (1971-78), Torchwood (2008), 73; Kazuo Ishiguro, author, The Remains of the Day (1989), Nocturnes: five stories of music and nightfall (2009), 60; Paul McKenna, hypnotist and writer, The Hypnotic Gastric Band (2013), 51; Jack Osbourne, television and documentary producer, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne (2011), Surviving the Apocalypse (2014), 29; Tadaaki Otaka, conductor, 67; Rifat Ozbek, fashion designer, 61; Sue Porto, chief education officer, Beanstalk charity, 45; Gordon Ramsay, chef, 48; Chris Rankin, actor best known as Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter films, 31; Ian Rickson, theatre director, 51; Sir Norman Rosenthal, curator and art historian, 70; Ana Vidovic, classical guitarist, 34.
Birthdays tomorrow Sir Ronald Harwood, pictured, screenwriter, The Pianist (2002), Quartet (2012), 80; Bille August, film director, The House of the Spirits (1993), Night Train to Lisbon (2013), 66; David Barrie, chairman, Make Justice Work, 61; Sir Victor Blank, businessman and chairman, Lloyds Banking Group (formerly Lloyds TSB Group) plc (2006-09), 72; Baptiste Giabiconi, French model and singer, Un Homme Libre (2014), 25; Delta Goodrem, singer, Innocent Eyes (2003), Love . . . Thy Will Be Done (2014), 30; Sir Anthony Holland, Financial Services complaints commissioner (2004-14), 76; Sir Alistair Horne, journalist and historian, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 (1962), The French Revolution (2009), 89; Professor IA Hughes, paediatrician, emeritus professor, University of Cambridge, 70; Roger McGough, poet, Out of Sequence (1972), As Far As I Know (2012), 77; Frances O’Grady, general secretary, TUC, 55; Tony Slattery, actor, Kingdom (2007-09), panellist, Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1988-1995), 55; Bryn Terfel, baritone, 49; Donald Trelford, editor, The Observer (1975-93), 77; Marina Warner, writer and critic, Stranger Magic: charmed states after the Arabian Nights (2012), 68.
The last word “Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children. Life is the other way round.” David Lodge, novelist, The British Museum Is Falling Down (1965)
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Letters to the Editor
1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF Email: letters@thetimes.co.uk
Rugby: out with big hits, in with pirouettes
Assisted dying Sir, We are all doctors who work with people approaching the end of their lives. We note that Lord Falconer of Thoroton’s private member’s bill to legalise physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients has entered its committee stage in the Lords. We believe that such a law exposes the most vulnerable in society to harm. We come across patients regularly who feel a burden to their relatives and a burden to society due to their particular health needs. Proponents of such a bill point to the “straightforward” cases — where there is a highly intelligent, empowered individual who is able to articulate their wishes. We point to those with dementia, learning disabilities, mental health needs, emotional insecurity or any other vulnerability which may make assessing their true wishes difficult and subjective. What safeguards Lord Falconer’s bill contains will not prevent vulnerable patients from feeling pressurised by society, the media, relatives or even healthcare professionals to curtail their life prematurely. We understand and have witnessed cases where dignity was lacking in the last days of life. We think this is appalling and will continue to work on an individual and organisational basis to improve the quality of end of life care in the UK. However, we do not believe that legalising assisted suicide for terminally ill people is the answer. dr phil williams, GP, Lincoln; dr kim morgan, GP, Stafford; dr natasha beardmore, GP, Stoke on-Trent; mervyn hawe, Ret’d general surgeon; dr yusuf rajbee, GP, Croydon Plus a further 19 signatories whose names can be found at times.co.uk/letters
Assault on ships Sir, I am a lawyer representing a young woman who was drugged and seriously sexually assaulted on a cruise ship. Because the incident took place in international waters, criminal proceedings must be brought against her British assailant in Malta (the country where the vessel was flagged). Without the European arrest warrant staying in place (“Cameron faces new Tory revolt over European arrest warrant,” Oct 29), it would not be possible for the assailant to be extradited from Britain to stand trial in Malta. This is a distressing prospect for my client and alarming for any young woman boarding a cruise ship. simon gallant London W1
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Sir, Melanie Reid (“Rugby score: broken jaws 2, fractured cheekbones 1”, Nov 4) is spot on. The International Rugby Board (IRB) has a duty of care to the men and women, boys and girls who play the game. I struggle to regard the word “hit” as compatible with the aspirations under the “Principles of the Game: Conduct” about being able to exert extreme physical pressure on an opponent to gain possession of the ball “but not wilfully or maliciously to inflict injury”. Another new aspect is the “choke tackle”. This is a means of gaining a turnover of the ball by making sure that the attacking ball carrier is held above the ground with ball trapped. In the recent Ulster v Glasgow Warriors game one of the Glasgow players was left unconscious on the ground when the maul dispersed. I believe that the risks of continuing to allow players to make contact with their opponent at below neck level would be greatly reduced if the laws were changed to require contact to be waist and below. That would restore the traditional tackle using arms to prevent the players from running rather than knocking them back and intimidating them. There should be no place for the choke tackle. ian williamson Edinburgh Sir, Unnecessary injuries are occurring in rugby because laws relating to the tackle area are not being applied. Defending players are allowed to attach themselves limpet-
Unworn with pride Sir, I am berated for not wearing a poppy. Every year I contribute to the Haig Fund. I uphold the tradition of my grandfather who served in the Great War, and my father who served in the Second World War. My grandfather avoided reminders of his experience, and was determined that no son of his would ever wear a military uniform. My father enlisted against his father’s wishes. He endorsed his father’s determination to ensure I never wore a uniform. I wish they were both here to explain why they chose not to wear poppies. They
on this day november 8, 1914
ORGANISED PILLAGE IN BELGIUM We have received from a Belgian gentleman who left Brussels a few days ago, and in whose accuracy we have confidence, some remarkable details of the manner in which the pillage of Belgian country houses has been organized by the German military authorities. It seems that the general staff has compiled what may be called a “Baedeker’s Handbook for Plunderers in Belgium.” In this the more
like to the tackled player without allowing any time for the ball to be released. Attacking players attempt to clear the defender from the tackle area by means of an uncontrolled collision. Such is the momentum of these players at the point of impact that staying on their feet becomes impossible, yet many referees allow the game to continue so long as the ball is available. How long will it be before this so-called “clear out” of the tackle area results in a lifechanging injury, or even a fatality? gary kernan Hove, E Sussex Sir, The absence of a response to the Haka gives New Zealand an unfair advantage. An appropriate response stems from our history, such as Ben Macintyre’s suggestion of the Morris Dance, but more robust (“How to dance to victory over the All Blacks”, Nov 7). In the Hundred Years war against France, our principal weapon was the longbow. Should a bowman be captured by the French, they cut off his bow fingers (index and second) and returned him to the English where he would be unable to fight and a liability. Thus was born our English gesture of defiance; those who escaped capture turned the back of the hand forward and raised the retained digits in a V sign, effectively stating “I have kept my bow fingers and will fight again”. Over time the gesture has acquired a less elegant connotation but the message is the same and still applies. roland shepherd Haslemere, Surrey fought for freedom and remembered all too well their fallen comrades. They did not need to be told to wear a poppy. My respect for the fallen is endorsed by the respect I show for my forefathers by avoiding poppy-wearing. andy cole Cleethorpes, Lincs
Nose for discovery Sir, Your report (“Scientists create drug to replace antibioitics”, Nov 7) regarding enzyme-based therapy for bacterial infections is very encouraging, but the concept is nothing new. Sir Alexander Fleming comfortable houses are “starred” as if they were hotels. Where the heating apparatus has been installed by a German firm the authorities have been supplied with plans of the house — which facilitates the allotment of accommodation. The pillage of such articles as plate, china, pictures, miniatures, wine, and even ladies’ dresses, although wholesale, is carried out with a degree of discrimination which testifies to the artistic culture of the visitors. The collection of a well-known connoisseur of Oriental china near Brussels was carefully packed up and removed, with the sole exception of certain “doubtful” pieces. No less a personage than Prince Charles of Hohenzollern himself, the brother-in-law of the King of the Belgians and brother of the King of Rumania, was to be seen directing the “furniture removers” with discerning eye. A certain Belgian nobleman, whose country house was stripped in his absence of everything of value, applied to the German
Sir, It has always struck me as bizarre that seconds before the start of a sporting contest as physically confrontational as any on the planet, one side is allowed to work themselves up into a frenzy while the other is expected to stand there meekly. It’s about subjugation and control and woe betide any opposition player who doesn’t show the appropriate level of respect, as Brian O’Driscoll discovered to his cost on a recent Lions tour. Let the All Blacks come out 15 minutes before kick off to perform the Haka alone. mark crivelli Worcester Sir, I watched a game of rugby in Manila between two expat sides, Antipodeans and Brits. A Haka was countered by Ring a Ring o’ Roses. The Brits then trounced their bemused opponents. Perhaps England should try it? bob o’donnell Loughborough, Leics Sir, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Rugby is a hooligans’ game played by gentlemen, soccer is a gentlemen’s game played by hooligans . . .” Some things never change. david housden Elton, Cambs Sir, My six-year-old grandson told me that he was learning rugby at school. “I like it,” he said, “but there are so many rules. I don’t know why we can’t just go out and fight.” barry s peters Bramcote, Nottingham discovered Lysozyme in 1923 and tried to use it in clinical practice. The results, however, were disappointing, and so he went on to discover penicillin instead. The story about the penicillium mould accidentally contaminating a culture plate is well known, but it was from a drip from Fleming’s nose (he had a heavy cold) falling accidentally that led to the discovery of Lysozyme. Lysozyme is present in mucus, eggwhite, and tears. A Punch cartoon of the era suggested that it might be harvested from the tears of chastised children. thomas e dickson (Ret’d GP) Edinburgh Governor of Brussels for redress, and, as a concession to his exalted rank, was allowed to investigate a depot near the Gare du Nord. Here he found 200 cases containing not only some of his own things, but some of his nephew’s, who had been equally plundered. On the other hand, there have been cases in which officers have not only not stolen themselves but have prevented their men from doing so. In one instance, a party of men who had behaved well enough for some days during the presence of their officers returned later to the house without their officers on the pretence of looking for (imaginary) Belgian soldiers in plain clothes, broke open the wine cellar, drank 50 bottles, and carried away the whole of the rest of the contents, with the exception of four bottles of mineral water. sign up for a weekly email with extracts from the times history of the war ww1.thetimes.co.uk
Birmingham’s lead Sir, You perpetuate the myth that Manchester was the first industrial city (“Post-Industrial Revolution,” Nov 6). This epithet belongs to Birmingham. In 1731 Lewis Paul and John Wyatt, of Birmingham, took out a patent on the spinning jenny. This, with the development of efficient rotative steam power by Boulton and Watt gave Manchester the equipment it needed to become, further down the line, also an industrial city. Arkwright’s Mill is held to be the first factory but it was predated by Matthew Boulton’s great Soho Manufactory. Birmingham has come up with thousands of inventions. People there still have a remarkable ability to come up with ideas. The historic titles “city of a thousand trades” and “workshop of the world” are both apt. philip dickinson Wellington, Hereford
Barnett’s fair sum Sir, The irony of the Barnett formula (obituary and leader, Nov 4) is that it is so simple it can hardly be called a formula. It was a development of the so-called Goschen formula devised in 1888 by the then chancellor, and it was not devised by Barnett. In essence, any increases or decreases in public expenditure in England on services which are devolved will be matched by increases or decreases in Scotland (and Wales and Northern Ireland) calculated pro rata to population. That simple mechanism cannot survive unchanged if Scotland gets more taxation powers — with a corresponding reduction in the Scottish contribution to UK taxation receipts. peter mackay Kincraig, Highlands
Grockle-ism Sir, As a Cornishman resident in Devon, may I respectfully correct the terminology in your account of the effect of second homes in St Ives (“Kensington-on-Sea aims to turn the tide of second-home grockles”, Nov 7). Indeed, “grockle” is a mildly derogatory term, but has long been the Devonian word to describe summer tourists in general, and not confined to second-home owners. Its provenance is the subject of scholarly debate, but it may have first been used in Torquay. The Cornish equivalent is “emmet”, an old Cornish dialect word for an ant, thus requiring no further explanation. barrie behenna Teignmouth, Devon
Scotch translation Sir, Regarding the success of Japanese entrants in the Whisky Bible 2015 (“Japanese whisky leaves Scotch lost in translation”, Nov 5), when I did National Service in Japan I was advised not to drink the one labelled “Genuine King Anne Scotch Whisky”. michael j fisher Albrighton, Shropshire
Shaken and stirred Sir, A more modern take on Dorothy Parker’s martini rhyme might be “one mojito, two mojito, three mojito . . . more? Four mojito, five mojito, six mojito . . . floor.” isobel williams Mumbles, Swansea
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Opinion
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Pregnant women don’t need a nanny state Attempts to criminalise mothers-to-be are an assault on hard-won freedoms. Help – not hounding – would be kinder Janice Turner
@victoriapeckham
A
t my wedding dinner in a New York hotel, I was keenly aware of a notice by the bar. It was a stern warning from the US Surgeon General that women must not drink alcohol during pregnancy. Since at that moment I was ten weeks pregnant, my one glass of celebration champagne lost all fizz. This was my introduction to the moral burden placed upon the maternal vessel. You are no longer a sentient being, able to judge conflicting scientific data about whether a single glass of wine presents any foetal risk. Instead, step in line: avoid unpasteurised cheese, shellfish, dyeing your hair, high heels among other items on a perpetually changing list of scary no-nos. In America the legal status of a woman in relation to the foetus she carries has declined to such a degree that in 18 states child abuse now includes prenatal substance use. In four of these — Oklahoma,
Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota — pregnant women may be detained just for lacking perceived “self control” as reported by social workers or even neighbours. Instead of examining what might drive desperate women to drink or drugs, authorities lock them up. Needless to say, most are black and poor. And now a case currently awaiting judgment in the UK Court of Appeal contains the same punitive fervour. A council is arguing that the heavy drinking of an alcoholic mother — only 17 years old when she gave birth — is the equivalent of attempted manslaughter after her daughter was born with foetal alcohol syndrome. Victory would mean a sum from the
A foetus can gain legal status only at the cost of maternal rights Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority that would alleviate the council’s burden of paying for the girl’s care: 80 similar cases wait upon this judgment. If upheld this would not only criminalise pregnant addicts, making them less likely to seek help, but could be extended to other cases of maternal negligence. What if your car crashed and you hadn’t been
wearing a seat belt, or you rode a bicycle or a horse, like Zara Phillips who was chastised for insouciance about her heir. A miscarriage would become a potential crime and the tsk-tsking of the sticky beaks who seek to police pregnant women would be enshrined in law. At present the foetus has no legal status in Britain and those who press for change do so knowing full well it will be at the expense of maternal rights. Enshrine in law that a human being acquires full legal status when sperm meets egg and abortion is automatically ruled out. While no one wants a pregnant teenager to knock back a bottle of vodka a day — because it will imperil her health as well as her baby’s — when criminal law enters reproductive rights, stand by for the regressive fall-out. This week, a bill that seeks to make sex-selective abortion illegal received a first reading. The issue of “gendercide” has been held up as a challenge to pro-choice feminists. How can you support the elimination of girls before they are even born? And in much of Asia this practice has created a dramatic gender imbalance. But it is, thankfully — and all official statistics bear this out — a minute matter in Britain where dowry is less common and the low status of girls within
Pakistani or Bengali communities is counteracted by the prevailing secular society. Campaigners claim that “over 100 Asian girls” are terminated a year. Which may seem a lot until you realise that Britain has 800,000 live births a year. But the one sure consequence if this bill becomes law is that abortion services will be pushed towards racial profiling. Asian women can expect to be interrogated about the “real”
Gender abortion is illegal in China and India yet goes on apace reasons they want a termination and doctors will fear criminal prosecution. Is this what pro-choice Labour feminists such as Emily Thornberry, Kate Hoey and Fiona Mactaggart wanted as they walked through the Yes lobby with the Conservative Fiona Bruce, chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group: white women to have superior reproductive rights to brown ones? Besides, gender abortion is illegal in China and India, yet it goes on apace. The only solution is to improve the cultural and religious status of girls: challenge sharia courts, which codify the inferiority of
a daughter over a son in inheritance; provide refuge places for women pressed to abort because it is fathers, studies show, who prefer boys; mothers tend not to care. Yet it is women, never men, who the law will persecute. Gendercide is a faux-feminist attempt to change the abortion debate: to set up a dichotomy of good and bad reasons. The current 1967 legislation states that a woman may have an abortion only if at risk of “grave permanent injury to [her] physical or mental health”. This has always been used as a coverall for the infinite reasons why women don’t go ahead with the life-long responsibility of raising a child: poverty, marital break-up, extreme youth, a peri-menopausal mistake, the wrong time. Like gender preference, none of these in itself is a valid legal reason. And so maybe it is time now to clarify the law: to fall in line with France, Spain, Denmark and other modern nations which state that up to 12 weeks the only criteria for an abortion should be choice. Because otherwise we must repeatedly fight the old, old battle with a new set of enemies and canny assaults. Repeating afresh that reproductive rights are the keystone of liberty and women’s bodies are their own, not vessels subject to the law.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
Faith schools ordered to teach Christianity Greg Hurst Education Editor
Children attending minority faith schools will be required to recognise that Britain’s religious traditions are mainly Christian in an attempt to encourage tolerance. Respect for people with different religious beliefs will be a central theme in new GCSEs in religious studies, under subject criteria published yesterday by the Department for Education. Although all GCSEs are being rewritten as part of the government’s exam reforms, the new content for religious studies courses was given greater urgency after the Trojan Horse affair, in which several schools in Birmingham were taken over by hardline Islamists. Teenage pupils taking religious studies — traditionally a high-entry GCSE, with more than 280,000 candidates this summer — will have to study two religions in the revamped subject, which will be taught from 2016. In Church of England or Catholic schools, this means that children could spend three quarters of their time studying Christianity or Catholicism and the remaining quarter in Judaism. The change will have greater impact in Muslim and Jewish schools, and in other minority faith schools, which until now have been able to study only their own religion. Each syllabus drawn up by exam boards will enable schools to study Christianity or Catholic Christianity, which are treated sepa-
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rately, and five other world religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. Minority faiths have been excluded as options, as has humanism. The British Humanist Association attacked that decision yesterday, saying that faith leaders consulted on the changes via the Religious Education Council agreed to including humanism as a study option but were overruled by the Department for Education. The content for children who study Islam has been drawn up in a way that would prevent schools linked to foundations with a hardline ideology from teaching in a sectarian way: pupils will have to learn the articles of faith and pillars of Sunni Islam and the roots and obligatory acts of Shia Islam. All children will also be taught in a different way, with greater focus on texts and practices, especially when considering philosophy and ethics. When discussing moral issues, children will be required to answer questions by drawing on their knowledge of religion rather than giving a personal response. The plans were welcomed yesterday by religious groups and RE teachers. The government will now embark on a period of public consultation. Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, said: “It is of paramount importance that young people understand the central importance of religion in Britain’s cultural heritage and high quality religious education in schools is key to achieving that.”
News
JASON KEMPIN / GETTY IMAGES FOR BATTERSEA POWER STATION
MPs attack police over travellers David Brown
London calling Kate Beckinsale at Battersea Power Station’s Hollywood launch party. The developers are on a world tour to find 4,000 wealthy homebuyers
Conservative MPs have accused a police chief of failing to take action against travellers for fear of breaching their human rights. Robert Halfon and Jackie DoylePrice said that the town of Harlow had been “under siege”, with 70 illegal camps set up in the past year. In a letter to Theresa May, the MPs accused Stephen Kavanagh, the chief constable of Essex, of a “significant failure” to uphold the law. Mr Halfon, the MP for Harlow, and Mrs Doyle-Price, the MP for Thurrock, asked the home secretary to order an inquiry. They said that only ten orders for travellers to leave illegal camps in Harlow had been issued in the past year. The travellers simply moved on to another area. The MPs wrote: “In Harlow, the police have seemed reluctant to act, seemingly because of human rights legislation.” A Conservative councillor in Thurrockwas investigated for allegedly inciting racial hatred after demanding action against a site in his ward that had been refused planning permission. Mark Coxshall said that he feared that it would end up looking like a “big, fat gypsy cesspit”. Chief Superintendent Sean O’Callaghan of Essex police said that officers could only remove travellers if it was “lawful, necessary and proportionate in the individual circumstances”.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
News
Gardeners unearth a plant thief’s sneaky tactics PETER WALTON PHOTOGRAPHY; ALAMY; MARK BOLTON / GETTY IMAGES; ZACHARY CULPIN / SOLENT NEWS
But how to catch the culprit of a growing crime is perplexing the horticulturalists, reports Tom Whipple Something wasn’t quite right with the banksia plants at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in Dorset. They were listless, they appeared to have lost their joie de vivre — they looked, in short, a little bit dead. When the gardeners went to investigate, it didn’t take an experienced horticulturalist to diagnose the problem: the banksias had no roots. As far as they could surmise, it seemed that someone had dug the valuable plants out of the ground, snipped off their stems at the base, put the roots in their rucksack, and then replanted the stalks to cover their tracks. It was only when the stalks began to wilt that the crime was uncovered. If their guesswork is correct, there is a master plant thief on the loose on the south coast, and Tim Newman, assistant head gardener, would very much like to get to the bottom of it. “We do our main plant in spring and autumn. We have started noticing that a couple of weeks later some of the more choice of those plants disappear,” he said. “If they are small enough, we suspect they are being dug up whole.” If they are a bit taller — too tall to fit in a rucksack — then this more stealthy tactic needs to be employed. Over the
hooker’s banksia Banksia hookeriana
blewbury tart Galanthus nivalis oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium
Precious plants stolen from Abbotsbury, left, and Sir Harold Hillier Gardens,
where Barry Clarke, right, a botanist, hopes cameras will help to catch thieves
past couple of years the problem has become noticeably worse. If it were just one garden then perhaps such an account could be dismissed. However, in neighbouring Hampshire the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens have been so afflicted by thefts that they have had to anchor down plants with chains and install hidden motion detectors around seedbeds. Who is doing it? And why? Mr Newman isn’t sure. “It seems they are quite elusive,” he said. “We suspect they are targeting the better plants.” He said that when they plant common plants they never get stolen. “It could be someone collecting or selling on.” The irony is, having lost their stem, the plants are never going to look good. For now, he is at a loss as to what he can do. “We put up signs to ask visitors to be vigilant, and our staff detour to look at the newly planted areas more frequently.” Other than that, there is little else he can think of, except perhaps sh shaming the thieves. “T “Taking just one plant upsets our planting scheme. Our visitors can’t believe it. They think it is very selfish.” It is the gardeners who have suffered the most, though. “Their passion is the plants, they nurture them, put them out and hope to see them grow. This is especially true if they are a bit more rare.”
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
Police hope Twitter will help to solve 20-year-old murder Georgie Keate
Police are attempting to solve the murder of a schoolgirl which has baffled detectives for two decades, by being the first force to make a reconstruction on Twitter of the day she was last seen. The police force has said the method will reach thousands of people who would not see a traditional appeal. Yesterday, West Yorkshire police staged what it called a “Tweeconstruction” of Lindsay Jo Rimer’s movements on the day she went missing, to try to jolt the public’s memory. From 11.15am they tweeted about Lindsay, who was 13 when she disappeared, asking for retweets and linking to a three-minute video about the case, presented by Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson. Lindsay’s body was found in a canal near Halifax in April 1995, almost five months after she was reported missing. The last time anyone saw her was when she left her home in Hebden Bridge to walk to a local shop. She was found at the bottom of the Rochdale Canal, weighed down by a 9kg (20lb) rock with signs of strangulation around her neck. Despite years of collecting witness statements and speaking to more than 1,000 people during the investigation,
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police have not charged anyone with the girl’s murder. Her mother Geri still puts up posters around the town every year appealing for information. “I desperately want to close this case and bring closure to Lindsay’s grieving family,” the detective said. In the video, the officer walks to each of the spots where the girl was last sighted while CCTV footage from the shop is played, before stopping by the canal where Lindsay’s body was found. “He or she remains at large,” he said. “That’s 20 years where they’ve been able to enjoy their liberty as Lindsay’s family grieve for her. Lindsay was only a young girl with her whole life ahead of her. Someone, somewhere knows what’s happened to her.” The detective even appealed to watchers to hand over their loved ones if they had ever harboured suspicions. “You might [have] never come forward before out of misguided sense of loyalty,” he said. “Remember, Lindsay was someone’s daughter whose loss is still as raw today as it was back in 1995. The campaign received a high of 53 retweets for its first post, with most receiving between 16 and 29. “We have already had a number of calls with information and will be following those up to see if they help the appeal at all,” Mr Atkinson said.
News
WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE / PA; TWITTER
Lindsay Jo Rimer was 13 when she left her home in Hebden Bridge in 1993. Her body was found five months later in a canal. Nobody has ever been charged for her murder
The Twitter campaign used CCTV footage from the shop Lindsay visited before she disappeared
MP denounced for attack on abuse victim Dominic Kennedy Investigations Editor
The Labour MP Tom Watson was denounced on Twitter yesterday after he appeared to make a personal attack on a prominent victim of paedophilia. He accidentally tweeted a private message in which he criticised two people described as “macfadyen” and “Peter”. Mr Watson later denied that he had been referring to Ian McFadyen, a justice campaigner and backer of the call for a national child abuse inquiry. The MP told his 153,000 followers on Twitter: “He may be a survivor but macfadyen appears a narcissistic bully. And Peter is allowing his media appearances to bring the whole show down.” The tweet was later removed. Mr McFadyen has become an active campaigner for justice for victims of paedophiles. He was repeatedly raped by a schoolmaster when he was 12. It is unclear who “Peter” is in Mr Watson’s tweet. The MP, who led calls for a national abuse inquiry, said: “The tweet was a mistaken direct message. It is not accurate to say it was related to [Mr McFadyen].” However, Twitter users said they were “livid” that he was “slagging off abuse survivors”. Mr Watson told the BBC he regretted writing the tweet, that it was supposed to have been a direct message to another abuse survivor and was sent at the end of “a very stressful week”. dkennedy@thetimes.co.uk
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News PHILIP TOSCANO / PA
Irish inmates may be sent home under EU prison transfers Richard Ford Home Correspondent
Dark art Portrait of André Breton (1950), by Toyen, will be sold at Sotheby’s next week in an auction of Czech surrealist art
Waterloo Road actress hanged herself Will Humphries
An actress who appeared in the BBC dramas Waterloo Road and Doctors hanged herself after battling drug problems and spiralling gambling debts, an inquest heard. Lynsey Pow, 34, was found dead at home in south London last November by her husband, Ashley House, a Euro-
sport TV presenter, after she phoned him to apologise for her gambling and cocaine habit. He rushed home from work and found his wife hanging, with drugs paraphernalia and open bank statements near her body. James Pow, her father, said that he had tried to take her to his home in Scotland a month before she died. Revealing a bitter family rift, his statement
read to the inquest at Southwark coroner’s court said: “I sought to separate my daughter from her husband after he failed to fulfil his marriage vows to act as a custodian and guardian.” Sarah Ormond-Walshe, the assistant coroner, ruled that it could not be proved that Ms Pow had intended to kill herself. She said: “I am recording this as a drug-related self-harm death.”
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Hundreds of Irish prisoners in jails in England and Wales could be sent home to serve their sentences under a plan being negotiated by ministers. Talks are taking place to review the arrangement that exempts Irish convicts from being repatriated. The negotiations come amid concern that an EU deal on the compulsory transfer of prisoners will still not resolve the problem of thousands of foreign prisoners being held in Britain’s overcrowded jails. Ministers have warned that more than a third of all European prisoners eligible for compulsory transfer will use human rights laws to thwart being sent home to serve their sentences, with about 13 per cent likely to be successful. They are likely to claim that it would breach their rights because of poor jail conditions in their home country, or that it would breach their right to family life. Irish nationals are the second largest foreign contingent in jails in England and Wales but because of the close links between the two countries an agreement was reached several years ago that there would be no forced transfer of inmates. Latest figures show that there are 750 people from the Irish
Republic among the 10,319 foreigners in the prison system, costing an estimated £21 million a year. Britain would be the net beneficiary of a compulsory transfer deal as there are 75 Britons being held in jail in the Irish Republic compared with the 750 Irish who are imprisoned in England and Wales. Michael Spurr, the chief executive of the National Offender Management Service, disclosed the talks with the Irish government as the Commons public accounts committee criticised slow progress in increasing the number of EU prisoners sent home. All 28 EU states are supposed to have signed up within weeks to a deal that would allow the compulsory transfer of prisoners between states, if their home country is willing to take them. Of 10,319 foreign nationals being held in UK jails, at a cost of an estimated £21 million a year, almost 4,000 are from EU states, of which 1,330 are from 18 states that have signed the agreement. As of January, only five prisoners had been compulsorily sent home to serve their sentence. The Ministry of Justice assessment also said that some member states, particularly newer east European countries, may be overwhelmed by the numbers involved.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Taking the long view for a new elegance Trousers that reach the floor look stylish but are only really practical if you have a driver, writes Hilary Rose It began on the catwalks of Hermes and Céline, Givenchy and Marc Jacobs, but this week it fell to Victoria Beckham to show us how it’s done. At the black tie Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year awards, she wore trousers so long they reached the floor. “They pooled on the floor exactly like an evening dress, but with a lot less formality,”” said Sasha Slater, deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar. “There’s a flattering ambiguity and elegance to them, and they feel fresh and modern. I get the feeling we’re moving away from long gowns and dressed-up dressing, so if you want the drama without the grandeur, these pants are the way to go.” Beckham is not alone. In recent months, Kim Kardashian has been spotted in a grey pair by Givenchy, Phoebe Philo teamed them with a tuxedo jacket from her own label, Céline, and the fashion stylist Caroline Sieber rocked puddling trousers by Chanel. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez looked classy in head-to-toe cream, with highwaisted, super-long trousers by Zuhair Murad, and Amal Clooney was immac-
ulate in cream Stella McCartney at her marriage to George. (It has not escaped the notice of observers that these trousers wo would be ruined by rain and constitute a serious trip hazard. What the above women also have in common is a driver.) On the high street, Zara and Cos are both doing convincing options, while MiH says that its Marrakesh and Nouvelle style super-long jeans are flying out of the door. “We’ve had a surge of interest in the Marrakesh Ma recently,” said Chloe Lonsdale, chief creative officer of MiH. “People want a change of silhouette, to have the longer leg again, perhaps paired with an oversize masculine jacket. There’s something about that long, lean look that’s really compelling and the higher-rise is always flattering to wear, and emphasises long legs.” Predictably, it’s not just what you wear, it’s how you wear it and on this editors are divided. Beckham teamed hers with stilettos, but one fashion editor argued that they look better with flats, not spikes. Slater offered the pragmatic solution: “If you don’t want to wear impossibly uncomfortable spike shoes you can hide any horrors under their forgiving hems. No one need ever know.” Left to right, long trousers by Hermes, and as worn by Victoria Beckham, Phoebe Philo and Amal Clooney
News
Show children photos of real sex, says writer Nicola Woolcock Education Correspondent
Children should be taught sex education with photos of ordinary people having sex, according to the author of a book on the subject. Ann-Marlene Henning’s guide, Sex & Lovers, includes photos of full and oral sex, gay couples, men kissing, and a woman sucking her girlfriend’s breast. She said: “They’re just having normal sex — that’s it. We need pictures like that. All that internet porn stuff is too rough, too fast, and just strange-looking people. Too much, too much.” Ms Henning, a Danish neuropsychologist and sex counsellor, told the Times Education Supplement: “One of my big messages is to teach young people that this is a normal topic. Why is it, then, that I can’t show normal people having normal sex? They only have to go home, to leave the classroom to see something worse on their mobile phones. “What’s missing [from sex education] are some acceptable grown-ups — parents, teachers, doctors — who can talk about sex in a normal voice, maybe with a little humour, in a normal pragmatic way.” She said her book was not just about sexuality, but also about feelings. “And what they’re learning from porn is sex without feelings.I think we have a responsibility to teach them, even if it’s uncomfortable for us.”
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News Saturday interview
‘I’m Olympic champion but it feels like I’m just starting’ After taking time off for motherhood, Jessica Ennis-Hill is raring to go again, Rick Broadbent writes
J
essica Ennis-Hill is starting over. She is still the Olympic heptathlon champion but she has been gone a long time. It is two years since the London Olympics and in the interim she has added a suffix, a husband and a new baby to the mix. “I feel old,” she says. “I’m the sleep-deprived old
mummy clinging to the top.” She is only half joking. Those in sport feel the taunt of time more keenly than most, so at 28 the poster girl of 2012 is clock-watching. Her new son is four months old and keeping her awake at night, while she is just two weeks into her comeback from injury and childbirth. When she does make
her return next summer it will be three years since her last heptathlon. The London bunting has long since been mothballed and Ennis-Hill has a new life to consider as she juggles seven events with bringing up Reggie. “It feels like I’m starting from the beginning again,” she says. “London feels ages ago and the next two years are a huge, huge challenge. So much has happened since 2012. I’ll always have those memories but I wanted to come back because I feel I have more to give.” From being omnipresent in 2012, Ennis-Hill has drifted out of the public glare. That has been even more the case since she and her husbandcum-childhood beau, Andy, celebrated Reggie’s arrival in a Sheffield hospital. She may have become public property but she values her privacy, so this is her first interview since she became a mother. Reggie is nowhere to be seen, either here as we meet at her training venue, the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, or in any forthcoming glossy magazine. “I don’t want him to have too much pressure on him,” she says as she ponders Reggie’s childhood. “I’ve seen pushy parents. They reduce children to tears and they drop out of sport. I won’t be like that. I’m really glad that I’m my age because by the time he goes to school I’ll have retired. I won’t be in the limelight. Of course, I’ll be there by the school gates in my Team GB kit with my medals on and saying, ‘Remember me guys?’ ” This is a full-blown joke. Ennis-Hill makes them. She has a reputation for interminable niceness, but she has a dry wit and the mascara cannot mask the bloody-mindedness of a champion. Her coach since primary school, Toni Minichiello, walks by and she deadpans that she is looking for a new one. He calls her a “prima donna”. Earlier he has suggested that she find “your own bloody chair”. It is a tetchy-feely relationship that somehow works and she hopes their plotting will lead to her achieving the Olympic qualifying standard next year before competing at the World Championships in Beijing. “I’ve got unfinished business in Beijing,” she says in reference to 2008 and the broken ankle that wrecked what was supposed to be her first Olympics. Her biggest problem, she concedes, will be managing her time. She says that it is hard training on a lack of sleep and, when she forgets what she was saying, admits “that happens all the time now”. Nevertheless, hers is a life of bleary-eyed bliss and taking tips from her parents. Vinnie is a retired painter and decorator who came to England from Jamaica in the 1960s. Alison works with the victims of substance abuse. Andy’s parents, Jan and Tony, also help. “I can understand why people have a nanny but we’re lucky to have such a good family,” EnnisHill says. Ask her why she is so popular and she smiles and frowns. “I don’t know. London? I don’t know.” It is, perhaps, the girl-next-door mien allied to unattainable achievement; she is a sort of extraordinary Everywoman. “I’m not always nice,” she quips in reference to her love of “gore” in films. She even confesses that she may have sworn in childbirth, albeit “probably under my breath, not
“I feel old,” says Ennis-Hill. “I’m glad that I’m my age — by the time Reggie goes to school, I’ll have retired”
Jessica Ennis-Hill CBE Curriculum vitae Born January 28, 1986 Education King Ecgbert secondary school, graduated in psychology from the University of Sheffield Career A double world heptathlon champion, current British and Commonwealth heptathlon record holder, and Olympic heptathlon champion. Missed Beijing Olympics through injury in 2008. She hopes to retain her title in Rio in 2016. Peerless in her specialist events, high jump and 110m hurdles Family Brought up in Sheffield, oldest of two daughters of Vinnie Ennis, a Jamaican-born painter and decorator, and Alison Powell, a social worker. Married to Andy Hill, a construction site manager, since last year. They had their first child, Reggie, in July
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Saturday interview News TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER, GRAHAM HUGHES
screaming or shouting or anything.” Childbirth changed her way of thinking if not speaking, jolting her out of her athlete’s comfort zone. “I was thinking it can’t be as bad as 800 metres but it was. It was horrendous. I am quite hard and I can take pain, but I wasn’t prepared for that. Hopefully, I won’t have to suffer like that on track. You know, it was labour, not pleasant, not fun at all, but when Reggie arrived you kind of forget. It gives you a different perspective of pain. It’s faded now, but for two weeks I could not get it out of my head.” The first day she left home to return to work was hard, but there were no tears. Her dad was on care duty that day and sent her texts and photos. In days of yore, Minichiello could provoke tantrums from his teenage charge, but now she says that she is too busy to believe that her world is falling apart because of a bad high-jump session.
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he looks in the sort of shape that won world, European and Olympic titles in four years, the abs-fab pin-up so beloved of both teenage boys and girls. Her appeal to the latter is important to her, which is why she worries when she heard the all-parliamentary group on body image state that girls as young as five are worrying about their appearance. Cynics might suggest that Ennis-Hill has little to worry but she knows what it is like to be different. She admits that she would cry before going to school, where she was verbally bullied because of her size. Even now, she is unusually small for a heptathlete, and her mother often sends her a pre-event text saying: “Don’t let those big girls push you around.” Embarrassed by her muscled physique, she also used to wear clothes that covered her arms. “I think the London Olympics made a big difference with so many athletic women being held up as role models, but young girls will always worry about their body,” she says. “It’s a natural thing they go through, but there are still a lot more skinny models on the cover of magazines than athletes so the pressure is still there. Hopefully, as we get closer to another Olympics, that will change again.” She was happy with the morphing that came with her pregnancy. “It is
Glory at the Olympics: the abs-fab pin-up for boys and girls
weird and you go through a stage where your body is changing and you don’t fit into normal clothes, but I went with it. I loved being pregnant.” A sibling for Reggie will hopefully come after the Rio Olympics. EnnisHill’s last heptathlon was at the London version when she shrugged off the burden of expectation to win gold on what became known as Super-Saturday. The aural wave that accompanied her last lap of the 800 metres lifted her to 6,955 points, a British record. The best since is the 6,682 points tally of Katarina Johnson-Thompson, a 21year-old from Liverpool who was 15th at the Olympics. In the hardest of all female events, her progress was halted this year by injury, but the prospect of a duel with Ennis-Hill is a mouth-watering one if they can both find good health. Certainly, Ennis-Hill is not giving up on the heptathlon, as some have speculated, to focus on her best single event, the 100 metres hurdles. “I do love the hurdles but we’ll see how it goes,” she says. “Chell [Minichiello] is very much the heptathlon and that’s what I’m training for. Training can get monotonous year after year, but I missed it after so long away and I feel more responsive now. I don’t know where I am, though. Things are OK — not amazing not terrible — but I won’t know how far behind I am until we test after about five weeks. I’m
‘I am quite hard and I can take pain, but I wasn’t prepared for childbirth’ building all my strength back. I feel different, but I can back to my best.” Britain will hope so. Ennis-Hill is sceptical of the science that suggests childbirth can improve athleticism, but later, when she has gone home, Minichiello says that she has already proved it. They are an odd couple, a faux parent-child relationship. Both are treading carefully, wary of expectations after only one brief race since London, unsure of how her body will react to sporting pain. Whether the road to Rio is a happy one or not, the mother of all multitaskers just seems happy that she can now look forward to the school run.
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World
Seals at war over who fired shot that killed Bin Laden United States
Michael Evans
America’s most elite fighting force is at war with itself and the US authorities amid competing claims about who exactly fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden. The dispute among US special forces troops about who fired the fatal shot at the al-Qaeda leader, and whether anyone should seek to claim credit for it at all, erupted after Robert O’Neill, a highly decorated veteran, prepared to conduct a television interview in which he planned to describe how he dispatched the world’s most-wanted man. However, Mr O’Neill, a former member of the US navy’s Seal Team Six that stormed Bin Laden’s hideout in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in 2010, has been forced to bring forward his acRobert O’Neill was decorated 52 times as a US navy Seal
count after Sofrep, a website dedicated to covering special forces operations, published his name. His identity was provided by other Seals who were upset that Mr O’Neill was preparing to break cover and wanted to dilute the impact of the TV interview. It has also emerged that the naval special warfare command sent letters to Seal team members last week, two days after the documentary was announced, warning them not to talk in public lest they break the force’s ethos and code of silence. After President Obama announced Bin Laden’s death, the Pentagon made
Robert O’Neill’s version of how he killed Osama bin Laden
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1 O’Neill is second in a
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2 Bin Laden appears
briefly at top of the stairs; the lead Seal fires and probably misses
3 The front man pushes two women out of bedroom doorway, allowing O’Neill to roll into the room
4 O’Neill sees Bin Laden standing, holding his youngest wife in front of him. He fires two head shots, at least one of which is fatal. As Bin Laden falls he fires again, hitting him
it clear that none of the Seal Team Six members who participated in the mission would be identified. Mr O’Neill, 38, from the mining town of Butte in Montana, said he had decided to tell his story because he believed that his identity as Bin Laden’s killer was about to revealed. He has already met and talked to people who lost relatives in the 9/11 attack about his role in the raid to help to “bring them closure”, and has carved out a burgeoning career as a motivational speaker drawing on the “never-give-up” lessons gained from more than 400 combat missions. According to Mr O’Neill’s version of
5 Other Seals arrive in the room. Matt Bissonette claims he and a colleague fired several rounds into Bin Laden’s chest as he lay in his death throes
events on the night that Bin Laden was killed, he was on a staircase leading to the third floor of the compound, with one colleague in front of him, when the al-Qaeda chief briefly appeared at the top the stairs. The Seal in front of him, known as the point man, fired and missed. At the top of the staircase, they were confronted in a bedroom doorway by two of Bin Laden’s wives, who the point man bundled out of the way, fearing that they might be rigged with suicide bombs. This allowed Mr O’Neill to roll into the bedroom, where, through his nightvision goggles, he saw Bin Laden stand-
FBI probes envoy dubbed ‘Lady Taliban’ Robin Pagnamenta Mumbai
A veteran US diplomat nicknamed “Lady Taliban” for her outspoken proPakistan views and who once met the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, has been placed under investigation by the FBI. The Washington home and office of Robin Raphel, a retired foreign service officer who was serving as an adviser to the US State Department on Pakistan, was searched last month as part of a counterintelligence investigation, according to officials, who said that no charges had yet been brought. Ms Raphel, 67, is the former wife of Arnold Lewis Raphel, the US ambassador to Pakistan who was killed in with the country’s military dictator, Zia-ul-Haq, a mysterious plane crash in August 1988. She has had her contract as an adviser to the State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan terminated. Her security clearance for Robin Raphel is an ex-diplomat with links to Pakistan
the State Department was also dropped after the FBI conducted searches on October 21. Officials say that she is “no longer a department employee”. Ms Raphel, who visited Pakistan last month to meet Sartaj Aziz, the country’s national security adviser, began her career as a CIA analyst. She later undertook a 30-year career in the US foreign service, where she was assistant secretary of state for South Asia under the Clinton presidency and then US ambassador to Tunisia. After her retirement from government in 2005, she worked as a lobbyist for Cassidy & Associates, a Washington company whose clients included the military administration of General Pervez Musharraf. Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said it was aware of what it called a “law enforcement matter”, adding that officials had been co-operating with the FBI. A spokesman for
the Raphel family said that she was aware of the investigation but declined to comment further. Critics of Ms Raphel’s pro-Pakistan views welcomed the news. Tarek Fatah, a Pakistani-born writer and fellow at the Middle East Forum, tweeted that her “hatred of India & luv for Taliban could not hv come from any other source than ISI”, a reference to Pakistan’s powerful spy agency. However, it was unclear whether the investigation into Ms Raphel was linked to alleged espionage by Pakistan or another country. Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Lahorebased security expert, dismissed speculation about Ms Raphel’s links with Pakistan. He said: “Being a known friend of Pakistan does not mean that she should have been spying.” In the 1990s Ms Raphel was an advocate of engagement with the Taliban and backed plans for a US company to build an oil and gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan. According to Bahukutumbi Raman, a former Indian anti-terrorism chief, she met Mullah Omar to discuss the project.
ing, holding his youngest wife in front of him. “There was Bin Laden, standing there. He had his hands on a woman’s shoulders pushing her ahead,” O’Neill told Esquire magazine in an interview conducted anonymously last year. “He looked confused . . . He had a cap on and didn’t appear to be hit. In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time, as he is going down. He crumbled to the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again.” Mr O’Neill, who retired after 16 years of service in 2012, said it was clear that Bin Laden had died instantly, as his skull was split by the first bullet, The Washington Post reported yesterday. “I watched him take his last breaths,” he said. Not everyone on the raid, codenamed Operation Neptune Spear, concurs with Mr O’Neill’s version of the events of May 2, 2010. Matt Bissonnette, another member of the raiding party who may be prosecuted for allegedly revealing classified information in his book version of the operation, has claimed that the point man did in fact hit Bin Laden, injuring him, and that he and another Seal, presumably Mr O’Neill, followed behind to finish him off. “In his death throes, he was still twitching and convulsing,” he wrote about Bin Laden. “Another assaulter and I trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds.” Mr O’Neill has said that after his shots, other Seals entered the room, and by the time Bin Laden’s body was bagged for removal by helicopter, it had several more wounds. The point man has so far refrained from entering the debate, possibly because he would not want to be known as the Seal who failed to kill Bin Laden from a few feet away. He is still serving, and would be in even more trouble with the authorities than Mr O’Neill if he put his side of the story. The two shots to the head, or doubletap, described by Mr O’Neill sounds plausible because photos taken after the shooting were said to be too gruesome for public viewing and have never been released. Bin Laden’s body was buried at sea. Mr O’Neill’s decision to come forward has split opinion in his home town. Angela Brandt, a reporter on The Montana Standard, said that when she had interviewed him in the past he had always been careful about avoiding any reference to his role in secret missions. She said there had been rumours locally for some time that Mr O’Neill had shot Bin Laden. Now that his story was out, she said that Butte was evenly split over whether he was the town’s hero or whether he should have kept silent. She described him as “down to earth, personable and very funny” and said that it was difficult to imagine him as capable of killing Bin Laden. However, during his 16-year career as a Seal, he took part in missions in four theatres of war and was decorated 52 times, including two Silver Stars for extraordinary gallantry. His publicspeaking biography says that most of his career has been “shrouded in a classified cloak”. No longer. Leading article, page 20
Dressed to kill Russian troops in period
Jihadists from Europe cruise to battlefield Turkey
Catherine Philp Beirut
Would-be jihadists are buying tickets on Mediterranean cruise ships to circumvent airport security checks as they head for battlefields in Syria and Iraq. Interpol called on all countries to expand passenger checks to thwart prospective militants from using sea vessels to reach the Middle East. Ron Noble, the secretary-general of Interpol, called for screening to be increased at all transportation hubs, “airports and, more and more, cruise ships”. Turkey is the main point of entry for radicalised individuals seeking to join
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Mysteries of Mexican city unearthed Page 61
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
Girls star fights claim that she molested sister Page 62
Outrage as dictionary labels Jews avaricious Spain
Graham Keeley Madrid
dress in Red Square yesterday, re-enacting the day in 1941 when the Red Army took part in a parade to raise morale before marching to fight Nazis attacking Moscow
Islamic State or other militant groups recruiting foreigners to fight in Iraq or Syria. Most of the estimated 15,000 foreigners fighting for rebel groups in Syria crossed Turkey’s southern border to get there. Stung by accusations that it was not doing enough to stop them, Turkey has stepped up efforts to catch would-be jihadists arriving at Turkish airports on their way to the border. Pierre St Hilaire, Interpol’s director of counterrorism, said that the Turkish efforts were beginning to pay off, forcing recruits to seek other means of travel. Those include cruise ships stopping on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, close to the Syrian border. “Because they know the airports are monitored more closely now, there’s a use of cruise ships to travel to those areas,” he said. Cruise ships also offer an additional benefit to would-be jihadists by making repeated stops along their route, allowing them to embark or disembark at many different place, complicating efforts to track them.
Princess sent for trial in tax fraud case Graham Keeley Madrid
Princess Cristina of Spain is to become the first member of the royal family to stand trial after a court decided that she should face tax fraud charges. The high court in Majorca rejected a final appeal by the sister of King Felipe VI against two tax charges, but said that a charge of money laundering should be dropped. She is expected to stand trial in 2016 with her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, who is accused of embezzling millions of euros in public funds. The case is a reminder for Felipe, 46, of a corruption scandal that marred the final years of the reign of his father, Juan Carlos, who abdicated in June. Scandals surrounding Juan Carlos destroyed the popularity of the monarchy, leading to calls for a republic. Mr Urdangarin, 46, a former Olympic handball player, and a former business partner are accused of using a non-
profit sporting organisation, Institute Noós, to embezzle €5.8 million (£4.6 million) of public money, then siphoning it into offshore accounts. Princess Cristina, 49, was a director of Institute Noós and the half owner of another company, Aizoon. Judge José Castro, the investigating magistrate, said there was evidence that the couple had paid for dozens of personal items, from Harry Potter books to a trip to Rio de Janeiro, with funds from Aizoon. The tax fraud allegations relate to undePrincess Cristina: has been ordered to stand trial
clared income from both the Institute Noós and Aizoon. The princess and Mr Urdangarin, who live in Geneva, deny any wrongdoing. They have four children. Legal experts said that the charges could still be dropped because Spanish law allows the accused to avoid trial if the victim, in this case the state, does not support the charges. The tax fraud accusations have been made by a union called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands). If the trial judge decides to drop the case, Manos Limpias may appeal, dragging the three-year case on still further. Pedro Horrach, the state prosecutor, has said that he believes Princess Cristina is being pursued for “who she is not what she has done”.
A dictionary that defines the Spanish language has sparked outrage by defining Jews as avaricious and gypsies as dishonest swindlers. The 23rd edition of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) dictionary took 13 years to compile and was unveiled at a recent ceremony by Felipe VI. The book, the Spanish equivalent of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, was condemned for its negative definitions of Jews and gypsies, who suffered prejudice and persecution for hundreds of years in Spain. The definition of Jewish reads “said of a person who is avaricious or usurious”. Another word, judiada, which in English means a cruel act or extortion, was defined as an “action that prejudiced someone”. Jewish groups were angered by the word’s association with the religion. “We are disappointed with the RAE. The definitions of judiada only reflect antisemitic prejudices from other times and cause confusion,” Isaac Querub, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, said. “We call on them to adapt to new times and leave behind the legacy of the Inquisition and Nazism.” Roma groups were angered by the entry for gypsy, which gives the colloquial definition as trapacero, meaning dishonest or swindling. They staged a protest outside the headquarters of the RAE in Madrid yesterday. “That these prejudices remain in a dictionary which may be read by children just serves to strengthen them,” said María José Jiménez Cortiñas, president of the Association of Feminist Gypsies for Diversity. “An institution that receives public money should help society to move forward, not legitimise negative clichés.” The RAE said that the dictionary reflected the way that Spaniards themselves describe Jews and gypsies. Pedro Álvarez de Miranda, the director of the dictionary, said: “There are those who want to change reality when this is impossible. The dictionary cannot change reality, its function is only to reflect it. It is like smashing the mirror when you don’t like what you see in it.” The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. More than 500 years later Spain attempted to make up for this by offering citizenship to millions of Sephardic Jews living abroad. Gypsies were systematically persecuted in Spain for hundreds of years, with special laws to stop them using their language, taking up public office or joining trade unions. The new edition of the dictionary also reflects the economic crisis of the past six years, with a host of new words. Among them is mileurista — a person who earns only €1,000 (£785) a month but who should earn more because of their professional qualifications. Burbuja, the word for bubble, now has another meaning because of the property bubble that burst in 2008.
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Sinatra songs saved the sanity of Ukrainians in besieged city Ukraine
Ben Hoyle Luhansk
When the Ukrainian army laid siege to his city and the bodies in the mortuary where he worked began to rot, Konstantin Moroz picked up his saxophone and played Frank Sinatra. The paramedic was part of a team who risked their lives to keep Luhansk’s mortuary open, working on as bombs fell around them and shrapnel sprayed the building during the heaviest bombardment of a European city since Nato pounded Belgrade in 1999. Elections last weekend, opposed by Kiev and the EU, have set the rebeloccupied part of the Luhansk region on course to become a Russian client state and could trigger renewed fighting. Kiev, which has ordered its troops to reinforce positions around rebel enclaves, claimed yesterday that 32 tanks, 16 howitzers and 30 trucks of troops had crossed into Luhansk from Russia. Mr Moroz, 46, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, knows that a resumption of fighting could return the city to the dark days before the September 5 ceasefire, when he played music and sang songs every night to keep people’s spirits up. “My Way — Sinatra . . . Strangers in the Night . . . Yesterday — McCartney . . . Music that relaxes people,” he said. “I like Scott Joplin too, but the moment wasn’t right. There was too much horror for that. “We are not military people. It is not
normal for us to see so much death. Our building was heavily shelled. There was no light, no electricity, no water and a lot of bodies. The refrigerators didn’t work, so you can imagine the smell.” For over a month, it was safer to sleep in the mortuary than risk going home. At one point, Mr Moroz’s hands were slashed by flying glass; bandaged, he kept working and playing music. On August 2, one of his best friends was killed. His legs were severed in an explosion and he died on the way to hospital. Mr Moroz learnt about it only when the body was brought to the mortuary. “When I wrote down the details — his name and address — I saw it was my friend,” he said. “I haven’t deleted his contact from my telephone. He will stay with me my whole life.” The failed siege ended with the ceasefire, but with east Ukraine now on the brink of a full-scale resumption of hostilities, Mr Moroz’s experience could soon be repeated. For now, fighting continues in the village of Shchastya — meaning “happiness” — ten miles to the north and loud booms of artillery fire can be heard around Luhansk. In the city, though, residents who fled or spent weeks indoors or underground are groping their way back towards a normal life. For 50 days, there was no running water or electricity and both are still intermittent. There is no street lighting apart from in front of one public building, mobile phone coverage is patchy
and internet access worse. Public transport stops at 8pm, buildings bear the scars of the fighting and rebel gunmen rule the streets. However, most schools and some restaurants and shops are open, and by day, the streets and playgrounds are busy. The mortuary has dealt with more than 500 victims of the conflict so far, at least 70 per cent of them civilians. Recently it has been taking in disinterred corpses that were buried hurriedly during the fighting. The families of the dead need a death certificate to claim the 160,000 hryvnia [£7,800] compensation that the rebel Luhansk People’s Republic administration says it will pay for anyone killed in action or by bombing. Inside the heavily guarded regional administration building, bustling secretaries and officials convey an impression of fruitful activity. However, the new rebel ministers are vague about their plans and how to finance them. Vassily Nikitin, an expert on vegetables who is now the deputy prime minister for social affairs, said that his priority was putting roofs and windows back on public buildings such as schools before winter. Those rendered homeless by the fighting were in student accommodation, he added. In one of those hostels, Nina Asmachkina, 61, wept as her husband, Igor, described how the stone cottage where they had lived for 37 years burnt down. “It’s hard to say who hit it,” he said after a pause. “The war attacked our house.”
MAXIM ZMEYEV / REUTERS
Daniil Kuznetsov, left, and Andrei Eliseev, teenagers killed in shelling in Donetsk
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Give back bodies of Berlin Wall dead, say families Germany
David Charter Berlin
Commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall tomorrow will mean more to Irmgard Bittner, a grieving 78-year-old mother, than to most of the dignitaries arriving in the city this weekend. Ms Bittner believes that it will be her last chance to find out where her 25year-old son, Michael, is buried — what the Stasi did with his remains after he was shot trying to scramble over the wall in 1986. She believes that after this weekend there will be no more opportunities before she dies to shame witnesses or former Stasi staff into telling her where her son’s final resting place is. Speaking after the screening of a documentary about the wall, which will be released this weekend, Ms Bittner said: “When I was asked to participate in the film, the thought in the back of my head was that maybe someone would come forward who knows the fate of my son. “I am not young any more, I will not be here for much longer and I would like to take the certainty with me, or maybe see just once some grave or place where he lies. “Someone could put a card in my letterbox, maybe someone who has the guts to write this to me. There must be people who know. He cannot have burnt or buried himself.” It was at 1.30am on November 24, 1986, that witnesses on the western side of the city saw Michael Bittner fall to the ground after a barrage of 37 shots,
The art installation Lichtgrenze, or Light Border, marks the path of the Berlin Wall in front of the city’s Brandenburg Gate
just as he grasped the top of the Berlin Wall. A guard was heard to shout “we got the bastard” and the shooting caused an outcry in the West, leading to international appeals for East Germany to stop killing its own citizens. This may explain why the Stasi initially covered up his death, portraying Michael, a bricklayer, as a people trafficker who was on the run. Ms Bittner was not officially informed of his
death until 1991, after the wall had come down. “I could not be with him when he died,” she said in the film, recounting the years of nightmares and fruitless appeals for information. “A witness said that he lost consciousness and never woke up. All mothers would be with their child if Irmgard Bittner: her last chance to find son’s grave
he dies but I can only imagine it. I have relived it again and again. They did not tell us anything. They knew he was dead but issued a warrant for his arrest. I do not even have a death certificate. Officially he should still be alive.” Ms Bittner heard rumours that the Stasi had many
of their victims cremated and buried in a plot at Baumschulenweg cemetery in southeast Berlin. “They told me they buried 200 urns but should I go to the cemetery and look for my son?” she said. Michael Bittner’s memorial at the site of his death today stands incongruously next to the children’s playground of a McDonald’s restaurant built on the Berlin Wall’s former death strip. The documentary, Die Familie, which deals with the torment of relatives, also tells the story of Elke Liebeke as she tries to find out how her husband, Rainer, died in the Sacrower See, southwest of Berlin, apparently while trying to swim to freedom, aged 34. His body was retrieved from the lake in September 1986 but cremated before his widow could view his remains. His Stasi file revealed only that his body was too decomposed to tell the cause of death. For years Ms Liebeke has wondered if her husband was shot by the Stasi and his death covered up. In Die Familie, she confronted a former local official who saw the body, who told her that “he was not injured, he just drowned”. She is still not convinced. “Nobody drowns without making a sound,” she said, arguing that her husband would have called for help if he were in difficulty. At least 138 people died at the Berlin Wall from shootings, fatal accidents or suicide between its construction in 1961 until its fall in 1989, according to the memorial centre to be opened by Angela Merkel on Sunday. Leading article, page 20
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
World
Rural France bares its teeth against wolves France
Adam Sage Paris
The mayor of an obscure French village in the northeast of the country has come head to head with zealous environmentalists desperate to revive a rural idyll last seen at the end of the 19th century. Environmentalists have been pushing to repopulate rural areas of France with wolves and bears to rediscover the diversity that the country last enjoyed more than 100 years ago. The French wolf population was wiped out by hunting and urbanisation in the 1920s, and the animal reappeared only in the 1990s, crossing the Alps from Italy
after it was made a protected species. However, the population has grown since then to reach an estimated 300 or so, infuriating farmers by roaming across the countryside, attacking livestock. Wolves killed 6,102 animals, mainly sheep, in France in 2012, the last year for which official figures are available. This compares with 4,921 in 2011 and 2,747 in 2008, and farmers are livid that, because wolves are a protected species, they are not allowed to kill them to save their Wolves kill thousands of animals a year in France
flocks. Now Claude Orbion, the mayor of Nançois-le-Grand in eastern France, has been warned that he might be breaking the law by offering a €2,000 (£1,570) reward for the capture of a wolf he says is troubling local sheep farms. Mr Orbion, a farmer, said he was offering the money out of his own pocket to liberate the district from the predator. He has plastered the village with “Wanted” posters carrying a photograph of a wolf. Mr Orbion said he wanted the wolf captured alive, and planned to give it to a local zoo or to the government representative in the region. “This is a way of defending the farmers and especially the breeders who defend employment,” he said. “It’s also a way of saying that there is no end to the wolf attacks in our département.” The village has a population of 50 people, only 14 of whom work. Five are farmers. Mr Orbion said that 120 sheep in the area had been killed by the same wolf over the past 12 months. His posters avoid saying whether the animal is wanted dead or alive, but government officials said that locals would see them as an invitation to shoot it on sight. Pierre Liogier, director of the environment ministry’s regional office, said: “It is illegal to call for wolves to be hunted.” He added that Mr Orbion would sent an official reminder of the law.
Student dies after being run over in terror attack Jerusalem A second person, believed to have been a 17-year-old student, has died after being run over by a Palestinian from Shuafat refugee camp on Wednesday. A border police officer was killed in the attack, which has been described as an act of terrorism, and several people were injured. The driver of the car, which rammed into two groups of pedestrians, was shot dead by police.
Malaysian Muslims win the right to cross-dress Kuala Lumpur Three transgender
Muslims have won a ruling in a Malaysian appeal court that a Sharia ban on them cross-dressing is discriminatory. The three judges said the law in Negeri Sembilan state was inhumane and deprived them of “the right to live with dignity”. (AP)
Italy’s cheating spouses rumbled on WhatsApp Rome Social media has “boosted
betrayal” in Italy and damaged the family, a leading divorce lawyer said. Gian Ettore Gassani claimed that 40 per cent of divorce cases involving betrayal now hinged on WhatsApp messages swapped by unfaithful spouses and their lovers.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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World
Haitian migrants’ daughter is darling of US right United States
Devika Bhat Washington
As republicans trumpeted their election win this week, there was one victory speech that stood out. “Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a black, republican, LDS [Latter Day Saints] woman to Congress. And guess what? Not only did we do it, we were the first to do it,” said Mia Love, a newlyelected congresswoman. In a party still dominated by older white men, Ms Love, 38, has created excitement. As the first black republican woman elected to Congress in US history, she has revived hopes that the
party may, at long last, be overcoming its greatest Achilles’ heel: its inability to attract the votes of women, minorities and young Americans needed to win the White House. Considered a rising star after delivering a rousing speech at the Republican National Convention in 2012, Ms Love’s path to prominence echoes that of Barack Obama, whose profile grew considerably after he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. The former mayor of the small city of Saratoga Springs, she is one of the few black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church — a faith that did not allow African-Ameri-
Mia Love: “I wasn’t elected because of my skin colour”
cans to fully participate in its activities until 1978. Black congregants make up about 3 per cent of the church. But it is her personal journey that is gold dust for a party which insists that even those from the poorest backgrounds can improve their lot without government handouts. Born Ludmya Bourdeau in Brooklyn in 1975, her parents were Haitian immigrants who
fled the grinding poverty and violence that characterised the regime of dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. “My parents immigrated to the US with $10 in their pocket . . . when times got tough they didn’t look to Washington, they looked within,” she told the Republican National Convention. She has recalled how her father told her when she started university: “You will not be a burden to society. You will give back.” Raised a Catholic, she converted to Mormonism after graduating from the University of Hartford, Connecticut, with a degree in fine arts. She considered a career on Broadway but instead became a flight attendant — a job with
enough flexibility to enable her to move to her religion’s heartland in Utah. There she met her husband Jason, with whom she has three children. Despite initially hailing the historic significance of her election win, Ms Love has since downplayed references to her skin colour and gender. “I wasn’t elected because of the colour of my skin, I wasn’t elected because of my gender,” she told CNN the day after her victory. “Utahans have made a statement that they’re not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender, that they want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity. That’s really what made history here.”
Shakespeare cast do their boozy best Will Pavia
Gentle giant A fluffier pet might be more traditional for a two-year-old girl, but Tatum is happier with her family’s Brahman herd in South Africa’s Drakensberg region
New York mayor’s wife joins race row Will Pavia New York
Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, and his wife have become embroiled in a race row with the city’s police commissioner. Chirlane McCray, the mayor’s wife, who is black, was said to have raged against Bill Bratton, the city’s white police commissioner, after the resignation of the most senior black police officer at the New York police department. Chief Philip Banks, a respected African-American officer who was number three on the force, is said to have resigned after a disagreement with Mr Bratton. His departure has thrown New York’s efforts to improve relations between the police and black and Hispanic communities into disarray. To make matters worse Ms McCray told her husband that he had picked the wrong man last year when he appointed Mr Bratton, according to the The New York Post. Mr Bratton was ap-
proached in 2011 about becoming the Metropolitan police commissioner in London. “I told you we can’t trust him,” she is said to have told the mayor. He is said to have delivered a dressing-down to Mr Bratton for losing his most respected black officer. The whole episode has exposed the fragile race relations in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in America. Mr de Blasio took office at the beginning of the year, the first Democrat mayor since 1993. He was elected with a mandate to improve relations between the police and black and Hispanic communities but his administration has caused controversy in its dealings with the police department. Mr Banks had the trust of prominent black politicians and civic leaders and Mr Bratton wanted to make him deputy commissioner. However, Mr Banks was believed to be negotiating for more power in the job, which is more about policy than the day-to-day running
Chirlane McCray is married to Bill de Blasio, right, and a critic of Bill Bratton, his police chief
of the police department. When those negotiations broke down, he walked out. After the story in The New York Post, the mayor and the police commissioner appeared together at a press conference, insisting that they had an “extraordinary” and warm relationship. Ms McCray is regarded as the city’s most influential “first lady” in recent memory, serving as the mayor’s chief adviser as well as the head of the mayor’s fund, which disperses money to charities and civic groups. She accused a “stubborn group of people” of opposing her husband’ husband’s efforts to create a “more fair and equal policing system” and said they were “spreading lies to irresponsible reporters”. In a post on her blog, she implied that the reporting was racially skewed. Mr Bratton has appointed Benjamin Tucker, another African-American, as his deputy commissioner.
The man behind the latest production of Macbeth does not like to take all the credit for his show. “Once it starts, you never know what’s going to happen,” said Scott Griffin, 34, standing backstage at a theatre near Times Square. This is partly thanks to the magic of the stage. But it is also because his actors are drunk. This is the Drunk Shakespeare Society, a company that hopes to make the Bard more accessible to New Yorkers with the aid of alcohol. Whit Leyenberger, 28, from Pennsylvania, who was Macbeth, was only slightly merry when Lady Macbeth suggested regicide. After the bloody deed was done, he had a double whisky. He had moved on to beer by the time Macduff strode into view. “Hold that,” he said, passing the bottle to a woman in the audience. According to the rules of the society, only one member of the cast is actually required to be drunk each night, At times the show resembles an elaborate Jacobean drinking game. For the sake of his actors’ livers, Mr Griffin has two casts of five performing on alternate nights. Initially they performed in bars. This month, they transferred to a theatre.
War against Islamic State
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Weekend
Bryan Ferry
Saturday November 8 2013
Travel Starts on page 50
Models, class and why I wish I’d gone to Eton
the times Saturday November 8 2014
38 Food + Drink
The best soup recipes from around the world From Japanese udon noodle soup to Malaysian pumpkin and coconut laksa, these international recipes from the chef Jordan Bourke are bursting with flavour Cambodian monkfish amok curry
Serves 4 Ingredients Vegetable oil 4 shallots, thinly sliced 400ml can coconut milk, plus extra to serve 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar, or brown sugar 5 tsp fish sauce 150g green beans 400g monkfish, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 fresh red chilli, thinly sliced 2 kaffir lime leaves, very thinly sliced Boiled or steamed jasmine rice, to serve For the amok curry paste 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded 5 garlic cloves, peeled 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed, outer leaves removed 5 shallots or 1 red onion 5 kaffir lime leaves 3cm piece galangal, peeled, or 2cm piece fresh ginger 1 tsp ground turmeric Zest of 1 lime Method 1 For the curry paste, add everything to a food processor with 3 tbsp of water and blitz until you have a paste, scraping down the sides when needed. This will take at least a few minutes of constant blitzing. 2 Place a large pot with 2 tbsp vegetable oil over a medium heat. Add the shallots and stir-fry for a few minutes until softened. Turn down the heat, add the curry paste and cook gently for 5-10 min until fragrant. 3 Add in the coconut milk, 200ml water, sugar and fish sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 min. Add in the green beans and fish and cook for a further 5-8 min until the fish is just cooked through and beans are tender. Ladle into a bowl and spoon a little coconut milk on top. 4 Scatter over the sliced chilli and lime leaves, and serve the rice on the side.
Japanese udon noodle soup
Serves 4 Ingredients Half a block of firm tofu (about 200g), drained 5 tbsp tamari or dark soy sauce 3 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar or sugar Sea salt 200g mangetout 400g udon noodles or rice noodles 1.5 litres dashi stock from powder, or fish or vegetable stock 5cm piece of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks Sunflower oil 2 spring onions, sliced Sesame seeds, to serve Method 1 Wrap the drained tofu in a clean tea towel and very gently squeeze to remove excess water. Remove the towel and slice into 16 pieces of equal size. 2 In a wide bowl, combine the tamari or dark soy sauce, mirin and coconut palm sugar. Add in the tofu, cover with the marinade and leave to infuse for 25 min. 3 Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the mangetout and cook for 2 min, then remove (reserving the water for the noodles) and plunge into cold water. Cook the udon noodles according to the packet instructions, then rinse under running cold water. 4 Remove the tofu from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and shake off any excess. Add the stock and ginger to a small saucepan, almost bring to a boil and add in the reserved tofu marinade, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. 5 Place a frying pan over a medium-high heat, and add 1 tbsp sunflower oil. When hot, add the tofu and fry for 1 min on each side until golden. Remove, drain and keep warm. 6 When ready to serve, add the udon and mangetout to the stock until warmed through, then immediately ladle into bowls (avoiding the ginger), top with the tofu, spring onions and sesame seeds.
Cambodian monkfish amok curry
Malaysian pumpkin and coconut laksa
Serves 4 Ingredients 1 pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, halved and deseeded 2 tbsp olive oil Sea salt 2 tbsp vegetable oil 4 shallots, thinly sliced 4 tbsp of the curry paste (see below) 3 tbsp coconut palm sugar or pure maple syrup 1½ tsp sea salt Zest and juice of 1 lime (about 2 tbsp), plus another lime, cut into wedges, to serve 2 tbsp tamarind paste 2 x 400ml cans coconut milk 400ml vegetable stock Handful of spinach leaves 200g rice noodles Half a red onion, sliced 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced Small handful of fresh mint leaves For the curry paste 3 fresh red chillies, deseeded 2 tsp chilli flakes 4 shallots, roughly chopped 5 garlic cloves, peeled 3 lemongrass stalks, outer leaves and woody ends removed, chopped 3cm piece fresh ginger, skin scraped off with a teaspoon 1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground turmeric 4 lime leaves (optional)
Method 1 For the curry paste, add everything to a food processor with 6 tbsp of water and blitz until you have a paste, scraping down the sides when needed. This will take at least 2 min of constant blitzing. 2 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Cut the pumpkin or squash halves into 3cm chunks, drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt and roast in the preheated oven for 30 min until cooked through. 3 Place a large pot with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over a medium heat. Add in the shallots and stir-fry for a few minutes until softened. Turn down the heat, add 4 tbsp of the curry paste and cook gently for 5 min until fragrant. 4 Add in the sugar or maple syrup, salt, lime zest and juice and tamarind paste. Cook for another few minutes until the sugar has dissolved and everything is sizzling. Add in the coconut milk and stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer briskly for 10 min. 5 Taste the soup and if necessary adjust
Japanese udon noodle soup
Vietnamese pho
the times Saturday November 8 2014
Food + Drink 39 TARA FISHER
Moroccan harira soup
the seasoning with a little more salt, lime juice or coconut palm sugar. You should be able to taste all the sour, salty and sweet elements quite strongly. Add in the cooked pumpkin or squash and the spinach leaves, stirring into the sauce until slightly wilted. 6 Cook the noodles in boiling water, according to the packet instructions. Ladle the soup into bowls and then add in a mound of noodles. Scatter over some of the red onion, chilli and mint leaves and serve immediately with the lime wedges to squeeze over.
Moroccan harira soup
Serves 4–6 Ingredients 1 large onion, chopped 2 celery stalks, finely chopped 1 carrot, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 1 tbsp cumin seeds 2 tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp smoked paprika 2 tsp ground cinnamon 2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated A good pinch of saffron fronds (optional) 3 bay leaves 450g lamb, cut into 1cm pieces 3 tbsp tomato purée 1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 150g brown or green lentils Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper A bunch of fresh coriander, chopped A bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped Extra-virgin olive oil 1 lemon, cut into wedges to serve Method 1 Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan set over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot and chillies, and cook until the onions have softened. Add the garlic, all the spices and bay leaves, and cook for another 2 min, stirring all the time.
Malaysian pumpkin and coconut laksa
2 Add the lamb and tomato purée, and cook for another couple of minutes, then add the stock and canned tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer very gently with the lid on for 45 min. 3 Remove the lid, add the chickpeas and lentils, and cook for another 20-30 min, or until the lentils are cooked. 4 Season the soup with salt and pepper. If you have used stock cubes, you will only need a small amount of salt; however, if you have used home-made stock with no added salt, add about 2 tsp sea salt, and stir in most of the chopped coriander and parsley. 5 Ladle into deep bowls, drizzle over a little extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with the remaining herbs and serve with the lemon wedges to squeeze over. A hunk of sourdough bread alongside would not be a bad idea, either.
Vietnamese pho Serves 4 Ingredients 2 onions, quartered, no need to peel 100g fresh ginger, halved 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled 2 tsp whole black peppercorns 2 cinnamon sticks 7 pieces of star anise 6 whole cloves 1 black cardamom pod 1½ tbsp coriander seeds 1kg beef bones, half with marrow 2½ tbsp fish sauce 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar or brown sugar 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice 375g flat rice noodles 150g beef fillet, very thinly sliced 100g beansprouts 3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal 1 small handful each of fresh coriander and mint (Thai basil optional extra) 2 limes, cut into wedges 2 fresh red chillies, sliced Method 1 Place a dry frying pan on a high heat, and when extremely hot add the onion, ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for a few minutes until a little charred. Remove and leave to cool, then peel them and remove any burnt areas. Place the spices in the same dry pan and set over
a medium heat for a few minutes until aromatic. 2 Place the beef bones in a large pot of cold water and bring to a boil for 5 min, discard the water, rinse the bones and the pot, then return them to the pot together with the ginger, onion, garlic, spices and 3 litres water, enough to generously cover the bones. (Alternatively, use beef stock instead. Simply add 2 litres of beef stock to the pot with the ginger, onion and all the spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 45–60 min to reduce. Then follow the rest of the recipe.) Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer with the lid off for 2½-3 hours until the liquid has reduced by a third. 3 Strain the broth through a muslin-lined sieve and return the liquid to the pot. Add the fish sauce, coconut palm sugar and lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more if necessary. 4 Cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions, then plunge into cold water and separate to stop them from sticking. When ready to serve, bring the broth to a rolling boil, distribute the noodles into bowls topped with the sliced raw beef. While the broth is bubbling, ladle it into the bowls so it poaches the beef and warms the noodles. Serve immediately and scatter over the beansprouts, spring onions, herbs, limes and chillies. Recipes taken from The Natural Food Kitchen by Jordan Bourke (Ryland Peters & Small), £16.99. Buy it for £15.29 from the Times Bookshop with free p&p, on 0845 2712134; thetimes.co.uk/bookshop
eat!
The really simple recipe guide thetimes.co.uk/magazine
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
the conversation
‘To be conservative in one’s life and outrageous in art is to free yourself’ Bryan Ferry burst to fame as the glam-suited star of Roxy Music, oozing irony, camp and charisma; off-stage he’s risen from labourer’s son to Countryside Alliance-supporting bourgeois gent. Explain yourself, says Will Hodgkinson JOHN STILLWELL / GETTY IMAGES
B
ryan Ferry’s labyrinthine headquarters in West London, 2011 Avonmore, looks much like how you would hope the eternally suave leader of Roxy Music’s headquarters to look. On entry, Warhol silkscreens greet the visitor. In the basement studio are blown-up prints of iconic Roxy album covers featuring Ferry’s impossibly glamorous former girlfriends, including a naked Jerry Hall for 1975’s Siren and Amanda Lear taking her panther for a walk on 1973’s For Your Pleasure. Next to the studio is Ferry’s archive, which houses the stage costumes the designer Antony Price — famously given prominence over engineers and producers on Roxy album credits — made for Ferry throughout the Seventies and Eighties. And, in a book-furnished room above the studio, is Ferry himself, dapper in a blue velvet jacket and complementing tie. He looks like an urbane, presentable member of the British aristocracy — which, of course, he isn’t. We’re here because Ferry, 69, has a new solo album out, also called Avonmore, which marks his reutrn to songwriting. The record features Ferry at his decadent best, with an all-star cast including Johnny Marr and Nile Rodgers helping him conjure up a romantic but jaded mood on Loop De Li and Midnight Train. His explanation for this renewed creative vigour is pragmatic: “I’ve been doing so much live work over the last ten years that I realised I needed a fresh record,” says Ferry. “I know I could travel the world with the old repertoire, but it’s nice to add to it. Possibly being urged by the people around me, having a younger band . . . it’s invigorating and it makes you want to write new songs.” More than the record, however, it’s Ferry’s Gatsbyesque transformation from working-class outsider to pillar of the establishment that really fascinates. Born to a farm labourer in Washington, Tyne and Wear, Ferry took lessons learnt under the pop artist Richard Hamilton to offer a
ferry and sons The singer shows off his CBE in 2011 with, from left, Merlin, Isaac, Tara and Otis
post-modern, ironic approach to aspiration with Roxy Music, with the result that you always felt he was playing the part of the privileged playboy rather than actually being one. At some point in his career, however — possibly after 1977, when Jerry Hall left him for Mick Jagger — he went to the other side. He married the blue-blooded Lucy Helmore and became in time a Tory-voting, Countryside Alliance-supporting pillar of the establishment, with four privately educated sons including one, Otis, who is a master of the hunt in Shropshire and even went to jail after protesting his right to foxhunt by invading parliament. Hoping to understand this — and how a Geordie like Ferry can describe himself as “one” with such patrician ease — I begin by asking him about his original ideas for Roxy Music, who offered such a strikingly original burst of camp colour in the early Seventies, a time when ponderous progressive rock bands dominated the
‘All my children went to private schools because there seemed to be no other option’
Roxy’s muses Roxy Music’s LP cover stars, left to right: Roxy Music (1972): Kari-Ann Muller, now married to Chris Jagger, brother of Mick; For Your Pleasure (1973): Amanda Lear, a muse to Salvador Dalí; Stranded (1973): Marilyn Cole, a Playmate of the Year; Country Life (1974): Constanze Kartoli
and Eveline Grunwald, German tourists whom Ferry met in Portugal; Siren (1975): Jerry Hall, Ferry’s then-girlfriend; Manifesto (1979): partying mannequins; Flesh and Blood (1980): unnamed models; Avalon (1982): Ferry’s wife-to-be Lucy Helmore, medieval helmet and falcon
landscape and the celebration of artifice was revolutionary. “One doesn’t want to over-intellectualise the process,” says Ferry quietly, “but I always, from the beginning, wanted to be an artist. I wanted to create work that was interesting, but I wanted it to be soulful, to have emotional content. So on the one hand I took influence from Richard Hamilton and the people who influenced him, like Marcel Duchamp, and on the other I had Otis Redding and Motown. I wanted to do something in between, something like art in pop. But then we crossed over into the mainstream almost immediately. One moment we were playing in the Royal College of Art and then we were doing Virginia Plain on Top of the Pops and we thought: ‘Wow, which is the right place to be?’ And the conclusion was: stop worrying and just go with it.” When did Ferry stop commenting on a world of luxury and privilege and start living it? “Well, that’s a very interesting
point,” he says. “Your life becomes meshed with your work and your career and the image people have of ‘a’ Bryan Ferry I don’t have ultimate control over. That can be a bit bizarre.” Ferry always knew he wanted to escape his rural, humble background and build a new life. “I was very conscious of wanting to get away from that, just as Cary Grant and Noël Coward and most people in Hollywood have been,” he says. “I knew I couldn’t have made it as a businessman so I had to be an artist. Did I want to be in a scene from La bohème on the Left Bank of Paris, in a garret with a candle? Maybe I wanted to be like Jackson Pollock, in New York in a big loft, paint splattered on the floor. There are different dreams, choices of how one would spend one’s life. Much as I loved growing up in the north I didn’t want to stay there. I fled to the big city when I was 22 and never went back.” Coming to London at the end of the Sixties, Ferry fell in with a creative, post-art school scene that included designers (Price, Ossie Clark, Celia Birtwell), hairdressers (Keith Wainwright of the Knightsbridge salon Smile), artists (David Hockney, Hamilton) and models, some of whom went on to be cover stars of Roxy Music albums. “They were meant to be fun,” says Ferry of the cover girl images, which not so much idealised feminine beauty as turned it into a vision of untouchable Amazonian strength. “We wanted some kind of allure because we always thought a picture of the band would be boring, so for the first album we had Kari-Ann [Muller] looking like a Fifties Coca-Cola advertisement, and on For Your Pleasure the glamour took on a darker tint, which suited the music. And that was the kind of thing that made Roxy approachable, hence the huge following we had in Glasgow and Newcastle, blue-collar cities. The fans would come dressed in bow ties and teddy boy suits. It was good-natured.” Didn’t Ferry’s glamorous new world make him feel alienated from his poor, rural background? “No, because my
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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to Eton, which one is occasionally punished for, but it’s a great school. I wish I went there.” All of this leads to Ferry having great faith in the (Eton-dominated) Conservative cabinet. “Oh, that old chestnut,” says Ferry, irritated for the first time during our interview, when I ask him where he sits politically. “Why are people so interested? It is annoying. I don’t know. I’m conservative by nature but I’ve tried to be unconventional in my approach to music; I’ve tried to be avant-garde, to do new things, and you will often find that artists are quite bourgeois. Manet and a lot of the fin-desiècle artists were like that. You see, to be conservative in one’s life and outrageous in art is to free yourself, but it’s hard to explain that to people without their calling me a class traitor. And it’s true that I grew up in a region that was overwhelmingly a
‘I can’t speak for Otis but I do admire his passion. I’ve always been the sort that plays by the rules’
parents were so down to earth and accepting. With Dad you could almost think he wasn’t living in the 20th century. He courted my mother on a plough horse. She was embarrassed about it because she was a town girl — well, she was from a reasonably large village — and although they were a little bit baffled when I said I was going to study painting because they thought it was so refined, their attitude was: ‘You know best.’ ” Then, as if sensing some implicit
criticism in the question, Ferry adds: “I never hide my background. In fact I’m proud of it. I just think it’s a credit to this country and to civilised society in general that you can move on in life.” For most of us, moving on in life means going up into the attic and wondering if the mortgage would stretch to a loft extension. For Ferry it meant worldwide fame, a string of beautiful girlfriends, marriage to Helmore in 1982 and the birth of their four sons. The marriage ended in 2003, but he’s
life of bryan The singer says he wishes he had gone to Eton, like his son Isaac
very close to his sons: two, Tara and Isaac, even work for him. Surely it must be odd to have worked so hard for everything and then to see his children grow up in such easy privilege? “It can be hard to explain sometimes,” he says. “But what you find is that, as the years go by, you just try to get on with things. All my children went to private schools because there seemed to be no other option; we had so many of them that their mother couldn’t cope. Isaac famously went
Labour stronghold. Nobody voted Tory.” It’s hard to imagine the northeast providing much support for the Countryside Alliance, another establishment body for which Ferry has expressed sympathy, having formerly satirised Country Life magazine by putting two semi-naked models on the cover of Roxy Music’s 1974 album of the same name. “I actually do feel a lot of affection for the English countryside and that governs my politics up to a point,” he says. “I don’t want it to become one huge concrete mass. We must preserve what we have and really, that’s as far as I go with politics. It’s not my field.” I ask how he feels about his son Otis’s very public infringement of law and order in the name of foxhunting. “I can’t speak for him, but I do admire his passion,” says Ferry calmly. “I’ve always been the sort that plays by the rules in terms of law and order. I wouldn’t want to break the law, and I suppose if you march into parliament, you do that, but I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind because then the whole article will be about foxhunting, which is not something I care about. I don’t even ride.” He finishes by saying how much he has enjoyed our conversation, and I have too. Ferry may have left the wild days of early Seventies Roxy Music behind, he may now be a fully functioning figure of respectability, but there remains a touch of the Gatsby to him; a charm that helps to explain how a labourer’s son from Tyne and Wear, became Bryan Ferry, world-famous pop star and the ultimate outsider, forever looking in. Avonmore by Bryan Ferry is out on BMG on November 17
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
six of the best Tapestries by novelist Alexander McCall Smith Some famous tapestries are not tapestries at all. The Bayeux Tapestry is not really a tapestry but a work of embroidery in which wool is stitched on to linen. Strictly speaking, a tapestry is a woven object, created on a vertical or horizontal loom. But whatever the
purists may say, the term has been broadened in general use to include embroidered works, and indeed any stitched or woven pieces of cloth in which thread has been used to artistic effect. Tapestries are very popular. Why? Two factors are at work. One is to do with our pleasure
in the look and feel of wool, soft and tactile. Another reason is that a long tapestry is a bit like a comic strip; individual panels relate episodes of a story. This resonates with the way stories were told in cave art. And of course we admire the skill involved in using thread so beautifully.
ALEX HEWITT; PRIVATE COLLECTION; VICTORIA ND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON; KEISKAMMA TRUST; GETTY IMAGES
Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith, Borough Press, £18.99. The latest No 1 Ladies Detective Agency book is The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café, Little, Brown, £16.99. A Work of Beauty: Alexander McCall Smith’s Edinburgh, RCHAMS, £25
V chestnuts, by
stanley spencer In 1949 the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh wove a tapestry from a drawing by Stanley Spencer. The Dovecot Studios have been at the forefront of British tapestry for more than a century. The Dovecot has also worked with many other prominent British artists, including Graham Sutherland, David Hockney and Elizabeth Blackadder.
the great tapestry of scotland This recently completed tapestry, the longest in the world at more than 140m, was designed by the contemporary Scottish artist Andrew Crummy. It was made by more than 1,000 volunteer stitchers throughout Scotland and depicts the entire history of the country.
X the bayeux tapestry Everyone recognises the style of this astonishing tapestry (or piece of embroidery) from the 11th century. It tells the story of the Norman Conquest in much the same way as that momentous event might have been reported in Reuters news agency headlines. W the quaker tapestry This is in Kendal, Cumbria and was created by more than 4,000 stitchers throughout the world. The subject is the Quakers; good people in an evil world. It is a quiet and calm tapestry, like Quakers themselves.
V the boar and bear hunt The Victoria and Albert
Museum has a fine collection of tapestries. This is a splendid example of a Flemish tapestry of the 15th century. Flanders was the centre of European tapestry, producing large-scale works to adorn the walls of grand houses throughout the continent. This piece is one of four in a sequence on the hunt.
U the keiskamma
tapestry At the entrance to the South African Parliament is a 120m tapestry made by women from the economically depressed eastern Cape. It is very moving, depicting the Cape from the time of the Stone Age San people to the late 20th century.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Breaking down Germany’s identity REUTERS
Book of the week
MacGregor says . . .
Neil MacGregor’s vivid history is a rollercoaster ride of ideas, artefacts and images. But why are so many of the great Germans missing? asks Peter Watson
Wurst “The frankfurter — the blandest, most basic of sausages — is available on nearly every street corner. But it did not begin like that. Frankfurt Cathedral was for centuries the place where the Holy Roman Emperor was crowned. As part of the celebrations, an ox was killed and stuffed with sausages of the most finely minced pork: a great luxury to mark a great event, a sausage that has taken a great deal of work and time. Sausages, like people, can come down in the world. The frankfurter has fallen far.”
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he real stars of this show are the illustrations. A tumult of art, artefacts (stamps, banknotes, sausages, Goethe’s model train) and reportage — Russian graffiti in the Reichstag, women clearing the rubble in Berlin in 1945, the writer Christa Wolf at her desk. Above all, they are plentiful — the text is a good deal shorter than the 563 pages appear at first sight. This not to slight the writing, which is equally vivid and well researched — as you would expect from the director of the British Museum and former editor of The Burlington Magazine, the bible of art historians, that most fastidious of professions. Neil MacGregor has made the approach to history through its objects his own distinctive brand, as readers of or listeners to A History of the World in 100 Objects will know. Here he dips and weaves from one entity to another, from the Brandenburg Gate to the gate of Buchenwald, from Luther to Lufthansa, Dürer to Degenerate Art, and the Berlin Wall to the Beer Purity Law. It is an enjoyable, switchback ride — we never know where we are going next. He reminds us, for example, that it was the British who first produced the VW Beetle after the end of the Second World War, for the occupation forces, but no British manufacturer was interested in taking it over. And that it was an unknown British soldier who sold curry powder on the black market in Berlin in the late 1940s, helping to create the “currywurst”, or curry sausage, which became a popular symbol of the city. Berlin had been one of the few localities until then not to have a distinctive tradition in this area. As he dryly ob-
No one has yet explained the barbarism that came after the Great War serves, you might call this “the Gatronomic Consequences of the Peace.” With an eye for popular literature, MacGregor also shows us that, in the early versions of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, as in Snow White, the evil women were often mothers. But, to conform to Victorian values (good middle-class mothers could not be evil), the stories were edited and the mothers changed to step-mothers. Quite a lot of the objects he dwells on are in the British Museum so at times it can read like a travelogue for that great institution. But we don’t mind. Nor do we mind that he borrows the partisan authority of academics and museum curators to confirm his priorities.
Sounds of Germany “Most people’s lists would include a Bach cantata, or a Beethoven symphony, but one might propose the reliably turning engine of a Volkswagen Beetle; a cuckoo clock from the mid-19th century and, earliest but most important of all, the creaking wood of the Gutenberg printing press.” Weimar hyperinflation “It is a chilling experience, even today, to handle German notes from the 1920s — 1,000 marks, 10,000 marks, 100,000 marks, 1,000,000 marks. By November 1923 there were 12 trillion marks to the dollar. By the end of the year the cost of an egg was 500,000 million times more than it had been in 1918.”
breakthrough A demonstrator pounds away at the Berlin Wall which fell 25 years ago tomorrow
What we do mind is that, however enjoyable and thrilling the switchbacking is, MacGregor’s basic argument — that, uniquely for any European country, there is “no coherent overarching narrative” of German history, that its borders have been just too unstable — is quite wrong. He achieves his argument by a sleight of pen. Calling the book Memories of a Nation is a device that lets him build his picture around the objects he has selected. But, rich as that selection is, his argument is starkly limited by that choice. The big gap in this book — an important omission, given his argument, boldly set out at the beginning — is the 19th century. Yes, we have chapters on 1848 and Bismarck, but MacGregor’s real affections lie in the 17th, 18th and 20th centuries, so there is nothing here about German scholarship or science (the research university and PhD are German inventions), nothing about German music after Bach, other than references in passing. And nothing about the great scientists von Liebig, Virchow, Clausius, Planck, Hertz or Koch. Nor about the historians von Ranke or von Treitschke, above all no Wilhelm von Humboldt, the father of Germany’s education system, no innerlichkeit or bildung. These are tendentious omissions because many of these figures were fiercely nationalistic and politically active. And the ideas they propounded were, and still are,
Ge Germany: Memories of a Nation by Neil MacGregor Allen Lane, 640pp £30 * £24; ebook £12.49
central to being German: as Thomas Mann (who is included) said: “The finest characteristic of the typical German, the best known and also the most flattering to his self-esteem, is his inwardness [innerlichkeit].” The omissions matter too because bildung, the German concept of higher education as self-cultivation, united German scholars throughout the 1800s. Bildung formed the backbone of the fabled German civil service, or mandarin class, which helped transform German political, military, cultural and scientific eminence. During the “hundred years peace” between 1815, the Congress of Vienna, and 1914, Germany overtook France and rivalled Britain. The bildungsbürgertum — the educated class — then felt itself betrayed early in the 20th century, losing its financial clout and intellectual muscle, before eventually forming an at first uneasy but increasingly enthusiastic alliance with the rabble of the Nazi Party. The most moving chapter here is on the artist Käthe Kollwitz, born in 1867 in Königsberg and, like so many prominent figures in German history (Herder, Nietzsche, Habermas, Merkel) the offspring of a pastor. She married a doctor serving the poor and the poor were one of the two main subjects of her art, the other being grief and guilt and anti-war sentiment. She had persuaded her husband against his wishes to allow their son Peter, who was not of full age, to enlist in
the army in 1914. Peter was killed in Belgium ten days after leaving Berlin. MacGregor quotes Kollwitz as saying, “There is in our lives a wound which will never heal, nor should it.” He does not mention the rough echo found in a later statement by Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor: “We cannot emerge from our past so easily. Perhaps we should not even wish to.” Or the study, published in 1967 by two psychoanalysts, Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich, The Inability to Mourn, which concluded that Germany was frozen emotionally, having “deliberately forgotten” its excesses. The frozen nature of these episodes are of a piece and that is the point. These echoes — not memories — show that there are strong strands to German history — mourning, bildung, scholarship, science, inwardness being just some of them — that together comprise the German nation. There is an overarching narrative to German history and that is the problem: no one has yet succeeded in explaining the collapse into barbarism that followed the First World War. People who already know Germany will relish Memories of a Nation. They will be aware of — and aim for — the gaps. Peter Watson is the author of The German Genius: Europe’s Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution and the Twentieth Century
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
nonfiction
Living in the shadow of Napoleon Lucy Worsley enjoys a superb ‘crowd biography’ that brings the home front to life
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any visitors will walk across the battlefield of Waterloo next year, thinking of those who died there 200 years ago in 1815. But what about the sisters, wives, employers and children of the fallen? The period of the nail-biting campaign against Napoleon has been made familiar to us through characters like CS Forester’s Horatio Hornblower or Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe, but now the British historian Jenny Uglow turns the topic on
doing his bit Rowlandson satirises a volunteer roused by patriotic fervour to take on Napoleon, depicted, below, by Gillray
its head, to concentrate not on the soldiers and the fighting but on those left at home. In These Times is a social history of Britain between 1793 and 1815, told through the words of myriad letter-writers, diarists and journalists. Uglow describes it as “a crowd biography”, which it isn’t entirely, because some names pop up again and again, giving a sense of unity. She starts out with a bang, describing the “universal pant for glory” that convinced many to sign up to fight against “France the Land of Rascals”. When the French Revolution led to war in 1793, the soldier William Harness tells us how he went about recruiting his unit. He’d roll into town accompanied by “a Cart with a Barrel”, fiddlers and “a Man with a Surloin of Roast Beef upon a pitch fork”, and a yellow silk flag reading “Capt. Harness’s Saucy Sheffielders”. Later we hear from Captain Harness in South Africa, missing his wife Bessy, and his infant son, who could not remember his father’s face, but who could remember “very well watching him down the lane when he went away”. Years later, from India, Harness tells his wife that he is “not much more grey” and that he’s looking forward to coming home to Derbyshire. But he dies out there of a fever in January 1804. The news did not reach Bessy until May. Bessy, and all the other female relatives left behind, take their places on a spectrum from quiet heroism to frustrated impatience. “I could almost have jumped out of the window to snatch the letters from him,” wrote the aristocrat Sarah Spencer, willing the postman to bring news of her seaman brother. Few matched the bravery of Jemina Nicholas, a “tall, stout, masculine female”, who captured 12 Frenchmen who invaded Fishguard in Wales. She locked them up in the local church, and was rewarded for her pains with a government pension for life. There’s also a running theme of what might be described as “Regency Dad’s Army”, with aged and decrepit volunteers doing their bit — or indeed, not doing it. One Scottish cavalry volunteer had to resign after being “severely hurt in my private parts by the sudden halting” on horseback. A regiment raised in Manchester was called “the fourth Class, or Old fogys on account of most of them being married men . . . there would perhaps be one as fat at Falstaff”. One of the pleasures is hearing from familiar characters out of context. Fanny Burney, for example, isn’t a novelist and
In These Times: Li Living in Britain thr through Na Napoleon’s Wars by Jenny Uglow Faber, 752pp Fa £25 * £20; ebook £14.99 courtier, but a woman who found herself marrying one of the enemy, a Frenchman. Humphry Davy, studied in schools as the inventor of the “safety lamp”, appears as our witness to the celebration of the British victory at the Battle of the Nile as he passes through illuminated villages on a night journey to his new job at the Pneumatic Institution in Bristol. Even Jane Austen joins in the mania for all things Egyptian, by borrowing and sporting a “Mamloue” or Mameluk cap. This is such a clever way of giving farming, banking, army reform, industry, Irish affairs, and politics a human face. A wouldbe commissioner of the Admiralty, for example, cheated of office when the Whigs
The ‘pant for glory’ convinced many to enlist to fight ‘France, the Land of Rascals’
fell from power, leaves his wife Betsey Fremantle equally annoyed because she’d been trying to furnish their expected drawing room in Admiralty House and has wasted both money and time. The words “in these times” thrum throughout: in these “Dreadful times” . . . “Dread & terrible times” . . . “the times are sad indeed”. The times bring great changes: the speeding up of industrialisation, enclosure of common land, the modern method for collecting income tax. We hear about the appearance of banknotes (unpopular because they got dirty, which made them “impossible to offer to Ladies particularly”), the abolition of slavery, even the invention, for the use of soldiers in the field, of “portable soup”, or stock cubes. Electricity makes the corpse of a hanged murderer jerk as if with life, and there’s an explosion of philanthropy, including the wonderfully named “Female Friendly Society for the Relief of Poor, Infirm, Aged Widows and Single Women of Good Character, Who Have Seen Better Days” with its crescendo of capital letters. Societies like this were needed because of the distress brought on by the war. On one day in 1814, judges at the Old Bailey condemned no less than five children to death for various crimes, including one as trivial as stealing a pair of shoes. And when the 350,000 survivors came home from the Continent, they sported “every description of wound and casualty incident to modern warfare . . . the Irishman, shouting and brandishing his crutch; the English soldier, reeling with drink; the Scot, with grave and melancholy visage, sitting on the steps of the public house . . . and thinking of the blue hills of his native land”. The public houses rang with songs with verses such as “In my country’s service, long, long fatigues I bore, But now I’m turned adrift to starve upon my native shore.” Despite the gloom of the times, the tone is often jolly and as Uglow tells us, “trimmings and trains were as gripping as battles and thrones”. There are wonderful Lydia Bennet-type fashion reports: “Hats are increasing prodigiously” and trousers or “inexpressibles” make their appearance in place of breeches. Detailed but not trivial, rich yet never heavy, the sharply-observed characters and constant pricks of humour make this book seem almost as if Jane Austen had written a history of her own times. Lucy Worsley is the author of A Very British Murder (BBC Books)
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in short
A little sympathy for the devil
HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
Stalin was a cruel and coarse tyrant. Yet his cult is still with us, says George Walden
St Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 by Stephen Kotkin Allen La Lane, 949pp £30 * £24; ebook £17.99
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his is a tombstone-sized book, but then our hero’s career spanned half the 20th century, so two more volumes — and millions of genuine tombstones — are still to come. For all his tough childhood, Kotkin insists, Iosif Jughashvili was not a born dictator: that was something he learned from Lenin, on the job. True, his drunken Georgian father, a cobbler, beat his son (though who didn’t?) and his mother, fiercely protective of little Soso, was only rumoured to be a bit of a whore. Due to accidents he had a lame leg and a dysfunctional arm by his teens, plus a poxed complexion, yet one of the earliest memories of the mass murderer in the making was of his angelic voice at Vespers. He was also an assiduous student, though after he was expelled from his seminary and became a Marxist revolutionary the downhill road was steep. By 1928 our sweet-singing boy is planning a campaign of forcible collectivisation in which some 5 to 7 million people were to die. Revolutionary activism brought periods of exile to Siberia, which meant mosquitoes, books and boredom, though no jail or forced labour — a picnic compared with his own Gulag. There were peasant girls too, including a 13-year-old who produced a son, both abandoned. Their names he forgot, but their dog he could remember. It was only in March 1917 that he returned to Petrograd. A hugely able publicist, agitator and organiser, he showed enormous energy and guile, though Kotkin is good on the adventitious aspects of the Revolution. With the feeblemindedness of the Czar and his court, the sheer “daftness” of the old conservative regime and institutionalised chaos, the Bolsheviks had it easy. By 1918, People’s Commissar Stalin was in Tsaritsyn, later Stalingrad, in charge of a Cheka detachment so ferocious that it was said to cut through human bones with handsaws. Kotkin, though, rejects any bad cop/good cop sentimentalising of Lenin: “Lenin elevated political violence to a principle. Behind mundane disagreement he saw not legitimate opinion but malevolent forces.” And that was among ideological friends. The book will also offend our salon or campus Trotskyists, ever keen to offload the blame for the communist catastrophe on to Stalin. Kotkin’s account of “Lenin’s Testament”, a letter Lenin wrote in December 1922 that castigated Stalin for his rudeness (a mild translation — grubost
monsters inc Stalin believed in a system of terror launched by Lenin, right. Below, a police photo of the young Stalin
also means coarseness or boorishness) and his threat to Party unity reflects just as poorly on the Trotsky faction. In Kotkin’s hands the tortuous ideological disputes and vicious rivalries at the heart of the system come alive. As the conflict escalates into open slanging matches between the poisonously condescending Trotsky and the exasperated Stalin you even feel a moment’s pity. Trotsky was all talk; poor Koba had to hold things together. The “Lenin’s Testament” row went on for years, in struggles over the New Economic Policy, devious dealings with the West as Stalin sought credits and technology without sacrificing his right to promote and subsidise revolution, and campaigns to bludgeon the peasantry into surrendering grain. The result was to reinforce Stalin’s “supremacy-insecurity” complex: “The revolution as a whole, and Stalin’s personal dictatorship within it, found themselves locked into a kind of
He was a vehemently class-conscious autodidact in thrall to a malign idea
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in-built, structural paranoia.” Kotkin’s Stalin is more truthful and perceptive than that of Isaac Deutscher and others, with their studious ambiguities and exculpations. A vehemently classconscious autodidact in thrall to a malign idea, Stalin was a true believer in a system in which the terror launched by Lenin had become endemic and was carried by his successor, logically and inescapably, to ever bloodier lengths. Family life meanwhile was as you might
imagine. He showered obscenities on his wife, blew pipe smoke into the face of his one-year-old to toughen him up and drove a son to attempt suicide. The words most often used about him were shrewd, sly, vindictive, cunning and self-pitying. The sort of man, that is, whose occasional fits of drunken jollity you would hope to be spared. Kotkin’s text can demand concentration but the narrative flows, and the author, a Princeton historian, has an eye for detail: on a Siberian trip Stalin’s sleigh is drawn by a horse called Marat and driven by an OGPU (secret police) man later to be decorated as a prize executioner. So a fine book, though will it finally kill off our illusions? Revolutionary nostalgia lingered after Khrushchev’s denunciation in 1956 of Stalin. As a post-graduate in Moscow six years later I was still able to buy a poster of the Great Leader, then a picture of the revered Si-da-lin in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution six years after that. As late as 1994 the historian Eric Hobsbawm said that on balance the achievements of Bolshevism and the Stalin dictatorship had been positive. And the Russians? When President Putin asked rhetorically what was the difference between Stalin and Oliver Cromwell, the obvious answer was around 20 million dead souls. His was “none whatsoever”. I suspect he was speaking for many of his countrymen and that nothing in Kotkin’s book — assuming it is published in Russia as a new censorship takes hold — will change their minds. Not for nothing did peasant folk use the czarist term khozain (the master) at the time, with that serf-like deference we are seeing again in Russian attitudes to their leader. One of the tragedies of Kotkin’s book is its eerie and troubling relevance today.
Elsa Schiaparelli: A Biography by Meryle Secrest Fig Tree, 378pp £25 * £20; ebook £13.99 Sc Schiap, as she is known to fashionistas, was the fashion designer who invented “shocking” pink and vied with in nted “sho Chanel for the title Queen of Paris haute couture before and after the Second World War. Dalí and other surrealists inspired Schiap’s wittiest creations, such as the lobster hat. Allegations of collaboration with the Nazis did her harm professionally, but she defended herself as being “a zone of neutrality”. Secrest is no fashion hagiographer: she is as sharp about the rich, demanding customers for haute couture as about the imperious, eccentric designers who dressed them. Though Daisy Fellowes, an American heiress, was irritating and a bully, she personified hard Thirties chic, and she belonged to Schiaparelli. Whatever the shock behind the pink, Secrest gets to it with admiration for Schiap’s unique style and appreciation of her as a reflection of her times. Where I’m Reading From: The Changing World of Books by Tim Parks Harvill Secker, 244pp Ha £12.99 * £11.69; ebook £13.56 Only a curmudgeon will open an essay with: “Why do people le ask such stupid questions?” But it is an intelligent rhetorical question for a regular at literary festivals to ask. As a modern man of letters — translator, teacher, critic, novelist and memoirist — Parks is well placed to diagnose what it means to be a writer and a reader in one world, one culture. In these short, “comically serious” pieces for the New York Review of Books blog, he has no worries about the survival of literature, but “maybe it’s time that the beast carried a health warning”. He cares that writers in a globalised world are editing their own texts and allusions as they write, to avoid translation problems. So what of literary greatness now? It is a marketing tool; look at Jonathan Franzen, says Parks. Bah! Anger is an Energy: My Life Uncensored by John Lydon Simon Simo & Schuster, 536pp £20 * £16; ebook £9.99 When you become the punk-rock voice of pu anarchy in the UK as anar Johnny Rotten has, it’s sobering to think Johnn back on first getting your voice heard and being smacked down for howling outrage at the society of the 1970s that resulted in power cuts, three-day weeks and uncollected rubbish. “But once you’ve had the bravado to stand on that stage, it’s yours . . . I did not run from it.” So which was the real anarchy — pop protest or politics? “Words are weapons,” Lydon says. As a kid from a “piss-poor neighbourhood in north London”, he thanks the local library for the reading habit that made him literate. Now, as a long-term happily married man, raising kids to observe boundaries, he is still a “naggy little git” whose career in this energetic, mouthy memoir is a tribute to surviving a lifetime of negative judgments.
Iain Finlayson
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ARNULF HUSMO / GETTY IMAGES
nonfiction
Setting sail for the modern world Gerard DeGroot on a rollicking history that shows how the North Sea shaped British life Th Edge of Our The World: Wo How the North No Sea Made Us Who We Are by Michael Pye Viking, 400pp; £25 * £20; ebook £13.99
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n Mainland, Orkney, there sits a Neolithic cairn called Maeshowe. The Vikings, who visited the island a millennium ago for a spot of pillaging, broke into the cairn and left behind some graffiti. One scribble reads: “Lovely Ingeborg has big boobs”, or something like that. That little sentence, and where it was found, tells the historian a lot. We can conclude that the Vikings were curious about their world, otherwise they wouldn’t have entered the cairn. They were young and mischievous, but a few could read and write. They shared a fondness for big breasts. In other words, they had a lot in common with us. That commonality figures large in this extraordinary book. Michael Pye’s subject is what used to be called the Dark Ages.
“The idea of ‘darkness’ is our mistake,” he argues. “What our forefathers lived could better be called the ‘long morning’ of our world.” Pye shows how modernity was forged as the sun rose slowly on the North Sea. “This cold, grey sea in an obscure time made the modern world possible.” Back then the sea was a highway. It held dangers, but the perils of travel by land were more threatening. This meant that the world had a different shape to the one it has today. For a trader in Ipswich it was easier to travel to Bergen — 510km by sea — than to York, 340km by road. The sea was a conduit for commerce, largely free of chauvinism. “It was easy for Scandinavians to be in York, Frisians in Ipswich, Saxons in London, and the fact was so unremarkable that it is hardly recorded.” Pye starts with the Frisians, whose flatbottomed boats, because they did not need harbours, provided impressive mobility. “They shipped and sold whatever people wanted” — wine, wool, pots and slaves. Trade of this sort required money as bartering was too restrictive. Commerce led inevitably to coins and from there to markets, contracts, law and lawyers. At a site near Stockholm, archaeologists found a haul of Viking treasure, which included a Coptic bronze ladle, some pornography cut into gold foil, and, most incredibly, a Buddha from Kashmir. We know that the Vikings never made it to India, so how did that Buddha make it to Sweden? The mystery endures but, though unsolved, it still demonstrates just how frenetic and diverse patterns of trade were back then. It was not, however, mere trade that drove the Vikings. Curiosity filled their
chill factor Despite appearances the North Sea made travel easier
The Vikings were covered in green tattoos and filthy of body and mind
sails, pushing them to new places just because they were new. Pye notes their “willingness to be unsettled”. That’s perfect. Everywhere they went, the Vikings impressed. The 10th-century Arab merchant Ibn Fadlan met them in a Bulgar encampment on the Volga, east of Kiev. “I have never seen bodies more perfect,” he said. “They were like palm trees.” Their bearing seemed calculated to intimidate: they were covered in green tattoos and were filthy of body and mind. They used the slaves they sold as sex toys. Copulation was public; poor Fadlan noticed that, if a slave buyer arrived at an inconvenient moment, the Viking trader “does not get up off her until he has satisfied himself”. Pye wanders this world as the Vikings
Bricks, mortar and mortality
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My Life in Ho Houses by Margaret Forster Chatto & Windus, 264pp £14.99 * £12.99 ebook £7.48
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argaret Forster is one of the great creators of a sense of place, her books always investing a roof and four walls with their proper significance. It is no coincidence that one of her best works is a biography of Daphne du Maurier, whose supreme fictional creation was of course a house (altogether now: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . . I came upon it suddenly . . . the gray stone shining in the moonlight . . .”) In a long and acclaimed career, Forster’s gift has been to understand that social and family history is rooted in bricks and mortar; that the home frames human psychology. Find the house, in fiction, biography or memoir — and she has written all three — and you find the interior of the person. Until its shocking, throatcatching end, this latest book is a deceptively simple trek evoking everywhere she has lived, from her beginnings in a council house in Carlisle to her pad near Highgate Road in London, home for 50 years. Orton Road on the Raffles estate, where she was born in 1938, was certainly no Manderley: a two-bedroomed semi with a tiny back kitchen and an outside lavatory. The many who enjoy Forster’s work will be
familiar with the house: it starred in two of her bestsellers, Hidden Lives and the follow up, Precious Lives, the first a family memoir of her grandmother and mother, the second the story of her father’s tough working life. She left Carlisle when she was 18 on a scholarship to Oxford, where the northern girl found Jane Austenesque digs in Winchester Road. Since childhood she had been fascinated by houses, reading their character, recognising their class statements, fantasising which she wanted to inhabit. Thus married life with the writer Hunter Davies was a story of houses, first near Hampstead, then to their beloved lifelong home in Boscastle Road. These, along with various country cottages, are the addresses around which Forster wraps her deceptively straightforward memoir. And so one is lulled into a book which, it first appears, is merely fond and charming. Others have tried similar things: Julie Myerson with Home: The Story of Everyone Who Ever Lived in Our House and Gillian Tindall with Three Houses, Many Lives; even Bill Bryson’s disappointing At Home: A Short History of Private Life, based on his Norfolk rectory. Though none, it’s true, has an unshiftable lodger as darkly amusing
home sweet homes Margaret Forster, looks back at where she has lived, from a council house to her home in Highgate
as Forster’s Mrs Hall, who tortured the family for years. Eventually they bought a flat to rent to her in order to get her out of the house. And then — thwack! Just when you are drifting into Forster’s old age with her, enjoying her narrative skills, comes the thunderbolt: she is dying. The breast cancer which she survived in the 1970s returned in
once did. Like them, he makes astonishing discoveries. There’s no order or direction to his narrative, but it hardly matters. One chapter, on fashion, starts with the story of a sailor who arrives in Paris in the middle of a ferocious storm but still manages to go shopping. Fashion, then as now, was the language of ambition. This annoyed the privileged classes, who did not like it when clothes were used to camouflage lowly birth. Laws were passed to “make sure that the wrong people did not wear the right clothes”. In England, this meant no furs for those who earned less that £100 per annum; in Scotland, it meant that the working classes were prohibited from wearing bright colours. Queens grew perturbed when others looked queenly. “You will, of course, be wondering about sex,” Pye writes. Not really, but go on. Bruges was apparently the most licentious city in Europe, a place of equal opportunity eroticism. Both sexes frequented bathhouses with the same goal in mind. Females felt no need to lie back and think of Belgium; orgasm was everyone’s goal. A woman could enjoy a pleasurable evening with any man at the Waterhalle as long as that man did not see her face. Official prudery seldom obstructed private pleasure. Within the Hanseatic League, fathering a child out of wedlock was a crime punishable by providing a barrel of beer for one’s colleagues. Was that punishment or celebration? Brevity is the bane of the reviewer; the best books are impossible to summarise in just 900 words. That’s especially true with a treasure chest like this one. But back to the main point. Pye is right: the world he describes looks a lot like our own. Its loves, its laws, its violence, pleasures and venality are all familiar. He gathers evidence from a huge variety of sources and sews it together with his formidable logic. Along the way, he breaks most of the rules of scholarly history, but who cares? The end result is brilliantly illuminating. The author’s imagination fills the gaps that scholarly research cannot bridge. Historians are often frightened to imagine, yet hard evidence alone produces history devoid of emotion. Pye’s creativity brings light to this once dark time. 2007 and is now metastatic, but she has waited until midway through the final chapter to tell us. Unsuspecting, we have in fact been accompanying her on a final, frail, intensely intimate look back at her life. All is changed. We must reel back, re-read, swallow hard. This is a twist like fiction (and Forster is of course an accomplished novelist). Suddenly she lurches into the present tense: “Inside my house, I can cope. When everything in my body is changing, as the cancer advances, my house, by staying the same, is a huge comfort.” The final 20 pages are calm, unadorned, powerfully affecting. Soon the control drugs will fail and it will be chemotherapy, if she agrees to it. She has not yet decided. She is not sure if she wants to die in her home, which, like a garment made to measure, drapes around her. “I don’t want to somehow taint the house by dying in it . . . I know how the house would change its character, its privacy shattered.” Yet neither can she cannot bear to leave it for a hospice. A house, she asserts, is more than memories. A house has some indefinable influence; one that is lived in for a long time by the same people reflects them and gives them something back. We cannot know if Forster will have time to write another book, but that kernel — that prevailing, optimistic sense of home — is what this sensitive, generous writer leaves us as a legacy.
Melanie Reid
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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What did the Greeks ever do for us? GETTY IMAGES
Natalie Haynes sifts through nuggets of Hellenic wisdom from Peter Jones Eu Eureka! Ev Everything You Ever Wanted to Ev Know About the Kn Ancient Greeks An But Were Afraid Bu to Ask by Peter Jones Atlantic, 384pp £19.99 * £17.99; ebook £10.99
I
t is a sobering thought to discover that Peter Jones retired from teaching Classics just after I finished my A levels (the two events weren’t related, as far as I know). He may no longer teach students at Newcastle University, but he has never stopped teaching the rest of us, in his columns in The Spectator, or with his charity, Classics for All. He has turned out an armful of books on Latin and Greek authors and history. Some retirement. Eureka!, his book about the ancient Greeks, follows the Roman version (Veni, Vidi, Vici), published last year. Like everything Jones writes, it is packed with intriguing nuggets for novices and experts alike. I have spent more than half my life reading Greek history and only now do I know the best technique for setting fire to a marble temple (set fire to the roof timbers. The roof then collapses, bringing its supporting pillars down with it). Jones begins by explaining that the
a face to launch ships The abduction of Helen of Troy who inspired exactly 1,186 vessels to set sail
Only now do I know the best technique for setting fire to a marble temple
Greeks didn’t ever think of themselves as Greeks. Rather, they described themselves as Hellenes (the word Greek comes from the Latin “Graeci”). An Athenian or Spartan would have thought of himself as Athenian or Spartan long before he thought of himself as a Greek. Given how much time the various city states spent at war with one another, that’s hardly surprising. They tended to band together only in the face of a threat from outside, such as the Persian invasion under Xerxes. Still, though, we tend to think of the Greeks as one people, in spite of their differences. And in spite of the fact that this book covers a geographical area ranging from Italy to Afghanistan and the best part of 2,000 years. A Greek fighting in the army of Alexander the Great was as temporally distant from his earliest predecessors as we are from the Roman Britons.
Even the things we think we know are often not quite right: Jones points out that for the first 50 years of the Olympic Games there was just the one game (the 200m). Other distances and events, such as boxing and chariot-racing, were added over the next few hundred years. And as for Helen of Troy being the face that launched a thousand ships? Jones carefully corrects Marlowe: she should be the face that, rather less poetically, launched 1,186 ships (the number catalogued by Homer in the Iliad). He cheerily concedes that he is being pedantic here. It’s hard to be vexed when pedantry is accompanied by consistent jokes. If they ever introduce Olympic punning (not a terrible idea, given that the Greeks started that too) Jones would win us an easy gold medal: describing the quantity of detail found on Linear B tablets about a
A doomed witness to history
‘T
here are lives we turn to,” writes George Prochnik in this richly rewarding study of an author who is at last regaining popularity, “because their genius — creative or malign — provokes an itch to snatch the secret. And then there are characters who seize our interest because they serve as potent lenses, refracting momentous times.” Stefan Zweig’s life is worthy of scrutiny for both those reasons. He was one among the many victims of Nazi oppression. His death in exile symbolises the madness that engulfed Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. Zweig, a Viennese Jew, was a famed author who in the early decades of the past century exemplified the figure of the central European polymath. He fled Austria in 1934. In his remaining years he found sanctuary successively in England, the US and eventually the Brazilian town of Petropolis, but he was never at rest. In 1942, aged 60, Zweig and his wife, Lotte, killed themselves with poison. The reason for the Zweigs’ decision can be guessed but the extent of their despair is scarcely possible to imagine. In a suicide note, Zweig expressed gratitude to Brazilians for welcoming him and Lotte but said, poignantly, that “the world of my own
Th Im The Impossible ssibl Exile: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World by George Prochnik Granta, 390pp, £20 * £16 ebook £20 man of his times Stefan Zweig documented Europe’s darkest era
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language sank and was lost to me and my spiritual homeland, Europe, destroyed itself”. Nazism was by that time fated to wartime defeat yet its barbarism was in one sense already victorious. It had destroyed a civilisation. Zweig was not only an author but a devotee of art and a discriminating collector of literary manuscripts. His library in Salzburg was razed by the Nazis. His collections were dispersed across the world. The decades after his death were not kind to Zweig. His reputation as a novelist, critic, essayist and biographer remains high in parts of Europe — he is particularly admired in French translations. Yet only recently has his work come back into vogue in English. It deserves discovery — alongside this remarkable exposition of his life and times by Prochnik. (I should disclose that the English translator of Zweig’s newly reissued works, Anthea Bell, is my mother.) The Impossible Exile is more than an invaluable account of a remarkable writer and his tortured soul. It is a major work of historical and cultural criticism of Europe’s darkest times. Particularly in light of the democratic rebirth of modern Germany out of the ruins of tyranny, we’re accustomed to thinking of Nazism as a
horrific aberration. The years from 1933 to 1945 are often seen as a fleeting, if catastrophic, collective psychosis. Prochnik instead locates the seeds of Europe’s destruction in some very persistent ideas. He notes that “the explosion of creativity in 20th-century Vienna is often depicted as a kind of beautiful dream . . . before some primal savagery reared up and extinguished that renaissance”. Yet, through Zweig’s story, he tells of a disparate intellectual movement, in which scholars and artists were prey to the delusions of militarism and nationalism. Prochnik is particularly good at explaining the malign, pseudo-intellectual appeal of Nazi mythology. The potency of Nazism’s deranged interpretation of European
particular flock of sheep, he wonders if each would have carried a baa-code. You have to admire a man who can describe so neatly the father to the minotaur (Minos’s wife, Pasiphae, developed a crush on a bull, and had the craftsman Daedalus design her a wooden cow suit in the hope of indulging her passion). “The bull,” remarks Jones, “was duly Pasiphaed.” And without Jones, who would remind us of a highlight in the history of this very newspaper? “Question: what was the subject of the longest correspondence in the history of The Times? Answer: the workings of the ancient Greek trireme. The correspondence was triggered by an article of August 30, 1975, on its use of sail . . . After five weeks, thirty-one letters, one fourth leader, two Latin elegiac couplets and with many theories now sunk . . . it became clear that the problem would be solved only by building a trireme.” Times readers never do things by halves: the ship was eventually launched in 1987. He flits between the beautiful and the banal, never missing a good story, whether it is about glorious death or industrious donkeys. Without one encouraging donkey the Parthenon — 5th-centuryAthens’s crowning glory — might never have been built: “It had been put out to grass, but met the donkeys coming down with the stones, urging them on. The Athenians ordered it to be looked after at public expense and given free meals for life.” There are even reminders that the Greeks could be more progressive than we think: 5th-century Athenians paid property taxes, which were levelled on the richest 6,000. These Athenians were eventually put into a taxation partnership, meaning that “the three richest members had to fork out the sum for the whole group and get it back from the others themselves”. Maybe Peter Jones has found the answer to London’s oligarch problem at last. history was the source of Zweig’s despair. Zweig was ever a perfectionist. His writing style was to pare back his fictional narratives again and again, which is why he is known principally as the author of novellas. It’s tempting to read into his fiction the traumas of a European intellectual surveying the descent of a continent into madness — and his great achievement in short form, the novella Chess, deals precisely with that theme of insanity. Also indispensable is his memoir The World of Yesterday, published posthumously in 1942, which details his mental anguish at the destruction of the civilisation he knew. His single greatest work — and his only full-length novel — is Beware of Pity (1939), depicting the tragedy of the emotional exploitation of a young disabled woman by a cavalry officer. The universalism espoused by Zweig (who early in his life was close to Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, but who came to distrust all nationalism) must have seemed to him eventually a desperate, even quixotic project. The Anschluss of Austria with Germany in 1938, records Prochnik, marked the bitterest time of Zweig’s life. Four years later, it became finally too much to bear. Zweig’s haunted talent has never been better explored than in this exemplary study, which should lead new readers to an unjustly neglected literary master.
Oliver Kamm
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times ULF ANDERSEN / GETTY IMAGES
crime
Spies, lies and blood on the touchline
A football thriller and a tale of WWI engross Marcel Berlins
The Suicide Club by Andrew Williams Hodder & Stoughton; 360pp £18.99 £ £17.99; ebook £9.99 The Suicide Club was the name given to the brave band of British spies operating in enemy territory during the First World War. Sandy Innes, the novel’s Scottish hero, trains the men to do their job, but his main task is more crucial. It is 1917, the war
is going badly, partly because something is wrong with the intelligence being sent back by the spies to Field Marshal Haig. Innes investigates and finds himself in the middle of political conflicts within the British top brass. He delves for an answer which could save the lives of many thousands of British soldiers. The war-damaged Innes is a strong, sympathetic character, and the
meticulously researched historical background is in itself fascinating.
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly Orion, 388pp; £19.99 * £16.99; ebook £9.99 Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch of the LAPD has taken to his reduced retirement role of trying to solve cold cases with irascible gusto. Together with the new partner foisted on him, a bright but naive young woman, he looks into an unsolved shooting ten years before, whose victim, a musician, has only just died, the bullet still in his spine. His inquiries bring him into contact with dodgy politicians and cast doubt on who was the bullet’s intended target. It’s a good story, but crucially The Burning Room shows Bosch on top form, his age no impediment to his stubbornness nor his professional insights. January Window by Philip Kerr Head of Zeus, 398pp; £14.99 * £13.49 ebook £6.99 Crime novels set in the world of football are comparative rarities, the best being Manuel Vázquez Montalban’s Offside, which has Barcelona FC as its hub. The best known by a British author is probably Leonard Gribble’s 1939 The Arsenal Stadium Mystery. Philip Kerr, taking a light break from his superb Bernie Gunther series, now offers January Window. Its narrator, Scott Manson, is the coach of London City FC, whose manager is murdered at the club’s docklands stadium. If Manson can find the killer, the team’s Ukrainian owner has promised him the vacant job. References to real clubs, players and events abound, and Kerr clearly knows his stuff. An entertaining read, though nonfootball enthusiasts may be less engrossed. Vendetta by Dreda Say Mitchell Hodder & Stoughton, 402pp £6.99 * £6.64; ebook £4.49 Mac Macdonagh, Vendetta’s hero, is an undercover cop with the Met. He’s infiltrated a gang of arms smugglers headed by a psychopathic Russian, but goes too far and falls for Elena, another gang member. He wakes up in a hotel bed, in a trashed, bloodstained room. Elena lies dead in the bath,
awkward truth Patricia Highsmith’s work is full of unsettling insights
mutilated. Mac does not know whether or not he’s killed her. He flees. Thus begins an extremely well written, fast-moving chase thriller, violent yet at the same time intelligently confronting the issues of loyalties and betrayals inevitably raised by undercover activities. Mitchell improves with every book. The Glass Cell; A Suspension of Mercy; Those Who Walk Away by Patricia Highsmith Virago £8.99 each * £8.54; ebook £4.99 Virago, which has recently acquired the rights to Patricia Highsmith’s work, is doing crime fiction aficionados a great favour by reissuing three of her novels from the 1960s. In The Glass Cell, a prisoner is released after six years, but the reunion with his wife is marred by his suspicion that she’s had an affair in his absence. There are fatal consequences. The unsuccessful thriller writer in A Suspension of Mercy uses his hatred of his wife as the basis of plots for his fiction, but when she disappears he’s suspected of the real thing. Those Who Walk Away charts a two man cat-and-mouse game in Venice. Ray Garrett’s wife has committed suicide; her father blames him for her death and plans to kill him. Each novel bears Highsmith’s unique, unsurpassed mixture of unsettling psychological insights, moods of tension and malice, and an ending of brilliant ambiguity.
Old Guys’ Fiction:
‘W
e are all living longer,” intone the politicians, remembering (grey vote! grey vote!) to add: “And it’s a very good thing, of course.” In their hearts they think it’s a damned inconvenient thing. If they dared, Martin Amis says, they’d put up euthanasia booths on every street corner for the wrinklies to do the decent thing. Novelists are, as a literary class, living longer and writing about the experience. And, with longevity emerges a new genre — “old guys’ fiction”. If there were a prize for OGF, what would be the all-time American contenders? Top of the list, Ravelstein (published when Saul Bellow was 85 — and still siring offspring). And the bookies’ favourite for this year would be, for a certainty, Let Me Be Frank With You. It’s a witty title. This is the fourth in the Frank Bascombe series. Frank is now 68 — but always 28 in his dreams. An
“ex-realtor”, he’s retired, comfortably, from 20 years as the second-lowest form of slime in the American pond (lowest is car salesmen). Before that he was a failed sportswriter and a failed novelist. Frank (also a failed husband) now lives with his second wife, and former long-time mistress, in his sixth house, driving his umpteenth car. It has a partly scraped out “Vote Obama” sticker on the bumper. Most things are partly scraped out in Frank’s life. He’s returned, like a dog that can’t quite remember where it buried its bone, to Haddam, by the New Jersey shore. The action is set in the days around the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, in late October 2012. Frank is semi-detached from his living children but dreams at night of his son Ralph, who died 30 years before of the childhood complaint Reye’s syndrome, “when people still did that”. His morning All-Bran is a big thing in Frank’s life nowadays. There are no “bedrock matters” to worry him. Life’s
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
49
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fiction
in short
Violence but no violinist This Sherlock Holmes pastiche is clever but too brutal for Lucy Hughes-Hallett
W
hy do we keep reading the Sherlock Holmes stories? First of course, for Holmes himself, who belongs, with Falstaff and Eeyore, in that tiny category of fictional characters who have achieved a fame independent of the works in which they first appeared. Second, for the exquisite comic tension arising from the juxtaposition of Holmes’s darting mind with the plodding of Dr Watson’s. Third, for the love story. Human affection may be “abhorrent” to Holmes’s “cold, precise but admirably balanced” nature, but Watson’s unfailing devotion to him gives Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories emotional charge. Oh, the wonder of his intellect! Oh, the poignancy of his melancholy, and the sophistication of the means he adopts to assuage it (cocaine, violin playing) while his adoring acolyte looks anxiously on. Conan Doyle allowed Watson to marry but quickly realised his own mistake, and poor Mary Watson was killed off without even a decent deathbed scene, so that the main couple could be alone together once more (with Mrs Hudson to bring up the tea). All of these assets Anthony Horowitz has abjured in this, his second exercise in Holmesian pastiche. Holmes is missing, presumed dead, after the incident at the Reichenbach Falls. Watson is absent. Which leaves Horowitz with a period setting — foggy nights, gas light, horse-drawn omnibuses — the narrative structure of a criminal investigation, and the endorsement of Conan Doyle’s estate.
job vacant The demise of Moriarty creates an opening for a super villain
Moriart Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz Orion, 310pp £19.99 * £15.99 ebook £9.99
His narrator is a Pinkerton agent pursuing an American criminal mastermind To order books at discounted prices call 0845 2712134 or visit thetimes.co.uk/ bookshop
it’s the future Let Me Be Fr Frank With You by Richard Ford Bloomsbury, 256pp 18.99 * £15.99 ebook £16.99
old boy Richard Ford writes about a 68-year-old who is 28 in his dreams
pointless, but “nobody’s first choice is being dead”. He’s survived (or has he?) prostate cancer — the “old man’s plague”, Philip Roth has called it. There’s “subluxation” in his vertebrae, which sometimes disables him. He has woozy moments, low-grade pelvic pain and he’s prone to occasional Tourette’s. Par for the course. Unlike his intricately engineered 1995 novel, the 72-hour Independence Day (when our hero was a mere 45 and still struggling), what we have here is a fractured, aimless, narrative. But that’s the image of what you cling to in your later years. Drifting wreckage. Frank visits the pulverised shoreline where he once lived with his first wife. The house is destroyed. He sold it for a handsome profit. The insurance companies don’t cover wind. “Natural disaster,” he ruminates, “reveals truth.” A black middleclass woman drops by. Her family used to live in the nice house Frank and Sally now occupy. Her father, the visitor says,
To this list of ingredients he has added transatlantic spice. His narrator introduces himself as Frederick Chase, a Pinkerton’s agent, who has come to Europe in pursuit of the criminal mastermind Clarence Devereux. Devereux, having made the American underworld his own, is now infiltrating London, aided by the sinister Mortlake brothers and a man with a loud check suit and too many rings, named Scotchy Lavelle (Horowitz has a flair for naming). This might sound like a marketing ploy (good for US sales), but the terms in which the American visitors are described is hardly likely to cajole their compatriots into loving this book. They are a disease, a “poison that has entered the bloodstream of this country”. They are spreading “like syphilis”. Instead of Holmes and Watson we have a nervously striving, physically rickety detective named Athelney Jones (after one of Conan Doyle’s characters whom he barely resembles) and a narrator who initially patronises him, and jeers at his credulity. Jones has been bested by Holmes in the past and has resolved to do better by imitating the great detective. His study is a shrine to Sherlock. His manner of speech is borrowed from him: his powers of observation and deduction are laboriously acquired skills based on the master’s. The action is horribly violent. Instead of gothic eeriness we have a man whose hands are nailed to the arms of his chair before the torturer gets to work on his knee-caps. There’s a nasty fat boy who cuts throats for pleasure and a phalanx of “hooligans” who
beat up anyone at whom their master points them. The crime that kicks off the plot is the murder, not of a single victim, but of a whole household: Horowitz seems to relish a crowd. There’s a fight scene in an abandoned warehouse, during which a villain is winched up to roof level before plunging into the river, and another in vaults beneath Smithfield meat market, which features a shiny black carriage drawn by horses galloping over the subterranean cobblestones, an underground train and spectacular strobe lighting effects as the train races through a tunnel. You can almost see the movie as you read. Devereux is a creepy villain, with his preternaturally tiny hands and the agoraphobia that keeps him perpetually indoors behind heavy curtains. He grew up in Chicago’s meat-packing district, a childhood that left him a vegetarian, but also an expert in the cutting up of flesh, a nicely unpleasant theme. Horowitz’s language is well-judged — not too modern, but not too insistently antique. The narrative twist comes too late to make much of an impression — more of an “Oh really?” than an “Ah hah!” Horowitz has done a decent job, but he suffers from the inevitable comparison. The brutality of his tale left me pining for 221B Baker Street, where Holmes would discourse “on medieval pottery, on Stradivarius violins, on the Buddhism of Ceylon and on the warships of the future” while he and Watson prepared for an exciting chase by tucking into oysters and a brace of grouse.
The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Short Stories by Ian Rankin Orion, 451pp Orio £19.99 * £15.99; ebook £9.99 £1 It Hogmanay in It’s Edinbur and Inspector Edinburgh Rebus is unwillingly willingly working to nab a major player in the drugs trade. But he’s shocked to come face to face with an old enemy, Jackie “Trigger” Crawford — “He had not gained the nickname . . . for his quiet and homely outlook on life.” Prison has changed Crawford and he claims he has found God. Rebus, however, is not convinced; the twist at the end is typical of these excellently crafted short stories. In his afterword, Ian Rankin looks back at the birth of his glum anti-hero in 1985, when he was writing his doctoral thesis on Muriel Spark, and remembers how the complex Rebus came into being. The only thing Rankin has in common with Spark is the invention of a unique, fictional Edinburgh; the Rebus books have shown us the mean streets behind the postcard views. F by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Carol tr Brown Janeway Br Quercus, 258pp Quer £16.99 * £14.99; ebook £7. 99 £1 This clever German novel can be read as an updated version of Dostoevsky’s ve The Brothers Karamazov — the lives of three brothers are overshadowed and pulled out of shape by their unsatisfactory father. Arthur Friedland is an unpublished writer of amazing selfishness. The story begins when Arthur takes his sons to see a hypnotist. Martin, the oldest boy, did not meet his father until he was 7. His little half-brothers, Ivan and Eric, are twins. Arthur claims he can’t be hypnotised; the hypnotist punishes his scepticism by planting a life-altering idea in his head: “Starting today, you’re going to make an effort.” Arthur runs away, and the boys grow into troubled adults — a priest without faith, an artist who scorns his art and a financial wizard who has lost his money — wondering what vital element has been missing in their lives. Intricate and often very funny.
clubbed all the family, apart from her, to death where they are now standing. Ho hum. Life goes on. Frank later visits his ex, Ann, to give her an orthopaedic pillow. She remarried but now has early onset Parkinson’s and (another returnee to Haddam) has moved into a “staged extended-care community” designed (for those who can afford the outrageous fees) to “rebrand ageing”. “Half the caregivers are Asian.” Ann does not want the orthopaedic pillow. Or him. The Asians are OK. Frank next visits an old buddy from the “divorced men’s club” they both once belonged to. Eddie’s “busy getting dead” from fourth-stage pancreatic cancer. Frank discovers something about his first wife he didn’t know and, at this stage of life, really rather wouldn’t. “It’s better not to know too many things.” Let Me Be Frank With You is a beautifully composed, deceptively ramshackle, novel. Ford is renowned for taking his trusty sidearm and blasting away at bad reviews. Few potshots will be required for this one. Roll on number five — after all, Richard Ford’s only 70 and ¾.
Six Stories and an Essay by Andrea Levy Tinder Press, 127pp Tind £12.99 £11.69; ebook £6.49 These six stories, spanning the past 20 years of Levy’s career, ye are introduced by an ar essay, in which she describes how writing helped her to understand her own heritage. Levy was born in London to parents from the Caribbean. As a child, growing up in a council flat in north London, she knew she was different from her white playmates. Her parents were proud of their relatively pale skins, and looked down on those who were darker, until young Andrea wasn’t sure where she belonged. She describes a startling turning point, when an exercise at work demanded that the room split into groups of black and white, and “I walked over to the white side of the room.” Visiting Jamaica for the first time, Levy began to learn about the brutal history of the slave trade. Moving, funny, gloriously well-written.
John Sutherland
Kate Saunders
the times Saturday November 8 2014
50 Travel Walking holiday
Follow the tea trail to the wild heart of India
A new lodge is the perfect springboard for a trek into the little-explored High Range, finds David Abram
F
rom our perch on a grassy ledge at 2,600m (8,500ft), it looked like the rocks on the hillside below us were moving. We were sitting just below the summit of South India’s second highest mountain, Meesapulimala, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. To one side stretched a vista of deep valleys, ringed by serrated peaks and spectacular cloud forms back-lit by bright morning sunshine. To the other, a plateau of rolling grassland. The rocks in question studded the floor of a sheltered coombe a kilometre or so to the west. “Not rocks. Elephants. Four adults. Two calves,” declared Raj, my guide, peering through his field glasses. An instant later, a plume of mist spilt over the summit ridge and engulfed us. By the time it cleared, the elephants had moved behind a fold in the hillside and disappeared. By Indian standards, this was a run-ofthe-mill sighting. Wild elephants are numerous in these parts, and ours were far off and few in number. But for me, to see such large mammals up here — not from a Jeep, but gazing across a vast, open, pristine wilderness, framed by beautiful mountains — was something special. Despite their proximity to some of Asia’s most densely populated regions, the mountains of the so-called “High Range” dividing Kerala and Tamil Nadu remain some of the least explored in India. Although hundreds of thousands of visitors from the plains pour through the area each year to admire the greenery of the tea gardens, there are only a handful of viewpoints to the peaks themselves. The reason: these uplands either form part of huge private tea holdings, or else fall under the jurisdiction of the governmentrun Forest Department. And both zealously prevent access to the high ground, particularly in the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. In a country of 1.3 billion people, a “right to roam” would spell catastrophe for the wilderness.
Some gaps in the protective cordon, however, can be found if you look hard enough, especially on the Tamil side of the border where the access laws are less rigorous. The best — if you want to be within easy range of the peaks, and sleep in comfort — is a gorgeous little guest house called the Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut. Miles above road level on the highest tea estate in the world, the property was recently converted from a terrace of “pluckers lines” (workers’ quarters), and is now run as a kind of luxury base camp for hikes in the High Range. Getting to the place is an adventure in itself. You have to catch a taxi from Munnar for 45 minutes, then transfer to a Jeep for a bumpy ride up a rutted track for another hour. Or you can walk up, as we elected to do, following the old British-built bridleway to the pass marking the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. As we descended from the ridgetop, gaps started to appear in the swirling cloud and drizzle that had enveloped us for most of the climb, and we were able to catch fleeting glimpses of our destination — the Kolukkumalai factory — nestled on a natural balcony below, amid a maze of tea bushes trailing wisps of mist. Established in the 1930s, the remote, green-and-silver plant was among the last of
the times Saturday November 8 2014
its kind to be built by the British, and still retains its original, wonderfully HeathRobinson-esque machinery and rickety wooden staircases, all steeped in the aroma of fermenting tea leaves and engine oil. Steel girders punch-marked “1933 Lanarkshire” hold the place together. Our host, Sinna, greeted us on the guest house veranda with a pot of the estate’s finest broken orange pekoe (aka “BOP”), which, he explained, owes its complex flavours to the altitude and micro-climate, as well as Kolukkumalai’s traditional production methods. The factory is one of only a few in South India still turning out pukka “Orthodox” leaf tea in the time-honoured fashion, and the difference with your average cup of Indian chai is striking. This was the kind of feisty, flavoursome brew that my grandmother would have approved of. The three rooms, in a terrace on the hillside just above the factory, were lovely. With their avocado-green walls, luxuriously thick mattresses, max-tog duvets, hot-water bottles and fancy cushions, they felt more boutique than bunkhouse, but Sinna was keen to point out that the emphasis here was on the outdoors rather than the interiors. “We want our guests to be comfortable. But this isn’t a hotel. Think of it more as a kind of mountain hut, only one with proper rooms.” There are no TVs or fancy soaps — and no wi-fi — and evenings are spent around an open fire. Staff are recruited from the local community, where unemployment has been a problem since the recent drop in tea prices. “You’ll never forget the views at sunrise,” enthused Sinna. His prediction was borne out in spectacular fashion the next morning. Before first
Travel 51
light, a knock on the door wrenched me awake. It was 5.30am and freezing outside. “Come quickly. The sky’s an amazing colour,” announced our host excitedly. The previous day’s weather had been more like what you’d expect to encounter in the highlands of Scotland than Kerala. But during the night the cloud had sunk to the valley floor, leaving the peaks of the surrounding ranges exposed in sharp silhouette against a sky glowing with clouds the colour of rubies. Shreds of gold were starting to brocade the eastern horizon — a fabulously exotic spectacle. Over a breakfast of fresh papaya, hot puri bhaji and pots of steaming BOP, it was decided we’d make the most of the good weather by attempting an ascent of Meesapulimala, the mountain whose twin summits loom above the estate. From there, we’d then press on around the top of the valley, overnighting in a series of specially erected wild camps — a threeday expedition. Gangs of smiling pluckers were tucking into tins of rice and dal as we began our climb through the tea groves. In the verges, daisies and other familiar survivors of long-disappeared memsahibs’ bungalow gardens bobbed in the breeze. The fine weather held all day, ensuring a stupendous panorama from the summit. Our first night under canvas, deep in the grassland on the Keralan side of the mountain, was spent in a sheltered valley dotted with scarlet rhododendrons where we swam in a sparkling stream. The second, at an even more far-flung spot, this time on the Tamil side of the border, was in a clearing hemmed in by pristine shola forest. A mix of evergreen trees stunted by the wind and al-
The Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut; a wild Asian elephant
National parks TAMIL NADU Meesapulimala Munnar Suryanelli Kolukkumalai KERALA 20 miles
titude, shola is the endemic vegetation that the British originally cleared to plant their tea estates and the vestigial patches that survive are teeming with wildlife. A sambar deer and rare, yellow-bibbed Nilgiri marten appeared at the camp not long after our arrival, and langur monkeys whooped and crashed periodically through the trees. Sinna and the team had travelled ahead to erect the tents, and by the time we’d showered and changed, a coconutchicken curry was bubbling on an open fire and chapatis were browning on the griddle. Below us, the shola tumbled into the awesome Kottagudi Valley, flanked on both sides by towering peaks. The first lights of towns and villages on the distant Tamil plains were beginning to twinkle, but I could just make out the switchbacks of the old mule track used by the British planters to connect their estates at Top Station with the valley floor — a ropeway once transported the tea down this same fast track to sea level. If we’d had a few more days we could have followed the same zigzagging bridleway, crossed the valley and climbed back up the other side to Kolukkumalai, completing a wonderful, week-long round route. But it wasn’t to be: by this time tomorrow we’d be back in the heat and humidity of Cochin getting ready to catch a plane home. Normally, you walk away from such a prospect with a heavy heart in India. Places develop so quickly here. But the obstructive attitude of the local land giants have their advantages. This was one beautiful valley in India unlikely to sprout a crust of multi-storey hotels any time soon. The round route could, I reassured myself, wait for another year.
Need to know David Abram was a guest of TransIndus (0844 8793960, transindus.co.uk), which offers ten-day trips from £1,775pp including flights, B&B in Cochin, full board in the camps and Kolukkumalai Estate and all transfers and hikes. Where to stay Kolukkumalai Mountain Hut (kolukkumalai.in) is the only accommodation in the area and has rooms for £66 per night including freshly cooked Keralan meals, a tea factory visit and a guided hike. How to get there Qatar Airways flies to Cochin via Doha for £475 return. The car transfer from Cochin to Suryanelli (start of the trail to Kolukkumalai) costs £42, and is best arranged when booking your accommodation. If you’d rather travel by Jeep up to the hut instead of walking, count on another £14. More information The Kolukkumalai website (kolukkumalai.in) features outlines of the various trekking routes on offer in the area.
the times Saturday November 8 2014
52 Travel Winter sports
Lapland for a day — huskies,
If you’re looking for a mini break with a difference, head to the Arctic for some full-on (but freezing) fun, says Robin Stacey
S
now lies everywhere, deep and crisp and even. Not a needle quivers among the legions of silent larch trees huddled around the lake. You could hear a frozen pine cone drop in the next valley. I ease my thumb on the accelerator and a mighty roar shreds the silence. A hundred horsepower jolt propels us forward and within seconds we are hurtling across the lake like hell’s angels, a blizzard of crazy snow patterns spewing out behind. Fortunately Lake Enodak is frozen solid beneath 30cm of ice, which is just as well as we slice across the huge expanse of virgin white snow. Before this morning I have never even seen a snowmobile, much less driven one, but four hours after leaving Gatwick I am leaving whole forests behind in a blur and can’t wait for the next stretch of winding, bumpy woodland track. More bizarre still, tomorrow morning I’ll be back at my desk in London as if nothing had ever happened. I’m on a day trip to Lapland, the vast Arctic homeland of the Sami people at the northernmost edge of Europe that straddles the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and a decent chunk of Russia. The flight to tiny Enontekiö in Finland is packed with families on a visit to meet Father Christmas but the last thing my fellow adventurers and I are looking for is seasonal cheer and goodwill. We’re here for a day on the wild side and jingle bells it ain’t. It’s a sharp minus 20C as we disembark at the airport and the sun is hovering above the horizon in a long, low corridor of orange blancmange. But not for long. Soon it will disappear completely and most of our adventure will take place beneath a panoply of huge, bright stars. The Polaris snowmobile is the perfect beast to power us into this wilderness. Deceptively sure-footed and effortlessly manoeuvrable, the half-dozen machines are waiting for us within 50m of passport control and after ten minutes of instruction we are motoring our way through the icy contours of the woods. After 40 minutes in the saddle we pull over at a snow-roofed café to refuel. Lunch starts with hearty tomato soup and next comes a gamey dish that looks like shish kebab but turns out to be karistys, the traditional reindeer stew of the Lapps. It’s made from shavings taken from a frozen hunk of meat, says the chef, who goes on to explain more about the lore and culture of the highly distinctive Lapp people. Lapps have been herding reindeer in these parts for thousands of
years and strict rules governing marriage determine who can and cannot call themselves a Lapp and wear their distinctive colourful clothing. After a creamy yoghurt pudding it’s a shorter snowmobile glide to Hetta Huskies. The huskies greet us with a manic chorus of yelping, yowling and yapping as every dog strains at its kennel leash to check out the new arrivals. The farm is home to 160 huskies, including Siberian and Alaskan varieties, explains Anna, our host, the Siberians distinctive in their thick coats for long-distance mushing, the Alaskans surprisingly small and lean, but ideal for racing. All the dogs will happily mush for 50 miles a day at a steady 15mph. They will mush for us too and Anna explains the lowdown on how to avoid coming a cropper on the 2km track encircling the farm. The driver — that’s me — has his feet planted on two wooden run-
I’ve never driven a snowmobile, but four hours after leaving Gatwick I am leaving whole forests behind in a blur
ners at the back of the sled and the secret is to tilt your weight slightly into any corner to keep the sled stable. Within minutes we are gliding across the snow in the moonlight behind a train of eager dogs. Meanwhile, the passenger enjoys the bizarre sensation of whooshing snow an inch beneath their buttocks. Teamed up in sevens or eights, the dogs are chaos theory in chains, not just running but constantly scrapping with one another, snapping at passing wildlife, or cocking a leg to have a running skippity-hop pee. At first it’s a magical experience whistling through the woods as frosted twigs glisten like diamanté in our head torches. Spooky pairs of sky blue or orange eyes pierce the dark whenever a husky looks back. As the forest gets deeper, spindly woody fingers grope towards us and eerie shadows lunge crazily. It’s easy to imagine that trolls and ogres lurk behind every tree trunk and
then there are the wolves, real ones, often heard in these parts but rarely seen. In the end it’s the cold that gets us, first invading the sanctuary of insulated boots, then picking off fingers one by one and sinking icy teeth into eyes and noses. As the huskies plough on through the bitter night air a jolly jaunt deteriorates into real discomfort. I begin to shake from cold and notice coronets of frozen drool hanging from the dogs’ mouths. The lights of the husky farm are a real relief. I stagger into the relative warmth of the souvenir shop but the snowshoe lesson is out of the question for me. I later find out the temperature has plummeted to minus 27C. I’m annoyed I let myself in for such harsh treatment. Thawing out beside me is Sarah Walton, a fellow adventurer, from Southgate, London, and I ask her how she got caught up in such a chilly caper. It’s a birthday
the times Saturday November 8 2014
Travel 53
snowmobiles and adventure NEALE HAYNES / BUZZ PICTURES / ALAMY
Husky mushing in Lapland
Pushed for time and want a holiday? How about . . . If you have only one day’s holiday left, combine it with a weekend to go everywhere from Malta to Iceland Geysers and northern lights in Iceland The daily 8.35pm Icelandair flight from Heathrow to Reykjavik means you don’t have to bolt from the office early if you’re in London, so you could leave on the Thursday night. The return 4.30pm Sunday flight gives you the best part of three days in the country. Head out on a one-day Golden Circle tour that includes geysers and waterfalls, right, and, at this time of year, fingers crossed, the northern lights too. Details Discover the World (01737 214291, discover-the-world.co.uk) has a three-night break with flights, B&B and car hire from £649pp Romantic break in Paris The last Eurostar train leaves London St Pancras at 8pm, which means you can connect from the home counties or east Midlands without having to make up a sneaky excuse for the boss to take the afternoon off. Use an online booking service to find a romantic pad for two, such as a former artist’s workshop near the rue de Cherche-Midi, with lots of cafés and restaurants near by. Details Expect to pay from £175pp for Eurostar (08432 186186, eurostar.com) returns at the weekend from St Pancras. One Fine Stay (0800 6124377, onefinestay.com) has the one-bedroom apartment for £283 per night
present for her partner, Michael, who runs a driving school, she explains. “He’s crazy about unusual forms of transport,” she says. “Jet-ski, motorbike, track racer, helicopter, plane: you name it, he’s driven it. It just had to be snowmobiles next. He’s even got a husky called Chinook.” His verdict on the day: “Magic.” On the plane home my anger melts away as fingers and toes begin to glow with an indignant warmth. I ponder the uniqueness and excitement of my adventure. It’s all been slightly mad since leaving home at 4am, but that’s a surprise package for you. We have completed a vast circuit of 25km through magical frozen countryside by exclusively Arctic modes of transport and learnt something about local culture into the bargain. It has been a lot of fun and there have been no broken bones. Next year I could even be up for another lap.
Gozo and Malta Air Malta’s daily flight KM103 lifts off from Heathrow at 8.30pm, arriving on the island just before 1am, so if you go on Thursday, you’ll have plenty of time before returning on Sunday evening. Wander round the old capital of Mdina, above, bob around in the Blue Grotto and party in St Julian’s. Details Mercury Direct (0800 7814893, mercury-direct.co.uk) has flights, transfers and three nights’ half board at the Hotel Fortina from £329pp
Need to know Robin Stacey was a guest of Transun (01865 265200, transun.co.uk), whose Arctic Explorer day-trip costs £549. Trips depart from Manchester (November 29), Gatwick (December 7 and 18), East Midlands (December 17), and Bristol (December 19).
See the Wall in Berlin November is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall so there’s plenty going on. Download a free city guide at inyourpocket.com. EasyJet’s early morning Friday flight from Manchester will get you in at 10am, and the Sunday service back leaves at 9.45pm giving you the best part of three full days. Details Expect to pay about £240pp for a weekend return Manchester-Berlin on EasyJet (easyjet.com) if you’re not booking far in advance. Airbnb (airbnb.com) has a vintage East German style one-bedroom apartment in Mitte from £35 per night
that leave Heathrow at 7pm, and get you back into London on Monday morning by 6am. It means you can pack in four days in East Africa, enough time to tick the “Big Five” off your list. You could push the boat out and go superposh with 1920s biplane flights over the plains at Lewa, but Governors’ Camp is a more wallet-friendly option with great game-viewing opportunities. Details The Ultimate Travel Company (020 3051 8098, theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) has return Kenya Airways flights, transfers and three nights’ full board at Governors’ Camp, with guiding, from £1,998pp
Mosques and minarets in Istanbul Turkish Airlines’ 10.30pm departure to Istanbul means you can positively amble to Heathrow if you’re in London or the southeast. It arrives the next morning at 4.20am (ouch) but, look on the bright side, you’ll miss the traffic, and if you book three nights’ accommodation you can tumble straight into bed for a catch-up nap before hitting the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. The return flight on Sunday leaves at 8.15pm. Details Kirker Holidays (020 7593 2283, kirkerholidays.com) has Turkish Airlines flights from Heathrow, private transfers, Turkish visa and three nights’ B&B from £711pp If you have two days’ holiday left, try anything from a safari to a shopping break in New York It might not be the best night’s sleep you ever had, but British Airways’ 10.30pm Wednesday flight from Heathrow will get you into Tel Aviv the next morning before 6am, local time. Head straight to Manta Ray (mantaray.co.il) for a recuperative breakfast on the beach. In just a few days here you can explore the city on a Bauhaus architecture tour, chill out in a café or two and explore Jerusalem, less than an hour away. Details Cox & Kings (020 7873 5000, coxandkings.co.uk) has return BA flights, transfers and three night’s B&B from £970pp Safari in Kenya A weekend safari for a special occasion is a fair chunk of change but doable with overnight Kenya Airways flights
Shopping in New York Max out a weekend in the Big Apple by leaving on Virgin Atlantic’s 8pm Wednesday departure, and arriving back Monday morning at 6.50am tired, happy, clutching your shopping, and full of seasonal tales of ice-skating in Central Park and the Rockettes high kicking at Radio City Music Hall. Details Virgin Holidays (0844 5573859, virginholidays.co.uk) has flights and room-only accommodation at The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel from £889pp Flop and drop in Abu Dhabi Just want to flop in the sun with a good book or swap jumpers for T-shirts on the golf course? You can leave Manchester at 8pm on a nonstop overnight Etihad flight for Abu Dhabi and then have four full days by the pool before arriving home at about 7am on Monday morning — ready to head straight into the office, with just two days off work. Details Trailfinders (020 7368 1200, trailfinders.com) has Etihad flights and three nights’ B&B at the Centro Yas Island hotel from £549pp if booked by November 14 Catch a bargain in Cape Town It’s a long way down, but there’s no jet lag and you’ll be heading into the southern summer. British Airways has two nonstop overnight flights in both directions, and with the rand hovering at about 18 to the pound, eating out is a bargain. On Saturday go to the Neighbourgoods Market in Woodstock for a cheap gourmet brunch. Book online before you leave to guarantee a spot for a tour of Robben Island (robben-island.org.za), left, and you’ll also have time for a Sunday picnic in Kirstenbosch Gardens en route to the airport. Details British Airways Holidays (0844 4930758, ba.com/ capetown) has return flights from Heathrow and three nights’ B&B at the Holiday Inn Express City Centre from £1,029pp if booked by November 12 Will Hide
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
55
FGM
Games Samurai Sudoku No 428 — Difficult
2 4 3 8 7 1
4 2 1
6
3 6 8
6 8 2 7
4 4
5 5 6
5 7 8
9 2
2 6 6 2
9 5 6 5 9 4
1 2 3 7 5 5
6 3 6
9
1 7 9
7 3 8
4
7 2 6
The Listener solution No 4316
Delightful Punishment by MynoT The title suggests “super imposition”. In clashing cells the letters are superimposed thus: F/L onto E, I onto T, O onto Q, P onto B/R, V onto W. Answers modified in the grid were, Across: 1 oat, 13 hove, 15 galls, 18 steeped, 19 slat, 23 sever, 26 pitier, 28 plast, 31 pacer, 33 flan, 36 lasts, 39 vent; Down: 4 light, 35 left. More details at listenercrossword.com. The winners are CW Reid Dick of Hamburg, Germany, CH Price of Moddershall, Staffordshire, and Tony Marshall of Prestwood, Buckinghamshire.
6
3 4 7
2
5 9 6 7 8 9 1
6
7 1 1
2 3 7 6
3 5
9 8 1 6 9 4 1 3 5 6 1 4 8 7 3 9 1 2 7 9 6 3 6 7 8 5 9 Stuck on Su Doku or Killer Call 0901 322 5005 to receive four clues for any of today’s puzzles. Calls cost 77p from BT landlines.
8 4 9
56 min
Solution to last week’s Samurai Sudoku
9 1 4 5 7 2
6 8 5 3 7 1 2 9 4
9 3 4 6 8 2 7 1 5
1 7 2 5 4 9 6 8 3
2 4 3 9 5 6 8 7 1
7 5 9 1 3 8 4 2 6
8 6 1 4 2 7 3 5 9
8 7 9 4 5 6 1 2 3
3 6 2 9 1 7 4 8 5
4 1 5 8 3 2 9 7 6
5 2 7 1 8 3 6 9 4
6 4 8 2 9 5 7 3 1
9 3 1 6 7 4 2 5 8
5 9 7 8 6 3 1 4 2 5 8 6 7 9 3 5 4 1 8 6 2
4 2 6 7 1 5 9 3 8 4 7 2 1 5 6 7 2 8 3 4 9
Killler No 3994 - Deadly (55min) 21
14
17
9
30 10
13
7
6
15
10
14 20
4 22
22 17
7
6 5 3 7 2 1 9 4 8
7 1 4 3 9 8 6 2 5
2 8 9 6 4 5 3 1 7
3 5 8 7 9 6 4 2 1 8 6 7 5 3 9 6 1 8 2 4 7
7 2 4 1 5 3 8 9 6 2 5 3 4 7 1 5 2 3 6 9 8
6 1 9 4 2 8 3 7 5 9 1 4 8 6 2 9 4 7 1 3 5
5 3 6 8 4 7 9 1 2
2 9 7 3 1 5 6 4 8
8 4 1 2 6 9 5 3 7
1 7 5 6 3 4 2 8 9
9 8 3 5 7 2 1 6 4
4 6 2 9 8 1 7 5 3
9 2 8 3 7 1 5 6 4
6 4 7 8 5 2 3 1 9
1 5 3 4 9 6 8 7 2
3 9 6 7 8 5 4 2 1
7 1 5 2 3 4 9 8 6
2 8 4 1 6 9 7 5 3
Sudoku No 6937
19
11
13
3 1 8 2 9 4 5 6 7 1 3 9 2 8 4 3 6 9 5 1 7
Yesterday’s solutions
18
8
30
23
Stuck? Call 0901 322 5005 to receive four clues for any of today’s puzzles. Calls cost 77p from BT landlines.
Time to solve
9 5 6
7 8
Sudoku No 6942 - Fiendish
Su Doku/Killer ©Puzzler Media Puzzle content © 2008 Gakken Co. Ltd.
1 8 1
3 1 2
4 3
5 9
6 1
8 9 5
6
9
4 9 6
3
8 7
1
4 8
9
1
2 3 1
Our five-grid Su Doku will test your powers of logic and elimination — against the clock. Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Where the puzzles overlap, the rows and columns do not go beyond their usual length but the interlocking boxes give you more clues — and more complexity! Remember — don’t try to solve each Su Doku grid in turn, the puzzle has to be tackled as a whole.
6 1 9 5 7 3 2 8 4
3 8 7 2 6 4 5 1 9
4 5 2 9 1 8 7 6 3
2 9 1 4 5 6 8 3 7
8 4 5 7 3 2 1 9 6
7 3 6 1 8 9 4 5 2
1 6 4 3 2 5 9 7 8
9 7 8 6 4 1 3 2 5
5 2 3 8 9 7 6 4 1
1 4 7 6 2 8 5 9 3
2 5 6 9 3 7 8 1 4
7 3 5 2 8 9 1 4 6
9 8 1 4 6 3 2 7 5
6 2 4 7 1 5 3 8 9
Killer No 3993 15
10
Follow standard Su Doku rules, but digits within the cells joined by dotted lines should add up to the printed top left-hand figure. Within each dotted-line “shape”, a digit CANNOT be repeated. For solutions to Su Doku & Killer see Monday’s newspaper
8 7 9 5 4 2 6 3 1
4 1 2 3 7 6 9 5 8
5 6 3 8 9 1 4 2 7
3 9 8 1 5 4 7 6 2
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
saturday review 57
FGM
Win a Collins Dictionary & Thesaurus For your chance to win, call 0901 292 5274 (ROI 1516 415 029) and leave your answer (the 3 numbers in the pink cells) and details or text the 3 numbers to TIMES followed by a space and then your answer and your contact details to 83080 (ROI 57601) by midnight tonight. You can leave your answer numbers in any order. 6Winners will receive a Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus Calls cost £1.02 from BT landlines (ROI € 1.50). Other networks and mobiles will cost more. Texts cost £1 (ROI € 1.50) plus your standard network charge. Winners will be picked at random from all correct answers received. One draw per week. Lines close at midnight tonight. If you call or text after this time you will not be entered but will still be charged. Terms and conditions thetimes.co.uk/sudoku-comp. SP: Spoke, W1B 2AG. 0333 202 3390 / 01437 8815 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x2 box contains the digits 1 to 6. Developed by Sudoku Syndication MO A T E D N R E A N AWF U I C E B R O K E N I R D C H E E S E C A C R UM B O S M R U WE D D I N G R S T OO T H P A U H O S T R O K I N M L I M P A C T C U S I T C H E D A A R B U R Y O N L D O R E C Y C L E
M A T T O C K E O L H L L Y B I G A O N V K N B L EW I E B A K E R E P R A A T R A I N E R E G C A M A R C H M I E O S T E C O U M E N G E I N S T A N T R A T E R E D A A E N A B L E R N B P L E S H E A D I R O R E S R A K E S
E R A S E R A M E S P O N T A T K A M A V E R I C S N D I S C R E T N R R S T Y E T E E B T R A N Q U I V T L E M O N T H N B R N E W S R E E E S I M P R I S O A V I N V A I N H T E O T O R H I U R R X R A Y T U B
M U F F L E I R O N E O U S C S G E K M O O N A N I O N E X D S E A R A W A A H A L L I T Y L N Y M E S H W H L I D A R O N T N M E N T G A R E D F L A A E A N O L A R Y G V A E E M B R
F I D V E T S C R O R E
B A N T O I N
O R E D E C K A O H E N T U R E C B E H I L A R Y E I D U C T I O N N H L D R I T C H E N O K R A K I N G L T M A R T I A L Y R G N I R I S E U O A G E M E N T G V E S T I A R Y H R O H E S A N D L T E L I E L OW
D A R R O M B L I L I T R T R A H T Y E L A D U C N I L L N E E S A S U N H R G S E H N G O C E Y O S
D V O C A C Y I L E U S T I O N T F T A F F I R M H I V A G A N C E P N L O N G A T E S E I L T E R A T E A I Y S H A L L Y Y F L Y F L A X P I T E R A L D E D E I O C I A B L E I T I L O G I S T U O R S U N K E N
U C U R T T E I N N G
Solution to Friday’s Codeword QU E S U Y I C E R S K I L T N R S A F A N T B E AU L M U S E F G F L OR
T B OW I ON I ON V F S Y Y UB T E X T R RU J OY A R I A P P E GEM E N Z O I S T I ME D I O T E X T RA O A Y NOR
NG Y A P S B Y R AR V OM Y E N A T H
Word Watching: Ailanthus (c) A deciduous tree with pinnate leaves, small greenish flowers and winged fruits also called tree of heaven. Cleek (b) Old-fashioned name for a golf club, equivalent to a modern 2 iron. Fiddlehead (a) The edible coiled tip of a young fern frond (North American). Peonage (b) Penury, a system in which a debtor is compelled to work for his creditor until the debt is paid off. Polygon agal, alap, alga, anal, anna, annal, gaga, gala, gang, gangplank, kalpa, kana, knag, knap, lagan, lank, naan, naga, nana, napa, paan, pagan,
Solution to Cryptic Jumbo 1116 The winner is Mr M Donnelly of Groombridge, Kent
Scrabble ® Allan Simmons
Chess Raymond Keene
The National Scrabble Championships (NSC) took place last weekend in Milton Keynes with one of the strongest fields for some time. In previous years players had to qualify through regional heats of relatively few games, which meant that some toprated players were early casualties. In comparison, this year’s NSC was organised by the Association of British Scrabble Players (absp.org.uk) and was an open event. The strength in numbers made the event almost as tough as a world championship. So extra kudos for Chris May who took the title with 13 wins from the 17 games, narrowly beating Tess Brousson, also on 17 wins but with a lower spread (cumulative win/loss margin). They were both near the top of the field for most of the event, and with repeat pairings allowed on day two they played each other three times. The first of those, in round 12, concluded with an extremely close endgame, as May recalls:
This afternoon the World Championship match between defending champion Magnus Carlsen and former champion Viswanathan Anand starts in Sochi. Today’s inaugural game, with instant computer evaluations, can be followed in real time via the 2seeitlive link on the header of The Times Twitter feed @times_chess. For regular updates direct to your Twitter account just click on the “follow” button. Playing days for the coming week are: today, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. There can be no better way to gain profound and up-todate insights into the playing style and character of both protagonists than studying the two newly released books by Everyman Chess, Anand: Move by Move by Zenon Franco and Carlsen: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala. The following dramatic cliffhanger essentially decided last year’s match. Anand gambled everything on a violent and spectacular last ditch assault which he failed to drive home.
________ á Db1n4kD] àD D DpDp] ß D D )p!] ÞD Dp) ) ] Ý Dp) $ D] ÜD ) D H ] Û D D DB)] ÚDqD D I ] ÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈ
White: Viswanathan Anand Black: Magnus Carlsen World Championship, Chennai (Game 9) 2013 Nimzo-Indian Defence
Winning move
faced very unbalanced racks in an already-skewed pool. With the bag empty and a 413-433 deficit, I couldn’t go out in two moves, but found a two-move sequence that I thought was a two-point win even though Tess would go out first.”
The endgame board is shown below. What were May’s best two moves with:
ENNOOUU
Brousson had picked the last two letters, RT, after her GIRTH play, and now held:
RRTT
She could only see 13 points from TROT J3a and REH G7d, to lose by two. However, analysis after the game found a clever way in which she could have won, albeit needing a good knowledge of the fours. See if you can work it out with or without a dictionary (the plays don’t rely on May’s moves). Finally, see if you can unravel the fairly common sevens played by others at the event from these racks:
AACEKNS AEHLMNO AEHORRS AFINORS EEGOPRT
“We exchanged bonus words twice: PANDIES and TOADYISM for Tess, and ABAXILE and the fortunate KIBITZED for me. Her CATTALOS then gave her a good late lead, and as the endgame neared both of us
Collins Scrabble Words is the word authority used. Word positions use the grid reference plus (a)cross or (d)own. 2L
Solution to Quick Jumbo 1116 The winner is Gill Wilson of Winchester, Hampshire
palak, pang, panga, plan, plank. Two Brains 1 In Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado: a dull dark dock; a lifelong lock; and a short sharp shock. The fourth item is a big black block. 2 They also played for England at another sport (football, rugby, football and football, respectively). Scrabble May’s best endgame plays: ONE M6a (21) then HUN O13a (18) to give him 452. Brousson could have won if she played TOR J4a (5) then TEHR (Asian goatlike mammal) G7d, making TORR (alternative spelling of TOR), (12) to give her 450 which wins by two after adjustments for May’s unused OU. The sevens are: ASKANCE MANHOLE HOARSER INSOFAR PROTEGE. Literary quiz All feature characters created by other writers. 1 James Bond, Kingsley Amis writing as Robert Markham. 2 Sherlock Holmes, Anthony Horowitz. 3 Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent, Eoin Colfer. 4 Hercule Poirot, Sophie Hannah. 1
double letter square (dl) 1
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
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3W compeer o 2L 3L a fauve 2W B t 2W q 2L 2L 2L M toadyis ag 2W la an xi el by pig 3L 2L no 2L l 2L al 2L 3W os jawed nef 2L 2L w hied i 3L o 3L i c 3L v r e 2W ug kibitzed s si 2L 2L 2L an 2W r 3L 3L me t 2W 3W 2L er 2L h 3W 3W
Letter values 1 point:
AEIOU LNRST 2 points:
DG
3 points:
BCMP 4 points:
FHVWY K=5 JX = 8 QZ = 10
SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of J. W. Spear & Sons Ltd ©Mattel 2013
Polygon Roger Phillips
Using the given letters no more than once, make as many words as possible of four or more letters, always including the central letter. Capitalised words, plurals, conjugated verbs (past tense etc), adverbs ending in LY, comparatives and superlatives are disallowed. How you rate: 18 words average; 25, good; 33, very good; 41, excellent. Answers to Friday’s Polygon are to the left. Today’s answers will be published in Monday’s newspaper
Puzzles online
For more of your favourite puzzles and crosswords go to thetimes.co.uk/puzzles
Twitter: @times_chess
28 Nf1?? A terrible blunder. Anand can still save the game with 28 Bf1! Qd1! 29 Rh4 Qh5 30 Nxh5 gxh5 31 Rxh5 Bf5 32 g6! Bxg6 33 Rg5 (intending h4 and h5) 33 ... Nxf6 34 exf6 Qxf6 35 Rxd5 Qf3 36 Rc5 Qxc3 37 Qf4 Rd8 38 Rxc4 Qe1, with equal chances and a probable draw. 28 ... Qe1! White resigns Anand probably calculated the faulty line: 28 ... Qd1?? 29 Rh4 Qh5 30 Rxh5 gxh5 31 Ne3 Be6 32 Bxd5 after which Black must give up his queen, or face Be4. However, Black wins after Carlsen’s move, 28 ... Qe1! 29 Rh4 Qxh4 30 Qxh4 Qa5 when there is no mate and White finds himself a rook down.
White to play. This position is from Anand-Polgar, Moscow Blitz 2009. How did Anand finish off with a basic tactic?
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 ________ f3 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 c5 7 árD D D D] cxd5 exd5 8 e3 c4 9 Ne2 Nc6 àD D DkD ] 10 g4 0-0 11 Bg2 Na5 12 0-0 ß D Dnd D] Nb3 13 Ra2 b5 14 Ng3 a5 Carlsen has little time to ÞD 0N$ D ] lose and thus prepares to pry Ýp0 DK) 0] open the centre and queenside ÜD D d DP] ÛP)PD D D] with a quick ... b4-break. 15 g5 Ne8 16 e4 Nxc1 ÚD D D D ] Carlsen is willing to sacriÁÂÃÄÅÆÇÈ fice three tempi to reduce the attacking force trained against The first correct entry drawn on Thursday will win a copy of his king. The Collins English Dictionary 17 Qxc1 Ra6 18 e5 Nc7 18 ... b4 to distract White & Thesaurus, also available from his kingside attack is also from The Times Bookshop on possible. One line is 19 axb4 0845 271 2134. The two runaxb4 20 Rxa6 Bxa6 21 cxb4 ners-up will receive a book Qb6 22 Nf5 Nc7 23 f4 Qxb4, prize. Answers on a postcard when White’s attack doesn’t to: Winning Move, The Times, feel as intimidating as the one 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF, or email to: Anand got in the game. 19 f4 b4 20 axb4 axb4 21 winningmove@thetimes.co.uk. The answer will be published Rxa6 Nxa6 22 f5 b3 It takes enormous confi- next Saturday. dence to make a move like this against an attacker as gifted as Solution to last week’s puzzle: Anand. 22 ... bxc3 is the move 1 Rd7! leads to 1 ... Bxd7 (there to play if you suspect that you is nothing better) 2 exd7+ Kf8 (2 ... Kh8 3 Qd5 wins) 3 Qd5 are about to get mated. 23 Qf4 Nc7 24 f6 g6 25 Qh4 mating. Ne8 The only move, but the trouble is, it cuts off the f8- The winner is Luke Bull of Redditch, rook and black king from the Worcestershire. remainder of their forces. 25 ... Ne6 loses to 26 Qh6 b2 27 Bh3 Qc7 28 Nf5! Rd8 (or 28 ... gxf5 29 Bxf5 Rd8 30 Qxh7+ Kf8 31 Qh8 mate) 29 Ne7+! (this move interferes with the queen’s coverage of g7) 29 ... Kh8 30 Bxe6 Bxe6 31 Qg7 mate. 26 Qh6 b2 27 Rf4 Anand allows Carlsen to queen with check in order to pursue his attacking dreams. 27 ... b1Q+
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
saturday review 59
FGM
The Times Crossword is on the back page The Listener Crossword No 4319 Feature Film by Ferret
Codeword No 2237 10
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Senders of the first three correct entries drawn will each receive a copy of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Write your name and contact details in the space provided and send to: Listener Crossword No 4319, 63 Green Lane, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 6HE, to arrive by November 20.
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listenercrossword.com
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Numbers are substituted for letters in the crossword grid. Below the grid is the key with some letters solved. Completing the first word or phrase will give clues to more letters. Enter them in the key and main grid and check the letters on the alphabet list as you complete them. Yesterday’s solution on page 57
Stuck on Codeword? To receive 4 random clues call 0901 322 5000 or text TIMESCODE to 85088. Calls cost 77p from BT landlines plus network extras. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. For the full solution call 0907 181 1055. Calls cost 77ppm from BT landlines. Other networks and mobiles may vary. SP: Spoke, W1B 2AG, 0333 202 3390 / 01437 8815 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).
Quick Crossword No 6553 1
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Across 1 Place to stay (5) 4 Loose gown; Italian city (6) 8 Irish province (8) 9 Back of the neck (4) 10 Small mark (3) 11 Tumour; amaretto (anag.) (8) 14 Andy —, US artist (6) 16 Send off (a missile) (6) 18 Source of annoyance (8) Solution to Crossword 6552 CU O NWA E I D
CKO T O L U N T E R F F K E X I E R N Y I P P E E R N F QUENCH I U M E E AM I D A S I E T L ARK MA
O D
K I N SN I EN G GS
S S T R J I N NG V S EM S R T I
C U B A N
T E A AG L CE AW E HA V L E R
20 honey producer (3) 21 Dutch cheese (4) 22 Whenever required (2,6) 23 Quantity (6) 24 US film award (5) Down 1 Restrain (4,4) 2 Chirper (9) 3 African country (7) 5 Post sent overseas (7) 6 Argentinian dance (5) 7 First Greek letter (5) 12 Highest mountain in the Alps (4,5) 13 Office security device (8) 15 Disappointment (3-4) 17 Ornamental style (3,4) 18 Populous country (5) 19 Shakespearean lover (5)
Need help with today’s puzzle? Call 0906 757 7188 to check the answers. For help with possible words to fit a specific clue text TIMESCROSS followed by a space and the letters that you know, replacing the unknown letters with full stops, to 85088 to receive a list, eg, TIMESCROSS P.P..R to 85088. Calls cost 77ppm from BT landlines. Other networks and mobiles may vary. Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge. SP: Spoke, W1B 2AG, 0333 202 3390 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm).
© PUZZLER MEDIA
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1
When the strongest hand at the table is a 4-4-4-1 shape, you rarely get a flat result. For there are so many ways to bid the 44-4-1: take this deal shown to me by Cheshire’s David Olliver from his local duplicate. Dealer South Neither Vul ♠42 ♥Q87 ♦KQ53 ♣A642 ♠8653 ♠AQ9 N W E ♥54 ♥ 10 9 3 2 S ♦ 10 7 4 ♦98 ♣ K Q 10 9 ♣J873 ♠ K J 10 7 ♥AKJ6 ♦AJ62 ♣5
Solution to Listener Crossword No 4316 on page 55
1
S 1♥(1) 2NT(3) 3♠(5)
More information about Chambers books can be found at chambers.co.uk
Name ..................................................................................................................................................................................... Address ................................................................................................................................................................................ .................................... Postcode ....................................... Phone number..............................................................
Clues are given in normal order. In two answers a group of three letters must be replaced by an appropriate symbol. Some cells contain two letters, to be separated with a diagonal line oriented so that across and down entries read correctly. The initial grid has two empty cells. Bars, which would display 180-degree symmetry, need not be entered. Wordplay in all clues leads to the answer plus an extra letter not entered in the grid. Extra letters from down clues give an instruction and a one-word description of a prominent feature; those from across clues give two further instructions, related to a word whose letters are jumbled in the circled cells. Following the three instructions would produce the feature, seen in a nightclub (two symmetrically placed entries) in a film (two words that must be highlighted), but solvers need not actually carry out the manipulation. Solvers must fill the empty cells to complete the film’s rising stars. The Chambers Dictionary (2011) is the primary reference. Across Dance orchestra that’s backing Latin American measures first (8) Girl comes back with fine vegetables (5) Supply Allied cause (5) Always bright, not cloudy (4) Cub skipping about eats off metal plate (5) Aluminium put round supporting spine of a wing (4) Somewhere to go to roll up stocking in Australia (6) Alone on island — entirely poetic (4) Thoroughly examine clean interior of failing academy (3) Inculcates stupid detectives (8) Wander about street wheeling arms (4) Takes ill at sea (4) Fleece East German in sterling (4) Potato rings? (4) Small tree restricts monkeys (5) Men misread dress arrangements (6) Mum’s fan no longer used in a to-and-fro motion (6) Row over second stopwatch, say (5) Capuchins are populating US islands (4) Government consulted about moves to the right (4) Light refreshment beside short ancient olive trees (4) Covered a date on calendar (4) Uncovers maid’s broken skis (8) Uproar after DA’s dismissal, screened on TV (3) Rare wood withdrawn before commonly practicable (4) Bread of all Ionians unfinished (6) Lashing bar when moved near antique (4) Unloads exotic but not ordinary trees (5) Queen returned money ... (4)
... court returned silver and money (5) Is full trial holding me back? (5) Australian aboriginal steals revolutionary swivelling musket (6) Down Mounted souvenirs including five belonging to elderly people (6) Practical person put carbamide on border (7) Scaremonger to become veiled under robe (8) Vandalise cast iron blocks from the 16th century (8) Discontinued teaching shortly before Latin viva (4) Regretting undoing spell (5) Busy lab not available to take heat shield (7) Rumour indeed involved in rise of idle chat (5) Pig turned wild, breaking out violently (8) Fly to linger on the scent round plants (6) Dug up Spielberg film on American Army (4) Pop-eyed in the past (3) Yes, Italian Signori cooked breadsticks! (8) Born south of LA, brought up on the sheltered side (4) Sloth on top of wallaba is certainly old (4) Fur coats entirely suitable for marketing (7) Marquise possibly taking up sadomasochism, say (3) Relaxing after short time taking a hot drink (6) Incorrectly understood serious people over in mint (8) Placed behind piece of ground on river (4) African huntsmen located capsized boat (6) Maybe kid’s stool conceals rupee coin (5) I caused woeful farewells (6) Punishing convict crossing the sea (7) Both poles positioned in completed datum (5) Analyse standards (4)
Two Brains Raymond Keene
Word Watching Paul Dunn
Literary Quiz Paul Dunn
Question 1 Where would I find? Canary Wharf at night; a permanent fastening; and a treatment for young offenders. And what is the fourth item?
Ailanthus a. A tropical fish b. Garlic puree c. The tree of heaven Cleek a. A pig’s trotter b. A golf club c. The remains of burnt coal Fiddlehead a. An edible fern b. Part of a violin c. A cheat Peonage a. A tollgate b. Penury c. A garden flower
Follow That
Question 2 What is special about the following England Test cricketers? CB Fry, Mike Smith, Arthur Milton and Willie Watson. Answers on page 57 Thanks to Dr Joseph Chamberlain of Bletchley for this week’s questions. Please send your puzzles to keenebrain@aol.com.
Bridge Andrew Robson
Answers on page 57
What do the following novels have in common? Who are the main characters and who wrote them? 1 Colonel Sun 2 The House of Silk 3 And Another Thing… 4 The Monogram Murders Answers on page 57
W Pass Pass Pass
N 2♣(2) 3♥(4) 3NT
E Pass Pass end
(1) Opening 1♥ with a 4♠4♥4♦1♣ is my recommendation. (Open 1♣ with a red-suit singleton and 1♥ with a black-suit singleton). (2) Cheaper of fours as responder. (3) Though traditionally this is 15-16 balanced, it makes sense after a twoover-one response to play a 2NT rebid as forcing to game; and therefore 1519 and balancedish (note -”ish”). (4) Delayed (ie three-card) support, in case opener has five hearts. (5) Natural – a 4-4 spade fit is still (just) possible – facing 4♠3♥1♦5♣.
3NT was the plurality contract, with the best auction above. West led the nine of the unbid diamonds, declarer winning in dummy and playing a spade to the jack. When West won the queen and found the club switch, declarer could do no better than cash out for nine tricks via four hearts, four diamonds plus the ace of clubs. Some pairs reached the normally dreaded 5♦ – but that contract made 11 tricks (losing just ♠AQ) to tie with 3NT making nine. The jackpot, however went to this auction: S 1♥ 2♦(1)
W Pass Pass
N 2♣ 4♥(2)
E Pass end
(1) I’d recommend this rebid with a 13-14 point 4♠4♥4♦1♣ (not strong enough for 2NT), but not here. (2) Loves his red-suit cards and expects a 5♥4♦ shape opposite (the 13-14 point 4♠4♥4♦1♣ being the exception).
West led a club (best), declarer winning in dummy and leading a spade to the jack. Winning the queen, West led a second club, forcing the long trump hand to ruff. Declarer now led the king of spades, West won the ace and led a third club, ruffed with the jack. Declarer cashed the ace of hearts and the promoted ten of spades throwing a diamond, then crossed to the king-queen of diamonds. At trick ten he ruffed dummy’s fourth club with his remaining king of hearts, then led the fourth spade. West’s last three cards were ♥1093; dummy’s were ♥Q8 and ♦5. West had to ruff with the nine, or declarer could ruff with dummy’s eight. But declarer threw dummy’s diamond and could finesse dummy’s eight on West’s three of hearts then score the queen. Ten tricks in 4♥ was just better than nine in 3NT or 11 in 5♦. And that “just” is everything at Pairs.
andrew.robson@thetimes.co.uk
60 saturday review
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
FGM
For more crosswords and your favourite puzzles go to thetimes.co.uk/puzzles Jumbo crossword No 1118 Cryptic clues Across 1 In East London, appropriate having source of water for large bird (8) 5 Service provided in a mountainous area? (6) 9 Role sailor rejected, supplying snare for vermin (3-4) 14 It supported sails in vessel back in mother’s time (11) 15 Opponent getting inn back for daughter’s birthday, perhaps (11) 16 Man possibly securing end of carpet — made of this? (5) 17 Supplier of berries, one with branches by sea inlet (3-4) 18 For example, way to get money invested in plant (9) 19 Stare at detective introducing dance (7) 20 Retired PM’s in cool air current, swallowing good hypnotic (8-7) 22 Knowledgeable about people’s vocal inflection (10) 23 Disappear, rather like a commercial vehicle? (6) 25 Accepting resistance, prisoner bows (4) 28 Penny Weaver, journalist — financially sound (6-8) 30 Celebrity from East digesting genuine morality play (8) 32 Area embracing Liberal intellectual’s initial beliefs (8) 34 Certain siblings want it sliced in pieces (9,5) 37 Opposed to heads of all national training institutions (4) 38 Taking heed of cipher husband’s abandoned (6) 39 Oddly, a set of gold barriers to hold back water (10) 43 Enrich oneself? What a chat may do! (7,4,4) 45 Listener’s cover put European head of radio in a panic (7) 47 Introduction to tenor singer torn apart by royal rebuke (7-2) 49 Touring East, possibly stomach old food flavouring (7) 51 Number one seed ditching little boy’s racket (5) 52 Article penned by graduates: it’s about Cantor’s first study (11) 53 Unhappily lie in crater bounded by straight lines (11) 54 Way film captures peer lacking a source of caviar (7) 55 Cuddle some backward Celts enjoy (6) 56 Like framework of last keel manufactured? (8)
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Name......................................................................................................... Prizes Address..................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................... ............................................................ Postcode..................................... Phone number......................................................................................
The prize for each of the first correct solutions to the Cryptic and times2 Jumbo clues to be opened will be a collection of Times reference books — including The Times Universal Atlas of the World, Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus, and Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionary published by HarperCollins — worth £110. Entries should be marked “Cryptic” or “times2” and sent to: Jumbo 1118, The Times, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF, to arrive by November 20. The winners and the solutions will be published on November 22.
Quick clues Across 1 Cabinet for reading matter (8) 5 Religious festival (6) 9 Broke sharply (7) 14 Feeling of anticipatory fear (11) 15 Mentally acute (11) 16 Exposed (5) 17 Official ban (7) 18 Surgical procedure (9) 19 American dance gathering (7) 20 One who preserves and repairs significant artefacts (15) 22 Large-format newspaper (10) 23 Piece of land cut off by water (6) 25 Islamic prayer leader (4) 28 Descended from the same ancestor (14) 30 Loud, harsh (8) 32 US Great Lakes state (8) 34 Keyboard player (14) 37 Loosen (4) 38 Calm gently (6) 39 Item of bedlinen (10) 43 Not appealing to the eye (15)
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Slow or stupid person (7) From now on (9) One-eyed giant (7) Summoned by — (Betjeman) (5) Relating to the wedded state (11) Eg, Luciano Pavarotti (5,6) East Anglian county (7) Violent disorder (6) Character in David Copperfield (8)
Down 1 Affiance (one person to another) (7) 2 Delighted (4,3,4) 3 Young state (9) 4 Treacherous person (5,2,3,5) 6 Lacking knowledge (8) 7 Move, be active (4,4,6) 8 Intricate style of decoration (3,7) 9 Having assets in excess of liabilities (7) 10 Japanese breed of dog (5) 11 Cause (a bad event) to happen prematurely (11)
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Cause to explode (8) Arm, leg or wing (4) Record of sum received (6) Famous English actor (7) Develop into (6) Disorder of trees (5,3,7) In a way based on abstract reasoning (14) Carved figure (6) Relating to fatty tissue (7) Scandinavian seafarer (6) Person who secretly plots with others (11) (Seen) unfavourably (2,1,3,5) An association of several companies (10) State of health or happiness (4-5) Of a lower order than man (8) Make known (8) Prospect for the future (7) Ruin; pull down (7) Friend (Spanish) (5) Portent (4)
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
61
FGM
World
PROYECTO TLALOCAN, INAH / AP
Mysteries of Mexican city unearthed
T
he pyramids of Teotihuacan, just outside Mexico City, have always been a mysterious place (James Hider writes). The vast complex had been abandoned for more than 1,000 years when the Aztecs found it in the 14th century and gave it its Nahuatl name, meaning “birthplace of the gods”. However, archaeologists have just made the most significant find in a century of digging, unearthing a trove of 50,000 artefacts in a tunnel 40ft below the foot of the Temple of the Plumed Serpent. Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History believe the 330ft passageway may end in three royal burial chambers under the temple. Experts have long searched for the
New Zealand
Bernard Lagan Sydney
Artefacts found in the tunnel include a jar representing the rain god Tlaloc, left, and a variety of sculptures of people
remains of the rulers of the city, which at its peak was home to about 100,000 people before being be suddenly
abandoned in about AD200, probably because of climate change or environmental degradation. So far the archaeologists have found statues of people, jade from Guatemala, where the
Mayans flourished before their civilisation also collapsed, as well as arrowheads, obsidian stones, pottery, seeds, wooden objects and even rubber balls. The tunnel zigzags in the
shape of a snake, and the diggers have had to remove almost 1,000 tons of earth to reach the three chambers, which they hope will finally reveal who inhabited the lost civilisation.
Clerics killed in Mombasa’s dirty war Kenya
Jerome Starkey Africa Correspondent
The imam had taken barely two steps outside the mosque in Mombasa where he preached when masked gunmen on a motorbike opened fire. One of the bullets tore through Sheikh Salim Bakari Mwarangi’s hand as he tried in vain to defend himself. Two others hit his stomach, condemning the preacher to a slow and painful death. Police said that Mwarangi, 57, was a pro-government peace activist, an ideological moderate who was most likely killed by extremists in the battle for Mombasa’s soul. Kenya, once a haven for western
AC/DC star’s hitman case dismissed as hot air
tourists, has become a new crucible of terror, with piracy spilling over from neighbouring Somalia and extremists establishing themselves in Nairobi and Mombasa. In September last year, the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi was occupied for four days by the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab, who killed 67 people. No one has been arrested for Tuesday night’s shooting. The city’s recent history suggests that no one ever will be. At least 22 Muslim clerics have been killed in two years. Most were killed by unknown attackers. Civil rights groups have accused the Kenyan police and their British-backed anti-terrorism unit of waging a cam-
paign of extra-judicial killings. “Not a single person has been apprehended or taken to court,” said Khalef Khalifa, director of the Muslims for Human Rights group in Mombasa. Aboud Rogo was the city’s most prominent cleric, openly preaching jihad, until he was shot in his car in 2012. His death led to three days of riots and the government promised an inquiry, yet no one was arrested. Rogo’s successor at the Musa mosque was Sheikh Ibrahim Ismail. He was killed in remarkably similar circumstances, shot in his car on the same road north of the port, in October last year. “It’s obvious, there is a killer squad killing terror suspects in Kenya,” Rogo’s
right-hand man, Abubaker Shariff, Ahmed after his death. Ahmed met an identical fate.His body was discovered in a ditch. When police stormed a house in Mombasa last month, Nadiya Ahmed said that they stripped and cuffed her son, Idris, before shooting him at pointblank range. Then they wrote the wrong name on his death certificate, Mr Khalifa said, all but confirming that they had shot the wrong man. The Mombasa county police commissioner, Robert Kitur, denied that it was murder. Jonathan Horowitz, a human rights researcher at the Open Society Justice Initiative, said that the killings had “cast a blanket of fear over the coast”.
New Zealand police have withdrawn charges laid against the drummer of the rock group AC/DC of attempting to hire a hit man to murder two people. The charges against Phil Rudd, 60, were withdrawn yesterday, less than 36 hours after Mr Rudd was arrested at his beachside home in Tauranga, on New Zealand’s north island. He is still charged with threatening to kill and with illegal drug possession. Greg Hollister-Jones, Tauranga’s crown solicitor, confirmed the news after Mr Rudd’s lawyer, Paul Mabey, QC, issued a statement announcing the climbdown by the authorities. Mr Mabey criticised the police, saying that the charge, which had caused great harm to Mr Rudd’s reputation, should never have been brought. The police had not consulted prosecutors before laying the charges. The man named in court as the alleged hit man, whose identity has not been made public, has described the charge as “hot air” and “blown out of proportion”, according to the New Zealand Herald. He said he considered himself a “family man” and was pleased the charge had been dropped. Mr Rudd had appeared in court on Thursday after police raided his home. He was also charged with possession of methamphetamine and cannabis. He did not enter a plea. Mr Mabey said his client had “suffered unnecessary and extremely damaging publicity as a result of widespread and sensational reporting of a very serious allegation, which, on any basis, was never justified”. Mr Rudd could face a maximum sentence of seven years if convicted of threatening to kill. Phil Rudd: still faces a charge of threatening to kill
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World
Girls star quits tour over sister abuse slur United States
Rhys Blakely Los Angeles
She has been hailed as the “voice of her generation”, a wunderkind auteur with a hit television show and a hotline to the neuroses of twentysomethings across the planet. Now the actress and writer Lena Dunham has been engulfed in controversy amid allegations that her bestselling memoir Not That Kind of Girl, for which she earned a $3.7 million adLena Dunham was attacked over her bestselling memoir
vance, contains a description of her sexually molesting her younger sister. Dunham, 28, has denied any improper behaviour but has postponed a book tour in Europe. She issued a series of furious tweets and threatened to sue the right-wing news site that first accused her for “millions of dollars”. She apologised for likening herself to “a sexual predator” in her book while describing how, when they were growing up, she bribed her sister, Grace Dunham, with sweets to kiss her. In another passage, Dunham described touching her sister’s genitals when Dunham was seven years old and
her sister was one. The confession led right-wing critics to accuse the leftwing author of molestation. “If the situations described in my book have been painful or triggering [something that recalls a traumatic memory] for people to read, I am sorry, as that was never my intention,” Dunham said. She called accusations that she molested her sister “upsetting and disgusting”. She has since said that everything that she has written about her sister has been published with Grace’s approval. The huge advance that she secured for the book attests to the place she has carved out on the cultural landscape. Her television show Girls is a cult hit and her debut feature film, Tiny Furniture, made in 2010, was fêted by critics. Not That Kind of Girl was described as a “primer for millennial women negotiating the path to adulthood”. In its introduction, Dunham says that she hoped that a candid revelation of an “embarrassing, acne-ridden history” would show that “happiness and satisfaction can happen to anyone.” However, debate is now raging over whether the book crosses the line between frank and inappropriate. Earlier this year it emerged that supporting acts who would accompany her on the book tour would not be paid, despite Dunham earning an estimated $6 million last year. She later apologised and said that she would pay them after all.
ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
French Kim Kardashian ‘stabbed lover’ France
Adam Sage Paris
Reality TV star Nabilla has been arrested for allegedly stabbing Thomas Vergara
France’s best-known reality TV star has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after her partner was taken to hospital with stab wounds. Nabilla Benattia, 22, described as the French Kim Kardashian, was detained by police at her hotel outside Paris. Thomas Vergara, her partner, was taken to the Georges-Pompidou hospital in the French capital with serious stab wounds to his chest, a spokesman for the prosecution service said. His life is not thought to be in danger. Nabilla, as she is known in France, told detectives that she and Mr Vergara had been attacked by three youths outside the hotel. She called the emergency services, later telling police that Mr Vergara was stabbed trying to defend her. However, the prosecution service said that closed-circuit television footage failed to corroborate her version. A spokesman added that Mr Vergara had been found in the couple’s bedroom, and that there were no traces of blood outside the hotel where Nabilla said the fight happened. An investigation into allegations of attempted murder and violence with a weapon has been opened. Nabilla, who was born to an Algerian father and an Italian mother, sprang to fame in 2011, notably through her gaffes and inane comments.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
The insider story
It’s a buying shame
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Trader admits part in fraud
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How buy-to-rent is distorting market
PETER MACDIARMID / GETTY IMAGES
High hopes and a low-ball offer business commentary Alistair Osborne
D
espite the skyscrapers, there are differences between Canary Wharf and Qatar. The east London financial district has no plans to host the 2022 World Cup, even if it is infinitely more qualified to do so. Neither does the Wharf enjoy the delights of Sharia — however much one of its tenants, the Financial Conduct Authority, might be itching to try it on those naughty bankers. Still, there are enough similarities for the Qatar Investment Authority to know one thing about its 295p-a-share bid approach for the Wharf’s 70 per cent-owner Songbird Estates: the price is a joke. No big surprise, then, to see its £2.2 billion shot hoofed into touch — not even for the QIA itself, which already owns 28.6 per cent of Songbird. The Qataris’ gameplan is obvious enough. The Wharf’s other big shareholder is Brookfield Property, with 22 per cent, so the QIA has teamed up with Brookfield to bag Songbird and take control of one of Europe’s prime bits of real estate. But why would Songbird sell out at a discount to its 319p net asset value, not least when it says that it has an 11 million sq ft development pipeline, “the largest in London”, poised to drive NAV higher? Just for scale, the existing Wharf is 16.2 million sq ft. Oriel Securities forecasts “NAV growth averaging at least 14 per cent a year” as the Wharf develops 21 new projects. They include One Bank Street, where Société Générale has agreed a pre-let, the 58-floor Newfoundland residential tower and Wood Wharf, mixing new homes with a mini Silicon Valley. More homes will help to address that age-old criticism that the Wharf is a soulless ghost-town for rich bankers, while the entire area will be transformed by the CrossRail link. Tot it up and Oriel predicts NAV per share of 432p by 2016 — a decent uplift on yesterday’s closing 310p share price, down 3 per cent. The QIA may return. And it needs only to convince three investors: Glick Entities, with 26 per cent, China Investment Corp, with 15.8 per cent and Morgan Stanley, with 8.5 per cent. But they won’t want to talk at much less than £4 a share.
A sporting chance
H
ow to make an easy half million quid: get a gig with Perform, the sports rights group, advising the non-execs on the arts of fence-sitting. Hats off to Rothschild for pulling that one off. A quick highlights package: Len Blavatnik, the Ukrainian-born tycoon, floated Perform in 2011, got off to a flyer and then came unstuck with a profits warning. Now he’s trying to take the company private at the 260p float price — a bit rich, given Perform raised £115 million in July last year at 480p a share. Still,
stopping him always looked tough. He had 42 per cent of the shares and is now through the 75 per cent where he can delist the company. The independent non-execs, led by chairman Paul Walker and starring sports presenter Gabby Logan, have agonised over the best advice to shareholders — and guess what? They’re leaving all decisions to them. Sure, they continue to think 260p’s not enough, but, having been “so advised by Rothschild . . . do not believe they are able to provide Perform shareholders with a definitive recommendation”. So investors should accept the offer or risk ending up in an illiquid investment vehicle controlled by Mr Blavatnik. Helpful that. True, Rank got itself into such a mess in similar circumstances that it changed its recommendation four times. And, as the £150,000-a-year Mr Walker points out, the board is not allowed to give investment advice, with any decision dependent on a shareholder’s circumstances. Perform’s articles have also been tightened to help to protect investors staying in, like the executive directors with 15 per cent. Yet talk about a non-decision. As to what Mr Walker’s doing with his own shares? Well, keeping some and selling some. Who would have guessed?
Vote of confidence?
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ust when you thought Quindell had run out of ways to drive down the share price, three directors have produced another one: buying shares in the bombed-out insurance claims processor. Yep, that’s usually seen as a sign of confidence, but not when the transaction is as garbled and opaque as Rob Terry, the chairman, has made it. The trio have acquired 1.75 million shares, worth £2 million, after first agreeing a loan facility with the Indianapolis-based Equities First. The puzzler is that the collateral for this loan is as many as 51.9 million shares, worth almost £62 million. Anyone would think Equities has the same view as Gotham City Research, the lot that reckoned the shares were worth 3p. Apparently not. That’s merely the collateral that could be put up if the directors keep buying. Yet theoretically Equities could take all 52 million if Quindell shares collapse and the directors are forced to meet margin calls. Why, though, have the trio gone into this elaborate arrangement? And how much have they borrowed and on what terms? Typically, Mr Terry, who has a 10.7 per cent stake, refuses to say. Which may explain why the shares keep falling, now down 60 per cent this year — and, why, despite Quindell’s denials, some claim he’s actually found a clever way to sell down his stake.
alistair.osborne@thetimes.co.uk
Diamond hues put sparkle in investor’s eye
S
hirley Bassey is hardly renowned as an investment guru, but
when it comes to diamonds she might have been on to something (Marcus Leroux writes). Diamonds are forever is a strategy that would have worked wonders since 2005, at least, according to a new index. Coloured diamonds,
those of a yellow, pink, blue or grey tint caused by impurities in the carbon crystal, such as the stone shown above, have risen in value by 165 per cent since January 2005, according to The Fancy Color Diamond Index. In that time, London house prices
have risen 82 per cent and the FTSE 100 36 per cent. The index was created by The Fancy Color Diamond Research Foundation, which will be launched on Wednesday. Diamonds remain difficult to benchmark because of their natural variation.
Wharf won’t go for a song, Qataris told Deirdre Hipwell, Kathryn Hopkins
Investors in Songbird Estates have criticised a bid by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for Canary Wharf as “low-ball”, as analysts said that it may have to up its offer by 35 per cent. One shareholder said yesterday that the initial 295p-a-share offer, valuing Songbird at £2.2 billion, was “so low it couldn’t be taken seriously”. Another said it was inconceivable that the Qataris, in partnership with Canada’s Brookfield Group, could hope to open takeover negotiations without offering at least 350p a share. Analysts at Oriel Securities suggested that Songbird, which controls nearly 70 per cent of Canary Wharf Group, could comfortably justify a bid closer to £4 a share that would value the company, which has £6.3 billion worth of property assets, at £3 billion. The scene is set for a protracted battle, with the Qatar Investment Authority, the largest shareholder in Songbird, under pressure to return with a higher offer for control of the listed vehicle. The Qataris control just over 28 per cent of Songbird and have teamed up with Brookfield, which owns 22 per cent of CWG, in an attempt to buy the
rest of the shares in Songbird they don’t already own. Their initial offer was rejected yesterday by David Pritchard, chairman of Songbird, who said that it significantly undervalued the company and did not reflect the inherent value of the business and its underlying assets. Mr Pritchard’s stance was backed by Standard Life Investments, which owns
Inside today
Battle for Canary Wharf Pages 68-69
3.5 per cent of Songbird, making it the sixth-biggest investor. David Cumming, the head of equities at Standard Life Investments, said: “We are pleased to see that the Songbird chairman David Pritchard has rejected the bid proposal from the Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield. From our perspective, the offer is so low it
can’t be taken seriously and is not a credible basis for corporate engagement.” The Qataris would need to buy out Songbird’s main shareholders, including the New York-based investor Simon Glick’s Glick Entities, China Investment Corporation and Morgan Stanley Real Estate. Any of the main four shareholders potentially could act as a blocking force as unusually, Songbird’s board has a structure under which they have enshrined rights to seats on the board as long as they retain their shares. One market expert said: “If any of them want to hold out, they can just sit on the shares and refuse to sell them.” Much of the concern of shareholders is that Qatar, which first invested in Songbird in 2009, is trying to buy the company “on the cheap”. There is also big development potential in Canary Wharf, which already has 16.2 million sq ft of built development, as there are large sites still to be built upon, including Wood Wharf, which will deliver new homes and provide space for a mini Silicon Valley. Next year CWG will start work on 21 new buildings on the estate. Shares in Songbird fell 10p yesterday to close at 310p.
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Business
Need to know Your 5-minute digest economics UK trade deficit: Sterling slid to a 14-month low against the dollar after Britain’s goods trade deficit widened more than expected, largely because of weak demand for British exports from the rest of Europe. A jump in oil imports also contributed to a widening of the trade gap — from £8.95 billion in August to £9.82 billion in September. While exports grew by 4.2 per cent month-on-month, imports rose by 5.8 per cent. The deficit was £420 million worse than average market expectations. Including Britain’s surplus in traded services, the overall deficit widened from £1.77 billion to £2.84 billion. Page 67 US jobs: American employers added 214,000 net new jobs last month, in the face of slowing global demand. The figure was less than the 235,000 expected by Wall Street and the 227,000 average monthly gain so far in 2014. However, the unemployment level fell to 5.8 per cent, the lowest since July 2008, and the US Labor Department revised up the job creation figures for August and September by 31,000, meaning that the numbers have topped 200,000 for nine months in a row, the longest run since 1995. Page 67 City of London: Alan Yarrow took office yesterday as the 687th lord mayor of London at a ceremony at Guildhall. Today he will lead the Lord Mayor’s Show, which features more than 7,000 people and 150 horses on a 1.7-mile route around the City. The first lord mayor to emerge from the banking and capital markets since the financial crisis hit, he can expect to face difficult questions about the culpability of senior bankers, such as he, for the crash and its aftermath. Russia: A slump in the rouble was quickly reversed amid speculation that the Russian central bank could launch a drastic new intervention to prop up the unloved currency. Analysts said that Russia was in the grip of a currency crisis after a 3 per cent slide in the rouble was triggered by nerves over falling oil prices, western sanctions and tension in eastern Ukraine. The rouble has collapsed by 30 per cent against the US dollar this year. Page 65
South Africa: Moody’s downgraded the country’s Baa1 sovereign debt rating by one notch to Baa2 and changed the outlook to “stable” from “negative”. The credit ratings agency noted in its outlook revision that there were “poor medium-term growth prospects due to structural weaknesses, including ongoing energy shortages as well as rising interest rates”. However, it said that policymakers in Africa’s second largest but most developed economy had shown “commitment to reining in government debt growth over the medium term and the broad political support for a macroeconomic strategy”. That earned it the improved
outlook to “stable” status, despite “further deterioration in the investor climate and a less supportive capital market environment”. The downgrade is two notches above junk status, which keeps it in the investment grade. Last month Nhlanhla Nene, the South African finance minister, cut this year’s growth forecast to 1.4 per cent, from the 2.7 per cent estimated in the February budget.
banking & finance 0.50% Insider trading: A former hedge fund manager pleaded guilty yesterday to insider trading after one of the biggest investigations into illegal deals in the City by senior financiers. Julian Rifat, a former trader at Moore Capital Management, admitted eight offences that generated profits of more than £250,000. He is the third person to admit his part in a trading ring that is alleged to have involved several investment bankers and businessmen. Page 65 JPMorgan Chase: Alayne Fleischmann, a whistleblower whose evidence contributed to the bank’s $13 billion civil settlement with the US government over the sale of dodgy mortgage products, said that she had tried to alert her bosses to irregularities about loans that appeared to be based on overstated income, but they did not want to know. The bank declined to comment. Page 65
construction & property 0.48% St William Homes: Land that has long been home to gas-holders will be developed into thousands of new homes as part of a venture between National Grid and the housebuilder Berkeley Group, which aims to tackle Britain’s chronic housing shortage. The joint venture, which will be known as St William Homes, will have funds available of up to £700 million to develop up to 14,000 homes on National Grid’s 20 sites in London and the southeast over the next 15 years. The largest site, of 71 acres, is in Beckton in east London. Page 66 Songbird Estates: Investors in the owner of Canary Wharf have blasted a “low-ball” attempt by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund to wrest control of the east London estate, as analysts suggested that it may have to raise its offer by 35 per cent. One shareholder said that the 295p-a-share offer, that values Songbird at £2.2 billion, was “so low it couldn’t be taken seriously”. Another said that it was “inconceivable” that the Qataris, in partnership with Canada’s Brookfield Group, could hope to open takeover negotiations without offering at least 350p a share. Pages 63, 69-69
London house prices: The threat of a mansion tax put paid to more than three years
of house price rises in the capital last month as the prospect frightened would-be buyers out of the market. The average cost of a home in the most expensive boroughs of outer London dropped by 0.2 per cent, the first fall since May 2011, according to Knight Frank, the estate agency. This came after its report this week on prime central London, including Mayfair and Kensington and Chelsea, showing price growth had ground to a halt in the same month, after surging by 40 per cent over four years. Page 66
consumer goods 0.13% Fever-Tree Drinks: Shares in the upmarket tonic company rose 23 per cent to 165p, after its Alternative Investment Market debut, boosting its market value to £190 million. Fever-Tree mixers are about twice as expensive as brands such as Schweppes and contain quinine from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as spring water from Staffordshire.
FTSE 100 6,567.24 (+16.09)
Obamacare: Shares of American hospital operators and operators of managed care facilities fell after the US Supreme Court decided to hear a legal challenge by conservatives to a key part of the Obamacare healthcare law. The lawsuit would limit the availability of federal health insurance subsidies for millions of people, a key factor that has been driving more Americans to seek medical attention. Hospitals have benefited from an extension of insurance coverage to more people under the Affordable Care Act, as hospital admissions have increased.
leisure 0.65% Prezzo: Advent International, one of two private equity firms chasing the restaurant operator, confirmed that it had “no current intention to make an offer”, paving the way for TPG Capital to pursue its recommended £303.7 million takeover. Hogg Robinson Group: Nato has awarded the business travel and corporate services company a three-year contract to provide travel management services at an initial eleven sites in five countries.
natural resources 2.42% Diamonds: Coloured diamonds, those of a yellow, pink or blue tint caused by impurities in the carbon crystal, have risen in value by 165 per cent since January 2005, according to The Fancy Color Diamond Index. That compares with a rise of 82 per cent for London house prices. The index was created by The
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‘It used to be more like a slot machine — you threw in a coin and you got an item out of the bottom. Now there’s far more video, far more interaction’
Graph of the day
As millions of teenagers (and quite a few adults) look forward to the imminent release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1, the distributor Lionsgate is looking to an “immersive” production to launch in 2016 next to Wembley Stadium
International Domestic Total
Abercrombie & Fitch: The clothing retailer said that sales had slipped as shoppers shied away from its logo-strewn apparel. Analysts had expected net third-quarter sales of $982.2 million, but the company said that they had fallen by 12 per cent to $911.4 million. Page 70
transport 0.67%
Page 66
Marc Bolland, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, on the group’s new website
The Hunger Games
retailing 0.25%
International Airlines Group: The owner of British Airways is to pay a dividend for the first time since its merger three years ago with Iberia, the Spanish carrier. IAG, the parent company of the two airlines, said it was confident of hitting its financial targets next year, “which we see as the trigger to introducing a dividend”. Shares in IAG closed down 11½p at 402½p as investors took profits.
Quote of the week
Film takings
Rentokil Initial: The pest control and hygiene operator achieved a 4 per cent rise in operating profits, at constant exchange rates, in the third quarter, a result constrained by its exposure to northern eurozone countries such as the Netherlands and France. Tempus, page 70
Commodities Gold $1,167.61 (+22.83)
professional & support services 0.61%
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Fancy Color Diamond Research Foundation. Page 63
World markets
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
$283m $408m $691m
$439.9m $424.7m $864.6m
Results in brief Name
Pre-tax figure Profit (+) loss (-)
National Grid (utility, HY)
+£1.1 billion (+£979 million)
Dividend 14.71p
6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payable
The day’s biggest movers Company Fitbug Launches weight-loss programmes Gulf Keystone Petroleum Kurds make initial payment to oil exporters Stock Spirits Group Directors buy shares Fresnillo Precious metals rally Royal Dutch Shell B shares Dearer oil Persimmon Housebuilding is returning to normal levels RSA Insurance A trading update is poorly received Esure Car insurers remain friendless Admiral Falling premiums Rentokil European trading still tough
Change 26.4% 13.2% 10.0% 4.9% 2.4% -1.9% -3.0% -3.1% -3.5% -5.0%
Stonehenge tunnel: John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, has urged the government to boost the economy by reviving plans to build a tunnel underneath Stonehenge. He said that reducing congestion on the A303 was “vital”, despite the difficulty of bypassing the World Heritage site in Wiltshire. “The most significant barrier is Stonehenge. You obviously can’t move it, so why not go under it?” he told the Press Association in advance of the CBI annual conference next week. Similar proposals were dropped seven years ago on cost grounds, but a working group has been looking at ways to reduce congestion on the A303 since the spring. An announcement about upgrading the A303, which runs from Honiton in Devon to Basingstoke in Hampshire, is expected in the chancellor’s autumn statement next month.
utilities 0.01% National Grid: The gas and electricity distributor achieved a strong performance at the halfway stage, with operating profits 2 per cent higher at £1,611 million, and announced a 0.22p increase in the halfway dividend to 14.71p.
Tempus, page 70
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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City hedge fund manager faces jail for insider trading Harry Wilson City Editor
A former hedge fund manager pleaded guilty yesterday to insider trading after one of the biggest investigations into illegal deals in the City by senior financiers. Julian Rifat, right, a former trader at Moore Capital Management, admitted eight offences that generated profits of more than £250,000. He is the third person to admit his part in a trading ring that is alleged to have involved several investment bankers and businessmen. Rifat passed on inside information gained through his position as an exe-
cution trader and used it with Graeme Shelley, a former broker, to purchase shares that they knew would increase in value. His admission at Southwark Crown Court is the latest arising from the Financial Conduct Authority’s Operation Tabernula, which has become one of Britain’s largest and most complex insider trading investigations. Rifat and 11 other men were arrested in 2010 in a series of dawn raids across southeast England involving officials from the City watchdog and the Serious Organised Crime Agency, now the National Crime Agency. Shelley, a former broker at Novum ALEXANDER DEMIANCHUK / REUTERS
Rouble gets a little love from Russia
A
slump in the rouble yesterday was quickly reversed amid speculation that the Russian central bank could launch a drastic new intervention to prop up the unloved currency (Patrick Hosking writes). Analysts said that Russia was in the grip of a currency crisis after a 3 per cent slide in the rouble was
triggered by nerves over falling oil prices, western sanctions and tension in eastern Ukraine. The rouble has collapsed by 30 per cent against the US dollar this year. However, the early fall yesterday was reversed as traders anticipated possible intervention by the central bank as early as this weekend. The rising Brent crude price also gave some support. The central bank said that it was willing to buy roubles to prop up the currency
“at any moment” and could use other means to support it. “People are closing positions, fearing the central bank could do something over the weekend,” Dmitry Deev, a currency trader at Credit Suisse in Moscow, said. The central bank has spent about $30 billion of its foreign currency reserves in the past month trying to prop up the currency. The rouble was trading at 46.6 to the dollar late yesterday, up 0.5 per cent on Thursday’s close.
New York bank whistleblower ‘couldn’t sit by any longer’ Alexandra Frean Washington
A whistleblower whose evidence contributed to JPMorgan Chase’s $13 billion civil settlement with the US government over the sale of dodgy mortgage products said that she had tried to warn her managers but that they didn’t want to know. Alayne Fleischmann, a former deal manager with the bank, claims that she attempted to alert her bosses to glaring irregularities about loans that appeared to be based on overstated income. One manager even told her to stop sending him emails to make sure that there was no paper trial, according
to an interview that Ms Fleischmann has given to Rolling Stone magazine. One mortgage involved a manicurist who claimed to have an annual income of $117,000. Ms Fleischmann figured that, even by working seven days a week, the woman would have needed 488 days to make that much. “It wasn’t possible,” Ms Fleischmann, a securities lawyer, said. Although she is bound by a confidentiality agreement not to speak on the matter, she said that she had felt compelled to go public. “It was like watching an old lady get mugged on the street,” she said. “I thought: ‘I can’t sit by any longer.’ ” The bank declined to comment.
6 Tullett Prebon has confirmed that it is under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority over the use of “wash trades” by two former employees allegedly involved in rigging Libor. The interdealer broker said that it was co-operating with the investigation into the trades, which can be used to hand commissions to staff by taking on riskless trading positions purely to generate fees. Noel Cryan, a former employee, had criminal proceedings issued against him last month. The company did not name the second former employee.
Securities, and Paul Milsom, a former trader at Legal and General Insurance Management, also pleaded guilty. A further six men are facing trial in January 2016. Martyn Dodgson, a former senior investment banker at Deutsche Bank; Grant Harrison, a former managing director at Altium Capital; Iraj Parvizi, a Dubai-based businessman; Andrew Hind, a director of Deskspace Offices; his business partner Richard Baldwin; and Benjamin Anderson, an independent trader, face trial in just over a
year. The case against Clive Roberts, a former trader with Exane BNP Paribas, was dropped. Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FCA, said the individuals had used unregistered pay-as-you go mobile phones to communicate and had diverted their profits to third parties to hide their trail. Rifat will be sentenced in the new year. He faces up to seven years in jail and a lifetime ban from working in the financial services industry.
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Business WILLIAM VANDERSON / GETTY IMAGES
Towering ambition is to build houses
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or years, they have stood sentinel over towns and cities nationwide, but now Britain’s gasometers, or at least the land they stand on, are to be used to help to solve the housing shortage (Kathryn Hopkins writes). St William
While most of the structures will be demolished, some are listed by English Heritage and will be made part of a scheme’s open space. In its first phase, St William aims to develop more than 7,000 new homes, including over 2,000 affordable homes. National Grid said that it could look at the possibility of similar schemes outside the southeast. Shares in National Grid rose 1p to 918p, while Berkeley Group fell 14p to £22.31.
Homes, a venture between National Grid and Berkeley Group, the housebuilder, will invest up to £700 million to develop as many as 14,000 homes on the Grid’s 20 sites in London and the southeast over the next 15 years, including 71 acres in Beckton, east London. Many gas-holders date back to the Victorian era, but they fell into disuse in the 1970s after the creation of the national transmission system, which sourced gas from the North Sea.
Mansion tax threat scares homebuyers away from London Kathryn Hopkins Property Correspondent
The threat of a mansion tax put paid to more than three years of house price rises in London last month as the prospect frightened would-be buyers out of the market. The average cost of a home in the most expensive boroughs of outer London, such as Fulham, dropped by 0.2 per cent last month, the first fall since May 2011, according to Knight Frank, the upmarket estate agency. This came after its report this week on prime central London, including Mayfair and Kensington and Chelsea, which showed that price growth had ground to a halt in the same month, after surging by 40 per cent over four years. Knight Frank believes that house price growth in prime outer London will slow to 3 per cent next year, mainly because of the possibility of Labour introducing a mansion tax if it were to win the general election next May, although the estate agency expects cumulative growth of 26 per cent between 2015 and 2019 as demand continues to exceed supply. With a drop of 1.1 per cent, Fulham suffered the largest decrease in outer London. It has many properties worth between £2 million and £4 million that could be liable for the tax. The only areas to record growth in prime outer London were Wapping and Canary Wharf in east London, which
rose by 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. Both areas benefit from their relative proximity to London’s financial centres — the City to the west and Canary Wharf itself — the fact that they have fewer £2 million-plus properties and the emergence of high-quality new-build schemes in the area. Would-be buyers are understood to be holding off from purchasing properties at about the £2 million mark until after the election. Labour said in 6 Bovis Homes is on course for a strong full-year finish amid forecasts that it will build 30 per cent more houses in 2014 than the previous 12 months (Kathryn Hopkins writes). It expects to construct a record 3,650 homes. Galliford Try said that its sales had fallen to £509 million in the period between July 1 and November 6, from £560 million in the same period last year. September that it would introduce such a tax if it came to power. Savills, another leading property group, also has warned that at the extreme the value of prime London properties over £10 million could fall by 10 per cent as the result of a mansion tax, and that those over £3 million could drop by 7 per cent. It estimates that there are 97,000 homes in Britain worth more than £2 million, most of which are in the capital.
All those cost-cuts finally produce a dividend at IAG Tim Webb
The owner of British Airways is to pay a dividend for the first time since its merger three years ago with Iberia, the Spanish carrier. IAG, the parent company of the two airlines, said that it was confident of hitting its financial targets next year “which we see as the trigger to introducing a dividend”. The dividend would be based on a payout ratio of 25 per cent of the company’s profit after tax. British Airways and Iberia sealed their £5 billion merger in 2011. IAG has since forced through a radical restructuring to stem losses, cutting thousands of jobs and salaries and abandoning loss-making routes. It also introduced
new more fuel-efficient aircraft, helping to keep a lid on its fuel bill. IAG said that it was confident of hitting its target of increasing profits by 10 per cent each year between 2016 and 2020. “Therefore we anticipate making a declaration in 2015 as the first step in our plan to introduce a sustainable dividend payment,” it said. The City welcomed the move. Ian Rennardson, an analyst at Jefferies, the stockbroker, said: “While long-term targets in the volatile airline industry need to be taken with a pinch of salt, at least we have confirmation of a dividend and confidence in the future.” Shares in IAG, which have jumped by a fifth over the past month, closed down 11½p at 402½p as investors took profits.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Business
Philip Aldrick
Prepare for a bumpy ride, Carney tells markets
It’s time that buy-to-let had to play by the same rules as the rest of us
‘‘
Philip Aldrick is economics editor of The Times
Sound investment? Buy-to-let as a percentage of the UK mortgage market 15% 12 9 6 3 0 2000
05
10
Cost of housing benefit (£bn) 25 Total 20 Social rented sector 15 10
Private rented sector
5 0 2000-01
05-06
10-11
13-14
Buy-to-let arrears Three-month arrears rate, compared to owner-occupied, % 5 Buy-to-let Owner4 occupied 3 2 1 0 2008 10 12 14
Sources: OBR, CML
Four years ago, when the seeds of revolt against the out-of-control cost of housing benefit were stirring, I received a call from a reader calling himself Graham. “Want to become a millionaire like me?” he asked. “It’s the easiest thing in the world.” Graham was from a poorer corner of northern England, but had coined it during the boom by rounding up people at the local job centre and giving them a roof over their heads. He, and his friends, would buy derelict houses, sometimes whole streets, install the unemployed, get them to sign up for housing benefit and charge the maximum rent permitted by the state — the local average. Graham’s coup de grâce was then to sell a portfolio of these homes to City bankers with more money than sense. With a steady income stream from the benefit bill, the crumbling homes were immediately worth 50 per cent more than he paid. Graham told me this without a twinge of conscience. It was the system that was at fault and he was merely a smart opportunist. Ignoring the questionable morality, he was right. What was wrong, and remains wrong, is that the authorities seem to approve. There is something fundamentally perverse about housing policy in this country — and right at the heart of that is the approach to buy-to-let. Over the next parliament, the number of people drawing housing benefit is expected to increase by a little more than 200,000 and all that increase will be in the private rented sector. Rather than build more council homes or help social housing providers, the government is relying on private landlords to house the destitute, including slumlords such as Graham. It’s bad policy, not just socially but because it’s plain expensive. Landlords are already pocketing £9.3 billion of the £23.9 billion housing benefit bill and the average award to someone in private housing is “typically higher” than in social housing, the Office for Budget Responsibility says. Buy-to-let crowds out owner-occupiers. Today, private landlords account for 14 per cent of the market. At the beginning of 2007, before the financial crisis, it was 9 per cent. In other words, landlords have
propped up prices and pushed more people into the rented sector, driving up the rents on which benefits are based. Since 2000, rents have risen at twice the rate of earnings to record levels, which in turn has made more people eligible for housing support. If you’re a landlord, it’s a wonderfully self-reinforcing route to riches. It’s not so good for the taxpayer. Over the past decade alone, the housing benefit bill has risen 53 per cent in real terms. The government’s response has been to set a £26,000 benefits cap, which the Tories plan to lower to £23,000, and to reduce the maximum rent allowance to below the local average. Fiscally, it seems reasonable. Socially, it’s a recipe for impoverishment as spiralling rents eat into food and fuel budgets. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, housing benefit will rise from 17.4 per cent of non-pension welfare to 19.1 per cent over the next five years. Yet the government — aided and abetted by the Bank of England —
doesn’t seem to care. In fact, the housing market is so rigged in favour of buy-to-let you’d be forgiven for thinking a secret pact had been signed with landlords. For a start, there’s a tax break. Landlords can deduct mortgage interest and the cost of repairs from taxable rent income. Analysis of official data by the Intergenerational Foundation suggested that the loophole was worth £5 billion a year. Given the incentive, it’s not surprising that almost every single buy-to-let mortgage is interest-only. You may ask: how can that be? Didn’t new mortgage rules that came into force this year effectively outlaw interest-only deals? It’s possible for the simple reason that buy-to-let is completely unregulated. That’s right, a £180 billion market with enormous sway over house prices is entirely dependent on the good behaviour of landlords and their lenders. For most buy-to-let borrowers, their only repayment plan is to sell the property for a profit. Any
owner-occupier who tried that wheeze with their mortgage broker would be sent packing. Against a tax break and cheaper mortgage costs, it’s little wonder first-time buyers struggle to compete. The Treasury is not merely turning a blind eye, it’s actively defending the industry’s interests. Right now, it plans to water down new European Union rules that would subject landlords to the same mortgage standards as the rest of us. The Bank has been equally complicit. Its 2012 Funding for Lending scheme proved such a successful buy-to-let subsidy that it earned the disparaging monicker “Funding for Landlords”. When it introduced strict affordability tests and loan-to-income caps for home-buyers this year, buy-to-let was specifically excluded. It’s not as if buy-to-let poses no threat to financial stability. Far from it. At the height of the crisis, the market was about to implode. Arrears rates rocketed from 1 per cent in early 2008 to almost 4 per cent a year later, as tenants lost their jobs and mortgage costs escalated. In contrast, the increase in delinquencies among owner-occupiers was trivial, from 1.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent. Landlords were rescued by a cut in interest rates to 0.5 per cent. Had they not been, the market would have been saturated with repossessed properties and the near-20 per cent house price crash more severe. Now the Bank is waking up to the threat, saying that it will be “vigilant to developments” — but that’s all. It’s hard not to conclude that the authorities have thrown in their lot with the private sector to conceal the lack of a coherent housing strategy. But relying on buy-to-let is no substitute for building more affordable homes, either by the state or the social sector. It’s bad socially and terrible economically. Everyone accepts that Britain needs more houses. That will take time, even assuming politicians find the nerve. In the meantime, as Kate Barker, a housing guru and former Bank rate-setter, has pointed out, the government needs to dampen demand. It could start by levelling the playing field and subjecting landlords to similar rules as owner-occupiers. Until then, buy-to-let promises to be a one-way bet for Graham and his ilk.
’’
Philip Aldrick, Patrick Hosking
Markets should get ready for a “bumpy” ride when central banks begin to raise interest rates, the governor of the Bank of England has warned. Speaking at a symposium organised by the Banque de France in Paris, Mark Carney told investors not to assume that low levels of volatility were here to stay. He added that jumpy markets would not influence central banks’ decisions. “The risk of volatility will not affect the timing policy normalisation,” Mr Carney said. However, he added that it “may affect the pace” as central banks seek to make the transition with the least amount of collateral damage possible. He also acknowledged that the “low-volatility environment is going to change as things normalise . . . the transition could be bumpy”. Mr Carney also used the platform to 6 German companies set a record for exports last month to break a run of poor data from Europe’s largest economy (David Charter writes). Exported goods and services were valued at €102.5 billion, while imports amounted to €80.6 billion in September, Destatis, the federal statistics office, said. That beat the export record set in July of €101.1 billion. warn that financial sector risks were migrating from banks to markets and that regulators may have to extend their reach. He was speaking after weak trade data raised fresh concerns about the UK recovery. The deficit in goods increased to £9.8 billion in September from £8.9 billion in August, according to the Office for National Statistics, worse than had been expected. The figures showed that Britain’s goods trade deficit with Germany had deteriorated to record high, with exports to Germany of £7.34 billion in the third quarter massively outweighed by imports from Germany of £14.46 billion. The gap of £7.13 billion was £325 million worse than in the June quarter. Germany is Britain’s biggest goods trading partner, its biggest source of imports and the second most important destination for exports. Rising consumer confidence in Britain appears to be boosting demand for German-made cars and white goods. The recent slide in the euro against the pound has given German exporters an added edge.
That’s just the job for recovering American economy Alexandra Frean Washington
American employers added 214,000 net new jobs last month, missing expectations but showing continued growth in the face of slowing global demand. The unemployment level fell to 5.8 per cent, the lowest rate since July 2008, and the Labor Department revised up the job creation figures for August and September by 31,000, meaning that the numbers have topped 200,000 for nine consecutive months, the longest such run since 1995. The data, coming days after voters had shown their unease about the eco-
nomy by inflicting heavy defeats on President Obama’s Democrats in national mid-term elections, contained many positive signs. However, they numbers also pointed to continued sluggishness in wage growth. Average hourly earnings rose by only 0.1 per cent over the previous month, while the annual rate remained at 2 per cent. There was little sign of improvement in three other areas of concern: the long-term unemployed, those who have left the labour force and those have given up looking for a job. The data marked 56 consecutive months of private-sector job growth,
which the White House has said is “the longest streak in US history”. In another positive sign, the jobs increase was broadly based. Hiring in food services and drinking places was particularly strong, with 42,000 new jobs, compared with an average of 26,000 over the previous 12 months. Retail employment grew by 27,000, while the healthcare sector added 25,000 staff, professional and business services
added 37,000 and manufacturing grew by 15,000. Michael Gapen, of Barclays, said that the US Federal Reserve was likely to interpret the report as a signal that progress in labour markets continues and underutilisation of labour resources is diminishing. The Fed, though, was likely to “remain patient” Janet Yellen said that spending cuts were slowing the recovery
over rate rises, given modest wage and inflation pressures, he said. “We maintain our view that it will raise rates in June of next year, with risks tilted toward September, given the sharp decline in commodity prices.” Janet Yellen, the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, said in a speech in Paris yesterday that “monetary policy will eventually need to normalise”, but she warned that government spending cuts around the world had arrested the pace of the global recovery. She suggested that politicians should take more fiscal action to prop up economies during times of turmoil.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Business Canary Wharf
Secretive tycoon is Qataris must persuade former diamond trader Simon Glick to back bid, write Deirdre Hipwell and Kathryn Hopkins
How it grew and grew Decade built
1990s 2010 on
2000s In the pipeline
A
secretive New Yorker whose family made a fortune trading diamonds could hold the key to the battle to win control of the Canary Wharf estate. Simon Glick, 66, who is photographed rarely and generally is referred to only as a “professional investor who has been investing his family’s wealth for the past three decades”, owns nearly 26 per cent of the publicly listed Songbird Estates. Since he is its second-largest shareholder, market insiders said that securing his support would be vital if a bid by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and Brookfield Group, of Canada, to take control of Songbird, the majority owner of Canary Wharf, was to succeed. It could be difficult. It is likely that the Qatari-Brookfield consortium would have to come back with a higher offer than its previous, rejected 295p-ashare, and it would have to convince Mr Glick, who has a long and deep history with Canary Wharf. Unlike other shareholders in Songbird, such as China Investment Corporation, Mr Glick and his father, Louis, backed Canary Wharf from the start. They are friends of Paul Reichmann, the Canadian developer whose Olympia & York company began the development with One Canada Square. When Mr Reichmann died last October at the age of 83, Sir George Iacobescu, the chief executive of Canary Wharf Group, said: “Some visionaries have vision, but they don’t have delivery. Paul Reichmann had both vision and delivery.” Although even that rare combination was not enough to guarantee success at Canary Wharf. Mr Reichmann lost control of Olympia & York when the economy and property market crashed in the 1990s. The biggest development company in history was wiped out and the Reichmanns’ fortune dwindled from C$10 billion to C$100 million. Mr Reichmann spent three years trying to regain control, securing backing from the Glick family and other investors to buy the company out of administration for £820 million in 1995. Louis Glick made his fortune as a diamond trader, setting up Louis Glick & Co, a jewellery group renowned for its expertise in rare yellow diamonds. His company’s creations have adorned royalty and heads of state and Glick’s signature ring is the patented Starburst cut, which reflects light through 122 facets. Sharon Stone received a Louis Glick three-stone engagement ring from Phil Bronstein, her former husband, when he proposed. Simon Glick started out in his father’s business before he began to manage the family’s investments, which range from property to financial companies and Six Flags, the biggest regional theme park in Sharon Stone and Phil Bronstein
North Dock
Westferry Circus
Cabot Square
One Canad Squar
Middle Dock
River Thames South Dock
One Canada Square First and tallest building
Canary Wharf Group’s shareholders
Franklin Resources
7.10% Brookfield
22.08% Songbird
69.37% Shareholders in Songbird Qatar Holdings 28.6% Glick Entities 25.93% China Investment Corporation 15.8% Morgan Stanley 8.53% Other shareholders 21.14%
the world. With the involvement of Glick, Canary Wharf continued to thrive under Mr Reichmann and it floated in the late 1990s as Canary Wharf Group. Then Mr Reichmann lost control again in 2004, when a Morgan Stanley-led consortium took majority control through Songbird Estates. This time, Simon Glick sided with Morgan Stanley rather than Mr Reichmann. In a rare interview in Property Week magazine, Mr Reichmann said that he had been nonplussed to find Mr Glick and his long-term financial adviser Morgan Stanley on the opposite side of the table, but he added: “Simon Glick is a personal friend of mine, even today. “Simon Glick invested with me in Canary Wharf, but I took it as a matter of course that Simon’s family’s interests should be his priority. And he got a deal from Morgan Stanley that would have been impossible to get from anyone else.” Seven days after Morgan Stanley triumphed, Mr Reichmann resigned as a director of Canary Wharf. His family later sold all of their 52 million shares to Brookfield. One property expert said yesterday: “Glick has an emotional attachment to Canary Wharf, as he has been there practically from the beginning and he fully believes it is a valuable development. It will have to be a big price to convince him to sell.”
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Canary Wharf Business
key to unlocking gem of a deal
Chinese and American investors have to be brought gh on board, too Kathryn Hopkins, Deirdre Hipwell Crossrail Station
8 Canada Square HSBC Tower
Jubilee Park
Wood Wharf planned development
25 Bank Street Former Lehman Brothers building, now JP Morgan
ube station
Big idea, big scheme, but a big success? Comment Sir Stuart Lipton
T
he original concept for Canary Wharf was dreamt up by Michael von Clemm, an American businessman who realised that financial companies needed large trading floors that were unavailable in the City. He sold the idea to Paul Reichmann, a developer from Toronto, who came up with a proposal for grouping large, good-quality buildings around squares and spaces in an isolated, secure location. It was a very North American style of development and has been financially successful. Canary Wharf is an important financial district and, from a tenant’s point of view, it works and
has acted as a brake on City rents. Sir George Iacobescu, who has a reputation for highly thoughtful work, has led the development and Canary Wharf has been one of the anchors of the regeneration of east London. Without it, the wider development in Stratford and Canning Town would have been much more difficult. Yet it fails in one big way: the style of development, where all is perched on top of a giant car park, cuts it off from the communities around it. It doesn’t integrate with them. Lord Rogers of Riverside once said that London was designed like a string of pearls, all of which are on one string. Canary Wharf, isolated on top of a moat with a dock around it, is not one of the pearls. Although the district has high-quality buildings, they are very much of an American style and lack the normal character of a piece of London. They are designed by well-known,
respectable architects who produce very similar work. In future it will be more interesting to observe the development of Wood Wharf at the estate, as much more residential space will be introduced, which is being designed by architects such as Herzog & de Meuron. The development of Canary Wharf has been a series of events. There is innovation of the idea, the brilliance of the construction delivery and providing the right product for the financial industry. It has done a lot for east London, but, as a place, it is an agglomeration of individual uses — a predominant monoculture — rather than the mix you find in the West End or the City. It is immaculately managed, but at night it is not an uplifting place. While teeming with people, Canary Wharf doesn’t feel as though it is on the cutting edge of the new world of the UK. 6 Sir Stuart Lipton is one of Britain’s leading property developers
Simon Glick may be central to the bid for Canary Wharf, but the Qataris and the Canadians will also have to convince the Chinese and the Americans on the merits of their offer. China Investment Corporation, which controls 15.8 per cent of Songbird Estates, the majority owner of Canary Wharf, is a relatively new entrant to the British property market and acquired its stake in the business only five years ago through its Land Breeze holding company. This year CIC bought Chiswick Park, the west London office development, from Blackstone, the private equity fund, for about £800 million. It has been focused on buying long-term-hold “trophy assets” in London and may be unwilling to lose its grip on such a jewel in the capital’s crown. Market sources question what role CIC could play in the battle for Canary Wharf. The Chinese appear to have acted in concert with the Qataris since both first invested in Songbird in 2009 at a critical time during the property crash. The Chinese have a right to two seats on the Songbird board but have yet to exercise them. The Chinese sovereign wealth fund also backed the City’s Walkie Talkie tower, the Land Securities and Canary Wharf-backed development that became infamous for melting cars and frying eggs, alongside the Qataris and
‘The Chinese may be unwilling to lose their grip on such a jewel in the capital’s crown’ Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing’s special situations fund. Morgan Stanley itself has an 8.53 per cent stake in Songbird and has almost as long a history with Canary Wharf as Mr Glick. The bank was one of the first tenants in Canary Wharf, when the area was regenerated from a derelict wasteland to the financial business district that today is the workplace for more than 105,000 people. John Carrafiell, a Morgan Stanley banker who gained prominence for brokering deals during the boom, led the Songbird Estates consortium that won majority control of Canary Wharf in 2004 after a drawn-out battle during which Paul Reichmann, the founder of Canary Wharf, tried to block its bid. Like Mr Glick and the Qataris, the American banking group has a right to three board seats and is represented by Jonathan Lane, who is a non-executive director. Songbird also has two senior independent directors on the board. Many decisions that it has to take can happen only with the approval of at least two thirds of the board. Alongside the four “dominant” shareholders, there are independent minority shareholders, such as Kames Capital and Standard Life Investments. The key concern of these investors will be ensuring that their interests are well protected.
Prime property Qataris own or have a stake in several prominent assets in London besides Canary Wharf, including: The Olympic athletes village The Shard Harrods The US Embassy, Grosvenor Square 20 Fenchurch Street (the Walkie Talkie, left) Chelsea Barracks The Savoy Hotel
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Business Markets ALESSIA PIERDOMENICO / REUTER
Martin Waller Tempus Buy, sell or hold: today’s best share tips
No need to fear cut in supply
I
t used to be that scantily clad models standing in the doorway was an irresistible lure for its largely teenaged customers, but not any more (Alexandra Frean writes). Abercrombie &
N Fitch admitted yesterday that its sales have slipped as shoppers shied away from its heavily logo-strewn apparel. Analysts had expected net third-quarter sales of $982.2 million, but in the event the retailer
said that they had fallen by 12 per cent to $911.4 million. Mike Jeffries, the chief executive, said that the retailer would be cutting down on its “heavy logo product” in an effort to halt the decline.
Car insurers continue to stall on the roadside Gary Parkinson Market report
C
prices were “stabilising” rather than ar insurance shares are rising, fell 5¾p to 271¼p. depreciating faster than a The wider stock market improved brand new motor fresh off for a third day, as investors continued the forecourt. to draw comfort from an earlier signal Stalled premiums are the by the European Central Bank that it problem and Admiral, the biggest was prepared to step up its economic player in this market, capped a stimulus, should that be required. The miserable week for the industry by FTSE 100 added 16.09 points to admitting that its 3.2 million drivers 6,567.24, up by nearly 21 points on the spent £21 million less on cover week, underpinned by resources between July and Thursday of this shares as metals prices recovered and week. That, in spite of 150,000 more crude steadied. European markets, customers coming on to its books. without London’s preponderance of The owner of the Confused.com miners and oil companies, nursed price comparison website compounded the gloom by saying that modest losses. The shine was taken off markets everywhere by a closely the long run of declining prices — watched monthly report on the they have been on the slide for more American jobs market that failed to than three years — will dampen live up to expectations. future earnings, along with an Still, after the Kurdish regional expected rise in claims for prangs and government in Iraq revealed that it minor injuries. had sold nearly $3 billion of oil since Any hope that motor insurers January and unveiled plans for an finally could push through premium initial $75 million payment to increases has faded like a bad paint producers for their exports, Afren job. So, too, has Admiral’s share price, jumped 12.7 per cent to 82p and £15.74 in July and 44p lower at Genel Energy, whose chief £12.15 yesterday. executive, Tony Hayward, Not that it said much that formerly held the same job others in its industry hadn’t follow us at BP, rose 27p to 754p. Gulf already. Too many motor on twitter Keystone Petroleum, long insurers are competing in a for updates business pressured by the @timesbusiness beloved of the friskier sort of private investor who tends topmost ranks of government to populate the bulletin boards to nail down premiums. of financial websites, was chased Eamonn Flanagan, Shore Capital’s 13.2 per cent higher to 75p. top-rated analyst, could find “no On AIM, Fitbug, which makes evident catalyst to push them wearable fitness devices, jumped by ahead”. Esure, the owner of Sheilas’ Wheels, 26.4 per cent to 6¼p after launching “KiQplans” to offer customers specific told the market this week that it had weight-loss programmes to use tried to get away with targeted rate rises and had seen its policy count dip alongside their devices for the first time. by about 27,000 as a result. Its shares, If Fitbug’s “Beer Belly Blaster” or clobbered on the day it disclosed that written premiums had slid 7.4 per cent “Slim + Trim” are not for you, then perhaps OptiBiotix has the answer. during the third quarter, retreated This is the AIM biotech company that 6½p more to 208½p. Meanwhile, develops compounds to use in food to Direct Line, which also said that
help fatties to slim down. A week ago it incorporated its weight-loss knowhow into a yoghurt, which makes you feel full without affecting its taste, look or texture. Its shares jumped by 15.1 per cent to 12½p after a study suggested that bacteria in the gut can influence bodyweight, paving the way for probiotic yoghurts that help people to lose weight. Finally, at the end of a trying week for David Lenigas, when drilling disappointment at Horse Hill near Gatwick clobbered a quartet of companies with which he is involved,
Wall Street report With indices flirting with all-time highs, it takes a lot to lift them any further, and even news that unemployment is a six-year low could barely nudge the Dow Jones industrial average, at 17,550.40 points at midday, down a mere 4.07. the serial entrepreneur came out fighting. He told viewers of Tip TV, the internet telly channel for punters that is backed by Richard Keys, the sports presenter, that exploration to date had been a “huge success”. Don’t write off Horse Hill, he said, it has a bright future and “extra potential”. UK Oil & Gas, where Mr Lenigas is chairman, 1¾p towards the end of September, eased 4.4 per cent to ½p. Solo Oil, where he was chairman until last month, dipped 0.9 per cent to ½p. Stellar Resources and Doriemus, both chaired by Don Strang, a close associate of Mr Lenigas, marked time at 0.35p and rose 12.1 per cent to 0.09p, respectively. All four are members of the consortium drilling at Horse Hill.
Safe as it could be National Grid share price
p 940
Operating profits, £m
920
UK electricity transmission
687
22%
UK gas transmission
133
110
17%
UK gas distribution
456
434
5%
US regulated
330
307
7%
760
Others
88
73
17%
740
Total
880 860 840 820 800 780
Q1 2014
Q2
Q3
Q4
rentokil initial Revenue £440m
I
2013 2014 Change 565
900
Source: Thomson Reuters
The business model in need of a little adjustment
northeast; while the company has to reach frequent agreements in each on how much it can charge, these tend to balance out in the end. The return on assets fell slightly, nothing that should worry investors. The Grid described itself yesterday, in its halfway figures, as “well-funded”. This is a little like describing Primark as quite good at selling cheap clothes. The company has just agreed a £1.5 billion, inflation-linked bank facility, the national grid biggest ever by the European Capital investment £1,579m Investment Bank, to fund investment in the UK’s electricity transmission system. o one ever lost sleep Operating profits were up 2 per investing in National cent to £1,611 million in the half-year Grid. This is one of the to the end of September. The most reliable and halfway dividend is up from 14.49p highest dividend payers to 14.71p, in line with earlier in the FTSE 100. Since February it forecasts. The final payment will be has known exactly what its based on the rate of inflation next regulatory regime will look like spring, when the company until 2021, or, to put it another announces full-year figures. way, what targets it must This is predictable enough; exceed to outperform. the total payment looks This and the switch to follow me like coming out at about safer, income stocks has on twitter 43p, putting the shares, up benefited the price, which for updates 2p at 919p, on a forward is up 17 per cent since the @MartinWaller10 yield of 4.7 per cent. start of the year. The investment going in National Grid is confident, should lift the value of the or as confident as anyone can Grid’s assets by about 5 per cent be, that it has bolted enough excess providing some potential uplift for capacity on to the system to prevent the share price. This is about as the lights going out. The existing good as it gets in these markets. reserve, which represents 4 per cent Buy. more generating capacity than should be needed, would be sufficient in 19 years out of 20; assume an exceptionally cold year MY ADVICE Buy and there is another 2 per cent that WHY Dividend yield is can swing into action. excellent and there is the Its American operations slightly underperformed. These represent prospect of capital growth 14 regulated authorities in the
PBT £53.5m
n what might seem to its long-suffering investors as a minor miracle, Rentokil Initial is now about where it wants to be. At last. The disaster-plagued City Link business is nothing more than an awful memory. The company is spread across 60 countries, in pest control, hygiene and office plants, the first two being the core of the original businesses. Debt is where it should be, at about £800 million after the sale of the facilities management business to Interserve, which can be supported by earnings of about £250 million a year. Cashflow is strong, running at about £80 million a year, and there is even a dividend. Nothing is ever perfect. The shares fell 6p to 116p after analysts cut their forecasts for this year because of Rentokil’s exposure to the northern eurozone, almost half
1,572 1,611
2%
of profits. This was behind a slowing in revenue growth, disregarding currency movements, in the third quarter, to 4 per cent, from 8 per cent in the first half. Allowing for currencies, the reported figure was down by 4.1 per cent, to £62.6 million. The main weakness was in France and the Benelux countries. The company cannot do much about this, but there are opportunities in growth markets such as Latin and North America and Asia. The shares have traded in a narrow band this year. I suspect further progress will require a period of stability and consistent growth, and perhaps some better signals from the eurozone. Best avoided for now.
MY ADVICE Avoid for now WHY It looks too early in the recovery programme to go back into the shares
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
71
FGM
Markets Business Wall Street 21st Century Fox 3M Abbott Labs AbbVie Accenture ACE Actavis Adobe Sys Aetna Inc Aflac Air Prods & Chm Alcoa Alexion Pharmas Allergan Alliance Data Sys Allstate Altria Amazon Amer Elec Pwr Amer Express Amer Tower American Int Ameriprise AmerisrceBerg Amgen Anadarko Petrlm Analog Devices Aon Corp Apache Apple Applied Mats Archer Daniels AT&T Auto Data Proc Autozone Avago Tech Ltd AvalonBay Baker Hughes Bank NY Mellon Bank of America Baxter Intl BB&T Becton Dickinsn Berkshire Hath Biogen Idec Blackrock Boeing Boston Props Boston Sci Bristol-Myrs Sq Broadcom Capital One Fin Cardinal Health Carnival Caterpillar CBS Corp Celgene CenturyTel Cerner Chesapeake Engy Chevron Chipotle Mex Grill Chubb Cigna Corp Cisco Systems Citigroup CME Coca-Cola Cognizant Tech Colgate-Palm Comcast Conagra Foods ConocoPhillips Consd Edison Constellation Brs Corning Costco Whole Covidien Crown Castle CSX Cummins CVS Caremark Danaher Davita Deere&Co Delphi Auto Delta Air Lines Devon Energy DirecTV Grp Discover Financial Dollar General Dominion Res Dow Chemical DTE Energy Du Pont Duke Energy Eaton eBay Ecolab Edison Intl
Major indices
Nov 7 midday
Nov 6 close
Nov 7 midday
Nov 6 close
34.69 156.10 43.42 61.60 83.62 110.83 246.03 72.02 83.71 59.01 135.23 16.46 193.41 194.48 283.60 66.17 49.63 298.26 58.23 92.38 99.76 53.95 129.19 87.07 160.10 94.70 49.93 89.30 75.88 108.81 22.36 50.35 34.93 84.46 560.99 85.10 157.21 52.96 38.86 17.34 71.11 38.16 126.72 143.75 320.63 350.77 124.60 127.73 13.30 58.16 40.81 82.83 79.22 40.18 101.57 51.25 106.39 38.83 63.24 23.81 119.32 645.10 100.83 100.64 25.33 53.70 85.69 42.30 53.20 68.02 54.64 34.79 72.03 63.40 93.15 20.55 137.38 92.38 79.28 35.38 146.56 88.07 81.07 74.38 88.80 69.75 42.59 64.38 87.55 65.90 63.89 73.51 49.53 82.89 70.26 81.70 69.01 53.60 112.43 62.27
35.31 156.05 43.69 62.71 83.24 110.73 250.38 72.10 84.70 59.53 135.01 16.37 193.14 197.40 284.98 66.13 49.56 296.64 57.87 91.58 99.55 53.91 128.89 87.40 160.35 93.51 50.22 89.18 75.44 108.70 22.59 49.97 34.72 84.75 566.05 87.63 157.20 51.49 38.77 17.36 71.60 38.26 127.93 143.29 323.47 347.63 124.58 127.92 13.36 58.46 41.50 82.08 79.60 40.57 100.91 52.13 107.14 39.00 63.88 22.76 118.53 647.12 100.60 101.34 25.26 53.99 86.27 42.29 52.64 68.11 55.38 34.75 71.32 62.62 93.53 20.68 137.09 92.60 79.86 35.13 146.64 88.43 81.26 78.03 87.77 70.18 42.90 62.56 87.48 65.69 64.01 73.08 49.81 82.67 70.12 81.17 69.06 53.26 111.94 61.99
Eli Lilly 66.61 EMC Corp 29.30 Emerson Elec 65.07 Entergy 81.99 EOG Res 100.74 EQT 99.77 Equity Res 69.48 Estee Lauder 72.40 Exelon 37.71 Express Scripts 77.76 Exxon Mobil 97.05 Facebook 75.64 Fedex 171.18 Fifth Third 20.23 FirstEnergy 37.24 FIS 58.64 Fiserv Inc 69.62 Ford Motor 14.24 Franklin Res 56.76 Freeport-Mcm 28.23 Gap 38.93 Gen Dynamics 140.21 Gen Electric 26.42 Gen Growth Props 25.64 General Mills 51.97 General Mtrs 31.71 Genuine Parts 98.89 Gilead Sciences 107.54 Goldman Sachs 190.47 Google Inc 540.56 Google Inc Class A 551.32 Grainger (WW) 254.10 Halliburton 54.07 Harley-Davidson 65.84 Hartford Financial 40.05 HCP 43.35 Health Care REIT 70.89 Hershey 96.53 Hess 85.69 Hewlett Packard 36.24 Home Depot 97.32 Honeywell Intl 96.58 Host Hotels 22.77 Humana 132.69 ICE Group 219.24 Illinois Tool 92.78 Ingersoll-Rand 63.50 Int Business Mach 161.84 Intel 33.25 Intl Paper 52.70 Intuit 89.01 Intuitive Surg 505.88 Invesco 41.30 Johnsn & Johnsn 108.40 Johnson Cont 48.76 JP Morgan Chase 61.30 Kellogg 63.35 Keurig Green 152.46 Kimberly-Clark 112.94 Kinder Morgan 38.75 Kraft Foods 57.81 Kroger 58.01 L Brands 75.66 Lincoln National 55.70 Lockheed Martin 185.97 Loews 43.56 Lorillard 61.77 Lowes Cos 57.99 LyondellBasell 87.40 Macy's 59.89 Marathon Oil 34.78 Marathon Petroleum93.27 Marriott Intl 75.25 Marsh & McLenn 55.82 MasterCard 85.25 McDonald's 94.69 McGraw Hill Fin 90.38 McKesson 201.28 Mead Johnson 98.95 Medtronic 68.45 Merck & Co 59.19 Metlife 54.48 Michael Kors Hdgs 71.37 Micron 32.74 Microsoft 48.40 Mondelez 37.70 Monsanto 114.75 Monster Beverage 106.97 Moodys 98.96 Morgan Stanley 35.53 Mosaic 44.41 Motorola Sols 63.64 M&T Bank Corp 124.69 Mylan 52.78 Natl Oilwell 74.03 Netflix 381.47 NextEra Energy 103.59 Nielsen Holdings 43.59 Nike 93.99 Noble Energy 56.71
66.96 29.31 64.67 81.96 98.97 99.75 69.49 71.83 37.44 77.92 95.57 75.26 171.70 20.30 36.64 58.92 69.98 14.19 56.31 27.57 37.90 141.56 26.36 25.77 53.27 31.37 98.59 106.94 191.00 542.04 551.69 254.77 53.17 65.71 39.91 43.12 70.16 96.82 83.71 36.15 97.29 96.71 22.79 139.87 219.92 92.96 63.16 161.46 33.82 52.47 89.13 508.65 40.95 109.01 49.41 61.23 64.53 153.06 113.05 38.53 58.27 57.76 76.35 55.93 189.88 43.43 61.98 57.57 86.30 59.04 34.34 93.13 75.25 55.87 85.75 94.66 89.99 202.66 98.84 68.74 59.26 54.20 72.31 33.35 48.70 37.84 114.51 100.48 98.99 35.31 44.19 63.42 124.43 53.50 72.87 383.30 103.95 43.34 94.60 54.80
Nov 7 midday
Nov 6 close
Norfolk Sthn 113.13 110.72 Northeast Utilities 50.27 49.50 Northern Trust 66.94 66.83 Northrop Grum 136.24 138.11 Nucor 54.34 53.48 Occidental Petr 88.02 86.40 Omnicom 72.84 72.81 Oracle 39.85 39.81 O'Reilly 179.00 179.61 Paccar 66.77 66.57 Parker-Hannifin 127.94 127.96 Paychex 47.21 47.57 PepsiCo 96.30 96.81 Perrigo Company 155.13 152.49 Pfizer 29.79 30.04 PG&E 50.26 49.34 Philip Morris Intl 87.77 87.50 Phillips66 74.71 75.42 Pioneer Ntrl Rscs 178.89 174.83 PNC Finl 88.55 88.38 PPG Inds 206.83 206.09 PPL 36.34 35.99 Praxair 126.65 126.57 Precision Cast 226.35 225.28 Price T Rowe 83.29 82.45 Priceline.com 1092.61 1097.75 Principal Fin 52.63 52.40 Procter & Gmbl 89.08 88.90 Progressive Cp 26.95 26.90 Prologis 41.62 41.58 Prudential Finl 85.29 85.03 Public Serv Ent 40.90 40.72 Public Storage 186.75 186.57 Qualcomm 69.65 70.58 Raytheon 103.91 104.71 Regeneron Pharm 377.77 376.94 Reynolds Amer 64.25 64.41 Rockwell Auto 111.71 111.77 Roper Inds 158.49 158.23 Ross Stores 81.90 81.88 Salesforce.com 64.46 63.09 SanDisk 92.74 93.48 Schlumberger 99.49 96.98 Schwab (Charles) 28.63 29.04 Seagate Tech 61.86 62.53 Sempra Energy 112.58 112.84 Sherwin-Williams 236.13 233.22 Sigma Aldrich 135.37 135.34 Simon Prop 180.08 180.08 Southern Co 47.23 47.01 Spectra Engy 39.60 39.08 St Jude Medical 65.10 66.04 Stan Blk & Dkr 95.06 94.40 Starbucks 77.98 77.45 Starwood 76.46 77.03 State Street 77.71 77.85 Sthwest Airlines 38.15 37.94 Stryker 87.77 88.55 SunTrust Banks 39.68 39.82 Symantec 25.15 25.07 Sysco 38.06 37.99 Target 64.49 61.89 TE Connectivity 61.92 62.15 Texas Insts 50.80 50.91 Thermo Fisher 116.40 118.91 Time Warner 77.66 77.36 Time Warner Cab 142.90 146.38 TJX 64.70 64.56 Travelers 102.22 101.91 Tyco Intl 43.27 43.44 Union Pacific 118.90 118.94 UPS 108.38 108.29 US Bancorp 43.87 43.92 Utd Health 94.35 96.21 Utd Tech 108.49 108.58 Valero Energy 50.61 50.24 Ventas 68.27 67.86 Verizon Comm 50.72 50.28 Vertex Pharma 114.55 117.29 VF Corp 69.47 68.91 Viacom 70.91 70.79 Visa 251.10 250.09 Vornado Realty 109.70 110.13 Walgreen 66.75 66.65 Wal-Mart 78.56 77.81 Walt Disney 89.33 92.00 Waste Mgt 49.51 49.23 WellPoint 125.92 127.80 Wells Fargo 54.00 54.06 Western Digital 98.40 97.87 Weyerhaeuser 34.46 34.24 Whole Foods Mkt 47.29 44.85 Williams Cos 54.95 54.71 Wynn Resorts 178.22 178.71 Xcel Energy 33.55 33.05 Xerox 13.44 13.30 Yahoo 48.09 47.93 Yum Brands 72.86 73.10 Zimmer Hldgs 109.36 110.19 Zoetis 40.12 39.71
London Financial Futures Long Gilt 3-Mth Sterling
3-Mth Euribor
3-Mth Euroswiss
2 Year Swapnote 5 Year Swapnote 10 Year Swapnote FTSE100 FTSEurofirst 80
Period Dec 14 Mar 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Jun 15 Sep 15 Dec 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Jun 15 Sep 15 Dec 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Jun 15 Sep 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Dec 14 Mar 15 Dec 14 Mar 15
Open 115.12 99.420 99.330 99.200 99.030 98.850 99.915 99.915 99.925 99.920 99.905 100.03 100.05 100.08 100.09 111.57 127.51 147.43 6549.5 6510.0 3924.5
High 115.66 60.500 99.430 99.340 99.220 99.070 98.900 99.915 99.925 99.930 99.925 99.910 100.04 100.07 100.09 100.10 111.58 111.56 127.54 100.00 147.47 100.00 6596.5 6531.0 3924.5
Low 114.87 53.420 99.420 99.320 99.180 99.020 98.830 99.910 99.915 99.920 99.920 99.900 100.02 100.05 100.07 100.08 111.57 111.55 127.42 100.00 147.20 100.00 6539.0 6487.5 3924.5
Sett 115.53 114.67 99.430 99.340 99.220 99.060 98.890 99.915 99.920 99.925 99.920 99.905 100.03 100.06 100.09 100.10 111.58 111.58 127.54 127.54 147.57 147.57 6557.0 6502.0 4046.5 4047.5
Vol 158128 806 19433 33500 37439 26507 46881 14687 19594 29478 18450 41731 3503 2686 1325 1131 101 104 440 3 83 3 103996 1026 1
Open Int 401345 419749 409992 511160 324525 359061 470265 397043 340886 305363 299116 67526 76541 49705 24018 22455 11630 4737 557166 16069 76
Eurotop 100
New York Dow Jones (noon) Nasdaq Composite (noon) S&P 500 (noon)
17561.43 (+6.96) 4627.74 (-10.72) 2031.94 (+0.73)
Tokyo Nikkei 225
16880.38 (+87.90)
Hong Kong Hang Seng
23550.24 (-99.07)
Amsterdam AEX Index
411.43 (-1.72)
Sydney AO
5522.10 (+42.90)
Frankfurt DAX
9291.83 (-85.58)
Singapore Straits
3286.39 (-4.57)
Brussels BEL20
3144.59 (-19.30)
Paris CAC-40
4189.89 (-37.79)
Zurich SMI Index DJ EURO Stoxx 50
8816.92 (-46.96) 3064.92 (-37.15)
London FTSE 100 6567.24 (+16.09) FTSE 250 15464.53 (-50.60) FTSE 350 3573.66 (+5.63) FTSE Eurotop 100 2723.73 (-13.67) FTSE All-Shares 3510.98 (+5.25) FTSE Non Financials 4069.09 n/a techMARK 100 3246.84 (-22.58) Bargains 855959 US$ 1.5842 (+0.0006) Euro 1.2747 (-0.0044) £:SDR 1.08 (+0.00) Exchange Index 87.70 (-0.20) Bank of England official close (4pm) CPI 128.40 Sep (2005 = 100) RPI 257.60 Sep (Jan 1987 = 100) RPIX 257.10 Sep (Jan 1987 = 100) Morningstar Long Commodity 823.81 (+4.86) Morningstar Long/Short Commod 4542.73 (-5.18)
Commodities ICIS pricing (London 6.00pm) Crude Oils ($/barrel FOB) Brent Physical Brent 25 day (Jan) Brent 25 day (Feb) W Texas Intermed (Jan) W Texas Intermed (Feb)
83.20 84.00 83.45 78.85 78.90
+0.40 +0.50 +0.60 +0.75 +0.75
Products ($/MT) Spot CIF NW Europe (prompt delivery) Premium Unld 805.00 811.00 Gasoil EEC 744.50 746.50 3.5 Fuel Oil 428.00 429.50 Naphtha 637.00 639.00
+26.00 +16.00 +5.00 +2.00
ICE Futures Gas Oil Nov Dec Jan
744.25-744.00 741.75-741.50 738.75-738.50
Brent (6.00pm) Dec 83.69-83.68 Jan 84.25-84.23 Feb 84.87-84.81
Feb Mar
762.25-752.50 753.50-752.75 Volume: 267766
Mar Apr
85.42-85.31 86.25-84.61 Volume: 684280
unq unq unq
LIFFE Cocoa Dec Mar May Jul Sep Dec
unq unq unq unq unq unq
Mar May Jul
RobustaCoffee Nov Jan Mar May
unq unq unq unq
Jul Sep
White Sugar (FOB) Reuters Dec Mar May
unq unq unq
Volume: 14107 unq unq Volume: 6237 Aug Oct Dec Mar
unq unq unq unq Volume: 10735
London Grain Futures LIFFE Wheat (close £/t) Nov 117.30 Jan 119.50 May 124.00 Jul 124.70
Mar 122.00 Volume: 305
AHDB meat services Average fatstock prices at representative markets (p/kg lw) Pig Lamb Cattle GB 101.19 171.82 195.95 (+/-) -5.04 +7.19 +3.81 Eng/Wales (+/-) Scotland (+/-)
101.19 -5.04
172.09 +7.30
194.97 +3.86
unq
170.56 +6.84
202.16 +5.63
London Metal Exchange (Official) Cash
3mth
15mth
Copper Gde A ($/tonne) 6720.0-6720.5 6640.0-6645.0
7310.0-7320.0
Lead ($/tonne) 1996.0-1997.0
2005.5-2006.0
1980.0-1985.0
Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne) 2227.5-2228.0 2231.0-2231.5
1943.0-1948.0
Tin ($/tonne) 20000.0-20025.0
20000.0-20005.0
Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne) 2076.5-2077.0 2069.0-2070.0 Nickel ($/tonne) 15260.0-15265.0 15335.0-15340.0
20025.0-20075.0 2280.0-2285.0 18770.0-18870.0
AP Moller-Maersk A Dn Kr AP Moller-Maersk B Dn Kr ABB Ltd S SF Air Liquide Fr ¤ Allianz G ¤ Anglo American UK p Anheuser-Busch InBev B ¤ ASML Holding Nl ¤ Assicurazioni Generali SpA AstraZeneca UK p Atlas Copco A Sw Kr Atlas Copco B Sw Kr AXA Fr ¤ Banco Santander Es ¤ BBVA Es ¤ Barclays UK p BASF G ¤ Bayer G ¤ BG Group UK p BHP Billiton UK p BMW G ¤ BNP Paribas Fr ¤ BP UK p British Am Tob UK p BT Group UK p Centrica UK p Christian Dior Fr ¤ CS Group S SF Daimler G ¤ Danone Fr ¤ Deutsche Bank G ¤ Deutsche Post AG Deutsche Telekom G ¤ Diageo UK p EON G ¤ EDF Fr ¤ Enel It ¤ ENI It ¤ Ericsson B Sw Kr EADS Fr ¤ GDF Suez Fr ¤ GlaxoSmKline UK p Glencre Xstrata Heineken NV Nl ¤ Henkel KGaA G ¤ Henkel KGaA Pref G ¤ Hennes & Mauritz Sw Kr Hermes Intl SCA Fr ¤ HSBC UK p Iberdrola Es ¤ Imperial Tobacco UK p Inditex Es ¤ ING Nl ¤ Intesa Sanpaolo It ¤ Linde G ¤ Lloyds Bkg Gp UK p L'Oreal Fr ¤ LVMH Fr ¤ Munich Re G ¤ Natl Grid UK p Nestle S SF Nordea Sw Kr Novartis S SF Novo Nordisk B Dn Kr Orange Pernod Ricard NV Fr ¤ Philips Elect Nl ¤ Prudential UK p Reckitt Benckiser UK p Repsol SA Richemont S SF Rio Tinto UK p Roche Hldgs S SF Rolls-Royce UK p Royal Bank Scot UK p Royal Dutch Shell A UK p Royal Dutch Shell B UK p SABMiller UK p Sanofi-Aventis Fr ¤ SAP G ¤ Schneider Electric Fr ¤ Siemens G ¤ Societe Generale SA Standard Chartered UK p StatoilHydro No Kr Swatch Gp BR S SF Swatch Gp Reg S SF Swiss Re AG S SF Syngenta S SF Telefonica Es ¤ Telenor No Kr TeliaSonera Sw Kr Tenaris SA It ¤ Tesco UK p Total Fr ¤ UBS AG S SF UniCredit It ¤ Unilever UK p Unilever NV Nl ¤ Vinci Fr ¤ Vivendi Fr ¤ Vodafone Group UK p Volkswagen G ¤ Volkswagen Prf G ¤ Volvo B Sw Kr Zurich Fin S SF
FTSE volumes Close
+/-
12mthhigh
12mthlow
Yield
P/E
12710.00 12990.00 21.45 95.67 131.20 1364.50 87.93 79.79 16.30 4597.00 212.70 193.80 18.26 6.65 8.51 234.15 69.96 111.85 1039.50 1676.00 83.33 48.67 442.15 3604.93 376.39 302.20 141.65 24.96 62.36 53.50 24.28 24.97 12.05 1824.08 13.42 22.98 3.82 16.41 87.25 48.24 18.63 1417.00 325.30 59.30 72.59 80.26 295.00 252.40 633.72 5.52 2801.06 21.63 11.37 2.21 145.70 76.27 126.70 133.90 154.00 919.00 70.30 90.95 88.65 260.20 12.37 90.73 22.22 1437.50 5191.46 17.36 84.10 3039.00 272.25 867.00 374.90 2230.50 2326.00 3513.63 72.97 53.60 61.75 88.03 36.18 946.10 152.50 453.40 82.85 79.65 303.70 11.81 149.40 50.95 15.00 184.82 46.53 16.48 5.50 2512.00 30.88 45.87 19.63 207.93 170.55 171.15 85.45 285.30
-60.00 -70.00 -0.11 -1.26 +4.55 +35.50 -0.48 -2.21 -0.07 +5.50 -1.10 -0.90 -0.07 -0.13 -0.16 -2.20 -0.91 -2.65 +14.00 +48.00 -1.05 -0.95 +6.25 +2.93 +4.99 -1.20 -0.05 -0.04 -0.61 -1.10 -0.40 -0.32 +0.02 -11.42 -0.25 +0.05 -0.11 -0.08 -1.45 -0.17 -0.23 +3.50 +6.30 -0.60 +0.18 -0.10 -1.00 +3.50 -1.98 -0.08 +7.06 -0.25 -0.14 -0.03 -0.60 -0.28 -0.65 -1.40 -1.80 +2.00 -0.35 -0.95 -1.10 -2.20 -0.21 -0.38 -0.41 +0.50 -33.54 -0.16 +3.60 +71.50 -2.75 -7.00 -5.80 +52.00 +55.00 +9.63 -0.63 -0.85 -1.36 -1.58 -0.89 -13.90 +2.70 +4.10 -0.30 +1.55 +4.40 -0.19 -1.00 -0.10 +0.21 +3.32 +0.02 -0.12 -0.19 -8.00 -0.19 -0.37 -0.13 +0.48 -2.85 -2.30 +0.40 -2.10
14660.00 15220.00 24.75 106.85 138.45 1648.00 89.15 15220.00 17.43 4823.50 212.70 212.70 20.50 7.89 9.93 296.50 87.36 113.65 1351.50 2096.00 95.51 60.85 523.90 3633.50 418.10 363.90 153.50 30.08 70.44 56.95 39.95 27.93 13.12 2030.00 15.31 29.73 4.46 20.40
11710.00 12140.00 19.16 89.68 117.00 1226.50 69.55 12140.00 14.79 3267.00 186.40 186.40 16.94 6.04 8.21 207.90 65.61 94.73 999.10 1610.50 77.41 45.45 416.70 2881.00 356.20 286.60 127.35 23.77 56.01 48.83 23.34 22.30 10.35 1709.50 12.56 21.56 3.02 15.86
1.62 2.20
20.98 21.44 21.29 19.59 9.58 299.36 20.44 25.83 16.53 91.33 21.83 19.89 8.61 14.60
55.91 21.09 1690.50 377.50 60.75 77.10 86.52 314.90 271.60 697.00 5.75 2822.00 119.90 11.95 2.61 157.30 86.30 130.00 146.25 166.45 926.00 71.70
0.00 16.17 1324.00 297.00 44.96 67.00 67.74 262.10 226.90 589.00 4.43 2182.00 19.89 8.95 1.65 144.60 70.94 115.20 122.50 143.00 746.00 63.10
90.15 284.00 12.81 92.09 28.10 1455.00 5495.00 20.88 94.35 3627.50 283.80 1289.00 388.00 2453.00 2592.00 3740.00 89.56 61.12 71.37 100.25 48.38 1508.50 194.80 107.90 600.50 83.70 364.30 12.85 150.00 52.60
67.80 230.50 8.55 79.36 20.98 1204.00 4537.00 16.33 75.20 2946.50 233.40 779.50 295.50 2013.50 2096.00 2661.00 69.40 50.90 54.73 82.34 34.39 936.00 146.00 75.80 429.50 71.05 283.50 10.87 129.60 45.81
368.00 54.52 19.10 6.85 2729.00 32.59 56.85 21.25 252.30 194.95 197.55 102.50 294.00
168.75 41.56 14.50 5.02 2306.00 27.16 41.41 17.35 184.50 150.70 150.25 72.70 241.50
2.72 3.10 3.63 1.89 0.65 2.26 3.80 2.61 2.86 4.53 7.62 0.74 2.78 3.84 1.87 1.77 4.10 3.10 3.07 3.98 2.65 5.63 1.68 1.83 3.59 2.77 2.16 3.27 3.10 2.69 4.57 5.56 2.78 5.48 3.47 1.59 8.23 5.65 2.97 1.30 1.27 1.15 3.28 1.09 4.76 2.22 4.19 1.49 1.85 1.58
3.18 13.02 25.43 19.99 11.06 9.43 18.69 15.23 23.30 16.48 67.96 8.94 29.05 14.45 23.64 19.70 11.84 10.86 11.39 20.52 20.04 16.54 19.73 24.65 11.06 12.23 24.76 31.66 12.24 16.48 38.85 28.29 222.61
2.34 2.66 4.38 0.80 3.73 2.90 2.54
20.72 231.82 25.48 19.57 7.59 13.91 23.30 12.37 22.75 26.63 20.64 23.24 30.06 17.25 19.91 18.02 18.02 15.62 21.55 7.17
5.26 4.90 1.77 3.82 1.37 3.79 3.48 2.82 5.20 3.58 1.09 1.83 4.91 3.35 5.13 4.88 4.16 1.49 8.00 5.46 1.50
14.20 14.80 27.93 23.79 19.59 18.20 15.04 12.48 9.30 10.24 13.38 12.23 7.80 19.18 11.97 32.73 15.90 15.41 17.48 10.72 18.12
3.47 3.35 3.94 5.21 9.26 1.75 1.74 3.54 6.03
17.45 16.81 9.97
2.02 2.37 3.60 4.45 2.01 4.34 2.95 1.24 6.61 1.88
4.95 6.94 6.96 31.04 11.54
3I Group AB Foods Aberdeen Asset Admiral Aggreko AMEC Anglo Amer Antofagasta ARM Hldgs AstraZeneca Aviva BAE SYS Babcock Barclays BG BHP Billiton BP Brt Am Tob Br Land BSkyB BT Group Bunzl Burberry Group Capita Group Carnival Centrica Coca Cola HBC Compass CRH Diageo EasyJet Experian Fresnillo Friends Life Gp G4S GKN GlaxoSmKline Glencre Xstrata Hammerson Hargreaves Lans HSBC IMI Imperial Tob InterCont Htls Intl Cons Air Intertek ITV Johnson Math Kingfisher Land Secs
1,754 842 2,826 1,802 952 1,808 4,371 2,621 3,993 2,264 4,611 5,367 2,111 29,447 6,622 12,259 30,465 2,496 3,539 3,391 16,481 577 1,111 2,693 1,017 9,236 487 2,656 2,254 4,829 2,171 3,980 1,668 4,728 7,464 3,676 7,334 30,981 1,572 1,147 20,535 915 1,946 466 19,393 546 7,764 481 5,449 2,343
(000s)
Legal & Gen 14,011 Lloyds Bkg Gp 129,036 London Stock Exch 812 Marks Spr 10,162 Meggitt 1,468 Mondi PLC 1,742 Morrison (W) 26,664 Natl Grid 5,121 Next 411 Old Mutual 11,570 Pearson 1,989 Petrofac 2,393 Persimmon 1,396 Prudential 2,980 Randgold Res 1,017 Reckitt Benck 1,740 Reed Elsevier 3,583 Rio Tinto 4,376 Rolls-Royce 4,567 Royal Mail 3,412 Ryl Bk Scot 14,405 Ryl Dtch Sh A 4,735 Ryl Dtch Sh B 3,626 RSA Ins 6,263 SABMiller 2,058 Sage Gp 6,024 Sainsbury 18,876 Schroders 502 Svrn Trent 396 Shire 2,012 Smith & Neph 2,474 Smiths 1,033 Sports Direct 1,458 SSE 1,929 Std Chartd 16,694 St. James's Place 1,965 Standard Life 4,918 Tate & Lyle 3,698 Tesco 44,768 Travis Perkins 680 TUI Travel 2,135 Tullow Oil 2,984 Unilever 2,393 Utd Utilities 1,480 Vedanta Res 516 Vodafone 88,725 Weir 706 William Hill 3,201 Whitbread 313 Wolseley 944 WPP 3,856
European money deposits % Currency 1mth Dollar 0.10 Sterling 0.51 Euro -0.15
3mth
6mth
12mth
0.15
0.23
0.48
0.56
0.69
1.01
-0.06
0.04
0.22
Gold/precious metals Bullion: Open $1140.40 Close $1167.46-1167.96 High $1171.07 Low $1131.87 AM $1145.00 PM $1154.50 Krugerrand $1155.00-1226.00 (£728.89-773.70) Platinum $1215.70 (£767.20) Silver $15.71 (£9.91) Palladium $776.00 (£489.71)
Dollar rates Australia Canada Denmark Euro Hong Kong Japan Malaysia Norway Singapore Sweden Switzerland
1.1592-1.1594 1.1354-1.1354 5.9843-5.9846 0.8046-0.8046 7.7522-7.7534 114.70-114.71 3.3328-3.3403 6.8284-6.8295 1.2917-1.2922 7.4201-7.4218 0.9683-0.9686
Other Sterling Argentina peso
13.479-13.490
Australia dollar
1.8363-1.8372
Bahrain dinar
0.5934-0.6011
Brazil real
4.0680-4.0838
Euro
1.2747-1.2750
Hong Kong dollar
12.282-12.284
India rupee
97.373-97.577
Indonesia rupiah
19178-19216
Kuwait dinar KD
0.4608-0.4634
Malaysia ringgit
5.1849-5.3889
New Zealand dollar
2.0483-2.0498
Money rates %
Singapore dollar
2.0464-2.0475
S Africa rand
17.849-17.877
Base Rates Clearing Banks 0.5 Finance House 1.0 ECB Refi 0.05 US Fed Fund 0-0.25
U A E dirham
5.8187-5.8251
Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.5
Exchange rates
Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.45; 3 mth 0.44. Sell: 1 mth 0.30; 3 mth 0.38 1 mth
2 mth
3 mth
6 mth
12 mth
0.5085
0.5296
0.5584
0.6938
1.0146
Clearer CDs
0.58-0.43
0.60-0.45
0.65-0.50
0.80-0.65
1.10-0.95
Depo CDs
0.58-0.43
0.60-0.45
0.65-0.50
0.80-0.65
1.10-0.95
Interbank Rates
Eurodollar Deps
0.10-0.20
0.13-0.23
0.26-0.36
0.35-0.44
0.64-0.74
Eurodollar CDs
0.15-0.08
0.18-0.12
0.22-0.15
0.36-0.21
0.52-0.38
Sterling spot and forward rates Mkt Rates for Copenhagen Euro Montreal New York Oslo Stockholm Tokyo Zurich
Range 9.4460-9.5190 1.2801-1.2740 1.7942-1.8125 1.5795-1.5857 10.816-10.882 11.556-11.790 181.48-182.72 1.5331-1.5416
Close 9.4809-9.4817 1.2749-1.2744 1.7983-1.7993 1.5842-1.5846 10.818-10.821 11.755-11.759 181.71-181.75 1.5341-1.5347
1 month 41ds 4pr 8pr 4ds 89pr 37ds 8ds 8ds Premium = pr
3 month 146ds 11pr 27pr 12ds 268pr 115ds 33ds 28ds Discount = ds
Australia $ Canada $ Denmark Kr Egypt Euro ¤ Hong Kong $ Hungary Indonesia Israel Shk Japan Yen New Zealand $ Norway Kr Poland Russia S Africa Rd Sweden Kr Switzerland Fr Turkey Lira USA $
Bank buys Bank sells 2.020 1.760 1.980 1.720 10.240 8.980 12.540 9.980 1.400 1.220 13.250 11.660 435.490 358.290 22219.100 17723.200 6.640 0.000 197.570 171.100 2.310 1.950 11.830 10.230 5.960 4.890 78.750 65.580 19.640 16.630 12.550 11.160 1.700 1.460 3.990 3.190 1.730 1.520
Rates for banknotes and traveller's cheques as traded by Royal Bank of Scotland plc yesterday
Data as shown is for information purposes only. No offer is made by Morningstar or this publication
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Register Obituaries
Sonia Rolt Campaigner for Britain’s industrial heritage who fell in love with canals during wartime service
A small advertisement in The Times in the early 1940s changed Sonia Rolt’s life for ever. On answering its call for women to work on the canals of Britain to take the place of men who had gone to fight in the Second World War, Rolt began a love affair with the canals and waterways that was to last a lifetime. Becoming one of the trainee boatwomen on the canals was far from the only notable feature in Rolt’s life. At various times she fought not just for the survival of the canals and waterways as a founder member of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), but also for the preservation of the architectural heritage of Britain — both industrial and residential — through her work with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (Spab). She helped to establish a heritage steam railway in west Wales and in later life was particularly concerned about the need to maintain and preserve ancient orchards. Other interests included furnishing houses and providing libraries for both the Landmark Trust and the National Trust. As Tim Rolt, the younger of her two sons and a writer and film-maker, put it: “The thread that united everything
Boatmen were sceptical that women could manage canal work
Rolt steers a narrow boat through a canal. She loved industrial cities
that she did was her enormous appetite for life and her great interest in other people which led her into all sorts of different areas. She valued things that were not necessarily being valued by others at the time.” Rolt was living in a flat in London with fellow aspiring actors when she saw the advert for women to work on the canals, a notion that was viewed by many men as ridiculous. Sceptical boatmen at first dubbed the volunteers the “Idle Women” because they wore an “IW” Inland Waterways badge on their overalls. However, many went on to become highly proficient at boat handling and worked on the canals and waterways throughout the remainder of the war. Their exploits were covered in Pathé newsreels, newspapers and even Life magazine which carried a large feature on them just before D-Day. At the time Rolt was already doing her bit for the war effort at the Hoover factory at Perivale in west London where she was employed installing electrical wiring in the cockpits of Lancaster bombers. She was good at it, too. So good in fact, that factory managers did not want her to leave. “They wouldn’t let me go so I had to have a fearful interview and there was the threat of prison [if I absconded],” she recalled. “Finally a psychiatrist person saw me from the Ministry of Transport and they said ‘this woman has a pioneering spirit and must be allowed to go her own way and do her own stuff’.” And go her own way she did. “It was extraordinarily surprising because I had not seen any canal as far as I know
at any time, anywhere, and when I applied for the job it was going to be a huge surprise — canals? What are they?” Rolt learnt her new trade fast, helping to take barges loaded with steel to Birmingham, then heading to Coventry to load coal and taking that down to north London, before setting out again. Along the way she fell in love with the canals and the people who worked on them and determined she would do all she could to preserve a way of life that was already under threat from road and rail freight transport. It was from the perspective of a canal boat’s stern that she came to love the industrial heritage of Britain’s great cities. “I think it was then that I began to look at buildings in a very serious way,” she said. “I looked at the modest ones, the working ones, and I saw beauty in them. Going into Birmingham, at the end of some dark, blackened channel, you’d see flaming red and men working with shovels. What I saw was highly industrial and totally alive.” Her love affair with the canals was best summed up by her “wonderful, but very short” first marriage to a canal boatman called George Smith who could neither read nor write. The pair stayed on the canals after the war as Rolt began campaigning for better conditions for those who worked on them. Later she married the industrial heritage pioneer Tom Rolt, whose 1944 book Narrow Boat is credited with inspiring the movement to save canals. Sonia Rolt (née South) was born in New York in 1919. Her mother, Kathleen, was from a doctor’s family in
Chris Bracey Barbados. Kathleen married a civil servant working in the Far East but had an affair with an engineer in Trinidad and Tobago. This led to her leaving for New York before returning to England with her new baby, Sonia. Rolt was educated in Farnborough, Hampshire while her mother worked as a school matron. She then trained as an actress at the London Theatre Studio in Islington. In 1939 she toured with the London Village Players before the war interrupted her career and she began work in Perivale. It is not clear when her marriage to Smith ended, but she met Tom Rolt in 1945 at the premiere of Painted Boats, a film set on the canals and went on to marry him. In addition to Tim they had another son, Richard, who runs his own design and engineering business. The pair were initially active in the campaign to save the canals and in setting up the IWA. In 1950, however, Tom fell out with the organisation and he and Sonia decamped to the seaside town of Tywyn, near Aberystwyth, where they helped to set up the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society. This was dedicated to ensuring the survival of what was then a decrepit narrow-gauge railway and it became the template for similar projects all over the world. “We worked the railway together,” Rolt recalled. “At one point I was the guard and I was pregnant to boot. He was the engineer and I was the clerk of all things.” With the railway’s future assured, Tom and Sonia moved back to his parent’s house at Stanley Pontlarge in Gloucestershire where Tom would write some 40 books under the name LTC Rolt, dying aged 64 in 1974. Sonia lived in the medieval Cotswold stone house for the remainder of her life, eventually becoming affectionately known by the locals as “Lady Pontlarge” or the “Potentate of Pontlarge.” She lived amid elegant chaos with a collection of furniture, none of which matched. But her taste appealed to others, not least Tom’s friend John Smith (later Sir John) who set up the Landmark Trust in the 1960s dedicated to the preservation of small but architecturally worthwhile buildings. The novel idea was to give these properties new life as holiday rentals. Smith asked Rolt if she would look after the furnishing of the houses and she did so for more than 20 years, later taking on a similar role for the National Trust. It was when she needed to do repair work on the roof of the house at Stanley Pontlarge that she first came into contact with Spab which helped secure funding for the project. She went on to become an active committee member. In 2011 Rolt was appointed OBE for services to heritage. She was thrilled and not a little perplexed to be honoured and on meeting the Queen at Windsor exclaimed: “I simply don’t know why I have been given this.” The Queen is said to have replied: “Perhaps you should think about it.” Rolt then replied in turn: “It could be because I live in an old house.” The Queen was having none of that: “I live in one of those too,” she said. Sonia Rolt, OBE, champion of Britain’s canals and architectural heritage, was born on April 1, 1919. She died on October 22, 2014, aged 95
Exuberant neon artist whose spectacular designs The neon lighting designer Chris Bracey singlehandedly turned the entrances of Soho’s sex shops and clubs from monochrome to kitsch multicolour in the late 1970s. By the end of his life, he was a world-famous neon artist whose handcrafted designs have featured in many big budget Hollywood films, catwalk shows for designers such as Vivienne Westwood and highly acclaimed exhibitions. Bracey’s designs, drawing on tattoo culture, Fifties Americana, pop culture slogans and rock’n’roll iconography, have been collected by Damien Hirst, Jude Law, Lady Gaga, Richard Curtis, Ray Winstone, Tim Burton and Harry Styles among others. The neon journey had an unlikely beginning in the Rhondda Valley during the Second World War. His father Dick was working in the coalmines as a Bevin Boy. Dick’s two brothers, also Bevin Boys, were killed when a shaft collapsed, and Dick’s mother wrote to Winston Churchill to ask if her remaining son could be withdrawn from the mines. A letter came back from Downing Street saying that Dick would be transferred to the navy to train as an electrician. He duly survived, moved to London after the war, and used his newfound skills to start a business making neon lights for amusement arcades, circuses and travelling fairs. Chris Bracey was born in Walthamstow in 1954 and trained as a graphic designer after leaving school. He had ambitions to be an artist, but his father persuaded him to join the struggling family business by telling him that neon signs were art. Having married his wife Linda, who survives him, when they were both 16, Chris Bracey already had a young family to support. His father had designed the original alluring lighting sign of a dancing chorus girl at Raymond’s Revue Bar in 1958. Chris set out to save the struggling business amid Soho’s sex industry. He approached all the owners of the strip bars, peep shows and sex shops and offered to design neon entry signs for them — whether it was a row of dancing girls or simply the word Sex, Girls or Peepshow in big neon letters. Bracey offered his services at a point
Bracey with some of his creations at
Enid Bruce
Wren and cipher officer who was responsible for the emergency disposal of codebooks Enid Bruce was a cipher officer who worked on one of the fastest troopships outrunning German U-boats across the Atlantic in the Second World War. She encoded messages to be sent from ship to shore and decoded those coming back. Under constant threat of attack from U-boats, the converted liner the Queen Elizabeth took wounded American soldiers back to New York from the port of Greenock, and then returned with replacement troops and other supplies. She carried more than 750,000 troops and sailed 500,000 miles. One of Bruce’s responsibilities — which she
knew would almost certainly result in her death — was, in the event of the ship being hit and starting to sink, to take the codebooks to the top of the ship’s bridge and fling them into the sea. She was just 5ft tall and slight of build. The codebooks were lined with lead to ensure they would go straight to the bottom of the sea. Luckily it never came to this. She knew that carrying out this order would have been almost impossible because of the weight of the codebooks — they were probably heavier than she was. Enid Lilian Brown was born in 1919 in Newcastle upon Tyne to parents
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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changed the face of Soho in the 1970s and who was commissioned by celebrities including Kate Moss and Sir Elton John
his workshop in Walthamstow last year. Friends said that his success was a source of bemusement to him
Bruce worked on one of the fastest troopships, the Queen Elizabeth
from Berwick-upon-Tweed on the north-east coast of Northumberland. When the Second World War broke out she was working as a dental nurse in Newcastle and decided to join the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the Wrens). She trained in Newcastle, Greenwich, and Greenock, just outside Glasgow. In between her Atlantic missions she spent time on naval work in New York, Washington and Philadelphia, where she marvelled at the contrast between the wartime England she knew. Instead of food shortages, air raids, the blackout and general deprivation she discovered the illuminated Manhattan skyline and exuberant life of New York. She danced to the music of Louis Armstrong and could be found dining with handsome naval officers at the Zanzibar. Her best friend was also a cipher officer on a sister liner and when Bruce was at Greenock she often went to stay
with Kathleen at her parents’ house in Glasgow. Her father was editor of the Glasgow Herald. In 1945, when staying with them, she met Charlie Bruce, Kathleen’s brother, back for the first time in eight years on leave from Burma where he had worked before the war. He was fighting for the Chindits, a special force battling with the Japanese behind enemy lines — he once occupied a village with six Burma riflemen and had a year earlier been tasked with obtaining 800 mules by Orde Wingate. He had a Military Cross and bar to his name. He was only back for a short leave and two days after they met decided that he would ask her to marry him. She was already sailing back to New York so he wired her. She accepted and in a flurry of transatlantic cables she was eventually granted compassionate leave to come back to England so they could marry. Her cable to her mother
when the strip club and pornography magnate Paul Raymond had a vision of transforming the narrow streets and alleyways west of Charing Cross Road into a lurid Moulin Rouge-style fantasy world. “I did 99 per cent of every sex establishment in Soho for 20 years,” said Bracey. “For me, it was an artistic endeavour.” On one occasion, he was putting some neon up in one of Raymond’s establishments when an angry stranger entered demanding an unpaid bill and punched Raymond to the floor. It was a case of mistaken identity and while the dazed Raymond was picking himself up and dusting down his fur coat, Bracey explained to the assailant that he had just knocked Soho’s most powerful man to the ground. “What should I do?” the alarmed man asked. “Leave town for a few weeks,” suggested Bracey. On another occasion he took his motherin-law with him as he toured Soho establishments to collect his payments; on returning from a proprietor’s office he found her whooping with laughter over a cocktail with some strippers. From then on, his mother-in-law often asked him: “When are we going to go back and see those nice girls?” Known as the “neon man”, Bracey went on to provide backdrops for several Hollywood films. His signs, blurred in pouring rain in a futuristic night-time cityscape, were a key part of the aesthetic for Blade Runner; Bracey re-created Greenwich Village at night for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and even evoked the seedy Soho club entrances, which he had originally helped to create, for the film Mona Lisa. Most of these backdrops found a permanent home at Bracey’s warehouse in Walthamstow, east London, which he called “God’s Own Junkyard”. He kept much of his work because he loved it so much and described the array of signage as “what the inside of my brain looks like”. There was one innocent painting of a sheep that looked out of place, which he was once asked about by a friend. “Oh yeah. Tim Burton came in the other day and he said, ‘Chris, what I’m looking for is a really bad painting of a sheep with neon on it’.” Bracey’s neighbour, the artist Grayson Perry, would often pop round to the read: “Getting married. Stop. Do things for me. Stop. See you soon. Love, Enid.” She was flown back in a seaplane, with, somewhat incongruously, the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Just a few days later she and Charlie were married in Newcastle and after a brief wartime honeymoon in London he went back to Burma, not returning until several months after the war in the East eventually ended. He had suffered severe head injuries in an accident up country and was brought down the river to Rangoon in a canoe. By sheer coincidence a prominent neurosurgeon was passing through Rangoon at the time and his life was saved. Charlie, who took up a management career in the bakery industry, died in 1994 but she is survived by their son Robert, a journalist, and their daughter Sally, a linguist. Tempered by her experience, she was
warehouse for a “cuppa”. His wife and business partner, Linda, survives him along with their three sons. Marcus and Matthew worked with their father on installations. Linda said: “Chris has passed the neon baton to his sons; watch this space.” His other son, Max, runs a Viking memorabilia shop. Bracey’s profile grew considerably in recent years, especially after he opened a pop-up neon lighting shop called Circus of Soho. Despite his growing fame, he remained an unpretentious eastender with a love of fish and chips and an off-beat sense of humour. He was slightly bemused by his success. Famous friends dropped by and mixed with Bracey’s fans, whom he called his “neon groupies”. People remembered the pop-up shop as having the atmosphere of an “East End knees-up”. Last year, when the V&A staged an exhibition of David Bowie’s costumes, Bracey designed a motif of the jagged face make-up of Bowie’s alter ego, Alladin Sane, above the entrance. Sadly, the design had to be removed after fears that it might fall on a hapless visitor. He described his craft of bending Venetian glass and filling it with neon gas as like “working with liquid fire” and at times he would work through the night to finish a commission. Critical acclaim came his way last year after an exhibition of his work, I’ve Looked up to Heaven and Been Down to Hell at the Soho gallery Scream. An exhibition of his work is planned in New York next year. Bracey recently carried out a £100,000 commission at the home of Kate Moss and for Sir Elton John he designed the name of his son, Zachary, inside a neon strawberry. His enormous “Destination Christmas” sign was recently erected above the entrance of Selfridges on Oxford Street. As demand for his services grew, his health worsened. After his death was announced, a posthumous tweet appeared on his account: “Chris ’ere, just wanna let you know I am actually in God’s Own Junk Yard and let me tell you it’s bleedin’ amazing up ’ere.” Chris Bracey, neon lighting designer, was born on December 25, 1954. He died of prostate cancer on November 2, 2014, aged 59
alwayswonderfully kind and devoted her married life to bringing up her family. Enid Bruce, wartime Wren, was born on June 24, 1919. She died on October 2, 2014, aged 95
Sir John Bradfield Owing to a captioning error by a photographic agency the picture we published with our obituary of Sir John Bradfield (Nov 7) was in fact of Stephen Bragg, also of Cambridge University. We apologise for this error and print a photograph of Sir John, above.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Register Births, Marriages and Deaths
thetimes.co.uk/advertise
Archaeology
Mystery of the tiles with Nero’s stamp Norman Hammond
Nero has had a bad press: he is said to have killed two wives, perhaps his mother as well, and to have been responsible for Rome’s destruction by fire in AD64; and all before he committed suicide at the age of 30. This has not prevented scholars from trying to revise his reputation, as Robert Draper noted in a recent National Geographic article on “Rethinking Nero”. In the Domus Aurea he created one of Rome’s greatest palaces. A much less impressive Neronian-period building has been found at Silchester, near Basingstoke. Marble fragments attest a lavish structure, but the key evidence consists of pottery tiles stamped with Nero’s name. Their text — “Ner(o) Cl(audius) Cae(sar) Aug(ustus) Ger(manicus)” arranged on a stamp pressed into the clay before firing — is unequivocal: but what is striking about them is that such tiles have been found nowhere other than Silchester. Where these fragments came from is not certain, but a good
candidate is the large building uncovered late this summer. Professor Michael Fulford, director of the Silchester Town Life Project, surmises that it may have been built for a British leader in the generation after the Roman conquest: the building may never have been completed, possibly because it was part of a Neronian development erased after his death. “Nero suffered a damnatio memoriae — an expunging of his name from all public monuments — so inscriptions and other remains are uncommon”, Professor Fulford said. He also raises the question of whether, given that this mansion was built on Calleva’s newly laid-out street grid, the plan was itself part of Nero’s plans for the town. He thinks that it might have been to reward a local ruler – perhaps Cogidubnus — for support against Boudicca in AD 6061. More investigations are planned for next summer, when the “mystery of the tiles” may be resolved. National Geographic Vol.226 No.3: 82-110. Silchester Town Life Project Reports, University of Reading.
Court Circular
Buckingham Palace 7th November, 2014 Mrs Stephen Kelsey was received by The Queen this afternoon at Windsor Castle upon relinquishing her appointment as Deputy Archivist, Royal Archives, when Her Majesty invested her with the Insignia of a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order. The Duke of Edinburgh this morning visited Air Accidents Investigation Branch, Farnborough House, Berkshire Copse Road, Aldershot, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire (Mr Nigel Atkinson). The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were represented by Admiral Sir James Perowne (Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle) at the Funeral of Major General Sir Peter Downward (formerly Governor of the Military Knights of Windsor) which was held in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, this afternoon. The Duke of York was represented by Lieutenant General Peter Pearson. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were represented by Major General Sir Michael Hobbs. Kensington Palace 7th November, 2014 The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Henry of Wales this morning attended the Royal Charities Forum at Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace 7th November, 2014 The Duke of York today chaired a judging panel for the CBBC Absolute Genius Competition at Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness, Fellow, this afternoon held a Lunch for University Research Fellows of the Royal Society. Buckingham Palace 7th November, 2014 The Earl of Wessex, Trustee, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, this morning attended a Reception to recognise the Volunteers who help the Award and for young people who have achieved the Gold Standard in the Award
at King’s Park, Perth, Western Australia. His Royal Highness, Trustee, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, this afternoon attended a Lunch at Fraser’s Restaurant, King’s Park. The Earl of Wessex afterwards attended a Ceremony at the State War Memorial, King’s Park, and laid a wreath. His Royal Highness later departed from Perth International Airport for the United Kingdom. The Countess of Wessex this morning opened Hopewood Park, Waterworks Road, Ryhope, Sunderland, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear (Sir Nigel Sherlock). Her Royal Highness afterwards visited Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade to mark their One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary at the Watch House, Spanish Battery, North Shields, Tyne and Wear. The Countess of Wessex this afternoon visited Newcastle Toy and Leisure Library, Hadrian School, Bertram Crescent, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, to mark their Fortieth Anniversary. Buckingham Palace 7th November, 2014 The Princess Royal this morning presented Awards to young people who have achieved the Gold Standard in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at the Residence in Washington DC, United States of America. Her Royal Highness, President, Save the Children UK, later visited the United States offices of Save the Children, 2000 L Street NW, Washington DC. Kensington Palace 7th November, 2014 The Duke of Gloucester this afternoon attended a Luncheon given by the Ambassador from the Republic of Korea (His Excellency Mr Sungnam Lim) at the Residence in London. His Royal Highness, Patron, the London Chorus, this evening attended the “Lest We Forget” Concert at the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, 2 Cutty Sark Gardens, London SE10. Thatched House Lodge Richmond Park 7th November, 2014 Princess Alexandra, formerly Chancellor, University of Lancaster, was represented by Mrs Marion McClintock (Honorary Archivist) at the Memorial Service for Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw (formerly Deputy Pro-Chancellor), which was held in Manchester Cathedral this morning.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Television & Radio
Today’s television BBC ONE
6.00am Breakfast 9.15 Saturday Kitchen Live 10.45 The Lord Mayor’s Show 2014 12.10pm BBC News; Weather 12.20 Football Focus 1.10 Rugby League: Four Nations Highlights 2.00 Live International Rugby Union: Wales v Australia (Kick-off 2.30) 4.30 Final Score 5.20 BBC News; Regional News; Weather 5.40 Pointless Celebrities Winter Special 6.30 Strictly Come Dancing 8.00 Doctor Who 9.00 The National Lottery Live 9.10 Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance 2014 10.45 BBC News; Weather 11.00 Match of the Day 12.20am The Football League Show 1.00 FILM: Steal (2002) Crime thriller 2.25-6.00 BBC News
BBC TWO
6.00am Animal Park 6.30 Live Rugby League: Four Nations — New Zealand v England (Kick-off 7.00) 9.20 The Indestructible Warship, Tanzania: World War 1, Beyond the Trenches 9.25 The Private Life of Plants 10.15 Map Man 10.45 James Martin: Home Comforts 11.15 Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure 12.15pm Astaire and Rogers Sing George and Ira Gershwin 12.30 FILM: That’s Entertainment! III (1994) 2.20 FILM: Easter Parade (1948) 4.00 Flog It! 5.00 Live International Rugby Union: Scotland v Argentina (Kick-off 5.30) 7.30 Dad’s Army 8.00 The Great War: An Elegy — A Culture Show Special 9.00 Formula 1: The Brazilian Grand Prix — Qualifying 10.30 QI XL 11.15 TOTP2 12.15am FILM: Walkabout (1971) 1.50-3.25 FILM: Harlequin (1980)
12.00 The Simpsons 12.30pm Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD 1.30 Live Channel 4 Racing. From Doncaster and Wincanton 4.00 Come Dine with Me 6.35 Channel 4 News 7.05 Speed with Guy Martin 8.00 Walking Through History: Norman Conquest of Pembrokeshire 9.00 FILM: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) 11.25 FILM: On the Road (2012) 2.00am Hollyoaks 4.05 Location, Location, Location 5.00 Win It Cook It 5.30 Kirstie’s Handmade Treasures 5.50-6.45 NFL: The American Football Show
Sky1
6.00am Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year-Old? 7.00 Glee 8.00 The Fantasy Football Club 9.00 The F1 Show 10.00 Soccer AM 12.00 WWE Superstars 1.00pm The Judge Special 1.30 The Maze Runner Special 2.00 The Middle 3.00 Live Formula 1: 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix — Qualifying (Start-time 4.00) 5.45 Senna: Echoes of the Past 6.00 Portrait Artist of the Year 2014 7.00 NCIS: Los Angeles 8.00 Hawaii Five-0 9.00 FILM: X-Men (2000) 11.00 Night Cops 12.00 Costa Del Street Crime 1.00am Hawaii Five-0 2.00 Starlings 4.00-6.00 Nothing to Declare
BBC World
6.05am NFL: Rush Zone 6.30 The Grid 7.00 Outrun the Sun 8.00 The Morning Line 9.00 Weekend Kitchen 10.00 Frasier 10.30 Everybody Loves Raymond 11.00 The Big Bang Theory
6.00am BBC World News 6.30 Click 7.00 BBC World News 7.10 Reporters 7.30 HARDtalk 8.00 BBC World News 8.10 Football Focus 8.30 Horizons 9.00 BBC World News 9.10 World Debate 10.00 BBC World News 10.10 Africa Business Report 10.30 Newsnight 11.00 BBC World News 11.10 UK Reporters 11.30 World War One Beyond the Trenches 12.00 BBC World News 12.30pm Talking Television 1.00 BBC World News 1.15 Sport Today 1.30 Travel Show 2.00 BBC World News 2.30 Dateline London 3.00 BBC World News 3.10 Reporters 3.30 Cybercrimes With Ben Hammersley 4.00 BBC World News 4.10 Our World 5.00 BBC World News 5.30 Final Score 6.00 BBC World News 6.10 Africa Business Report 6.30 Travel Show 7.00 BBC World News 7.15 Sport Today 7.30 Click 8.00 BBC World News 8.10 World Debate 9.00 BBC World News 9.30 Dateline London 10.00 BBC World News 10.10 Our World 11.00 BBC World News 11.10 UK Reporters 11.30 India Business Report 12.00 BBC World News 12.10am Africa Business Report 12.30 Talking Television 1.00 BBC World News 1.30 Dateline London 2.00 BBC World News 2.10 World Debate 3.00 BBC World News 3.30 Newsnight 4.00 BBC World News 4.30 Click 5.00 BBC World News 5.30-6.00 India Business Report
Radio 4
BBC World Service
ITV London
6.00am CITV 9.25 ITV News 9.30 The Hungry Sailors 10.25 Murder, She Wrote 11.20 ITV News; Weather 11.25 Storage Hoarders 12.30pm Surprise Surprise 1.30 All Star Family Fortunes 2.15 Doc Martin 3.20 Keep It in the Family 4.20 FILM: Evan Almighty (2007) 6.05 Regional News 6.15 ITV News; Weather 6.30 New You’ve Been Framed! 7.00 The Chase: Celebrity Special 8.00 The X Factor 9.45 The Jonathan Ross Show. With Frank Skinner and Natalie Dormer 10.45 ITV News; Weather 11.05 FILM: The Kingdom (2007) Thriller starring Jamie Foxx 1.10am Jackpot247 3.00 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 3.40-6.00 ITV Nightscreen
Channel 4
Today’s radio
5.30am News 5.43 Prayer for the Day 5.45 iPM 6.07 Open Country (r) 6.30 Farming Today This Week 7.00 Today 8.51 (LW) Yesterday in Parliament 9.00 Saturday Live 10.30 The Frequency of Laughter: A History of Radio Comedy 11.00 The Week in Westminster 11.30 From Our Own Correspondent 12.00 News 12.01pm (LW) Shipping 12.04 Money Box 12.30 The News Quiz (r) 1.00 News 1.10 Any Questions? (r) 2.00 Any Answers? 2.30 Saturday Drama: The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the War 3.30 The Yes, No, Don’t Know Show (r) 4.00 Weekend Woman’s Hour 5.00 Saturday PM 5.30 The Bottom Line (r) 5.54 Shipping 6.00 News 6.15 Loose Ends 7.00 Profile 7.15 Saturday Review 8.00 Archive on 4: The Mersey Militants 9.00 Classic Serial: The Searchers. Alan Le May’s classic novel (r) 10.15 The Moral Maze (r) 11.00 Counterpoint (r) 11.30 Night Fishing (r) 12.30am Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to Europe (r) 12.48 Shipping 1.00 As BBC World Service 5.20-5.30 Shipping
5.00am The Newsroom 5.30 The World This Week 6.00 Weekend 8.30 In the Balance 9.00 News 9.06 The History Hour 10.00 Sports Hour 11.00 News 11.06 The Newsroom 11.30 Trending 11.50 Over to You 12.00 News 12.06pm The Arts Hour 1.00 Newshour 2.00 The Newsroom 2.30 The Why Factor 2.50 More or Less 3.00 News 3.06 Sportsworld 4.00 News 4.06 Sportsworld 5.00 News 5.06 Sportsworld 6.00 The Newsroom 6.30 In the Balance 7.00 News 7.06 The War That Changed the World 8.00 News 8.06 Outlook Arts 9.00 Newshour. The stories behind the latest headlines 10.00 News 10.06 The History Hour 11.00 The Newsroom 11.20 Sports News 11.30 The Why Factor 11.50 Over to You 12.00 News 12.06am The Newsroom 12.30 Heart and Soul 1.00 News 1.06 From Our Own Correspondent 1.30 Global Business 2.00 News 2.06 The History Hour 3.00 News 3.06 The Newsroom 3.30 In the Balance 4.00 The Newsroom 4.20 Sports News 4.30 Trending 4.50-5.00 More or Less
Tomorrow’s television Sky Sports 1
6.00am Football League Gold 6.30 Ringside 7.30 Barclays Premier League Preview 8.00 The Fantasy Football Club 9.00 Game Changers 10.00 Soccer AM 12.00 Live FL72: Derby County v Wolverhampton Wanderers (Kick-off 12.15) 2.30pm Football Freestyler 3.00 Sporting Rivalries 3.30 Ringside 4.30 When Johnny Met Bellew 4.45 Live Ford Saturday Night Football: Queens Park Rangers v Manchester City (Kick-off 5.30) 8.00 SNF: Game of the Day. A full re-run of the day’s top Premier League match 10.00 SNF: Match Choice 11.30 Football Freestyler 12.00 Ringside 1.00am SNF: Match Choice 2.30 Top 14 Rugby Union 5.00-6.00 International Rugby Union
Sky Sports 2
6.00am Sporting Rivalries 6.30 Top 14 Rugby Union 9.00 International Rugby Union 12.00 The White Tornadoes: New Zealand v England: 1973 12.30pm The Rugby Club 1.30 Live International Rugby Union: England v New Zealand (Kick-off 2.30) 5.00 Live International Rugby Union: Ireland v South Africa (Kick-off 5.30) 7.30 Live Top 14 Rugby Union: Bordeaux Begles v Toulouse (Kick-off 7.45) 10.00 International Rugby Union 12.00 English Roses 1.00am Sporting Heroes: Gary Newbon Interviews Joel Garner 2.00 Time of Our Lives 3.00 Premiership Years 5.00-6.00 Darts Gold. Four editions
BBC ONE
6.00am Breakfast 7.35 Match of the Day 9.00 The Andrew Marr Show 10.25 Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph 12.25pm Sunday Politics 1.40 BBC News 1.55 FA Cup Final Score 4.20 Songs of Praise 5.00 Life Story 6.00 BBC News; Regional News; Weather 6.30 Countryfile 7.45 Strictly Come Dancing: The Results 8.30 Formula 1: The Brazilian Grand Prix 10.00 BBC News; Regional News; Weather 10.30 Match of the Day 2 11.50 The Apprentice 12.50am FILM: Lymelife (2008) Drama starring Rory Culkin 2.25-6.00 BBC News
BBC TWO
6.05am Life in a Cottage Garden with Carol Klein 6.35 Great British Garden Revival 7.35 Countryfile 8.35 World War One, Beyond the Trenches 9.00 The Football League Show 9.40 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites 11.10 Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure 12.10pm The A to Z of TV Cooking 12.15 MOTD2 Extra 1.00 International Rugby Union 2.00 Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals. Kei Nishikori v Andy Murray 5.00 Flog It! Trade Secrets 5.30 Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph 6.30 Match of the Day: FA Cup Highlights 8.00 The Mekong River with Sue Perkins 9.00 Police Under Pressure 10.00 Rugby League: Four Nations Highlights 11.00 Russell Howard’s Good News 11.30 FILM: Alpha Dog (2006) Fact-based crime drama starring Emile Hirsch 1.20am Sign Zone: Countryfile 2.20-3.15 Holby City
5.00 Channel 4 News 5.30 Live American Football at Wembley: Jacksonville Jaguars v Dallas Cowboys (Kick-off 6.00) 8.00 Speed with Guy Martin 9.00 Homeland 10.05 FILM: Contraband (2012) Crime thriller starring Mark Wahlberg 12.15am Alan Carr: Chatty Man 1.10 Live American Football: Green Bay Packers v Chicago Bears (Kick-off 1.30) 4.45 The Grid 5.15 Kirstie’s Vintage Gems 5.35-6.20 Countdown
Sky1
6.00am Hour of Power 7.00 Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year-Old? 8.00 Glee 9.00 Inside Gatwick 10.00 WWE Superstars 11.00 WWE: Experience 12.00 Ashley Banjo’s Secret Street Crew 1.00pm The Middle 2.00 All Aboard: East Coast Trains 4.00 Futurama 4.30 The Simpsons 6.30 Futurama 7.00 The Flash 8.00 Modern Family 8.30 Trollied 9.00 Hawaii Five-0 10.00 NCIS: Los Angeles 11.00 Trollied 11.30 Road Wars 12.00 Big Trouble in Thailand 1.00am Costa Del Street Crime 2.30 Spy 3.00 The Kumars 4.00-6.00 Nothing to Declare
BBC World
7.30am FIA European Rally Championship 8.00 World Superbikes 9.00 TT Classic 10.00 Tennis: Fed Cup 12.00 Live Tennis: Fed Cup. Czech Republic v Germany 4.00pm Figure Skating 8.00 Tennis: Fed Cup 10.00 Tennis: Mats Point 10.30 FIA European Rally Championship 11.00 World Superbikes 12.30am-1.00 FIA European Rally Championship
6.45am How I Met Your Mother 7.35 FIM Superbike World Championship 8.00 Everybody Loves Raymond 8.30 Frasier 9.00 Jamie’s Comfort Food 9.30 Sunday Brunch 12.35pm George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces 1.35 The Big Bang Theory 2.30 The Simpsons 3.00 FILM: Addams Family Values (1993) Comedy
6.00am BBC World News 6.30 The Travel Show 7.00 BBC World News 7.10 Reporters 7.30 Talking Television 8.00 BBC World News 8.10 UK Reporters 8.30 Dateline London 9.00 BBC World News 9.10 Reporters 9.30 Cybercrimes With Ben Hammersley 10.00 BBC World News 10.10 Our World 11.00 BBC World News 11.10 UK Reporters 11.30 Newsnight 12.00 BBC World News 12.30pm Talking Business with Linda Yueh 1.00 BBC World News 1.15 Sport Today 1.30 Click 2.00 BBC World News 2.30 Horizons 3.00 BBC World News 3.10 The World Debate 4.00 BBC World News 4.30 India Business Report 5.00 BBC World News 5.30 World War One Beyond the Trenches 6.00 BBC World News 6.10 Reporters 6.30 Talking Business with Linda Yueh 7.00 BBC World News 7.15 Sport Today 7.30 Talking Television 8.00 BBC World News 8.10 UK Reporters 8.30 Cybercrimes With Ben Hammersley 9.00 BBC World News 9.30 Horizons 10.00 BBC World News 10.30 World War One Beyond the Trenches 11.00 Newsday 11.30 Asia Business Report 11.45 Sport Today 12.00 Newsday 12.30am Asia Business Report 12.45 Sport Today 1.00 Newsday 1.30 Asia Business Report 1.45 Sport Today 2.00 BBC World News 2.30 Asia Business Report 2.45 Sport Today 3.00 BBC World News 3.30 Asia Business Report 3.45 Sport Today 4.00 BBC World News 4.30 Extra Time
Radio 3
Radio 4
BBC World Service
Sky Sports 3
6.00am Tight Lines 7.00 One-Day International Cricket 8.00 Time of Our Lives 9.00 Sporting Heroes: Gary Newbon Interviews Phil Taylor 10.00 WWE: Smackdown 12.00 WWE: Bottom Line 1.00pm Live Grand Slam of Darts. The afternoon session on day one at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall 5.00 Darts Gold 6.00 Ringside 7.00 Live Grand Slam of Darts. The evening session on day one at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall 11.00 Darts Gold 12.30am Sporting Rivalries 1.00 V8 Supercars 2.00 Snow Unleashed 3.00 Time of Our Lives 5.00-6.00 Sporting Heroes: Gary Newbon Interviews Phil Taylor
British Eurosport
7.00am Breakfast. With Victoria Meakin 9.00 News 9.03 CD Review. Martin Cotton recommends a recording of Stravinsky’s Petrushka 12.15pm Music Matters. With the pianist Nelson Freire 1.00 News 1.02 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert. Concerto Copenhagen performs music by Rameau and Telemann 2.00 Saturday Classics. Trevor Cox presents works reflecting his love of music and science (r) 4.00 Sound of Cinema. Film music inspired by notions of time, space and travel 5.00 Jazz Record Requests. Music by Art Pepper, Harry “Sweets” Edison and Weather Report 6.00 Jazz Line-Up. Concert music by the saxophonist Robert Fowler and his Gerry Mulligan tribute band 7.30 Live Radio 3 in Concert. The BBC Philharmonic performs music by Elgar, Nielsen and Walton 10.00 Hear and Now. A focus on Bavarian Radio’s contemporary concert series Musica Viva 12.00 Geoffrey Smith’s Jazz. Recordings by Billie Holiday (r) 1.00am-7.00 Through the Night. Schubert (r)
ITV London
6.00am CITV 9.25 Dickinson’s Real Deal 10.25 Murder, She Wrote 11.25 ITV News; Weather 11.35 FILM: Carry On Screaming (1966) 1.25pm All Star Family Fortunes 2.15 The Unforgettable Les Dawson 2.45 The X Factor 4.30 Downton Abbey 5.35 Tipping Point: Lucky Stars 6.30 Regional News 6.45 ITV News; Weather 7.00 Keep It in the Family 8.00 The X Factor Results 9.00 Downton Abbey 10.30 ITV News; Weather 10.45 Broadmoor 11.45 LV= Cup Rugby Union 12.40am The Store 2.30 Motorsport UK 3.20 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 4.05 ITV Nightscreen 5.05-6.00 The Jeremy Kyle Show
Channel 4
Tomorrow’s radio 5.30am News 5.43 Bells 5.45 Profile (r) 6.00 News 6.05 Something Understood 6.35 Living World 7.00 News 7.07 Papers 7.10 Sunday 7.55 Appeal 8.00 News 8.07 Papers 8.10 Worship 8.50 A Point of View (r) 8.58 Tweet (r) 9.00 News 9.10 Papers 9.15 Archers 10.30 Ceremony of Remembrance 11.45 Singing with the Nightingales (r) 12.00 News 12.01pm (LW) Shipping 12.04 Museum of Curiosity (r) 12.30 Food 1.00 World This Weekend 1.30 Hardeep’s Sunday Lunch 2.00 Gardeners’ Question Time (r) 2.45 Listening Project (r) 3.00 Serial 4.00 Open Book 4.30 Coming Home 5.00 File on 4 (r) 5.40 Profile (r) 5.54 Shipping 6.00 News 6.15 Pick of the Week 7.00 Archers 7.15 Write Stuff 7.45 Grounded 8.00 Feedback (r) 8.30 Last Word (r) 9.00 Money Box (r) 9.26 Appeal (r) 9.30 Analysis (r) 10.00 Westminster Hour 11.00 Film Programme (r) 11.30 Something Understood (r) 12.15am Thinking Allowed (r) 12.45 Bells (r) 12.48 Shipping 1.00 As World Service 5.20-5.30 Shipping
5.00am The Newsroom 5.30 The Why Factor 5.50 Sporting Witness 6.00 Weekend 8.30 Outlook 9.00 News 9.06 From Our Own Correspondent 9.30 Heart and Soul 10.00 News 10.06 The Newsroom 10.30 The Ceremony of Remembrance from the Cenotaph 11.21 Newsroom 11.30 Healthcheck 12.06pm Why Factor 1.00 Newshour 2.00 War That Changed the World 3.00 News 3.06 Newsroom 3.30 Boston Calling 4.00 News 4.06 Sportsworld 5.00 News 5.06 Sportsworld 6.00 News 6.06 Sportsworld 7.00 News 7.06 Newsroom 7.30 Heart and Soul 8.00 News 8.06 Documentary 9.00 Newshour 10.00 News 10.06 From Our Own Correspondent 10.30 Boston Calling 11.00 Newsroom 11.20 Sports News 11.30 Trending 11.50 More or Less 12.00 Newsroom 12.30am The Food Chain 1.00 News 1.06 World Business Report 1.30 Outlook 2.00 Newsroom 2.30 Conversation 3.00 News 3.06 Forum 3.50 Over to You 4.00 Newsday 4.30-5.00 Food Chain
5.00 BBC World News 5.30 World Business Report 5.45-6.00 BBC World News. International news
Sky Sports 1
6.00am SNF: Match Choice 7.30 Football League Gold 8.00 Football Gold 8.30 Rise as One 9.00 The Sunday Supplement 10.30 Goals on Sunday 12.30pm Live Ford Super Sunday: West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle United (Kick-off 1.30) 3.30 Live Ford Super Sunday: Swansea City v Arsenal (Kick-off 4.00) 6.30 Strachan: Making Scotland Believe 7.00 Live Grand Slam of Darts. The evening session on day two 11.00 SPFL Highlights 11.30 Strachan: Making Scotland Believe 12.00 Darts Gold 1.00am Grand Slam of Darts 5.00 SPFL Highlights 5.30-6.00 Darts Gold
Sky Sports 2
6.00am Cricket Classics 6.15 Best of ICC WT20 6.45 One-Day International Cricket 7.45 Live One-Day International Cricket: India v Sri Lanka 4.00pm Sachin Tendulkar: National Hero 4.30 Best of ICC WT20 5.00 Live NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars v Dallas Cowboys (Kick-off 6.00) 9.00 Live NFL: Seattle Seahawks v New York Giants (Kick-off 9.25) 12.30am Top 14 Rugby Union Highlights 1.00 One-Day International Cricket 2.00 Time of Our Lives 3.00 Premiership Years 5.00-6.00 Goals on Sunday
Sky Sports 3
6.00am Sporting Greats 6.30 International Rugby Union 8.30 Live International T20 Cricket. Australia v South Africa 12.30pm Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals. Kei Nishikori v Andy Murray 4.00 WWE: Experience 5.00 WWE Slam City 5.30 Sporting Rivalries 6.00 Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals. Roger Federer v Milos Raonic 10.00 One-Day International Cricket 11.00 WWE: Late Night — Superstars 12.00 WWE: Late Night — Afterburn 1.00am This Week in WWE 1.30 WWE: Late Night Vintage 2.30 WWE Slam City 3.00 International Rugby Union 5.00-6.00 Sporting Greats
British Eurosport
7.30am FIA European Rally Championship 8.00 Trail Running: Outrun the Sun 9.00 Figure Skating 10.00 Tennis: Fed Cup 12.00 Live Tennis: Fed Cup. Czech Republic v Germany 3.45pm Show Jumping 5.00 Figure Skating 7.00 Tennis: Fed Cup 8.30 World Superbikes 10.00 Motorsports Weekend 10.15 Motorsport: Goodwood Revival 11.15 FIA European Rally Championship 11.45 FIA World Endurance Championship 12.15am-12.30 Motorsports Weekend. Highlights
Radio 3
7.00am Breakfast. With Victoria Meakin 9.00 News 9.03 Sunday Morning with Rob Cowan. Music “in the olden style” by Busoni, Martinu, Reger and Kreisler 12.00 Private Passions. 1.00pm News 1.02 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (r) 2.00 The Early Music Show 3.00 Choral Evensong. A 1974 programme from Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (r) 4.00 The Choir. Sara Mohr-Pietsch explores Poulenc’s choral cantata Figure Humaine 5.30 Words and Music. Poetry and music for Remembrance Sunday 6.45 Sunday Feature: God and the Great War. Exploring the impact of the First World War on religion 7.30 Live Radio 3 in Concert. The soprano Elizabeth Watts and the English Concert perform arias by Alessandro Scarlatti 10.00 Drama on 3: A Soldier and a Maker. Iain Burnside’s play about the poet and composer Ivor Gurney (r) 11.30 Music in the Great War. Works for voice, violin and piano by Somervell, Butterworth and Elgar 12.30am-6.30 Through the Night
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Sport
Murray homes in on return to top table ANDREW COWIE / COLORSPORT
Tennis
who’s who at the o2
It has been a long road to London for Andy Murray, but the British No 1 arrives at the O2 arena this weekend among the favourites for the title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and with a genuine chance of regaining his place among the Big Four in the game. It took Murray a long time to break into that elite group and, for all the talk of changing faces, dislodging the top dogs is not so easy. Murray’s campaign starts tomorrow afternoon against Kei Nishikori, of Japan, one of three players who has qualified for the event for the first time, along with Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic. In a lot of ways, it has been a big breakthrough year for many, with Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka breaking the Big Four stranglehold of the grandslam tournaments. Despite that, the top three at the end of this year will have a familiar look, filled by the names of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Murray, granted a good week in London, is potentially on for fourth spot. “There definitely has been a change, but it has not been as drastic as people were making out at certain periods in the year,” Murray said. “The younger guys are making big improvements, but regardless of how much the younger guys improved, [in Djokovic, Federer and Nadal] you are talking about some of the best players who have ever played the game. It is not going to be that easy to knock them off.” With Nadal missing from London after appendix surgery, the only two members of the field who have made it to the event’s final are Djokovic and Federer. Murray, who has seen his ranking rise from No 12 to No 6 with a six-week schedule in which he played back-to-back tournaments and won titles in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia, is a live contender, provided that his recent exploits have not taken too much out of him. “I don’t know exactly where I am [fitness-wise],” Murray said. “It is always hard to judge until you are on the match court. This week in practice I have been OK. The practice is hard — you are practising against the best players in the world. “You could say I played my way into form in an unusual way, but winning matches is how you play yourself into form and winning matches is what I really needed to do at this stage of the year. It was unusual that I played quite so many tournaments, but the way you gain confidence is by winning matches.” He has had a week off since losing to Djokovic in Paris, so arrives refreshed,
Novak Djokovic
Ron Lewis
Age: 27. Serbia. World ranking: 1. Grand-slam tournament wins: 7. Career titles: 47. Career earnings: $67,678,908. World Tour Finals best: wins 3 (2008, 2012, 2013).
On an incredible 27-match winning streak indoors, stretching back to 2012. Won the Paris Masters last week without losing a set.
Roger Federer
33. Switzerland. World ranking: 2. Grand-slam tournament wins: 17. Career titles: 82. Career earnings: $86,166,538. World Tour Finals best: wins 6 (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011).
Won in Shanghai and Basle in recent weeks and still has hopes of returning to No 1 ranking.
Stanislas Wawrinka
29. Switzerland. World ranking: 4. Grand-slam tournament wins: 1. Career titles: 7. Career earnings: $13,155,060. World Tour Finals best: semi-finals (2013).
Broke the big four stranglehold of grand-slam events by winning the Australian Open, but form has tailed off since Wimbledon.
Kei Nishikori
24. Japan. World ranking: 5. Grand-slam tournament wins: 0. Career titles: 7. Career earnings: $7,561,263. World Tours Finals debut.
Beat Djokovic in US Open semi-final and has won four titles this season, including in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo over the past two months.
Andy Murray
27. Great Britain. World ranking: 6 Grand-slam tournament wins: 2. Career titles: 32. Career earnings: $33,450,085. World Tour Finals best: semi-finals (2008, 2010, 2012).
Hauled himself back into the world’s top eight with a heavy schedule in recent weeks that brought him wins in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia.
Tomas Berdych
29. Czech Republic. World ranking: 7. Grand-slam tournament wins: 0. Career titles: 10. Career earnings: $18,227,555. World Tour Finals best: semi-finals (2011).
Won twice indoors this season, Rotterdam in February and Stockholm last month, but form has been up and down.
London stage: Murray practises at the O2 arena before his opening match of the tournament against Nishikori tomorrow
but knows that he is in form, having got back to winning ways after a 14-month spell without winning a tournament after Wimbledon last year. Defeating Federer or Djokovic, whom he has not beaten since back surgery a year ago, would be the next barrier to cross. “I was getting asked earlier in the year if I would ever beat somebody in the top 15, then the top 12, top 10, top 8 — this is the last little step,” he said. “Maybe it is a big step. But I have won against those players in the past and the more time I spend on court with them this year, the better for me for next year. Whether I win against one of them this
week or not, I will give it my best shot. But I still believe I can win against them and that is half the battle. “I will try to finish in the top four if I can but a few weeks ago it was, ‘Wooah, he’s outside the top ten! Will he make London?’ I will try to finish in the top four — I would love to be there. Normally with most things in my career, things have happened quite gradually and quite slowly, so I am not expecting to finish in the top four, but if I do, it will be a very good effort after the last few weeks.” Tomorrow’s match is also the first time that Murray will have played in
England since he tweeted his support for the “yes” campaign in the Scottish independence referendum. In the past, crowds at the O2 have backed Federer against him, but he says he does not fear a negative reaction. “I haven’t had an adverse reaction, but the crowd has always given me very good support when I have played here and when I have played at Wimbledon and Queen’s throughout my whole career,” he said. “I hope this week that is the same, but if not I will do my job and give my best effort regardless. Hopefully I will win back some fans this week.”
Milos Raonic
23. Canada. World ranking: 8. Grand-slam tournament wins: 0. Career titles: 6. Career earnings: $6,416,464. World Tour Finals debut
Earned his place with impressive run to the final in Paris last week, which included a victory over Federer.
Marin Cilic
26. Croatia. World ranking: 9. Grand-slam tournament wins: 1. Career titles: 13. Career earnings: $10,949,754. World Tour Finals debut
US Open champion will come in fresh after deciding to skip Paris, having won in Moscow the week before. Words by Ron Lewis
Hopkins aims to outgun Kovalev in Boardwalk empire-building Boxing
Ron Lewis Boxing Correspondent
No one would criticise Bernard Hopkins for going quietly into the sunset with a couple of easy paydays, but at an age when most boxers would have been retired for more than a decade, Hopkins continues to pursue the toughest challenges available. Hopkins turns 50 in January and is the oldest world champion in history. Not content with being WBA and IBF light-heavyweight champion, though, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City tonight, the American faces Sergey Kovalev, trying to add the WBO title to his collection. Last week the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Rumble in the
Jungle, when Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title from George Foreman against the odds at 32. Times have changed, careers go on longer, but Hopkins is a freak of nature. He could hardly have picked a more fearsome opponent. Kovalev, from Russia, is one of the world’s hardest punchers, with a long streak of knockout wins, most notably when he battered Nathan Cleverly to defeat in four rounds in Cardiff last year. Hopkins has overcome the odds before, against Felix Trinidad in 2001 and Kelly Pavlik in 2008, finding a way to win when seemingly outgunned. However, Kovalev, 31, looks different, a man who seems capable of knocking out an opponent with every punch. Hopkins has usually found a way to get
the win and has seldom been bothered by the need to make it exciting, but at some point it seems likely that Kovalev will land. Hopkins is not sure what will happen then. “If he can punch like everybody says he can punch, there might not be a second chance,” he said. “But I don’t go in there thinking that. I go in there thinking that I’ve got a game plan, and whatever gun he has I’m not going to run from the gun. I’m going to disarm him. “That’s the game plan that’s not even a secret. It’s Pulling no punches: Hopkins is “not going to run from the gun”
just common sense to me. Whatever he has, I’ve done many, man y times. He’s a human, I’m not, I will disarm him and now let’s fight fight, let’s see your skills. I’ve been watching this guy, I know everything about him. I want to know my enemy. I want to know how he thinks. I want to know how he sleeps. I want to know what he’s uncomfortable with.” The American has changed over the years. For most of his career, Hopkins was “The Executioner”, a brooding figure who entered the ring in an executioner’s mask. Now he calls himself “The Alien”, a nod to his
seeming superhuman anti-ageing powers, which he puts down to a career of clean living. There is no doubt that his place in the sport’s history is assured, regardless of whether he wins tonight. He first won a version of the world middleweight title in 1995 and held it for over a decade. “What motivates me now is every 40 and up person out there, whatever job they have that they are afraid that this young intern is coming to take it,” Hopkins said. “They can relate to that, then they will root for me and I’m representing them. So, black, white, Chinese, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, it doesn’t make any difference. They will look at the age and they will say ‘rumble, old man, rumble’. And I will make them proud when I’m done on November 8.”
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Tales are well told by Tendulkar PUNIT PARANJPE/REUTERS
Richard Hobson Deputy Cricket Correspondent
A book by a once-great batsman is causing ructions. Headlines are being written because of disparaging comments towards a former coach. The story has been stoked by others joining the debate. Familiar, perhaps, but the similarities between Sachin Tendulkar and Kevin Pietersen can end there. If Tendulkar has caused controversy in India, it is not of his own volition. For one thing, he does not need to set a record straight. His career ended with the celebration of a 200th Test appearance in his home city — having requested the venue — rather than a sacking. He has no scores to settle, no particular love of the limelight. Yesterday marked the English launch of his autobiography, Playing It My Way. Interest back home has focused on his relationship with Greg Chappell, the coach in the mid-noughties who, according to Tendulkar, wanted him to replace Rahul Dravid as the captain in 2007. Chappell has denied this, but the question has broadened to embrace the whole of Chappell’s prickly tenure. As with Pietersen, opinions are polarised. The rest of the so-called Famous Four — Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly — have had their say. There are not many Chappell fans in India. To great surprise, the question did not arise yesterday, when Tendulkar defended inquiries over most topics with the equivalent of a high left elbow. “I have not tried to create controversy intentionally,” he said. “Some statements have made headlines, but the idea was not to do that.” He said that he had not read Pietersen’s book, so could not comment. Nor could he assess the dispute between the respective boards of India and West Indies. Not sufficiently au fait with all of the issues. As Paul Simon sang in The Boxer, he sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest. There is reference to a disagreement with Dravid stemming from a Test match against Pakistan in Multan in 2004. Dravid, brave man, declared with Tendulkar on 194 not out. The relationship was strained, for a while, though the pair continued to chisel out runs. The Wall and the Little Master have been alongside each other at events this week. “Certain things should stay in the dressing room,” Tendulkar said. “I have written about a couple of experiences. There are disagreements in the team in any team sport. It is impossible to have all 11 players thinking the same. Ultimately our goal is to win matches, which we did.” There is a difference between a book
Joe Root believes that England’s batsmen must take the greatest share of blame for the team’s recent struggles in one-day cricket and have to find a way of regularly posting 300 to convert quiet optimism into something more tangible at the World Cup next year. Although Root scored 113 in the most recent one-day international, against India in September, that game at Headingley was a rare example in recent times of England’s batting strategy coming to fruition, with a member of the top four playing a big innings. “We have not made big enough totals and that has put our bowlers under pressure when we defend them,” he said. “You have got to score over 300
Carter falls to defeat amid great emotion Snooker Ali Carter suffered defeat on an emotional return to competitive snooker — but knows that coming through his cancer battle has left him a winner (Hector Nunns writes). Carter, 35, lost 4-0 to Neil Robertson, the world No 2, in the Champion of Champions tournament at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. It was the first significant event for Carter, the world No 15, below, since taking six months out and undergoing treatment for lung cancer. “It was disappointing to lose like that but there is more to life, and I will be there for the UK Championship later this month,” he said. “I have been to hell and back these last six months and people can see me out there and think ‘he’s done it and is still out there playing at the top level’.” Carter’s head was in such a spin yesterday that he left his playing clothes at home and a friend had to bring his suit up from Essex. Robertson, 32, made two centuries and admitted that he had dealt with the emotion surrounding the match by redoubling his focus and efforts. 6 World Snooker has announced that the World Open in 2015 has been cancelled. It will look for a new venue for the event that was staged in Haikou, China, in 2012, 2013 and this year.
Playing his shots: Tendulkar’s book may not rival Pietersen’s for explosive impact but is revealing on his life in the spotlight
little master’s big read
150,000 36,000 486 5 Record hardback pre-order sales in India
Approximate number of sales of Kevin Pietersen’s book here to date
Pages, statistics included. Steve Waugh’s autobiography ran to 801
Years in the writing
being interesting and controversial. The author has given a good insight into what it is like to be Sachin Tendulkar — comical sometimes, such as the moment a false beard slips in a cinema when he is courting Anjali, his future wife. More often the adulation reaches a stifling level that few can imagine. Best of all, there are times when he is Everyman, such as when he tries (and fails, just) to complete the Harry Ramsden Challenge of devouring huge portions at the fish and chip restaurant in Guiseley. Being Tendulkar, he was given a certificate of achievement anyway. Elsewhere, he shares his trick of overloading a Pizza Hut salad bowl with clever positioning of the lettuce. He does like his food. The book is selling at Harry Potter levels. It broke records in India with 150,000 pre-order sales, comfortably outstripping previous demand for Dan Brown novels and the Steve Jobs
autobiography. By comparison, Pietersen shifted just under 20,000 in his first week here, itself a huge number for a cricket book. Tendulkar apologised for not tipping England to reach the World Cup semifinals, but suggested that India players would benefit, as he did, from playing county cricket. He criticised Indian spectators who booed Moeen Ali at Edgbaston. “Really unfair,” he said. “People should not engage in those activities.” He looked weary after flying overnight from a football match in Kochi involving the Kerala Blasters, the franchise that he co-owns. “India has the potential to make football as big as anywhere,” he said, “but it will take a mega-effort in all directions. There is nothing better than if you score a goal and the whole world appreciates your talent.” Appreciation is something he knows about.
Root admits England batsmen fail far too often Richard Hobson
Sport
generally now to be competitive. We know that, and we are going to have to work really hard over the winter.” He also acknowledged that the side “has not got the powerplay overs quite right”. England spent three days at Loughborough this week working on plans for the series in Sri Lanka and beyond, with a giant marquee erected on the grounds to allow outdoor practice. Root insists that there is no single-method-fits-all for the batsmen. “There are plenty of ways to go about it,” he said. “The big thing is that everyone knows how they are able to score at roughly a run a ball, whether that is by taking the boundary options or making sure you manipulate the bowling and rotate the strike very frequently. You
Winter target: Root says England will revise tactics before touring Sri Lanka
play to your strengths. It is trying to make sure you have the skills to score at the rate you want, with the least risk possible. Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, they take it one way. Alastair Cook or myself might find another way, but we all know that if we all play to our potential we are very capable.” Stuart Broad has been given clearance to step up training after checks this week by the surgeon who operated on his troublesome right knee in September. Broad is due to resume bowling soon and will join the Performance Programme in South Africa next month. 6 Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, sponsors Test cricket in England. Visit investec.co.uk/cricket or follow @InvestecCricket
McDowell stays ahead Golf Graeme McDowell
maintained his brilliant form at Sheshan International to remain in command at the halfway stage of the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai. McDowell had a second successive 67 to lie ten under par, three shots ahead of Ian Poulter, his Ryder Cup team-mate, who also went round in 67. The 35-year-old Northern Irishman returned five birdies and no bogeys and has now played his past 11 rounds at the venue in 49 under par, after finishing third in 2011 and again 12 months ago.
Robson signs new deal Cricket Sam Robson, 25, the
England batsman, has signed a contract with Middlesex that will keep him with the county until the end of 2016 at least. The announcement comes before a key winter for Robson, who will head off to South Africa with the England Lions knowing that his place at the top of the England order is under threat. 6 Somerset have announced that Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan spinner, will make his return to Taunton for the whole of next season as their overseas player.
Inside today
Jessica Ennis-Hill raring to go again after taking time off for motherhood News, pages 28-29
78
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
FGM
Sport Racing
Manhattan Swing can find winning rhythm Rob Wright
Manhattan Swing, a mud-loving Irish import who has run well on both starts since joining the Brian Ellison yard in September, can win the Betfred November Handicap (3.35) at Doncaster today. He showed progressive form in his native country, putting up his best Flat effort for Dermot Weld when a halflength second to Edge Of Sanity on his only previous try over a mile and a half at Leopardstown in May. Both first and second subsequently joined Ellison, with Edge Of Sanity
winning off a 13lb higher mark at York in August. Manhattan Swing is only 3lb higher in the weights than he was there, but has since shown smart form over hurdles. A wide draw is no concern this afternoon, as the past five times that this race has been run on testing ground the winner has been drawn 14 or higher. Back on the level, Manhattan Swing remains unexposedand, with the ground to suit, he rates value at 16-1 with Ladbrokes.
Doncaster
16
Sirius Prospect is another who will relish the conditions and he should be backed at 20-1 with Ladbrokes to take the Betfred Supporting Jack Berry House Handicap (1.50). This gelding seems to come alive at this time of year — he has won three of his five starts in November in previous years — and should be forgiven failing to last home over a mile on bad ground at Ascot last time. Lady Tiana is taken to
(6) 362631 WITHERNSEA 14 (CD,S) R Fahey 3-8-6
Irving has strong claims P Hanagan
107
Rob Wright
11-2 Levitate, 6-1 Withernsea, 7-1 Jamaican Bolt, 10-1 Accession, Dream Walker, 11-1 Athletic, Lulu The Zulu, 12-1 Roachdale House, 16-1 Farlow, King Torus, Sirius Prospect, 20-1 others.
12.10 Regal Missile 2.25 Spinatrix 12.40 Mobsta 3.00 Lady Tiana (nb) 1.15 Anonymous John 3.35 Manhattan Swing 1.50 Sirius Prospect (nap) 4.05 Melvin The Grate Going: soft Draw: no advantage Tote Jackpot meeting At The Races
2.25
Rob Wright’s choice: Sirius Prospect has won two of his six starts here and can prove too classy for this field Dangers: Roachdale House, Withernsea
12.10
Betfred Mobile Cock O'The North EBF Maiden Stakes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
AGENT GIBBS A Carroll 9-5 BAPAK ASMARA 18 K A Ryan 9-5 FRANGARRY A Bailey 9-5 GLORIOUS DANCER 19 E Walker 9-5 INVECTUS HERO D Shaw 9-5 KYLLACH ME 4 B Smart 9-5 REGAL MISSILE 19 M Walford 9-5 STAKE ACCLAIM 43 D Ivory 9-5 DAZZLING DISPLAY 4 Richard Guest 9-0 OUTLAW KATE 12 M Mullineaux 9-0 RACING ANGEL J J Quinn 9-0 SACRED BOND R Fahey 9-0 WHAT COULD SHE BE B Smart 9-0 WISTERIA D Griffiths 9-0
(Div I: 2-Y-O: £5,175: 6f) (14 runners) (13) (8) (12) (11) (6) (3) (14) (9) (7) (4) (5) (2) (1) (10)
65 0 60 02 02 0 5
-17 ---12 54 v57 -19 -----
Luke Morris J P Spencer L Keniry A Fresu D Swift J Fanning J Hart R Winston J Butterfield (3) R Tart P Makin P Hanagan P Mulrennan L Jones
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
(4) (7) (8) (10) (6) (2) (12) (9) (1) (11) (5) (13) (3)
1-2100 021042 004211 500003 530001 000005 132001 -10130 142210 421015 024540 465105 262211
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
(6) (3) (2) (4) (1) (5) (13) (11) (9) (7) (12) (10) (8)
Betfred Mobile Cock O'The North EBF Maiden Stakes (Div II: 2-Y-O: £5,175: 6f) (13) BEARDWOOD R Fahey 9-5 0 BEN MUIR 17 S C Williams 9-5 BEST BOY D Griffiths 9-5 56 CAPTAIN FUTURE 21 B Smart 9-5 COOPER K A Ryan 9-5 0 FOREST MISSILE 29 J Wainwright 9-5 GERRARD'S SLIP B Smart 9-5 4 GREEN TORNADO 15 R Beckett 9-5 2 MOBSTA 15 M Channon 9-5 30 MONSIEUR VALENTINE 9 A Carroll 9-5 3 THAHAB 15 (BF) R Hannon 9-5 F GO GRAZEON 21 J J Quinn 9-0 0 ISNTSHESOMETHING 15 Richard Guest 9-0
P Hanagan S Drowne A Elliott P Mulrennan T Eaves R Da Silva A Carter (5) R Kingscote C Bishop W A Carson L Dettori P Makin J Butterfield (3)
1 2 3 4 5 6
(4) (5) (3) (2) (1) (6)
421103 0333 243321 645210 40262 50562
Betfred "Racing's Biggest Supporter" Nursery Handicap (2-Y-O: £5,175: 6f) (6) JOHNNY B GOODE 8 (D,S) R Fahey 9-7 HARBOUR PATROL 33 R Hannon 9-6 ANONYMOUS JOHN 19 (S) P D Evans 9-3 STRAIGHTOTHEPOINT 23 (V,D,G) B Smart 9-2 CROSSE FIRE 4 (P) S Dixon 8-13 GRANOLA 11 D Brown 8-0
P Hanagan Doubtful D Probert P Mulrennan Luke Morris J Sullivan
---12 ---33 v61 -56 -13
60 59 58 v61 29 57
7-4 Johnny B Goode, 3-1 Anonymous John, 4-1 Straightothepoint, 5-1 Crosse Fire, 7-1 Granola.
1.50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
(14) (12) (7) (10) (5) (8) (13) (3) (16) (2) (9) (15) (1) (4) (11)
620440 042333 122021 000600 313353431 312326 000554 522-66 020501 414161 010410 654050 065100 404030
Betfred Supporting C4 Jack Berry House Handicap (£12,938: 7f) (16) SIRIUS PROSPECT 21 (CD,F,G,S) D Ivory 6-9-10 R Winston MAGIC CITY 77 (D,F,G,S) R Hannon 5-9-6 Doubtful LULU THE ZULU 14 (CD,G,S) M Appleby 6-9-4 R Tate (3) HAWKEYETHENOO 21 (D,F,G,S) J Goldie 8-9-3 G Lee VOICE OF A LEADER 421 (D,G) P Chapple-Hyam 3-9-2 J Crowley JAMAICAN BOLT 15 (C,S) G Oldroyd 6-9-1 W Buick ATHLETIC 9 (V,D,F,G,S) A Reid 5-9-1 Jenny Powell (5) LEVITATE 21 (V,CD,F,S) J J Quinn 6-9-1 M Harley MODERN TUTOR 25 (F,S) A Balding 5-8-12 D Probert DREAM WALKER 7 (T,D,S) B Ellison 5-8-11 D Swift ACCESSION 42 (D,F,S) C Fellowes 5-8-11 Martin Lane DOC HAY 14 (H,C,D,G,S) D O'Meara 7-8-11 D Tudhope KING TORUS 42 (CD,F,G,S) D O'Meara 6-8-8 Sam James ROACHDALE HOUSE 84 (CD,S) R Fahey 3-8-8 T Hamilton FARLOW 21 (B,C,D,F,G,S) R Fahey 6-8-7 J Garritty (5)
Doubtful R Winston J Fortune G Lee Doubtful J Crowley L Dettori G Gibbons A Atzeni T E Durcan P Hanagan A Morgan C Beasley
107 118 110 120 90 105 111 113 97 108 102 106 v123
Wright choice: Spinatrix was only third in this a year ago but looked better than ever when winning at York Dangers: Jack Dexter, Aetna
3.00
Betfred TV EBF Stallions Breeding Winners Gillies Fillies' Stakes
C4
(Listed: £26,048: 1m 2f 60y) (11)
13-8 Mobsta, Thahab, 9-1 Beardwood, 11-1 Green Tornado, 12-1 Cooper, 16-1 Gerrard's Slip, 20-1 Go Grazeon, 25-1 Forest Missile, 33-1 Captain Future, 40-1 Best Boy, 50-1 others.
1.15
MUSICAL COMEDY 35 (D,G,S) R Hannon 3-9-6 TROPICS 21 (H,D,F,G,S) D Ivory 6-9-6 DUNGANNON 14 (B,CD,F,G,S) A Balding 7-9-3 JACK DEXTER 21 (CD,S) J Goldie 5-9-3 KINGLAMI 26 (P,D,F,S) B Gubby 5-9-3 LANCELOT DU LAC 14 (D,G,S) D Ivory 4-9-3 INYORDREAMS 35 (CD,G,S) J Given 3-9-1 AETNA 28 (C,D,BF,G,S) M W Easterby 4-8-12 CORDIAL 44 (D,F,G) S C Williams 3-8-12 KATAWI (H,CD,F,S) C Wall 3-8-12 LINKS DRIVE LADY 9 (D,F,G,S) D Ivory 6-8-12 PEARL BLUE 29 (C,D,S) C Wall 6-8-12 SPINATRIX 28 (P,D,G,S) M Dods 6-8-12
5-2 Jack Dexter, 7-2 Spinatrix, 4-1 Tropics, 8-1 Dungannon,10-1 Aetna, 14-1 Inyourdreams, Lancelot Du Lac, 20-1 Katawi, 25-1 Pearl Blue, 50-1 Cordial, Links Drive Lady.
5-2 Stake Acclaim, 11-4 Regal Missile, 4-1 Bapak Asmara, 10-1 Sacred Bond, 14-1 others.
12.40
Betfred "Goals Galore" C4 Wentworth Stakes (Listed: £26,166: 6f) (13)
106 107 106 v110 97 106 109 106 91 106 105 107 102 107 105
1 (6) -60150 AUDACIA 22 (D,S) H Palmer 4-9-5 2 (1) 6220-4 LA BANDERILLA 28 (S) J Gosden 4-9-2 3 (3) -23024 PRINCESS LOULOU (H,BF,S) R Varian 4-9-2 4 (11) 301220 RASKOVA 52 (D,F,G) W Jarvis 4-9-2 5 (9) 224210 TOAST OF THE TOWN 28 (P) J Gosden 4-9-2 6 (7) 53-301 ACCLIO 4 (S) C Brittain 3-8-12 7 (2) 1400 KALLISHA 28 (P,D,S) R Beckett 3-8-12 8 (5) 124021 LADY TIANA 24 (D,G,S) Mrs L Wadham 3-8-12 9 (10) 3-1210 MELROSE ABBEY 58 (D,S) R Beckett 3-8-12 10 (8) -41134 MERRY ME 41 (BF,S) A Balding 3-8-12 11 (4) 105410 PLACIDIA 28 (D,G) D Lanigan 3-8-12
D Tudhope W Buick A Atzeni J Fanning R Havlin R Winston G Gibbons G Lee R Hughes J Crowley P J Smullen
104 107 v115 107 102 92 78 104 100 96 95
6-4 Princess Loulou, 5-1 Lady Tiana, 6-1 La Banderilla, 10-1 Audacia, 12-1 Toast Of The Town, Melrose Abbey, 14-1 Merry Me, Raskova, 16-1 Kallisha, 20-1 Placidia, 50-1 Acclio.
Wright choice: Lady Tiana relished similar conditions at Nottingham and can handle this higher grade Dangers: Princess Loulou, Toast Of The Town
3.35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
(6) (16) (14) (11) (13) (10) (7) (19) (20) (12) (4) (22) (5) (23) (9) (21) (18) (15) (1) (2) (17) (3) (8)
Betfred November Handicap
C4
ENNISTOWN 14 (D,BF,F,G,S) C Appleby 4-9-10 W Buick FIRST MOHICAN 141 (P,S) A King 6-9-10 L Steward (3) RHOMBUS 28 (D,G,S) I Mohammed 4-9-6 M Harley DASHING STAR 14 (D,F,S) D Elsworth 4-9-6 J P Spencer MOUNT LOGAN 56 (CD,G) L Cumani 3-9-5 A Atzeni SIR WALTER SCOTT 42 (B) L Cumani 4-9-5 R Hughes ODEON 36 (F) J Given 3-9-3 G Lee MANHATTAN SWING 28J (G) B Ellison 4-9-1 D Swift ESTEAMING 29 (D,BF,G,S) T D Barron 4-9-1 G Gibbons PLUTOCRACY 21 (P,D,BF,F,G) D Lanigan 4-9-0 P J Smullen TREASURE THE RIDGE 35 (B,D,F,S) A Reid 5-9-0 D Brock (3) COMMUNICATOR 28 (D,F,G) A Balding 6-9-0 D Probert FARQUHAR 28 (D,G,S) P Chapple-Hyam 3-8-13 Luke Morris ARDLUI 15 (B,D,G,S) T Easterby 6-8-13 D Allan LATENIGHTREQUEST 14 (CD,F,G,S) R Fahey 3-8-12 P Hanagan ARAMIST 29 (D,BF,G,S) G A Swinbank 4-8-12 R Winston OPEN EAGLE 4 (D,G,S) D O'Meara 5-8-12 D Tudhope HEADLINE NEWS 8 (D,F,S) Rae Guest 5-8-11 J Garritty (5) OLD TOWN BOY 29 (D,G,S) P McBride 3-8-11 J Crowley EURYSTHEUS 8 (P,F,G,S) M Appleby 5-8-10 Alistair Rawlinson (5) ONE PEKAN 75 (G,S) R Varian 4-8-10 F Tylicki DARK RULER 19 (C,S) G A Swinbank 5-8-10 J Fanning KINGS BAYONET 29 (D,F,G,S) A King 7-8-9 Hayley Turner
105 v107 104 105 104 103 102 102 105 103 103 106 102 106 103 104 106 104 103 104 101 103 105
(£43,575: 1m 4f) (23)
0-4016 5-0300 334110 454452 0-1331 2-6006 140434 162-42 156254 112-60 111164 333030 516401 -00553 601001 501033 005141 042341 101201 416401 -52221 205331 151040
8-1 Mount Logan, 10-1 First Mohican, Old Town Boy, 12-1 Open Eagle, 14-1 Dashing Star, Esteaming, Farquhar, Latenightrequest, Plutocracy, Headline News, 16-1 Aramist, Manhattan Swing, 20-1 Communicator, Odeon, One Pekan, 22-1 Ardlui, Dark Ruler, 25-1 others.
Wright choice: Manhattan Swing has been in good form over hurdles and will relish the testing conditions Dangers: Communicator, Aramist
4.05 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
(13) (6) (11) (12) (18) (2) (17) (21) (20) (14) (10) (1) (15) (5) (19) (7) (4) (8) (3) (9) (22) (16)
land in the Betfred TV EBF Stallions Breeding Winners Gillies Stakes (3.00). She has improved markedly since being stepped up in trip,. There is a good jumps card at Wincanton, where Just A Par can land the Badger Ales Trophy (2.40). Paul Nicholls, his trainer, has saddled four winners of this prize in the past ten years and his powerful stable is hitting its stride, with eight winners from its past 22 runners. Just A Par made a good start over fences last term, winning in grade two company at Newbury, but then struggled at the highest level on his final
Betfred Handicap (£16,172: 7f) (22) 123531 110046 026100 003004 6-1400 215250 352014 012231 011412 110400 200066 3P0503 645021 064351 420020 331634 -20661 012150 212235 161026 165004 540000
2.05 93 93 96 91 v98 95 96 94 94 86 93 94 96 95 97 94 94 85 96 94 94 91
MAGGIE PINK 7 (D,G) M Appleby 5-9-10 Alistair Rawlinson (5) GREEN HOWARD 14 (D,G,S) R Bastiman 6-9-8 N Farley OUR BOY JACK 12 (D,F,G,S) R Fahey 5-9-6 G Chaloner PASTORAL PLAYER 7 (D,F,G) H Morrison 7-9-6 D A Parkes (5) MUSIC IN THE RAIN 12 (D,G,S) D O'Meara 6-9-6 Sam James KIWI BAY 35 (D,F,G,S) M Dods 9-9-4 C Beasley SHOURANOUR 29 (P,S) D O'Meara 4-9-3 Josh Doyle (7) EVANESCENT 11 (D,F,G,S) J J Quinn 5-9-3 Joe Doyle (3) COMINO 11 (D,BF,G,S) K A Ryan 3-9-3 S A Gray (3) UNCLE DERMOT 7 (D,G,S) B Powell 6-9-3 Jenny Powell (5) VICTOIRE DE LYPHAR 11 (E,CD,F,G,S) Mrs R Carr 7-9-2Kevin Stott (3) MUJAZIF 11 (S) D Nicholls 4-9-2 J Butterfield MELVIN THE GRATE 22 (D,S) A Balding 4-9-1 K Shoemark (5) ZACYNTHUS 29 (D,F,G,S) Shaun Harris 6-9-1 W Twiston-Davies READY 11 (P,D,BF,G,S) G Moss 4-9-1 J Hart INSTANT ATTRACTION 14 (D) Jedd O'Keeffe 3-9-1Megan Carberry (5) PERSONAL TOUCH 7 (CD,G,S) R Fahey 5-9-0 J Garritty (3) SOPHISTICATED HEIR 28 (P,D,S) D O'Meara 4-8-13 L Steward MISHAAL 50 (D,BF,F,G) M Herrington 4-8-13 J Haynes HANALEI BAY 4 (F,G,S) K Dalgleish 4-8-12 G Mahon (5) FIELDGUNNER KIRKUP 11 (D,G,S) T D Barron 6-8-12 C Bishop NORSE BLUES 10 (C,D,F,G) T D Barron 6-8-10 P McGiff (7)
7-1 Melvin The Grate, 9-1 Personal Touch, 11-1 Maggie Pink, Mishaal, Zacynthus, 12-1 others.
Wincanton Rob Wright
12.20 Gaitway 2.40 Just A Par 12.55 Ballyallia Man 3.15 Irving 1.30 Southfield Theatre 3.50 Present Man 2.05 Blue Buttons Thunderer: Going: good to soft (good in places) Racing UK
12.20 1 2 3 4
3/210120-F 11/2
EBF Stallions "National Hunt" Novices' Hurdle (Qualifier) (£6,498: 2m) (4) --v99 --
ASSAM BLACK 241 (T,G) H Fry 6-10-12 N Fehily GAITWAY 231 (D,S) N Henderson 4-10-12 B J Geraghty MCCABE CREEK 16 (H) A King 4-10-12 W Hutchinson URUBU D'IRLANDE 179 (H,BF,G) P Nicholls 6-10-12 S Twiston-Davies
4-6 Gaitway, 2-1 Urubu D'Irlande, 5-1 Assam Black, 12-1 McCabe Creek.
12.55 1 2 3 4 5
311P-3 30P440-2422 530P1/ 411-22
Jockey Club Venues Wincanton Handicap Chase (£7,280: 2m 4f 110y) (5) BINCOMBE 28 (CD,G,S) P Hobbs 6-11-12 BALLYALLIA MAN 220 (T,CD,BF,G,S) T George 9-11-12 MACKEYS FORGE 30 (P,G,S) H Froud 10-11-11 SAINT RAPH (S) R Walford 6-11-9 BERTIE'S DESIRE 23 (D,G,S) O Sherwood 6-11-6
R Johnson P Brennan S Bowen (7) D Jacob T Garner (5)
v121 114 116 -117
Bathwick Tyres Rising Stars Novices' C4 Chase (Grade II £17,655: 2m 4f 110y) (4)
W Hutchinson 1 2511U1 HOLLOW PENNY 23 (CD,F,G,S) A King 6-11-8 2 3521-1 SOUTHFIELD THEATRE 28 (C,D,G,S) P Nicholls 6-11-8 S Twiston-Davies R Johnson 3 1101-2 HORIZONTAL SPEED 14 (D,G,S) P Hobbs 6-11-2 J Banks 4 0P/P50 TOM NEARY 11 (T) Keiran Burke 7-11-2
v145 144 142 --
4-6 Southfield Theatre, 5-2 Horizontal Speed, 9-2 Hollow Penny, 40-1 Tom Neary.
Wright choice: Southfield Theatre made a good start over fences when winning at Cheltenham and is hard to oppose Danger: Horizontal Speed
Totescoop6 Leg 1 1.50 Doncaster Leg 2 2.05 Wincanton
/5112311105115150-214 4500-3 12F15521-10 024-55 4522-3 2130-2 1544-3
Bathwick Tyres Mares' Handicap Hurdle
(£15,640: 2m 6f) (11)
POLLY PEACHUM 196 (D,G,S) N Henderson 6-11-12 B J Geraghty TAGRITA 218 (CD,S) P Nicholls 6-11-0 S Bowen (7) LAND OF VIC 211 (G,S) P Bowen 6-10-13 D Devereux ONE LUCKY LADY 35 (G,S) N Henderson 6-10-9 N Boinville (3) MRS PEACHEY 31 (BF,G,S) K Bailey 7-10-7 T Scudamore BLUE BUTTONS 205 (T,G,S) H Fry 6-10-5 N Fehily PRESSIES GIRL 17 (T,CD,G,S) P Nicholls 6-10-3 S Twiston-Davies TEMPEST RIVER 124 (P,G,S) B Case 8-10-0 P Brennan WOODLAND WALK 17 (S) Miss E Lavelle 6-10-0 H Skelton LILY WAUGH 35 (T,BF,G,S) A Honeyball 7-10-0 Rachael Green MINI MUCK 176 (S) N Twiston-Davies 8-10-0 J Bargary (10)
140 142 141 142 142 143 132 v152 142 141 136
5-1 Polly Peachum, 6-1 One Lucky Lady, 7-1 Blue Buttons, Tagrita, 15-2 Tempest River, 8-1 Pressies Girl, 9-1 Land Of Vic, Mrs Peachey, 11-1 Lily Waugh, Woodland Walk, 14-1 Mini Muck.
2.40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
214065P0261 41-5F5 P1/1P1 1302-0 F1132211P13265-1 6P00-0 PF0505056-6 2-1223 006U-2 121135 4112P3FPP-2 F11-11 42PP-3
Badger Ales Trophy (A Handicap Chase) (Listed: £34,170: 3m 1f 110y) (18) JUST A PAR 218 (P,S) P Nicholls 7-11-12 S Twiston-Davies PANTXOA 13 (C,D,F,G,S) A King 7-11-12 W Hutchinson DUKE OF LUCCA 21 (T,B,C,D,G,S) P Hobbs 9-11-10 R Johnson CREEVYTENNANT 60 (D,F,G,S) Fergal O'Brien 10-11-8 A P Cawley BENNYS MIST 21 (H,C,S) Miss V Williams 8-11-8 L Treadwell BENVOLIO 258 (C,BF,G,S) P Nicholls 7-11-8 S Bowen (7) DARE TO ENDEAVOUR 197 (S) T George 7-11-7 P Brennan COURT BY SURPRISE 18 (S) Miss E Lavelle 9-11-7 D Jacob ACKERTAC 21 (B,D,G,S) T Vaughan 9-11-5 A Johns (7) OPENING BATSMAN 196 (T,P,C,F,G,S) H Fry 8-11-5 N Fehily GOLDEN CHIEFTAIN 21 (T,P,CD,S) C Tizzard 9-11-3 B Powell DECIDING MOMENT 24 (T,C,G) B De Haan 8-11-1 Jack Doyle STANDING OVATION 21 (T,CD,BF,F,G,S) D Pipe 7-11-0 T Scudamore WORKBENCH 21 (T,G) D Skelton 6-11-0 H Skelton IFYOUSAYSO 205 (T,F,G,S) T George 7-10-13 C O'Farrell ACCORDING TO TREV 18 (D,F,G,S) D Bridgwater 8-10-13 J Hodson (7) THE YOUNG MASTER 22 (P,D,G,S) N Mulholland 5-10-13B J Geraghty ALFIE SPINNER 21 (S) N Williams 9-10-10 A Wedge
C4 142 144 140 141 142 144 142 142 v147 99 146 142 143 141 144 143 141 143
13-2 Standing Ovation, 8-1 The Young Master, 10-1 Bennys Mist, Benvolio, Just A Par, 12-1 Court By Surprise, Dare To Endeavour, Golden Chieftain, 14-1 According To Trev, Alfie Spinner, Opening Batsman, Pantxoa, 20-1 Deciding Moment, Ifyousayso, 22-1 Ackertac, 25-1 others.
Wright choice: Just A Par showed some classy form as a novice and the fitting of cheekpieces should help Dangers: Benvolio, Golden Chieftain
3.15
StanJames.com Elite Hurdle (A Limited Handicap)
C4
(Grade II: £34,170: 2m) (9)
2-1 Bincombe, 5-2 Bertie's Desire, 3-1 Ballyallia Man, 13-2 Mackeys Forge, 8-1 Saint Raph.
1.30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
three starts. Nonetheless, he has some high-class form to his name and, with cheekpieces fitted for the first time, he can outclass his rivals. Nicholls should also be on the mark with Irving, who will be hard to beat in the StanJames.com Elite Hurdle (3.15). He looked top class in winning his first four starts over hurdles and was found to be ill after disappointing in the Supreme Novices’ at the Cheltenham Festival. He can make the most of the 12lb that he receives from Rock On Ruby. 6Tomorrow’s nap is Jayo Time (3.55 Market Rasen
Leg 4 2.40 Wincanton Leg 5 3.15 Wincanton
Leg 3 2.25 Doncaster Leg 6 3.35 Doncaster Rollovers: Win £105,439 Bonus £263,598
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2110222-210 111103060-1 4216-3 1621-0 1411-2 1412/3 01/6-4
ROCK ON RUBY 219 (T,D,G,S) H Fry 9-11-10 N Fehily PURPLE BAY 100 (D,G,S) J Ferguson 5-11-4 Mikey Ennis (7) IRVING 242 (D,BF,G,S) P Nicholls 6-10-12 S Twiston-Davies BERTIMONT 28 (D,S) D Skelton 4-10-12 H Skelton FOX NORTON 189 (D,G,S) N Williams 4-10-7 D Jacob FERGALL 100 (D,F,S) J S Mullins 7-10-6 W Hutchinson HINT OF MINT 20 (D,G,S) N Williams 5-10-6 R Johnson FORGOTTEN VOICE 20 (D,F,G) N Henderson 9-10-5 N Boinville (3) STARLUCK 20 (D,F,G,S) D Arbuthnot 9-10-4 P Brennan
v163 156 158 157 154 157 156 159 162
6-4 Irving, 9-2 Rock On Ruby, 7-1 Bertimont, 8-1 Forgotten Voice, Hint Of Mint, 10-1 Purple Bay, 12-1 Fox Norton, 16-1 Fergall, 25-1 Starluck.
Wright choice: Irving looked top class in novice company and can bounce back from a blip at Cheltenham Dangers: Rock On Ruby, Bertimont
3.50
Jockey Club Catering Intermediate Open NHFlat Race (£1,625: 2m) (12)
1 FOREVER FIELD 175 (D,G) N Henderson 4-11-11 B J Geraghty 1 COLONY CLUB O Sherwood 5-11-4 T Garner (5) 2 5 GENERAL GINGER 186 (T) H Fry 4-11-4 N Fehily 3 INNOX PARK K Bishop 4-11-4 M Nolan (3) 4 LETTHERIVERRUNDRY B Powell 4-11-4 B Powell 5 MARDEN COURT C Tizzard 4-11-4 Paul O'Brien (7) 6 P- MR TOY BOY 272 Mrs H Nelmes 4-11-4 C Ring (5) 7 0- MURRAY MOUNT 231 C Mann 4-11-4 P Brennan 8 2- PRESENT MAN 251P P Nicholls 4-11-4 S Twiston-Davies 9 4 SALVATOR'S LEGACY 28 Keiran Burke 5-11-4 W Hutchinson 10 D Jacob 11 /0F1-2 WHATS LEFT 31 (S) N Mulholland 6-11-4 3-4 CRESSWELL BREEZE 179 (T,BF) A Honeyball 4-10-11 Rachael Green 12
91 -96 ----67 -v109 104 102
4-1 Forever Field, 9-2 Salvator's Legacy, 5-1 Whats Left, 11-2 Cresswell Breeze, General Ginger, 13-2 Present Man, 12-1 Marden Court, 16-1 Lettheriverrundry, 20-1 others.
Yesterday’s results Fontwell Park
Going: soft (heavy in places) 1.10 (2m 4f hdle) 1, Rock The Kasbah (James Best, 4-7 fav); 2, Kilgeel Hill (11-2); 3, The Green Ogre (3-1). 9 ran. 3l, 12l. P Hobbs. 1.40 (2m 6f ch) 1, Southway Star (Trevor Whelan, 9-4); 2, Ballydague Lady (6-5 fav); 3, Carhue Princess (9-4). NR: Mrs Jordan. 16l, 38l. N B King. 2.10 (2m 6f ch) 1, Dont Do Mondays (T Scudamore, 11-2); 2, Itoldyou (5-1); 3, Roll The Dice (100-30). Alanjou (pu) 5-2 fav. 7 ran. 1Ol, Kl. D G Bridgwater. 2.40 (2m 4f hdle) 1, Floral Spinner (Ryan While, 12-1); 2, Royal Moll (7-4 fav); 3, Midnight Belle (13-2). 9 ran. Ol, 6l. W Turner. 3.10 (2m 2f ch) 1, Withy Mills (James Best, 7-2); 2, Home For Tea (11-2); 3, June French (4-1). Join The Navy (pu) 6-5 fav. 5 ran. Kl, 38l. K Bishop.
3.40 (3m 3f) 1, American Life (James Banks, 4-1); 2, Amberjam (25-1); 3, Shine In Time (20-1). Bally Braes (4th) 13-8 fav. 8 ran. 16l, nk. A Middleton. 4.10 (2m 2f 110yd) 1, Weststreet (L P Aspell, 9-4 jt-fav); 2, Oh So Fruity (10-1); 3, Newton Geronimo (20-1). Mister Trebus 9-4 jt-fav. 11 ran. NR: All Force Majeure, Anwyl House. 13l, 18l. O Sherwood. Placepot: £330.20. Quadpot: £84.30.
Hexham
Going: good to soft (soft in places) 12.50 (2m 110yd hdle) 1, It’s High Time (K Renwick, 5-2); 2, Always Tipsy (7-1); 3, New Academy (33-1). Up The Bees (6th) 2-1 fav. 14 ran. 9l, 6l. Miss LRussell. 1.20 (2m 4f 110yd hdle) 1, Red Tortue (Jake Greenall, 18-1); 2, Allez Cool (33-1); 3, One For Arthur (7-4). Zermatt (pu) 11-8 fav. 7 ran. NR: Castle Goer. 6l, 8l. M Walford.
1.50 (3m 1f ch) 1, Brave Buck (Jake Greenall, 9-4 fav); 2, Apache Pilot (8-1); 3, Next Hight (5-1). NR: Mission Beach. Hd, 37l. H Daly. 2.20 (2m 4f 110yd ch) 1, Milan Royale (Callum Bewley, 100-30); 2, Hallmark Star (11-2); 3, Wakhan (2-1 fav). 6 ran. 1Kl, Ol. J Hunter. 2.50 (2m 110yd hdle) 1, Mrs Grass (Diarmuid O’Regan, 16-1); 2, Nouveau Moulin (100-30); 3, Northern Acres (7-4 fav). 8 ran. 12l, 1Ol. J Haynes. 3.20 (3m 1f ch) 1, No Through Road (L Treadwell, 11-8 jt-fav); 2, Snuker (11-8 jt-fav); 3, Glenwood Prince (11-2). 4 ran. 3Nl, 19l. M Scudamore. 3.50 (3m hdle) 1, Madam Lilibet (Joseph Palmowski, 7-2 fav); 2, Trafficker (4-1); 3, Silver Dragon (20-1). 12 ran. Ol, 14l. Mrs S Watt. Placepot: £1,689.80. Quadpot: £17.20.
Musselburgh Going: good
1.00 (2m hdle) 1, El Beau (D C Costello, 9-5 fav); 2, Announcement (7-1); 3, Silver Duke (10-1). 9 ran. NR: Archipeligo. 3l, 13l. J J Quinn. 1.30 (3m 110yd hdle) 1, Master Dee (J M Maguire, 2-5 fav); 2, Tommy O’Dwyer (11-2); 3, Fly Vinnie (18-1). 5 ran. 2l, 7l. D McCain. 2.00 (3m 110yd hdle) 1, First Fandango (Michael Byrne, 5-1); 2, Capellanus (14-1); 3, Full Jack (7-1). Wyse Hill Teabags (4th) 9-4 fav. 7 ran. NR: Samstown. Kl, 18l. Tim Vaughan. 2.30 (3m ch) 1, Waltz Darling (J Reveley, 9-2); 2, Welsh Bard (10-11 fav). Only 2 finished. 3 ran. NR: Boruma. 10l. K Reveley. 3.00 (2m hdle) 1, Smart Ruler (B Hughes, 14-1); 2, Mason Hindmarsh (7-1); 3, Buy Back Bob (6-1). Broughton 7-2 fav. 10 ran. NR: Gold Chain. 3Nl, Ol. James Moffatt.
3.30 (2m 4f ch) 1, Baileys Concerto (B Hughes, Evens fav); 2, Robbie (9-2); 3, Mitchell’s Way (7-2). 5 ran. Kl, 3Nl. Mrs D Sayer. 4.00 (2m) 1, Gingili (J M Maguire, 7-2); 2, Im Too Generous (3-1); 3, Masirann (2-1 fav). 7 ran. 1l, 1Kl. D McCain . Placepot: £148.30. Quadpot: £62.10.
Thursday’s late details Wolverhampton 4.35 (7f 32yd) 1, Gharaaneej (P Hanagan, 15-8 fav); 2, Nightlight (3-1); 3, Memorial Day (5-2). 11 ran. Hd, Ol. J Gosden. 5.10 (6f) 1, Lucy The Painter (S J Drowne, 28-1); 2, Sky Steps (5-2); 3, Treaty Of York (3-1). You’re Cool (5th) 13-8 fav. 9 ran. Kl, Kl. P Makin.
5.40 (6f) 1, The Fairy (R Havlin, 7-4 fav); 2, Bonfire Heart (5-1); 3, Purple Surprise (40-1). 7 ran. NR: Cloak And Degas, Pyrocumulus. Hd, 2Ol. J Gosden. 6.10 (5f 216yd) 1, Cumbrianna (P Hanagan, 5-2); 2, Rennie Mackintosh (5-1); 3, Percella (4-5 fav). 8 ran. 1Kl, 2l. B Smart. 6.40 (1m 141yd) 1, Memoria (C Catlin, 9-1); 2, Ghany (10-11 fav); 3, Jacqueline Jouliac (9-2). 11 ran. 1l, nk. Rae Guest. 7.10 (5f 216yd) 1, Realize (D Tudhope, 9-4 fav); 2, Searchlight (7-2); 3, Lewisham (25-1). 12 ran. NR: Stonefield Flyer. 2l, 5l. H Morrison. 7.40 (1m 1f 103yd) 1, Docs Legacy (David Probert, 16-1); 2, Earth Drummer (4-1); 3, Maverick Wave (7-4 fav). 10 ran. 1Ol, nk. R Fahey. 8.10 (1m 4f 50yd) 1, Kalaatah (M Harley, 13-8 fav); 2, Tears of The Sun (11-1); 3, Heska (6-1). 6 ran. 2l, Ol. S Bin Suroor. Placepot: £5.70. Quadpot: £2.70.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
79
FGM
Racing Sport
Determined Fry reaping rich rewards with his patient approach Saturday interview Trainer has impressive strike-rate and tells Alan Lee traditional methods are key to success
H
arry Fry took up cycling in the summer, developed quite an aptitude for it. Some might jest he was trying to keep up with his friends and neighbours in the training profession but those close to him know different. Fry has infinite targets but, as with the cycling, he will get there at his chosen pace. Fry trains in Seaborough, a Dorset village approached down a scary hill of blind bends and looming hedges. It has 65 residents and no shop or pub but there is an ancient parish church, almost obscuring the unostentatious yard where slow-burning plans are maturing. Having left Paul Nicholls to start training at a startlingly young 25, Fry has so far saddled 65 winners at a strike rate just short of 30 per cent. He does not waste runners, nor does he waste his energy on horses contrary to his traditional ethos. “Our philosophy is based around store horses,” Fry said. “We’d far rather bring youngsters through than buy second-hand types. It can be frustrating at times, and you think you’re getting nowhere, but you just hope that two or three of the year’s crop
Rob Wright
12.45 Muckle Roe 3.05 Theinval 1.20 Irish Saint 3.40 Le Reve 1.55 Albahar 4.10 The Hon Mackinlay 2.30 Barrakilla Going: good to soft, soft in places(chase course); soft, heavy in places (hurdles) Racing UK
Handicap Hurdle (£6,498: 2m 4f) (11)
22F-1 GORES ISLAND 181 (CD) G L Moore 8-11-12 Joseph Akehurst (8) 31316 MIDNIGHT OSCAR 34 (P) K Bailey 7-11-11 T Bellamy 4110- NO NO MAC 203 (D) C Longsdon 5-11-11 C Deutsch (6) 215- ROTHMAN 221 (H,BF) P Nicholls 4-11-11 J Sherwood (6) 242-3 KILMURVY 17 (T,P,D) J Scott 6-11-9 Matt Griffiths (3) 50214 LISTEN AND LEARN 34 (V) Jonjo O'Neill 6-11-7 P Cowley (10) 7 602-P TEOCHEW 17 (T,P,D,BF) W Greatrex 6-11-4 C M Walsh (8) G Derwin (3) 8 2420- SUN WILD LIFE 227 R Walford 4-11-3 S Quinlan (5) 9 33F06 MALLER TREE 14 (D) D Dennis 7-11-3 R Hatch (3) 10 26-64 MUCKLE ROE 16 N Twiston-Davies 5-10-12 M Nolan 11 5-344 LITTLE BOY BORU 17 Miss S Smith 6-10-5 1
2 3 4 5 6
11-2 Maller Tree, 6-1 Gores Island, 13-2 Kilmurvy, 7-1 No No Mac, 15-2 Midnight Oscar, Teochew, 8-1 Little Boy Boru, 9-1 others.
1.20 1 2 3
In the spotlight Name: Harry Fry Age 27 Stables in Seaborough, Dorset Licensed October 2012 Mentors Richard Barber and Paul Nicholls Marital status Engaged to Ciara O’Connor, his assistant Winners this season 11 Weekend wish Momentum maintained 2.30
Sandown Park
12.45
will be stand-outs.” This old-school method forms an intriguing contrast with Dan Skelton, his closest ally and former colleague under Nicholls. Skelton, in his second season, already has more horses than Fry, in his third, but he has acquired them through personality and naked ambition rather than the measured, academy approach of his friend. I suggested this illuminates their different characters and Fry smiled. “It probably does but others will judge that better than me,” he said. It is an elementary judgment. Skelton is the image of Nicholls, transparently urgent and edgy. Fry, with his towering frame and bass voice, appears remarkably laidback, though this is only skin-deep. “Dan and I are just two of many young trainers getting going but we’re close, in contact all the time,” he said. “There’s rivalry, of course, but it’s great he is doing so well. He has a different approach to me but it’s working. We need owners to buy into our policy and have the patience to see it through.” Plainly, he is not short of disciples. “We’ll have five runners at Wincanton tomorrow and, between them, they have about 100 owners,” he said. “One
Novices' Chase (£12,021: 2m) (3)
03-22 CHRIS PEA GREEN 6 (D,BF) G L Moore 5-11-1 J E Moore 2302- GONE TOO FAR 201 (D,BF) A King 6-11-1 D F O'Regan 0136- IRISH SAINT 219 (T,D) P Nicholls 5-11-1 N Scholfield
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Handicap Chase
(£25,024: 2m 4f 110y) (14)
PP42- ROUDOUDOU VILLE 198 (CD) V Dartnall 9-11-12 D F O'Regan 103-2 SOUND INVESTMENT 29 (T,C,D) P Nicholls 6-11-12 N Scholfield 340-5 BALLY LEGEND 35 (D) Mrs C Keevil 9-11-11 J Best (3) 1234- TATENEN 218 R Rowe 10-11-10 L Aspell 2115- LOOSE CHIPS 259 (B,D) C Longsdon 8-11-9 A Tinkler 016-0 DOLATULO 182 (T,C) W Greatrex 7-11-8 G Sheehan 34-10 NOTARFBAD 14 (H) J Scott 8-11-8 L Heard 0P3P- CARRICKBOY 206 (D) Miss V Williams 10-11-7 A Coleman 326-1 FOUNDATION MAN 24 (V,D) Jonjo O'Neill 7-11-5 R McLernon /431- BARRAKILLA 312 (D) E Williams 7-11-4 P Moloney 111-4 FRECKLE FACE 14 W G M Turner 7-11-2 T Phelan 145-3 FILBERT 14 P Hobbs 8-11-1 Tom O'Brien 3123- NO BUTS 273 (D) D Bridgwater 6-10-13 J E Moore 255-3 TOBY LERONE 29 (D) D Skelton 7-10-7 R Mahon
5-1 Filbert, 6-1 Sound Investment, Toby Lerone, 7-1 Roudoudou Ville, 9-1 others.
3.05 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Handicap Hurdle (£12,512: 2m 110y) (11)
111-0 DUBAWI ISLAND 182 (D) Miss V Williams 5-11-12A Coleman /00-3 KASHMIR PEAK 14F (D) J J Quinn 5-11-10 D C Costello 322- THE BROCK AGAIN (T) P Nicholls 4-11-10 N Scholfield 34211 EXITAS 42 (T,D) P Middleton 6-11-9 C Deutsch (7) P222- THEINVAL N Henderson 4-11-5 D Bass 512P- TORNADO IN MILAN 254 (H,D) E Williams 8-11-3P Moloney 1240- CARRY ON SYDNEY 223 (D) O Sherwood 4-11-3 L Aspell 123-2 MYSTERY DRAMA 33 (D,BF) A King 4-11-3 T Bellamy (5) 05PP- VALID REASON 27F D Ivory 7-11-3 Tom O'Brien 0-34 RHAMNUS 14 B Pauling 4-10-10 James Davies 0/6-0 SECRET DANCER 77 A Jones 9-10-2 W Kennedy
5-4 Irish Saint, 7-4 Gone Too Far, 3-1 Chris Pea Green.
4-1 Exitas, 13-2 Dubawi Island, Mystery Drama, The Brock Again, 15-2 others.
1.55
3.40
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Juvenile Hurdle
(3-Y-O: £6,498: 2m 110y) (7) 41 THE WALLACE LINE 36 T Vaughan 11-4 ALBAHAR P Nicholls 10-12 2 BARON ALCO G L Moore 10-12 LIBERTY RED 206F Miss V Williams 10-12 ROMULUS DU DONJON O Sherwood 10-12 SEA THE SPRINGS D Skelton 10-12 2 LITTLE FLO 15 B Powell 10-5
M Byrne N Scholfield J E Moore A Coleman L Aspell R Mahon A Tinkler
9-4 Albahar, 100-30 Liberty Red, 13-2 Sea The Springs, 7-1 Little Flo, The Wallace Line, 15-2 Baron Alco, 9-1 Romulus Du Donjon.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Handicap Chase (£12,512: 3m110y) (9)
210-1 LOOKSLIKERAINTED 17 Miss R Curtis 7-11-12 J E Moore 2210- BEFOREALL 203 O Sherwood 6-11-12 L Aspell 34P2- LE REVE 246 (P) Mrs L Wadham 6-11-11 D C Costello 12-41 CAULFIELDS VENTURE 30 (D) Miss E Lavelle 8-11-10 R McLernon 3125- SAROQUE 217 (C) Miss V Williams 7-11-9 A Coleman 4152- WOODFORD COUNTY 203 (P,D) P Hobbs 7-11-9 Tom O'Brien 243P- LOCH BA 238 (D) M Channon 8-11-7 G Sheehan F52-3 WILTON MILAN 17 (T) P Nicholls 6-11-6 N Scholfield 540-3 TULLAMORE DEW 18 N Gifford 12-11-5 T Cannon
5-1 Lookslikerainted,11-2 Loch Ba, 6-1 Wilton Milan, 13-2 others.
JOHN GILES / PA
Champion act: Rock On Ruby is said to be well forward for his return in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton this afternoon
runs for our racing club, which has 40 members. Hopefully, it’s a foot in the door and some of them might go on to have a half-share or even a full horse.” The incentives are evident in the stable’s other runners. They include Rock On Ruby, the horse that gave Fry confidence to train, and Opening Batsman, whose victory in the Racing Plus Chase of 2013 shattered some unworthy suspicions. “It made people see I wasn’t a one-tricky pony,” he said. “Ruby” won the 2012 Champion Hurdle while based at Seaborough, then a satellite yard for Nicholls. When Fry, who had supervised his preparation, took out his own licence, he also took on the horse and yard, with the blessing of Nicholls but the specific encouragement of his landlord, Richard Barber. His initial capacity was 40 but Barber, brother of Nicholls’ landlord Paul, has recently retired from his domination of West Country point-topoints, freeing up more scope for his tenant. “We have access to all 71 boxes now,” Fry said. “We’re nearly full. All of this is down to Richard and he is still on the
gallop every day — he likes to pass judgment. He’s the first to criticise and he is normally right.” Barber also sourced many of the horses in the stable, notably Jollyallan, a taking winner on his debut in the JP McManus silks at Exeter on Tuesday. “Richard was looking round a stud in Bruton one day and just saw this horse in a field,” Fry said. “That is another way he is such an asset.” So, too, is Fry’s fiancée, Ciara O’Connor, his number two in the yard and constant companion to Rock On Ruby until other matters intervened. “We have a baby due in two weeks,” Fry said. They plan to marry next summer, on a date that confirms Fry as an exclusively jumping man. “The wedding is on Derby day,” he said. Already, this has been a week of gathered momentum, five winners including several of the novice hurdlers that are exciting Fry. Another, Assam Black, runs today. “Ruby got us where we are but we need the next generation to come through now,” he said.
He will no longer be judged by the horses that made his name, though he is optimistic today. “Ruby is well forward and conditions shouldn’t be too bad, while we’re hoping Opening Batsman has been rejuvenated after a bad year,” he said. Vukovar and Activial, two with talismanic potential for the winter, have suffered minor setbacks but are likely to return in the Betfred Peterborough Chase and Ladbroke Hurdle respectively. Mendip Express, a facile hurdling winner on Wednesday, is being aimed at the Grand National fences in the Becher Chase. Fry frets far more than he shows. While he lived in a flat on the yard, he would burn the midnight oil in the office. Now, with a cottage up the road and parenthood looming, has he changed? He rolled his eyes expressively. “It’s a way of life,” he said. Even the escapism of cycling will not alter that.
4.10
1.05
2.15
1 2 3 4 5 6
NH Flat Race
(£3,249: 2m 110y) (6)
2-4 DEADLY MOVE 29 (BF) C Longsdon 5-11-0 A Tinkler PU42- GEORGIESHORE 223P Miss Z Davison 6-11-0 Gemma Gracey-Davison (5) KAP JAZZ Miss V Williams 4-11-0 A Coleman 4 KING'S SONG 39 D Dennis 4-11-0 G Sheehan STONEGATE G L Moore 4-11-0 J E Moore 2 THE HON MACKINLAY 161 M Channon 5-11-0 D Elsworth
13-8 Deadly Move, 5-2 The Hon Mackinlay, 6-1 Kap Jazz, 13-2 King's Song, Stonegate, 22-1 Georgieshore.
Kelso
Rob Wright 12.30 Looking Well 2.50 Swift Arrow 1.05 Aye Well 3.25 Dalstontosiloth 1.40 The Last Samuri 4.00 Some Lad 2.15 Mister Marker Going: good to soft At The Races
12.30 Novices' Hurdle
(£3,899: 2m 6f 110y) (11)
1 050-0 ALWAYSRECOMMENDED 147 Mrs J Walton 5-10-12 Alistair Findlay (7) 0/P CITY PLAYER 167 (T) G Charlton 8-10-12 D Cook 2 B Hughes 3 510-2 DONNA'S DIAMOND 21 C Grant 5-10-12 4 P240/ DYSTONIA'S REVENGE 676 S Walton 9-10-12 Miss C Walton (5) W Renwick 5 310-2 GOLANS CHOICE 29 Mrs R Dobbin 5-10-12 R Mania 6 U6P-2 KARINGO 21 Mrs L Normile 7-10-12 4-3 KINGSWELL THEATRE 29 Miss L Russell 5-10-12 P Buchanan 7 1-3 LOOKING WELL 12 (BF) N Richards 5-10-12 B Harding 8 J Reveley 9 -5434 THE LAST LEG 21 Karen McLintock 5-10-12 H Challoner (3) 10 2-320 COOLANURE 9 J M Jefferson 5-10-5 T Kelly (3) 11 50-P0 QUEENS REGATTA 7 B Mactaggart 5-10-5 11-4 Golans Choice, 100-30 Donna's Diamond, 4-1 Looking Well, 15-2 The Last Leg, 8-1 Kingswell Theatre, 9-1 Coolanure, Karingo, 22-1 others.
Blinkered first time: Doncaster 1.50 Farlow
Novices' Handicap Chase (£3,899: 2m 1f) (7)
J Kington (3) 1 02P1/ AYE WELL 690 W S Coltherd 9-11-12 2 053U2 BROTHER SCOTT 16 (D) Mrs S Smith 7-10-13 C Bewley (7) 3 1U40- CUMBRIAN FARMER 197 G Bewley 7-10-11 J Bewley (5) 4 4-06U TWEEDO PARADISO 2 (H,D) Mrs R Dobbin 7-10-10 W Renwick S Mulqueen (7) 5 3155- ROSQUERO 214 (P) R Johnson 9-10-9 T Kelly (3) 6 0-526 UNO VALOROSO 143 (BF) M Walford 6-10-3 7 P4-53 CRACKERJACK LAD 28 (H,T) Miss L Russell 11-10-0D R Fox (3) 3-1 Aye Well, 4-1 Rosquero, 5-1 Brother Scott, Uno Valoroso, 11-2 Tweedo Paradiso, 8-1 Crackerjack Lad, 9-1 Cumbrian Farmer.
1.40
Handicap Hurdle
(£5,848: 3m 3f) (7)
1 1110- THE LAST SAMURI 218 (C) D McCain 6-11-12 J M Maguire B Harding 2 4221- SAMSTOWN 210 A Whillans 7-11-7 T Kelly (3) 3 1031- MR UTAH 203 (C) H Hogarth 7-11-7 B Hughes 4 -3502 FOURTH ESTATE 24 (P) J Wade 8-11-6 J Reveley 5 256UP SCOTSWELL 9 (C) Mrs H Graham 8-11-5 R Mania 6 P-223 NEPTUNE EQUESTER 21 A Thomson 11-10-9 Mr H Stock (7) 7 -6414 LOS NADIS 84 J Goldie 10-10-2 100-30 The Last Samuri, 7-2 Neptune Equester, 9-2 Mr Utah, 11-2 Fourth Estate, 7-1 Los Nadis, Samstown, 9-1 Scotswell.
Course specialists Doncaster: Trainers I Mohammed, 3 winners from 8 runners, 37.5%; D Lanigan, 7 from 19, 36.8%. Jockeys J Garritty, 4 winners from 16 rides, 25%; W Buick, 38 from 170, 22.4%. Kelso: Trainers Karen McLintock, 4 from 15, 26.7%; D McCain, 35 from 135, 25.9%. Jockeys D Irving, 4 from 16, 25%; J M Maguire, 23 from 96, 24%. Sandown Park: Trainers C Longsdon, 9 from 40, 22.5%; N Henderson, 28 from 131, 21.4%. Jockeys A Coleman, 11 from 57, 19.3%; D Elsworth, 6 from 45, 13.3%. Wincanton: Trainers H Fry, 10 from 35, 28.6%; P Nicholls, 58 from 214, 27.1%; B De Haan, 5 from 21, 23.8%. Jockeys B J Geraghty, 4 from 9, 44.4%; D Jacob, 35 from 143, 24.5%; C O'Farrell, 14 from 72, 19.4%; P Brennan, 14 from 74, 18.9%.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Handicap Chase
(£7,148: 2m 7f 110y) (6)
13-1P FENTARA 153 (T,CD) M Walford 9-11-12 J Greenall U3P-5 MCMURROUGH 14 (B,C) J M Jefferson 10-11-11 B Hughes 12P-0 MISTER MARKER 21 (CD) N Richards 10-11-7 B Harding 11PP- PINEROLO 210 (D) Mrs S Smith 8-11-7 R Mania 0-311 WOLF SHIELD 118 (D) G M Moore 7-11-6 F Keniry 3P2-6 ISLA PEARL FISHER 21 (H,T,C,D) N Alexander 11-10-13 P Buchanan
5-2 Mister Marker, 3-1 Mcmurrough, 9-2 Isla Pearl Fisher, 11-2 others.
2.50
Handicap Chase (£9,747: 2m 1f) (8)
1 1130- FIRTH OF THE CLYDE 240 J M Jefferson 9-11-12 B Hughes J M Maguire 2 6P-53 SWIFT ARROW 34 (CD) D McCain 8-11-11 B Harding 3 23F23 AUTHINGER 7 F Murtagh 6-11-4 R Mania 4 416P/ QUICUYO 931 (T,D) J Ewart 11-11-2 5 U105- SUPRISE VENDOR 197 (CD) W S Coltherd 8-11-0 D R Fox (3) 6 31313 TOLEDO GOLD 24 (H,T,D) M Barnes 8-10-13 M J McAlister D Irving (7) 7 4PF-F ROCKAWANGO 11F (T,P) J Ewart 8-10-13 8 52-04 QUITO DU TRESOR 13 (P,D) Miss L Russell 10-10-13 C Nichol (3) 100-30 Swift Arrow, 4-1 Firth Of The Clyde, 5-1 Rockawango, 11-2 Suprise Vendor, 13-2 Quito Du Tresor, Toledo Gold, 12-1 Quicuyo, 14-1 Authinger.
3.25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Handicap Hurdle (£2,924: 2m 2f) (8)
3/45- QUEST MAGIC 530 G Bewley 8-11-12 J Bewley (5) /546- BALLYVOQUE 200 G Charlton 8-11-8 R Mania P030 LATE FOR SUPPER 14 R Ford 5-11-7 H Challoner (3) 5-0P0 NATIVE SPA 147 Michael Smith 6-11-2 B Hughes 0044- INNOCENT GIRL 314 (T) Miss L Russell 5-11-2 C Nichol (3) 240-1 CONJOLA 163 G Harker 7-10-12 P Buchanan 4P-44 DALSTONTOSILOTH 29 F Murtagh 6-10-11 C Bewley (7) 500/0 I GOT SUNSHINE 12 J Goldie 6-10-8 R Day (7)
2-1 Native Spa, 4-1 Dalstontosiloth, 9-2 Quest Magic, 7-1 Ballyvoque, 9-1 Conjola, 10-1 I Got Sunshine, 14-1 Innocent Girl, 20-1 Late For Supper.
4.00 1 2 3 4 5 6
Handicap Chase (£3,249: 2m 1f) (6)
20311 SHINE A DIAMOND 2 (T,D) Miss L Russell 6-12-3G Cockburn (5) /P05- TRAPRAIN Pauline Robson 5-11-12 W Renwick -6551 SOME LAD 21 (CD) Alison Hamilton 9-11-7Mr T Hamilton (7) 3-PPP AZERODEGREE 168 Mrs H Graham 5-10-12 J Reveley -P322 WAKHAN 21 (BF) Mrs S Smith 6-10-11 J England (3) 45-PP THORLAK 12 (B) J Ewart 7-10-10 R Mania
5-2 Shine A Diamond, 3-1 Thorlak, 100-30 Wakhan, 9-2 Some Lad, 15-2 others.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Sport American football
Bradley keeps on smiling through Jaguars upheaval Ben Saunders
Shahid Khan does not have an exemplary record of hiring people to lead his sports teams. At Fulham, the Felix Magath experiment did not last long as the west London club hurtled down to the Sky Bet Championship and then to the bottom of that before the German was relieved of his duties. Gus Bradley, who was named as head coach of Khan’s NFL team — the Jacksonville Jaguars — last year, could not be more different. All smiles and personality, Bradley is the antithesis of Magath. About the only thing they have in common, however, is that neither have won many games. Bradley’s team won only four games last season, losing 12 — including a 42-10 drubbing by the San Francisco 49ers at Wembley last year — and are on pace to do even worse this season. Just past the halfway point, the Jaguars are 1-8, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Dave Caldwell, the general manager, and Bradley are in the second year of an overhaul of Jacksonville’s roster based mainly on youth. They spent the third overall pick of this year’s Draft on Blake Bortles, who is now their starting
quarterback, while their top running back is a former college quarterback, and their main big-play threat is a rookie who was not even drafted. Through it all, Bradley’s demeanour is a big reason why things are looking up in Jacksonville. “I do believe that you have to challenge your players, you have to hold them accountable,” Bradley said. “But I also believe that we’ve just seen [our players] do better through encouragement rather than discouragement. So we challenge them, if they do things right, we’re going to celebrate those times and hopefully it gets repeated.” The season has been a learning experience for Bortles and while he has thrown eight touchdown passes , he has thrown 13 interceptions, but this is a problem that Bradley thinks is fixable. “I think his overall body of work, we’ve seen some really good things from him,” Bradley said. “The things that overshadow that are his interceptions. We understand that that can come with a rookie quarterback and he knows it and he’s paying attention to it.” Elsewhere on offense, Denard Robinson, the running back, emulated Tom Brady, the New England Patriots’
ROB FOLDY/GETTY IMAGES
Learning his trade: Bortles has had a mixed first season for Jacksonville as their starting quarterback, but his coach is confident that he will end up in credit
superstar passer, by playing quarterback for the University of Michigan, but is the Jaguars’ top running threat. “Denard Robinson was a fifth-round draft pick, played quarterback, but his skillset was great,” Bradley said. “In his first year he went through a learning curve, not only for himself but for us as a coaching staff how to best utilise him, but then, after being with him for a year,
we really had him locked into playing running back, he put on weight and he started to have some success.” Allen Hurns, the wide receiver who was signed by Jacksonville as a free agent from the University of Miami after being snubbed by every team in this year’s Draft, is coming off a career day. He caught seven passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns in their
6 Dallas Cowboys are not expected to name their starting quarterback for tomorrow’s Wembley clash until the day of the game. Tony Romo, who suffered a back injury in the Cowboys’ 20-17 defeat by Washington Redskins two weeks ago, practised for a second straight day yesterday, but his status is still to be determined. Brandon Weeden, the former Cleveland Browns quarterback, will fill in if Romo is not ready to go. 33-23 defeat by the Cincinnati Bengals last week. He is proving every other team wrong. “One thing to his advantage was our offensive co-ordinator [Jedd Fisch] and our running backs coach [Terry Richardson]. They coached at the University of Miami, so they really knew what he brought to the table.” The other thing is that Bradley knows how to coach winners, although he left his post as defensive co-ordinator of Seattle to be the top man in Jacksonville the season before the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. “Having coached those guys for many years, you grow a bond with them,” Bradley said of that Seattle team. “I was really happy for them. They’re a first-class organisation and to see them do what they did last year, I couldn’t be happier for the group of them.” 6 Jacksonville Jaguars play Dallas Cowboys at Wembley Stadium tomorrow. Sign up to the free Union Jax fan club at jaguars.com/uk — Jacksonville Jaguars are London’s home team. Get behind the team on Facebook.com/JaguarsUK and Twitter @JaguarsUK #BeJaguars
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Motor racing Sport HOCH ZWEI/ACTION IMAGES
Lewis Hamilton
Speed Peerless on his day and one of the great overtakers Psychology Given to frailty, underlined in 2011 when a steady Button saw him off Nous Not an intellectual and occasionally found wanting, but instinctively bright Wins 32 Poles 38 Starts 146 World championships 1 Win ratio 4.5
Jim Clark
Speed Unquestioned. Could drive a milk float at 150mph if necessary Psychology Steady as she goes. Unflappable. Nous Driver considered the greatest of all time was smart as a Scottish whip Wins 25 Poles 33 Starts 72 World championships 2 Win ratio 2.88
Nigel Mansell
Speed As fast and daring as they come. Utterly fearless when overtaking Psychology Prone to self-indulgent whingeing, but head down and charge on the track Nous Il Leone would never win Mastermind. He simply pointed and pressed Wins 31 Poles 32 Starts 187 World championships 1 Win ratio 6.03
Ayrton Senna
Speed Fast and faster. Check the statistic for pole positions Psychology Famous for entering his “zone”, a Zen-like state of consciousness Nous A brainbox of great sensitivity, who would have been a success in any field Wins 41 Poles 65 Starts 16 World championships 3 Win ratio 3.92
Adopted hero Hamilton keen to secure his place in sport’s history Kevin Eason Motor Racing Correspondent, Sao Paulo
It is a lonely place among the elite, where Lewis Hamilton stands at the summit of national achievement in Formula One. Britain has had more world champions, more winners and wielded more influence than any other country. Or, at least, it did. As Hamilton lays claim to the title of Britain’s greatest driver, he will be surrounded by a wasteland of shattered dreams and wasted talent. Max Chilton has already gone, his Marussia team shut down yesterday. If Jenson Button leaves McLaren — as seems more than likely — Hamilton will be the only Briton on the grid next season. That will be the first time since 1980 that only one driver has represented the nation, when John Watson was the sole representative. It is an astonishing state of affairs given the thousands of children who will swamp kart tracks today, all wanting to emulate the driver who could become world champion for a second time this season. Consider this, too: Jolyon Palmer won the GP2 Champi-
onship, the next rung down from F1, and has little to no prospect of racing at the highest level, while Alex Lynn could be GP3 champion and escape F1 consideration. “It is worrying,” Button admitted. “There are fewer and fewer teams hiring drivers on pure talent. Sometimes it doesn’t matter that you are the quickest out there. Unless you have a big bucket of gold, you are not going to get into Formula One. “The [big teams] hire but, after that, it is a case of money talks rather than skill, which is sad considering it is the pinnacle of motorsport.” It is so dispiriting for the many aspirants who will watch the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to see a driver who has joined Britain’s pantheon, perhaps even the list of the greatest to have graced motor racing. Winning here on hallowed ground has eluded Hamilton in seven visits and Nico Rosberg could block his path again. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate is 24 points behind in the title standings and was the fastest man in Sao Paulo in practice yesterday. Rosberg was the fastest man in qualifying
for the United States Grand Prix last weekend, too, but Hamilton was the winner. No victor would be lauded more happily than Hamilton, who has become an unlikely adopted hero in Sao Paulo. In 2008, Brazil booed him to the grey skies when he pipped Felipe Massa, the home favourite, to the world championship. Now Ayrton Senna’s mum is a fan and Hamilton was handed an honorary Brazilian passport as an amusing pre-race stunt. The kid from the council house in Stevenage blinks when compared to his greatest hero. “I would love to emulate him as a driver. I am really proud and honoured that someone may mention my name in the same sentence as his.” Brazil’s Senna substitute is not one for assessing the scale of his achievements, he is too modest for that. In any event, millions will do that for him since he overtook Nigel Mansell a week ago in Austin to register the greatest number of victories by a British driver. Defining greatness and comparing champions of the present with the
heroes of the past is a precarious business. If it is records you want, though, Hamilton is tucking them under his belt at a fair rate of knots this season: ten wins, the most for a Briton in a single season, and a career total of 32. Does that make Hamilton Britain’s greatest driver and align him with those whose names have become legends, such as Ascari, Fangio, Clark, Stewart or even Niki Lauda, his chairman and mentor at Mercedes? This season — and the past few weeks, in particular — Hamilton has been at his zenith and he knows it. He is not even daunted by falling at the final hurdle in Abu Dhabi, where F1 has instituted the double points finish, a scheme so daft and potentially dangerous for the sport’s reputation, it defies belief. “I don’t have any fears,” Hamilton said. “Honestly, you can look in my eyes, I don’t have any fears. Where I am today is not down to luck or by mistake.” Hamilton already has his place in history, but another world championship would do much to underline his claim to greatness.
Marussia fold but Caterham are praying fans hold ace
Kevin Eason
It was difficult to know whether to laugh or cry yesterday as Formula One’s great financial chasm finally swallowed Marussia and threatened to turn the attention of the sport from fear to farce. As 200 staff were handed their redundancy notices and the Marussia factory finally closed, administrators handling the sale of Caterham set out to raise £2.35 million in just a week from fans through something called crowdfunding. This is the longest of long shots. Cynics noted that Smith & Williamson, the administrators, are also the accountants for Crowdcube, appointed to manage the investment. The bigger question is how much and how quickly money can be dragged in by Crowdcube to put Caterham on the grid in Abu Dhabi for the final grand prix — and whether it is worth it. Administrators want Caterham to be seen as a going concern fit for sale. Marussia also hoped for the best, but there has been no white knight riding to the rescue. Now it is the turn of F1’s fans to have a go. They can invest as little as £10 for the fun of it up to £45,000 in return for corporate hospitality tickets at the Yas Marina circuit. In between, Ecclestone is under pressure to come up with a deal
£10,000 will get your name painted on to the green Caterham cars. It seems a long stretch between ambition and reality: only seven days remain until the fund is closed and Crowdcube does not appear to have managed such a huge investment before. Finbarr O’Connell, the administrator, is talking to potential new owners for Caterham but needs to bridge the financial gap to Abu Dhabi after the team missed the United States Grand Prix and now Brazil this weekend. “A number of parties are involved but, because the financial commitments are so huge, it is difficult for people to commit,” he said. “I am hoping when the sport is in Abu Dhabi, we will have finalised a deal.” All this comes against a feverish background in which the three remaining minnows — Force India, Sauber and Lotus — are waiting for Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s chief executive, to come up with a deal to keep them in business into next year. Their threatened boycott of the US race last weekend shook F1 to its foundations and Donald Mackenzie, chairman of CVC Capital Partners, the sport’s controlling shareholders, has authorised Ecclestone to put together a package to keep the trio happy. The plight of Marussia and Caterham, however, has thrown into high relief the extraordinary inequalities that make competition impossible. A vivid illustration came from Sauber, who announced two new drivers for next season — Marcus Ericcson, who was at Caterham, and Felipe Nasr —who between them will bring in about £15 million in sponsor money. Their employment comes at a cost of many drivers who could claim greater talent and success. But needs must at the lowly end of the F1 grid.
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Sport Football
Townsend buoyed by latest call to England colours Gary Jacob
Andros Townsend has said that his England form justified his call-up for the country this week, even though he has played only 50 minutes in the Barclays Premier League since his most recent cap a month ago. Persuading Roy Hodgson of his attacking merits has been easier than his Tottenham Hotspur head coaches. Townsend figured mainly as a substitute for Tottenham at the end of last season and Mauricio Pochettino, who took over as head coach this summer, has not started the winger in the league this season. Hodgson appears intent on keeping faith with the young talent he has identified, but admitted that he had taken a “risk” in keeping faith with Townsend last month, but wanted him to play regularly. Townsend vindicated Hodgson’s decision by scoring as a substitute against San Marino in the Euro 2016 qualifying match. “The [England] manager realises every time I have been called upon for my country I have done myself justice, so hopefully I can keep playing well when called upon for my national team and come back to my club after that and hopefully establish myself in the
Premier League,” Townsend said. “It was good that the [England] manager showed faith in me, so I’m going to go away, work my socks off for ten days and hopefully I can get some more game time.” He has started every Europa League game this season and scored in the 2-1 victory over Asteras Tripolis on Thursday. The return from injury of Theo Walcott, also a winger, could put pressure on his positon for England. “It’s difficult. You are a footballer and you want to play every week and every single game, but you have got to be patient and when you get your Europa League or cup games, you have got to make an impression like Harry Kane has done,” he said. “You have got to score and make yourself hard to drop, and Harry Kane has done that with ten goals. I am looking to do the same.” Pochettino again side-stepped whether he would start Kane for his first league match of the season at home to Stoke City tomorrow, although the striker has the support of his team-mates. “He looks a threat and whether he starts on Sunday or comes on, I know he is going to make a real impact,” Townsend said. Kane’s header should have led to a comfortable victory over the Greek
ANDREW COULDRIDGE/ACTION IMAGES
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Berahino says he could leave Hawthorns Ian Baker
Leaping into action: Townsend hopes that his appearance in the Europa League match in Greece will help to earn him a starting place in the Premier League
club, but they were defensively poor and finished by clinging on to record a third consecutive win, after those over Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa. Spurs have kept only two clean sheets in the past 11 games in all competitions, having achieved three in the opening four matches of the season. Jan Vertonghen said that Pochettino has been working on making the
defence into a unit — “the distances between us and the way we should react to the opponent”, the central defender said. “We have to avoid making the same mistakes against Stoke, or else probably we will lose this game. Winning three games in a row is positive. Of course you have to look at the opponents, but it is a run and we will take a run.”
Saido Berahino, the West Bromwich Albion striker, says that he will have to leave the Black Country club to fulfil his ambition of playing Champions League football. The 21-year-old, who was handed his first England call-up this week, has been linked with a move to the country’s top clubs after scoring eight goals this term. West Brom appear resigned to losing Berahino at some stage despite offering him a new deal. “My ambition is to play in the Champions League, be involved in England’s senior team and play in big tournaments like World Cups and Euros,” Berahino said. “I have a big vision and hope I can reach the goals. “If it takes leaving West Brom to achieve my goals, it will have to be that. I appreciate what they have done for me and I am working hard each day to bring the club as many wins as I can. I stay focused on them. “It doesn’t mean I won’t sign a new contract, though. By me saying that, it doesn’t mean I won’t leave this year or next year — no one knows. It’s just an ambition I have.” Alan Irvine, the West Brom head coach, responded: “I believe there is still plenty of time for him to work on his game here before any of that [a move] happens. It is important that young players do not go to the wrong place at the wrong time.”
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Comment Sport
Invincible logic: no rivals, invisible prize Oliver Kay Chief Football Correspondent
O
ne of the many striking aspects of Amy Lawrence’s new book Invincible: Inside Arsenal’s Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season, is how little thought the protagonists gave to what Thierry Henry, in that lyrical way of his, calls the “invisible prize”. “At the end, what are you getting?” Henry said, looking back on Arsenal’s achievement. “You are fighting for something you will never see.” It was only upon securing the Barclays Premier League title with four matches remaining that Henry and his team-mates began to embrace the challenge of becoming English football’s first “Invincibles” since Preston North End in the inaugural league season 115 years earlier. Until that point, they said, it was barely even at the back of their minds. That gives you some indication of how tiresome José Mourinho and his Chelsea players, just ten matches into their Premier League title challenge, must find the “Invincibles” questions. This lunchtime they face Liverpool at Anfield, a place where, as Mourinho suggested yesterday, unexpected things can happen. Should Chelsea’s unbeaten record survive their trip to Merseyside, though, the “Invincibles” talk will increase. One reason for this is that Chelsea combine the requisite degrees of style and substance — plenty of the former, even more of the latter — to make such a distant prospect remotely plausible. The other is that, like Arsenal of a decade ago, they are showing extreme competence in a league in which so many supposed rivals are drastically underperforming. That is the thing about Arsenal’s Invincibles season — and for that matter Chelsea’s record-breaking total of 95 points (29 wins, eight draws, one defeat) the next campaign. Those were two seasons in which Manchester United fell uncomfortably into transition — “the Djemba Djemba years”, as Gary Neville likes to call them — from 83 points in 2002-03 to 75 points in 2003-04 to 77 points in 2004-05; Liverpool went from 64 to 60 to 58 (although, defying logic, they did somehow win the Champions League in 2005); Newcastle United, previously the best of the rest, went from 69 to 56 to 44. Tottenham Hotspur were a bad joke, Leeds United a sick joke. There were some tough teams, such as David Moyes’s Everton and
SHAUN BOTTERILL / GETTY IMAGES
Henry said of remaining undefeated: “You are fighting for something you will never see”
Sam Allardyce’s Bolton Wanderers, but it was hardly a vintage Premier League. Neither, on the evidence so far, is this. We should celebrate the progress of Southampton and West Ham United, but Chelsea’s more obvious rivals have been profoundly disappointing. Manchester City’s frailties have been exposed more in the Champions League than on the domestic front, but they are a team playing under a cloud and being carried by Sergio Agüero; Arsenal are combining the sublime (some of their attacking play) with the ridiculous (some of their defending); Liverpool, so irresistible last spring, have simply not regained the mojo that was drained by Steven Gerrard’s slip and Luis Suárez’s
Fixtures
Chelsea in 2014). Improvement by the Spanish and German teams can account for much, but not for the travails of City and others against far more modest opponents. There was a time post-2009 when complacency and frugality in the transfer market was at the heart of the issue, but over more recent years the arms race between the top English teams has been resumed. English teams, City in particular, have assembled players and squads that should be capable of reaching the later stages of the Champions League, but they are simply not punching their weight. Liverpool did more than that in the Premier League last season, surpassing all expectations, but their post-Suárez team, like Manchester United’s post-Ferguson team, like Tottenham Hotspur’s post-Bale team, has barely begun to take shape. None of this means that Chelsea are likely to sail through the season unbeaten; they could feasibly lose at Anfield and be just a point ahead of Southampton, with an inferior goal difference, by this evening, but they do look, increasingly, like a team who might lack a credible challenger this season. City, the champions, will surely shrug off their early-season blues sooner rather than later, but there still seems to be something disconcerting under the surface. Too many others — Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United — look like they would settle for the small mercy of Champions League qualification. For Chelsea to remain “invincible” — and indeed for Southampton to stay in the top four — would be a terribly tall order, but, in such strange times in the Premier League, the impossible is not what it might be.
Results
Today
Bolton*...............16 Blackpool.............16
Football
*Does not include last night’s match. FA Cup: First round: Barnet v Wycombe; Barnsley v Burton Albion; Basingstoke v AFC Telford; Bromley v Dartford; Bury v Hemel Hempstead; Cambridge United v Fleetwood Town; Cheltenham v Swindon; Crewe v Sheffield United; Dagenham & Redbridge v Southport; Dover v Morecambe; Eastleigh v Lincoln City; Gillingham v Bristol City; Grimsby v Oxford United; Hartlepool v East Thurrock; Luton v Newport County; Mansfield v Concord Rangers; Northampton v Rochdale; Oldham v Leyton Orient; Peterborough v Carlisle; Plymouth v AFC Fylde; Port Vale v Milton Keynes Dons; Southend v Chester; Tranmere v Bristol Rovers; Walsall v Shrewsbury; Weston-super-Mare v Doncaster; Yeovil v Crawley Town; York v AFC Wimbledon. Vanarama Conference: North: Chorley v Boston United; Colwyn Bay v Bradford Park Avenue; Guiseley v Lowestoft Town; Hednesford v Barrow; Hyde v Gainsborough; Oxford City v Stalybridge; Stockport County v Brackley; Tamworth v North Ferriby United. South: Boreham Wood v Wealdstone; Chelmsford v Hayes & Yeading; Ebbsfleet United v Bath City; St Albans v Whitehawk; Sutton United v Eastbourne Borough. Scottish Premiership: Dundee v St Johnstone; Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Hamilton; Kilmarnock v Ross County; St Mirren v Partick. Scottish Championship: Alloa v Livingston; Cowdenbeath v Hibernian; Heart of Midlothian v Raith; Queen of the South v Dumbarton; Rangers v Falkirk. League One: Airdrieonians v Stenhousemuir; Morton v Forfar; Peterhead v Dunfermline; Stranraer v Ayr. League Two: Arbroath v Queen’s Park; East Fife v Albion;
Kick-off 3.0 unless stated Barclays Premier League: Burnley v Hull; Liverpool v Chelsea (12.45); Manchester United v Crystal Palace; Queens Park Rangers v Manchester City (5.30); Southampton v Leicester; West Ham v Aston Villa. Sky Bet Championship: Birmingham v Cardiff; Brighton v Blackburn; Derby v Wolverhampton Wanderers (12.15); Fulham v Huddersfield; Ipswich v Watford; Leeds v Blackpool; Middlesbrough v Bournemouth; Millwall v Brentford; Nottingham Forest v Norwich; Reading v Charlton; Sheffield Wednesday v Rotherham. P W D L F A GD Pts Bournemouth......16 9 3 4 33 16 17 30 Middlesbrough....16 9 3 4 26 12 14 30 Watford .............. 16 8 5 3 30 18 12 29 Derby...................16 8 5 3 28 16 12 29 Ipswich................16 7 6 3 24 17 7 27 Wolves................16 7 6 3 22 17 5 27 Norwich...............16 7 5 4 24 17 7 26 Blackburn............16 7 5 4 26 23 3 26 Brentford ............ 16 7 4 5 21 21 0 25 Charlton..............16 5 9 2 19 18 1 24 Nottm Forest......16 5 7 4 24 22 2 22 Cardiff.................16 6 4 6 21 21 0 22 Reading...............16 6 3 7 22 26 -4 21 Sheff Wed...........16 4 8 4 12 14 -2 20 Huddersfield.......16 5 5 6 24 28 -4 20 Millwall...............16 4 6 6 17 21 -4 18 Leeds...................16 4 5 7 17 23 -6 17 Rotherham..........16 4 5 7 15 24 -9 17 Wigan* ............... 16 3 7 6 17 19 -2 16 Brighton..............16 3 7 6 16 19 -3 16 Fulham................16 4 4 8 24 30 -6 16 Birmingham........16 3 6 7 14 29 -15 15
departure; anyone enthused by Manchester United’s progress is guilty of seeing only what they want to see, perhaps a little too distracted by the Louis van Gaal aura. Look, too, at the Champions League, where Premier League clubs are underperforming. The English standard has dropped dramatically since the relative golden age of 2005 to 2009 in any case; look beyond the isolated high and focus on how chaotic defending and early departures, at the group stage or round of 16, have become so commonplace. From boasting nine out of 12 semi-finalists between 2006-07 and 2008-09, the Premier League has provided three semi-finalists in five seasons since (Manchester United in 2011, Chelsea in 2012,
6 At the Football Business Awards on Thursday night, the outstanding contribution award went to Peter Kenyon, the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive. This is the same Peter Kenyon who suggested in 2002 that there should be only 40 professional clubs in England and who is mainly heard of these days in relation to various funds involved with third-party ownership of players’ economic rights. Early front-runners for next year’s award presumably include Sepp Blatter, Kia Joorabchian and Jorge Mendes.
4 1
2 10 17 26 -9 14 4 11 10 26 -16 7
East Stirling v Berwick; Montrose v Clyde. William Hill Scottish Cup: Third-round replay: Boness United v Elgin (1.30); Stirling v Hurlford United.
Rugby union
Kick-off 3.0 unless stated International matches: England v New Zealand (2.30, at Twickenham); Ireland v South Africa (5.30, at Aviva Stadium); Scotland v Argentina (5.30, at Murrayfield); Wales v Australia (2.30, at Millennium Stadium). LV= Cup: Exeter v Bath (4.30).
Tomorrow Football
Barclays Premier League: Sunderland v Everton (1.30); Swansea v Arsenal (4.0); Tottenham v Stoke (1.30); West Bromwich Albion v Newcastle (1.30). FA Cup: First round, kick-off 2.0 unless stated: Blyth Spartans v Altrincham; Braintree Town v Chesterfield; Coventry v Worcester; Halifax v Bradford City (12.0); Forest Green v Scunthorpe; Gosport Borough v Colchester; Norton United v Gateshead; Notts County v Accrington Stanley (3.0); Portsmouth v Aldershot; Stevenage v Maidstone United; Wrexham v Woking. Vanarama Conference: North: Gloucester v Harrogate Town (3.0). Scottish Premiership: Aberdeen v Celtic (12.30).
Rugby union LV= Cup: Leicester v Sale (3.15); London Welsh v Gloucester (2.30); Wasps v London Irish (2.0).
Cricket Second Test match Bangladesh v Zimbabwe
Khulna (final day of five): Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 162 runs Bangladesh: First Innings 433 (S Al Hasan 137; T Iqbal 109; Mahmudullah 56) Second Innings (overnight 201-5) Mahmudullah c Masakadza b Mushangwe 71 Shuvagata Hom c Masakadza b Mushangwe50 Taijul Islam c Panyangara b Mushangwe 1 Shahdat Hossain c Masakadza b Mushangwe 3 Rubel Hossain not out 8 Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 3, nb 1) 12 Total (9 wkts dec, 83.5 overs) 248 Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-75, 3-131, 4-145, 5-145, 6-220, 7-222, 8-236, 9-248. Bowling: Chigumbura 6-2-13-0; Panyangara 123-45-1; Chatara 7-3-19-0; Waller 27-4-59-4; Butt 6-0-22-0; Mushangwe 25.5-2-82-4. Zimbabwe: First Innings 368 (H Masakadza 158; R W Chakabva 101; S Al Hasan 5 for 80.) Second Innings S R Butt c Haque b Al Hasan 9 B Chari c and b Islam 4 H Masakadza c Haque b Al Hasan 61 *B R M Taylor c Hom b Al Hasan 0 †R W Chakabva c Mahmudullah b Jubair 27 C R Ervine st Rahim b Jubair 21 E Chigumbura c Mahmudullah b Al Hasan 12 M Waller b Islam 4 T Panyangara not out 8 N Mushangwe c Rahim b Al Hasan 0 T L Chatara lbw b Islam 1 Extras (b 4) 4 Total (51.1 overs) 151 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-13, 3-15, 4-85, 5-117, 6-137, 7-142, 8-142, 9-142.
Bowling: Islam 15.1-3-44-3; Al Hasan 18-544-5; Hom 4-2-9-0; Rubel 4-2-8-0; Jubair 10-042-2. Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and B F Bowden (New Zealand).
Second Twenty20 Australia v South Africa
Melbourne (South Africa won toss): Australia beat South Africa by 7 wickets South Africa (balls) †Q de Kock c Dunk b Bollinger 0 (2) R R Hendricks st Dunk b Boyce 18 (22) R R Rossouw c and b Faulkner 12 (8) *J P Duminy c Finch b Faulkner 49 (51) F Behardien st Dunk b Boyce 5 (10) D A Miller c Cummins b Faulkner 11 (15) R McLaren c Faulkner b Cummins 1 (4) W D Parnell not out 2 (6) K J Abbott not out 2 (2) Extras (w 1) 1 Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 101 K S Rabada and M I Tahir did not bat. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-14, 3-46, 4-60, 5-90, 6-92, 7-97. Bowling: Bollinger 4-0-23-1; Faulkner 4-0-25-3; Abbott 2-0-16-0; Maxwell 2-0-11-0; Cummins 4-1-11-1; Boyce 4-0-15-2. Australia (balls) †B R Dunk c Abbott b Parnell 23 (20) *A J Finch not out 44 (30) S R Watson c Abbott b Parnell 30 (23) G J Maxwell c Rossouw b Rabada 0 (2) C L White not out 1 (2) Extras (w 3, nb 1) 4 Total (3 wkts, 12.4 overs) 102 N J Reardon, J P Faulkner, P J Cummins, S A Abbott, C J Boyce and D E Bollinger did not bat. Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-92, 3-99.
Bowling: Abbott 2-0-17-0; Rabada 3-0-25-1; Duminy 1-0-9-0; Parnell 3.4-1-17-2; Tahir 2-0-18-0; McLaren 1-0-16-0. Umpires: S D Fry and M D Martell (Australia).
Golf
HSBC World Championships, Sheshan International, China: Leading scores after two rounds (GB unless stated, par 72): 134: G McDowell 67, 67. 137: I Poulter 70, 67. 138: B Watson (US) 71, 67; H Iwata (Japan) 73, 65. 139: K Na (US) 71, 68; T Clark (SA) 69, 70; R Fowler (US) 69, 70; J Blixt (Swe) 71, 68. 140: T Olesen (Den) 72, 68; L Oosthuizen (SA) 70, 70.
Motor sport
Formula One: Brazilian Grand Prix Second practice round times: 1, N Rosberg (Ger, Mercedes) 1min 12.123sec. 2, L Hamilton (GB, Mercedes) 1:12.336. 3, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 1:12.696. 4, D Ricciardo (Aus, Red Bull) 1:12.956. 5, V Bottas (Fin, Williams) 1:13.035. 6, F Massa (Br, Williams) 1:13.099. 7, F Alonso (Sp, Ferrari) 1:13.122. 8, D Kvyat (Russ, Toro Rosso) 1:13.254. 9, S Vettel (Ger, Red Bull) 1:13.333. 10, K Magnussen (Den, McLaren) 1:13.479. 11, P Maldonado (Ven, Lotus) 1:13.497. 12, R Grosjean (Fr, Lotus) 1:13.714. 13, N Hulkenberg (Ger, Force India) 1:13.882. 14, E Gutiérrez (Mex, Sauber) 1:13.902. 15, A Sutil (Ger, Sauber) 1:14.204. 16, J Button (GB, McLaren) 1:14.209. 17, J-E Vergne (Fr, Toro Rosso) 1:17.171.
Snooker
Champion of Champions: Ricoh Arena, Coventry: Group Stage (Eng unless stated): N Robertson (Aus) bt A Carter 4-0; R Walden bt M Allen (N Ire) 4-0.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Sport Football
Van Gaal: United will back me MATT WEST/REX FEATURES
James Ducker Northern Football Correspondent
Louis van Gaal is convinced that he will be given time to rebuild Manchester United despite David Moyes believing that he had the same assurances, only to be sacked after ten months in charge at Old Trafford. Yet the United manager accepted that there is a pressing need to qualify for the Champions League this season and admitted that he has been forced to change the team’s system for the third time in four months as he searches for a formula that will deliver results. At present in tenth place in the Barclays Premier League after mustering only 13 points from ten matches, United face Crystal Palace at Old Trafford this afternoon, with Van Gaal admitting that he feels “very lousy” about the club’s poor start, which he said is “not good enough”. In contrast to Moyes, Van Gaal is adamant that he will retain the full backing of United’s hierarchy, although the Dutchman has urged supporters to continue to be patient, admitting that it could take his entire three-year contract to deliver success. Asked why he felt that the assurances he has received would differ from those given to Moyes, who was handed a sixyear contract when he succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson, Van Gaal said: “That is only the belief in yourself and the players and the staff. That is based on that. But you can think differently and believe differently. “I cannot speak for him [Moyes]. I can only speak for myself. I have already given the answer. I cannot say when the results are coming.” Van Gaal recalled that, in 2009, when he took over Bayern Munich, he waited until December for his first significant result, and added: “It could be February 1 here, but it doesn’t matter because it is a three-year process. I have signed for three years.” Nonetheless, Van Gaal agreed that United could ill afford a second successive season out of the Champions League. At present, they trail Arsenal, in fourth, by four points. “Of course our goal is to do that,” he said. “You can say players have to do this and that, but it doesn’t work in this world. “It [the start] is not good enough. I feel myself very lousy for the fans in the first place, and also the board because they have a great belief in me, my staff
Sociedad move to offer Moyes new beginning Matt Dickinson Chief Sports Correspondent
Out of favour: Falcao scores against Everton, but he has been one of the main casualties as Van Gaal rebuilds at United
and my players. When you have 13 points from ten matches you aren’t doing well, but we are in a process.” Concerned by imbalance in the team, Van Gaal said that he had been forced to switch systems again. Having initially favoured a 3-4-1-2 formation, Van Gaal then changed to playing 4-3-1-2 and has now opted for 4-1-4-1, which United played in the 1-0 defeat away to Manchester City last Sunday. Yet with space for only one striker in that formation, the latest switch could have repercussions for Robin van Persie or, more likely, Radamel Falcao, who has missed the past two matches
with a calf injury as questions grow over whether United will turn the Colombia striker’s loan move from Monaco into a permanent deal next summer. “I have to decide which striker,” Van Gaal said. “It is not his [Falcao’s] fault. With the other system, I could play with two strikers but then the balance wasn’t good. We had difficulties in the last half an hour [of matches]. That is why I have remodelled the structure of my team for the third time. “Since then we have less goals in our favour but also less goals conceded and we have played against the better teams in the Premier League in that time on
an equal level more or less. I cannot say when he [Falcao] will be back. It depends on the progress of his injury.” Van Gaal will be forced to field another makeshift defence against Palace, with Chris Smalling suspended after his sending-off against City and Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Rafael Da Silva injured. Van Gaal said that he expected Rojo to return in less than six weeks from a dislocated shoulder suffered against City since the Argentina defender does not require surgery, but the manager warned that there was a risk of the problem recurring in the future.
David Moyes was in talks with Real Sociedad yesterday over the managerial vacancy as the Spanish club attempt to persuade the former Manchester United manager to restart his career at the bottom of La Liga. Moyes is understood to be top of the Sociedad shortlist and was invited to San Sebastian to talk to officials and look at the facilities. It remains to be seen whether he will take up the chance to take over a team that finished seventh last season, and made the Champions League the year before that, but have recently slipped into the relegation zone. Chris Coleman, the Wales manager who spent seven months at Sociedad, has encouraged Moyes to take the opportunity in the Basque country. He said: “It was a great experience for me and when I look back on my managerial career that is probably my biggest regret — leaving Sociedad.’’ For Moyes, it would offer the chance to re-establish himself away from England, much as Steve McClaren did successfully at Twente in Holland. The Scot, 51, has been out of work since his sacking from Old Trafford in April. He has had contact from a number of clubs but, after his bruising experience at United, is determined to make the right choice and Sociedad would need to convince him that they have the resources to climb the table and to challenge for the top four. Moyes has said that he has ambitions of returning quickly to Champions League level. Moyes would need to convince the Spaniards that he could quickly pick up serviceable language. Sociedad do have a history of British appointments; aside from Coleman, John Toshack was manager of the club in three separate spells. The Basque club sacked Jagoba Arrasate after a run of one victory in the opening ten league matches. They have put caretaker coaches in charge for the home game against Atletico Madrid on Sunday but are keen to make an appointment soon. Pepe Mel, the former West Bromwich Albion manager, is also on the list of candidates drawn up by Jokin Aperribay, the club president.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Agüero’s vision for the future helps lift the gloom at City Argentina striker tells James Ducker that he will stay at the Etihad for as long it takes to win Champions League
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ergio Agüero waited for his answer to be translated, then looked up and smiled as he fixed his inquisitor with a playful stare that effectively said: “You weren’t expecting that response, were you?” The Manchester City striker had just been asked if he believed that he could realise his European ambitions at a club who are at grave risk of being eliminated from the Champions League group stage for the third time in four seasons. For a moment, there seemed to be a sharp intake of breath as the assembled PR men nervously awaited Agüero’s reply, but it was delivered with a speed and conviction that left no room for interpretation. Contracted to the Barclays Premier League champions until June 2019, the Argentina striker made clear that, if City had not lifted the European Cup by then, he would stay for as long as it took them to do so. It was very much the talk of a player happy to see out his best days at the Etihad Stadium, which, after the criticism and scrutiny that City’s troubles have attracted this season, will have been music to the ears of Manuel Pellegrini, the manager, and the club’s executives. “Not only will I stay the four years [I have left on my contract] to make it Sergio Agüero: Born To Rise — My Story, RRP £18.99. Print and ebook on sale now.
eight here in total, I’ll stay beyond that, until we win it [the Champions League],” Agüero, 26, said. This has been a difficult campaign for City. They have won only seven of their 16 matches and been beaten in three of their past four games, their most recent defeat, a 2-1 loss at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday, leaving them rooted to the bottom of Champions League group E with two points from four fixtures and facing the prospect of another early exit from a competition that continues to confound them. Furthermore, Chelsea have the opportunity to open up a nine-point gap at the top of the Premier League by winning away to Liverpool this lunchtime before City kick off against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road this evening. The struggles have not been for a lack of effort on Agüero’s part. With 12 goals in 15 appearances, he has been one of the few shining lights for Pellegrini’s underperforming team. Yet the striker’s response to a question about his hopes of rivalling Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the Fifa Ballon d’Or suggests he believes that he needs to be doing even more. If his City team-mates share that sort of attitude, it may not be long before their fortunes begin to turn. “Maybe I need to put in some good performances in the Champions League in order to be considered seriously to win that award — or maybe score 70 goals in the Premier League,” he said. “If we do get knocked out of the Champions League, the only way I’m going to win it is by scoring 70 goals this season. “We are not seeing the real City playing in European competition at the moment, but we still have the last two games [against Bayern Munich and Roma] when we hope the real City will turn up. We have to repeat the mindset we have in the league when we go into games in Europe. “In spite of the four performances [in Europe], none of which have been good, we can still pull things around. But I guess that if we don’t, you would
ED GARVEY / PA
Manuel Pellegrini has experienced a chastening week, but the Manchester City manager can expect no sympathy when his side visit Loftus Road this evening and face a Queens Park Rangers side striving to find their feet in the Barclays Premier League. Rangers remain in the bottom three, but Harry Redknapp’s contention that his side have deserved more for their efforts has been given credence after the recent victory over Aston Villa and last weekend’s committed display away to Chelsea. Redknapp’s team left Stamford Bridge empty-handed after a 2-1 defeat but their all-round display will fuel their belief that they can get something out of today’s meeting with the reigning champions. City head south after a
painful week when the satisfaction at securing a narrow victory over neighbours United in the Manchester derby was snuffed out by the shock of the Champions League defeat at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday. Pellegrini’s side, who have won only one of their past five games, will undoubtedly be smarting and Redknapp, the QPR manager, wants to exploit their vulnerability by making their trip to west London as uncomfortable as possible. “City have got an amazing squad,” Redknapp said. “But we can give anyone a game with our tight pitch and by creating a good atmosphere. The crowd will be important to us. We’ll have to play with the same enthusiasm we’ve had in the last few games. If we do, the crowd will be with us and we have a chance.”
Koscielny no nearer return while Walcott requires time Phil Cadden
Something to shout about: the scorer of 12 goals this season, Agüero has been one of the few shining lights for Pellegrini’s misfiring Manchester City team
consider it to be the worst Champions League campaign the club has had.” From the autocratic Roberto Mancini to the democratic Pellegrini, there has been a sharp swing in management styles at City that has left some wondering whether the dressing room has lost a little edge, but Agüero believes that people should not be hoodwinked into thinking that the quiet Chilean is obsessed about keeping the peace.
‘We are not seeing the real City playing in European competition’ Flanked by his young son at an event to mark the launch of his new book, Born to Rise, Agüero admits that “even little Benjamin was angry” after the CSKA game, the insinuation being that Pellegrini pulled no punches in the dressing room afterwards. “Every manager that I’ve played under has their own way of working,”
he said. “We all know Roberto was quite sparky, quite animated on the touchline. He didn’t hide his feelings at all. Manuel is a bit more calm on touchlines, but that isn’t to say that when we get in the dressing room at half-time or after a match that he isn’t the first to give us what-for. I’m not going to tell you exactly what he says but he doesn’t hold back either.” Agüero believes that it would be wrong just to point the finger at Pellegrini. “It’s easy for everyone to suddenly decide it’s the man at the helm who is to blame, but in situations like this, when we haven’t played well as a group, we are all in it together. We need to work our way out of this situation as a group.” For Agüero, the merest mention of QPR evokes memories of his stoppagetime winning goal against the London club that secured City’s first title for 44 years in May 2012. Success may feel a distant thought for City at the moment, but with Agüero determined to spearhead the charge for years to come, it would be unwise to write them off.
Redknapp plans to crowd City out Pellegrini keeps faith with Touré Mike Donovan
Football Sport
James Ducker
Manuel Pellegrini has no intention of taking Yaya Touré out of the firing line, and the Manchester City manager is confident that his midfielder has the mental strength to come through his present problems. Touré’s season took another turn for the worse on Wednesday when the 31-year-old was sent off in City’s 2-1 defeat at home to CSKA Moscow that leaves the club at risk of failing to qualify from the group stage of the ChampionsLeague for the third time in four campaigns. “If I think that Yaya needs to mentally rest from the pressure, I think he is not the player that he is,” Pellegrini said before his team’s Barclays Premier League game away to Queens Park Rangers this evening. “I am talking to
him every day. He has all my support. I think all things that happen at Manchester City [seem to be] because of Yaya Touré, if he did or didn’t do certain things. I don’t think with just one player you can analyse all the squad. “He is a very important player. He will continue to play the way he is playing, because that is the best way, and I am talking to him every day and I know he would want to continue playing.” Pellegrini added that he had no need to rest the Ivory Coast midfielder. Responding to reports in The Times yesterday that City would consider selling Touré next summer if a suitable offer was forthcoming, Pellegrini said that he was “sure nobody at the club is talking about selling Yaya, so maybe that news comes from other teams to see our team weaker”.
After their three-goal Champions League collapse to draw with Anderlecht in midweek, Arsenal supporters could have done with a lift, but all Arsène Wenger, the manager, could offer at his weekly media briefing yesterday was further pain and discomfort when he delivered his latest medical bulletin. Laurent Koscielny has been ruled out for another month because of his achilles injury, while Wenger admitted that Theo Walcott, although fit again, will not be at his best for fourth-placed Arsenal until the new year. Koscielny will miss the Barclays Premier League trip to Swansea tomorrow and Walcott is set to remain on the substitutes’ bench at the Liberty Stadium, where he has sat against Sunderland and Burnley in consecutive weeks. Wenger had hoped that the French centre back would return from chronic tendinitis in his achilles, which he has been nursing since the summer, in time for the home league match with Manchester United on November 22. Wenger, though, revealed that Koscielny — who has already missed the past five Arsenal games with rest diagnosed as the only cure — has yet to start running and will not make a first-team Koscielny will be out for at least another month
comeback before December. When asked if Koscielny, 29, would be fit to face United after the two-week international break, Wenger replied: “No, I don’t think so for United. He has not started running outside, so you cannot think he will be available in two weeks’ time. “Then you have to see how he responds to going outside and running. He will not be available for three or four weeks. You can never predict an achilles problem and inflammation. His achilles on the scans are quite good. It’s just inflammation. He could not go on, so we had no choice [but to rest him]. He is not there yet anyway.” Without Koscielny, Arsenal could not stem the tide as Anderlecht produced an unlikely recovery at the Emirates Stadium. Wenger added: “Look, ideally we want him here. Could we have stopped the goals without Koscielny? I say yes. “You miss him every time you concede a stupid goal. You think, ‘Oh, if he was there’, but we have conceded some with him as well. When you are a defender and you make a mistake, you have to stand up for it, so I think it would be a little bit escaping the real responsibility. Everyone makes them.” Walcott was handed a boost courtesy of his England call-up this week, yet Wenger was keen to stress that the winger will not be rushed after a cruciate knee ligament injury. Wenger said: “It takes two months. Once you are back in full training, you count two months. Of course people think you’re back and you play, but it’s not like that. Ten months is a long time in top-level football. “[You lose] the sharpness, the speed. At the top level, it’s a fraction of a second that makes the decisions. But it takes time to get that fraction of pace.”
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Sport Football
Mourinho yet to look back as Rodgers attempts to move forward The fortunes of Liverpool and Chelsea could hardly have been more contrasting since their last meeting. Matt Hughes seeks to analyse why
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s befits the best of enemies they have become over the past decade, Liverpool and Chelsea shared a Sliding Doors moment this year or, to be more precise, a pivotal moment involving a sliding footballer. Both clubs have moved in radically different directions since Steven Gerrard’s slip at Anfield in April, something that the Liverpool captain will not need reminding of as he prepares to face Chelsea again on the same pitch this lunchtime. Gerrard described the slip as heralding the start of “the worst three months of my life” towards the end of the summer, and little has improved for him or his club since. Whereas Chelsea have not looked back since using the irreparable damage they caused to their rivals’ title bid as a springboard for mounting one of their own this season, Liverpool seem haunted by what might have been. The statistics are stark, with Chelsea unbeaten in winning ten of their 13 Premier League matches starting with that dramatic victory, in contrast to Liverpool’s paltry haul of five wins over the same period. The sporting application of Edward Lorenz’s butterfly ly
effect could have no clearer illustration. Gerrard’s slip has not been the sole, or even the primary cause, of these clubs’ divergent paths, however, and there are numerous other factors to explain why Chelsea will arrive at Anfield as runaway Premier League leaders to face opponents who are battling to stay in contention for Champions League qualification. transfers The clubs’ contrasting summers in the transfer market are perhaps the clearest reason for the transformation in their fortunes, with almost all of Chelsea’s signings making an immediate and positive impact, whereas most of Liverpool’s are struggling to settle. Liverpool deserve some sympathy for losing the irreplaceable goals and class of Luis Suárez, which left them playing catch-up, as epitomised by the last-minute gamble on Mario Balotelli. In addition, the decision to spend the £75 million Suárez fee, plus an extra £38 million, on signing eight key players rather than one or two superstars left Rodgers with the unenviable task of constructing a new startBalotelli has yet to prove himself as an adequate replacement for Suárez
Slip sliding away: Gerrard is helpless after his error in the sides’ last meeting at Anfield signalled the decline in Liverpool’s
ing XI from scratch, with little time to do so. Chelsea’s changes have been less dramatic, José Mourinho opting to add extra quality to an established structure. The Portuguese also benefited from conducting most of his business early, the deal to sign Diego Costa being agreed last January, Cesc Fàbregas sealing a return to a league that he already knew intimately and Thibaut Courtois replacing Petr Cech as a world-class goalkeeper with minimal fuss. The transition could not have been more seamless, so Chelsea’s blistering start has been no surprise.
managerial influence Gerrard was not the only key figure who took a tumble at Anfield last season, as Rodgers’s halo also slipped after Liverpool’s defeat. The Northern Irishman’s tactical inflexibility and naivety was exposed as he failed to alter Liverpool’s game plan against opponents whose only aim was to defend — thus leaving them vulnerable to the counterattacks that sealed their fate. He also lost his position on the moral high ground after the game by condemning Chelsea’s tactics and claiming that defensive organisation is easy. In fairness, Rodgers apologised to Mourinho the very next day, offering a
retraction that may not have been forthcoming had their roles been reversed. Rodgers has shown signs of continuing to struggle since then, particularly with regard to identifying and sticking with his best team, whereas Mourinho can rarely have been happier. Unlike all of his predecessors since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea, Mourinho has been left unencumbered to assemble the team he wants, dispensing with proprietorial favourites such as David Luiz and Fernando Torres, and even sidelining Cech. Mourinho has been given absolute authority and is revelling in it.
Manager pays tribute to Gerrard’s inner strength Tony Barrett
Steven Gerrard faces Chelsea today for the first time since his infamous slip against the London club contributed to Liverpool wasting their best chance to win the league title for almost a quarter of a century. That experience, according to Brendan Rodgers, would have broken a lesser man and the Liverpool manager believes that only his captain’s inner strength allowed him to come through it. Gerrard has since admitted that the personal ramifications of his slip that led to Demba Ba scoring the first goal in Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Anfield in April continued for some time afterwards, triggering a three-month period that he described as the worst of his life.
For the 34-year-old, the cruelty of the incident lay in the reality that he was powerless to prevent it; his feet gave way from underneath him and the rest was history. Rodgers was uniquely well placed to see the pain that it caused Gerrard, but also how he dealt with it and, if anything, his admiration for the midfield player grew as a result. “I think it probably would have broken weaker characters,” Rodgers said. “Steven is a big character and I know from seeing him work every day that he’s got over it. It’s something you might think a bit more about when you finish or retire, but he and I haven’t had time to dwell on what happened. “He has got the inner strength that the very, very best players have. You
have to have that to perform at the level he has for 15 years at one of the top clubs in the world, where the scrutiny is on you week in, week out. “He has performed at a level that gets him over disappointments, that allows him to keep going, and it is his character that defines him above even his talent. He has been remarkable for this club throughout his career here and will continue to be.” Liverpool have gone to unusual lengths to prepare for Chelsea’s latest visit, with the entire squad being taken to Spain for the Champions League tie against Real Madrid, the trip being extended to three days, and yesterday’s training session taking place at Anfield rather than Melwood. Rodgers’s intention has clearly been to focus minds and
improve morale before the clash with the Barclays Premier League leaders. Rodgers does not accept, however, that such measures are necessary because of a hangover caused by Chelsea’s last victory at Anfield, even though he agrees that the setback “halted” his team’s momentum. “For me [the 3-3 draw with] Crystal Palace hurt more,” he said. “In the Chelsea game we did everything we possibly could. There were elements that were out of our control and the performance for a large part of the game was dominant but we just couldn’t score. “The bigger disappointment for me was the Crystal Palace game. That wasn’t the game that lost us the title but, when you go 3-0 up, you have to win.”
Rodgers says Gerrard’s character has helped him get over the title anguish
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Football Sport
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER, BRADLEY ORMESHER
Goals! Goals! Goals! Today, 12.45pm: get near-live updates from Liverpool v Chelsea delivered to your smartphone. Watch the goals minutes after ball hits net as well, although even with all his players available there is still a sense that Rodgers is waiting to alight upon his preferred team and formation. In contrast, Chelsea’s starting XI almost picks itself, with just one space in the attacking quartet being contested by Willian and Andre Schürrle, and with the exception of Costa’s hamstring, Mourinho has had few injuries to worry about. individual performances There is only so much that even managers with deserved reputations for adding value to their sides such as Rodgers and Mourinho can do, and both teams are where they are largely because of their players. At Liverpool, only Raheem Sterling has consistently met expectations this season, while many at Chelsea have excelled, particularly Costa, Fàbregas, Eden Hazard and the centre-back pairing of John Terry and Gary Cahill. title challenge, a setback from which they have yet to recover, while Chelsea have gone from strength to strength
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the game blog Tony Barrett on why José Mourinho should stop criticising and start helping the Bridge find its voice thetimes.co.uk/football
fixture list Mourinho spends more time bleating about scheduling and kick-off times, and famously fielded a weakened team featuring Mark Schwarzer, Tomas Kalas and Demba Ba in this fixture last season, but it is Liverpool who seem to be struggling to cope with the flood of fixtures. This season is the first time that Rodgers has been faced with the challenge of shuffling his resources between European and domestic competitions, and fielding an arguably stronger team in a Capital One Cup tie against Middlesbrough than in the Champions League against Real
Madrid provides an indication that he is finding it difficult. As a result, Liverpool have won successive matches just once this season — and they were 14 days apart because of the international break — whereas Chelsea have enjoyed winning runs of four and six matches. consistency of selection The inevitable impact of Suárez’s departure has been exacerbated by the injuries suffered by Daniel Sturridge, who has played only three matches for Liverpool this season, two of which were won. Mamadou Sakho, Jon Flanagan, Philippe Coutinho and Joe Allen have all been out for significant periods
distractions Other than the odd moan about the fixture list, Mourinho has kept his nose relatively clean, leaving his opposite number to hog the headlines. From his unresolved spat with Roy Hodgson over Sterling to the hullaballoo that accompanied his weakened team selection in Madrid, Rodgers has spent most of this season in the spotlight, while the club’s stand-off with Gerrard over his new contract could become another unwanted distraction. Rodgers’s controversial decision to make seven changes against Real shows that he regards Chelsea’s visit as having added significance beyond the three points on offer, as Liverpool seek to reverse what has become a sixmonth slump.
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Portuguese wastes no time on Suárez book claims Matt Hughes Deputy Football Correspondent
José Mourinho accused Luis Suárez last night of talking “s***” in his new autobiography. The Chelsea manager was responding to Suárez’s claim that an unnamed Chelsea player expressed misgivings about Mourinho’s timewasting tactics during last season’s 2-0 win at Anfield. Chelsea return to Anfield this lunchtime with last season’s epic confrontation still fresh in many people’s minds, not least that of Mourinho, who stated baldly yesterday that Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip cost Liverpool the Barclays Premier League title. In his book, Crossing the Line, Suárez addresses another aspect of that
dramatic afternoon by complaining about Chelsea’s time-wasting, which appeared deliberate and pronounced from early in the game and led to Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, accusing the visiting team of “parking two buses”. “I was asking myself, ‘Why are they doing this from the first minute?’” Suárez writes. “I even asked one of their players. ‘What do you want me to do? If he makes us play like this, I have to play like this,’ he replied. ‘What else can I do? If I don’t, I won’t play. What would you do?’ ” Mourinho hit back strongly at the claim yesterday and poured scorn on players who release autobiographies halfway through their careers. The Chelsea manager has emerged as an
unlikely literary critic this season, having accused Roy Keane of using his name in an attempt to sell books. “Did you read the [Suárez] book?” Mourinho said. “I don’t. At 51, I might have enough stories to write one. When you are about 25? You write a book about when you are a kid? “I don’t think I will do a book. I have an invitation to do a book, just with 100 pictures. I choose 100 pictures of my career, and I just make a little comment on every picture. A memory book. But not a book to tell ‘s***’ and to criticise people and to speak negative things about people who belong to my career.” Chelsea can extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points by winning today’s early kick-off, with Mourinho arguing that their
advantage is actually worth more because they will have played matches away to Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool in their first 11 fixtures, as well as entertaining Arsenal. Mourinho expressed some concern that his players may not be “physically ready” to face Liverpool less than 72 hours after playing against Maribor in Slovenia in the Champions League, but Diego Costa is fit to start up front and Chelsea travelled north without any other injury problems. “When we leave Anfield we will have left behind three of the most difficult stadiums to play in all season,” he said. Mourinho said that he has no interest in signing Gerrard if he decides to leave Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of the season.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Sport Rugby union
Ireland rely on fresh centre pairing Mark Baldwin
Nothing better illustrates the task facing Ireland against South Africa in Dublin this evening than the test of fire handed to Robbie Henshaw, the strongly built 21-year-old from Connacht anointed by Brian O’Driscoll as his long-term successor, and Jared Payne, the New Zealander newly qualified by residence after several impressive seasons with Ulster. Henshaw, who has only three caps, will play in the place of the sidelined Gordon D’Arcy at inside centre, with Payne, 29, making his debut outside him in — for now at least — the No 13
shirt that O’Driscoll wore 133 times for Ireland until March, scoring a national record 46 tries. So it is the more experienced Payne who gets the first real crack at filling O’Driscoll’s boots, although both he and Henshaw have played much of their senior rugby at full back. D’Arcy, O’Driscoll’s regular centre partner for more than a decade and himself a holder of 79 Ireland caps, was just about fit to play, according to Joe Schmidt, the Ireland head coach, but a knock suffered playing for Leinster against Castres was deemed to have given him insufficient time in the match preparations. “Gordon has been
a really good mentor for both Robbie and Jared this week,” Schmidt said. “It was going to be a new centre pairing no matter what, so we decided to go with what had been working together. “It wasn’t too much of a surprise to them, and I also spoke beforehand with Gordon about the selection. He’s been a massive asset to those two in training. “Ireland have been blessed with a centre pairing for a huge length of time who have not necessarily been the biggest players, but have been as physical as the best. Physicality is sometimes determined by a person’s will rather than by size.”
Fresh from beating New Zealand 27-25 in Johannesburg on October 4, and unchanged, the Springboks will certainly pose a brutal physical threat, not just to Henshaw and Payne but right across the field against an Ireland team missing an entire alternative XV through injury. At tight-head prop, Mike Ross has managed to shake off a month-long groin injury, but his front-row colleagues, Cian Healy, Marty Moore and Nathan White, feature in a lengthy casualty list that includes other longterm absentees, Sean O’Brien, Donnacha Ryan and Andrew Trimble as well as the likes of D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald and Rory Best, the hooker who pulled out this week with a calf injury and has been replaced by Sean Cronin. As Six Nations champions, however, Ireland do now boast significant strength in depth and are lifted by the returns of Tommy Bowe, the wing, and Peter O’Mahony, the flanker. They have started the post-O’Driscoll era well, with Schmidt overseeing 29-17 and 23-17 victories in Argentina in the summer — the first time Ireland have won there. In Paul O’Connell, the Ireland: R Kearney; T Bowe, J Payne, R Henshaw, S Zebo; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, S Cronin, M Ross, D Toner, P O’Connell (capt), P O’Mahony, C Henry, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Strauss, D Kilcoyne, R Ah You, M McCarthy, R Ruddock, E Reddan, I Madigan, F Jones. South Africa: W Le Roux; C Hendricks, J Serfontein, J de Villiers (capt), B Habana; H Pollard, F Hougaard; T Mtawarira, B du Plessis, J du Plessis, E Etzebeth, V Matfield, M Coetzee, T Mohoje, D Vermeulen. Replacements: A Strauss, T Nyakane, C Oosthuizen, B Botha, S Burger, C Reinach, P Lambie, J P Pietersen. Referee: R Poite (France). Television: Sky Sports 2 from 5pm (kick-off 5.30pm).
Face of the future: Henshaw has been anointed by O’Driscoll as the longterm successor to his place at centre
captain, Ireland have a talisman capable not just of taking the team beyond the influence of O’Driscoll but also of disrupting a South Africa lineout in which Victor Matfield, two years his senior at 37, remains a main source of possession 12 months after being tempted out of retirement. Ireland’s half backs, Jonny Sexton and Conor Murray, meanwhile, will fancy their chances of outsmarting their counterparts, Handre Pollard, the 20-year-old wunderkind, and Francois Hougaard, the third-choice scrum half. South Africa, though, under Heyneke Meyer, look a formidable and still developing force and, with only eight internationals to play before their opening World Cup match against Japan on September 19 next year, in Brighton, they will not be holding back. Their front row, in particular, as well as their midfield, looks a class or two above Ireland’s.
Cotter sets out his vision as a new dawn breaks for Scotland Lewis Stuart
The past few years have not been kind to Scottish rugby, but a new beginning always brings a sense of optimism. Hopes are high, therefore, that a new coach and a new-look team can work their magic when they take on Argentina at BT Murrayfield this afternoon. Vern Cotter actually took over as coach in June but spent the month firefighting with a squad he had not picked and a schedule that took the team through three continents in four weeks. This is his first real chance to stamp his authority on the team and demonstrate his vision as Scotland start their World Cup preparations in earnest. So far he has made all the right noises about rediscovering the uniquely Scottish way of playing, and has picked the brains of luminaries such as Jim Telfer, Ian McGeechan and Andy Irvine in the process, but even he does not really know how it will work until he has seen the side in action. Up front, mobility has clearly been the key in selection with Adam Ashe, the Glasgow No 8, one of three players making their home debuts after winning their first caps on the summer tour. Ashe won a special mention from his coach for his ability to be the link between forwards and backs. Jonny and Richie Gray slot into the second row and are the 21st pair of brothers to play in the same Scotland Cotter has the chance to see his ideas in action
team. There is one new cap, in Mark Bennett, the outside centre, but crucially he will see nothing but familiar faces round him as he slots into a back division that, apart from Greig Laidlaw, the captain and scrum half, is entirely from Glasgow Warriors, his home club who have been enjoying both the Guinness PRO12, in which they have lost only once and lead the tryscoring statistics, and the European Champions Cup, in which they are unbeaten. For Duncan Hodge, who has taken over as backs coach under Cotter, the key is how quickly the Scotland players can settle into the new style. “We’ve got some mobile, skilful players out there, and you mould the game plan to fit that,” he said. “We shouldn’t forget we’re playing against quality opposition, and there are certain aspects of performance we have to get right. They are coming off the back of four months together and we’ve had ten days, so there will be mistakes. It’s how we react and our behaviour after any little blips.” Argentina, meanwhile, are on a roll. They have not lost at Murrayfield since 1990 and are coming off the back of their breakthrough win in the Rugby Championship. “Argentina rugby belongs in the south hemisphere,” Daniel Hourcade, the coach, said. “It was very important for us to be of that same standard, so getting that win was very important. It gives us confidence.” Scotland: S Hogg; S Maitland, M Bennett, A Dunbar, T Seymour; F Russell, G Laidlaw (capt); A Dickinson, R Ford, E Murray, R Gray, J Gray, R Harley, B Cowan, A Ashe. Replacements: S Lawson, G Reid, G Cross, J Hamilton, A Strokosch, H Pyrgos, D Weir, S Lamont. Argentina: J Tuculet; J Imhoff, M Bosch, JM Hernández, M Montero; N Sánchez, M Landajo; M Ayerza, A Creevy, R Hererra, T Lavanini, JC Guillemain, R Baez, JO Desio, L Senatore. Replacements: M Cortese, LN Paz, N Tetz Chaparro, L Ponce, F Isa, T Cubelli, SG Iglesias, H Agulla. Referee: W Barnes (England). Television: Live on BBC Two (kick-off 5.30pm).
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Wales desperate to impress in dress rehearsal John Westerby
If not now, when? The game against Australia in Cardiff this afternoon presents Wales with their final opportunity before the World Cup to end a dismal record against the Wallabies, which stretches back nine matches to 2008. The recent disarray experienced by Australia, losing their head coach on the eve of the tour, offers Wales a giltedged opportunity to bolster their own belief before the teams next meet at Twickenham in October next year in the devilish pool that also includes England. Should Wales suffer a tenth consecutive defeat by the Wallabies this afternoon, their chances of escaping from that pool would look that little bit bleaker. For Warren Gatland, the Wales head coach, the goal has been to get his players up to speed for their first international action of the season. Gatland and his coaches have identified a chasm of difference in the ground covered by players in regional and international rugby: in the Guinness PRO12 tournament, an average distance covered is 50
to 55 metres per minute, whereas international players are required to cover nearer 80 metres per minute. Hence the intensified fitness schedule that the players have endured over the past fortnight, with an extra session of training on several days, made possible by three visits to the cryotherapy each day. “It has always been difficult for the players to make the step up in the first match of an autumn series, getting more used to it as the month goes on,” Rob Howley, the assistant coach, said. “Warren has manufactured that intensity in training and what we face in the next few weeks is different to when you play northern hemisphere sides.” Paul James has been picked ahead of Gethin Jenkins at loose-head prop in the hope of destabilising the Wallabies’ notoriously fragile scrum. In the backs, George North, outstanding for the Lions against Australia last year, will hope that his running game is not compromised by the move from wing to outside centre, where he will cover for the injuries to Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams. As well as matching their opponents’ speed at the start of the game, Wales are
HUW EVANS/REX FEATURES
Change of scene: North will play outside centre instead of wing versus Australia
desperate to last the distance, having suffered so many agonising defeats to Australia. The aggregate tally over the past four games is only nine points. At
the Millennium Stadium last year, Wales led 13-3 during the first half, but lost 30-26; a year earlier, a last-minute try from Kurtley Beale enabled the
Wales: L Halfpenny; A Cuthbert, G North, J Roberts, L Williams; D Biggar, R Webb; P James, R Hibbard, S Lee, J Ball, A W Jones, D Lydiate, S Warburton (captain), T Faletau. Replacements: S Baldwin, G Jenkins, R Jones, B Davies, J Tipuric, M Phillips, R Priestland, C Allen. Australia: I Folau; A Ashley-Cooper, T Kuridrani, C Leali’ifano, J Tomane; B Foley, N Phipps; J Slipper, S Fainga’a, S Kepu, S Carter, R Simmons, S McMahon, M Hooper (captain), B McCalman. Replacements: J Hanson, T Faulkner, B Alexander, J Horwill, W Skelton, M Hodgson, W Genia, R Horne. Referee: C Joubert (South Africa). Television: Live on BBC One (kick-off 2.30pm).
Wallabies to burgle a 14-12 victory. Beale will not be in Cardiff today after the scandal involving lewd text messages that ultimately led to the resignation of Ewen McKenzie as head coach. Gatland insists that adversity often makes Australia stronger, but their preparations for this game must have been cobbled together at short notice. Michael Cheika, who replaced Ewen McKenzie, was appointed only three days before the squad left for Europe. Their 40-36 victory over the Barbarians last weekend provided preparation of sorts, but Cheika has left out the experienced half-back pairing of Quade Cooper and Will Genia, both of whom have been working their way back from injury. Genia will be among the replacements, with Nick Phipps starting at scrum half, but Cooper does not make the matchday squad, with six forwards on the bench and Bernard Foley starting at fly half. Sean McMahon, the Melbourne Rebels flanker, will make his international debut. Much has changed for the Wallabies in the past month and the World Cup meeting with Wales remains 11 months away. The chance to score points over their rivals, though, is one that neither team wants to squander.
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Sport Rugby union
Smith recalls his happy daze in England’s lower leagues Alex Lowe on the New Zealand wing who once kept his club side afloat despite their prodigious pre-match drinking
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t would have been quite a sight: Ben Smith and his team-mates dressed in boiler suits and skydiving goggles, jumping out of the team bus as if they were hurling themselves into thin air at 10,000 feet — and then checking into the Butlins holiday camp in Bognor Regis. Strange, but true. Smith, the New Zealand wing and a nominee for world player of the year in 2013, spent his gap year playing for Old Colstonians RFC. He worked at Colston’s School as a teaching assistant, helping out with PE lessons, and on Saturdays he played as a fly half in the Gloucester league. His former team-mates remember him as quiet, but a good team man who took his rugby seriously, and he carried d them through some matches, including one on that end-ofseason tour to Bognor. The club had been there the year before and had not left on the best of terms, so they booked in as the Old Colstonians Sky-Diving Club. A few drinks were had pre-match, a few heads were thumping, but Smith was out on the field 90 The way it was: Smith in a starring role for Old Colstonians
minutes before kick-off, warming up, practising his kicking and readying himself for a game against a team who were at least two levels above Old Colstonians. “He is a guy who throws his all into everything he does,” Dan Woodman, Smith’s former team-mate, said. “We all had a few in the morning before the game. It is very rare that you can say one guy carries 14 others, but he did. We went into half-time just in touch, something like 30-20, and he had scored all four tries. They were all individual tries. We lost something like 55-35 and he scored all our points. He carried 14 drunken oafs on his shoulders all game. “He took his rugby seriously and that is what set him apart from us, massively. He was there to have the experience and to have a laugh — he is a really nice guy — but you could see he took his rugby very seriously. “He may not ha have stood out to us as a future All Black, but it was no shock either that he has gone as far as he has and that he keeps growing in stature.” Smith returned to New Ze Zealand after his season with Old Colstonians and within three years he had made his All Black debut, against Italy, in Milan, in November 2009. The next ye year he won a Commonwealth Ga Games gold medal with the New Zealand Sevens team and his shirt hangs in the Old Colstonians clubhouse. “Some players develop later in life and he is
HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES
On the rampage: Smith can produce devastating power from the wing for New Zealand and will win his 36th cap today
definitely a very talented lad,” Woodman said. Smith will win his 36th cap at Twickenham today in front of 82,000 supporters, a far cry from the Bristol Combination Cup final of 2006, when he missed a series of simple penalty goal attempts and Old Colstonians lost 14-13 to Bishopston. They can laugh it off now. “The final was at Clifton RFC under floodlights and in front of a crowd of about 1,500 people,” David Moss, another of Smith’s team-mates,
recalled. “I am sure the pressure of a big rugby occasion is no longer an issue!” Indeed not. Smith will play on the wing today, although he is equally effective at full back and outside centre, as England discovered at Twickenham last year. He has scored 16 times in 35 internationals; now it is try diving, not sky-diving. Smith has stayed in touch with his former team-mates and he met a group of them for dinner in London on Wednesday night. He was rested from
the All Blacks’ past two matches, but he has promised his old team-mates he will be firing on all cylinders today. “I really enjoyed my experience in England,” he said. “We had a different range of athletes in the team — some were just there to enjoy the Saturday night — and it was good to go away for a year. England has the same passion for rugby that we do. “I catch up with the guys regularly and there is always a bit of banter about the England team. I can’t wait to play.”
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Apprentices can hurt All Black masters Paul Ackford
D
are to scrutinise this afternoon’s compelling encounter between England and New Zealand and it is difficult to see England emerging as victors. Experience? The All Blacks smash that with 1,029 caps in their match squad compared with England’s 437. More importantly, in the 30 appearances and over category, which is around the time you find your feet as an international player, able to influence rather than survive, England have five (Tom Wood 30 caps, Courtney Lawes 32, David Wilson 37, Dylan Hartley 57 and Danny Care 48), whereas New Zealand have only two (Sonny Bill Williams 20 and hooker Dane Coles 24) yet to reach that mark, with many soaring far beyond. New Zealand the masters, England the apprentices. Quality? Which England player would bump an All Black off his perch? Maybe Hartley trumps Coles if the Northampton man’s lineout work holds up. Possibly Wood over Jerome Kaino, both rugged, aggressive individuals who allow their back-row colleagues greater licence. Care at a pinch, provided that he is at the top of his form — incisive, alert, tactically astute, with his kicking game inch-perfect — although Aaron Smith has been the world’s most accomplished scrum half week in, week out since he arrived in a black jersey in June 2012. Not many England men justify wearing a black shirt, though. The fatigue factor, then? This is the end of New Zealand’s season. They should be tired, battered, jaded, an excuse that various northern-hemisphere sides have clung to over the years to explain disastrous reciprocal visits to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in June. Might that be an advantage for England? Not if the New Zealand media guys are accurate observers. They report that the sessions going into today’s match have been full-on, with energy levels high, which allegedly was not the case in 2012, when England outmuscled the All Blacks, smashing them at the breakdown and playing with an intensity that neutered their other advantages. A health warning here. The New Zealand journos can be rather parochial when assessing their team’s vitality and potency. A full-frontal assault might still be England’s best chance of success. Contrasting
THOMAS SAMSON / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
Setting an example: Care, on the charge against France, is one of England’s experienced men
developmental cycles? England on the rise, New Zealand on the wane. That angle has been playing big in the England camp this week. They are convinced that they are more on-message, fitter, more skilled — improvements that they have not had a chance to showcase because this is the first game of their season and New Zealand have had eight since the teams met in Hamilton in the summer. A chink of light here, perhaps. New Zealand have lost one and drawn one of those eight matches, a catastrophic run by their high standards. They might have lost another, too, had the Wallabies not stumbled in Brisbane. New Zealand a team in decline? Emphatically not. But an All Black outfit working increasingly hard to stay ahead of the rest? Absolutely. Which is why the bookies have New
Zealand to win by a margin of eight points. There is probably an element of sentiment here, the money flooding to England at a poppy-filled Twickenham close to Remembrance Sunday. What could be more patriotic than that? But there is also substance to that narrow gap, indicators that an England triumph might not be that far-fetched. England no longer fear the All Blacks. Five encounters inside 12 months (the fifth staged today) plus that win in 2012 has shredded the mystique. When that proliferation of fixtures was announced, I feared the worst, reckoning that England would head into the World Cup on the back of a few shellackings. But that has not happened. Two of those matches (both in New Zealand) were within a score of a different result and the average points total
in all four fixtures played this year is 28-19 to New Zealand. True, England have lost all four, but, barring a disastrous first half in Hamilton, they have pushed the All Blacks close. There is not a shadow of a doubt that England do have big performances in them. Ireland in last season’s Six Nations Championship, South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 2012 and New Zealand later that year were examples of a flat-out England — attack-minded, robust, brave — challenging very good teams. That has been Stuart Lancaster’s greatest achievement. Remove the Cardiff disaster from the record books, when they went down heavily to Wales, and England rarely flop when searching questions are asked. Lancaster’s men have belief. They play for him and each other. But they face a different New Zealand this afternoon, a team eight performances farther down the road than when they previously met, which is one shy of the number of competitive games England have left before their World Cup opener against Fiji. Modern international teams evolve quickly and the routines and structures that England faced in Hamilton are no longer relevant. Imagine how much more proficient Lancaster hopes to be going into that World Cup. That is the distance New Zealand have travelled. No worries. England know how to beat New Zealand. They know that they have to be hungrier, more energetic, more intense. They cannot be more skilled because they are not. They will not be as accurate or as composed under pressure because they are not. But, in a sense, none of that counts, because no matter how far the All Blacks have advanced, no matter how tricksy and balanced and ballsy they have become, they can be roughed up, harassed, knocked off course. All teams can. Even the very best. Attitude will beat New Zealand. Across the pitch. From the first to the final minute. And here New Zealand are their own worst enemies; they inspire that response in the opponents they face because of their record and because of who they are. Beat New Zealand today and England’s autumn campaign is up and running. Beat New Zealand today and England can win a second World Cup.
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Winning the imitation game is pivotal to success
GRAPHIC: JACK KINGHAM FOR THE TIMES
Ben Kay
England 2001-09
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eople always ask me: “How do you beat New Zealand?” The All Blacks are the best in the world because they set the standards in all areas. Their decision-making and execution in high-intensity situations are unparallelled, which is why they win so many games late on. They set the bar in fitness, game management and set-piece. If England are to win today, they must replicate those standards. This is how they can do it:
What England must do to beat the All Blacks The diagram shows a maul after a lineout mini-drive/tight peel
Chris Robshaw's England must score tries if they are to beat New Zealand and the Bath connection of Kyle Eastmond and Semesa Rokodguni will be key to opening up the All Blacks
All Blacks Cruden 10
MAUL 9 Care Farrell 10 12 Eastmond
exploit their weaknesses Every team have them and Chris Robshaw was right when he said this week that the All Blacks have chinks in their defensive armour that England need to expose. Key to this will be Kyle Eastmond and Semesa Rokoduguni. New Zealand concede most of their tries through what is known as the transition zone, the small window when the forwards who have been defending in and around the ruck realign and switch mental priorities as the attacking team launch a backs move from the base of a ruck. You are looking to catch out forwards getting
‘England have to attack the set-piece and deny them clean ball’ disconnected as backs leave them too much to do as they make the transition to defending the wider channels. The first priority for England will be to emulate the intensity they produced in this game two years ago, when they won, and bring some violence to the breakdown, because you need to produce quick ball to create some chaos in the defensive line. Sonny Bill Williams’s potential rustiness in a rugby union defensive system could also be exploited. In this simplified example (see graphic), Owen Farrell takes the pass from Danny Care and runs an outside line, dragging Aaron Cruden across before slipping an inside ball to Eastmond. The defender — in this case Dane Coles, the hooker — suddenly has to switch his focus from the three forwards he was watching on the edge of the ruck to the nippy England centre. Meanwhile, Rokoduguni has started a run from
Baby’s birth has Attwood impatient to pull up trees Dave Attwood had a big decision to make this week as he awaited the birth of his first child. When push came to shove would the Bath lock be in the delivery room or changing room? Monday His fiancée, Bridget, was due last Friday and, as the clocked ticked
Coles 2
England Run
14 Rokoduguni
Pass
Danny Care passes behind three forward runners, who are holding the guard defence. Owen Farrell goes on an outside line, trying to pull Aaron Cruden on to him and passes the ball to Kyle Eastmond, who is cutting back on the inside. Eastmond might find he can use footwork and pace to beat Dane Coles, the third defender who is having to switch his attention from guard duties, but if he recovers quickly then the inside pass is on to Semesa Rokoduguni.
In defence
In attack
They must disrupt New Zealand's first-phase possession at scrum and lineout, at least giving scrappy ball
New Zealand in the Rugby Championship
48% 11.7 24.3
Focus attention at lineout on Kieran Read Stay focused as much in their own half as defending their own line
Average percentage of time in possession
Make their first-up tackles
Average number of offloads per game
Stop the offload Put pressure on the kickers
Average number of kicks per match
deep. Eastmond will look to beat Coles with pace and footwork, but if the hooker moves quickly and commits to the tackle, an inside ball will release Rokoduguni through the gap inside Coles. set-piece New Zealand led the way in lineouts and scrums in the recent Rugby Championship. It was not the strongest area of their game eight or nine years ago, but they are statistically No 1 in the world now and from that solid platform the All Blacks are ruthless. towards England’s clash with the All Blacks, Attwood remembered thinking “Oh Christ” when he first realised that he was facing a fixture clash. “We had a long argument with the midwife, ’cause they work out the due dates early on in the pregnancy, saying, ‘I’m sure it’s earlier than that.’ If it’s ten days late they induce it, and I was looking at the fixture list thinking, ‘Well, ten days late isn’t great for me. Is there any way we can make this more about me please?’ We had a new midwife the next time. I don’t know why.” Tuesday Stuart Lancaster, the head coach, told Attwood that family comes first, late pregnancies
Chris Robshaw
Of the 18 tries the All Blacks scored in the Rugby Championship, ten came from first-phase ball; seven started with a lineout and five with a scrum. England have to attack the set-piece and deny them clean ball. Kieran Read, at 6ft 4in, is the All Blacks’ go-to man in the lineout (27 takes in the Rugby Championship compared with Sam Whitelock’s 12) and they have developed a driving game that must be stopped at source before it can cause problems. Dave Attwood is particularly effective at that for England.
defence New Zealand made an average of 9.5 clean breaks per match during the Rugby Championship and with first-phase possession they are deadly. Brad Barritt starts because he not only brings defensive solidity at outside centre, but organisation, which is what they sorely missed when they lost to New Zealand in Hamilton in June. The key focus is making one-onone tackles, not allowing the offloads, because if the All Blacks get in behind they will kill you. During the Rugby Championship, New Zealand
notwithstanding, and a plan was hatched. If the baby came on Saturday, Attwood would play. If it came on Friday, he would stay home. In the end he was released from training early after Bridget went into labour. “People say the first one is the long one, but with us it ended up being an hour and a half. Jessica was a dream on Tuesday night. She slept the whole night through, but we were sat there, like, ‘Er, what was that? Is she dead? Is she sleeping?’ We spent all Tuesday sat bolt upright.”
conversation with Danny Care about “Dad strength” and how you push a little more with everything you do because you’re a lot more responsible. We talked about that not necessarily in terms of how much you can bench-press but the fact you could pull a tree out of the ground and batter someone with it.”
Wednesday The happy father is sent packing to the England training camp, where he seeks counsel from the new dads club. “Had an interesting
Thursday A beaming Attwood meets the press and sounds like he is still high on gas and air after being named in the team. He reveals he has lost 8.5kg since the summer and talks of the four-year gestation period since his first cap against New Zealand. “The feedback I got back over the summer was that if I wanted to stake a claim to be more than a sub
Win the kicking strategy battle Best time to attack is within first three phases and through the transition zone Using combination of Kyle Eastmond and Semesa Rokaduguni’s side-stepping ability against players who are changing their defensive priorities and may get disconnected from the man outside him as a result Semesa Rokoduguni
scored the same number of tries from their own half as they did from the inside the opponents’ 22 (seven). New Zealand do not go through the phases like other teams. If there is nothing on after a few phases, they will not waste energy, will kick the ball away and put the pressure on to try to win a turnover or scrum or lineout from which to attack. New Zealand are more than happy for the opposition to have the ball and bide their time, knowing that they have the ability to change the pace of the game. England must win the kicking strategy battle. for England . . . I had to make a significant change. I’m a much better decision-maker than I used to be. I wanted to be the most powerful, destructive player in a five-metre grid that I could be.” Friday Attwood has his game-face on and muses that the week has panned out pretty well so far. All that remains is taming the world’s best rugby side. “I can’t stress how high a price I have put on this game. I knew that this was when I had to be hitting my stride, for it all to come together. And then Monday morning I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, could you not hurry up and have a baby?’ She arrived Tuesday and it was a dream.” Words by Rick Broadbent
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Mummy’s boy who swapped ‘Yorkshire bus’ for place on Sweet Chariot Kyle Eastmond ready to follow in footsteps of his illustrious idol Jason Robinson, John Westerby writes
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omfort zone? At each stage of his career, the assumption has been made that Kyle Eastmond has been moving away from his comfort zone, but there is precious little evidence of the England centre reclining with his feet up at any stage of his life. The decision to cross codes by moving from St Helens to Bath in 2011 was made when he was 21, only three years into a highly promising rugby league career. Once at Bath, the switch to centre was made after less than a season in the back three, the positions in which rugby league converts have enjoyed more success. Starting at inside centre against New Zealand this afternoon, his quick hands and faster feet will be pitted against Sonny Bill Williams, to whom he gives away nine inches and four stones. Eastmond, though, is a clear-sighted 25-year-old who recognises the need for a little discomfort on the way to achieving his goals. He was certainly not comfortable when, as a painfully shy 17-year-old, he broke into the St Helens first-team squad. For the journeys to training, he would be picked up at Birch Services on the M62 by the “Yorkshire Bus” of senior players heading across from their homes east of the Pennines. Leon Pryce, Nick Fozzard, Lee Gilmour, all were seasoned pros, and those journeys provided a varied education for the quiet lad from Oldham. Increasingly exasperated in their attempts to entice him from his shell, Eastmond climbed into the car one day to find Fozzard, the 6ft 4in prop, sitting there completely naked. The other passengers stayed straight-faced and tightlipped, while Fozzard remained naked all the way to St Helens. Slowly but surely, Eastmond began to find his voice, taken under the wing of Apollo Perelini, the skills coach. “Shortly after Kyle got to Saints, I sat him down and asked him what his goals were for his career,” Perelini said. “He just said, ‘I want to be able to buy my mum a house’. That was it. Most players would go on about playing for England or winning Grand Finals or whatever. But Kyle was different and so clear in his goal.” Eastmond’s upbringing in Oldham was certainly far from comfortable. The St Mary’s Estate rises sharply from the town centre, a labyrinth of red-brick
DAVID ROGERS / GETTY IMAGES
the code-breakers Kyle Eastmond Born July 17, 1989, Oldham Height 5ft 7in Weight 12st 8lb Position Rugby league, scrum half; rugby union, inside centre International appearances League 4; union 4 Jason Robinson Born July 30, 1974, Leeds Height 5ft 8in Weight 12st 11lb Position Rugby league, scrum half/wing; rugby union, full back/wing International appearances League 19; union 56
houses and boarded-up shops, where the average property price is £56,000. This is a world away from Pennyhill Park, the five-star hotel in Surrey where Eastmond has spent the past two weeks in camp with England, and from the countryside around Bath, where he now makes his home. Eastmond owes his powerful, lowslung physique to his father, Ovid, but he was raised by his mother, Geraldine, along with three sisters. Geraldine would hold down four jobs at a time to support her children. When she needed assistance, she would call on her brother, Emerson Jackman, an outstanding amateur rugby league player with Saddleworth Rangers. Taking a break from his work on a rain-drenched building site in Oldham yesterday, Jackman recalls one such summons not long after Eastmond had started playing rugby, aged 7. “My sister rang me up and said, ‘It’s Kyle, you’d better get up here, I don’t know what to do’,” Jackman said. “I just panicked, I thought, ‘what’s he been doing, is he in trouble with the police?’ That sort of thing would happen a lot on St Mary’s. “When I eventually found out what was wrong, she said Kyle had been running around the house for four hours, passing a balloon into the walls. She couldn’t get him to stop. I asked him what he was doing
Built for speed: Eastmond will be conceding both weight and experience against the formidable Williams at Twickenham
and he said: ‘Emerson, I’ve worked out that if I can pass a balloon straight, I’ll be able to pass a rugby ball straight, too.’ I went away and tried it myself and I saw what he meant. That was when I realised what a thinker he was.” On Saturdays, Eastmond would travel on the team bus to watch Jackman playing for Saddleworth. He would sit with his cousin, Miles Greenwood, now playing professionally for Halifax, and they would be kept quiet with wine gums. “Saturdays they’d come with me, Sundays they’d play themselves,” Jackman said. “That kept them occupied for the weekends and kept them on the straight and narrow.” For his junior rugby, Eastmond would wander over the hill with his mates from St Mary’s to play for Oldham St Anne’s. On a pitch cut crudely into the Pennine hillside, Eastmond’s talents as a scrum half soon became clear. This was a club who had produced Mike Ford (now, coEastmond is seen during his rugby league days
incidentally, Eastmond’s coach at Bath) and Iestyn Harris, among others, and Eastmond returns regularly to watch. In the clubhouse yesterday morning, the éminences grises were huddled around a table for their regular Friday debriefing over a cuppa, recalling their outstanding junior players. “You could see that Kyle had all the talent, he was just so quick,” Jeff Badby, the vicechairman, said. “We thought the only thing that might have stopped him making it was his size.” St Helens had no such concerns. From the start of his professional career in 2008, his size and electric running drew comparisons with Jason Robinson. Perelini had played against Robinson in rugby league and alongside him for Sale Sharks in the 15-man code. “Kyle had that twinkle in his eye, like Jason, and that sense that you never knew what he was going to do next when he got the ball,” Perelini said. “I gave him a signed copy of Jason’s autobiography and he was rapt. Robbo was an idol of his.” The comparisons became more valid still when Eastmond opted to cross codes. Whereas Robinson was 26 when he moved permanently to the 15-a-side game, remaining near to his north-west roots with Sale, Eastmond was five years younger and the move to Bath took him far from home. “When we were talking it through, I looked into his mum’s eyes and could see she was wor-
ried,” Jackman said. “To be honest, I thought he’d be back. He’s a mummy’s boy, he loves his family. But I remembered that balloon and I remembered that this is a kid who thinks things through. He wanted to do it and nothing was going to change his mind.” The assumption when a rugby league player crosses to the dark side is often that they have been enticed by the money. “St Helens made him a massive offer to stay, but he took less money to go to union,” Jackman said. “He wanted to play for Bath and he wanted to play for England. I think he wanted to be like Sonny Bill, he wants to be remembered as a great rugby player.” This afternoon, Eastmond will find himself in direct competition with Williams. In his most recent appearance for England, he endured an uncomfortable half against the All Blacks in Hamilton before being replaced shortly after halftime, but his form for Bath this season has made clear his determination to make amends. If he can now make himself comfortable amid the maelstrom of an international midfield, Eastmond will provide England’s attack with a sharper cutting edge. His mother, meanwhile, having moved from St Mary’s to nearby Royton, will be watching from her new home, bought for her by her son. Even if he prefers taking the hard route himself, Eastmond is happy to provide home comforts for his family.
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Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
Sport Rugby union
Lancaster hopeful that a little learning can go a long way Owen Slot says that we will discover today whether England have been able to heed lessons of the cruellest of summers
A
s one notable All Black so delicately put it, the idea that today’s result at Twickenham has a psychological bearing on next year’s World Cup final is “horse s***”. What it will show, instead, is whether Stuart Lancaster and his management team have it in them to crack the code. For sure, the World Cup draw suggests that there is a more than a decent chance of there being an England-New Zealand final. And yes, it does go without saying that if the All Blacks are to go into that with a 5-0 winning streak, they will be entitled to be feeling pretty good about themselves. They are 4-0 right now. The World Cup, however, is not about an unbeaten run. What it may very well be about is whether England have worked out how to break it. That is why Twickenham this afternoon is such a huge contest for Stuart Lancaster and his cohort of coaches. Last summer, in New Zealand, the All Blacks started marginally better than an underpowered England team. When England reached full throttle, though, they got no closer and by the third international, the All Blacks had pulled away. Since then, Lancaster and his team have had four months to sift through the ashes and assess all the evidence. Today they will show us what they learnt. They will know pretty much everything they need to know about New
England v New Zealand
Referee Nigel Owens (Wales) Kick-off 2.30pm Live Sky Sports 2
ENGLAND
NEW ZEALAND
15 Mike Brown (Harlequins) 14 Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath) 13 Brad Barritt (Saracens) 12 Kyle Eastmond (Bath) 11 Jonny May (Gloucester) 10 Owen Farrell (Saracens) 9 Danny Care (Harlequins) 1 Joe Marler (Harlequins) 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton) 3 David Wilson (Bath) 4 Dave Attwood (Bath) 5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton) 6 Tom Wood (Northampton) 7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt) 8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
15 Israel Dagg 14 Ben Smith 13 Conrad Smith 12 Sonny Bill Williams 11 Julian Savea 10 Aaron Cruden 9 Aaron Smith 1 Wyatt Crockett 2 Dane Coles 3 Owen Franks 4 Brodie Retallick 5 Sam Whitelock 6 Jerome Kaino 7 Richie McCaw 8 Kieran Read
Replacements
Replacements
Rob Webber (Bath), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle), George Kruis (Saracens), Ben Morgan (Gloucester), Ben Youngs (Leicester), George Ford (Bath), Anthony Watson (Bath)
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(Crusaders) (Highlanders) (Hurricanes) (Chiefs) (Hurricanes) (Crusaders) (Highlanders) (Crusaders) (Hurricanes) (Crusaders) (Chiefs) (Crusaders) (Blues) (Crusaders, capt) (Crusaders)
Keven Mealamu (Blues), Ben Franks (Hurricanes), Charlie Faumuina (Blues), Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues), Liam Messam (Chiefs), TJ Perenara (Hurricanes), Beauden Barret (Hurricanes), Ryan Crotty (Crusaders)
Zealand because the All Blacks have been playing almost non-stop since August. For the All Blacks the opposite is true; England, as far as they are concerned, have gone into hiding. As Steve Hansen, the All Blacks coach, said yesterday, the “what ifs” are all they have to go on. “We are second guessing.” Maybe he was not being totally candid, but you get the drift. How will England have learnt? For one, we can be confident that defensively, they will be unrecognisable in all but the key personnel. They simply have to be. One of the best and ballsiest selections Lancaster has made has been to pick at inside centre Kyle Eastmond, who was the unfortunate face of the defensive disaster in the third international in Hamilton and who carried the can for it. Until Eastmond was replaced that dark night, England had conceded two tries in ten minutes and four in 40. By selecting Eastmond again, Lancaster is declaring confidently that he knows
exactly what went wrong in that match and that it has been put right. As if the spotlight was not already on the diminutive Bath man, it now comes with the huge, looming shadow cast by the selection of his opposite man, the phenomenally gifted Sonny Bill Willi-
ams. The size differential here is vast, but England’s confidence was further demonstrated by Andy Farrell, the backs coach, who insisted yesterday that size was “irrelevant” and that “Mike Tyson wasn’t that big either, but he could knock a few people out.”
times writers have their say . . . If you had picked the England team, what you have done differently? Owen Slot 1, Definitely Anthony Watson instead of Jonny May on the left wing. 2, Probably James Haskell for Ben Morgan on the bench, although we can’t be sure of Haskell’s fitness post-illness. Stuart Barnes Not left myself in a position where I could not select potentially my best player (Steffon Armitage). Otherwise, little change. Paul Ackford I would have Steffon Armitage in the mix. He offers something England lack. John Westerby I’d have preferred Anthony Watson on the wing to Jonny May. I think that will happen before the end of the month, but Lancaster might have been wary of Watson making his debut against New Zealand. Alex Lowe I would have been keen to show some faith in Marland Yarde, but if he really is that out of form (and England prefer to judge these things for themselves in training), then I
would have picked Anthony Watson on the left wing ahead of Jonny May. Am I the only one not entirely convinced that Semesa Rokoduguni is ready? It feels like it. Oh, and I would have had James Haskell on the bench. Which nation is going to cause a stir? OS Wales. By beating Australia. Finally. I know we keep on saying if not now, then when? But against Australia today, they have the opportunity. They are much stronger now than in the summer, when they pushed South Africa so close. SB Argentina. Playing against weaker opposition than they are used to in the Rugby Championship, their improvement will surprise Little Islanders who don’t look beyond our borders. PA Wales. by beating Australia and South Africa. JW If South Africa can reproduce the form that enabled them to beat the All Blacks a month ago, they could cast a
melancholic shadow across the northern hemisphere. If New Zealand and the Springboks win every game, those fears about the north-south divide will grow ever deeper. AL South Africa. They arrive in Europe having defeated New Zealand on their last outing and yet few people would put them down as potential World Cup winners ahead of the All Blacks, whom they are seeded to meet in the semi-finals. The Springboks could change those perceptions over the next month. Which player is going to cause a stir? OS Sonny Bill Williams, right. If the All Blacks are starting him at Twickenham, he must be absolutely flying. SB Eben Etzebeth. Victor
Matfield is eulogising (rightly so) the feats of Paul O’ Connell, but the next generation of Springboks lock is the future of tight-forward play. Magnificent at his best and always on the edge. PA Sonny Bill Williams. Ridiculous name, but a sensational talent with sublime attacking skills. JW Kyle Eastmond will give England a much-needed extra attacking dimension if can cut the mustard at No 12. There aren’t many 5ft 7in men around in international midfields. AL Sonny Bill Williams. The return of the code-hopping centre to the All Blacks set-up will only make them stronger. He is powerful, a supremely skilful footballer and he has more pace than he is often given credit for. Elsewhere, Handre Pollard, the South Africa fly half, is an exciting young talent.
How will England do? OS So frequently do England surprise us, it should cease to be a surprise. I think they’ll win three of the four. SB OK . . . if you don’t have huge aspirations. I think they need three wins, so does Stuart Lancaster, but I can see them managing two. So if you have World Cup aspirations, poorly. PA They will beat one from New Zealand and South Africa, plus Australia and Samoa. JW Lose to New Zealand, then the South Africa game should be desperately close and could go either way. But they will beat Australia, which is their most important game. AL The minimum requirement is beating Samoa and Australia and I expect them to achieve it. The Wallabies game is arguably the most important of the four given that they meet in the pool stages of the World Cup. If England can also defeat New Zealand or South Africa, it will have been a successful campaign.
the times | Saturday November 8 2014
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Rugby union Sport DAVID ROGERS / GETTY IMAGES
Know your rivals New Zealand
alex lowe
15. israel dagg (Crusaders; 45 caps) Lost his place earlier in the year but is a dangerous attacker and playmaker. 14. ben smith (Highlanders; 35 caps) He has played on the wing, at full back and at outside centre. An intelligent player. 13. conrad smith (Hurricanes; 83 caps) Maybe not as flash as his centre partner but the glue that holds it all together. 12. sonny bill williams (Chiefs; 20 caps) His offloading game will be a big threat to England; a key man. 11. julian savea (Hurricanes; 30 caps) Steve Hansen, the coach, has said that the wing was better than Jonah Lomu. 10. aaron cruden (Chiefs; 36 caps) Dropped after missing the flight to Argentina, the fly half has a point to prove.
Lancaster pinpointed England’s defensive confusion (he could hardly not), but beyond tactics, he has looked at preparation and conditioning too. A simple conclusion: England need to be fitter, not simply in going strong for the full 80 minutes but in staying mentally sharp when the international action is at its most intense. Hamilton showed that, in this respect, the All Blacks were in another class. So Lancaster has restructured training at England’s leafy Bagshot base. They have been trying to hone mental sharpness when fatigue is at its greatest. According to Farrell, there have been some withering sessions training, 15on-15 with the ball in play constantly, the pace “ferocious” and the intensity levels “over and above” what they expect to experience this afternoon. The theory is this: train harder than required in the game itself, so players “know what that type of intensity feels like, so it’s not going to be a shock to the system.” There will be phases in the game today when the All Blacks suddenly turn it up, play faster and with more intensity and expect their accuracy to endure. They flicked that switch after half-time in the second international in New Zealand; it happened from the first whistle in Hamilton. How England cope in these passages of the game will say so much. They have diagnosed the problem, but have they fixed it? Likewise, have they fixed the kick-
Heading in the right direction: England will be aiming to match the All Blacks for brawn and brains today at Twickenham, where injury has forced Lancaster to make a number of gambles against the world champions
chase? They talked on and on about this before the New Zealand tour and yet did not come close to executing it. In particular, Lancaster likes his scrum half to box-kick, but all kicks are negative situations if they do not put the opposition under pressure. The Kiwis feast on kicked-away possession. England knew this before the tour; they were painfully aware of it by the time they were on the flight home.
missing in action Among England’s walking wounded, these players might all have expected to start in today’s international Loose-head Alex Corbisiero, Mako Vunipola Hooker Tom Youngs Tight-head Dan Cole Second row Geoff Parling, Joe Launchbury Back row Tom Croft Centre Manu Tuilagi, Luther Burrell
Have England solved this? There are other questions: is Owen Farrell really sufficiently fit to endure an international match against the best in the world? Or was it an educated gamble? Again, Lancaster has put his neck on the line. If you had been around the England camp these past few days, you would not have sensed the slightest air of uncertainty. Quite the opposite. New Zealand-England, said Dave Attwood, with a genuine sense of I-can’t-wait, “is about as exciting as it gets”. Farrell put it another way. “I can see a very relaxed feeling within the players,” he said. He talked of the work and preparation and how that “dispels a lot of fear going into big games like this.” How will they go? We have not mentioned injuries, and the fact that the entire front five are missing in rehab, or about how England are therefore behind the gainline before they have even started. That is because it is irrelevant for 80 minutes today, but also because, under Lancaster, England have an extraordinary record of pulling out good performances. Expectation, win-loss stats, man-forman comparisons: they all suggest that the All Blacks are significantly ahead. Yet England’s ability to prepare well tells us they are not actually that far behind. But today is as much about Lancaster’s ability to deliver. He lost 3-0 in New Zealand; now he has the opportunity to respond.
9. aaron smith (Highlanders; 36 caps) A livewire scrum half, full of energy and the best distributor in the international game. 1. wyatt crockett (Crusaders; 33 caps) He has taken over from Tony Woodcock at prop and driven the scrum to a new level. 2. dane coles (Hurricanes; 24 caps) A dynamic ballcarrying hooker with good feet and an improving set-piece. 3. owen franks (Crusaders; 64 caps) Would challenge for the title of the world’s best tight-head prop, a no-nonsense defender.
6. jerome kaino (Blues; 54 caps) Tenacious in defence and an athletic ballcarrier at blind-side flanker with rare handling skills. 7. richie mccaw (Crusaders; 134 caps) The team are built in the image of their redoubtable captain, three times world player of the year. 8. kieran read (Crusaders; 70 caps) The No 8 is reigning world player of the year, the main lineout target and one of the best offloading forwards in the game.
Replacements 16. keven mealamu (Blues; 121 caps) Has been an All Black for 14 years, is the most capped hooker in the game and still operating to the highest standards. 17. ben franks (Hurricanes; 39 caps) The elder of the two brothers, he specialises as a tighthead prop but can play both sides. 18. charles faumuina (Blues; 24 caps) Prop who can also play both sides of the scrum. Mobile with good footwork. 19. patrick tuipulotu (Blues; 5 caps) First of 2013 under-20s team to graduate, a lock with fine aerial ability. 20. liam messam (Chiefs; 37 caps) Played in the same school team as Dylan Hartley. An abrasive loose forward. 21. tj perenara (Hurricanes; 8 caps) A quick-thinking scrum half who was part of the 2011 world junior champions.
4. brodie retallick (Chiefs; 33 caps) Uncompromising player who is one of the world’s outstanding locks.
22. beauden barrett (Hurricanes; 26 caps) Mercurial playmaker at fly half suited to making an impact off the bench.
5. sam whitelock (Crusaders; 60 caps) The senior lock is strong in the set-piece and his partnership with Retallick is formidable.
23. ryan crotty (Crusaders; 10 caps) Scored the last-gasp try against Ireland last year that secured the All Blacks a perfect record for 2013.
Sport
Saturday November 8 2014 | the times
The Times: best for rugby Lancaster still hopeful a little learning will go a long way for England today against the All Blacks Owen Slot 94-95
thetimes.co.uk/sport
british press awards — sports team of the year
England ready for mind game Owen Slot Chief Rugby Correspondent
The England team have been undergoing special brain training to help them to upset odds that last night had them as 11-4 outsiders to beat New Zealand at Twickenham this afternoon. If the England team’s training methods have paid off, they will be fitter this afternoon than they were over the summer when they lost three consecutive matches against the All Blacks. In particular, their decisionmaking will be sharper when fatigue sets in. When England returned from the blackwash in June in New Zealand, one of the conclusions reached by Stuart Lancaster, the head coach, was that his team’s levels of fitness needed to be improved. For the challenge of winning important international matches, though, he specifically wanted England to address their ability to perform at the intensity levels that the All Blacks had demonstrated. When the players regrouped at a
training camp in Loughborough in August, they were put through a specific fitness test and instructed that they needed to raise their levels. The same fitness test has been carried out during the present camp and the numbers have improved. Most crucial to England’s chances, they believe, are the training exercises that they have been doing to help them to operate better mentally when the intensity levels are at their highest. By exposing them more to fatigue and decision-making when in a exhausted state, the intention is that the England team will be better trained to operate when the game is at its most demanding this afternoon against the world No 1 ranked side. This intensity of training is what Andy Farrell, the England backs coach, said yesterday “has been a big difference in these past couple of weeks”. “It’s the mental skill that goes with that type of pressure,” he said. “Intensity isn’t just about full-out physicality, it’s about being one step ahead of the game mentally as well.”
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER, GRAHAM HUGHES
Baptism of fire: semesa rokoduguni will make his debut this afternoon for England on the wing against the All Blacks
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Across 1 Type of solution wife missed in short riddle (8) 9 Holding my resignation announcement, I state it’s great injustice (8) 10 Earlier form (8) 11 Guide old woman around one church (8) 12 Bargain offer — lots here (1,5,4) 14 Shriek of excitement as new driver fails to make turn (4) 15 The way to speak? Yes and no (7) 17 In bases place fractions, ignoring the first initially (7) 21 It’s hurtful if there is no time to keep in contact (4) 22 Difficult old puzzle priest threatening not to complete (10) 23 After backing, intend to keep birthday (a century!) in state (8) 25 Crop said to be failing, having Yesterday’s solution 25,938 HOME S P I O E P A R T I C H A S O T T OMA P O I B R I C K I I ME A N S P M R A F F I S O L T P A I N T T E N E R A T I NG
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