OF LONDON
saturday november 22 2014 | thetimes.co.uk | no 71361
The hills are alive ... with the sights of Salzburg
Austria’s baroque beauty Page 49
Labour row deepens after MP’s ‘flag sneer’
MARK HARRISON FOR THE TIMES
IN THE NEWS Mandela widow attacks Africa over ebola crisis Graca Machel, the widow of the former South African president Nelson Mandela, has said that African leaders had learnt no lessons from the HIV pandemic and were completely unprepared when ebola struck. Mrs Machel, who is also the widow of the president of Mozambique, asked why Africa relied on help from America and Britain whenever a crisis struck the continent. Page 31
Oil protest succeeds Conservationists have convinced a US oil and gas company to cancel plans to hack through east Africa’s largest coastal forest amid fears that it would make rare wildlife extinct and devastate local people’s livelihoods. Page 36
Poll tweet takes the heat off defeated Tories
Francis Elliott Political Editor Laura Pitel Political Correspondent
The Labour frontbencher who appeared to mock a house draped with England flags before the Rochester & Strood by-election was sacked by Ed Miliband after initially refusing to apologise, The Times understands. Mr Miliband spent yesterday trying to limit the fallout after Emily Thornberry tweeted a picture of the house with a white van parked outside and captioned it “Image from #Rochester”. Despite a storm of protest, the shadow attorney-general told the Labour leader that she had done nothing wrong when he first called to confront her, and had to be instructed to apologise, senior sources said. Although Mr Miliband later dismissed her, the dispute put Labour, not the Tories, under the spotlight after Ukip’s victory in the by-election. Nigel Farage’s party described the incident as Mr Miliband’s “Gillian Duffy” moment — a reference to Gordon Brown’s clash with a voter he later called a “bigoted woman” on the 2010 campaign trail — and said it would speed the collapse of Labour’s support in traditional working-class areas. The row helped David Cameron to make light of the loss of a seat that the Conservatives won in 2010 with almost 50 per cent of the vote and which he had
said he was “absolutely determined” to hold after the defection of Mark Reckless. Mr Reckless held the seat for Ukip with 42 per cent of the vote, seven points ahead of the Tories. Labour came third and the Greens beat the Liberal Democrats into a distant fifth with 349 votes — the party’s lowest showing in a parliamentary election. Labour had hoped that a second successive by-election defeat for Mr Cameron would spark Tory panic, but instead found its own ability to connect with voters under scrutiny. Asked what went through his mind when he saw a white van outside a house with England flags, Mr Miliband said: “What goes through my mind is respect — respect is a basic rule of politics and I’m afraid her tweet conveyed a sense of disrespect. It gave the wrong view about the Labour party, it conveyed a sense of disrespect and that’s why she resigned.” Douglas Alexander, Labour’s chief election strategist, appeared last night to suggest that voters did not recognise themselves in the party’s leadership. He said in a speech that the party would have to use its full “breadth and talent . . . because we need to be seen to look like and reflect the country that we aspire to lead”. Mr Farage delivered a further blow to Continued on page 2, col 5
Czech leader’s defiance Miloš Zeman, the maverick Czech president, has invited President Putin to Prague in defiance of street protests last week in which he was pelted with eggs after he defended Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Page 32
Cosby sex attack claims A total of nine women have made public allegations of sexual assault against Bill Cosby, the American actor and comedian. New details have emerged about inquiries into claims by one woman that she was molested in 2004. Page 33
Inside today
World’s fortune is in the hands of one-childd families Pages 34, 35
Exclusive interview Love, lies and life with Le Président, by Valérie Trierweiler
thetimes.co.uk/magazine
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