David Hockney exclusive It was just an unbelievably mean-spirited gesture In g2

DAVID HOCKNEY

Tuesday 20.11.12 Published in London and Manchester 1.20

guardian.co.uk

New push on cheap energy plan BSkyB usedsave loophole to

millions in tax
Fuel rms told they must put customers on lowest taris and simplify them
Bibi van der Zee and David Leigh Patrick Wintour Political editor
The energy secretary, Ed Davey, will today attempt to full David Camerons surprise promise to ensure all energy consumers are automatically put on the lowest energy tari suitable for them. He is expected to announce that all energy companies must slash the confusing thicket of competing taris and reduce them to four. He will also require that the companies put consumers on the lowest tari available to them. The scheme could be in force by 2014 but its small print will be studied by Labour to see if it matches Camerons original boast. Davey is due to make the announcement at a meeting of the energy select committee this afternoon and, if necessary, fresh laws will be included in energy legislation due to be published in the next fortnight. Booming energy prices are seen in Downing Street as one of the most politically dangerous issues facing the government. Cameron caused chaos in the energy industry and in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) when he told MPs at prime ministers questions last month: We will be legislating so that energy companies have to give the lowest tari to their customers. He added that this was a measure the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, could have introduced while he was energy secretary. Camerons announcement had not been co-ordinated with the energy department, however, and appeared to be a grab for some political kudos before the long-planned proposals that the energy regulator Ofgem was due to publish two days later. Critics suggested Cameron had misunderstood Ofgems proposals and made a promise he could not keep. But No 10 stuck by Camerons commitment, placing huge pressure on the prime ministers aides to come up with a means of implementing his remarks or face opposition ridicule for busking in a highly sensitive policy. Downing Street and the energy department said last night the plan would involve compulsion. The big six companies would have to tell customers their cheapest tari and switch them to it unless they declined the oer. Dierent customers will nd dierent taris more relevant to them depending on their usage, and method of payment, such as direct debit. The Ofgem proposals, published after Camerons intervention and embraced by Davey, said each comThe average household gas bill in 2011 ranged from 683 for direct debit customers to 729 for those paying quarterly bills pany should provide four taris, including a standard variable rate tari and three others of the suppliers choosing that will promote competition. The regulator accused the energy companies of engaging in confusion marketing. According to Decc the average gas bill for 2011 varied between 683 for direct debit customers to 729 for those paying quarterly bills. The average electricity bill for 2011 was 463-483, depending on the payment method. But Ofgem, in its package, did not say companies should be compelled to put consumers on the lowest tari for gas and electricity. Critics said the rapid consequence of such a policy would be to push all taris up and to remove any incentive on any supplier to provide competitive packages to users. Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, claimed Cameron Continued on page 7 A magazine for satellite TV customers published by BSkyB was used as a tax avoidance scheme that saved the company up to 40m a year. The broadcaster had been saving millions in VAT by charging satellite customers a nominal 2.20 a month for the Sky magazine, using a tax loophole that has now been closed. Magazines, along with books and newspapers, are normally zero-rated for VAT, and this meant Sky could avoid VAT on a small but signicant percentage of revenue. The saving, at about 3 to 4 per person, would have amounted across Skys 10 million subscribers to at least 30m to 40m a year. A court battle involving Debenhams at the beginning of the decade highlighted the problem of VAT avoidance through the articial splitting of services between different parts of a corporation. But in 2005 UK courts ruled that cable companies were Continued on page 7

Catalonias nationalist leader tries to ride independence wave

Artur Mas is in buoyant mood. He has just nished preaching to the converted and, for the second time today, has belted out an anthem glorifying 17thcentury peasants and warning the enemies of Catalonia to tremble with fear. But behind the euphoria is a canny pragmatism. Mas, the president of the Catalan Generalitat, is coasting on a crest of unprecedented support for independence for Catalonia from Spain. But hes also trying to control it. And he knows its going to be a giddy journey. I have nothing against Spain, absolutely nothing, says the 56-year-old economist. In many ways I feel that I am a friend of the Spanish language, of many people in Spain and of many Spanish cultural traditions. But as of many years ago I feel Catalan. I think in Catalan, I dont think in Spanish. As the nancial crisis petries across Europe, it is testing the ties that have bound nations together and nowhere more so than in north-eastern Spain. In September Barcelona witnessed the biggest independence march in Europe since the second world war. That single event transformed Catalonias long-running quest for ever greater selfdetermination. Polls show the number of those who would vote yes to independence has shot up from 43% to 57% in little more than a year. An election on Sunday will serve as a quasi-plebiscite on secession. The Guardian, in collaboration with Catalonias leading La Vanguardia newspaper, is devoting a week of coverage to the region, asking if secession is a viable or desirable outcome. Even Mas knows it will not be easy. He has promised a referendum within four years, but national government ministers in Madrid warn this will be banned. Deance would be tantamount to a coup dtat, they say. So will he stick to his guns? There will be a consultation, he insists. Ideally, Mas would ask Catalans an apparently simple question: Do you want Catalonia to have its own state in the EU? Continued on page 20

Launching a new series, Giles Tremlett in Manresa meets the canny pragmatist at the centre of the drive for secession from Spain

2
The Guardian Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Telephone: 020 3353 2000 Fax: 020 7837 2114

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Old lag mentors and privatised support unveiled for prison leavers
Private and voluntary sector role to be expanded Justice secretary plans payment by results
Alan Travis Home aairs editor
The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, will today announce a rapid expansion in the use of private and voluntary sector organisations to supervise short-sentence prisoners when they leave jail, on a payment by results basis. Grayling says he wants old lags, including former gang members, to meet newly released inmates at the prison gates to act as mentors and help them get their lives back together again. The move represents an acceleration of the rehabilitation revolution by the new justice secretary, who has decided not to wait for the evaluation of pilot schemes put in place by his predecessor, Ken Clarke. In a speech to the Centre for Social Justice thinktank, Grayling will conrm that the probation service will retain a critical role in managing and supervising high-risk and dangerous oenders. But he will add that the private and not-for-prot sectors are also to be given a role in supervising low and medium-risk oenders. The public sector will, of course, continue to have a signicant role in working with oenders particularly in guarding our society against harm. But its time to make sure we use all of the expertise that is out there to help drive the improvements we need, he is expected to say. Grayling refers to a man he met in a rehab centre in Stoke-on-Trent. He was in his thirties, and had passed again and again through the criminal justice system. He said to me: When I came out of prison I wanted to get my life back together, but I just didnt know how. Every single one of us has a vested interest in an enlightened approach to reducing oending Chris Grayling Thats a tragedy. Nearly half of prisoners themselves say they will need help to nd a job when they leave prison. Over a third say they will need help to nd somewhere to live when they are let out. When all we do is just take those people, release them on to the streets with 46 in their pockets and no other support, why are we surprised that they reoend again quickly? Whether you are the hardest of hardliners on crime, or the most liberal observer, every single one of us has a vested interest in an enlightened approach to reducing oending, Grayling says. We cant just keep recycling people round and round the system. When someone leaves prison on a sentence of less than 12 months, Grayling wants them to have a mentor and a place to live, and rehab or training lined up, and above all someone who knows where they are, what they are doing, and can be a friend to prevent them from reoending. He suggests former oenders who have gone straight may be best for the job. Todays announcement will be restricted to people serving short sentences. There is only statutory post-release supervision for oenders who have served more than 12 months. The Probation Chiefs Association has told ministers that this is a major gap in post-sentence supervision and should be a matter of priority. They said short-sentence prisoners have the highest reoending rates and so payment-by-results schemes could make the biggest impact. But they have also warned ministers not to restrict the role of the probation service to public protection and advising the courts. Harry Fletcher, of the National Association of Probation Officers, said an announcement on the wider privatisation of the probation service had been delayed until December or even the new year. Grayling announced last week that ve prisons were to be handed over to the private sector, but the public prison service would retain core custodial services across the remaining 120 jails while putting ancillary services out to competition.

Simon Hoggarts sketch Britain must be quick! But why?

avid Cameron raced up to the platform. He was addressing the CBI annual conference, a thousand suet puddings in suits, all sitting in near silence in the Great Room of the Grosvenor hotel, London. Getting them excited is like taking a cattle prod to a convention of tree sloths. I cant say he succeeded, but gosh, the prime minister was fast. And that was the theme of his speech. We in Britain needed to be quick, on our toes and o the mark.There was no time to be lost. Other nations were racing past us. The world is breathing down our neck! he shouted, as if we were Russian sledgers pelting across the tundra only yards ahead of the slavering wolves. In this global race you have to be quick or else you are dead! Like the wolves, we have to be famished. More than ever we needed a buccaneering, deal-making, hungry spirit! The suet puddings, who looked roughly as peckish as a python that has just swallowed a goat, appeared to be still digesting breakfast and wondering if it was too early to think about lunch. As well as a race, Cameron told us, we were in a war, a war as vital as the second world war, when Whitehall tore up the rules and got on with the job of defeating Hitler! We should shell our opponents, and carpet-bomb the other exporting nations! (Actually, he didnt

say that last bit, but he almost did.) There was not an instant to be lost. Spend an extra week deciding whether to build a new motorway and pow! We would be overtaken by yet another nation which last year didnt have a KFC. Or roads. So there would be no more long consultations, no more bothering about EU regulations, or assessing sector feedback, whatever that was, but it doesnt matter now, because we are shredding it and burning the remains! Work was to start yesterday afternoon on the new London airport! (No, he didnt say that either. Funny that he didnt mention the most important delayed project business is demanding.) Some of the puddings looked rather weary at the thought of all this speed. They had come to hear the prime minister, not Usain Bolt. And at times it was dicult to follow as, in his haste, Cameron swallowed half of his words. Cu the time! Spee things up! he barked. We need to throw everything weve got at winning this globa race! At one point he said that if Columbus had had an advisory committee, he would still be stuck in the dock, and the puddings, realising that a joke had been made, stirred themselves to a ripple of laughter. Frankly if this is British industry at its speediest, we have some way to go. Boris Johnson at the CBI, page 23

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

News

Liveblog Follow the debate News, comment and instant analysis guardian.co.uk

So much is at stake hope and uncertainty as CoE prepares for vote on women bishops
General Synod could give green light to move today Decision needs two-thirds majority to become law
Lizzy Davies
On the evening of 11 November 1992, Rosie Harper was a professional opera singer listening to the radio and absorbing the news that the Church of England, after years of struggle and indecision, had decided to allow women to become priests. She was, she remembers, in pieces. It was the moment that inspired her to pursue her calling. Today, almost exactly 20 years after that piece of legislation squeaked through the General Synod by two votes, the church faces another historic moment its most important decision, arguably, since that night when Deans Yard in Westminster lled with women rejoicing in their newfound acceptance. Harper, now the vicar of Great Missenden, chaplain to the bishop of Buckingham and a prominent liberal gure in the church, is cautiously optimistic that the synod will go one step further today and give the green light to female bishops at a long-awaited vote in London. Justin Welby, the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, supports women bishops, as does predecessor Rowan Williams But the result could go either way, and the stakes could not be much higher. If it fails, it will seem to people in the country [at large] that the church is operating within a lower ethical framework than their own, said Harper. She would stay put no matter what, but added: I think quite a lot of women will feel severely compromised if it is voted down. I think there are some women who will leave. Yesterday, as bishops, clergy and laypeople arrived at Church House for the crucial three-day synod meeting, tensions were high. The intensive lobbying showed no signs of slowing: emails were sent, tweets were posted and leaflets were distributed. In a bid for serenity, an evening vigil of prayer was held at Westminster Abbey and, in a welcoming speech to the synod, Julian Henderson, archdeacon of Dorking, urged members to avoid animosity. Inevitably there is an atmosphere of tension as we allow the process of voting to decide the way forward, he said, as the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and his successor, Justin Welby both supporters of female bishops looked on. Whichever way the debate and voting goes, there will be anxiety and emotion, but lets ensure we handle that moment with grace to one another and faith that the Lord is fullling his promise to build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Church of England clergy arrive at the venue of the three-day General Synod in central London yesterday. The 470-member General Synod will vote today on the issue of women bishops which has divided the church Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty The measure that will be debated today is the result of years of negotiations that have revealed the depth of divisions in the church. While it has been approved by 42 of the 44 dioceses and looks certain to sail through the houses of clergy and bishops, the legislation remains deeply problematic for a minority, and particularly uncertain in the house of laity. Those opponents, who come from the conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic wings, say that the measure still does not make sufficient provision for their theological needs. It is likely that some of the latter will feel compelled to leave for Rome. Jane Patterson, a member of the conservative evangelical group Reform, rejected any notion that their opposition to female bishops could be branded sexist. We accept that there are dierent interpretations of the scriptures but the church needs to guard against placing societys views over what we see as Gods views, as expressed in his written word, the Bible, she said. Amid growing optimism in the opposing camp, a fellow evangelical, Susie Leafe, said the vote was too close to call. Someone said: the only thing you can be sure about tomorrow is that after Tuesday, Wednesday will come. If the measure is carried and that will require a two-thirds majority in all three houses of the synod there will be a palpable sense of relief among those who have spent decades campaigning for it, said Sally Barnes of Women and the Church. Relief, but, for many, not the unbridled joy of 1992. Harper, like many who say the measure remains discriminatory, describes it as incredibly imperfect. The legislation would allow parishes to request an alternative male bishop if they cannot entertain the idea of a womans ministry. If this passes, Harper said, I will be absolutely delighted, but I will not consider this job done. For the churchs image in the rest of the country, the passing of the measure would be a boost. A ComRes poll in July found that 74% of respondents thought the church should allow female bishops. Ali-

If it fails, it will seem that the church is operating in a lower ethical framework
son Fletcher, a layperson from Wakeeld, said: Ive had a real sense from people in the pews that they want this to happen and they dont get why it might not. If the measure gets through, the rst female cleric could be consecrated to the episcopate by early 2014. If it is rejected, the issue cannot be debated by the synod for years. Arriving at Church House, John Pritchard, the bishop of Oxford, said he was hopeful and anxious, because so much is at stake. His diocese, he boasted, had the largest number of female priests of any in the country. And, as [the Salvation Army founder] William Booth said: My best men are women. Leader comment, page 32

Women on either side of divide

For
Rachel Treweek Archdeacon of Hackney I have always been greatly in favour of having female and male bishops in our leadership and now I think the time is right. The wording of this measure is good enough: it diminishes no one and it has been an enormous compromise by everyone. Critics say it is discriminatory and, in a worldly sense, it is, but from a theological point of view it actually has coherence. Its now time to get on with it and to show the world that we can live together with our dierences. We can now stop looking inwards at the church and say this is about the wider world were here to serve. If it doesnt go through, the world will just scratch their heads and wonder what on Earth were doing. We have been created as men and women to live and work together. This will bring more normality to the church, and will reect something of how the world is meant to be.

Against
Lindsay Newcombe Lay member of Synod; vice-chair of Anglo-Catholic group Forward in Faith I have a doctorate in mechanical engineering so I dont believe women should be placed in boxes or considered less able than men Its part of the beauty of what the church is saying that men and women are dierent but there is a symbiosis and a connection between them and by cherishing those dierences we can honour both sexes. I am one of many in the Church of England who dont think women bishops are the way forward, and I dont think this measure [in particular] is the right way forward. Many suggestions have been made [by opponents] and have been dismissed or not even taken into consideration. My concern also is that the Church of England is part of the worldwide church and as one part of the church I dont think we have the authority to make this change without the agreement of the rest of the church.

Rachel Treweek

Lindsay Newcombe

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Middle East

UN chief to visit Israel and West

On sixth day of Israeli attacks, Obama discusses crisis with Egyptian president amid guarded optimism deal is possible
Ian Black Harriet Sherwood Jerusalem Ewen MacAskill Washington
Eorts to agree a ceasere between Israel and the Palestinians are to intensify today, with the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, weighing in amid guarded optimism that a deal is possible because it suits both sides to end the ghting. On a sixth day of Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and sporadic though decreasing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel, negotiations in Cairo focused on securing a package that would allow both warring parties to claim some kind of victory. Barack Obama discussed the crisis in a phone call to Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi last night , while William Hague, Britains foreign secretary, paid tribute to Egypts eorts to negotiate a ceasere that can work. Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said Obama and Morsi discussed ways to de-escalate the situation in Gaza, and Obama underscored the necessity of Hamas ending rocket re into Israel. President Obama then called prime minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu of Israel, and received an update on the situation in Gaza and Israel, Carney added. In both calls, President Obama expressed regret for the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civil-

Iron Dome
There is a new attraction in Tel Aviv, drawing crowds of cheering supporters. It is Israels fth Iron Dome battery, whose deployment was accelerated at the weekend to position it in the south of the city to shoot down long-range rockets from Gaza. It has had considerable success. Two rockets aimed at Tel Aviv on Sunday were shot down and, on Monday, about 19 missiles were intercepted, bringing the total since the war began to more than 300. But that is less than a third of the 1,000-plus rockets red from Gaza since the start of Operation Pillar of Defence. The anti-missile system was rst deployed in April 2011, after more than three years in development. Much of its funding came from the United States. The ve batteries each with three missile launchers and a heavily computerised mobile control unit are currently all in southern Israel, with the capability of intercepting rockets from distances of up to 50 miles. On Sunday, the defence minister, Ehud Barak, said Iron Domes achievements were unparalleled but added: We need 13 batteries to cover the entire area of the country from threats of short and medium-range missiles. According to a senior ocial at Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, the Israeli defence company that developed Iron Dome, the problem is that there arent enough of these things. The ocial, who declined to be named, said the systems successes were creating an additional problem in the minds of Israelis. Israelis have deied Iron Dome. People see it as a saviour. We have warned that the danger is that people feel so secure with Iron Dome that they dont take security precautions when they hear sirens. [Instead] they lm the rockets on their mobile phones. Rafael is developing a new anti-missile system, called Davids Sling, which is designed to intercept long-range missiles red from as far away as Iran. Two-thirds of its funding is coming from the US and the rest from Israel. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2013. Amos Harel, defence correspondent for Haaretz newspaper, said that in any future conict Israel may be forced to choose between deploying its anti-missile systems to protect civilians or to protect its strategic assets and infrastructure. If the enemy is trying to hit air force bases, is the most important thing to protect attack capabilities or population bases? he said. Israeli generals, he said, have acknowledged the systems were a short blanket, unable to cover everything. Harriet Sherwood

We have deterred them with our will. Our enemy is drowning in our childrens blood
ian lives, and agreed to stay in close touch with both leaders. Ban arrived in Cairo amid growing international concern that the crisis could escalate and spread. Israel is under pressure to refrain from sending ground forces into the heavily-populated coastal strip in the wake of its six-day air and naval assault. The UN secretary-general will visit Jerusalem for talks with Netanyahu today, before heading to the West Bank town of Ramallah to see the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, told reporters in Cairo that Israel must be the first to halt military operations since it had begun them last week by assassinating the movements military chief, Ahmed al-Jabari. A ground invasion will not be a walk in the park, Meshal warned. We dont have the same military and deterrence capabilities [as Israel] but we have deterred them with our will. Our enemy is drowning in the blood of children. Dan Harel, a former deputy chief of sta of the Israeli army, said: We are moving straight into a T-junction. There are two basic alternatives. The rst is an agreement cooked in Cairo. The second is an escalating situation, moving into the Gaza Strip with a land [inva-

sion] which will be bad for both sides. We are 24 to 48 hours from this junction. Officials in Jerusalem flatly denied Meshals claim that Israel was seeking a ceasere. It was Hamas, one ocial said, that was looking for a way to climb down after more than 400 air strikes in Gaza had signicantly eroded the Palestinians ability to launch missiles at Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Hamass comments about a ceasere, alleging that Israel is begging for one, are about as accurate as its claims to have shot down an F-15 [warplane] or attacked the Knesset, Reuters quoted a unnamed senior government ocial as saying. Israeli ocials also emphasised their readiness to launch a ground oensive, although there were reports of complaints from Israeli army reservists that they were wasting their time. The US, Britain and other western governments have urged Israel not to mount an assault like Operation Cast Lead, in which 1400 Palestinians in Gaza were killed four years ago. Diplomats in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv were hopeful that a deal could yet be forged. The fact that the talks are still going on is a good sign, said one. And the fact that Israel hasnt yet gone in on the ground is a good sign. The Cairo truce talks ran into trouble on Sunday after news that 10 members of one family had been killed in Gaza in an air strike apparently aimed at killing a Hamas or Islamic Jihad leader. British ocials monitoring the crisis said the key was to de-escalate, secure a durable ceasere, and then return to the key questions of promoting reconciliation between Hamas and the PLO and re-invigorating a moribund peace process. Hague said in Brussels: I am pleased that Israel has held back from a ground invasion while such negotiations go on, and that the rate of rocket attacks on Israel has fallen, for whatever reason, over the last 24 hours. These are positive developments, but of course it remains a desperately serious and dicult situation. Palestinian sources said that Abbas had responded angrily yesterday to Tony Blair, the Middle East Quartets envoy, in a meeting in Ramallah. Blair is trying to persuade Abbas to refrain from seeking observer status at the UN a move opposed by the US and Israel. Abbas reportedly told him to leave if he was not there to talk about the crisis in Gaza. Israeli sources made clear that a ceasere deal would have to mean an end to all hostile re from Gaza into Israel, including small arms re at troops near the border. Hamas ghters must also be stopped from crossing into Sinai to mount attacks against Israel from Egyptian territory. Hamas must not be allowed to rearm. Support for Operation Defensive Pillar remains solid in Israel. According to an opinion poll in Haaretz, 30% of the Israeli public support a ground invasion despite the risks of high casualties. Overall the operation has the backing of around 84% of the public, with 12% opposed. Additional reporting by Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo Danny Ayalon, page 30

Analysis Egypt is the key to defusing this bloody crisis

Ian Black

Egypt is the indispensable player in any attempt to mediate a ceasere between Israel and the Palestinans in the Gaza Strip. But it has good reasons of its own for wanting to help defuse an already bloody crisis which risks escalating into a wider and even more dangerous conict. In that respect Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood president, is following a similar path to his overthrown predecessor Hosni Mubarak, though Morsi is far more sympathetic to Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Palestinian border enclave. Morsis solidarity is not in question. But he has to consider Egypts overall strategic and economic interests and is unlikely to want to jeopardise his countrys 32-year-old peace treaty with Israel and the US aid that goes with it. The extraordinary changes of the Arab spring have forced governments in the region to listen to their own people

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Bank as ceasere talks intensify

Deaths

Mourners ask: Do these children look like terrorists?

Harriet Sherwood Jerusalem
The bodies of four children wrapped in Palestinian flags were carried above a huge crowd from the rubble of their home, destroyed in an Israeli air strike, to their graves on Monday amid mounting anger over the sharply rising toll of civilians in the six-day-old war in Gaza. Bulldozers, which were clearing concrete and twisted metal from the site of the Dalou familys home in the hope of nding two bodies still trapped beneath the ruins, stopped work to allow the funeral procession to pass. Do these children look like terrorists? asked grief-stricken relatives and neighbours of the dead. Eight members of the Dalou family, including four children aged between one and seven, were killed when a missile struck their three-storey home at about 2.30pm on Sunday. Two family members are still missing, and two neighbours were also killed. The funeral took place amid a heavy Hamas presence, although the family had no known aliations with any militants. There has been a drastic change since the beginning of this conict, said Hamdi Shaqqura of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza. There is now a complete disregard for human life, shown by the attack on the Dalou family home in the middle of a residential area. This was not the home of a militant. At least 18 children have been killed since the start of the conict last Wednesday, and more than 600 civilians have been injured, he said. The Gaza health ministry said 24 children had been killed. The total death toll in Gaza topped 100 on Monday after another day of intense bombardment. Israeli fighter planes again targeted a high-rise building containing the oces and studios of local and international media organisations in the centre of Gaza City. Ramez Harb, the head of Islamic Jihads media operations, was killed and at least six were wounded. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the building was a hideout used by Islamic Jihad. A statement said: The Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives, who were involved in ring rockets at Israel, were inside the media building. In the first two days of the offensive, Israel focus ed on military training grounds, rocket-launching sites and weapons stores. It has since turned to targeting the homes of militants, increasing the likelihood of killing civilians. The IDF said it had struck 80 targets in Gaza on Monday. More than 120 rockets had been launched from Gaza, with 42 landing in Israel, it said. Three Israelis were slightly injured.

Anger in Gaza Palestinian mourners carry the bodies of the four children killed when the Dalou familys home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, left. A reghter in Gaza City, above, battles a blaze in a building housing media oces. Right, soldiers prepare a tank as Israeli forces mass on the Gaza border. Far left, Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal Main photograph: Bernat Armangue/AP

more than they did before. But the old constraints have not disappeared. Talks in Cairo between Egyptian general intelligence and Israeli security ocials are focusing on nding a mechanism to end the current ghting, while the Egyptians meet separately with Hamas. The trick, as with any negotiation, will be reaching an agreement that allows both parties to claim to their respective publics that they have achieved something tangible from the blood-letting. Hamas wants a guarantee from Israel that it would end targeted assassinations of the kind that killed Ahmed al-Jaabari last week. It would also need pledges about opening crossing points into Egypt and Israel, eectively lifting the ve-year blockade. Israel is insisting at a minimum on stopping the crossborder rocket re which has united public opinion behind Operation Defensive

Pillar. Israeli casualties have been low because the weapons are inaccurate and many of them were quickly destroyed. Any deal would include other understandings that are unlikely to be formulated explicitly or made public. Israel certainly wants the Egyptians to shut down the network of tunnels that are Gazas lifeline to the outside world. Food and consumer goods are one thing, but the longer-range missiles that allow Hamas or militant groups to strike targets in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israels urban heartland are another. None of these demands for the endgame are particularly surprising: in the modern manner Hamas listed its demands on Facebook while an Israeli minister enumerated its own on Twitter. Hanging over the whole discussion is the much-advertised threat that Israel, having ordered a partial mobilisation of the reserves, will mount another large Cast Lead-type ground oensive inside

Gaza, something which the US and other western countries have warned against. Israeli public opinion has its doubts as well, no small consideration for Binyamin Netanyahu with parliamentary elections due in January. It is safe to assume that neither Egypt nor Israel want to see the collapse of Hamas rule in Gaza. Mohammed Abbass PLO in the West Bank, discredited by the

Hanging over the discussion is the threat that Israel will mount another large Cast Lead-type ground oensive

perception of many Palestinians that it has become complicit in Israels policies, is in no position to take over. Yet even if a ceasere is achieved perhaps needing some kind of UN or other monitoring mechanism it will take a far broader and more sustained eort, with wide international support, to revive the moribund peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. It is the absence of any signicant peace eorts for the last four years that have led to this latest brutal episode in the long and violent history of the conict. Tony Blairs attempts in Ramallah, capital of the West Bank, to prevent Abbas seeking observer status at the UN are a reminder of how nit-pickingly marginal the international community has become. If there is no political perspective then it can only be a matter of time before the next round of hostilities erupts.

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

*
National editor: Dan Roberts Telephone: 020 3353 4090 Fax: 020 3353 3190 Email: national@guardian.co.uk

National Lawyers wary of Cameron move to cut pointless judicial reviews

Curbs go beyond planning to include asylum cases Government must still be held to account, say critics
Patrick Wintour and Owen Bowcott
David Camerons drive to speed up government and make Whitehall more business-friendly is to include a clampdown on the right to seek judicial review of asylum, immigration and environmental decisions, it was announced yesterday. The plans to reduce access to judicial review initially appeared to apply only to planning cases. But in a speech to the CBI Cameron went much further, saying the reforms would aect all types of cases, mainly by raising fees and imposing tighter time limits for applications. The prime minister said he wanted civil servants to stop conducting routine equality impact assessments for legislation, which assess the likely eect of new policies on women, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities, and to end cumbersome 12-week public consultations, which delayed ministers from pressing ahead with their plans. The number of judicial review applications each year has almost tripled in a decade due to a rise in immigration and asylum cases. Cameron said many were completely pointless, with applications roughly ve times more likely to be rejected than granted. But the Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, said: There are already considerable hurdles imposed by the courts before a judicial review can be brought. There may be scope for reform but the basic characteristics of judicial review, of holding the executive to account in the exercise of wide powers, should not be lost. Out of 11,200 judicial review applications made last year, according to Ministry of Justice statistics, more than two-thirds (8,649) related to immigration and asylum cases. Most judicial reviews are not based on a challenge to the merits of a government decision but the fairness and lawfulness of the procedures followed. The former lord chancellor, Ken Clarke, has warned that the growing use of the procedure is leading judges to make increasingly politicised interventions. Downing Street ocials said it was impossible for ministers or No 10 to hold a discussion on any issue without some warning that it was likely to be JRed. Arguing that judicial reviews were costing the taxpayer too much and slowing economic growth, Cameron told a CBI conference in London: We urgently need to get a grip on this. So heres what were going to do: reduce the time limit when people can bring cases, charge more for reviews so people think twice about time-wasting, and instead of giving hopeless cases up to four bites of the cherry to appeal, we will halve that to two. Ministers said a public consultation on the plan would start by Christmas and be completed quickly. All the changes would be to civil procedure rules, not legislation. Justice ministry sources said the cost of reviews may be raised in some cases and the number of allowable appeals reduced in others. In a co-ordinated announcement, the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, said: Judicial review is an important way to hold authorities to account and ensure decisions are lawful. However, there has been a huge growth in the use of judicial review, far beyond what was originally intended. We plan to renew the system so that judicial reviews will continue their important role but the courts and economy are no longer hampered by having to deal with applications brought forward even though the applicant knows they have no chance of success. Adam Chapman, a partner at the law firm Kingsley Napley, said: The prime minister is missing the point. It is a myth that judicial review is stopping the government from proceeding with policies to help boost the economy. The real delays in the system arise at the courts once cases have been brought. The answer is to resource the courts better, not to set up an unfair barrier that would not discriminate between so-called pointless cases and the valid cases that are brought to ensure that public bodies act lawfully.

Back in saddle Cavendish OK after fall

In numbers

11,200
The number of applications for judicial review last year, up from 4,500 a decade ago, according to the Ministry of Justice

8,649
The number of applications for judicial review last year that were related to immigration and asylum

12
The number of weeks that public consultations run for. The government wants to end the practice apparently as a sop to Liberal Democrat and UK Uncut campaigning on the issue of tax avoidance, the Treasury minister David Gauke announced a variety of antitax avoidance measures, to be enacted in the following spring. This included legislation against VAT supply-splitting. In February 2011, when the legislation was published in the same form despite energetic lobbying, Sky said it would end publication of Sky Movies magazine and Sky Sports magazine, and downsize Sky magazine, with a potential loss of 20 jobs. Coming in the middle of the nancial crisis, it was widely perceived as a cash-saving exercise. By October all publications had been pulled, and BSkyB Publications was also being wound down. A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs told the Guardian it was not possible to comment on individual cases. If there is some kind of contrived scheme or vehicle, ie its obvious the purpose of the scheme is to avoid paying VAT and its taking advantage of a loophole and we consider that tax is actually owed on the scheme, rather than just being a case of sensible tax planning we can make the judgment that this is not legitimate tax planning. And if we consider that somebody has not applied the rules we will then go back three to four years and if there is back tax owing we will ask them for it. Sky said in a statement: The TV listing magazine that Sky used to publish was, in common with all newspapers and magazines, zero-rated for VAT. Sky directly contributes more than 1bn a year in tax a total of 1.4% of all taxes paid by the 100 largest FTSE companies. Were proud of the signicant and growing contribution we make to the British economy.

BRYN LENNON/GETTY IMAGES

Mark Cavendish has said he is ok after colliding with a car while training in Italy. The 2011 world road race champion tweeted: Wasnt ideal. Apart from a bruised arm, Im relatively ok. It comes after Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins and British Cycling head coach Shane Sutton were injured in collisions in the UK

BSkyB used loophole to save millions in tax

continued from page 1 allowed to deduct VAT on cable guide magazines and similar publications, if they structured them so that customers did receive a genuine product from a separate company, delivered at a fair price. In 2005 Sky relaunched BSkyB Publications with James Murdoch on the board, and in 2007 they took production of Sky magazine in-house and also began distributing Sky Sports magazine and Sky Movies magazine. A note on the Sky magazine masthead in 2011 told readers: 2.20 of your package price is paid by you to BSkyB Publications Ltd for this magazine. Some readers raised objections on online talkboards to the fact that when they had tried to cancel the crap magazine they had been told their subscription was discounted by the magazines price, and if they opted out they would no longer get the discount. What Sky are doing is saving themselves some VAT. Its perfectly legal and its something any ecient company would do, wrote one poster. BSkyB Publications accounts show that most of the income from the supposed monthly price of the magazine was recycled back to Sky TV, described in its books as payments for customer data and support services. This left only a modest apparent prot on BSkyB Publications accounts. But in December 2010,

Push on cheap energy plan

continued from page 1 had made a mistake because the unintended consequences would be to kill competition. She added: Consumers will be left with Hobsons choice there will be no spur, no choice, no innovation and no reason for consumers to engage any more. The opposition will scrutinise the new proposals to see if there are any loopholes, especially whether the energy company has any leeway in restricting a customers access to some taris. The big six energy rms, already mired in controversy over profits and lack of competition, were hit by fresh problems

last week when a whistleblower revealed in the Guardian that there may be rigging of prices in the wholesale market. The companies have denied the charge which is now being investigated by the Financial Services Authority. The sense of internal coalition conict over energy has been aggravated by Davey and the energy minister, John Hayes, clashing over onshore wind, while Davey is at loggerheads with the Treasury over a 2030 target for decarbonising the power sector. Hayes was not expected to attend todays select committee meeting in an attempt to avoid the open split on policy between the two men. Your money The energy price surge and what to do about it
guardian.co.uk/money/energy

Jerey Jowell Diminishing judicial review will reverse 50 years of legal progress guardian. co.uk/law

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

National

Girl, 17, wins record 23m crash payout

Teenager left paralysed after mother was killed Spinal injuries at very highest level of severity
Caroline Davies
A teenage girl paralysed in a car crash in which her mother was killed is to receive 23m compensation, thought to be record damages. Agnes Collier, now 17, a pupil at Cheltenham Ladies college, suered spinal injuries at the very highest level of severity, which left her with no use of her legs and little function in her arms after the accident on the A436 in Gloucestershire in March 2009. Her mother, Karen Hood, 48, a teacher at Cheltenham College junior school, was killed and her older brother, Rufus, suffered a serious head injury, from which he has made a good recovery. Agness father, Dominic Collier, 57, an investment banker, and her stepmother, Jannene, were at the high court in London for the approval of a damages award against the insurers of Anthony Norton, the motorist who caused the accident when he pulled out of a side road, causing the familys car to be hit by an oncoming lorry. In November 2009 Norton, 48, of Andoversford, Gloucestershire, admitted causing death by driving without due care and attention. He was sentenced to six months jail, suspended for a year, was banned from driving for 18 months, and was ordered to do 300 hours unpaid community work. Norton, who worked for BMW, resigned from his job after the accident because he could no longer face driving. At his sentencing hearing, Collier and his daughter gave a statement saying they did not want to see him imprisoned. Agness counsel, William Norris QC, told Mr Justice MacDu she was a truly remarkable young lady and a very bright girl who had done astonishingly well in returning to school and taking her AS-levels. She had done wonderfully at school, although with the need of a scribe to do her work she felt she had not achieved the results and career she had hoped for, though she aspired to go to university. Her determination is extraordinary, Norris said, but she has been blessed with a family who are thoroughly supportive, and her stepmother has been a tower of strength. Ben Browne QC, for the insurers, said the tragedy had hit the entire family, of Naunton, near Cheltenham. It had started with the loss of a devoted wife and mother, and, he added: On top of that, they had to contend with the injuries to Agnes, which

Let Wales set its own income tax rate, report says
Steven Morris
The government yesterday said it would take seriously proposals that would allow Wales to set income tax levels the centrepiece idea of a commission set up to examine the future of devolved government in Wales. The proposed new nancial powers would result in a fundamental constitutional shift from London to Cardi. The commission said the ability to vary income tax for Welsh residents would make the government in Cardiff more accountable to its people and give it greater incentive to improve the economy. Other measures put forward by the Commission on Devolution in Wales , which was set up by the UKs coalition government, include giving Wales control over some smaller taxes such as stamp duty and air passenger duty. It also calls for Wales to be able to borrow money to fund infrastructure projects. Commission chairman Paul Silk called the report signicant and historic, adding: It will give Wales its own tax and borrowing system for the rst time. He is calling for a new Wales bill to be introduced in this parliament so legislation can be considered. He envisages smaller taxes being introduced by 2016 and income tax changes which could need a referendum coming into force by 2020. The UK government said work would begin immediately to look at the proposals. Welsh secretary David Jones said: Its a powerful piece of work which we will be giving very careful scrutiny to we will be making a very serious assessment of the recommendations. Currently the bulk of the Welsh national assembly and governments budget is made up of a block grant from Westminster. So though the government is responsible for spending 15bn, it does not have the power or responsibility to raise the funds.

She is remarkable her determination is extraordinary

William Norris QC
were at the very highest level of severity. It is dicult to imagine how the family was going to cope with those terrible blows coming together, but it is enormously to their credit that they have coped and managed to give Agnes a quality of life which would have been really unimaginable in the early days following this tragedy. Mr Collier and his new wife have succeeded in rebuilding a family which was so shattered. After the hearing, the familys solicitor, Paul Paxton, of Stewarts Law, said the award would be worth 23m over Agness lifetime. Composed of a 7.25m lump sum plus annual payments of 270,000, it is believed to be the highest ever for personal injury, topping the previous record, of 12.2m. He added: While it is a lot of money, Agness needs are great.

Karen Hood, above, was killed in the car crash in which her daughter Agnes Collier suered severe spinal injuries Photograph: Gloucestershire News Service

Sale
Dec-Jan Seat

18

ONE WAY, FROM

Book till midnight 22 Nov. Travel Mon-Thurs, Dec - Jan. T&Cs apply see Ryanair.com for details. Fare includes a 6 admin fee which can be avoided if you pay with Ryanairs Cash Passport Card. Flights from selected UK airports.

10

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

National Disillusion with EU boosts Ukip as PM urges budget freeze

Tom Clark Nicholas Watt Ian Traynor Brussels
Ukip is the chief beneficiary of disillusionment with the EU, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll that records a surge for the party of two percentage points. As David Cameron told the European commission it should stop picking the pockets of citizens after it tabled an aboveination rise in the EU budget prior to a summit this week, the poll found Ukips share of the vote had risen to 7% since October. Support for all three main parties fell back a point from the month before, leaving Labour on 40%, the Tories on 32% and the Liberal Democrats on 13%. The ICM poll came as the prime minister made it clear that he would press hard for freezing the budget in real terms, with it rising in line with ination in the next EU budget, from 2014-20, which will be the subject of the summit in Brussels. Cameron told the CBI annual conference: I have got the people of Europe on my side in arguing that we should stop picking their pockets and spending more and more money through the EU budget, particularly when so many parts of the European budget are not well spent. The prime minister said he was focusing on the planned 63bn (51bn) budget for the EUs running costs over the seven years. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European council, has proposed cutting the administration budget by 1bn over the seven years. This is part of

Xolile Mngeni in court yesterday. He was convicted of ring the gun that killed the bride of British-born Shrien Dewani Photograph: Sumaya Hisham/Reuters

Third man convicted over South African honeymoon kidnap and murder plot
Judge dismisses claim of confession under torture Prosecutors still seeking husbands extradition
Alex Duval Smith Cape Town Steven Morris
A third South African man was yesterday convicted in connection with the murder of honeymooner Anni Dewani two years ago. But South African prosecutors still want to extradite her British husband, Shrien, to stand trial for allegedly masterminding the killing. Xolile Mngeni, 25, was found guilty of pulling the trigger on the gun that killed the 28-year-old Swedish-born engineering graduate in a murder that was made to look like a car hijacking in Khayelitsha township near Cape Town on 13 November 2010. Two other men a taxi driver, Zola Tongo, and Mziwamadoda Qwabe have been jailed after confessing under the plea bargain system and implicating Dewani. Tongo is serving 18 years and Qwabe 25 years in prison. Mngeni will be sentenced tomorrow. Judge Robert Henney at the Western Cape high court stressed that the case did not include any direct evidence about Mr Dewanis involvement. Dewani, a 32-year-old British-born care home owner from Westbury-onTrym, Bristol, is said to be in poor mental health in a secure hospital. He denies any involvement in his wifes murder and is resisting extradition. His case is due to be heard again at Westminster magistrates court next month. In March, the high court in London halted Dewanis extradition because of his mental condition. Sir John Thomas, president of the Queens bench division, and Mr Justice Ouseley, ruled it was unjust and oppressive to send him to South Africa at that time. However, they rejected claims that he should not be extradited on human rights grounds and said it was in the interests of justice that he be extradited as soon as he is t. The Dewanis had a lavish wedding in India before travelling to South Africa on honeymoon, chosen because the countrys initial letters were the same as their own, her family said. They had been married for only 12 days when the vehicle they were travelling in was apparently hijacked and Anni was killed by a single gunshot to the neck. Her husband said he and Tongo were thrown out of the vehicle by the hijackers. Mngeni, who showed no emotion as the 60-page judgment was read out yesterday, denied kidnapping, aggravated robbery, murder, and the illegal possession of rearms and ammunition. Tongo claimed in his plea bargain that Shrien Dewani paid him 1,000 rand (71) to stage a car hijacking that would end in his wifes murder. Witnesses some of whom cannot be named by court order told Mngenis trial that Tongo had sought the services of a hotel employee with connections in the criminal world. The court heard that the hotel employee put Tongo in touch with Qwabe and Mngeni, who wanted R15,000. Witnesses told the court that on the Saturday evening of the killing, Tongo took the couple to see sights in Cape Town. However, he allegedly missed the rendezvous with the killers in Gugulethu Anni Dewani was shot dead in a Cape township after she and her husband Shrien were allegedly hijacked on a sightseeing tour township and drove the couple instead to a restaurant at Somerset West, about 30 miles from Cape Town. After dinner, he brought the couple back to Gugulethu. The car was hijacked and the Dewanis were made to lie on the oor. Tongo and later Shrien Dewani were allowed to leave the vehicle as it sped to Khayelitsha, another township on the Cape Flats. Witnesses told Mngenis trial that he had complained to the hotel employee the day after the murder that only R10,000 had been left in the car for him and Qwabe R5,000 short of the agreed amount. Much of the evidence against Mngeni centred around reconstructions of his whereabouts using mobile phone records. His palm print was also found on the VW Sharan people carrier in which Anni Dewani was killed. Mngeni was arrested shortly after Tongo gave himself up. He confessed to taking part in the killing ve days after it happened. He showed police the route the hijacked vehicle had taken and where he shot Anni Dewani. While in custody, he was treated for a brain tumour. He retracted his confession, claimed he had been tortured and, in court, attempted to present an alibi for the day of the murder. The judge yesterday called Mngenis alibi rather belated, without foundation and easy to dismiss. He had lied to the court and his lawyer had given a farfetched and highly speculative version of how Anni Dewanis jewellery had ended up in the roof of a house where Mngeni had stayed. The judge said Mngenis dismissal of witnesses who had testied against him was childish, laughable and unconvincing. The judge said he was satisfied that police acted with utmost professionalism and fairness in safeguarding Mngenis constitutional rights. He called Mngeni dishonest in his evidence and not to be trusted and said the states avalanche of evidence against him was overwhelming. Mngeni was found guilty of all charges except kidnapping, as he said the hijack was part of the murder plot.

UK Independence partys share of the vote this month, up from 5% in October. Support for the three main parties fell a point

his proposal to cut 81bn from the original European commission proposal to take the budget down to 973bn minus emergency o-budget spending. The Van Rompuy proposal is designed to allow Cameron to declare that he has achieved a real-terms cut of 20bn going further than his demand for an inflation freeze on the EUs last seven-year budget, which runs from 2007 to 2013. One British source said: We think this is good because it is a downward trajectory. But it does not go far enough. The prime minister discussed cutting a deal at the summit with counterparts from Poland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands. In his speech to the CBI, the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, warned that Cameron was in danger of forcing the UK out of the EU by accident. But the Labour leader said the EU must reform, as he acknowledged that Eurosceptics had often been right in their criticisms of Brussels. Patrick Diamond, a close ally of Peter Mandelsons, praised him for demanding reform of the EU. But in a Guardian article, Diamond questioned Milibands decision to vote with Tory Eurosceptics in favour of a below-ination cut in the EU budget. Comment, page 32

Wrecked Hastings pier gets 11m restoration grant 120,000 spoilt ballots in election
Maev Kennedy
The sad, charred skeleton of Hastings pier should be restored to its gaudy glory, through an 11.4m Heritage Lottery fund grant to a local trust to buy and restore the seaside gem once known as the peerless pier. It has been a scorched eyesore since an arson attack in 2010. Generations of local people remember it as the heart of the resort for children, strolling adults, shermen and rowdy teenagers, including the comedian Jo Brand, who grew up in the area. I was gutted when the pier was gutted, she said. The Grade II listed pier was designed by the genius of Victorian pier architecture, Eugenius Birch, who also created Brightons now destroyed West Pier. It opened in 1872, and originally stretched 277m out to sea. It had the usual patchy pier history of storm and re damage, but ourished with a dance hall, fun fair, bowling alley and rifle range, and cafes. It became renowned for big-name pop concerts, including the Rolling Stones, Who, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd in January 1968, Syd Barretts last appearance with the band. In 2009 it was bleakly assessed as one good storm away from collapse. It was declared Britains most endangered pier by the National Piers Society and the following year a re was started deliberately although nobody was ever convicted which destroyed almost all the buildings, leaving only the structural ironwork. By then it was owned by an oshore company, Panama-registered Ravenclaw Investments, which has failed to carry out the vital repairs. Hastings council nally voted for compulsory purchase as the only way of saving it. A local trust, the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust, now plans to buy the pier and reopen it. It hopes to start work in the spring and nish by late 2014, keeping the only surviving original building, the Western Pavilion, as a visitor centre, restaurant and bar.

Alan Travis Home aairs editor

There were more than 120,000 spoilt ballot papers or 10 times the rate of recent general elections in last weeks police and crime commissioner elections. A rapid analysis by Reading Universitys politics department, based on detailed returns from 31 of the 41 police forces that held elections, suggests there is evidence of more deliberate spoiling of ballot papers as a protest than is usual. The analysis was published as the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) released Populus polling data showing that 45% of people who did not vote said they had insufcient information to vote. A further 19% of non-voters representing nearly 5.8 million people said they had not taken part because they objected to the policy. Katie Ghose of the ERS said the data showed that hostility to the policy was evenly spread among Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative supporters.

Hastings pier was largely destroyed by re in 2010, leaving only the ironwork

Alan Renwick, a reader in comparative politics at Reading University, said many observers at counts across England and Wales saw ballot papers with mini-essays on them rather than votes. The perception is that some voters expressed their disagreement with the idea of politicising the police by deliberately casting an invalid vote, he wrote. He said 120,336 votes, or 2.9% of the total cast in the 31 force areas that provided detailed gures, were rejected. This compared with 0.3% of votes cast at recent general elections. The highest number of spoilt papers was 9,190 in Avon and Somerset, followed by 7,445 in Thames Valley and 7,063 in the West Midlands. The highest proportion was 7.2% in North Yorkshire and 4.3% in Dyfed-Powys two contests between two candidates and so held under the familiar first-past-the-post rather than supplementary vote (SV). Renwick said this was evidence of a protest at the policing elections rather than confusion over the voting system.

12

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Special report Breadline Britain

In the second part of our series, charities and those seeking their help speak out about how dicult it is to cope with the tightening grip of the governments austerity drive

Safety net unravels as cuts hit the poor and vulnerable

Amelia Hill
he Highway of Holiness community church a few dilapidated rooms in a windswept industrial park in Tottenham, north London used to be a lifeline for local youth. More than eight out of 10 children across Tottenham live in poverty, and this ward is one of the most deprived in England. Yet until recently, the charity of the churchs largely immigrant, low-income congregation enabled the pastor, Alex Gyasi, to run an impressive schedule of after-school classes, a youth club, a cooking club and an in-house digital TV channel used to inspire young people to debate current aairs. Since the governments austerity drive began to bite, however, and word spread that Gyasi gives the destitute a space to sleep and a hot meal, the church has been deluged with requests it cant refuse. Two years ago there were two homeless men sleeping on the thinly carpeted oor of the church. Recently, there were 50. When winter hits harder and temperatures drop, Gyasi fears the church will have 90 men crammed into every inch of spare space and he will have to turn people away. The governments decit reduction plan, it said, would be weighted so those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest load. It is too early to know what the exact impact of these cuts will be on those whom politicians promised to protect because, deep as they have already

Published on Monday, the NEFs report, called Everyday Insecurity: Life at the End of the Welfare State, emphatically rejects the suggestion that the most vulnerable and those with genuine needs are being protected. The report says the services that are being lost are cheaper ones that keep people away from far more expensive acute services, such as A&E, homelessness support and temporary housing. These are real cuts, the report insists, and they will be paid for in human, social and economic costs. This is clear from the men Gyasi welcomes into his church. We have men referred to us by almost every major hospital and organisation that deals with the homeless, he said, leafing through a thick le of letters from hospitals, including University College London Hospitals, East London and City mental health trust, Guys and St Thomas and the Royal Free, as well as the British Red Cross, the Refugee Council and Tottenham MP, David Lammy. These rooms were supposed to be for our children and for our congregation. Now all that space is given over to the homeless, he sighed. To help the dispossessed, we have to deprive our own children. But we have no choice: were the last resort for the poor and marginalised. These are the people who fell through the net and kept falling. The NEF report argues that the true impact of the cuts is the erosion of dayto-day economic security for everyone. The whole notion of a social safety net is being unravelled, said Joe Penny, co-author of the report. The safety net has so many holes in it now that anyone, no matter how secure they might think they are, can slip through. According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the introduction of the benet cap will see at least 11,390 households in the UK lose 150 a week in Haringey this will make 6,900 homes unaordable to families on housing benets, a report by the Chartered Institute of Housing has said.

been, they are only just beginning. By April 2013, the end of this nancial year, there will have been 8.9bn in cuts to welfare spending. Last week, it was announced that further substantial welfare cuts will be made in the autumn statement: an extra 6bn in 2015-16, then 10bn in 2016-17. There are, however, two swaths of cuts that have already taken eect, aecting local authority spending and housing benet. For the last 18 months, the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has been tracking how those cuts have hit the frontline in some of the most deprived wards in England: Aston and Ladywood in Birmingham, and ve wards in the east of Haringey in north London.

Demand for Haringeys Citizens Advice services has risen threefold in two years. Some queue from 6am for advice

I live on a pension of 50 a week. I dont have any savings. What will happen to me?
Aston Blackman, 87

The safety net, according to Penny, was not tightly knit in the rst place, but the voluntary sector lled the gaps. The government is now eroding the voluntary sector [and] at the same time tearing massive holes in what local government can provide. Benets are being reduced while council tax, rent and fuel bills are soaring. To compound the growing income insecurity many people face, some of the most practical and vital public services such as legal advice, crisis centres and care homes are being cut. Society is, said Penny, getting to the point where anyone can have a crisis that pushes them down a spiral so precipitous that it is almost impossible to recover. When the Welfare Reform Act comes into force next year, the swingeing cuts to working tax credits will see at least 200,000 couples lose up to 74.34 a week, according to a Child Poverty Action Group calculation based on 2012 rates. The 26,000-a-year cap to housing benet will aect at least 56,000 households, the DWP has calculated, and they will mainly be large families, lone parents and disabled people. The average aected household, says the DWP, will lose 83 a week from its housing benet alone. Those who can no longer aord to live in the area will have to move away, potentially giving up jobs, taking children out of schools and exchanging local support networks of family and friends for communities of strangers. Those aected will increasingly nd they are no longer able to turn to their local authorities: the average 27% reduction in spending that local governments have had to make saw 24% of disabled adults having their support reduced in 2011. An estimated 800,000 elderly people in need of care now go without any formal support. The forthcoming 20% reduction in council tax benets for everyone except pensioners will aect 36,000 people in Haringey alone, the NEF report has found. A DWP spokesperson said: Our reforms will introduce fairness to the welfare system by asking people on benets to make the same choices about where to live that working families do. Housing benet will meet rents of up to 21,000 a year and apart from the most expensive areas in London, around a third of properties will still be available to rent. We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable and councils have an additional discretionary fund of 190m to help families in dicult situations. But Penny says a race to the bottom is the new norm. This is the thin edge of the wedge, he said. Guardian readers and those in the higher income brackets are being naive if they think this will not hit them. If services and infrastructure are removed, everyone will notice. Anything that local government dont legally have to provide, they are going to have to get rid of. Even if Labour get in at the next election, they will not be able to aord to heal the cuts. But summaries and statistics cannot convey the cuts eects on individuals. The storm clouds can been seen at Citizens Advice bureaux. Markos Chrysostomou, chief executive ocer of Haringeys CAB, said: Were like the canary down the mine. Were the rst people who pick up whats going on out there and what were seeing at the moment is a boiling pot whose lid is coming o. Were trying to turn down the heat so it just simmers but someone keeps stoking the re. Demand for the boroughs CAB services has risen threefold in two years.

Residents who want to ensure they are among the limited number of applicants the centre can see each day must start queuing hours before the doors open. Recently, 87-year-old Aston Blackman woke long before it was light to get to the Turnpike Lane oce for 6am.By 7am, there were 11 people in the queue. By 9.30am, there were 49. More turned up every few minutes after that but didnt bother waiting: they knew that because of the services increasingly limited facilities, only around 25 people can see an adviser each day. Blackman had received a 1,218.63 council tax demand for an original debt

To help the dispossessed we have to deprive our own children. But we have no choice
Pastor Alex Gyasi, pictured below
of 154.84 accrued, the council claimed, in 1997 when he was 71 years old, despite already having been on a pension and entitled to full council tax relief for six years. Despite the six-year rule, which means the council is not allowed llowed to recover debt that it has not attempted empted to claim for that period of time, the lethe ter threatened legal action unless the s full sum was paid in seven days. Blackman was bewildered and scared. As far as Im aware, Ive paid my council tax on time for my entire life, he said, wringing his hands. I cant aord to pay this. I live on a pension of 50 a week. I dont have any savings. What will happen to me? Blackmans problem will be ironed out, his CAB adviser dviser said reassuringly. Chrysostomou admitted the bureau ureau was struggling to cope with incredible dible demand: Were sitting here, facing an ng ever-increasing tide of demand with ever-diminishing resources. He has had

to stop funding for mental health work, and the centre can no longer aord to oer specialist welfare benet advice. From next April, there will not be a single CAB welfare benet specialist working in Haringey. Hackney and Waltham Forest CABs, in east and north-east London respectively, have had a 30% cut in funding, and residents of those boroughs now come to Haringey for help. Chrysostomou struggled to identify a group that would be unaected by the cuts. The reductions in council tax benets will hit families who are working and on low earnings, he said. Single people, disabled people and large families will be evicted when the new housing benet cap comes in. Chrysostomou has lived in Haringey for years. He says he has never seen anything like the suering already caused by the cuts. This need for subsistence charity like food banks is like going back to third world countries, he said. Three miles away from the CAB, Gyasi said he was receiving referrals from across London. There is so little support from the state, local government and voluntary organisations that everyone is vulnerable now, he said. People struggle to survive on subsistence-level benets, that are cut ever further, and yet have to pay more and more for lifes essentials. Or they lose their job and there arent any others to be had. Or their relationship breaks down and they cant aord to run two homes and pay for their childrens food. If the government want the so-called big society to step up and really ll the gap that has been created by the withdrawal of statutory provision, then we need some help our coers are emptying. We do the best that we can, but very soon, we wont have the but resources to cope. There are more cuts on their way and winter is coming. Polly Toynbee, page 31

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

13

This is Breadline Britain

The Guardians Breadline Britain project is tracking the impact of recession on people across the UK as the governments austerity measures continue to bite. This weeks reports and lms look at how families are coping with rising food prices and overcrowded homes and the eects on their health and relationships

Films on Povertys Frontline

Home help Lovedeep Singh has been given a place to sleep at the Highway of Holiness community church in Tottenham, north London Photographs: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Watch online Volunteers battle to keep lunch club open

In our series of short observational documentaries funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we meet the people who use a senior citizens lunch club in Pitsmoor, Sheeld, and the volunteers who keep it going

Lone parent struggles to aord healthy diet

Meet Charlotte, a single parent in Leeds trying to cope as parentsupport services close, who nds it dicult to give her children the kind of nutritious food they need

Housing crisis

Did damp and overcrowding contribute to cot death?

The rst thing Kia Stone did when she got back to the at was dismantle the cot in which her 11-month-old baby daughter Telan had been found dead the week before. Above the cot in the crowded bedroom where Kia, her partner Simon and their two children had slept, a large mushroom continues to grow out of the damp plaster. The wallpaper is a violent shade of bright green, edged with black lines of damp. Wet with condensation, it hangs limply from the wall. Kia, 24, does not know how Telan died. Neither do the doctors. Kia wonders if the damp in her single-bedroom at on the Chapelelds housing estate in York was a contributory factor in the death of her baby girl. The autopsy report found no cause of death. But experts say that damp and overcrowding is a risk factor in cot death. Just days after Telans death, on 6 October, three health ocials a doctor, a health visitor, and a paediatric nurse wrote to York council warning of the increased risk of cot death to another chi Isla Jackson, who was child, born prema prematurely and spent six weeks in a special baby care unit, and was then living with in a family of ve in a damp, two-bedroom at. two-bedroo The letter, from health visitor Russell lette reads: This property is not Dowson rea suitable and specically puts Isla at an risk increased ri of suering cot death. Film-maker Peter Gordon had, by Film-ma been chance, bee lming with the Stone family for a series of lms for the Guardians Breadline Britain series lookpoverty in Britain. Gordons lm ing at pov with starts wi a laughing Telan being bounced on the bed by her gently b mother. mother Telan died 10 days after lming nished. The Guardian showed the lm to Prof Richard Jenkins, one of Britains foremost experts on cot deaths. He said: Its not clear that the fungus growing over the babys cot is necessarily a toxic form of black mould, but it is likely to give rise to airborne spores which, when inhaled, could exacerbate a respiratory condition. Damp conditions also encourage mould and house mites and researchers have reported an increased frequency of immune response to dust mites and of minor ailments in cot death victims. The Stones have lived in their onebedroomed council at for two years. It was originally intended to be temporary accommodation. The family ran into trouble two years ago when Simons epilepsy meant he had to give up his job as a chef at a sh and chip restaurant at the Novotel hotel in York. The family couldnt keep up rental payments on the two-bedroomed house they were living in at the time and when the owner put it on the market for 113,000 they had to move out. The at they moved into on a temporary basis was then permanently assigned to them by the council. There is a big shortage in York and they told us we had to make the at we were in permanent or we would lose it. I cant count the number of times I phoned the council about the damp. They came and washed the black mould o it just came back, says Kia. By the time of Telans death they had switched o the heating in the at in a bid to control the damp. The bedroom is freezing cold but the council advised me to keep the heating o because if it gets too warm the fungus grows, she says. Steve Waddington, York councils two-bedroom home was around 650 a month. For the Stones, who have a joint income of 640 a month, there are few choices about where they can live. The Labour-run council said more than 4,500 people were now on its waiting list for homes but supply was limited. Shelter is warning that a combination of rising rents, the shortage of suitable rental properties and the forthcoming housing benet cap is forcing people to choose to live in overcrowded and damp conditions all over Britain. Roger Harding, head of policy, research and public aairs, said: Overcrowding is one of the hidden symptoms of our housing crisis. Behind closed doors, hundreds of thousands of children are suering in cramped conditions that are doing lasting damage to their education and wellbeing. In a recent study, Shelter found that poor housing conditions increase the risk of severe ill health or disability by 25% during childhood. Environmental health consultant, Steph Harrison, a member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, told the Guardian: In 30 years working as an environmental health ocer Ive never seen so many cases of overcrowding as I am seeing now. Its becoming a big problem that councils must take more seriously. Back in Chapelelds, Kia is on the phone to the council again. A social worker is in the front room oering counselling to the grandparents. I cant bear it, Kia is telling York housing department. I cant stay in this at. I cant stand the damp and the wet. On 7 November, a month after her daughters death, York council rehoused Kia Stone and her family in a two-bedroom at. Maggie OKane and Ben Ferguson

Coming this week Families feel the pressure of austerity

We look at how one family struggles to pay a mortgage they cant aord; a young man who is surviving as part of Britains lost generations, with little hope of a job; and a 13-year-old girl who is determined to buck the system and pull her and her mother out of poverty

Kia Stone with one of her children assistant director of housing and community safety, said: We can conrm their complaint about damp was received and that council technicians visited the house to t new fans and to advise the family on how to help reduce condensation. In York, the number of people waiting for council housing has increased by 70% in the last year. Nationally, the number of people waiting for council accommodation is close to 2 million, and when the government caps housing benet payments to private landlords next April, the housing charity Shelter expects that number to soar. York council said the growth in demand was due to the high cost of property in the city, making accommodation within the housing benet cap hard to come by. Shelter says the average private rent in the city for a

Datablog Numbers behind the news

Find out the real eects of the governments squeeze on spending around the country

Plus Read the rest of the series:

If I cant aord to ll them up with heathy food, I have to ll them up with unhealthy food. I cant let my kids go hungry

guardian.co.uk/society

14

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

National

ITV close to six-gure deal with McAlpine for abuse blunder

Josh Halliday and Dan Sabbagh
Lord McAlpine was last night close to reaching a six-figure settlement with ITV over its presenter Phillip Schoelds onscreen blunder linking several Conservative politicians with allegations of child sex abuse. The comedian Alan Davies also said he had written to apologise to the peer for retweeting his name. Solicitors for the former Tory party treasurer met lawyers for the broadcaster in London at 4pm to negotiate the terms of the libel payout, which is widely expected to be signicantly more than the BBCs 185,000 bill possibly as much as 500,000 but ITV would not discuss any figures under negotiation. The broadcaster made contact with McAlpines lawyers yesterday afternoon, after receiving a legal letter on Friday. McAlpine launched legal action against ITV after Schofield, host of ITVs This Morning , handed a list of Tory politicians allegedly linked to child sex abuse to David Cameron, whom he was interviewing. Both ITV and Schofield have apologised, but McAlpine said he would sue as the onscreen ambush of the prime minister had triggered thousands of libellous Twitter messages. One of those tweeters, the actor and comedian Alan Davies, yesterday told his 444,000-plus followers on Twitter: Ive just written to Lord McAlpine to apologise for retweeting his name in relation to false allegations. McAlpines lawyers may try to sue or reach settlements with Twitter users who falsely linked him to allegations of child sexual abuse. George Monbiot, the Guardian columnist, has also apologised in writing, and Sally Bercow, who is married to the Commons Speaker, apologised on the social network. She also breached a court order preventing the naming of a schoolgirl who ran o with a teacher. Lawyers for the Tory peer are believed to have compiled thousands of tweets that name McAlpine and have urged those behind them to agree a swift settlement. However, while it would be straightforward to identify public gures, anonymous tweeters or people with common names and few other identifying features would be harder to catch. Twitter holds no data in the UK, and complainants must take action in the United States before the company will release details it holds on people a timeconsuming process often abandoned. Lawyers for McAlpine conrmed yesAlan Davies told his Twitter followers he had written to apologise to Lord McAlpine for retweeting his name terday that they would seek a quick settlement with ITV, and would pursue higher damages than paid out by the BBC last week as it is a commercial broadcaster. Andrew Reid, McAlpines solicitor, last week told BBC Radio 4: Phillip Schoeld managed to embarrass the prime minister and then destroy my clients reputation. What he did was very, very low and I am amazed it was allowed. It sent everyone on to the internet those who couldnt read what was there [on Schoelds paper] to see who was being referred to. At the top of the list was Lord McAlpine. The media regulator Ofcom began an investigation last week. Schoeld and four This Morning production sta were reprimanded following an internal inquiry.

CPS to say if it will charge over illegal fees to public ocials

Vikram Dodd and Dan Sabbagh
Prosecutors will announce today whether they believe they have enough evidence to bring criminal charges as a result of the long-running police investigation into alleged illegal payments by journalists to public ocials that has seen the arrest of 52 people, including 21 journalists from the Sun. The Crown Prosecution Service will reveal charging decisions on a handful of les that have been passed over from the Metropolitan police, which has been conducting the investigation and has arrested a series of public ocials as well as the journalists. Sue Akers, formerly in charge of the investigation, has said Operation Elveden has spread beyond News International to include alleged payments from Trinity Mirror and Express Newspapers. Among the public ocials arrested are a member of the armed forces, a prison ocial and police ocers while among the current and former News International journalists arrested as part of Elveden is Rebekah Brooks. Akers has said the investigations triggered by the phone-hacking scandal may last three more years and cost 40m. The Met has 185 ocers and civilian sta working on the investigations 96 on Weeting, into phone hacking, 70 on Elveden and 19 on Tuleta, which covers computer hacking.

185

The number of Met ocers and civilians working on inquiries into illegal payments to public ocials as well as hacking

Meanwhile, Rupert Murdochs News Corporation last night defended the publication of pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underpants by the Sun and the New York Post in 2005, following suggestions that the publisher of the tabloids could face investigation in the United States over payments made to obtain them. The picture was run on the front pages of both newspapers in May 2005 prompting a complaint from President Bushs spokesperson and the Suns managing editor Graham Dudman admitted paying for pictures of the late Iraqi dictator in captivity that were alleged to have come from the US military. The tyrants in his pants, said the Suns headline while the New York Post opted for Butcher of Sagdad against an image of Hussein wearing nothing more than a pair of white Y-fronts. News Corp said it stood by its decision to publish, saying that efforts to highlight the story and link it to ongoing anti-corruption investigations in the US and the UK were just a lame attempt to regurgitate old news. A spokesperson added: We didnt believe then, and certainly dont believe now, that it was wrong to acquire and publish newsworthy photographs of a notorious war criminal. The Sun did not dispute paying for the photographs, with Dudman saying in 2005 that the newspaper paid a small sum to secure the pictures, which it said was in excess of 500. Having done so, it acted to aggressively defend its copyright, and reports at the time suggested it was demanding 20,000 for republication.

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

15

National
Health
But the biggest drop in deaths has been among those aged 40-69. Over 80% of deaths are in women aged 60 and over. The majority (84%) of women aged 15 to 39 who were diagnosed survived for at least ve years, compared with only 14% of those older than 85. We know systematic under-treatment of older cancer patients has left many with signicantly reduced odds of survival, said Dr Siobhan McClelland, head of research and evidence at Macmillan Cancer Support. This needs to change. Dr Andy Nordin, gynaecological oncologist at East Kent Hospitals University NHS foundation trust and study author, said the drop in deaths may reect improvements in detecting and treating the disease, such as improvements in scanning, surgery and chemotherapy treatments. Sarah Boseley

Village awash

Politics

Ovarian cancer deaths down 20% in a decade

Death rates from ovarian cancer, one of the hardest cancers to detect and treat, have dropped by 20% in a decade, according to ocial gures. The gures from the National Cancer Intelligence Network will be widely welcomed because ovarian cancer has so often in the past been seen as a death sentence. The gures show a drop in deaths in England from 3,820 in 2001 (11.2 for every 100,000 women) to 3,453 (8.8 per 100,000) in 2010. Since the mid-80s the proportion of women surviving for one year has gone up from 57% to 73%, while ve-year survival has risen from 33% to 44%.

Daughter says Dorries had Celebrity go-ahead

The former government chief whip, Andrew Mitchell, has denied claims made by a daughter of Nadine Dorries that he gave the MP for Mid Bedfordshire permission to take a month away from parliament to appear on Im A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Dorries was suspended from the Conservative party by the new chief whip, Sir George Young, when it emerged she had own out to Australia to be one of the contestants, apparently without seeking permission. But Jennie Dorries said yesterday her mother had been given the green light by Mitchell. She did not say whether he had been aware the MP intended to take part in Im A Celebrity. Mitchells oce released a statement saying: Andrew Mitchell was neither asked nor did he agree to Nadine Dorries going o to Australia for a month to take part in Im A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Hlne Mulholland

A villager is rescued in Aberfoyle, Stirling, yesterday after the town was ooded when the river Forth burst its banks Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Politics

List of MPs landlords and agents published

Records containing the identities of MPs landlords were published yesterday under the Freedom of Information Act, despite warnings by John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, that the move could jeopardise the security of those involved. The list of landlords and agents of the 320 MPs who claimed rental expenses last month was released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which said it had withheld details where an MP or landlord had shown that the information could lead to their address being identied. Nevertheless, the list included a range of names of individuals, and showed that a number of MPs rented their properties from fellow MPs or peers. The publication of the information came in response to a freedom of information request by Channel 4 researchers ahead of a Dispatches programme last night about MPs expenses. Ben Quinn

Crime

Trick-or-treat cocaine blunder man sentenced

A man who mistakenly handed bags of cocaine instead of sweets to a police ocers children out trick-or-treating was given community service yesterday. Donald Green shed in his pockets for a bag of Haribo sweets to give to the youngsters, aged eight, six and ve, but instead put a plastic pack containing eight snap bags of cocaine he had bought for 200 into their goody bags, Oldham magistrates court heard. He realised his mistake minutes later and tried to nd the family, the court heard. The drugs were spotted by the childrens father, PC Simon Fowell, when they got home and he called colleagues who arrested Green. Green, 23, an apprentice panel beater, of Oldham, admitted possessing a class A drug on 31 October. He was given a 12-month community order, ordered to do 130 hours community work and pay 145 court costs. PA

Courts

Circus couple deny mistreating elephant

Secretly lmed footage of a circus elephant being kicked and hit with a pitchfork was shown at the trial of a husband and wife accused of causing the animal unnecessary suering. Bobby and Moira Roberts kept the 58-year-old animal, called Anne, chained to the ground and failed to stop an employee from repeatedly beating her, Helen Law, prosecuting, told Northampton crown court. The elephant, an attraction at the Bobby Roberts Super Circus, did not receive the medication it needed for arthritis, it was claimed. Robert Cogswell, of Animal Defenders International, entered the barn where Anne was kept at Polebrook, Cambridgeshire, and installed a camera directly behind the elephant, the court heard. The defendants, of Oundle, Northamptonshire, deny causing the elephant unnecessary suering. The trial continues. Steven Morris and agencies

16

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

National

Its not just you-oo-oo: apes suer midlife crises too

Great apes show signs of a wellbeing slump in middle age, scientists claim
Ian Sample Science correspondent
There comes a time in some mens lives when the days seem darker, mortality more certain, and the only sensible response is to blow the life savings on a sports car. Radical and often ill-advised changes in lifestyle have become the calling cards of the midlife crisis, but if it is more than a myth, then humans may not be the only animals to experience it. An international team of scientists claims to have found evidence of a slump in wellbeing among middle-aged chimpanzees and orangutans. The lull in happiness in the middle years, they say, is the great ape equivalent of the midlife crisis. The study, which was published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has raised eyebrows among some scientists. But according to the authors the ndings suggest that the midlife crisis may have its roots in the biology humans share with our closest evolutionary cousins. Theres a common understanding mon that theres a dip in wellbeing in n middle age, and thats been ats found in many datasets across asets human cultures, said Alex Weiss, a psychologist at ist Edinburgh University. sity We took a step back and asked whether its possible that instead of the midlife crisis s being human-specic, and driven being occurred, on average, at 28.3 and 27.2 years old for the chimpanzees, and 35.4 years old for the orangutans. In all three groups we nd evidence that wellbeing is lowest in chimpanzees and orangutans at an age that roughly corresponds to midlife in humans, Weiss said. On average, wellbeing scores are lowest when animals are around 30 years old. The team says the temporary fall in ape wellbeing may result from more depressed apes dying younger, or through age-related changes in the brain that are mirrored in humans. Weiss conceded that, unlike men, great apes are not known to pursue radical and often disastrous lifestyle changes in middle age. Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary psychology at Oxford University, was dubious about the ndings. What can produce a sense of wellbeing or contentedness that varies across the lifespan like this? Its hard to see anything in an apes life that would have that sort of pattern, that they would cogitate about. Theyre not particularly good at seeing far ahead into the future, thats one of the big dierences between them and us. Alexandra Freund, professor of psychology at the University of Zurich, was also sceptical. She said the concept of a midlife crisis was shaky, even in humans. In my reading of the literature, there is no evidence for the midlife crisis. If theres any indication of decline in emotional or subjective wellbeing it is very small and in many studies its not there at all. But Weiss believes the ndings could point to a deeper understanding of the emotional crisis some people may experience. If we want to nd the answer as to whats going on with the midlife crisis, we should look at what is similar in middle-aged humans, chimps and orangutans, he said.

Keepers of 500 chi chimps and orangutans (below), which can live to 50 or older, founds signs of a low point at 30-ish

only by social factors, it reects some evolved ect tendency for middle-aged tenden individuals to have lower individu wellbeing, he said. wellbein The team from the United t Japan, Germany States, J and the UK asked zookeepers, carers and others who car worked with male and female apes of various ages complete questionto com

naires about the animals. The forms included questions about each apes mood, the enjoyment they gained from socialising, and their success at achieving certain goals. The nal question asked how carers would feel about being the ape for a week. They scored their answers from one to seven. More than 500 apes were included in the study in three separate groups. The rst two groups were chimpanzees,

and the third was made up of orangutans from Sumatra or Borneo. The animals came from zoos, sanctuaries and research centres in the US, Australia, Japan, Canada and Singapore. When the researchers analysed the questionnaires they found that wellbeing in the apes fell in middle age and climbed again as the animals moved into old age. In captivity great apes often live to 50 or more. The nadir in the animals well-

Supermarkets that swallow pubs threaten social fabric, says Camra

Rebecca Smithers Consumer aairs correspondent
More than 200 British pubs have been converted into supermarket branches since January 2010, according to gures published by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), while 45 more are under threat. Camra said weak and misguided planning laws have let supermarkets rip the hearts out of small communities by converting pubs into shops such as Tesco Metro or Sainsburys Local. The group is stepping up its campaign to persuade the government to close legal loopholes in England and Wales that allow pubs to be converted without planning permission. These, it says, have rendered communities powerless. A survey of Camra members found that since the start of 2010, 130 pubs have been converted by Tesco alone. A further 22 have been converted by Sainsburys, and 54 by rms such as Co-op, Asda and Costcutter. Critics say a legal loophole allows pubs to be converted to mini-markets without planning permission, leaving councils unable to halt the process. A pub can be used for retail without new planning permission, as it is eectively already a retail outlet. As long as the oorspace is less than 280 sq metres (3,000 sq ft), the retailer can bypass the Sunday Trading Act and remain open all hours. Mike Benner, chief executive of Camra, Camras survey found that since 2010, 130 pubs have been converted into stores by market leader Tesco alone said: Weak and misguided planning laws and the predatory acquisition of valued pub sites by large supermarket chains, coupled with the willingness of pub owners to cash in are some of the biggest threats to the future of Britains social fabric. Tescos Michael Kissman said the group took on derelict or vandalised pubs, not those which are still actively trading.

Chain gang Cycling news, views and gossip guardian. co.uk/ bike-blog

Today on guardian.co.uk
Libraries in crisis The author Jeanette Winterson last night called for money from alleged corporate tax avoidance to be used to fund Britains beleaguered libraries Highly exclusive The Royal Society of Chemistry has created a unique scent for the Queen to mark her diamond jubilee, described as a beautiful green oral fragrance

18

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012 International editor: Charlie English Telephone: 020 3353 3577 Fax: 020 3353 3195 Email: international@guardian.co.uk Follow our coverage on Twitter: guardianworld

International

Obama oers hand of friendship Tension rises as with Rwanda to aid Burmas path to democracy Congo rebels threaten Goma
Speech to activists sets out vision of free country Remarkable journey has much further to go
Jason Burke Rangoon
Outside, the streets were blocked and hard-faced policemen kept order with the brisk and bored eciency that comes from long practice. Inside, grey-haired opposition politicians joked, students photographed one another and representatives of Burmas scores of ethnic minorities in traditional woven caps waved excitedly. Then the wait was over and the president of the United States of America stepped out on to the stage of the recently refurbished Convocation Hall of the University of Rangoon, closed to undergraduates for decades by authorities who feared unrest. When I took oce as president, I sent a message to those governments who ruled by fear: we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your first, Barack Obama declared. So today, I have come to keep my promise, and extend the hand of friendship. Six hours earlier Obama had become the rst US president to visit Burma when he ew in from Thailand on the second leg of his rst overseas trip since re-election. He was met by tens of thousands of agwaving well-wishers who lined his route from the airport. A key aim of Obamas trip is to emphasise his administrations strategic reorientation away from the Middle East and towards the Asia Pacic region and by the time he reached the hall he had already met President Thein Sein, the former army general who has driven through many recent reforms, before seeing veteran pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi at the lakeside home where she spent much of the last 20 years under house arrest. He was accompanied by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who had met and reportedly greatly liked the Nobel Prize Laureate, when she had visited Rangoon a year ago. Burma has undergone rapid change in the last two years which have seen parts though by no means all of a brutally repressive regime dismantled. Censorship has been eased, some political prisoners freed and a by-election held which saw opposition politicians enter parliament. Crucially too, Chinese inuence, growing fast in recent years, has waned. The presidents message was thus not just to the 1,300 activists and young people in the Convocation Hall. It was directed to the Burmese hardliners who oppose any further change in the poor and long-isolated nation, as well as to other regional powers. Something is happening in this country that cannot be reversed, and the will of the people can lift up this nation and set a great example for the world, he said. The presidents trip has been criticised by human rights activists and exile groups who say it comes to soon. But aides have argued that engaging more fully now with Burma will encourage reform in the country and across the region. Here in Rangoon, I want to send a message across Asia: we dont need to be dened by the prisons of the past. We need to look forward to the future, the president said. But most of his 30 minute address was devoted to outlining a vision of a prosperous, free and democratic Burma. Speaking of four freedoms to speak, to associate, to worship and to live without fear he was applauded when he said that in a democracy the most important oce holder was the citizen. Obama also mentioned political prisoners several times, spoke of recent ethnic violence largely directed against Rohingya Muslim minority and stressed the need to nd peace and embrace diversity as the US had done. This remarkable journey has just begun, and has much further to go, he said. Reforms launched from the top of society must meet the aspirations of citizens who form its foundation. The flickers of progress that we have seen must not be extinguished, they must be strengthened. Thant Myint-U, a Burmese historian who was in the audience, said the speech, broadcast live throughout the country, had resonated as exposure to western democracy has a powerful eect here. Thinzar Khin Myo Win, a 28-year-old teacher, said Obamas words meant everything for the people of Myanmar. He really said to each of us that the power of the people can really change the country. That was great, she added. For Dr Tu Ja, a senior political leader of the Kachin minority in the north of the country, Obamas visit was unimaginable. This is a historic thing today. The gap between here and the US is very big but we can learn a lot from them, he told The Guardian. Outside the university, the crowds which had lined the streets waving pennants had dispersed, many heading to roadside stalls with television screens to watch the speech again.Aides said that Obama had decided to visit the famous Shwe Dagon pagoda, the countrys holiest shrine, after seeing the tens of thousands lining the pavement. Taxi drivers flew Stars and Stripes pennants. Obama left Burma on Air Force One for Cambodia, another country never visited by a US president.

David Smith Johannesburg Blase Wetemwami Goma

Rebels with the alleged backing of Rwanda threatened to invade the biggest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, with UN peacekeepers appearing powerless to stop them. After several days of heavy ghting, the M23 militia group, which the UN accuses of human rights abuses and recruiting child soldiers, appeared to be on the brink of taking Goma after resistance from the Congolese army crumbled. Neighbouring Rwanda accused Congolese soldiers of ring heavy weapons into its territory, wounding three civilians. Rwanda reported that one of the three civilians hit had died in hospital. Brigadier General Joseph Nzabamwita, a Rwandan army spokesman, said the Congolese army has deliberately this evening bombed Rwanda, using T55 tank and mortar bombs as well as anti-aircraft re. He added: Rwanda is exercising restraint as of now. We are concentrating on evacuating the aected population. We continue to assess the situation. Congo denied the claim, saying Rwanda was ring into its own territory to justify an intervention. Last night, tank and artillery re echoed above the deserted streets of Goma as terried civilians took shelter and fears grew of a rebel advance. For sure, Goma is going to fall because they have inltrators in town and they are strong enough, said Sifa Mastaki, a 50-year-old businesswoman. Everyone is afraid. We are not sure about [whether] the negotiations will do something or not. If they dont nd a resolution, for sure the town will fall. Some 50,000 people are thought to have ed ahead of the latest rebel advance. Tariq Rieble, Oxfams humanitarian response manager, said: The situation is extremely worrying. Many people eeing have been displaced multiple times and have very little to fall back on with few possessions, little money, and no way of buying food. There are very limited resources here. Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, sits at the Rwandan border on the north shore of Lake Kivu. It is home to the worlds biggest peacekeeping mission, including about 1,400 troops in and around Goma. The UN said its peacekeepers fought the advancing rebels throughout Sunday, using rockets, cannon rounds and helicopter gunships, but its mandate does not go beyond supporting the Congolese army. Goma is under serious threat, said Madnodje Mounoubai, the UN mission spokesman. More than 150 rebels and two soldiers have been killed since intense fighting broke out last week. On Sunday, when the M23 halted their rapid advance, their checkpoint was just 100 yards from a Congolese government checkpoint. Lambert Mende, a spokesman for the Congolese government, said negotiations were out of the question. A report by the UNs group of experts says the M23 is receiving military and financial support from Rwanda, which vehemently denies the charge. Simon Tisdall: In Congo, just about everybody is at fault President Barack Obama embraces opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who also met the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton Photographs: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP
guardian.co.uk/commentisfree

You say Burma

Whats in a name? A lot if youre a south-east Asian country emerging from decades of military dictatorship. The British, as colonial overlords, referred to Burma and its main city, Rangoon. Early independence ghters had no problem with this, nor for several decades did the army generals who took power in 1962. But, after pro-democracy protests in 1988, Burma became Myanmar, or, more specically, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; Rangoon became Yangon. Some countries recognised this but others, such as the US and UK, did not. As both names are used in the country Burma is more popular, Myanmar is more literary the move was to show disapproval for the regime. Barack Obama used both Burma and Myanmar yesterday on his visit. The debate is almost exclusively conned to English. The national anthem still refers to bama pyi or the country of Burma. Jason Burke Rangoon

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

19

International

Good vibrations deaf children feel the music

Pianist launches music workshop for children with hearing disabilities
Kate Connolly Cologne
Sliding on their sock-clad feet, a gaggle of children squeeze themselves under the belly of the Steinway as Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes invites them to place their palms on the soundboard and feel the vibrations. When Andsnes launches into a stormy cadenza from the second movement of Beethovens 3rd Concerto, the children in their makeshift den squeal with delight and surprise. Some point to the pianists quivering trouser leg and his shiny black shoes pressing on the gold pedals. Others shiver at the strength of the vibrations that run through the gleaming grand piano into their bodies a sensation that 11-year old Arijan Zagragja later describes by producing a loud and elongated brrrrrr while running his ngers over his body in a rippling motion. All of the eight- to 11-year-olds present in the Cologne Philharmonic have some sort of hearing disability and several of them, such as Arijan, are profoundly deaf. The children have been taken under the wings of the musicians of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra who, together with Andsnes, have launched Feel the Music, which aims to open up the world of music to hearing-impaired children across Europe. When the idea was rst mooted I thought what can they possibly get out of the music, Andsnes says. But after experiencing how the children react I realised I had been too closed-minded. Studies show musical vibrations can have as much of an impact on the brain as sounds, and that exposing deaf children to music early on can stimulate their brain centres. The MCO and Andsnes have teamed up with Paul Whittaker, a profoundly deaf musician, who runs the UK charity Music and the Deaf. Its very rare that deaf children get the chance to work together with professional musicians, Whittaker says. Not only does it open up a new world to children with hearing handicaps, it also takes musicians out of their comfort zones and makes them think anew about how they hear and understand music. Deafness, he stresses, is no barrier to making or appreciating music. You can appreciate musicality in a multitude of ways, through vibrations, gestures, body movements, rhythms and by reading music on the printed page. Feel the Music is part of the MCOs Beethoven Journey concert series, which it is taking to 40 European cities. Part of the project examines the

Children sit under the Steinway as pianist Leif Ove Andsnes invites them to place their palms on the soundboard and feel the vibrations Photograph: Timothy Fadek way Beethovens own deafness which began when he was in his 20s and left him profoundly deaf not only brought him to the brink of despair but greatly inuenced his compositions. When he wrote for the piano the deaf Beethoven became obsessed with being able to feel the vibrations, so he created lots of trills the fast repeated notes next to each other. He also used long stretches of pedal to create huge vibrations of sound as well as extreme registers, Andsnes says. He believes these techniques make Beethovens music more communicable to those with impaired hearing. During the Cologne workshop the pianist furnishes the children leaning on and sitting under the piano with plenty of trills and long pedal sections. When he presses a key, the hammer strikes a string which then vibrates, says Fabian Schurf, 10, who has been profoundly deaf since birth. He stands at the piano resting his arms on the strings. The feeling runs up my arm and down into my feet. Its all warm and fuzzy, and feels quite good, he says through his teacher in sign language. Leon Zagrija, nine, who has partial hearing, enjoys the kettle drums best. I feel them in my stomach, he says as the class is asked to spread out and seat themselves randomly between the musicians on the stage. It makes the hairs on my arms bristle. He later goes to stand by a double bass, clutching the back of the instrument as if he were hugging a large soft toy, and touching the spike on the wooden oor which emits enormous vibrations. Emma Schied invites the children to blow into her oboe, whose vibrating reeds tickle their lips, and to feel the whoosh of air coming through its bell. It makes me tingle, says Azad Tabur. Schied, one of the 45 core members of this exuberant travelling orchestra, says involvement in Feel the Music does not just inuence the children. If youre giving children with hearing disabilities access to a better way of expressing themselves through music, the experience can only enrich you as a musician and bring you closer to the music. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Leif Ove Andsnes will perform The Beethoven Journey at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, today from 8pm (www.thsh.co.uk). The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Double blow for UMP as Sarkozy faces judge and vote splits party
Kim Willsher Paris
A judge is to question former French president Nicolas Sarkozy over allegations of illegal donations to his UMP party, it was announced yesterday, as the party collapsed into bitter recriminations after a membership vote for a new leader. Sarkozy has been summoned by a judge in Bordeaux investigating claims which he denies that he received money for his 2007 presidential election campaign from Frances richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt. His campaign treasurer has been put under formal investigation. Le Figaro newspaper said Sarkozy would appear before the judge on Thursday. He lost his legal immunity when he lost the presidential election to Franois Hollande in May. The report came as the party failed to elect a new leader after a membership vote on Sunday and imploded into a pool of vitriol. Both candidates claimed victory and the rival camps accused each other of cheating, as the partys internal electoral commission recounted the votes. Political commentators described the situation as surreal. Former foreign minister Alain Jupp, one of the UMPs founders, told French TV: The very existence of the UMP is at risk today. The row left leaders of the far-right National Front, which accuses the UMP of stealing its policies and voters, rubbing their hands with glee. The FN, led by Marine Le Pen, is now the third force in French politics, and might gain from a collapse of the mainstream right. The UMPs 300,000 members had been asked to decide between the hawkish Jean-Franois Cop, 48, and former prime minister Franois Fillon, 58. Cop courted the partys right wing by vaunting the merits of an uninhibited UMP addressing subjects such as anti-white racism. Fillon sold himself as more moderate, unifying and conciliatory, and had led the popularity polls. Cop astonished political commentaNicolas Sarkozy faces questioning over allegations of illegal donations to the UMP for his 2007 presidential campaign tors on Sunday evening by going on television to declare he had won, a move described by critics as a media coup. France-Inter radio likened his behaviour to that of a South American colonel from the 1960s. Fillon retaliated by furiously insisting he was the winner. Valrie Pcresse, a former minister and supporter of Fillon, told Europe 1 the situation was ridiculous. I fail to understand why Mr Cop leaped to announce a victory, when this is not corroborated by any ocial gure, she said.

Podcasts Dive in and immerse yourself in the biggest issues guardian. co.uk/audio

20

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Special report News content Catalonia

The price of separatism: can Spain

Separation could provide an ominous precedent in a country with a weakening centre
Giles Tremlett Sabadell
The red and yellow striped ags of Catalonia bobbed about giddily as Lluis Recoder delivered his message: despite the crisis gripping Spain, Catalans could be as rich as Scandinavians. If we were a European state we would be seventh in Europe in per capita income, after Denmark and Sweden, the Catalan nationalist and regional government minister declared, to an enthusiastic response. His gures are based on wealth calculations that can look skewed. (Struggling Ireland is, for example, richer on a per capita basis than thriving Germany). But they are seen here at least as proof that Catalonia a region of almost eight million people could be not just viable but also wealthy if it were to separate from Spain. It is very viable, said Artur Mas, the Catalan president, in an interview with the Guardian. What is not viable is the current situation. The Catalan separatist campaign will come to a head this weekend in an election that will in eect serve as a plebiscite on the regions future in Spain. It is a long-running aair, borne of historical and cultural factors that have persisted for centuries. But you do not have to scratch too hard before you get to the principal bone of contention in crisis-ridden Spain: money. Spain is suering its most agonising economic decline in decades. Catalonia has not been spared. But it still claims it subsidises the rest of Spain to the tune of 16bn a year. This money, equivalent to 8% of regional GDP, would dig Catalonia out of a debt and decit hole and provide greater investment and a better welfare state, many believe. Obviously there would be transition costs, but in a few years Catalonia would be able to develop its potential, said Elisenda Paluzie, an economist and separatist supporter at the University of Barcelona. Catalonia is completely feasible as an independent state with regard to its treasury, said Nria Bosch and Marta Espasa in a study that looks at how the gures would work if Catalonia simply assumed its share of Spanish government spending, and if independence brought no extra costs or damage to the economy. Others are not convinced. There would be an exodus of companies to Madrid and other European capitals, said Juan Rubio-Ramrez, a Catalan-born economist at Duke University in the US, in La Vanguardia newspaper. Some even foresee a consumer backlash against Catalan products, like the damaging boycott of cava sparkling wine in 2004 sparked by separatist opposition to Madrids attempts to host the Olympics. Benets there might be, but there would be costs too. Confecciones Joti, a textile company in Vilanova dEscornalbou, reported last month that a client company had cancelled an order because of Catalan politicians contempt for the north-western region of Galicia. Millions of Spaniards view the increasingly strident calls for self-determination in Catalonia with alarm. This is a country with form. When the region last declared its own state in 1934, Madrid answered by declaring a state of war. Separation would provide an ominous precedent in a nation where the centre has spent decades handing new powers to its headstrong regions. We have had four civil wars in the past 150 years, so this is no joking matter, Socialist party senator Marcelino Iglesias told a rally in Girona. Mas has said that his current drive towards independence, even if it fails, will be peaceful. It will either be done peacefully, or it wont be done, he told the Guardian. But Mas has pledged to hold a referendum and the foreign minister, Jos Manuel Garca-Margallo, has warned that the government would get the constitutional court to ban it in advance. That would be illegal. In legal terms, it would be a coup dtat, he said in a recent interview when asked what would happen if Mas ignored a ban. There is no right to self-determination and no right to secession. Members of the Mariano Rajoys governing conservative Peoples party worry that Catalan independence will signal the end of Spain. People talk about Catalonia as if it was a limb that could be amputated and the rest of Spain would survive, the justice minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardn, told the ABC daily in an interview. But what the independence of Catalonia really means is the disappearance of Spain as a nation. The problem is not just Catalonia. Elections were held in October in the northern Basque country, where the blood spilt by Eta over four decades kept separatism in the headlines but stopped many peaceful Basques supporting it. The vote produced a landslide victory for nationalist and separatist parties. They included EH Bildu, a separatist coalition including Etas former political front, which took a quarter of the votes, and the Basque Nationalist party (PNV) divided between a separatist wing and a part that wants to remain Spanish which won one third. One in ve Basques are unwavering separatists, according to a recent poll by the states Centre for Sociological Investigation. But another one in ve say they would be inclined to support independence. That may grow on the back of referendums in Scotland and Catalonia, said a PNV senator, Iaki Anasagasti. Catalonia is smoothing the way,

At a glance
If Catalonia was a country it would be the

17th
11th

largest in Europe by population - bigger than Denmark, Finland and Ireland - and the

largest by GDP per capita. In terms of household income, it would be

9th

- a few hundred quid ahead of Britain. Catalonia is more digitally plugged in than Spain, has more hospital beds and spends more on R&D. However, in terms of unemployment it would be one of Europes most blighted countries with a rate of almost

20%
Although even on this metric, it outperforms the rest of Spain. Artur Mas, Catalan president said the senator, who sees his own partys long-term aim as independence. If Catalonia and the Basque country left, Spains economy would shrink by 25% and per capita wealth by 5%. Motorway and rail routes into Europe would also pass through the new states. The problem for Spain, which is what limits the ability of the prime minister to be exible, is the dynamics of the breakdown. Once Catalonia is out, the burden on the other rich regions increases, and they will want out, says Luis Garicano of the London School of Economics. So for Spain the prospect, without Catalonia, is complete disintegration of the country. This would be a tough moment to try independence. Catalonias economy is shrinking at 1.1% a year, unemployment

i is 23% and the local governments debt has been given junk status by ratings h agencies, obliging it to ask for a humilia ating bailout of its own from central a government. It already has the highest g regional debt in Spain. But ironically it r is this privation that is fanning separatist urges. As erce austerity measures hit health and school services, anger has helped tip a majority of Catalans quizzed by pollsters into backing independence, with support leaping from 43% to 57% in 15 months. More than 80% think Catalonia is underfunded, said Jordi Sauret of Feedback pollsters. That idea is now deeply entrenched. At separatist rallies, the poorer regions of Andalusia and Extremadura are held up as places where lazy people live o the hard work and taxes of Catalonia. We pay Swedish-style taxes but have Senegalese-style public services, said Alfons Lpez Tena of the Solidaritat Catalana party at a rally. Anger at the nancial situation comes on top of popular fury generated by a 2010 constitutional court ruling that struck out key parts of an autonomy charter approved by Catalans at referendum. The key moment for me was the court ruling, said Mas. When I saw how they humiliated us with that sentence I said: This has no future. But a separate Catalonia would have much work to do to create the institutions of state. Catalonia lacks its own inland revenue something that Mas unsuccessfully tried to demand from Madrid this year. That would complicate tax collection, with economists predicting a loss of up to 1.7bn. But a state is not just money. Catalonia, which already has its own police force, would need a central bank, a diplomatic service and a dizzying number of other agencies, regulators and institutions. Then there are more nuanced questions. What league would Barcelona football club play in? And would the new country get EU and UN membership? And what about an army? Mas says it does not need one, but would still want to be in Nato. We dont want armed services, he said. Our best scheme is to pay for our defence. That assumes Nato would be prepared to protect a Catalonia that was not prepared to spill the blood of its own soldiers. For now, Catalan separatists are eagerly awaiting Sundays vote, after which Mas has promised to build a wide consensus of support for a referendum to be held by 2016. Josep Rovirosa, 50, a Catalan bank worker, embodies the growing sense of deance and passion when he arrives at the toll gate on the motorway into Barcelona. I drive up and say: Good morning, Im not paying, he said. Then I drive on and they take my number plate. Almost all motorways in Catalonia have tolls, but our money goes to building toll-free roads across the rest of Spain, said Rovirosa. We have so many grievances. If you just put up with it, they keep on taking away your money.

Catalan leader rides wave of independence

continued from page 1 He would like a deal similar to the pact allowing for a 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. But the national government of Mariano Rajoy is against that, so he will pass a law through the regional parliament regulating local referendums. If they take that to the courts and ban it then we will request a degree of protection from European institutions, he says. What Europe can do is put pressure on the Spanish government to negotiate, he says, claiming the banning of even a non-binding referendum would violate the EUs democratic values. Mas has criss-crossed Catalonia seeking support. This month he travelled to chilly Manresa. He is a man who will go down in history, said Montse Camprub, director of a home for the elderly in nearby San Fruits, as well-groomed, middle-aged people packed the hall. The same evening he was in Sabadell, near Barcelona, for a rally. Youths waved gold and red-striped Catalan ags and separatist banners bearing an added blue tri-

angle and white star. They clearly hoped for an independence that even some in Mass Convergence and Democracy coalition worry is impossible. Spains state pollster has long asked people to dene themselves as just Catalan, Catalan-Spanish or just Spanish. Two-thirds now say they feel both Catalan and Spanish, suggesting a halfway solution must exist. But Mas is not one of them. Just Catalan, he says. lan, Election posters picture Mas with his arms outstretched in a pose that wags liken to Charlton Hestons Moses leading estons his people to the promised land. He omised thinks he is on an historic mission, said Joan Saur, a former Catalan minrmer ister from the Initiative for Catalonia ative Greens party. That is the last thing t we need. They are trying to divide us, just like in the civil war, market trader Miguel Lpez complained z in LHospitalet, a city full of famity lies who migrated from poorer parts of Spain in the 1950s and e 60s. Thats just stupid. We are all upid. Spanish and we are all Catalan. That reaction explains why plains the word independence dence is not in Mass speeches or ches manifesto. Euphemisms misms such as our own state are tate used instead. More ardent separatists suspect he avoids the word

High culture
Not for Catalans the blood and sweat of the bullring. Instead, they like to build human towers, or castells. The main casteller groups (colles de castellers) are from southern Catalonia, in particular the towns of Vilafranca del Peneds and Valls, where the tradition originated in the 18th century. The base of the castell is formed by the pinya, rings of (mostly) men ri who link together to form both foundation and a safety the fou The net. Th pinya may consist several of seve hundred people. The tower is then assembled tow tier, each consisting of tier by t between one and ve people, then capped by the enxaneta, cap small a sma child usually not more than eight years old, who climbs to the top. Castells are mounted in the Cast town or village square and attended by hundreds and are att sometimes sometim thousands of specFor tators. F many Catalans the communal eort of the castells commu which combine strength, whic balance, trust and a good deal balanc nerve of nerv have come to symbolise the unity of the nation. Stephen Burgen St

because he plans a watered-down deal, perhaps settling for better nancing. But asked to dene Catalonias own state, Mas admits it is like any other. It is what Denmark, Finland or Austria have. Many see Spain as inconceivable without Catalonia. The declaration of a Catalan state in 1934 led to armed conict. And this is virgin territory for an EU wary of opening a Pandoras box of separatist movements. But Mas says Catalonia will remain peaceful: It will either be done peacefully, or it wont be done. There wont be violence. Mass rising popularity is a remarkable turnaround. Only 18 months ago he had to be own by helicopter into the parliament in Barcelona as indignados blockaded it to protest against health and education cuts. So is this just a smokescreen? You will not nd a single populist measure in our programme. It is evident that I cannot promise that there wont be more cuts, he says. Cleverly, he has persuaded voters these elections are about something else. But he says everything is open, with a wide consensus needed even for agreeing the question in a non-binding referendum. That consensus will be easier to nd in Catalonia than Madrid, where conversations would not start until next year. That is if there are any conversations, he says. Because it could be that Rajoy simply refuses to talk.

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

21

On the site An interactive Catalan history of Spain guardian.co.uk/world

aord to let Catalans break away?

Where is Catalonia?
Modern Catalonia stops at the coast and at the borders of Aragn, Valencia and France. But political and cultural Catalonia stretches 200 miles south to Alicante, north beyond the French city of Perpignan and across the seas to Mallorca and the other Balearic Islands. These are areas where Catalan is spoken, explained Muriel Casals, president of mnium Cultural, a foundation whose mission is to protect the Catalan language but which is now also threatening to help lead a tax rebellion against the Spanish exchequer. Some, such as Isabel-Clara Sim, a Valencia-born writer and candidate for Barcelona with the Catalan Solidarity separatist party, are hoping separatist spirit spreads by contagion to the outlying region. But Artur Mas, president of Catalonia, told the Guardian: We are not going to make territorial demands. With the rest [of Spain] we can have good neighbourly relations. We can do things together like defend a common cultural and linguistic space or a common economic area. But it is one thing to do that and another to have territorial ambitions. We dont have them at all. Sims wait for contagion may prove eternal. There are some cultural anities, but there is little support for the idea here, said Ximo Puig, leader of Valencias socialists. In fact, there are even anti-Catalanists in Valencia
Modern Catalonia Political and cultural Catalonia

FRANCE

ANDORRA
Perpignan
Costa Brava

SPAIN

Saragossa

ARAGN

Girona C ATA LO N I A Lerida Barcelona Tarragona

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Palma Valencia

ISLAS BALEARES

VALNCIA

Alicante Costa Blanca Cartagena

100 MILES

and the right uses that to win votes. In the Balearic Islands, some view Barcelona with the same degree of suspicion that Madrid provokes in many Catalans. The Balearic Islands will never form part of the so-called Catalan Lands as long as I am president, said the regional leader, Jos Ramn Bauz, in a newspaper interview. Baleares is part of Spain and we are delighted with that. Giles Tremlett

How to split a country

Velvet divorce worked out well but as partition, not separation

Kate Connolly
Secession can be a bit like breaking a biscuit: crumbs everywhere and two pieces that dont seem quite as appealing as the original. Czechoslovakias velvet divorce, approaching its 20th anniversary, probably serves as the best example in postwar Europe of a relatively smooth parting of the ways. Whether it can be a template for Catalonia is another matter. No divorce is a particularly happy experience but its part of life and this one has worked out well, says Michal antovsk, the Czech ambassador to the UK, who was at the heart of the talks as spokesman and adviser to the Czechoslovak president, Vclav Havel, in 1992 when dissolution was being hammered out by Prague and Bratislava. For Vclav Havel it was a very sad thing. He thought of it as his personal failure because he invested enormous energy into trying to keep the country together. Later he recognised the split had worked out reasonably well and most Slovaks and Czechs were reasonably content, he said. The split came about for a range of reasons, though mainly due to historical grievances between the Czechs and the Slovaks that were arguably exploited by the political leaderships of both nations, which lacked democratic experience due to their long communist legacy. While the Czechoslovak partition is widely seen as a model of how to divide a country peacefully, Abby Innes, a lecturer at the London School of Economics and author of Czechoslovakia: The Short Goodbye, argues against using it as the template for other dissolutions. I think its a partition rather than a legitimate and mandated separation, she says. Its not a model youd want to see copied, most particularly in a democracy. Describing the split as a process manufactured by ruthlessly pragmatic Czech rightwing political forces and abetted by a populist and opportunist Slovak leadership, she says the main problems were that separation was favoured only by a minority of people in both republics and it was never democratically mandated. The whole procedure revealed the deep weakness of the post-1989 federal parliament and the constitutional order, she says. antovsk recalls the practical headaches of deciding who got what, just like the average divorce but rather more complicated. There were myriad sticking points, he said. Dividing the sports teams for one, though that proved easier than other things such as dividing the assets of the central bank, the weapons and munitions of the army, the currency and the embassies. In late 1992 I went to Washington as the last Czechoslovak ambassador, and three months later I had to divide the embassy and became the Czech Republics ambassador. For a while we shared the same embassy building with the Slovaks, until they got their own property. They in turn kept the UN properties in New York. The guiding principle to the division was two-thirds to the Czech Republic, one third to Slovakia, based on population. But, added antovsk who is married to a Slovak while he is happy the division worked out for Czechoslovakia (both countries have done well and relations between them are very good) he would not, he said, recommend any other country follow the example. There are inevitably real downsides when a country is two-thirds or a third of its former size, he said. Its obviously not as big or inuential as it was before. And on a personal level, theres still a lot of nostalgia for the country we grew up in and considered our own and liked very much. So its not all just a bed of roses.

Tomorrow
Why Spains business community inches at the idea of secession On the web Jon Henley travels through Catalonia on another Guardian twittrip, meeting opponents and proponents of independence via the Twitter hashtag #Cataloniatales and blogging about the conversations he has. Send your thoughts and stories to @jonhenley or jon.henley@ guardian.co.uk

Showing their colours Pro-independence ags in Barcelona on Catalonias national day 11 September this year. Support for a breakaway state has risen from 43% to 57% in 15 months Photograph: David Ramons/Getty

22

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

International
Energy United States

Facial expressionism Paris retrospective for Dal

1,200 coal-red plants planned around world

More than 1,000 coal-red power plants are being planned worldwide, new research has revealed. The huge planned expansion comes despite warnings from politicians, scientists and campaigners that the planets fast-rising carbon emissions must peak within a few years if runaway climate change is to be avoided and that fossilfuel assets risk becoming worthless if international action on global warming moves forward. Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations. The World Resources Institute (WRI) identied 1,200 coal plants in planning across 59 countries, with about three-quarters in China and India. The capacity of the new plants add up to 1,400GW to global greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of adding another China the worlds biggest emitter. India is planning 455 new plants compared with 363 in China, which is seeing a slowdown in its coal investments after a vast building programme in the past decade. This is denitely not in line with a safe climate scenario it would put us on a really dangerous trajectory, said the WRIs Ailun Yang, who compiled the report, considered to be the most comprehensive in the public domain. But she said new emissions limits proposed in the US and a voluntary cap on coal use in China could begin to turn the tide. These policies would give really strong signals about the risks to the future nancial performance of coal of climate policies. Nick Robins, head of the Climate Change Centre at HSBC, said: If you think about lowcarbon energy only in terms of carbon, then things look tough. But if you take into account all factors, then dealing with coal [ie not using it] looks a little less dicult. Damian Carrington

Fallout leaves Petraeus biographer devastated

David Petraeuss biographer, Paula Broadwell, has told friends she is devastated by the fallout from her aair with the retired US general, which led to his resignation as head of the CIA. She deeply regrets the damage done to her family and others, and is trying to repair that and move forward, a person close to her said on Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly. Broadwell, her husband, Scott, and their young sons were welcomed back to their home in North Carolina by friends after more than a week trying to escape the media while staying at her brothers home in Washington. Petraeus has given one interview and expressed his regret over the aair. Broadwell is still being investigated by the FBI over classied documents found on her laptop and in her home, which investigators believe she acquired while researching the Petraeus biography. Investigators say many of the documents are old, and Broadwell has said she did not get them from Petraeus. AP Washington

A visitor to the Rita Mae West room by Salvador Dal during a press day to publicise the biggest retrospective of the Spanish surrealist for over 30 years, which opens tomorrow at the Pompidou Centre in Paris Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

Italy

Jay-Zs got 99 problems but a true aint one

First it was Cristal champagne, Hennessy cognac and the expensive Mercedes Maybach. Now, white true traders in northern Italy are wondering if their rare, pricey and prestigious produce will be the next to see demand soar because of an endorsement from the hip-hop artist Jay-Z (pictured). The multimillionaire rap star headed for Alba over the weekend with a group of friends to eat dishes such as egg, true and spinach ravioli and spend about 15,000

(12,000) on more than three kilos of the precious food, according to La Stampa. The rap star, who grew up on the tough streets of Brooklyn, even ventured into the woods of Piedmont with a local farmer and his dogs to search out specimens of the pungent true. Jay-Z has a history of making and breaking the reputations of luxury brands. After rapping about the merits of Cristal champagne until it became the required tipple for rappers and sales boomed, he boycotted it when makers appeared to bemoan its association with the world of hip-hop. But the managing director of Tartu Morra, an Alba true retailer visited by Jay-Z at the weekend, welcomed the prospect of a hip-hop clientele. It would be a pleasure, said Alessandro Bonino. Tom Kington Rome

Italy

Police reveal extortion plot against Berlusconi

Italian police yesterday disclosed an attempt to extort money from former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi by criminals who held his accountant hostage and oered to sell sensitive documents for 35m (28m). Police in Milan said they had arrested three Italians and three Albanians on suspicion of kidnapping and extortion. Police said three men held Giuseppe Spinelli and his wife hostage at their home overnight on 15 October and demanded money for documents they said could help Berlusconi win an

appeal. They told Spinelli the papers could overturn a 2011 court ruling that forced Berlusconis Fininvest empire to pay 560m to rival media company CIR in compensation for a takeover battle over publisher Mondadori that was marred by corruption. They forced Spinelli to call Berlusconi. Berlusconi called his lawyer, who called Spinelli. The gang left after an agreement to get back in touch with Spinelli and at least one other telephone contact was made. The authorities were not informed until more than 24 hours later, when Berlusconis lawyers led a complaint. Police said no money was handed over. In an investigation kept secret for more than a month police used closed circuit TV footage to track down the extortionists, including three accomplices. Reuters Rome

Dell recommends Windows.

free audiobook
download
Choose from 60,000+ titles
for Guardian readers when you try Audible today

Inspire fun. Affordably.

Inspiron 15z
The Inspiron 15z pairs performance with eye-catching features and sleek design. Choose yours in Moon Silver or optional Fire Red.

Including VAT & Delivery E-Value Code Intel Core i5-3317U Processor Windows 8 6GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive + 32GB mSATA SSD 15.6 (40cm) HD WLED Screen Intel HD Graphics 4000 Pre-installed with 15 months McAfee Security Center

599

Inspiron 14z
Stay connected this Christmas with the Inspiron 14z Ultrabook.

Including VAT & Delivery E-Value Code Intel Core i3-3217U Processor Windows 8 6GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive + 32GB mSATA SSD 14 (36cm) HD WLED Screen Intel HD Graphics 4000 Pre-installed with 15 months McAfee Security Center

479

Download & listen today with a 30-day free trial

a ur free ad yo lo own o.uk /guardian1 to d ible.c aud visit

AN COMPANY

udiobook

Give inspiration. Get remarkable savings. Dell.co.uk/deals or call 0844 444 3709

McAfee - Protect what you value.

T & Cs at www.audible.co.uk/guardian1

Offers due to end 28/11/2012. Subject to availability. Prices and specifications may change without notice. Delivery charge is 20 incl. VAT per system (unless otherwise stated). Consumers are entitled to cancel orders within 7 working days beginning the day after the date of delivery; Dell collection charge is 23 incl. VAT for system purchases and 11.50 incl. VAT for accessory purchases. Terms and Conditions of Sales, Service and Finance apply and are available from www.dell.co.uk. Delivery charges range from 5.75 to 14.95 incl. VAT (20%) per item for items purchased without a system. Promotional offers limited to maximum 5 systems per customer. Intel, the Intel Logo, Intel Inside, Intel Core, Ultrabook, and Core Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft and Windows 8 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

23

Financial
FTSE 100 +132.07 5737.66 FTSE All Share +64.60 2997.32 Early Dow Indl +167.88 12756.19 Early S&P 500 +22.12 1382.00 Nikkei 225 +129.04 9153.20 UK 10 year gilt -1.0690 120.6300 Oil ($ per barrel) +2.61 111.56 Gold ($ Troy oz) +17.00 1730.50

Business editor: Julia Finch Tel: 020 3353 3795 Fax: 020 3353 3196 Email: nancial@guardian.co.uk Follow us at twitter.com/BusinessDesk Rate Change 1.2418 -0.0054 Rate Change 1.5914 +0.0068

$
SOURCE: INTERACTIVE DATA

Hit multinationals not home owners, mayor tells ministers

Johnson warns against tax hike for larger homes Google and other giants face very clear choice
Dan Milmo and Hlne Mulholland
Boris Johnson has urged the government to make multinational companies such as Google pay their share of tax in the UK instead of pushing ahead with absurd Liberal Democrat proposals to impose a mansion tax on large homes. The mayor of London stoked the debate over taxation paid by US companies on their UK operations by suggesting Google, which bases its European unit in low-tax Ireland, should hire unemployed British 18-24-year-olds in recompense. The London mayor used a speech to business leaders at the annual Confederation of British Industry conference to make the case for low but fair taxes, as well as taking a swipe at Lib Dem policies. Vince Cable, the Lib Dem business secretary, revived his partys call for a mansion tax at the weekend when he indicated plans for higher council tax bands for homes worth more than 1m would be included in the autumn statement on 5 December. Johnson warned high rates of personal tax would make Britain less competitive and said it was absurd to be whacking up taxes on many Londoners living in nominally expensive homes who had little disposable income, when rms like Google are paying zero. He said: Neither arrangement strikes me as being fair and so Google and co face a very clear choice they can either change their tax arrangements or do much more to serve our society by visibly taking on 54,000 18 to 24-year-olds [in London] who are out of work. A Google spokesman said: We make a substantial contribution to the UK economy through local, payroll and corporate taxes. We employ over 2,000 people, help thousands of businesses to grow online and invest millions supporting new tech businesses in east London. We comply with all the tax rules in the UK. Johnsons was one of several contributions from the podium on ethical business behaviour. The CBIs president, Sir Roger Carr, opening the conference, admitted that corporate Britains reputation had been tarnished by behaviour that saw greed prevalent and fairness forgotten. Acknowledging the damage done by

Poor harvests could mean 1 hike in cost of a bottle of wine

Zoe Wood
Wine lovers are facing a worse than usual new year hangover as poor harvests in some of the worlds most important wine producing regions threaten price hikes of up to 1 a bottle in 2013. Majestic Wine boss Steve Lewis said the increases would be most noticeable in the supermarket where British favourites such as Italian pinot grigio, New Zealand sauvignon blanc and Australian chardonnay sell for around 5 per bottle. I would expect to see signicant price ination at entry price points, he said. The price of a (5) bottle of pinot grigio could go up by between 50p and 1 come February/March. A poor grape harvest in 2012 is predicted to lead to a worldwide wine shortage with the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) estimating last month that global production would fall 6% to 248.2m hectolitres the lowest level since at least 1975 after extreme weather disrupted harvests. The hardest hit winemakers are in Argentina, where output will fall by Majestic Wine boss Steve Lewis said the increases in the cost of wine would be most noticeable in supermarkets nearly a quarter, and in Italy and France which are the worlds largest producers. The power of the supermarkets, which account for three-quarters of UK wine sales, means the average bottle of wine sold in Britain costs 5.01. But Majestics strength lies in the fact its average selling price is 7.46, making it an important sales channel for producers with more expensive wines to sell. If you are the producer of an esoteric, interesting, quirky wine like Gavi di Gavi or Orvieto, and you have a lot of it, we are your go-to retailer, said Lewis. Majestic reported a 4% rise in prots to 9.2m for the six months to the end of September as a surge in online orders helped counteract disappointing summer trade. Like-for-likes rose by just 0.6% as wet weather saw a large number of outdoor events cancelled and cases of wine ordered by enthusiastic organisers returned to its stores. Current trading has been more encouraging with UK like-for-likes up 1.2% in the last six weeks and Lewis said it was optimistic as it entered the Christmas trading period.

Boris Johnson putting the case for low but fair taxes at the CBI conference yesterday Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP

the banking crash and the phone hacking scandal, Carr said: We must demonstrate that we are a generation that is focused not just on how much money we make but how we make money. We must salvage the reputation of business, he said, adding that critics have been given a licence to tar all with the same brush by misdeeds in the media and banking industries. Businesses and individuals standards have been variable, greed prevalent and fairness forgotten in a number of sectors banking and media at the forefront but others from all walks of life [have shown] signs of bad behaviour. Carr, also chairman of Centrica, the

owner of British Gas, then delivered an impassioned defence of the corporate realm, saying banking boards have been overhauled, errant media companies reined in and executive pay pared back. We must stop saying leaders dont care when they do, all energy companies rip you o when they dont, all bankers are despicable when they are not, or big business is bad business when it isnt. The chief executive of consumer goods group Unilever, Paul Polman, told attendees from the upper echelons of British business that the UK should set the standard for ethical economic growth. Only businesses that make a positive

contribution to improving the state of the world will ultimately be accepted by consumers. Businesses that dont will be rejected, he said. Polman said the global appeal of Unilever products from Dove soap to Magnum ice cream gave the company an opportunity to educate consumers. Every day we reach the lives of two billion people. No government can touch that reach, he said, citing a recent Unilever initiative to encourage children to wash their hands regularly and prevent diarrhoea. The UK should set the standard for what equitable and balanced growth should be, he added.

Alcohol and property tax evaders targeted

Rupert Jones
The Scottish alcohol industry and buyto-let landlords in south-east England are the latest sectors to be targeted in a continued crackdown on tax dodging by specialist taskforces. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said it was also on the lookout for tax cheats working in the rag trade. Earlier this year it announced that 30 tax evasion taskforces would be launched in 2012-13. These bring together various HMRC compliance teams for intensive bursts of activity targeted at specic sectors and locations where there is evidence of a high risk of tax evasion. Investigators go knocking on doors and check the books of businesses and individuals. The taskforces are a result of the governments 917m spending review investment to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and fraud, which aims to raise an additional 7bn each year by 2014-15. HMRC has previously looked at the aairs of a range of professionals, from plumbers, doctors and dentists to home tutors, market stallholders, scrap metal dealers, car salespeople and those with money oshore. It has also been writing to thousands of people who it believes are regularly selling items on sites such as eBay and may have underpaid tax. HMRC has previously said it will employ cutting-edge tools such as web robot software to search the internet for information about specied people and companies, and their nancial aairs. The latest taskforces aim to recover about 17m and will focus on: the alcohol industry in Scotland, including shops and manufacturers. the rental property sector in the southeast (excluding London), including people who are letting properties and not disclosing the income on their tax returns. the clothing trade in the Midlands, North Wales and the north-west, including manufacturers, wholesalers, shops and textile recycling rms. Landlords can expect investigators to glean information from other government departments and sources including press and internet ads, plus universities and colleges, according to James Cowper, a rm of accountants and business advisers. It is not just unpaid income tax that HMRC will be looking for: many landlords providing temporary accommodation to seasonal agricultural labourers, students or even homeless people may nd that a sizeable VAT liability is incurred, said the rm. David Gauke, the exchequer secretary, said: The vast majority of people play by the rules. We will not tolerate tax evasion and will crack down on the minority who choose to break the rules. HMRC is on target to collect more than 50m as a result of taskforces launched in 2011-12. Jennie Granger, director general of enforcement and compliance at HMRC, called on anyone who knew of tax evasion to tell HMRC via the tax evasion hotline by phone, on 0800 788 887, email or post.

Landlords in south-east England will be chased for undisclosed rental income

24

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Financial

Business analysis
Ocado
New cash and share price rise hands short-sellers a lesson, writes Nils Pratley
The short-sellers betting on imminent crisis at Ocado overlooked a crucial point: the online grocer company has a handful of rich and loyal shareholders, some of whom were always likely to be willing to dip into their back pockets to avert the possibility of a breach of borrowing covenants. Ocado has raised 35.8m by placing 55.9m shares at 64p, a few pennies above last Fridays market price. The new cash has allowed the 100m borrowing facility with Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds to be extended by 18 months. The net result is that management has nancial room to breathe. The share price rose by almost a quarter, which counts as a painful one-day roasting for the shorters. This time next year we should have a clearer idea of the real level of demand for Ocados services. The company has grumbled for ages that it has been restricted by capacity at its distribution centre in Hateld, Hertfordshire, which is meeting about 140,000 orders a week. When the new facility in Dordon, Warwickshire, opens in February we will discover whether there really is another, say, 100,000 orders to be satised weekly. If real prots dont arrive when annual sales have passed 1bn, the online grocery adventure will be a failure. But were not there yet, and the past quarters sales gures are solid and Dordon is on-budget so far. The short-sellers got their timing wrong. on his trips to the Middle East, South Africa and Brazil. A quick sale here and a modest investment there is the aim of the game. Camerons deep sense that neither he, nor the bulk of British management boards and certainly not investors are any good at long-term planning means he also puts inward investment among his top priorities. Make Britain a better place to start and run a (tax-free) business and we will bring the worlds best rms to the UKs door how else to improve employment when British businesses struggle? In this sense, the other element of Camerons CBI speech that we must help employers by cutting back further on red tape and promote other supply side measures hit the mark. Yet those who occupy posts at the top of politics and business are wrestling with a dilemma. Should the UK continue to dodge and weave, always extracting the most benet from any deal without much care for the longterm consequences? Or should we look to be a safe haven for those who want to conduct their business without a hint of corruption and who understand the UK can provide top grade services with high levels of investment?

Ocado will open a new distribution centre next year to complement the Hateld warehouse Photograph: Stuart Clarke/Rex

Economic policy
Boris Johnson may have found the perfect target when talking about tax arrangements, says Nils Pratley
It is interesting that Boris Johnson should pick on Google when arguing against a mansion tax. Of the three US companies that appeared before the public accounts committee last week the search engine rm got the easiest ride. Matt Brittin, head of Googles northern European operations, admitted that the rm operates from Ireland and Bermuda because the tax rates there are attractive. Google has fat prot margins in the UK and doesnt think the Treasury is being short-changed. Brittin argued that the engineers who devise the search algorithms create the economic value from California. Thats sucient to convince the tax authorities that the treatment is legal. But Johnson, if hes making the point that a sensible tax system would force Google to acknowledge the real economic value created in the UK, is onto a winner. Googles approach is brazen, and a clear threat to UK tax revenues.

Ocado stock surges as investors back 36m placing of shares

Online grocer gets longer 100m deal with lenders Retailer has a year to prove its business model works
Zoe Wood and Rupert Neate
Internet grocer Ocado has bought another year to prove its retail model works after investors enthusiastically backed a 35.8m fundraising and it struck a new banking deal with its lenders. Ocado shares, which had nearly halved in value over the past six months on fears it could breach its banking agreements, leaped as much as 32% after the twopronged move was announced. Tim Steiner, its chief executive, said the response to the placing, which was multiple times oversubscribed, amounted to a strong endorsement from both its institutional and other shareholders, and lenders who support our condence in our business model. He declined to name the shareholders who took part, but hinted at a very substantial participation from the top of our shareholder register. Ocados biggest shareholders include Jorn Rausing, the Tetra Pak billionaire, and hedge fund manager Nick Roditi. Ocado sold 55.9m new shares representing just under 10% of the groups share capital to existing shareholders, at 64p a share: a premium of 5.7% to Fridays closing price of 60.5p. It simultaneously announced a deal with its lenders, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds, that extends its 100m capital spending facility by a further 18 months to July 2015. The company said that as of last month it had net debt of 93.4m, a cash balance of 56m and drawings on its existing capital expenditure facility of 85.3m. Panmure Gordon analyst Philip Dorgan said that although the banking deal removed the monkey o [Ocados] back and management now has considerable breathing space that does not mean that the model is suddenly a good one. Ocado is still operating an inefficient model, growing below City expectations and its multichannel competitors, he said. Steiner insisted that the firm, which operates from a hi-tech distribution centre at Hateld, Hertfordshire, was never in danger of breaching its banking covenants: 100% categorically we would not have breached the agreements. However, the companys strengthened nancial position brought an end to that conversation, he said. Its new nance director, Duncan Tatton-Brown, added that the terms of the new deal, which were negotiated for a 1m fee, were fundamentally the same as the previous deal for 2013 and would become less onerous in subsequent years. This year Ocados growth had been stymied by the nite capacity of the Hateld site and it is ploughing 210m into a second distribution centre in Dordon, Warwickshire, which is due to open early next year. The second site will dramatically increase its sales potential next year and ultimately prove to its detractors whether its centralised model can be a protable one. The internet grocer also provided an update on current trading that showed growth accelerating as its fourth quarter progressed. Gross sales increased 11% over the 14 weeks to 11 November and were up by 13.7% in the nal six weeks of the period. Steiner said the rm had beneted from the extension of its range towards 30,000 lines and the introduction of its low price promise. The shares closed up 14.45p at 75p, a rise of nearly 24%.

PMs speech to CBI

Cameron has adopted a wheeler-dealers tactics, says Phillip Inman
David Cameron revealed his likeness to Dads Armys Private Walker in his speech to the CBI yesterday. Telling assembled business leaders and their advisers they must consider themselves involved in an economic war may appear Churchillian, but is closer to the wheeler-dealing Walker, who spivved his way through the second world war armed with silk stockings, illicit petrol and anything else that was in short supply. Cameron has adopted similar tactics to win business

Read more expert analysis on our blogs at guardian.co.uk/business

Turbine factory pledge is coup for Scotland

Severin Carrell and Fiona Harvey
One of Europes largest wind power engineering firms has promised to open a turbine manufacturing base in Scotland in readiness for a big expansion of North Sea windfarms. French nuclear and renewables group Areva has signed an outline agreement with the investment agency Scottish Enterprise to site one of three new European factories in eastern Scotland. The deal, unveiled during a visit to Paris by Scotlands rst minister, Alex Salmond, is predicted to create up to 750 engineering jobs at the new site and further jobs in the wider supply chain. It was seen as a coup for Scotland, whose political leaders have spoken out strongly in favour of wind, even while English politicians have been at war on the issue. The deal comes in advance of the announcement of the coalitions energy bill, expected later this week, and follows months of wrangling over the future of windfarms in the UK. The energy minister, John Hayes, has caused several furores with his outspoken hostility to wind farms, and the chancellor has questioned future subsidies for renewables and backed the building of at least 20 gas-red power plants instead. These rows have helped to delay the energy bill, upon which tens of billions of pounds worth of potential wind manufacturing plants depends.

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

25

Financial

Banks surrendered over PPI, says ex-HBOS director

Dunstone challenges extent of mis-selling Regulator hits out against pro-banking lobbyists
Jill Treanor
Banks have surrendered over payment protection insurance, according to a former non-executive director of HBOS who doubted mis-selling had taken place on a scale to justify the 12bn industrywide compensation bill. Sir Charles Dunstone, the Carphone Warehouse founder who joined the board of Halifax before its merger with Bank of Scotland in 2001, said the extent of PPI mis-selling that has now been accepted was mad. Appearing before the HBOS panel of the parliamentary banking standards committee, Dunstone said he could not reconcile his experience of PPI sales while at HBOS with the current bill for mis-selling. It feels to me as if the banks have surrendered and decided they are so unpopular they should just pay the money, said Dunstone, who left the board of HBOS in April 2008, six months before it was rescued by Lloyds. In a separate parliamentary hearing, Andrew Bailey, the top banking regulator, hit out against lobbying by the banking industry which he warned might make attempts to build a tunnel under the ring fence proposed by Sir John Vickers to isolate high street banking operations. Asked if the government should retain powers to break up banks entirely if the proposals by Vickers independent commission on banking were not implemented, Bailey said: The idea of a deterrent power of full separation has a lot of merit. A number of senior policy-makers have now given their backing to the threat of a full separation between high street banking and investment banking. But Bailey stressed that the banks had a very powerful lobby. He has previously criticised Barclays for having a culture of gaming. He also waded into the on-debate about whether the Bank of England into which banking regulation will be absorbed next year needs to be more open in its decision making processes. Sitting alongside Bailey, Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, questioned how banks could have thought PPI was a good product for customers when it generated an 80% prot margin, creating the vast majority of prots between 2005 and 2007. The big four banks have a bill of 12bn to

Irish loans loss

Fresh evidence of the scale of the losses incurred by loans granted by HBOS before its rescue by Lloyds emerged yesterday when 1.5bn of Irish property loans were sold for barely 10% of their value. Lloyds sold the 30 property loans in Ireland to Risali, linked to the US private equity rm Apollo Global Management, for 149m. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on the group due to the signicant impairment provisions held against the portfolio, which are higher than the average across the Irish wholesale book because of the particularly distressed nature of these assets, said Lloyds. Jill Treanor

tackle the PPI scandal while the enlarged Lloyds Banking Group, which consumed HBOS, has set aside 5.3bn more than any other bank. Dunstone chaired the retail risk committee of HBOS between 2006 and 2008, having sat on the committee, which assessed the risks taken by the high street banking arm, since 2001. In his submission to the standards committee, Dunstone said he had been aware of PPI as soon as he joined the sub-committee of the board and it was regarded as a fair and useful product. In 2001 the cancellation rate of PPI a potential indication of mis-selling was 14%-15%, which he regarded as too high, but this later dropped to 6%-9%, showing there was some buyers remorse, he said. The banks are now paying out PPI claims following a dispute with the Financial Services Authority over how they should be handled.

Will Xstrata and Glencore nally forge a deal today?

Simon Goodley
It is one of the biggest deals of the year, and has taken nine months of wrangling over price and executive pay as well as needing the services of Tony Blair to overcome being outmanoeuvred by a sovereign wealth fund. But commodity trader Glencore may nally be on the verge of clinching its 50bn takeover of Xstrata today. In what might resemble an election night special only without commentary from a Dimbleby Glencores chief executive Ivan Glasenberg will spend the day staring at a screen waiting for the results from a series of shareholder polls at his target Xstrata, waiting to see if his long-held ambition to own the mining group is to be achieved. What the screen will show him, if City psephologists are to be believed, is Xstrata investors waving through the takeover while delivering yet another snub to its architects as a controversial 140m pay deal is scrapped. The results should start coming in just after an 8am (GMT) vote at Glencore which looks like a shoo-in before attention turns to the rst in a series of Xstrata votes at 1pm (2pm in the companys base in Zug). Initially there will be two resolutions put to shareholders at a so-called court meeting: one to approve the merger with the controversial pay deal for Xstrata managers; and then another to approve the tie-up without. To pass, both resolutions need 75% of voting shareholders.

Digging deep to try to strike a deal: commodity trader Glencore is on the verge of clinching its 50bn takeover of Xstrata but awaits the outcome of various votes

Confused? It gets less clear. After those results have been announced, the court meeting will morph into an extraordinary general meeting when Xstrata shareholders will eectively be asked to vote on what theyve just voted on. On the rst question they will be asked to give the company the power to act on the court meeting resolutions and do the deal (you might think they

already did); and then in the last vote they will be asked on whether on not to approve the retention payments (ditto). To get through, that nal poll needs 50% of voting shareholders but as Glencore is not allowed to vote its 34% stake and as 13% shareholder Qatar has already said it will abstain only 25% of votes cast have to go against the resolution for it to be defeated. Most observers reckon that to be an odds-on shot.

What then? Assuming the merger gets the go-ahead (Qatar says yes to that, so most assume it will) the process plods on. European competition regulators will decide by Thursday whether to begin a longer inquiry or not and, if you believe the Xstrata management, this might be the trigger when the groups top sta suddenly realise they are underpaid and start to leave.

We will see. Theoretically, there is little preventing the enlarged company introducing a new secret pay scheme to keep them. But what happens if sta start quitting before regulatory approval? Who Glencore or Xstrata increases pay? Im not sure anybody is quite sure about that, says one of the deals insiders. Nine months on, there are still some little details that need working out.

Ex-AIG bosss Fed case fails

Reuters
A $25bn (15.7bn) legal case brought by the former AIG boss Hank Greenberg against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over its 2008 rescue has been thrown out. The decision by the US district judge Paul Engelmayer, in Manhattan, was a ringing endorsement for broad central bank power to try to preserve the global nancial system from systemic threats. It was also a defeat for Greenberg, 87, and his Starr International company. Before the bailout AIG had been the worlds largest insurer by market value, and Starr was its largest shareholder, with a 12% stake. Starr had accused the New York Fed of engineering a backdoor bailout for Wall Street banks at the expense of AIG shareholders by forcing the insurer to unwind its bets on mortgage debt through hundreds of billions of dollars of credit default swaps. Starr and Greenberg sued over the bailout last November, and are still suing the New York Fed in the US court of federal claims in Washington, DC.

26

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Eyewitness Rio de Janeiro

Milestone moment Girls turning 15 pose for souvenir pictures before their debutante ball sponsored by local police, in the Mangueira favela, or shantytown, in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: Silvio Izquierdo/AP

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

27

28

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Financial
Retail

For the chop

Comet administrators cut 735 more jobs

Job losses at Comet have exceeded 1,000, after the crisis-hit electronics retailer announced another 735 redundancies in its home-delivery network and head oce. Comet called in the administrators in early November to nd a saviour for the 80-year-old chain. Since then, restructuring experts from accountants Deloitte have made 330 redundancies, mainly at the head oce in Hertfordshire and a call centre in Somerset. But the total number of job losses could come close to 2,000 by the end of this month, as Comet stores start closing their doors for the last time. Deloitte said 41 stores could close within a fortnight, with inevitable job losses among the 869 full-time and part-time employees who work there. Deloitte is understood to be in talks with Dixons and Maplin about selling a limited number of outlets, but closingdown sales have begun in 27 Comet stores. Another 14 could be identied for closure in the coming days, unless the administrators can nd a buyer or agree new terms with landlords. The bulk of the job cuts will fall in the home-delivery network, which will lose 603 employees. Deloitte said the unit would continue to operate. Another 132 sta in Comets head oce will lose their jobs. Josephine Moulds

its grip on the PC microprocessor market though it is increasingly under threat from chips in smartphones using the ARM architecture pioneered by a British company. The Intel board said it will begin searching for a replacement internally and externally, a process it says could take up to six months. The stock dipped briey before being halted. Since 2008 Intels stock has dropped 20%, though it is still the fth-largest listed technology company, worth about $100bn, behind Apple, Microsoft, Google and IBM. Otellini, 62, joined the company in 1974, the year it released the 8088 chip, on which the original IBM PC was based. That architecture went on to become the basis of Intels riches the company is now the worlds largest and richest maker of microprocessors, particularly the CPUs (central processing units) that power PCs. In 2002 he was named president and chief operating ocer, and became chief executive three years later. Charles Arthur

Banking

HSBC in talks to sell stake in Chinese insurer

HSBC is in talks to sell its $9.3bn (5.84bn) stake in Chinas Ping An Insurance, stepping up a programme to shed non-core parts of its business to boost protability. Britains biggest bank spent $1.7bn to build a 15.6% stake in Chinas secondlargest insurer in 2002 and 2005, but a sale has been widely expected as part of its three-year recovery plan after being hit by the 2008 nancial crisis and regulatory reforms. In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday, the bank conrmed it was in talks to sell the stake, adding that a sale might not result. The statement followed a report on the sale talks by the Hong Kong Economic Journal, a Chinese-language newspaper, naming Dhanin Chearavanont, Thailands richest man, as a potential buyer. HSBC has announced 41 disposals and closures since 2011, and the potential Ping An sale fuelled speculation about the future of other assets. This makes sense for HSBC because its been disposing of so many of its non-core businesses, said Ivan Li, an analyst at Maybank-Kim Eng in Hong Kong. The question that everyone has will be on HSBCs stake in Bank of Communications. HSBC owns 19.9% of Bank of Communications, Chinas fth-largest lender, worth about HK$79bn (6.4bn), according to Thomson Reuters data. HSBC will record a pre-tax prot of up to $6.5bn if it sells the Ping An stake, according to one estimate. Reuters

US shares

Casino company joins special dividend rush

Wynn Resorts will today pay out a $750m special dividend as the casino company tries to get ahead of possible rule changes that could increase taxes on dividends. Steve Wynn, who last year accused President Barack Obama of conducting class warfare against the rich, is likely to be joined by a record number of company bosses making payouts in anticipation of possible tax hikes. Others, including HCA Holdings, the worlds largest private healthcare operator, chemicals rm LyondellBasell and asset manager Waddell & Reed, have all announced special dividend payments before the year end. Obama and Republican leader John Boehner are trying to forge a compromise over the scal cli, the year-end expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and the imposition of deep spending cuts aimed at tackling the USs $16tn debts. Unless Congress reaches a deal by the end of the year dividend taxes will rise from 15% to 43.4%. A report from Barclays found high dividend yielding stocks are suering because of the possible tax hike. The two highest yielding sectors in the S&P 500, telecom and utilities, are down 10% and 8% this month, according to the report. Goldman Sachs has predicted a record number of special dividends before the year end. Dominic Rushe New York

One of 12 workers at Burcot farm, Winchester, who will cut down tens of thousands of Christmas trees in the next month Photograph: Robert Nemeti/Solent News

Food

Haggis makers owner sells UK businesses

The Dutch rm behind haggis maker Halls of Broxburn is selling its UK businesses, which employ 13,000 people at 38 sites. Vion said it would concentrate on its core markets in the Netherlands and Germany and the development of its global ingredients business. The

company began the closure of Halls of Broxburn meat processing plant in West Lothian last month after rejecting two last-minute bids for the business. The Halls factory is making losses of 79,000 a day and is due to close by February with the loss of 1,700 jobs. Vion said it is condent it will sell its UK pork, red meat and poultry business units as viable businesses. They include Key Country Foods, Traneld and Grampian Country Food Group. The company supplies products to food retailers and manufacturers. PA

Technology

Intel chief to retire after 40 years with company

Intels chief executive is to retire in May after nearly 40 years with the chipmaker, marking the third reshue in less than a month at the technology giant. Paul Otellini has been head of Intel for eight years, and seen it consolidate

Podcasts Dive in and immerse yourself in the biggest issues guardian. co.uk/audio

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

29

The Guardian Small Business Network Best Practice Exchange awards in association with Lloyds TSB

Cashow is king
However fantastic the concept is behind a business, it wont mean a thing the day the cash runs out. Money is the lifeblood of any SME and how it is managed on a daily basis is key to a rms survival. James Gard reports
h e G u a rd i a n S m a l l Business Network in association with Lloyds TSB has been asking small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) to share the techniques they have developed to keep their business ticking over, in good times and bad. Each small business owner entered a case study into our Best Practice Exchange competition explaining how good cashow management has driven success for their business. Lots of entrants talked about the strategies they have devised to preempt problems. After all, many issues can disrupt the ow of money into a business. Maintaining good relationships with clients is one way business owners have been able to stay on top of a perennial problem faced by SMEs: the issue of late payers. Firms have found it much easier to mitigate irksome overdue payments by knowing the right people to deal with and keeping in regular contact. Once the cash is owing eectively businesses have found they are well placed to not only survive, but thrive. Staying in control of incomings and outgoings is seen as vitally important to decision making, and having the condence to invest in growth. From the numerous entries we received, our judges selected three overall winners read on for their stories. Alison White There is one more category of our Best Practice Exchange competition to enter Starting Up. For more information visit:guardian.co.uk/small-businessnetwork/best-practice-exchange

First Mile Cleaning up with credit control

As a company with thousands of customers and hundreds of daily transactions, First Mile has recognised the need to keep on top of cashow. Automating the payment process to give customers control and oering exible billing has helped this booming recycling business clean up. Culturally, we recognise that every single aspect of the business can impact on cashow, says First Mile founder and CEO, Bruce Bratley. First Mile has 10,000 business customers in London and the south-east of England, oering a 24-hour recycling service to oces, retail outlets, cleaners and facility managers. It oers a simple pay as you go pricing system to customers, which means they can generate more than 200 invoices a day. The system automatically invoices customers after recycling sacks have been delivered and takes payments from those registered for direct debit with a 2.5% discount. Bratley says that this is a very transparent system and our clients are very happy with this. To help automate processes, the company invested in a sophisticated IT system. All invoices, payments and summary gures automatically feed into the software allowing for easy cash reconciliation. And customers can log in themselves to view all orders, invoices and payments in real time. This gives customers fantastic visibility on nances. He also says that the company has a very good relationship with its suppliers: We pay all our suppliers on time that gives us the moral high ground and subsequently we get paid on time. Bratley admits the plant facility that they rent in central London, which is run by a private waste management company, makes a dent in First Miles cashow. In the future, the company hopes to buy its own operational site. Other costs that aect the companys cashow include buying diesel and Londons congestion charge, which costs approximately 3,500 a month. The company updates its nancial position regularly. Bratley says: We have a weekly cash position report and cash collection is reported with a daily KPI (key performance indicator) report. Investment is then made in renewing its eet of vehicles; future plans also involve spending 300,000 in the next 18 months on upgrading the IT system, which will include enhanced features for cashow collection and invoicing. But keeping a capital cushion remains a priority. We are constantly building a buer of cash, which is on a six and 12 month deposit, to act as a safety net in an economic downturn or, for example, if a terror incident hits London and revenue might slow down for a while. Bratley is optimistic about the future: Frankly there is so much work to do in London and the south-east getting businesses that never recycle to recycle. JG

First Mile has 10,000 business customers in London and the south-east

Culturally, we recognise that every single aspect of the business can impact on cashow

Credit control is the nexus of First Mile, Bratley says, and the process starts with pleasing customers. He adds: It is ne having a large sales force selling the dream but if it is not delivered through customer service and operations, the client at the end of the day is not going to pay, which makes cash collection very hard.

SolutionsPT Data driven customer satisfaction

Prima Service Cutting down payment cycles

Prima Services focus on extending the lifespan of windows and doors in social housing appeals strongly to local authorities, whose budgets are being squeezed sharply in these times of austerity. The company is a specialist maintenance rm in the south-east of England, mainly in the east-Kent area, taking calls for emergency repairs to make properties secure and also carrying out routine maintenance. The companys director, Justin Halfpenny, stresses the cashow benets of key performance indicators (KPIs), where council tenants rate the quality and speed of service and Prima receives a bonus based on pushing up customer satisfaction levels. Changing the business model a few years ago to develop direct relationships with local authorities had a positive eect on cashow, Halfpenny says, as it got the company closer to the money. This avoided previously long payment cycles and cut down administration costs. Now the company gets paid within 14 days on average. Being on top of their own costs and being paid early means that Prima can then pay its suppliers more promptly, and get discounts for doing so. Proving that the company can be disciplined, we can push then for slightly better discounts, he says. Performance indicators include tenant satisfaction, meeting timed targets for jobs and also doing a rst viable x, which means that an engineer can repair the door or window on the rst visit. Primas dedication to improving processes means that virtually all jobs can be completed on the rst visit. Vans usually carry 400 parts and the engineers can update stock levels in real time using hand-held devices. The company provides a good example of how maintaining cashow is about investing for growth as well as cutting costs. It invested 250,000 in automating processes, building a bespoke software system on top of the existing IT platform. Halfpenny estimates that this technology overhaul has reduced overhead costs by 66%. In the industry, admin costs-pertransaction can reach up to 100, but Prima estimates that it has brought this down to 30. Many PVC windows and doors in social housing are reaching the end of their lives having been installed 20 years ago but to replace them all at once would bust council budgets. Primas AssetStretch service aims to extend the lifecycle of windows and doors by up to another 25 years by replacing worn-out parts. With councils being able to save 40% from their property maintenance budgets, they then free up capital to spend on building new social housing which again creates new opportunities for Prima to service and repair new properties. Prima like many small businesses in an economic downturn wishes it had more funds available for research and development investment and marketing its services. Prima has a small working capital overdraft, Halfpenny explains, but prefers not to use it if possible. Borrowing money is expensive or not available now, he says. While the company tries to push admin costs down as much as possible by automating processes, it is happy to pay over the odds in attracting skilled engineers. JG

SolutionsPT says large organisations paying late is one of the biggest drains on its cashow management Happy customers and strong cashow are inseparable for industrial automation specialist SolutionsPT, which has bounced back from the credit crunch to post new highs in client satisfaction and win prestigious awards as an employer. SolutionsPT provides IT services to a range of industries and has clients such as Pzer, Pepsico, Tata Steel and Greene King. It was awarded the Investors in People gold standard and is number 26 on the Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For list, jumping 29 places up the list in a year. The company uses the technique of Net Promoter Scores (NPS), a metric for measuring customer satisfaction. Increasing customer satisfaction and credit control procedures helped raise turnover between 2011 and 2012, resulting in increased protability and cash generation, it says. It sees a direct relation between how happy its customers are and how quickly they pay. As the NPS improved over the years, the amount of overdue debt decreased in tandem. NPS is now at an all-time high of 45%, compared with a negative position in 2007. According to Phil Gillard, SolutionsPTs general manager, NPS drives behaviour within the organisation, it elevates credit control. Credit control talks to sales to understand payment terms, and puts forward a solution earlier on in the process. We get in early to understand our customers needs. And we hope people nd it easy to do business with us. The biggest risk to their cashow is from big organisations paying late, outsourcing their accounts payable functions, and trying to impose new longer payment terms without discussion, according to Neil Pearce, commercial director. But smaller companies also present their own cashow challenges. Gillard says: We tend to risk prole smaller customers, rather than larger ones. We often consult the industry standard registers of these smaller customers to understand their credit limits. We are always looking one step ahead to get the right customer. The company creates cashow forecasts monthly and annually as a matter of routine. But Pearce says that this is exible: We will do weekly forecasts at certain times of the year when our business cycle puts more of a strain on our cash. Gillard adds: We nance our growth from our cashow, and we dont need to go for external funding or other sources like crowdfunding. SolutionsPT also keeps a close eye on stock control. Pearce says: We manage our inventory levels to balance customer satisfaction with the cost of stock holding. For a company with IT at the heart of its business, it is no surprise to nd that technology is used to back up cashow management. SolutionsPT uses a variety of new technology, software and internet tools to help the businesss cashow. Looking to the future Gillard is enthusiastic about the nancial benets to clients of virtualisation technology, which pools hardware resources in manufacturing. JG

Developing direct relationships with local authorities has got Prima Service closer to the money

Justin Halfpenny says key performance indicators can be used to boost cashow

Report commissioned and controlled by the Guardian. Funded by Lloyds TSB.

For information on the Small Business Network visit: guardian.co.uk/small-business-network

30

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Comment

Debate

George Monbiot With half of their time spent at screens, the next generation will be poorly equipped to defend the natural world from harm

If children lose contact with nature they wont ght for it

ne woe doth tread upon anothers heel, So fast they follow. That radical green pressure group PriceWaterhouseCoopers warns that even if the present rate of global decarbonisation were to double, we would still be on course for 6C of warming by the end of the century. Conning the rise to 2C requires a sixfold reduction in carbon intensity: far beyond the scope of current policies. A new report shows that the UK has lost 20% of its breeding birds since 1966: once common species such as willow tits, lesser spotted woodpeckers and turtle doves have all but collapsed; even house sparrows have fallen by two thirds. Ash dieback is just one of many terrifying plant diseases, mostly spread by trade. They now threaten our oaks, pines and chestnuts. So where are the marches, the occupations, the urgent demands for change? While the surveys show that the great majority would like to see the living planet protected, few are prepared to take action. This, I think, reects a second environmental crisis: the removal of children from the natural world. The young people we might have expected to lead the defence of nature have less and less to do with it. We dont have to disparage the indoor world, which has its own rich ecosystem, to lament childrens disconnection from the outdoor world. But the experiences the two spheres oer are entirely dierent. There is no substitute for what takes place outdoors; not least because the greatest joys of nature are unscripted. The thought that most of our children will never swim among phosphorescent plankton at night, will never be startled by a salmon leaping, a dolphin breaching, the stoop of a peregrine, or the rustle of a grass snake is almost as sad as the thought that their children might not have the opportunity. The remarkable collapse of childrens engagement with nature which is even faster than the collapse of the natural world is recorded in Richard Louvs book Last Child in the Woods, and in a report published recently by the National Trust. Since the 1970s the area in which children may roam without supervision has decreased by almost 90%. In one generation the proportion of children regularly playing in wild places in the UK has fallen from more than half to fewer than one in 10. In the US, in just six years (1997-2003) children with particular outdoor hobbies fell by half. Eleven- to 15-year-olds in Britain now spend, on average, half their waking day in front of a screen. There are several reasons for this collapse: parents irrational fear of

No point in being polite

Andrew Gimson By hiring Lynton Crosby Cameron shows hes determined to avoid the inspidness of 2010

strangers and rational fear of trac, the destruction of the fortifying commons where previous generations played, the quality of indoor entertainment, the structuring of childrens time, the criminalisation of natural play. The great indoors, as a result, has become a far more dangerous place than the diminished world beyond. The rise of obesity, rickets and asthma and the decline in cardio-respiratory tness are well documented. Louv also links the indoor life to an increase in attention decit hyperactivity disorder and other mental ill health. Research conducted at the University of Illinois suggests that playing among trees and grass is associated with a marked reduction in indications of ADHD, while playing indoors or on tarmac appears to increase them. The disorder, Louv suggests, may be a set of symptoms aggravated by lack of exposure to nature. Perhaps its the environment, not the child, that has gone wrong. In her famous essay the Ecology of Imagination in Childhood, Edith Cobb proposed that contact with nature stimulates creativity. Reviewing the biographies of 300 geniuses, she exposed a common theme: intense experiences of the natural world in the middle age of childhood (between ve and 12). Animals and plants, she contended, are among the gures of speech in the rhetoric of play which the genius in particular of later life seems to recall. Studies in several nations show that

childrens games are more creative in green places than in concrete playgrounds. Natural spaces encourage fantasy and roleplay, reasoning and observation. The social standing of children there depends less on physical dominance, more on inventiveness and language skills. Perhaps forcing children to study so much, rather than running wild in the woods and elds, is counter-productive. And here we meet the other great loss. Most of those I know who ght for nature are people who spent their childhoods immersed in it. Without a feel for the texture and function of the natural world, without an intensity of engagement almost impossible in the absence of early experience, people will not devote their lives to its protection. The fact that at least half the published articles on ash dieback have been illustrated with photos of beeches, sycamores or oaks seems highly suggestive. Forest Schools, Outward Bound, Woodcraft Folk, the John Muir Award, the Campaign for Adventure, Natural Connections, family nature clubs and many others are trying to bring children and the natural world back together. But all of them are ghting forces which, if they cannot be turned, will strip the living planet of the wonder and delight, of the ecstasy in the true sense of that word that for millennia have drawn children into the wilds. Twitter: @georgemonbiot
DANIEL PUDLES

The great indoors has become a far more dangerous place than the diminished world beyond

Hamas leaves us no choice

Danny Ayalon Israel will not allow the lives of its citizens to be endangered. If only Gazas leaders felt the same

amass charter includes the aspiration that The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims ght the Jews (killing the Jews). While many concentrate on its death-cult worship, its bloodthirsty killing of adversaries, or its contempt for women, Christians and homosexuals, it is this aspiration for genocide that is at the root of Hamas activities. This is the primary reason why Hamas, the governing regime in Gaza, will never recognise or accept a peace accord with Israel in any form. Since Israel left Gaza in 2005, thousands of rockets have rained down on Israeli cities and towns in deliberate contravention not just of international law, but all humanity and morality. While some might suggest the so-called blockade is the cause of the attacks, it is actually a consequence. The restrictions were only implemented two years after Israel left Gaza, when it was clear that instead of building a Singapore of the Middle East, Hamas was interested in importing stockpiles of weapons from places like Iran. Instead of building a future for its people, Hamas built an open-air prison for the million and a half inhabitants who fell into its grasp. However, Gaza was never enough for an organisation whose raison detre is the annihilation of Israel, and whose charter begins with the ominous warn-

ing that Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. Every rocket from Gaza is a double war crime. First, the rockets are aimed at civilians; second, they are red from built-up civilian areas, often close to schools, mosques and hospitals. And about 10% of Hamas rockets dont reach Israel, exploding in Gaza. Mohammed Sadallah a four-year-old killed on Saturday, his body displayed in a press conference with Ismail Haniyeh, Hamass leader was, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, most likely killed by an errant Hamas rocket. Hamas leaders frequently declare that their people actively seek death. Fathi Hamad, a senior member of Hamas, stated in 2008 that for the Palestinian people, death became an industry, at which women and children excel. Accordingly we created a human shield of women, children and elderly. We seek death as you [Israelis] desire life. Hamas seeks conagration and war. Death and destruction is seen as a winwin calculation, as any Israeli death is considered a glorious achievement and every Palestinian death that of a holy martyr, providing badly needed propaganda. Seemingly there are not enough deaths for them, so Hamass military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, has been sending out pictures of massacres in Syria, claiming they were taken in Gaza. Israel has been left with little choice but to root out this nest of hate and

destruction. No nation on earth would allow a third of its population to live in constant fear of incessant re from a neighbouring territory. Our government exercised restraint. We gave the international community time to act. However, there was a deafening silence, demonstrating to Israelis that we had to take action to protect our citizens. Those who refused to condemn the attacks on Israeli citizens have no right to condemn Israels response to establish peace and quiet for its citizens. This is the basic obligation of any sovereign nation, and we will continue taking any action necessary to achieve this aim. In the face of this undeniable truth, the usual accusation is that Israel is responding with disproportionate force or carrying out collective punishment. I urge all who make this accusation to consider that Israel has successfully targeted in excess of 1,300 weapons caches, rocket launchers and other elements of Hamass terrorist infrastructure. Yet despite this, the number of Palestinian casualties remains around one for every 13 strikes, the majority killed being active members of Hamas and combatants. Israel will not allow its citizens lives to be endangered. The international community must call on the Palestinian leadership in the Gaza Strip to take the same approach with its own people. Danny Ayalon is Israels deputy minister of foreign aairs

ith reckless folly, the Tories have placed themselves in the hands of an Australian bigot. David Cameron has repeated, albeit after a delay of seven years, the error of his three predecessors as party leader: he has despaired of winning the support of moderate, liberal-minded people, and has decided to go instead for a core vote consisting of covert or not so covert racists. That at least is the story some are telling themselves after the appointment of Lynton Crosby to run the Tory campaign for the 2015 general election. They point out that Crosby was hired by the then leader, Michael Howard, to run the partys 2005 election campaign, in which immigration played a conspicuous part, and which fell a long way short of success. And they repeat the accusation of the Australian Labor party that Crosby only managed to help John Howard to defeat it in four consecutive elections in the period 1996-2004 by employing disreputable tactics, including the claim by Howard that boat people were inging their children into the sea in order to gain entry to Australia. But if this picture of Crosby were to gain general currency in Labour circles, it would play into his hands. For it would mean he was being severely underestimated. Crosby comes from Kadina, a small town in the Cornish triangle of South Australia. He has never lost his contempt for metropolitan intellectuals who have elevated ideas of what the masses ought to think, and no idea of what the masses actually think. In Australian politics he worked out how to detach large numbers of Labor voters from the fashionably highminded Labor leadership. Before anyone says this could not happen here, it is worth pointing out that something of the kind has already happened twice in the London mayoral elections of 2008 and 2012. Boris Johnson should not now be mayor of London. In Labour circles, the partys defeats in those campaigns are blamed entirely on its candidate, Ken Livingstone. That is unjust to Livingstone. Crosby ran both of Johnsons campaigns, and ran them very well. He prevailed on Johnson to conduct himself for month after month in a relentlessly disciplined fashion. This made for a tedious spectacle, but it also helped persuade a sucient number of Labour voters that Johnson was a serious candidate who had Londoners best interests at heart. Camerons decision to hire Crosby is a conrmation that he is serious about winning in 2015. Crosby will nd issues like welfare reform, where large numbers of Labour voters agree with what the government is doing. One may describe campaigning on such topics as disreputable if one wishes, but Labour had better be ready for it. As 2015 approaches, embarrassed silence will not do as a response to the governments welfare and education reforms, or to its supposedly rm line on immigration, or to its dreary insistence that the decit has to be brought under control. On Europe, too, it is possible that Cameron will come to look like the best defender of the national interest. Sending for Crosby amounts to an admission that the Tory campaign for the general election of 2010 was a mess. If, in its closing stages, one asked four of the most senior Tories involved in it George Osborne, Steve Hilton, Ed Llewellyn and Andy Coulson what the campaign was about, one got four different answers. Victory slipped away because the Tories sounded too vapid, too tentative, too polite. There is nothing vapid, tentative or polite about Crosby. He will insist that they work out what they are going to tell the voters, and then get them to tell it with merciless consistency for months on end. Andrew Gimson is the author of Boris the Rise of Boris Johnson

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012 Follow us on Twitter @commentisfree Join us on Facebook facebook.com/guardiancomment

*
Comment editor: Becky Gardiner Telephone: 020 3353 4995 Fax: 020 3353 3193 Email: cif.editors@guardian.co.uk

31

Diary Hugh Muir

A hand, if you please, for the Department of Health. While the penny pinchers would scale back on the good we can do in this world, the DoH looks at the map and presses ahead. Hence a conference on Thursday: Current Issues in Global Health. Sad, of course, that health secretary Jeremy Hunt wont be there, but there are compensations. For scheduled is Ken Clarke minister without portfolio, envoy for trade who will speak in the session Trade for Health, drawing, no doubt on his 10 years at British American Tobacco, a stint reported to have made him 1m. He resigned as deputy chair in 2008, but he can reect that the titan he helped to build now operates in 180 countries. If they feel healthier aside from the 6 million killed by smoking each year that may be because of Ken. Trepidation in Labour ranks as it is conrmed that Lynton Crosby, the Aussie election attack dog, will mastermind the next Conservative election campaign. Doors slam, windows rattle, pets howl. If there are weak spots Crosby, the force behind Boris Johnsons two election victories in London, will nd them. One wonders if Ed Miliband feels the need to have a word with Helen Goodman, the shadow culture minister. Her brief would seem to encompass the web and its benets, such as broadband. The problem is that she doesnt seem to know very much about it. Blogger Terence Eden ags up an exchange between Goodman and experts giving evidence to an inquiry on lters and online protection. Im sorry, maybe Im particularly stupid, she said. But I havent understood how I get this software or this kit or whatever it is, this lter thingy that you click or whatever without buying a new computer, and I dont want to spend a thousand pounds just to have a lter. I just havent understood what I do, and youve been talking to us and Ive been in this room for half an hour. You can download parental control software for free, said the expert. But I dont know how to download parental controls, cried Helen. I can send an email, I can click on to Windows but the minute you talk about downloading software, my brain goes bzzzz. Oh dear. Remember, Crosby takes no prisoners. More on the unpleasantness between the website Independent Catholic News and senior sta at St Marys Catholic college in south-west London. Last Friday we reported that journalist Jo Siedlecka had one week, by order of the high court, to name the anonymous author of a letter to which three senior college ocials, including the principal, Prof Philip Esler, took legal exception. Four days left, but shes not budging. Over the weekend Prof Esler withdrew from the legal action, citing his fear of reputational damage to the institution. The other two will, however, press ahead. Someone may lose, but no ones going to win. The die was cast. The date was set. Television journalists Mark Daly of BBC Scotland and Alex Thomson, chief correspondent for Channel 4 News, were due to face the ire of Rangers fans, having exposed the shenanigans that resulted in the team being demoted to the Scottish third division. Brave pair, thought fans, as they signed up for the Media Monday event at Edinburgh Napier University yesterday. But both cried o: Daly must complete a quickly commissioned Panorama, and Thomson is stuck in Gaza. Hes a lucky guy. Its safer for him there right now. Finally, a tale for our times. It concerns the publication Education for Liberation, a little-known product of the Socialist Teachers Alliance. Education for Liberation is not a super soaraway kind of title. But adherents like it. Last week Alex Kenny received a consignment containing the latest edition at his home in London. Six heavy boxes, each containing 200 copies, were left in the front porch. Unfortunately, some time between 4pm and 5pm, two boxes disappeared. It would appear that they were stolen by members of Walthamstows criminal fraternity. But thats the thing about stealing boxes: one never really knows what is inside. At 7pm, on returning from the local shops, reports Alex, I found the missing two boxes, one open, neatly stacked by the front gate. All copies apparently returned. Its a miracle. diary@guardian.co.uk Twitter: @hugh_muir

Polly Toynbee For Iain Duncan Smith, poverty is caused by failure and dysfunction. The reality is dierent, and Labour must say so

No amount of moralising will alleviate this hardship

ow many more ways do we need to measure what it means to be poor? Four are already enshrined in the Child Poverty Act 2010, to which the government is (so far) signed up. But Iain Duncan Smith and David Laws have just launched a consultation into poverty measurement. What does this signify? With another 10bn cut in benets on the way, it helps to suggest poverty is not really about lack of money before next months autumn statement. The slippage from saying the obvious money isnt everything to claiming money doesnt matter is a convenient logical leap. Dishonesty about poverty, its causes, eects and cures, infects almost everything Duncan Smith says, as he pours an unction of moralising over the hardship he causes. His words are as misleading about the past and the present as they are about the future eects of his policies. He cant quite remove the goalposts of the old relative measurement 60% of median income so instead, he erects other ones to confuse. If what he claims for his own policies is less than the truth, his critique of the Labour years is pure fabrication. We must learn the lessons of the previous decade, he says, when despite best intentions and an unprecedented level of spending Labour failed to cut child poverty by half. The poverty plus a pound approach failed because the root causes of poverty were left unchecked, and not enough was done to break the cycle of disadvantage. Poverty plus a pound cunningly accuses Labour of throwing money at those just below the line to ddle the gures. True, Labour cut child poverty by a quarter, not the half it aimed at but that was still a remarkable reduction. Whats more, during the boom years it was like running up a down escalator compared with now. In a slump this relative poverty measure means fewer children technically under the poverty line with no one a penny better o. Thats why there are four measures as checks. But 60% is the international benchmark by which we will be measured by Eurostat, Unicef, the OECD and everyone else. As the IFS says, whatever the short term blips, over

Next week the annual Rowntree report will show nearly two-thirds of those below the poverty line are in work

any longer stretch this measure fairly reects a nations poverty level. David Cameron, in his now notorious Hugo Young lecture, accepted the measure and claimed inequality mattered. More unequal countries do worse according to every social indicator he said though he has now reneged from that. He also claimed: As the state expanded under Labour, our society became more not less unfair. Not true, says Professor John Hills, the LSEs great expert on inequality. He says the poor caught up signicantly with the middle, and all those below the line did better by exactly the same amount, not just those who inched over it. The great distortion was the soaraway top 0.5%, the megarich Labour dared not touch. Leave them out, and the rest of the country became more equal. The other untruth is that Labour did nothing but splurge on benets. This government erases the past, as if 2010 was year zero in tackling the causes of poverty. Labour used the nuanced phrase social exclusion to capture the many reasons why people get left behind. A social exclusion unit supervised 18 taskforces exploring every cause and eect, from worklessness to debt, low skills, poor neighbourhoods, bad housing, educational failure, mental health, single parenthood and more. Every year a fat document, Opportunity For All, benchmarked progress on removing causes of disadvantage, including breastfeeding and smoking: why has that been abandoned? Consider what else they did. Catching family problems early was at the heart of Labour policy, with Sure Start childrens centres and free nursery education. The decent homes plan brought millions of dilapidated social homes up to standard after years of neglect. The claim that Labour ignored work is shameless: Work is the best welfare and A hand up, not a hand out were Labour mantras from the start. The programme to get single parents into work was an unprecedented success, now dismantled, like the successful scheme that cut teen pregnancies. Labours DWP ministers were hardly wimps: they tightened benet conditions year by year. Why Labour has failed to defend its record better is a mystery. Lack of current policy on benets seems to have rendered most of

them speechless both on the good they did and on the injustice of heaping the heaviest cuts on the poorest. These cuts are now squeezing the middle earners as the value of tax credits dwindles, while earnings fall and prices rise. The Guardians Breadline Britain tracks how hard people are hit, when even families on well above average incomes struggle to feed their children decent food. Next week the annual Rowntree report on poverty will show that nearly two thirds of those living below the poverty line are in work. Yes, working hard, often at several jobs. Yet Duncan Smith only mentions dysfunctional families, blighted by worklessness, educational failure, family breakdown, problem debt.

hose in work dont feature in his new list of poverty measures. He says work is transformative, with no word of the millions trapped on low pay, or zero-hours contracts, in erratic and insecure jobs. His new multidimensional measure appears to leave out the working poor altogether the great majority. He says nothing about the moral duty of employers to pay enough for people to live on, or the trend that is sucking more from wages into prots. Only the poor are feckless, yet employers also freeload on tax credits. So far the government is winning the public argument on benet cuts. Labour puts out refutations: This consultation is nothing more than a smokescreen. This government is giving a tax cut to millionaires but giving up on child poverty. But its leaders lack the nerve to challenge Daily Mail images of scroungers and housing benet mansion-dwellers. What will it take to shift public sympathy towards those who suer, with many more to come after Aprils cuts? How weak is BBC news coverage of the exodus uprooting families and the hardship endured even by the most hardworking? The Guardian this week launches each day a lm by Peter Gordon, chronicling the hard lives in hard times of those stricken by Osbornes austerity. Labour should start telling more of these stories too. polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk

32

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Founded 1821 Owned by the Scott Trust Number 51,698

Labour and Europe

Britains continental divide

Nearly 30 years ago, Labour fought the 1983 election on a pledge to withdraw from the European Economic Community (as it then was). The voters duly inflicted the partys worst drubbing in history. By 1987, Labour had begun to mend its fences, pledging to work constructively with Europe. Five years on, it was even more full-hearted, promising voters in 1992 that Labour would promote Britain out of the European second division into which our country has been relegated by the Tories. By 1997, when the rst Tony Blair government was elected, Labour was committing to be a leader in Europe. The actions never quite lived up to the words but Labour remained a big EU player, certainly under Mr Blair, and even under Gordon Brown. Where does Labour stand today? Labours recent stance has felt ambiguous, even occasionally opportunist. Officially, Labour is a pro-European party, but its commitment has sometimes seemed half-hearted. The shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, is a thoughtful pro-European, but the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, rarely says anything positive. Backbench opinion seems disengaged, while even a pro-European such as Lord Mandelson has irted with urging his party to join the bidding war on an EU referendum. An authoritative thought-out position has been lacking. It has been clear that Labour wants to give the Conservatives a hard time over Europe but less clear what it believes itself. This is the context in which Ed Milibands important speech to the CBI conference yesterday should be understood. Labours heart mostly remains wedded to some version of Britain in Europe. But its head recognises that the times have changed and that Europe must do so too. Mr Miliband embodies that duality. By instinct, intellect and background, the Labour leader is a pro-European, but he is under no illusion that the old faith-based case for Europe will suce, intellectually or politically, in radically changed times. He is right. It was high time he gave a lead. Mr Milibands speech recognised, rightly, that Europe in 2012 is a very dierent place from Europe in 1997. Bright condent morning has been replaced by a glowering twilight. The underlying geostrategic British case for Europe remains as it was, but the eurozone crisis has turned the EU from a place of British destiny as Mr Blair once called it into a project that struggles to survive. Here, Eurosceptic views are on the increase, as an Observer poll underlined at the weekend, and as the rise of Ukip, reected in the Guardian/ICM poll this morning, conrms. These new circumstances cry out for an approach that is both hard-headed and strategic. Mr Miliband delivered that. He is right that the case for staying in Europe starts with the economy. Deep down, British business knows this too, so Mr Miliband chose his audience well to make this argument, because it is one that David Cameron is increasingly unable, by temperament and circumstance, to make himself. The Labour leader was even more right to stress that the case for Europe goes wider than just the economy, extending to crime, climate change and foreign policy. But Mr Miliband also argued that EU reform must be at the heart of a post-crisis proEuropean approach too, not least on the EU budget, the subject of this weeks summit. He chose his words carefully on this, opposing an automatically rising EU budget while stressing the need to build alliances for comprehensive reform. The EU ocials who are reportedly on the verge of giving up on the prospect of meaningful negotiations with Mr Cameron on the budget would be right to notice that. It is a vivid reminder of one of the enduring litmus tests in modern British politics. Britain needs a government that engages with Europe from inside not outside, and does not, as the Labour leader put it, sleepwalk towards the exit. Mr Cameron cannot promise that. Mr Miliband can and has done so. It is a momentous dierence between this countrys two major parties.

Women in the Church of England

Let bulwarks be bishops

Two decades have passed since the Church of England pulled itself, kicking and screaming, into modernity, by allowing women priests. Lingering reactionary doubts about the necessity of this ought to have been vanquished by official statistics this year that revealed that more women than men are now being ordained. In a shrinking institution, the inux of female vicars is a rare positive a bulwark against some deep irreligious social tides. How extraordinary, then, that the General Synod is today in all seriousness debating whether to retain that church roof on female ambitions, the bar on women bishops. Fortytwo out of 44 dioceses have already seen sense, and resolved that the CofE should get on the right side of history, as have a majority of bishops, clergy and parishoners. Thanks to the creaking intricacies of the synod rulebook, however, success is not guaranteed. A conservative requirement for a two-thirds majority in each of three houses is part of the problem; another is the tendency so familiar from the travails of unfashionable political parties for important committees to get captured by obsessives. Even so, the misnamed Anglican Mainstream would stand no chance of mustering the requisite blocking minority, were it not for deciencies within the reform measure, GS 1708D, which are so stark that some progressives feel compelled to vote against. To reconcile the irreconcilable, the draft measure allows individual churches to opt out of the care of a woman bishop, undermining both the authority of female priests and the organisational integrity of a supposedly episcopal church. The head-spinning organogram creates ambiguities and invites future rows; seeing as there can be no opt-out from the oversight of Canturbury, another silly dispute will presumably be required before a woman can reach Lambeth Palace. The reactionaries have no real guarantees, since these opt-outs could be cancelled by another synod further down the line. Even reformist males are not safe, as churches who regard their hands as being tainted by ordaining women will be able to opt out of their authority too. There is, then, truly something to oend everyone here. And that, in a nutshell, is why reform remains in doubt. Yet for a church famed for compromises to reject this particular fudge would be selfdestructive. After all the wasted time, reformers would be condemned to waste still more. For their part, the conservatives would see tactical victory collapse into a strategic routing, as an ultimately unstoppable measure to allow female consecration would soon emerge, shorn of all compromise. For the church as a whole, meanwhile, the caricature of a split, introspective and outdated institution would be burnt anew on the public mind.

In praise of HAngus the Monkey

When Aristotle said that man is by nature a political animal, its safe to assume he did not have HAngus the Monkey, aka the mayor of Hartlepool, in mind. But what started as a wheeze hatched on the freezing football terraces to publicise Hartlepool FCs mascot ended in a political career that lasted as long as Tony Blairs. It is now, alas, coming to an end, after voters in the town backed a referendum to scrap the post of mayor. Back in 2002, no one was more shocked to get 603 votes more than Labour than the man in the monkey suit, Stuart Drummond, a credit controller in a call centre. But he threw himself into the job it was, he said, like doing six masters degrees in six months and, after being re-elected twice, now looks very much the part. Irony upon irony for the anti-politics mayor, Drummond said he was disappointed by the low turnout but he remains philosophical about the outcome.

Comment & Debate

Isolation from Europe would be a grave error

Patrick Diamond
Many British voters would leave the EU tomorrow now it is up to Labour to make the case for staying

urope has once again emerged as a dynamic force in British party politics. The Conservatives are fatally divided, as they were during the negotiations over the Maastricht treaty in the early 1990s. The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, are ostensibly pro-European but reduced to protesting from the sidelines. Labours decision to vote with rightwing Conservative anti-Europeans over the EU budget has created an impression of increasing ambivalence about its European commitment. In reality, Labours willingness to enter the division lobbies with the Eurosceptic right was not merely an act of political calculation. It reected growing uncertainty on the left about how the nation state and the EU should work together in a post-crisis world. Nonetheless, Labour must not appear detached and inward-looking: putting Europe in the too dicult box and isolating the party from European and international commitments that are integral to an eective social democratic strategy would be a grave error. The unpopularity of the single currency has provided cover to cease being candid about the need for European action in solving many of Britains economic woes. But the prospect of democratic socialism in one country is, as it always has been, an illusion. Indeed, a closed national community seeking to oer high levels of welfare and security to native citizens is one socialist model, but hardly an appealing or sustainable one. As such, growing pressures towards nationalism and introspection ought to be rebued. It is to the lefts advantage that this is

fundamentally an age of interdependence, not isolationism. We need a thorough debate about Britains future relationship with the EU, as Ed Miliband acknowledged in his speech to the CBI yesterday . The voices of those who have become circumspect about the EUs role ought to be heard. Given a choice, many British voters would leave tomorrow; many understandably oppose any increase in the EU budget. Failure to curb the budget in the light of austerity within member states is foolhardy. The budget itself urgently needs reform, removing the unjustied excess of the common agricultural policy. Moreover, there has been too little drive from the European commission to promote growth and jobs and to secure investment rather than austerity. Two decades of market liberalisation has not been countered by a strengthening of Europes social vision. Indeed, the EU lacks democratic legitimacy, which only a directly elected European commission president provides. For all these faults, the British left has to make the case for an eective European Union. The Labour leader has oered a robust defence of Brit-

A new political economy for the left in Britain requires a muscular, activist European Union

ains EU membership: it is essential to appreciate that Europe is integral to the future viability of social democracy and to make the positive case. The most insistent challenges confronting leftof-centre politics promoting a more responsible capitalism, addressing the need for global nancial regulation, acting on climate change, reducing economic inequality, ending poverty, and protecting human rights and civil liberties will only be addressed by countries acting together through institutions such as the EU. The nancial crisis exposed how without regulatory action at the European and global level, big corporations and wealthy nanciers evade their responsibilities, refusing to pay their fair share of tax. The only way of clamping down on tax evasion and a race to the bottom is through international co-ordination and regulation. This may, indeed, require greater tax harmonisation, and a cross-European nancial transactions tax. To oppose EU action on the grounds of an absence of global agreement is a counsel of despair. Despite the presence of the emerging powers, Europe still has clout in setting the rules of the global economic system. A new political economy for the left in Britain requires a muscular, activist European Union. For all its faults, the EU is necessary to ensure co-operation and burden-sharing between countries. The UK should be an active participant as a European political and economic settlement is forged in the wake of the crisis, instead of standing on the sidelines. Europe has to be about us, not them: quiet semi-detachment wont do. International solidarity remains an animating social democratic principle. Indeed, a unied EU is at the core of

a radical social democratic programme, as past leaders of the European left such as Willy Brandt, Jacques Delors and Neil Kinnock each recognised. We need urgent action to boost aggregate demand and speed a recovery of growth and jobs. Over the next decade the left must forge a more social Europe focused on trade union and workplace rights, a strong welfare state, robust social protection supporting hard-pressed families, environmental sustainability and eective action on climate change. The vision of Britain as an oshore island oering low taxes and deregulation akin to Hong Kong is fundamental to the Eurosceptic right, but goes against Labours most sacred values. Quite rightly, Ed Miliband insists the EU requires overarching political and institutional reform. The lefts mission, however, is to continue to build solidarity and co-operation between countries instead of merely advancing economic liberalism, while directly challenging Eurosceptic forces in British political debate. Acknowledging legitimate criticisms of the EUs role must not crowd out the compelling case for a reformed Europe. Social democrats should advocate the high road to competitiveness through social investment and ecological sustainability, rather than collective austerity mired in a competitive race to the bottom. Britain must aspire to become a mainstream European country with Nordic levels of wealth and welfare, German-style stakeholder capitalism, a consensual model of politics, and a role in the world based on the nest traditions of left internationalism. Patrick Diamond, a senior research fellow at Policy Network, was one of the authors of Labours 2010 election manifesto

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

*
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU Telephone: 020 3353 2000 Fax: 020 3353 3193 Email: letters@guardian.co.uk We do not publish letters where only an email address is supplied; please include a full postal address, a reference to the article and a daytime

33

Reply
Letters and emails Thameslink contract needs full review
I was surely not the only one who was optimistic that Patrick McLoughlins appointment as transport secretary might oer a glimmer of hope to Bombardier (Doubts raised over Siemens Thameslink contract, 31 October). As a fellow Derbyshire MP, I presumed he would better understand how damaging the governments decision not to award the 1.4bn Thameslink contract to the Derby trainmaker was. That is why his announcement that he still expects the contract with German rm Siemens to be signed early next year was so disappointing. Serious doubts remain over the decision made 18 months ago. And there is now an even greater justication for Mr McLoughlin to revisit the decision. At the outset of the procurement process it was envisaged that Thameslink would operate as an independent franchise. The goalposts have now moved. It is now anticipated that a super-franchise will be created, also involving some of the Southern and South Eastern services. This is a fundamental shift. Mr McLoughlins predecessor, Justine Greening, accepted that termination of the Thameslink contract could take place if there were signicant changes to external factors. I have written to Mr McLoughlin to highlight this point and await a reply. I fear the government is continuing with this process out of sheer stubbornness. The weight of evidence against its original decision is overwhelming. I certainly will not let this issue lie until the ink on the contract is dry and all hope is lost. I only hope Mr McLoughlin, who owes his position not to David Cameron and his cabinet colleagues but to the people of Derbyshire who elected him, shares that loyalty. Chris Williamson MP Labour, Derby North

telephone number. We may edit letters. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: see http://gu.com/letters-terms

Corrections and clarications

We must be pragmatic about the EU

The Polish foreign minister, Radosaw Sikorski, understates Britains contribution to the EU budget (The EU is good value, 19 November). We are the second largest net contributor and would be the largest were it not for our rebate. When governments across Europe have had to take hard decisions, a proigate EU budget would be irresponsible. And we are not isolated in our position. Swedish and German ministers have publicly called the budget backwardslooking, and the Dutch have said an increase would be incomprehensible. We support a budget that is focused on the right priorities, and we are negotiating over the budget in good faith. We are one of the strongest supporters of structural and cohesion funds for Poland. We want to see payments to richer member states reduced so that the share going to the poorer members of the union will rise. And weve worked together to promote enlargement, one of the EUs historic achievements. The key to restoring growth in Europe is not the EU budget but making the single market work better: by deepening trade in services, the digital industries and the low carbon sector; by cutting regulation; by improving competition; and by using the EUs bargaining power to help us liberalise trade with prosperous and fast-growing markets. David Lidington Minister for Europe Radosaw Sikorski commends Britains pragmatic approach and policymaking realism . Following the fall of the Berlin wall, Manfred Wensky, the ex-head of the East Berlin high school to which the politburo had sent their children, expressed his hope that Britain would put herself at the heart of Europe because, left to their own devices, the leaders of Germany and France would pursue dreams far removed from the needs and wishes of ordinary people. You are a pragmatic people; you get on with making things work, he said. If only we heard more from politicians about what we bring to the European party and what benets we already enjoy at the table. John Smith Lindeld, West Sussex The dismal news that 56% of the population would vote to leave the EU contains one diamond 44% of the 18-24 age group were for continuing membership, as opposed to 25% against. Their sense of reality is not skewed by dreams of yore, and, I suggest, allows them to recognise that our future, their future and that of their children is best served by a continuing and hopefully greater involvement with the EU. Certainly the EU is not perfect but with determination we can help to improve the implementation of this great idea it will not be easy, but it is worth doing. It is high time politicians of all parties who are in favour of continuing membership spoke out loud and clear. We have left this issue to the naysayers for decades. A revitalised European Movement (euromove.org.uk) has produced an excellent information sheet on the costs, levels of bureaucracy and the benets that accrue to the UK. David Weaver Cranleigh, Surrey How can the eurozone economies be restarted (Eurozone double-dip brings ECB warning, 16 November)? Well, some of the worst-aected banks have been relieved through the creation of a bad bank, a special vehicle into which most of their debts were transferred, giving the original institutions a chance to resume normal activities. New countries cannot be created in Europe, because there is no free space. But a country could be designated bad just for scal purposes, no stigma attached and the eurozones toxic debts could all be piled up there, leaving all the eurozone states free to resume the onward march towards prosperity. Monaco could be used, maybe, or the Vatican City? The smaller the better. It would be hard on the Mongasques or the Vaticani, but the creation of a bad country would represent the greatest good for the greatest number. They could perhaps emigrate en masse to the eurozone without major problems of population displacement being created. The expatriated euro-debts could then be administered from a ling cabinet in Luxembourg. Dave Bradney Llanrhystud, Ceredigion

Accenture and McKinsey were incorrectly named as being among the big four accounting rms in an article about tax avoidance. Accenture is a management and IT consultancy and McKinsey is a management consultancy (Forget Bermuda, Britains tax havens are closer to home, 16 November, page 45). An article about the pursuit of Tony Blair by protesters (A game of cat and mouse, 17 November, page 44) suggested that Blair was due to give a speech at the Institute of Security and Resilience Studies at University College London. The caption to the main photograph meanwhile said that the speech was thought to be taking place at the University of Londons Senate House and placed the protest outside that building. The picture was in fact taken outside the University of London Union building heading towards Senate House. Blair, however, evaded the protest by actually speaking at neither UCL nor Senate House but at a venue near London Bridge. A report said Google had claimed that the logo and search engine of a South African website infringed its copyright (Google threatens legal action against Doogle, 15 November, page 22). It is trademark law, rather than copyright law, that is relevant to the dispute. Contacts for Guardian departments and sta can be found at gu.com/help/ contact-us. To contact the readers editors oce, which looks at queries about accuracy and standards, email reader@guardian.co.uk including article details and web link; write to The readers editor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU; or phone +44 (0)20 3353 4736 between 10am and 1pm UK time Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. The Guardians policy is to correct signicant errors as soon as possible. The editorial code of the Guardian incorporates the editors code overseen by the Press Complaints Commission: see pcc.org.uk

One country could be designated bad and the eurozones toxic debts could all be piled up there
Dave Bradney

Oldie but goldie

The assumption that non-elite universities are second best is problematic (State pupils shy away from elite universities, 15 November). Of course, class condence and wealth shouldnt be factors in where students study, but a better answer might be more equal resourcing to sustain a large number of institutions, rather than redistributing who attends elite ones. Enthusiastic lecturers, thought-provoking classes and cuttingedge research can be found across the sector, and should be supported. Davina Cooper London The wonderful Peter Greenaway cant think of anyone who has done anything remotely useful after the age of 80 (I dont want to be a lm maker, G2, 16 November). Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Oliver Knussen will give a UK premiere by the American composer Elliott Carter, who died a fortnight ago, a month o his 104th birthday, at the Aldeburgh festival next June one of a string of dazzling works owing from this great artist over the last 20 years. Stephen Newbould Artistic director, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group Ofcom has no plans for an additional television switchover (Report, 17 November). We are planning to make new frequencies available after 2018 to avert a potential mobile capacity crunch. For the vast majority of viewers it will be a very simple retune that can be carried out in a few minutes. Steve Unger Chief technology ocer, Ofcom Your photo of Chinas new politburo (16 November) shows six of them wearing red ties ... and one not. What should we make of the one? David Lund Winscombe, Somerset It was cheering to see a celebration of older people in Weekend (17 November), if slightly marred by Sali Hughess video assertion that mauve is a hideous word that makes you think of old grannies. Roisin Quinn Wallace London So there are 10m fewer sparrows in the UK (Report, 19 November)? There are 10m living in my escallonia hedge. Barbara Kirby Hoylake, Wirral

Hard rations for poor families as ination erodes incomes

Your report (Britain in nutritional recession as rising prices take toll on diet, 19 November) raises important concerns. Too often healthier food is seen as beyond the means of people managing a budget. Weve identied this as a key barrier to encouraging healthier diets, so we have made sure that a minimum of 40% of our fruit and veg is discounted, and weve also made sure our basics line has more than 60 products containing one of your ve a day across a wide range of products, such as canned and frozen veg, soups and juices. Weve recently introduced ugly fruit and veg to ensure our customers can buy British produce at aordable prices. Our sales of fruit and vegetables have remained constant over the past 12 months across all socioeconomic groups A return to kitchen basics and more cooking from scratch both oer a cheap and easy route to better nutrition. Weve distributed around 30m recipe cards to encourage home cooking and this is something which our Active Kids Get Cooking programme is also working to promote, aiming to establish lifelong healthy habits among children. Dispelling the idea that healthier automatically means costlier has never been more important. That means values as well as value for example, our basics bananas are 100% Fairtrade, as is all our basics tea and coee, and our basics fresh salmon is sourced to the same high welfare standards as the rest of our fresh salmon. Judith Batchelar Director of Sainsburys Brand Your reports are troubling, with the decline in fresh fruit and vegetables bought by low-income families as food prices have risen faster than family incomes. Living in the north of England through the miners strikes in the 1980s, I was very aware that many families survived by growing fresh vegetables on allotments. Of course it requires money to pay for rent, seeds and equipment, and time and eort. But many allotments have been built on, so there is now a shortage of available plots. It would be interesting to know to what extent low-income families are able to supplement their food from allotments or back gardens. Ros Ward Durham As a 75-year-old, it was with astonishment that I read that tinned meat pies, meat balls, bacon, sausages, coated chicken and pizza are causing a nutritional recession. When I was young, foods such as sausages, bacon, coated chicken and meatballs were highly prized as treats and, to this day, I remember my mother proudly announcing that the butcher had managed to get us a chicken for Christmas dinner. No bananas, no oranges, no pineapples, no grapes; just plenty of grey bread, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, swedes and specky apples. Time to get things into perspective. Mabel Taylor Knutsford, Cheshire Any government that cared for the wellbeing of all its citizens would be alarmed by your report on the bad diet of many poor households. Mandatory food rations in the 1940s were meagre but provided a healthy, balanced and aordable diet for all. The government should invite supermarkets to supply comparable low-cost ration packs. Dr Paul Lewis London

Country diary

Stansted Park, Hampshire

A light rain had been falling all morning and mist clung to the trees. The burnttoee tang of wood smoke hung in the air, mingling with the musty wet wool scent of mouldering leaves. Underfoot, the leaves made the dull crunch of stale potato crisps. The beech trees blazed with the golden orange and copper hues of an autumn sunset but beneath the canopy the dense shade cast by the leaves had left the woodland oor impoverished. Still, though, the wood played host to a diverse fungal ora. As I scrutinised decaying stumps for the blackened digits of dead mans ngers, I noticed an unmistakable cluster of red and white-spotted mushrooms among the leaf litter. Fly agaric is the quintessential fairytale toadstool, depicted as a home for woodland sprites in childrens picturebooks, appearing in cartoons and video games and on everything from cards to garden ornaments. Two of the mushrooms were domed and squat on bulbous eecy stems. Their scarlet caps seemed speckled with akes of popcorn, the remnants of the universal veil, a membrane that covers the fruiting body as it emerges from the ground. The accid stem of a more mature specimen bore its remnants in the form of a ru at its base. The cap had spread and inverted like a saucer. Rain had washed away most of the pyramidal white wart-like spots and weathered the slug-nibbled esh to a faded orange. Fly agaric grows around a number of tree species. The host benets from an increased uptake of nutrients and protection against harmful organisms, and the fungus receives sugars produced by photosynthesis. With 95% of the UKs ash trees threatened by the fungus Chalara fraxinea, it is heartening to appreciate that many of the 12,000 species of fungi occurring in the UK enjoy mutually benecial symbiotic relationships with one or more of our native trees. Claire Stares

Dierent ways of remembering the fallen

Whether one wears a poppy or not is a matter of personal choice (Sport, 19 November). It is not a protest, as some have described it. James McClean hails from Derry, where 14 innocent people were killed by British soldiers in 1972. For him to have worn a poppy would have been to insult the memory of every single one of those murdered on that grim day. I wonder how many of the men of the Parachute Regiment involved in the killings that day wore their poppies with pride last week? Conor OCarroll Sandyford, Ireland Helen Carpenter is confused (Letters, 16 November). Remembrance Sunday is indeed an opportunity to remember and pay respect to service personnel killed in conict, so everyone of those members of the armed forces who virtually militarised her town would have been thinking of their own comrades who are commemorated by a poppy. And she can rest assured that each one of them will have given sober reection to the fact that one day a poppy could be commemorating themselves. Krysia Williams London Helen Carpenters misgivings are exactly what led me this year to wear a white peace poppy alongside my red poppy. Many of us must share her distaste for the increasingly political aspect of remembrance ceremonies, but I struggled as how to express it publicly it without giving oence. Any better ideas? Joyce Howe Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear My father, who served in the Ambulance Corps in the rst world war, was also distressed by the amount of pomp and circumstance growing up around Armistice Day ceremonies. He felt that political leaders and military chiefs should be barred from attending unless they were suitably dressed: he suggested sackcloth and ashes. Stuart Yerrell Budleigh Salterton, Devon

Submarine safety
I read with interest the letter from Rear Admiral SR Lister, director submarines, Ministry of Defence, on the problems with the Astute submarine reported in this paper (17 November). As a former head of radiation protection policy at the MoD, I must say that public condence would be greatly enhanced if the regulation of nuclear safety for the submarine eet was transferred from the MoDs internal nuclear safety regulator to the Oce for Nuclear Regulation, part of the Health and Safety Executive. It is also worth pointing out that the 2010-11 annual report of the Defence Nuclear and Environment Safety Board clearly shows how the MoD has failed to allocate sufcient resources to nuclear safety, in particular the lack of progress on recruiting and retaining experienced and qualied sta. The report clearly shows that ministers continue to ignore the MoDs internal nuclear regulator in the allocation of resources to support the safety of the naval nuclear propulsion programme. Fred Dawson Director, Milcon Research

34

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Reviews

Maybe Im just an old hippie Video: Adrian Searle meets Sarah Lucas guardian.co.uk/artanddesign

Teen dreams come true as the Vaccines storm the palace

Pop
The Vaccines Alexandra Palace, London
Im nobodys hero, hollers Justin Young during Teenage Icon, the selfdeprecating centrepiece of the Vaccines second album, Come of Age. Some 10,000 lager-inging addicts, bawling along, beg to dier. For all of the new albums wrestlings with the implications of success and adulation, playing it in this stately shed instantly makes its themes of hopelessness, misanthropy and lack of star quality sound as ludicrous as a professor Brian Cox lecture on the fundamental unfanciability of scientists. Traditionally, selling out Ally Pally on a second album is a stepping stone to arenas and festival headline slots and the Vaccines are on the fast track, playing the O2 Arena, London, next May but its rare for these shows to inspire such ecstatic abandon. As the air lls with cascading beer from the opening chords of No Hope, and an hour-long singalong begins, theres an atmosphere of celebration, of being part of an underdog triumph, not seen here since Blur stormed the Palace gates in 1994. Like Blurs show, tonights is honouring musics past. Along with Jake Bugg and Alabama Shakes, the Vaccines are spearheading a retro revivalist trend, nding its thrills in rocks antique roots: 50s prom-night rocknroll as fed through the Ramones and the Strokes. Theyre suitably romantic-yet-rugged, the teen dream looks of denim-clad guitarist Freddie Cowan oset by Youngs full-bearded attempt to emulate Dave Grohl. Theyre authentic in sentiment too; Post Break-Up Sex may be a tongue-in-cheek modern twist on crooner romance, but Teenage Icons paragon of idolatry is Frankie Avalon, rather than, say, Frankie Cocozza. They rough up rocknrolls golden age, but with heartfelt respect. This sincerity, and their amazement at even being here This is the best fucking night of my life! Young gawps in incredulity add impact to this ballroom blitz of a gig. Urgent, righteous and electrifying, they barrel through virtually their entire catalogue: the rousing chant-along of Wetsuit and the runaway punk pummels of Do You Wanna, Norgaard and Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra) are interspersed with new tracks that bring colour and variation to an otherwise relentless rocknroll hour. I Always Knew brings a Tex-Mex wonkiness to proceedings, Ghost Town a tribalism clear signs that the Vaccines are progressing from what originally looked like an aspic-encased aesthetic. But as Blow It Up explodes in beer umes and pandemonium, tonight is all about the Vaccines ascending to the status of icons. Like it or not. Mark Beaumont At Manchester Apollo (08444 777 677) on Wednesday, then touring until 30 November. night, and the most eective. It had been an entertainingly patchy set, but the South Africans adored it all. Robin Denselow At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (0151-709 3789) on Thursday, then touring.

Jazz
Hall/Wheeler Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Evidence for jazzs dynamic balance of past, present and future has been easy to nd at the 2012 London jazz festival in its profusion of young talent, but also in the continuing creativity of old stars such as Sonny Rollins, guitarist Jim Hall, and composer-trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, whose careers started decades ago, when most of the pioneers of this young art were still performing. Hall marked the apparent fragility of the billing perhaps the festivals rst double bill to be shared by two octogenarians by declaring: Its a pleasure to be any place, actually. But his ingeniously lyrical trio music, and the harmonically opulent big-band account of Wheelers new pieces from The Long Waiting, sounded as subtle as you would expect from these two masters of the oblique. Wheelers allstar British band under Pete Churchills direction threaded the modulating lines of Wheelers Enowena over a Latin sway, and built it to a chord-slamming climax. Moreover, The Long Waitings title song, Comba No 3, and Old Ballad testied to Wheelers genius for matching inimitable melody to the tonal palette of a jazz band and to its improvisers, with saxophonist Ray Warleigh, guitarist John Parricelli, vocalist Norma Winstone and pianist Gwilym Simcock contributing to a raft of striking solos. In the second half, Hall mixed originals and standards more equally, curling low-volume lines of mesmerising impact out of All the Things You Are, exploring an all-improv episode with bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Anthony Pinciotti, demonstrating his unorthodox chord work on a Brazilian theme and his own 16-bar blues. It was probably one of the 2012 festivals quietest sets, but one of its most personal, penetrating and musical. John Fordham

Romantic yet rugged Freddie Cowan, left, and Justin Young of the Vaccines Photograph: Nicky J Sims/Redferns

Classical
Crash Ensemble; Nicolas Hodges St Pauls Hall, Hudderseld
The Dublin-based but internationally revered Crash Ensemble kicked o the 2012 Hudderseld Contemporary Music festival with a portrait concert of their co-founder Donnacha Dennehy, who is very much the life and soul of Irelands buzzing new-music party. An unusually upbeat beginning to the festival, then, or at least it would have been were Dennehys upbeats more easily distinguished from his down. Though his music is driven by explosive and irrepressibly pulsating patterns, its rhythmic prole is curiously elusive:

you want to tap your feet, but two feet rarely seem enough. This metrical slippage stood out most in the opening piece, Streetwalker, which emphasises the percussive character of each instrument. In As An Ns (kicking a habit) and Disposable Dissonance which followed, the slippage is also harmonic, especially in the latter work, where Dennehy slowly builds dissonant sonorities so that they create and bear structural tension in ways analogous to tonal music. Only in Gr Agus Bs, in which Dennehy exploits a mystical strain in traditional Irish folksong, did the interest seem to sag. Dierent fare came the following day from a lunchtime recital of piano works by Jean Barraqu, performed by the fearless and apparently tireless Nicolas Hodges. The hors doeuvre comprised a number of early pieces only recently discovered in a Paris attic. Though of historic and artistic interest, however, in performance these vignettes paled before the great edice of the Sonate, a 12-tone work comparable to the Second Sonata of his classmate Boulez, but much more giving in lyricism. Hodges precise style was perfectly tailored to coaxing the richness from material that in others hands can seem dry. Nor did he hold back in the more explosive passages, leaving the piano, though not the listener, in a rather worse state than he found it. Guy Dammann Hudderseld Contemporary Music festival continues until 25 November. Details: hcmf.co.uk

of being human and the mysteries of love and desire. In a dirty cafe on the day before Sodoms annihilation, Lots chic and faithless wife here called Sverdlosk is involved in a dance of death and desire with one of Gods angels, the scruy Drogheda. He urges Sverdlosk and her scholarly husband, Lot, to leave, but she retorts: Do I look like a woman who packs her bags? She does not, and her stubbornness beguiles the puzzled angel who like God suers from a short temper when thwarted. A surly waiter is subject to his wrath, and Lots compassion only makes matters worse. This is a play about many dierent kinds of suering, but also about surviving pain, both physical and emotional. Lot and Sverdlosks marriage encompasses acts of indelity and of love. There is less contradiction in that, perhaps, than in Gods contrariness. Robyn Wineld-Smiths shrewd, searching production is full of light and dark, and boasts a quartet of terric performances from Justin Avoth as the mystied angel, Vincent Enderby as the doomed waiter, Mark Tandy as the patient Lot, and especially from Hermione Gulliford, whose beguiling Sverdlosk is always her own woman. Lyn Gardner Until 24 November. Box oce: 020-7221 6036.

even Sinatra. So the slinky upbeat protest of The Establishment Blues was followed by the cheerful I Wonder, and then a crooned pop song, I Think of You. Then he switched direction for a reasonable stab at covering Fever, and his singalong drug anthem, Sugar Man. He played eective acoustic guitar, but was often swamped by an overenthusiastic electric guitarist and keyboard player, both members of the impressive Bristol band Phantom Limb, who opened the show. Rodriguez ended with more covers. His treatment of Like a Rolling Stone sounded uncannily like 1965 Dylan, and was followed by a condent croon on the Sinatra favourite, Learning the Blues. This was his only solo song of the

Pop
Rodriguez Royal Festival Hall, London
Youre a legend! screamed an audience member. That sounds like a South African accent, answered the elderly Mexican-American, and of course it was. Without South African support, Sixto Rodriguez would probably be unkn unknown today. Based in Detroi Rodriguez recorded Detroit, a couple of unsucc unsuccessful albums in the early 1970s and then retired from the th music business, working on w construction sites and apparently unaware that he h become a had bestselling hero in apartheidbestsel South Africa. He was era S rediscovered by a South redis African Afric journalist, and now, helped by the success of the helpe documentary Searching for docume Man Sugar Ma , he is nally a major star at the age of 70. He came on looking like an veteran rocker, a unsteady ve stooping g gure in black hat and leather trousers, but with the tro voice of a far younger man. His songs mixed thoughtful or witty mix lyrics with simple but strong melodies in oddly dierent with styles, wit echoes of acerbic genial Donovan and Dylan, ge

Theatre
Lot and His God Print Room, London
Why did Lots wife look back as she and her family hurried out of Sodom, and ied thus become transformed so the Bible ansformed tells us into a pillar of salt? Was it an act of rebellion, or of nostalgia? Perhaps it was rhaps a clear statement that she nt badly resented only being known as Lots wife. Perhaps she was merely s thinking about the beautiful shoes she had left behind. . This is a Howard ward Barker play, one e previously unseen in een the UK, so there are no e answers. But there are here plenty of sly questions. estions. Its a textured, muscular and knotty notty hour of theatre examining the messiness Muscular and knotty Lot and His God

More reviews online

Its a twitchy, brooding digital dystopia stripped of any lyrical agenda, so all that remains is a mood of restless agitation Ian Gittins on Flying Lotus at Troxy, London

guardian.co.uk/culture Tweet your reviews using #gdnreview

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

*
Obituaries desk Email: obituaries@guardian.co.uk other.lives@guardian.co.uk Twitter: @guardianobits

35

Obituaries

Lord McCarthy
Labour peer and industrial relations expert who arbitrated in many disputes
ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS

Other lives
Sheila Lee
was subject to Labours factionalism, and ended in some disappointment. Elevated to the Lords in 1975 by Wilson to buttress its industrial relations expertise, he was cold-shouldered by Callaghan, with whom he had clashed over immigration policy and union reform. After the Thatcherite assault on union rights, McCarthy and Bill Wedderburn, his legal academic counterpart, became a powerful double act as TUC advisers and in the Lords. But the arrival there of heavyweight union leaders such as David Basnett and Muriel Turner diluted their inuence. Unimpressed when Tony Blair became the partys employment spokesman, he was still hurt when Blair declined to give him a frontbench post when he became prime minister. He found some diculty in adapting to new currents in Labour and TUC thinking. An opponent of entry into the Common Market, he remained sceptical, even scornful, of European trade union activity which increasingly absorbed the TUC. His chairmanship of the Railway Sta National Tribunal from 1973 to 1986 coincided with major industrial unrest but never seemed to impinge. A colleague described him as a good sticky-wicket batsman. He could always come up with a good answer. If it didnt satisfy, at least it kept them quiet. Outside industrial relations and politics, his keenest interest was theatre and its history. Always liable to break into a quotation from Shakespeare, he and Margaret were passionate supporters of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is survived by Margaret. Martin Adeney Georey Goodman writes: Bill McCarthy was a luminous member of that celebrated team of academics assembled by Nueld Colleges longest-serving warden, Norman Chester. At the start of his tenure, he set about turning the newly formed Oxford college into a unique British institution by convincing its founder, Lord Nueld William Morris, the great British motor magnate of the 1930s to make it an outstanding forum for social and economic thinking. Bill was one of its star dons: a wonderful teacher on that complex subject, industrial relations, about which he cut through the often obscure jargon with a humorous rationality for which he became nationally renowned. His Nuield seminars on his subject drew the best minds among lecturers with undergraduate and graduate students ocking into the college rooms. He was a warm and very dear friend Bill sponsored my journalist fellowship at Nueld but never allowed friendship to prevent him disagreeing when required, as it often was. Though a devoted socialist, he remained ever sceptical of adopting political heroes with the one exception of Aneurin Bevan. He was a walking encyclopedia of Britains industrial history, not merely of trade unions, and should have been made a minister after Wilson brought him into the Lords. Instead McCarthy perfected his role as a prince of industrial relations peacemakers well before bodies such as Acas were born. The two Bills McCarthy and Wedderburn, who died earlier this year were probably unique in being the only two professors to sit on the Labour benches in the Lords and oer such a working partnership in their specic subject. Parliament has now lost its two outstanding experts on labour law and industrial relations. William Edward John McCarthy, Lord McCarthy, scholar of industrial relations and arbitrator, born 30 July 1925; died 18 November 2012 Our friend Sheila Lee, who has died aged 78, excelled as a scientist, computer programmer, community organiser and much else. She was a multi-talented woman with a lifearming personality. She was born Sheila Thompson, in China, to Quaker missionary parents, although her father was also a mathematician who taught his subject in Mandarin. The family left in 1939 under the shadow of the Japanese invasion and reached New York too late to board their ship for Britain. That vessel was sunk in the Atlantic with no survivors. Sheila was ever conscious of her good fortune and it may have driven her resolve to live life to the full. She intended to be a scientist from the age of six, for she had begun early on to absorb mathematics and physics from her father, and so, after Walthamstow Hall boarding school in Sevenoaks, Kent, she went to Newnham College, Cambridge, Sheila Lee was a multi-talented scientist and community organiser who never lost her love of physics to read physics. Among her many admirers there was Martin Lee, who was to become her husband. Sheila then went to the physics department at Kings College London to work on her PhD. Her aptitude for research secured her a position in the Medical Research Councils biophysics unit in that department, where she worked on RNA and protein synthesis. In 1968, seeking an occupation that would allow her more time with her two sons, she left Kings and became a computer programmer. Sheila had retired by the time Martin died in 2003. She supported him through his long illness, and cared for her father in his old age. She became deeply immersed in local aairs, especially in her north London residents association. She took enormous pleasure in her particular passions theatre, art, music, the classics, her garden and cooking. Almost her last conversation was about the meaning of the Higgs boson, for Sheila never lost her interest in physics. She is survived by her sons, Fabian and Tim, and a multitude of loyal and loving friends. Ted Richards and Walter Gratzer

or more than 40 years, Bill McCarthy, who has died aged 87, tracked the progress of Britains industrial relations from his base at Nueld College, Oxford. He charted the growth of shop-steward power in the 1960s, was enmeshed in the struggles of Labour and Conservative governments to regulate the unions in the 1970s and 80s, and, after the Thatcherite revolution swept away many of the assumptions of his working life, tussled with the TUC and Labour to nd an industrial relations consensus. His understanding of the intricacies of collective bargaining guaranteed him a role as an arbitrator of disputes, from train drivers to teachers, and later as a Labour spokesman on employment in the Lords. McCarthy was brought up in Islington, north London, attended Holloway county school and became an assistant in a gentlemans outtter. The shopworkers union Usdaw secured him a scholarship to Ruskin College, Oxford, in 1953. Glittering progress followed, though his self-condence did not always endear him to others. After a distinction in his diploma, there was a rst at Merton College in philosophy, politics and economics before, in 1958, he embarked on a DPhil at Nueld, becoming a research fellow the following year. He remained at Nueld as faculty fellow from 1969 and emeritus fellow from 1992. At Ruskin he met Margaret Godfrey, the daughter of an Oxford midwife. They married in 1957. She encouraged him when his self-belief faltered and they battled side by side in the Oxford Labour party, where both held oce. McCarthys DPhil was on the closed shop: it was a timely look at the growing inuence of shop-steward power amid rising political worries about the breakdown of centralised union control and the growth of unocial locally endorsed action, labelled in newspaper headlines as wildcat strikes. When this concern was translated into Lord Donovans Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers Associations by Harold Wilsons government in 1965, McCarthy was an obvious candidate for research director. His colleagues remember his energy and enthusiasm and the quality of the research papers, while the reports famously permissive conclusions, against restrictive legislation, in favour of union involvement in broader business questions, chimed with his convictions. These broadly followed the Oxford School, a group around Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg. Flanders had emphasised the importance of organisations involving trade unions, insisting that it was not so much outcomes as the extent of involvement which mattered. The idea of a trade-o between giving unions a say on broader national issues and demanding greater responsibility became a critical theme for McCarthy. As prices and incomes policy continued to preoccupy the Labour government, McCarthy was summoned to the economic research department of the Department of Employment and Productivity set up by Barbara Castle in 1968. His appetite for the political inside track took him deep into the

governments discussions about statutory intervention in collective bargaining. Although this had been rejected by Donovan, ministers were drawn to it as a response to growing industrial action. McCarthy was at the Sunningdale conference in 1968 when Castle unveiled her blueprint for what would become the In Place of Strife policy an attempt to regulate union behaviour by sanctions including cooling-o periods, in exchange for extending workers rights. He noted: She came down, this tiny little person and sat in this great chair, and it was marvellous; it was how we were going to thread our way through all these diculties and she asked me to write it. But the consequences were bitter. The draft, Partners in Progress, was attacked in cabinet and by the TUC after it was leaked. Redrafted as In Place of Strife, it came up against the terrible twins, the new trade union leadership of Jack Jones and Hugh Scanlon, who joined with Jim Callaghan, then home secretary, and party doubters to defeat the idea of legislation. Instead an agreement was cobbled together, with the commitment of the TUC to take eective action on unconstitutional strikes. As an industrial relations adviser and

A good sticky-wicket batsman, was how one colleague described McCarthy. He could always come up with a good answer. If it didnt satisfy, at least it kept them quiet Photograph: Steve Back

arbitrator, McCarthy had to work hard to regain the condence of the big union battalions. His academic colleagues saw him as a great empiricist, without a strong theoretical framework, fascinated by minutiae. Give him an obscure rule book, said one friend, and Bill is never happier. For 30 years he produced a book almost every year. He was recognised as an outstanding teacher, but preferred practice to theory, and was regularly called on to help with union mergers and for arbitrations and inquiries. But he would resist being named as the union choice, guarding his independence, in spite of his transparent politics. He and Margaret were renowned for their work as canvassers, and Bills chairmanship of the Oxford Labour party in the 1960s and 70s was marked by a mastery of procedure and the way he moderated between vociferous proponents of opposing beliefs from CND to proto-Social Democrats. His own views were centrist. His wider political career

Announcements

Birthdays
Senator Joe Biden, US vice-president, 70; Gareth Chilcott, rugby player, 56; Mike D, rapper, 47; Bo Derek, actor and model, 56; Prof Orlando Figes, historian, 53; Jared Followill, bass guitarist and pianist, 26; Nadine Gordimer, novelist, 89; Prof Sir Tim Gowers, mathematician, 49; Tim Harvey, racing driver, 51; Barbara Hendricks, soprano, 64; Penelope Hobhouse, horticulturist, 83; John Horder, poet and performer, 76; Justin Hoyte, footballer, 28; Prof Paul Langford, historian, rector, Lincoln College, Oxford, 67; Johnny Leach, table tennis champion, 90; Je Tarango, tennis player, 44; Mike Vernon, record producer, 68; Bill Wallis, actor, 76; Kimberley Walsh, pop singer, 31; Dave Watson, football manager, 51; Sean Young, actor, 53.

Letters Valerie Eliot

Bruce Ross-Smith writes: Ion Trewin, in his fine obituary of Valerie Eliot (13 November), mentions the two volumes of her late husbands letters which she edited or co-edited. Faber published Volume 3: 1926-1927 in the summer of 2012, meticulously and sensitively edited by Valerie and Professor John Haffenden as part of the TS Eliot Editorial Project, with four more volumes to come between now and 2014. David Barrie writes: I would like to record another instance of the great generosity of Valerie Eliot. In 1997 the National Art Collections Fund (of which I was then director) launched a lastditch campaign to secure for the Victoria and Albert Museum the 12th-century reliquary, now known as the Becket Casket, which depicts the saints martyrdom. My wife, who had just taken our daughter to see Cats, remembered TS Eliots play about Becket, Murder in the Cathedral, and told me I should contact Valerie to see if she might help. I telephoned Matthew Evans, then chairman of Faber and Faber, who immediately said: Weve been expectValerie Eliot gave 50,000 towards the campaign to secure the 12thcentury Becket Casket for the V&A Museum ing your call. Send me a fax. Within an hour, Valerie had promised 50,000 towards the campaign which, after various twists and turns, was successful. Dennis Walder writes: Valerie Eliot once attended an Open University literature summer school I was running at the University of York. She was using her maiden name, so I did not know who the formally attired lady was who approached me at the start of the week, and was stunned when she said: I am TS Eliots widow, and you will understand that I do not want anyone to know who I am. The Waste Land was a major text for discussion during the week. I kept her secret to myself, but I regretted not sitting in on a tutorial to hear her views.

36

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

The prole Malcolm Gillies

Some like it hot

The colourful head of London Met talks about overseas students, outsourcing, and being a gay vice-chancellor
say, Weetabix and cornakes on a menu. Were talking about development of character, much of which happens before 12 or 13. He went to a state primary, a private secondary, and then the Royal College of Music in London, which he intended as a preliminary to taking a Cambridge music degree. He was already intending to become a music academic, but decided he should develop other skills. So he enrolled for classics at the Australian National University and trained as a teacher in Queensland. It was important to learn how to teach a mass group of students, because people who teach in universities dont often think of the full spectrum. After nally taking his Cambridge course, he lectured in music at Australian universities for 18 years, before moving into senior positions including deputy vice-chancellor. City University was his rst vicechancellorship. What went wrong? He is guarded because of a compensation agreement, said to be worth 426,000. There were governance disagreements, he says. The governing council wanted to bring a business style to the university. A university can learn a lot from business, but ultimately it is not a business. It has stakeholders who are not like shareholders. Allies on the academic sta, who mostly adored his informal and inclusive style he asked us for our ideas and he always replied to our emails, sometimes at 9pm, said one amazed lecturer believe the council disliked his enthusiastic slashing at administrative costs, which had mushroomed before his arrival. They recall a power struggle over who controlled the nances. Gillies believes rmly that teaching students should be the rst priority. Does he, as an openly gay man, try to be a role model and inspiration for gay students? He replies with a plural pronoun, referring to his partner of 32 years, a fellow music scholar with whom he collaborated on several books. Sometimes the challenge is made that were not deantly gay enough. Some students would like us to be more visibly and openly there as top-notch gay professionals. Its a judgment call as to how you do that. We decide not to go to certain events because it would give oence, but, in other cases, its what the hosts would wish and, if we dont both turn up, they ask if we think theyre narrow-minded. The issues are not simple. You have to nd a way of not holding your eectiveness as an institutional leader to the ransom of your personal views about projecting your sexuality. Gillies speaks clearly and uently, but the meaning is sometimes elusive. As I leave, he hands me a CV, which concludes: 11 books, 3 monographs, 1 journal edition, 56 chapters, 7 prefaces, 38 journal articles, 30 scholarly reviews, 3 catalogues, 5 theses, 12 reports, 7 short lms, 50 minor articles, 160 other journalism... A former colleague tells me he would be a better vice-chancellor if he didnt try to do so much and says hes feeding an enormous ego. Gillies is a very likeable man, but I cannot quite acquit him of that charge.

Peter Wilby
Malcolm Gillies, a born and bred Australian whose family can trace its lineage in that country back to the 18th century, arrived in London the week Gordon Brown became PM. Since then, its been downhill all the way, not only for Brown, Labour and Britain, but also for Gillies. He came here to run City University, was (in eect) sacked after two years, became vice-chancellor of London Metropolitan and now nds that, accused of recruiting overseas students without proper checks, the university is threatened with closure. Does he regret abandoning a career that was progressing in Australia? No, he says, education has been my life and you take it for the rough and the smooth. Besides, music is his rst love and London has a vibrant musical scene. One former vice-chancellor told me that Gillies is an eccentric oddball, and perhaps youd need to be to take on London Met. The product of numerous mergers, it has 17 sites, more than 26,000 students (20% of them Muslims), alumni that range from Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys to the King of the Ashanti, and a history of trouble. On the eve of his appointment in January 2010, the entire governing body had to resign after the university was found guilty of misreporting student numbers its les suggested nearly 2,000 were twins with identical birth dates, surnames and initials and told to return 36.5m of public funding. Gillies describes it as a big management task and says that, with such a melting pot of backgrounds and perspectives, this is going to be a dynamic and sometimes hot kind of a place. We meet in a bare, scruy room at the universitys City campus near Liverpool Street station. We start by discussing the much-publicised asco over overseas students, the detail of which, Gillies says, is all very boring. In August, the UK Border Agency revoked the universitys licence to teach and recruit such students, claiming that records of whether they understood English or even attended classes were inadequate. Gillies says the charges are simply wrong: the university conducted three audits in the nine months before the agencys decision and its checks not only met the published requirements, but sometimes exceeded them. We do attendance monitoring, but many universities dont, Gillies says. He argues that constantly changing political demands to control immigration put universities like his where overseas fees account for 17-18% of income in an impossible position. David Cameron says the target is to get net annual immigration below 100,000. Yet ministers tell us theres no cap on international

PHOTOGRAPH: LINDA NYLIND FOR THE GUARDIAN

Gillies says government policy about overseas students creates a mathematical problem that a primary school child could spot

With such a melting pot of backgrounds and perspectives, this is going to be a dynamic and sometimes hot kind of a place
student numbers. Since the UK has many more than 100,000 overseas students, you have a mathematical problem that a primary school child could spot. He hopes a judicial review, ordered by the high court, will quash the Border Agencys decision. In the meantime, the university cannot recruit new non-EU students, although existing students can complete their courses. As if this werent enough, Gillies provoked further trouble by conducting what one critic called a neoliberal experiment, with an unrelenting strategy to shrink, sell o or privatise the universitys physical, human and educational resources. This description, he says, earns full marks for imagination. He has indeed cut the number of undergrad courses from 557 to 167, so that the range

is more closely related to areas of student demand. He has also put London Met among the small number of universities that charge dierent fees for dierent courses ranging this year from 4,500 to 8,600 rather than one standard fee. Dierent courses cost dierent amounts to put on, Gillies says. The student who has to live with a debt for 30 years doesnt want to be paying o the costs of someone elses course. Its an ethical issue. We turn to outsourcing: London Met was reported to be handing over all services, except teaching and the vicechancellors oce, to private companies such as Capita. The timetable has recently been slowed but, Gillies says, the intention is to transfer posts and sta to a new company, wholly owned by London Met but in strategic partnership with a private rm. The company would market its services to other universities, making it eligible for VAT exemption. Gillies says this isnt outsourcing, which is technically correct. It is, he insists, the opposite of outsourcing, which perhaps goes a bit far since a private company will manage or operate services even if it doesnt employ the servants. What, though, is a classicist (rst degree) and musical scholar (several higher degrees) doing running primarily vocational universities 10,000 miles from

home, and arguing about the ne print of service procurement? He replies with considerable passion, arguing that music is a much better training for running a university than physics or business management, or maybe even geography or history, because those subjects deal with mere facts. Music, he says, is about the expression of human values and universities are about applying such values to unlock student potential. As for classics, it gave him rigour and condence in written and verbal communication. Gillies, now 57, was born in Brisbane but raised in Canberra, where his father, an economist, was a senior public servant and his mother head of a private girls grammar school. Canberra, he says, was a liberal and enlightened community where his interest in music developed early alongside enthusiasm for running and swimming. What also developed as early as seven or eight, he says was a realisation that he was gay. I started to realise why I didnt want to play football and why I enjoyed playing music. Youre talking about environments in which you feel comfortable. Being gay isnt about sexual preference ultimately, but about the way in which youre conceiving of the world of values. It worries me when people see it as some kind of alternative like that between,

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

37

Read more on EducationGuardian.co.uk

Innovation in a day y Join Brett Wigdortz, Toby Young and Christine Gilbert at our mber exciting event on 6 December EducationGuardian.co.uk/ o.uk/ n innovation-education

Follow us on Twitter and tell us what you think of what we do @GuardianTeach @alicewoolley1 @GdnHigherEd @GuardianEdu @GdnStudents @GdnCareers

From the Higher Education Network

When is an academic not an academic?

With the steady growth of self-publishing, do we need to redene what scholarship is? Wanda Wyporska explains why she is a secret academic
Academics no longer have to be in an ivory tower lecturing, writing peerreviewed articles, or even be attached to a university. There are historians who have abandoned PhDs but written books, enthusiastic amateur historians whose knowledge of their eld would put dons to shame, and journalists who present TV series on history although they dont actually have a degree. The other day I heard someone describe himself as a professional historian though he only had a BA in history. I found myself feeling rather huy. Surely one needs at least a PhD to use that label? Can I still call myself a historian, given my day job outside university and the fact I havent been to a conference on my subject for more than a decade? My desire to pursue a PhD in history came out of my sheer lust for books. My fantasy of a professorial room came from the realisation that I needed a job to accommodate my expanding library. Doing a doctorate was a way of fullling my twin ambitions: to have lots of books and to write a book. The years I spent shut away in archives and libraries researching early modern Polish witchcraft trials were a privilege. As the stories of men and women long dead came alive in the record books, I grew to resent leaving the peace and quiet of the reading rooms. But it was a selsh existence. I loved teaching and developing courses on the history of the devil (who wouldnt?) but I didnt want to teach general history all

How to teach the Jimmy Savile scandal

Words: Emily Drabble Dealing with an issue as disturbing as the Jimmy Savile scandal in class is never going to be easy. But with stories on the front pages day after day, and the knock-on eect at the BBC, it is impossible to avoid, and many young people have questions that need answers. The Guardian Teacher Network has pulled together some informative and sensitive resources that should help teachers and parents cope with the questions on this dicult issue. It is hard for a generation of people raised on Top of the Pops and Jimll Fix It to imagine not being aware of Jimmy Savile, but many young people had never heard of him until he hit the headlines this autumn, a year after his death. The Jimmy Savile Explainer produced by the Guardian Teacher Network lls in the background to the story. The resource is aimed at 11- to 14-year-olds and as it is created in Word it can be adapted easily to suit younger students if necessary. For this and other resources, go to www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network

Wanda Wyporska, an academic outside academia, oers tips on how to promote your work

year round. Nor did I want to move from institution to institution on xed-term contracts. Already in my early 30s, I craved social and nancial security. So, despite having delivered papers at international conferences, organised seminars and published research, I chose to leave academia. I now work as equalities ocer at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. The job allows me to use my existing research skills, as well as gaining knowledge in many new areas. But I am still in thrall to my rst love, and in the evenings, at weekends and during annual leave, I become the secret academic. Snatching time to work is not a problem. My partner is also an academic outside academia and understands that Im not being anti-social. A fellow doctor, he has published several textbooks

Read the rest of Wandas story, along with other tales of life during and after a PhD at guardian.co.uk/highereducation-network/phd

1800, is published in 2013. Once the thrill of seeing my own book in print has waned, will I still be an academic? Wanda Wyporskas tips for academics outside academia on promoting your work Keep on eye out for books you can review you wont always be paid, but you will be read Social media is a must spend time on Twitter, Facebook and blogs (your own or other peoples) Dont forget JISCM@AIL and other relevant listservs connecting scholars to their peers The Guardian Higher Education Network news, views, networking, jobs and professional debate every day guardian.co.uk/ higher-education-network

and a scholarly monograph. Whereas we used to spend Saturdays together in the British Library, now we do shifts, alternating between playground and publications. I cling on to my identity as an academic, bolstered in my mind at least by being in the middle of my own publishing process. While awaiting the report of my anonymous reader, I wrote two reviews of recent books on early modern witchcraft, keeping my hand in and getting my name out there before my book, Witchcraft in Poland 1500-

Join the Guardian Teacher Network community www.guardian.co.uk/teachernetwork for free access to teaching resources and an opportunity to share your own. There are also thousands of teaching, leadership and support jobs on the site. Visit jobs. guardian.co.uk/schools

Opinion You cant win friends, inuence people or play sports with a mooc
Patrick McGhee
have never liked the idea that in the future we should think of students as customers with a relationship to universities dened by money. For me, students are primarily learners a controversial position, I readily concede, but in my defence I see this in the context of new models, new institutions, new technologies and new relationships for learning. There are some who argue that the future of learning and the student experience is online. Such projections are as old as the internet itself, but they have recently enjoyed renewed interest through the idea of moocs (massive open online courses) where universities provide open access to their learning content through online platforms. Some serious brands have tentatively engaged with the model such as MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Berkeley. These platforms include Udacity and the Khan Institute. One of these, EdX, has said it hopes to teach a billion students; another, Coursera, advertises with the strapline Take the Worlds Best Courses, Online, For Free. On the surface this might appear to be a serious threat to some campus institutions: what simpleton wouldnt want a degree from Harvard for free? Of course, that is not what is, was, or ever will be on oer, but such headlines are irresistible. So far, most mainstream institutions have breezily dismissed the idea of moocs as a genuine threat, specically because there is no credit or certication oered with these courses (nor, for that matter, much academic or pastoral support either, though you might get a certicate of completion). Well, some of that might be changing very quickly. Last week, the American Council on Education (ACE) announced the launch of a project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to

Lines Ros Asquith

evaluate the suitability of courses in moocs for academic credit and then how to award such credit when students have paid for and completed an invigilated assessment. Interestingly, the projects other two strands involve a presidential innovation lab (to facilitate conversations about new academic and nancial models inspired by the disruptive potential of moocs) and research into eective pedagogic practice. A presidential innovation lab sounds like the ultimate oxymoron to me and research into online pedagogy is nothing new, even if often heralded as such. But I digress. The broader social agenda here, of course, is in part creating low-cost higher education at the US community college level, with better completion rates. However, there is a danger that moocs with elective assessment and credit will reinforce rather than disrupt a two-tier education system in the US, and eventually in the UK, with campusbased learning as premium elite education and online learning as a basic oering. Helping the poor get a better version of what is ultimately a derivational form of education is a feeble kind of disruption and more of a reproduction

For me, the answer is a concept I have been working on now for the better part of several minutes

of structural educational disadvantage. Whatever the merits of moocs, and there are many, I instinctively nd myself thinking about experiences that cannot be meaningfully created online. For example, at my own institution we have a large going global programme where students who might not otherwise get the opportunity are funded to travel overseas on innovative placements. These have included working with Georgian NGOs, Brazilian deforestation prevention teams and Ugandan sexual-health projects. Similarly, we have an undergraduate research internship scheme where students work alongside our professors, not only gaining advanced methodological and laboratory skills, but also getting a chance to demystify the research culture and open up further research study as an option. More prosaically, I really do not expect to see our practical BSc sport therapy going on to a mooc any day soon. For me, the answer is Customised Global Collaborative Environments, a concept I have been working on now for the better part of several minutes. In this model, students at universities engage with communities of peers around the world to examine practical and theoretical issues from multiple points of view. But mostly they would help to connect real shared experiences across people, time and space because in the end that is what education is really about, what computers alone cannot deliver and what student customers, through money alone, cannot buy. Professor Patrick McGhee is vice-chancellor of the University of East London Debate the future of online learning in our live chat, Friday 23 November, 12-2pm at www.guardian.co.uk/highereducation-network/live-q-a

38

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Any problems, text this number

What is the state of the art in anti-bullying policies and where are some schools still going wrong?
Joanna Moorhead
Bullying is the first thing prospective pupils, and their parents, hear about when they visit Passmores academy in Harlow, Essex. Some governors, admits the headteacher, Vic Goddard, have worried about the wisdom of this. One governor said he wondered whether mentioning bullying so often was a mistake would people think it was more of a problem here because I keep talking about it? But, in fact, in the feedback we get from parents after these sessions, many say how pleased they were that we were so upfront about bullying and the need to tackle it. We know that parents really worry about their child being vulnerable they want to know that a school is doing all it can to protect its pupils. A growing number of studies show bullying hits schools where it hurts, in their attendance records and in their attainment levels. According to the AntiBullying Alliance, 16,000 children aged 11-15 are truanting every day because of bullying; and a child who is being bullied achieves GCSE grades that are on average two grades lower than they should have been. This week, for Anti-Bullying Week, the Anti-Bullying Alliance published new research showing how pupils potential is still being undermined by bullying. In a new poll, more than a quarter of 11-16s questioned said they had given up on an activity because of bullying. More than nine out of 10 had been bullied themselves, or witnessed someone else being bullied, as a result of being clever or talented. And almost half had played down a talent for fear of being bullied. More than one in ve girls had played down their maths skills because they feared being bullied. They are shocking gures and show that despite a huge investment in anti-bullying measures in schools, we still have a lot of work to do, says Lauren Seager-Smith, national co-ordinator of the Anti-Bullying on the increase in schools at the moment, says Seager-Smith. You have to start challenging it very early on, with good education around sex and relationships, she says. Drawing up a language charter a policy about what words are and arent acceptable can make a big difference. You have to have frank discussions with pupils about the language theyre using and what it means, she says. Schools have to be quite brave to open this up, because it has to be handled sensitively and what it brings up can be quite daunting. And then when youve drawn up the charter, you have to ensure that absolutely everyone in the school, whatever their job and whoever they are, signs up to it: how adults rolemodel language is very important. The challenge of our time, says Seager-Smith, is cyberbullying. Its an unregulated playground out there, made harder by the fact that children are electronic wizards and most teachers arent. Many schools, she feels, are flailing around. You have to be very careful to set up measures that will work. For example, if a pupil ends up with a message with some sexual contact thats gone viral, she or he is likely to be too embarrassed to talk to anyone about it. You have to have very sensitive systems for them to be able to talk condentially. To read Vic Goddards blog about bullying and teenage girls, and for other Guardian Teacher Network resources on bullying go to www.guardian.co.uk/ teacher-network At Passmores tutor groups are mixed-age and siblings tend to be in the same group. Pupils can report bullying by text or email At Passmores, Goddard believes that online behaviour is no dierent from real behaviour: make clear whats right and whats wrong, and you reduce the risks, he says. As far as reporting goes, Passmores has both a text number and an email address that pupils can use. And Ive got an opendoor policy, and my pupils know that, says Goddard. Active listeners, fellow students who have been trained to help by listening and by suggesting where to go to get help with a problem, can also help. In terms of dealing with the bullies themselves, Passmores uses a system of restorative justice under which bullies and bullied, sometimes with their parents, are brought together to talk about the impact the bullying has had, and to bully decide how to g forward. Its not go quick, but its denitely the best way of dealing with the probdeali lem, says Goddard. G Beyond that, he says, its t important for any head to use fo the ultimate sanction of permanent exclusion if necessary. Its exclusio the very last thing I want to do, because that means weve failed them and theyre going to take th their behaviour off somewhere behaviou else, and its going to limit their own life. But a head ow has to protect the majority, not the minority. n

GRAHAM TURNER FOR THE GUARDIAN

Alliance. We already knew that children with, for example, special needs or a disability were more likely to be bullied; what these gures show is that pupils who have talents are also targets for bullies. So what do schools need to do to get a better grip on the problem? Earlier this year, Ofsted published a survey into the eectiveness of the measures schools take on bullying. The best schools, it said, had firm and imaginative measures. But some schools were failing to take all the opportunities they could to stamp out bullying and were not giving teachers the knowledge or condence they needed to deal with it.

Some schools dont have a denition of bullying some dont even like to use the word bullying, says Seager-Smith. That immediately rings alarm bells because if you think theres no bullying, it means youre not open to pupils reporting it. Sadly, bullying is part of human nature and the rst way to combat it is to name it openly. Then, you need to keep on top of it, you cant ever aord to get complacent. One of the central planks of Passmores academys anti-bullying strategy is vertical tutor groups with year 7 through to year 11 pupils in each group. It gives the younger children older ones who are their mates and will stick up for them and, in fact, where there are siblings, theyre usually in the same tutor group, explains Goddard. Vertical tutor groups have transformed relationships in our school theyve created a family atmosphere. Younger pupils are also allocated an older student to be their learning partner, another attempt to foster closer relationships and, in turn, reduce the risk of bullying. The best schools have a range of tactics for dealing with bullying: they make clear what bullying is, they make clear how pupils and parents report it, and they have clear ways of dealing with it. Were talking about things like playground buddies, which, in primary school, usually means

a child who might be lonely or scared at playtime has someone to play with, an older child, so theyre less likely to be bullied, says Seager-Smith. At secondary school, a similar idea is peer mentoring that can involve pairing pupils who are struggling with more condent children in their year group. Sometimes, those mentors are the very youngsters who might in other circumstances be bullies so its about redirecting them, giving them a reason to empathise with someone else. Empathy is the thing bullies never have, she says. Homophobic and sexist language is another bullys tool and a problem that is

Vertical tutor groups have transformed relationships in our school theyve created a family atmosphere
Vic Goddard

Improbable research
An epidemic of penile amputation, explained
About once per decade, the medical profession takes a careful look back at Thailands plethora of penile amputations. The rst great reckoning appeared in a 1983 issue of the American Journal of Surgery. Surgical Management of an Epidemic of Penile Amputations in Siam, by Kasian Bhanganada and four fellow physicians at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, introduces the subject: It became fashionable in the decade after 1970 for the humiliated Thai wife to wait until her [philandering] husband fell asleep so that she could quickly sever his penis with a kitchen knife. A traditional Thai home is elevated on pilings and the windows are open to allow for ventilation. The area under the house is the home of the family pigs, chickens, and ducks. Thus, it is quite usual that an amputated penis is tossed out of an open window, where it may be captured by a duck. The report explains, for readers in other countries: The Thai saying, I better get home or the ducks will have something to eat, is therefore a common joke and immediately understood at all levels of society. The bulk of the paper reports how the doctors and their colleagues learned, over the course of attempting 18 reimplantations, how to improve the necessary surgical techniques. Unambiguous photographs supplement the text. Interestingly, the physicians remark at the very end, none of our patients led a criminal complaint against their attackers. An article called Factors Associated with Penile Amputation in Thailand, published in 1998 in the journal NursingConnections, explores the reasons behind that. Gregory Bechtel and Cecilia Tiller, from the Medical College of Georgia (in Atlanta), gathered data from three couples who had been part of the epidemic. The couples, by then divorced, discussed their experience calmly. Bechtel and Tiller report that in each case, three things had happened during the week prior to dismemberment: (1) a nancial crisis; (2) ingestion of drugs or alcohol by the husband immediately prior to the event; and (3) public humiliation of the wife owing to the presence of a second wife or concubine. In 2008, the Journal of Urology carried a retrospective by Drs Genoa Ferguson and Steven Brandes of the Washington University in St Louis, called The Epidemic of Penile Amputation in Thailand in the 1970s. Ferguson and Brandes conclude that: Women publicly encouraging and inciting other scorned women to commit this act worsened the epidemic. The vast majority of worldwide reports of penile replantation, to this day, are a result of what became a trendy form of retribution in a country in which delity is a strongly appreciated value. Marc Abrahams Marc Abrahams is editor of the bimonthly Annals of Improbable Research and organiser of the Ig Nobel prize

Today, hes focused on the gamenot tomorrows algebra test. Give him a few years, and hell graduate with honours. In a few more years, hell be one of your most famous alumni. In this newly open and connected world, every student has a chance to succeed. If you want to help your students discover their future through learning, rely on Ellucian. We deliver a broad portfolio of technology solutions, developed in collaboration with a global education community, and provide strategic guidance to help education institutions of all kinds navigate change, achieve greater transparency, and drive efficiencies. We can help you make a difference in students lives. To learn more, visit www.ellucian.co.uk.

www.ellucian.co.uk

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

39

The Guardian roundtable in association with the Higher Education Academy

Lessons for lecturers

While universities and academics need to assess the quality of their teaching to monitor and raise standards, are professional development courses an eective way of doing so? Harriet Swain reports on a roundtable
ow that students are paying up to 9,000 a year for university tuition, they are looking closely at the sort of teaching they get for their money as are the institutions that provide that teaching. Yet, until recently, no comprehensive survey existed on how teaching quality was being inuenced by the increasing number of teaching development programmes for academics. Over the past few months, policy research organisation Host, commissioned by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), has tried to rectify this, publishing a report in September that made recommendations designed to help futureproof the higher education sector and inform HEA policy. It called for continued research on a local, national and international level to improve both the amount of evidence available on the eectiveness of teaching programmes in higher education and the ability to collect it. Since last year, teaching programmes have been carried out in the context of the revised UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF), which provides a general description of what teaching and supporting learning in higher education should entail. Anecdotal evidence suggests that not all lecturers are eective teachers, as one contributor to a recent debate on the subject pointed out: There is a feeling among many academics that if you have a doctorate thats all thats required. The results of Hosts report and the impact of the new UKPSF provided the background to the roundtable discussion, which was hosted by the Guardian in association with the HEA and involved senior higher education sta, students and experts in learning and teaching. All participants in the roundtable agreed that it was essential for academics to be able to access support for developing their teaching skills not just at the beginning of their careers but throughout their time as university teachers. They also recognised that the huge variety of courses on oer meant it was tricky to pinpoint the most eective way of doing this or whether it was worth taking a course at all.

Key discussion points

The roundtable found that evidence about what kind of teaching support works in higher education was hard to come by and hard to collect. Evidence focused too often on how such support aected academics rather than its impact on students, because students often had little idea how to give eective feedback. From the academics point of view, participants in the debate reported that while many were desperate for more teaching support, some particularly later in their careers refused to recognise the need for it. Yet, the roundtable agreed it should be essential throughout an academic career. HS

Lecturers were finding this learning curve increasingly challenging, but were afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs, many participants agreed, while one contributor said they were expected to teach without being given practical pedagogical skills. A contrasting problem was that some academics particularly later in their careers could not see the need for any teaching support. Scientists who would never dream of making assumptions about scientic research outcomes were insisting they had no need of help with their teaching because they knew what worked, said one participant. This was partly because they tended to identify with their subject and felt their teaching skills were subject-specic. But it was also because academics tended to be appointed and promoted on the grounds of their research, which was much easier to measure than teaching skills. They therefore found it hard to justify spending time on continuing professional development that could otherwise be spent tucked away in a library or lab. You get promoted for disappearing away from your colleagues and writing, noted one contributor. People talk about teaching load and research time.

Paths to promotion
Many academics are reluctant to spend time improving their teaching skills when they could be conducting research Getty One suggested solution was to shift the focus of evaluation away from immediate eects and on to longer-term outcomes. Universities are entering into relationships with students who are making an investment and the value of that experience is only realised on graduation and ve years later, said one contributor. But another participant said it was important for students to feel their feedback could genuinely improve their own courses. A number of contributors supported the idea of showing students how to assess their teachers. They need to understand the nature of the learning experience, to ensure that what we are delivering to them is something that they can meaningfully evaluate, was one comment. Another participant advocated getting students to provide feedback from the beginning of their course, asking them what they wanted to get out of it, and working with them to achieve that. But if participants found it odd that students were expected to give feedback without being shown how, they found it even more surprising that academics were often expected to teach with no form of help. We employ people who have got a PhD, who have been good learners and enjoyed that kind of solitary study; then [we] say: You can be a teacher. Within a year they can be up in front of 300 people giving lectures, said one. A possible answer was to make engagement with continued professional development a condition of promotion, it was suggested. Another was to recognise more explicitly in teaching courses the way academics identied with their subjects, which would also tie in with the way students tended to evaluate their learning experience across a subject area, rather than in terms of individual teachers. Alternatively, could a core teaching qualification for academics across all institutions be a solution? All participants were instinctively opposed to this idea, arguing that teaching programmes were specic to the culture of their institutions. But some conceded that there could be a case for sharing ideas and collaborating, especially across subjects, and for reducing the number of postgraduate certicate programmes. One thing everyone agreed on was that support from the top was key. While few vice-chancellors were prepared to say continued professional development should be mandatory, one speaker said that outside higher education it was rare to nd a profession in which sta did not have to demonstrate annually that their professional skills were up to scratch. The roundtable agreed that the Host research and Professional Standards Framework provided an invaluable starting point and structure for finding out what works and what doesnt in improving higher education teaching. Beyond that, one participant suggested that all academics should watch a primary school teacher at work, noting: If they dont achieve student engagement, their students walk out of the room.

Varied quality
Contributors to the discussion, conducted under the Chatham House rule, which allows comments to be reported without attribution in order to encourage free debate, admitted that the quality of teaching development courses varied enormously. Some courses were described as very poor, but participants categorically denied that training university teachers was done on a wing and a prayer. Things had vastly improved since the introduction of the Professional Standards Framework, said one contributor, with a committed community of learning developers now constantly critiquing and conferring with each other. The eectiveness of courses was also regularly validated in all kinds of ways, from feedback provided by those taking part to verdicts on teaching quality from the National Student Survey (NSS), which every year questions students about their time in higher education. There were, however, warnings at the roundtable about relying too heavily on NSS feedback. If you deliver an edgy experience for students you quite often push them outside their comfort zone, commented one speaker. This could lead to them being more negative about the quality of teaching they received than they might be if they were asked once theyd had time to appreciate its benets. Another contributor recalled discussions with students who had become strikingly conservative in their attitudes as a result of the new fees regime. They were talking about not wanting to take risks because they wanted to get a degree. When asked to dene a good teacher [they said] it was a person who turned up early and told them exactly what they had to do to get a good mark. The NSS measures an experience created and set out by universities, said another participant. It is not an experience that students necessarily want to have or care about If students were brought together and asked what good teaching looks like, they wouldnt categorise it the way the NSS categorises it. Some at the roundtable felt that research into the quality of teaching development courses focused too much on their aect on academics, rather than students.

At the table
Sue Littlemore (chair) Education journalist Prof Craig Mahoney Chief executive, Higher Education Academy Julie Hall Head of learning and teaching enhancement, University of Roehampton

Prof Stephanie Marshall Deputy chief executive (research & policy), Higher Education Academy Prof Julie Mennell Deputy vicechancellor (academic), University of Sunderland

Prof Bernie Morley Pro-vicechancellor (learning and teaching), University of Bath

Prof Debby Cotton Head of educational development, Plymouth University

Simon Atkinson Head of teaching enhancement, BPP University College

Mike Moore Director of HR services, University of East London; and former chair, Universities Human Resources Dr Anne Wheeler Director, Centre for learning innovation and professional practice, Aston University

Prof Alan Davidson Dean, dept. for the enhancement of learning, teaching and assessment, Robert Gordon University

Dr Elizabeth Halford Head of research information and enquiry, The Quality Assurance Agency Debbie McVitty Head of higher education (research and policy), National Union of Students Rachel Wenstone Vice-president (higher education), National Union of Students

There is a feeling among academics that if you have a doctorate thats all thats required

Roundtable report commissioned by Seven Plus and controlled by the Guardian Discussion hosted to a brief agreed with the Higher Education Academy Funded by the Higher Education Academy Contact Lucy Haire on 0203 353 3320 (lucy.haire@guardian.co.uk) For information on roundtables visit: guardian.co.uk/sponsored-content

SAM FRIEDRICH

40 EducationGuardian Senior Education

More jobs at guardianjobs.co.uk Tuesday 20 November 2012

Assistant Director of Academic Office and Head of Strategic Planning & Policy Unit
Academic Office Ref: 000032-12
Based in Chelmsford Full-time, Permanent Competitive salary Our vibrant, modern University is gaining prominence both nationally and internationally and we have ambitious plans for our future. Our main campuses in the cities of Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough have been transformed with major capital investments. With an annual income of 163m, over 30,000 students and 2,000 staff, we are a major force for higher education in the East of England. Serving the Corporate Management Team, while located in the Academic Office, the Head of the Strategic Planning and Policy Unit will deliver a co-ordinated approach to planning across Anglia Ruskin, including senior responsibility for annual key statutory returns. You will possess both the analytical skills and the presentational ability which are required to turn high quality and high volume management information into a powerful tool for the implementation of our Corporate Plan. At the same time, you will be able to formulate and articulate policy responses with strategic insight and foresight in a way which will position us well in relation to external forces and emerging trends in the sector. The result will be an effective, integrated strategic planning function which underpins our vision and helps realise our potential. Educated to postgraduate level, with excellent problem-solving and analytical skills, you will have effective communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a pressurised environment. Informal enquiries can be made to Paul Baxter at paul.baxter@anglia.ac.uk. Closing date 7 December 2012

Faculty of Business, Economics and Law Head of the School of Economics

Competitive Salary
The University of Surrey is a global university with a world-class research profile and an enterprising spirit. Inventive and forwardthinking, its heritage shows a recurring theme of going its own way, doing things differently and achieving notable results. Surrey has ambitious aims to be one of the worlds leading universities and a top 10 University in the UK by 2017. The Universitys School of Economics has a long-standing reputation for its vibrant and supportive research environment. Over the past two years, the School has hired 13 new academic staff and now numbers 32, and will rise to 40 by 2015, with expertise across a broad range of research areas. The School is ranked 7th overall in the Guardian Good University Guide 2013 and 10th overall in the Times Good University Guide 2012. The School moved into first place amongst Russell and 1994 Group universities in the 2012 National Student Survey, a reflection of its high quality teaching and excellent student experience. Student recruitment is buoyant with Economics attracting high calibre candidates, many of whom go on to postgraduate study at Surrey and other leading universities. Located within the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, the School benefits from close working relationships with colleagues across the faculty as well as the wider University. Strong connections with business and major economic institutions enrich the curriculum and make a significant contribution to the impact of our research and the high rates of employment for Surreys Economics graduates. The Head of School role presents an exciting opportunity to lead the School of Economics in its development as a top 10 Department. Applications are invited from exceptional candidates who are established scholars with interests in any area of Economics and Econometrics and can demonstrate a distinguished research profile and a strong commitment to fostering a collegial learning community. Evidence of strategic vision, motivational leadership and proven strengths in managing academic staff will be essential. In return, we offer an exciting and forward thinking working environment, generous annual leave entitlement, pension scheme, childcare assistance, on-site restaurants, leisure facilities and access to a variety of staff development opportunities. Applicants are invited to submit on-line www.surrey.ac.uk/jobs Alternatively, please contact FBEL Human Resources, either via email (FBELHR@surrey.ac.uk) or by telephone on 01483 683986 quoting job reference 9110. Closing date for applications: Friday 18 January 2013.
We acknowledge, understand and embrace diversity.

The National Association of Head Teachers represents over 28,000 School Leaders whose role is to shape and inuence the educational landscape. We currently have the following vacancies based at our Headquarters in Haywards Heath. The roles will require travel from time to time.

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
NAHT School Improvement Project - Fixed Term Contract The post of Programme Director will take the lead and help us deliver a new and exciting project. Initially, the role will be for six months and if the programme is successful there may be a permanent opportunity. The role is based at our Headquarters in Haywards Heath but will require a signicant amount of time out of the ofce meeting with our partners, the DfE and visiting schools. Secondments will be considered. A recent proven track record as a Head Teacher in a successful primary school within a challenging environment is essential for this role as well as experience of school improvement approaches. The successful candidate will also have experience of delivering complex projects within timescales, excellent programme and project management techniques and experience of working with Trade Unions. Strong leadership/communication skills with the ability to work with key stakeholders and engage them in the process, complemented by a decisive attitude and attention to detail are essential for this role. Salary - 65,677 + plus generous benets package

POLICY ADVISER - Permanent

Within the role of Policy Adviser you will produce relevant evidence based policy and guidance for seminars, workshops and publications as well as preparing reports, advice documents, brieng papers, articles and web content on issues falling within the scope of the department. You will also be required to represent the Association at meetings of national external bodies and in the media promoting its policies and stance on issues, seeking to inuence, negotiate with and lobby politicians, government agencies and other relevant bodies. The successful candidate will possess substantial experience of working at a senior level within a policy, education or trade union environment, supported by demonstrable experience of conducting negotiations, in the areas of pay and conditions and pensions. Excellent communication skills with the ability to establish credibility with members of NAHT, local authorities, employers and other trade unions supported by excellent research and analytical skills with sound and balanced judgement and good attention to detail are essential for this role. Salary band - 45,893 - 53,224 plus generous benets package

SPECIALIST ADVISER - Permanent

The role of Specialist Adviser is to ensure members and NAHT Ofcials receive high quality professional and specialist advice, assistance, support, information and guidance on educational management issues, general employment law and salaries, pensions and conditions of service enabling our members to better undertake the function of their leadership role and to represent members individually and collectively as necessary. The successful candidate will possess substantial experience of working at a senior level in education (particularly in schools or in a school related environment) or employment law or human resources, complemented by experience of handling a wide range of complex casework with a demonstrable record of successful conclusions. Experience of effectively representing and/or advising others in relation to a wide range of complex employment casework is essential. Excellent communication skills with the ability to establish credibility with members of NAHT, local authorities, employers and other trade unions supported by excellent research and analytical skills with sound and balanced judgement and good attention to detail are essential for this role. Salary band - 45,893 - 53,224 plus generous benets package For an application pack please e-mail elaine.peters@naht.org.uk The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 30th November 2012 Applications from agencies will not be accepted.

For further details and to apply please visit our website www.anglia.ac.uk. If you have any queries please contact our recruitment team on 0845 196 4758 or email recruitment@anglia.ac.uk
We value diversity at Anglia Ruskin University and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

www.surrey.ac.uk/jobs

EducationGuardian Senior Education, Higher Education.

More jobs at guardianjobs.co.uk Tuesday 20 November 2012

41

Liverpool John Moores University

Liverpool Business School

Programme Leader BSc Accounting & Finance Programme

46,846 - 52,706 Vacancy Ref: 355
The Liverpool Business School has friendly and approachable academics and innovative programmes designed for and with employers. It is committed to excellent research. It is intent on building on these foundations, setting ambitious goals for the future. We want to see a step change in our performance on employability of students, their achievement of good degrees (firsts and 2.1s), and research by staff and students, and we are looking for someone who shares these aspirations for improvement. Do you put students first and have ideas about how to improve their employability? Do you want to foster research (especially applied research) and see it used to enrich accounting and finance programmes? If you can answer yes to these questions, we would be delighted if you would send us an application. Informal enquiries can be made to Lynn Hill, Liverpool Business School. email: l.m.hill@ljmu.ac.uk

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management (up to 0.5fte)

37,012 - 45,486 pro rata Vacancy Ref: 370
You will have experience in HRM with a demonstrable interest in professional education for developing professional students. Qualified to Masters level and with full MCIPD, you will also be progressing towards PhD completion with evidence of publication potential. You will be expected to teach generic HRM and contribute particularly to Employment Relations, Performance Management and Equality. The ability to work on non standard programmes using technology enabled sessions for evening only students is essential.

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Business HR Programmes (up to 0.5fte)

37,012 - 45,486 pro rata Vacancy Ref: 371
You will have broad business based experience particularly in Finance, IT, Project or Operations management and a demonstrable interest in developing professional HR students. Qualified to Masters level and with full MCIPD, you will also be progressing towards PhD completion with evidence of publication potential. You will be expected to teach generic business to HR students and contribute particularly to Finance for HR professionals, Information Technology and Project or Operations Management. The ability to work on non standard programmes using technology enabled sessions for evening only students is essential. Informal enquiries for the above 2 posts can be made to Maureen Royce, HR Programmes Leader on 0151 231 3662, email m.a.royce@ljmu.ac.uk

Law School

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Public Law and EU Law

37,012 - 45,486 Vacancy Ref: 377
Working in the School of Law you will teach on the LLB Undergraduate programmes, GDL and LLM postgraduate programme, and be expected to make a full contribution to the Schools research profile and academic administration. Ability to teach Public Law and EU Law is essential. Informal enquiries may be made to David Selfe, Director of Law School on 0151 231 3974 or email d.w.selfe@ljmu.ac.uk or David Lowe, LLB Programme Leader on 0151 231 3918, or email d.lowe@ljmu.ac.uk

Closing date: 4 December 2012

School of Built Environment

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Building Surveying

37,012 - 45,486 Vacancy Ref: 368
This role requires contribution to the delivery of teaching in key subject areas associated with building surveying, construction technology, building management and FM. Knowledge of statutory controls and legislation affecting building occupancy and management would be advantageous to the applicant.You will also make significant contribution to research and scholarship through participation in the appropriate research group within the BEST Research Institute.

Closing date: 4 December 2012

Lecturer/Senior Lecturers in Real Estate Management

1 x Full Time post, 1 x 3 Month Maternity post 37,012 - 45,486 per annum Vacancy Ref: 369
These roles require contribution to the delivery of teaching in key subject areas associated with Real Estate Management and property development/valuation/property law. You will be required to provide high quality lecturing, tutorial and assessment for students on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In addition there will be an expectation of appropriate scholarly activity and publication.

Closing date: 4 December 2012

The School is located in the Faculty of Technology and Environment at LJMU and the BEST Research Institute is located within the School. Details can be found at: www.ljmu.ac.uk/BLT/index.htm Informal enquiries for Built Environment posts only can be made to Prof. Mike Riley on 0151 231 2835, email: m.l.riley@ljmu.ac.uk

The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is an exciting, vibrant, research led academic community offering opportunities to work with leading international academics whose visions are shaping tomorrows world.

Join the Global Debate

Career opportunities for world class academics to join the London School of Economics across a variety of academic departments. For more details and to apply, visit www.LSEGlobalDebate.com

Closing date for all posts unless otherwise stated: 11 December 2012 For further information and to apply online please visit our website: http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/working-at-ljmu/ Alternatively contact the HR Department on 0151 904 6130 or 6131 email: jobs@ljmu.ac.uk
LJMU is committed to achieving equality of opportunity.

Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability

The University of Edinburgh is one of the worlds leading academic institutions, internationally recognised for the quality of its teaching, research and wider economic and social impact. It was recently ranked 21st in the world according to the 2012 QS World University rankings. Situated at the heart of the vibrant and beautiful city of Edinburgh, the University has more than 30,000 students, employs over 11,000 staff, has an annual turnover of 700 million, and has created 110 new companies in the past 3 years. We are seeking to appoint a Director of Social Responsibility and Sustainability to play a key leadership role in enabling the University to meet its future social responsibility and sustainability obligations. Reporting to the Vice Principal and Director Corporate Services, this new post will provide expertise and strategic advice to the Universitys senior management in these elds, recognising the developing scientic, political and social environment across the globe, and will lead and support the delivery of the Universitys ambitious Social Responsibility and Sustainability Strategy. The Director will manage a new department, which will engage with staff, students and wider external communities of interest, to take forward social responsibility and sustainability developments in learning and teaching, research and knowledge exchange, services and infrastructure, and behaviours and culture. You will be professionally qualied with a signicant track record of inspirational leadership in large and complex organisations and of delivering social responsibility and sustainability functions. You will also possess the breadth of vision, intellectual strength, and strategic leadership abilities required to operate at this level. With strong interpersonal skills you will have the ability to inuence and form effective relationships with leaders and stakeholders from all sectors including education, government, business and other leading public and international bodies. For more information about the role and how to apply contact our retained consultant Alan Walter at Eden Scott Executive on 0131 550 1148, email alan.walter@edenscott.com or visit the recruitment website at www.edenscott.com/universityofedinburgh Closing date for applications is Friday 14th December 2012 and preliminary interviews will be held from Monday 7th January 2013. Committed to Equality and Diversity The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

Faculty of Business, Economics & Law

Professors in Economics
We value diversity and wish to promote equality at all levels

The University of Surrey is an international university with a world-class research profile and an enterprising spirit. Inventive and forward-thinking, its heritage shows a recurring theme of doing things differently and achieving notable results. The School of Economics has a reputation for research and teaching built upon a commitment to theoretical and, rigorously founded, applied work. The School enjoys a strong profile in research and teaching, exemplified by a successful 2008 RAE and recent NSS scores.

OXFORD INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY STUDIES

Research Fellow in the politics and economics of energy in China
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (a Recognised Independent Centre of the University of Oxford) proposes to appoint a research fellow to work mainly on energy issues relating to China. The post requires an excellent track record in social sciences (in economics or closely related disciplines). Experience with the economic and political issues surrounding the energy sector in China would be an advantage. For further details and information on how to apply please contact Kate Teasdale at OIES, 57 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6FA, (tel: 01865 889136, email: kate. teasdale@oxfordenergy.org) to whom all applications should be made, enclosing a letter addressing the criteria, a curriculum vitae and the names of two referees. There is no application form. The closing date for applications is 5pm Friday 14th December 2012.

As part of an exciting strategic initiative the School of Economics at Surrey http://www2.surrey.ac.uk/economics/ is looking to make two appointments at Professorial level. Candidates will bring with them an outstanding record of achievement in scholarship and research at both national and international levels. They will be expected to contribute to the objectives of the School of Economics by engaging in research and teaching of the highest quality, publishing in top international journals, leading bids for external funding, mentoring junior colleagues and engaging in the supervision of research students. Applications are welcome from all areas of Economics and Econometrics. For a personal discussion please contact Professor Robert Witt, Head of School at R.Witt@Surrey.ac.uk In return we can offer a generous remuneration package, which includes relocation assistance where appropriate, an attractive research environment, the latest teaching facilities, and access to a variety of staff development opportunities. Closing date for applications: Monday, 10th December 2012. Apply on-line at www.surrey.ac.uk/jobs or alternatively please contact Human Resources, either via email on FBELHR@surrey.ac.uk or by telephone on 01483 683986 (24 hours). We acknowledge, understand and embrace diversity.

www.ed.ac.uk/jobs

www.surrey.ac.uk/jobs

42 EducationGuardian Senior Education, Higher Education

More jobs at guardianjobs.co.uk Tuesday 20 November 2012

The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is an exciting, vibrant, research led academic community offering opportunities to work with leading international academics whose visions are shaping tomorrows world.

College of Humanities and Social Science School of Law

Lecturer in EU Law
37,012 - 44,166 Applications are invited from candidates with an interest in core elements of European Union Law (i.e. with research expertise in, for example, EU constitutional law; EU substantive law; freedom, security and justice/EU criminal law; or EU external relations). You will be expected to contribute to established programmes and to help develop new courses in this area at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in particular for the LL.M. in European Law, as well as to undertake doctoral supervision.

The position is available from 1 January, 2013. Appointment will be on an open-ended basis. Apply online, view further details or browse more jobs at our website. Ref: 005922G. Closing date 10th December 2012. Committed to Equality and Diversity The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

www.ed.ac.uk/jobs

BENEDICT BISCOP C.E. ACADEMY

Marcross Drive, Moorside, Sunderland, SR3 2RE Tel 0191 553 5974 - Fax 0191 528 7378 E mail: info@benedictbiscopacademy.co.uk Headteacher: Mrs P Thompson

Deputy Headteacher
Salary range: L8 - L12
Following our Deputy Headteachers successful promotion, we are seeking a dedicated and inspirational Deputy Headteacher who is keen to support the leadership of our outstanding school. We are looking for a motivational, enthusiastic practitioner to work closely with the Headteacher and senior leadership team in driving the school forward. We are keen to appoint a creative individual who demonstrates excellent analytical skills and one who uses an effective coaching approach to secure improvements in teaching and learning. We are passionate about teacher training and the successful candidate will also demonstrate a passion for developing high quality teacher training across the school. We can offer: Dedicated, highly committed, professional colleagues Amazing pupils who have a thirst for learning A highly supportive school community Outstanding professional development We would welcome and would recommend a visit to the school. Please call for an appointment. Details of the school and application process can be found on our website; please email for an application pack which should be returned to the Academy Business Manager, Jennifer Prandle, by December 5th. Interviews will be held during the week commencing December 17th.
Benedict Biscop CE Academy is committed to promoting and ensuring the safety of all its pupils and staff and expects everyone to share this commitment.

College of Social Sciences School of Education

Professor of Leadership and International Strategic Development in Higher Education

Salary: Negotiable Ref: S40121
The School of Education is ranked 2nd in Scotland and in the top 15 in the UK for the volume of world-leading and internationally excellent research in education. We are seeking to make key professorial appointments to enhance our reputation and to make a signicant contribution to our research and knowledge transfer strands currently congured as: Creativity, Culture and Faith; Interdisciplinary Science Education, Technologies and Learning; Professional Learning and Leadership; Pedagogy, Policy and Practice; Social Justice, Place and Lifelong Education. Applications are invited from individuals who can demonstrate research excellence and academic leadership and whose work and future research plans match the strategic direction of the School in leading edge educational theory, policy and practice. For more detailed information on the School, please consult the School web pages http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/education/
Apply online at www.glasgow.ac.uk/jobs Closing date: Thursday 13th December 2012.
The University is committed to equality of opportunity in employment. The University of Glasgow is a registered Scottish charity, number SC004401.

www.glasgow.ac.uk
To advertise contact

Guardian Jobs
London: 020 3353 3400 Edinburgh: 0131 272 2751

guardianjobs.co.uk

Notice to Advertisers

You will also be expected to further the international reputation of the School in EU Law. You need not have a primary degree in law, but will be expected to have a relevant PhD or equivalent research experience, with a proven record of research and publication.

It is a condition of acceptance of advertisement orders that the proprietors of The Guardian do not guarantee the insertion of a particular advertisement on a specified date, or at all although every effort will be made to meet the wishes of advertisers. We reserve the right to edit or delete any objectionable wording or reject any advertisement. Although every advertisement is carefully checked, occasionally mistakes do occur. We therefore ask advertisers to assist us by checking their advertisements carefully and advise us immediately should an error occur. We regret that we cannot accept responsibility for more than ONE INCORRECT insertion and that no republication will be granted in the case of typographical or minor changes which do not affect the value of the advertisement. All calls, both incoming and outgoing, will be recorded automatically; however, we only intend to listen to these calls for training and monitoring purposes, for the resolution of invoice disputes, and/or for any other business purpose which is permitted by applicable legislation.

44 EducationGuardian Senior Education

More jobs at guardianjobs.co.uk Tuesday 20 November 2012

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

45

England ponder changes after rst Test hammering

Cricket, page 50

guardian.co.uk/sport

Lancaster looks at fresh options to counter a physical South Africa

Rugby union Robert Kitson
England are set to make several changes to their starting XV to face South Africa this weekend with their head coach, Stuart Lancaster, acknowledging the need to freshen things up following the teams disappointing 20-14 defeat by Australia on Saturday. Lancaster will not conrm his line-up until Thursday but the t-again London Irish pair of Alex Corbisiero and Jonathan Joseph, plus the Northampton flanker Tom Wood, are poised for starting roles. The Wasps lock Joe Launchbury and Gloucesters No8 Ben Morgan are also under serious consideration as the England management seek ways to counter South Africas traditional physicality. Having reviewed the tape of the Wallaby game with the players, Lancaster also accepts that, in hindsight, there were one or two decisions wed have done dierently. He says, however, that the widespread criticism of Englands display has been excessive. I dont think the performance was quite as black and white as people have made out. I spoke to the Australian coaches and they felt that was as good as theyve played. To say it was a terrible performance is too simplistic. Lancaster is already discovering, however, that home defeats prompt criticism from numerous quarters. The former England coach Sir Clive Woodward has suggested England need tougher players. The last time England played the Boks, in June, they drew 14-14 in Port Elizabeth but the pressure has now shifted rmly on to Lancasters side. Those under scrutiny include the captain, Chris Robshaw, outplayed by his Wallaby opposite number, Michael Hooper, but Lancaster intends to keep faith with the Harlequins No7. Chris has been named captain for the series and Ive been more than happy with his contributions on and o the eld. I dont see Chriss performance would warrant him being dropped this weekend. That would appear to spell trouble for

RFU sees Wigginss coach as vital cog for 2015 World Cup bid
William Fotheringham
The sports scientist Matt Parker, a key gure in British Cyclings Olympic success in Beijing and London, is to join the Rugby Football Union to work under the England head coach, Stuart Lancaster, the Guardian understands. Since 2009 Parker has been head of marginal gains at the cycling team, leading the squads quest for perfection in areas such as diet, performance analysis and aerodynamics. The RFU has recently advertised for a head of athletic performance and sees Parker as a vital cog in its attempt to win the 2015 Rugby World Cup on home soil. Its a key role to ll in the shaping of the team towards 2015, said Lancaster yesterday. My role is to win now but also to build a team for the future. Someone of his [Parkers] quality would be a great addition but it isnt conrmed yet. Parker was unavailable for comment last night but the RFU is hiring a sports scientist with a record of proven success. Before Beijing Parker was the lead coach for the mens 4,000m team pursuit squad, whom he guided to a gold medal and world record in one of the dening moments of the 2008 Games. In the months after that he masterminded the programme of training and weight loss that enabled Bradley Wiggins to finish an unexpected fourth in the 2009 Tour de France. Since the end of 2010 he has headed up a team of 15 experts looking across all areas of cycling performance. Matt Parker has been cyclings head of marginal gains Asked during the London Olympics to sum up the cycling teams marginal gains approach, Parker said. We are obsessed with getting the details right; we are relentless in pursuit of it. Its about everyone being the best they can be but its not just two weeks. Its two months, two years. When you put that in place, your chances of success are higher. The chances must be that this approach will be brought to bear on Englands rugby squad in the run-up to the World Cup in 2015. Parkers approach to cycling performance is to break it down into its constituent parts and see what can be improved. In the two years before the London Olympics the Great Britain cycling t e a m b r o u g ht i n numerous innovations to provide small but significant performance gains that, when combined, would give a healthy advantage over the opposition. These included hot pants which prevented the riders legs from cooling down between their warm-up and their race on the track. The marginal gains approach in London resulted in the cyclists focusing heavily on the golden hour in which the pursuit and sprint teams had their heats and nals. Over an 18-month period the coaches put together specic protocols for the time frame. Specic time was allocated for all the things that would contribute to perfect recovery: hydration, protein-based recovery drinks, with a designated time 10 minutes allotted for a debrief from the coach . Other areas the marginal gains team have explored include sleep management, the timing of delivery of key equipment to enhance momentum, use of anti-oxidants such as sh oil and Montmorency cherries. Parkers appointment is by no means the rst instance of England rugby seeking expertise from the Great Britain cycling team. Most notably, at the 2007 World Cup, the psychiatrist Steve Peters stepped in to assist Brian Ashtons team following their defeat by South Africa in the pool stage. The team went on to the final. After the Beijing Games the RFU hired Mike Hughes, one of the performance analysis team within the English Institute of Sport who worked closely with the cycling squad; he is now their senior analyst. Dave Brailsford, the cycling performance director, said during the weekends World Cup event in Glasgow that he expects to lose more of his sta after the London Games than proved to be the case after Beijing. As well as now having to replace Parker, the cycling teams head of Research and Development, Chris Boardman, stepped down after London, while Peters is now allocating one day a week to UK Athletics. There is also speculation that one of the coaches from GB cycling may join Team Sky as a directeur sportif.

Alex Corbisiero is back from injury and likely to start against South Africa

Exeters Tom Johnson, with Lancaster making a point of talking up Woods contribution: His case for inclusion is denitely stronger now. He made a big impact from the bench. Speaking as a former anker himself, Lancaster concedes there are few out-and-out opensides in England crying out to be picked. There are not many sevens in England who play like Michael Hooper or Richie McCaw. Players are born as well as made and there is a natural instinct you need to play seven. Steon Armitage clearly falls into that category but Lancaster remains adamant he cannot pick French-based players for logistical reasons unless they are playing far above their English rivals. Robshaw and others, nevertheless, will have to perform over the next two weekends with Tom Croft, Saracens Andy Saull, Worcesters Matt Kvesic and London Irishs Jamie Gibson all outside the squad looking in. The only player denitely out of Saturdays game is the prop Joe Marler, with a knee strain. Corbisiero will re-enter the equation at loosehead, with Joseph also earmarked for a mideld role, probably alongside Manu Tuilagi. Morgan scored a hat-trick of tries against London Welsh at the weekend but is vying with Thomas Waldrom, who was among Englands busier forwards against the Wallabies.

Racing

Dettori set for Paris hearing today but may have to wait on outcome
Chris Cook Plumpton
The case of Frankie Dettoris positive test will take a step forward when a hearing is held in Paris today but the jockey may have to wait for an answer to the questions which, presumably, have weighed heavily on him over the past week: whether he will be banned and, if so, for how long? The hearing, scheduled for 11am GMT, involves France-Galops medical commission, which will determine how much of the banned substance was actually discovered in Dettoris system by a sample taken when he rode at Longchamp on 16 September. Having reached a decision, the commission has the option to le a report to France-Galop, the body which runs French racing. If it opts not to do so, the matter will end there. If a report is led, FranceGalop will convene a meeting of stewards to consider what disciplinary action would be appropriate. Normally that would take a matter of days to arrange, though there has been a suggestion that both hearings could be arranged for today in order to bring a controversial matter to a quick conclusion. As is its usual policy in such matters, France-Galop has made limited comment since the news of Dettoris positive test was broken last Tuesday by the jockeys solicitor. Notably the identity of the substance in question has not been conrmed. A long list of substances is banned under French rules, including some that would be produced by over-the-counter medicines, although the discovery of those less signicant substances would not typically require a formal hearing. In a worst-case scenario Dettori might be facing a ban of six months, like the one meted out to Kieren Fallon in November 2006 after the rst of the two positive tests the Irishman has returned while riding in France. Dettori would have the right to appeal against such a decision. For the second consecutive day Nicky Henderson took the wraps o a promising new chaser when his Broadbackbob won a novice chase here. The seven-year-old was ungainly at some early fences but his jumping improved dramatically on the nal circuit. Hendersons assistant, Charlie Morlock, said Broadbackbob had been taken to the course to be eligible for the 60,000 bonus oered to winners of designated Plumpton novice chases if they can follow up in a chase at the next Cheltenham Festival. The yard is waiting for the right opportunity to start Simonsig, another highly talented hurdler, over fences. Barry Geraghty, the winning rider, was pleased with Broadbackbobs performance and said jockey error was responsible for some of the early mistakes. He explained that the horse had surprised him with the length of his stride when asked to stretch and had carried him in too close to one or two fences. When we turned up the revs, he enjoyed that, Geraghty added. Hes strong, physical. Hes not a massive horse but hes a good size, hes scopey and hes accurate. Geraghty said he had been to Hendersons yard that morning to school the Hennessy contender Bobs Worth as well as Finians Rainbow, who will run at Ascot on Saturday. He appeared pleased with both. Hendersons Long Run heads the nine remaining entrants for Saturdays Betfair Chase at Haydock. The others include Imperial Commander, Silviniaco Conti and The Giant Bolster. Tidal Bay is entered but thought more likely to contest the following weeks Hennessy.

Todays tips
Fakenham
1.00 1.30 2.00 2.30 3.00 3.30 Chris Cook Petie McSweetie Roc De Guye (nap) Brady Stentorian Farewellatmidnight Everdon Brook Top Form Me Fein Benny T Swinger First Fandango Stentorian Misstree Dancer Future Dominion

Folkestone
Chris Cook Top Form 12.40 Old Dreams Umadachar (nap) 1.10 Sir Fredlot Spider Zagato 1.40 Shutthefrontdoor Shutthefrontdoor 2.10 Wily Fox Todareistodo 2.40 Pete The Feat Pete The Feat (nb) 3.10 Sulpius Sulpius 3.40 Brantingham Breeze Just Walking Jack

Todays big races

2.00 Fakenham Great Snoring Beginners Chase (Class 3) 3m 110yds 5,850
1 2 3 4 5 112242 Brady D McCain 6 11.2 J Maguire87 2F-5PP Eighteen Carat J Cornwall 8 11.2 J Cornwall (5)81 04-322 First Fandango (BF) T Vaughan 5 11.2 Michael Byrne (5)90 -24033 Sainglend S Curran 7 11.2 J Quinlan (3)88 424210 Mavalenta N Twiston-Davies 5 10.9 S Twiston-Davies86

Frankie Dettori is due to appear at a hearing in Paris today following his positive test in September for a banned substance

Roc De Guye (1.30) was undoubtedly fortunate to win at Stratford last time after Full Ov Beans fell at the nal fence when holding a 2-lengths advantage. Nevertheless, that was the seven-year-olds best run for some time. It is noteworthy that Roc De Guye has won twice from three starts at this unusual course, while James Evans, his Worcestershire-based trainer, is clearly in ne form because he has saddled two winners from seven runners in the past fortnight.

Southwell
Chris Cook 12.20 Honest Strike 12.50 Maltease Ah (nb) 1.20 Lady Raa 1.50 Anjuna Beach 2.20 Seemenomore 2.50 Nurse Dominatrix 3.20 No Dominion 3.50 Neils Pride Top Form Emperors Waltz Maltease Ah Projectisle Handiwork Seemenomore Whisky Bravo Flying Pickets Dewala

Betting 7-4 First Fandango, 5-2 Brady, 3-1 Sainglend, 5-1 Mavalenta, 25-1 Eighteen Carat. Smart handicap hurdler First Fandango would not be eligible for this contest on his timber rating, but just creeps under the top end of the scale thanks to a couple of pleasing seconds over fences. Sainglend is not bad over the smaller obstacles either and steps back up in distance for this chasing debut on the back of a third over an extended 2m4f at Southwell. Mavalenta, another newcomer to this sphere, struggled in a warm race at Aintree but stays all day.

2.40 Folkestone Toteswinger Handicap Chase (Class 4) 3m1f 6,500

1 20-U54 Mission Complete Jonjo ONeill 6 11.12 A P McCoy86 2 3U5-11 Pete The Feat (CD) C Longsdon 8 11.12 N Fehily90 3 1430-3 Promised Wings (C) C Gordon 5 11.11 J Doyle85 4 60/11- Just Josie (CD) Miss S West 6 11.7 M Goldstein89 5 P-6353 Massini Sunset N Mitchell 12 11.7 G Sheehan (7)85 6 PP40-6 Oscar Papa N Giord 7 11.7 D ORegan86 7 4151-P Current Climate R Rowe 8 11.4 P Brennan83 8 23F-5P Goring One Miss A N-Smith 7 11.4 A Thornton86 9 433/43 Red Mile (BF) Miss E Lavelle 7 11.4 D Elsworth87 10 5226U4 Gee Dee Nen G L Moore 9 11.0 J Moore87 11 P3U1-P Colins Desire (D,BF) N Mitchell 6 10.9 D Jacob84 12 -43534 Cullahill (D) R Buckler 10 10.6 A Glassonbury87 A Coleman88 13 4-4141 Local Present (D) B Ellison 9 10.0 Betting 5-2 Pete The Feat, 5-1 Local Present, 11-2 Just Josie, 10-1 Oscar Papa, Red Mile, 12-1 Mission Complete, Promised Wings, 14-1 Cullahill, Colins Desire, 16-1 others. Pete The Feat has been a revelation since joining Charlie Longsdon and made it two from two for the Oxfordshire trainer, with considerable ease, at Plumpton. Just Josie also had plenty in hand when maintaining her unbeaten record here in January, although she has not been seen since, while Local Present was another easy winner on his latest run at Fakenham but has to compete from just out of the handicap.

Barry Geraghty praised his mount Broadbackbob after victory at Plumpton, saying: Hes scopey and hes accurate

Whos running today? Racecards, news and live results online at guardian.co.uk/horseracing

46

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Sport

Golden memories turn to stadium shambles

Owen Gibson

After the prevarication, legal wrangling and ill feeling the legacy board is still undecided on the Stratford venues future

It already seems a long time ago. At one point during Danny Boyles madcap, moving Olympics opening ceremony in July the band struck up a few bars of Im Forever Blowing Bubbles as giant soapy spheres wafted across the delirious crowd. As a process last week labelled as the Stratford farce reaches yet another crunch point, it could be almost four years before Bubbles is heard at the Olympic Stadium again if at all. Three days after West Ham United submitted their best and nal oer to become the stadiums main tenants, the Guardian understands that the 17-strong London Legacy Development Corporation board remains split over the two remaining options on the table. One would see the LLDC spend around 190m converting the 429m stadium currently a shell with no permanent

This was far from being the worst example of English selection on Indian soil. Calcutta 1993 still takes some beating Vic Marks, page 50

facilities into a venue suitable for both athletics and winter sports, with a new cantilevered roof, hospitality boxes and retractable seats that would slide over an athletics track that was preserved after a bitterly fought campaign. Project managers have estimated it would take until 2015, and possibly 2016, to open it again. The other, favoured by some board members, would see 3 8m spent on swiftly turning the stadium into a permanent, multi-use home for athletics, concerts and other sports and after six years of prevarication, legal challenges, ill feeling and political wrangling nally consign the idea of a top-ight football team moving to E20 to history. Rather than boarding the stadium up for another four years and letting the golden memories fade, they argue it is best to appoint an experienced stadium operator such as AEG or LiveNation and let them get on with it even if it requires a modest ongoing public subsidy. Under that plan, the stadium that proved itself so spectacularly during the summer could be open by spring 2014. Londons mayor, Boris Johnson, is clear where he stands: Londoners have to be a little bit patient and recognise this thing was not built to be the kind of omnipermanent, world-class stadium capable of hosting Premiership football that it should be. There is a clear choice for us all. Do we want to rush ahead for a reopening? Or do we want to deliver the adaptations that will deliver a world-class facility? For many omni-permanent is not the phrase that springs to mind when the stadium issue is raised but omni-shambles. The inability of successive governments, City Hall administrations and ocials to square the stadium circle has always made it among the most troubling of London 2012s legacy promises. Back in 2007 the option of continuing negotiations with Premier League football clubs in a bid to secure a tenant for after the Games was closed o. With the twin spectres of the Picketts Lock asco and the cost and construction overruns at Wembley fresh in the mind, and desperate to ensure the budget did not spiral further, Tessa Jowell, the then culture secretary, and others on the Olympic board were keen to get on with construction. Lord Coe, meanwhile, was understandably xated on ensuring the athletics legacy he promised in Singapore was delivered. When the coalition government came into power, the sports minister Hugh Robertson and Johnson were convinced that only top-ight football could maintain the future of the stadium without public subsidy. Baroness Ford, chair of the LLDCs predecessor, the Olympic Park Legacy Company, was also committed to trying to nd a solution that did not involve going back to the 25,000-capacity base case a vaguely depressing, windswept athletics track with no roof.

The next attempt to find a workable solution involved a tender for a long-term lease that dissolved into a bitter, fractious battle between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham. The former proposed ripping out the track and replacing it with a football-only facility while the east London club pledged to keep it and teamed up with UK Athletics and Newham Council. West Ham were duly awarded the stadium, with the decision to keep the track justied to some extent by Londons victory in the race to host the 2017 world athletics championships. But a crucial mistake in failing to anticipate the possibility of a challenge under European state aid rules left the scheme mired in legal paralysis. A new plan, to retain public ownership of the stadium but oer rental agreements to anchor tenants, was drawn up. As it was decided to plump for the full bells-and-whistles conversion if top-ight football were to be hosted at the stadium, the question became how to plug the funding gap. West Ham were reluctant to oer more than 10m upfront, plus an RPI linked 2.5m a year in rent, arguing that as tenants they could not be expected to fund the conversion alone. They argued they were also in eect contributing an extra 6m a year through the uplift the LLDC would receive to any naming rights and catering contracts. The club argued they would have to

One option to convert the venue for winter sports as well as athletics could cost 190m and take until 2016 Jason Hawkes/Getty Images

How we got here

February 2007 Olympic board closes o option of building dual-use stadium for athletics and football. Design chosen that includes option to reduce to 25,000 capacity after Games January 2008 PMP consultants report to board that no rugby or football clubs are interested due to the track round the pitch August 2010 Olympic Park Legacy Company launches new tender process for stadium and three months later bids from West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur shortlisted February 2011 Following campaign from athletics lobby to keep the track, West Hams bid is chosen August 2011 Spurs and Leyton Orient win judicial review of West Ham decision. October 2011 Government announces process has collapsed amid legal paralysis and challenges from Spurs and Orient. November 2011 London wins right to host 2017 world athletics championships, after government promises track will stay March 2012 West Ham named as one of four bidders for the stadium. The London Legacy Development Corporation which took over from OPLC promises a decision by June. October 2012 LLDC chief executive, Dennis Hone, admits decision delayed again and then, in November, says stadium may not reopen until the start of the 2016-17 season

give up many of their revenue streams and clear their debt before moving because they would no longer have anything on which to secure it. West Ham believe they are being unfairly characterised as being handed a public asset for nothing when they are riding to its rescue. The majority, led by Johnson, continue to believe a future involving West Ham, athletics, concerts and other one-off events including cricket and rugby is the best solution. They will have to convince the remaining waverers that West Hams nal oer, believed to be a signicant improvement on the 10m originally tendered, is sucient testament of the seriousness of the clubs intentions. Yet another factor is the involvement of Newham Council . As part of West Hams original collapsed bid it promised a 40m loan towards the then 95m conversion costs. That oer remains on the table but it is understood the loan could be extended to 70m to help plug the funding gap. In return the council would expect an increased return and further community access. The reason the conversion costs have soared is because LLDC is determined to make the stadiums future as exible as possible, along the lines of the 365-day-ayear model favoured by US operators. That requires a complex solution removing the existing 25,000-seat section (originally designed as the only permanent feature) to install retractable seats and constructing a new cantilevered roof over the top of the upper tier (originally designed to be removed after the Games) before installing permanent facilities and corporate hospitality. The other bids from Leyton Orient, a football business school and an ambitious but unlikely plan to bring formula one to the Olympic Park will not detain them for long. The school can happen regardless, Orient depends on the decision taken on West Ham in any case and the F1 scheme is likely to stall on the starting grid. Meanwhile the stadium is starting to look unloved on its Stratford island. The pixels that lit up the ceremonies have gone, the big screens have come down, the wrap has been removed, the cauldron dismantled and its petals returned to Olympic teams around the world. If they can hit their latest deadline of reaching a decision before the end of the year after discussing their next move at a board meeting on 5 December, Dennis Hone, the ODA chief executive, and Johnson will then have an equally hard job on their hands: ensuring the ongoing farrago does not burst the popular image of the Olympics as a bubble of golden success.

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

47

Sport

Richard Williams
Major reason for belly putters to go belly up
n an age when people still bothered to mend stu, my father was good with his hands. But his dextrous ingenuity didnt end with replacing the shaft of a spade or rewiring an electric kettle. Some time in the late 1950s, when tennis balls were still white, I remember him putting two or three in a large saucepan and dying them bright orange, making it easier to play on into the twilight hour at our village club. This was a few years before Slazenger, Dunlop and the rest of the mainstream manufacturers started using a colour called optic yellow, after which white balls went the way of wooden rackets. He could, I suppose, have made a fortune. And then there was his putter. Thinking that perhaps his accuracy might be improved if he could get his eye closer to the line between the ball and the cup, he cut the shaft right down and attached a new wooden handle, a little thicker than youd nd on a cricket bat. Taking advantage of the rule which says that the putter is the only club in the bag not required to have a perfectly round handle, he squared it o and sandpapered it down to help anchor the grip, making the whole thing about three-fths of the conventional length. Im pretty sure his golng partners werent pleased, because it was quickly abandoned. Or perhaps it just didnt confer the expected benet. That might have been around the same time that Johnny Miller was going in the other direction, solving his problem on the greens by introducing the long-handled putter to the professional game. Already a winner of two major tournaments, Miller was starting a controversy that, almost 30 years later, refuses to go away. Back in 1989, spurred by a division of opinion over Miller, broomstick and belly putters were declared legal by the Royal and Ancient and the US PGA. Now the two bodies who jointly administer the rules of golf are mulling over a proposal to ban the devices from the start of 2016. Apparently contemplating legal action to stop them are a group of pros including Ernie Els, who won the Open Championship this summer, and Keegan Bradley, the winner of last years US PGA. Their successes, coupled with that of Webb Simpson at this years US Open, have forced the authorities to re-examine a question that was long said to be not worth bothering about as long as players who used the devices were not winning majors. Now, very clearly, they are. The thinking used to be that longshafted putters were something to help a veteran with back problems or an experienced player aicted by the yips. But at the Open in July a quarter of the

Stoke and West Ham show ickers of nesse as OBrien keeps it simple
Barclays Premier League David Hytner Upton Park
West Ham 1
OBrien 48

Stoke City 1
Walters 13

eld were using long putters, and earlier this month a 14-year-old who uses a belly putter, Guan Tianlang of China, won the Asia-Pacic amateur title in Thailand, making him the youngest ever to earn qualication for the Masters. So now we know that the phenomenon is spreading. Even some of those proting from their current legitimacy are ambivalent about the use of forearms or belly to anchor the shaft and quieten the nerves. Among them is Els, an opponent of long putters before switching at the age of 42, a year before his victory at Muireld. As long as its legal, Ill keep cheating like the rest of them, he has said. Golf, however, is supposed to be about conquering the anxiety that creeps into the mind like a sea fret. And long putters are unsightly, particularly when employed by a t young athlete such as Sergio Garca. An anchored

Playing golf is supposed to be about conquering the anxiety that creeps into the mind like a sea fret
putter in the hands of a contender for victory at Augusta National or St Andrews is like seeing stabilisers tted to Mark Cavendishs bike for the charge up the Champs-Elyses, or a couple of inches added to the width of Alastair Cooks bat. In sport, rules are rules or the result is anarchy. The long-putter dispensation seems to have crept in by stealth, but now the governing bodies could be about to take a belated chance to act as they did when swiftly outlawing a straddled putting stance many years ago. And if you want a single piece of anecdotal evidence to tip the argument in favour of abolition, heres just the thing: President George W Bush uses a belly putter. The prosecution rests.

The stage was set for West Ham United. The club had never been better o at this stage of a Premier League season, condence was high and Stoke Citys away form had been terrible. Sam Allardyces Movember tache looked magnicent and the evening called for his team to cement their place in the top six, to keep the Upton Park bubbles buoyant. The fear nagged that it had to fall at; West Ham are past masters of embracing chaos. Stoke, meanwhile, have often revelled in pooping parties. This was no disaster for Allardyces team but the sense was that it represented two points dropped. Stoke enjoyed themselves in the rsthalf and they deserved to lead through Jon Walters. West Ham hinted at a comeback when Joey OBrien crashed in his first league goal but the grandstand nish did not materialise. The clubs frustration was epitomised by Andy Carrolls cursing upon his late substitution. This was the clash of two managers who have found their styles heavily caricatured. Defensive, direct; it had been easy to fear for the spectacle. The charges are simplistic and it needles Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis but, particularly the former at present, who had sent his team out on the crest of a wave. Upton Park was sold out and expectant; the TV cameras were present and hopeful of drama. It was clear at the outset that physicality would be one of the evenings orders. There were no shrinking violets on display and there was the temptation for both teams to seek their towering centreforwards with high balls and attempt to feed off them. The best chance of the early exchanges fell to Stoke from a Peter Crouch knock-down but Charlie Adam could not convert a dicult volley. There were ickers of nesse and the breakthrough goal was steeped in it. Stoke strung together a slick low passing move that resulted in a corner, and Jon Walters timed his arrival to sweep home a sweet low volley. Andy Carroll, defending on the line, could not keep it out. Walters had bent his run from the far corner of the six-yard box and past the penalty spot to meet Glenn Whelans low corner, with his marker, George McCartney, stopped in his tracks by a block from

Modibo Maga, the West Ham forward, front, is closed down by the Stoke City scorer Jonathan Walters during the draw at Upton Park Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Adam. Pulis rejoiced on the touchline. Any manager loves it when a training ground plan comes together, particularly Allardyce. He brooded, enviously. Stokes lead at the interval might have been greater. Robert Huths header from a Matthew Etherington corner was clawed to safety by Jussi Jaaskelainen while the eye-catching Steven NZonzi hit a rising drive from outside the area against the underside of the crossbar. The ball bounced down and away but the technique was of the highest class. West Ham were poor in the rst-half. Apart from Kevin Nolans shot that drew a smart save from Asmir Begovic, they were reduced to spluttering over refereeing decisions. Allardyces demand for better quality was heeded upon the restart. West Ham played like they had received a halftime rollicking: the tempo was higher, the movement sharper. Nolan had somehow failed to convert McCartneys cross from point-blank range when West Ham recy-

cled possession for Gary ONeil to cross from the right. OBriens imitation of a centre-forward was more than passable when he lifted his shot high past Begovic. Carroll would have been proud. The equaliser ignited the occasion . ONeil and Modibo Maga ickered dangerously and it spoke for the shift in power that Begovic was heckled noisily and repeatedly by the home crowd for timewasting. Maga had a shot cleared o the line by Whelan, following Carrolls towering header and ONeil bent a shot wide. West Ham shaded it but they could not get the job done.
West Ham United 4-2-3-1 Jaaskelainen; OBrien (Demel, 77), Tomkins, Reid, McCartney; Noble, Diam; ONeil, Nolan, Maiga (Taylor, 85); Carroll (Cole, 85). Subs not used: Spiegel, Collins, Spence, Hall Stoke City 4-2-3-1 Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson (Shotton, 32); Whelan (Palacios, 62), NZonzi; Walters, Adam, Etherington (Kightly, 74); Crouch. Subs not used Sorensen, Jones, Upson, Jerome Referee C Foy

Walcott may be lured abroad by pre-contract deal

Jamie Jackson
Theo Walcott is open to a move abroad and could sign a pre-contract agreement in January with any overseas club a move which might concentrate the minds of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, who were all interested in buying the Arsenal forward during the summer. The forward, who is out of contract in the summer, cannot agree to join another Premier League side until the close season. As the January transfer window approaches it is understood there have been inquiries from a number of clubs on the continent interested in securing Walcotts signature as contract negotiations with Arsenal continue to stall. Walcott is keeping his options open and may yet sign a contract at the club if the two parties can agree on the terms. The priority for Walcott, who has had his starts under Arsne Wenger this season limited to only three in 12 league games, is to play regular football. In total he has scored nine goals in 15 appearances for Arsenal this campaign, the latest coming in the 5-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturdays north London derby. Wenger said after the game that, The Arsenal forward Theo Walcott cannot agree to join another Premier League side until the close season if Walcott, now 23, does not agree a new deal, he would still not be sold, raising the prospect that he could leave Arsenal on a free transfer, having cost them 9.1m as a 16-year-old. Wenger added: We continue [talks] in a positive way. We have until the end of December to sort this out. City made a bid to take him to the Etihad Stadium during the August transfer window which Walcott gave serious consideration to before deciding to stay at Arsenal. Roberto Mancini remains an admirer and, if the City manager did decide to make another offer in January, both Walcott and Arsenal might be tempted, despite Wengers stance. Walcott, who earns 75,000 a week, wants closer to 100,000 to sign on again. City would have few issues matching those terms.

Jairzinhos ourish has my vote

There will be no cavilling in this corner over the acclaim that greeted Zlatan Ibrahimovics concluding goal against England last week, merely a suggestion that it was slightly devalued by the nature of the event a friendly match and by the dishevelled defending that presented the Swede with the wede opportunity to demonstrate his nstrate qualities of imagination and technique. ion But since everyone else has been lse nominating goals with which it might h reasonably be compared, I might red, as well declare an undying dying fondness for the one scored by Jairzinho, right, against gainst England in Guadalajara during ara the 1970 World Cup. Fated to be overshadowed adowed by the similar eort with which Carlos Alberto administered the coup up de grce to Italy in the e nal 11 days later, it was nevertheless marginally ally superior, being the decisive strike in a match that mattered to both sides, as well as involving many of the same players Paulo Csar, Carlos Alberto, Tosto and Pel among them in its intricate construction. It was also completed, with a devastating ourish, by the man whose record of scoring in every round of the nals has never roun been matched. ma Second and third places on this Secon personal podium are occupied by p person the last of Alfredo Di Stfanos three goals for Real Madrid thr in the 1960 European Cup nal, an imperious C masterpiece scored almost m straight from a restart, and the straigh superlative touch and volley superl of Dennis Bergkamp as he De scored the winner against sco Argentina in a World Cup Arg quarter-nal in 1998, bathed in qua the Mediterranean sunlight of M Marseilles Vlodrome. Marsei richard.williams@guardian.co.uk richard.willia twitter.com/@rwilliams1947 twitter.com/@

Fernandes urges rock-bottom QPR to show pride

David Hytner
Tony Fernandes wants to see Queens Park Rangers revert to basics for Saturdays Premier League xture at Manchester United, with the possible recall of stalwarts from the promotion season such as Shaun Derry and Jamie Mackie, as he prioritises a restoration of pride. The chairman was distraught on Saturday, when he watched his team lose the foot-of-the-table meeting at home to Southampton, with the emotion compounded by the fear that the manager, Mark Hughes, had lost the capacity to motivate key players. Fernandes has been hugely supportive of Hughes, whom he appointed last season to keep the club in the Premier League, after their elevation from the Championship the previous spring and, as much as anybody, he wants the manager to succeed. He has repeatedly backed Hughes in comments from his Twitter account, although the lack of support since the 3-1 defeat by Southampton has been ominous. Fernandes had labelled the visit of Saints as a must-win game. Jamie Mackie may start for Queens Park Rangers at Old Traord as Tony Fernandes, the owner, seeks a return to basics Hughes met the chief executive, Phil Beard, on Monday and he was given no assurances about his future, further darkening the mood. It appears, though, that Fernandes, at least, is ready to give Hughes the United match, with the demand being to show some spirit at Old Traord. It was notable that Derry and Mackie came on as second-half substitutes against Southampton and they are in contention to start against United. The aspect that so distressed Fernandes against Southampton was the sight of players not giving their all and the home crowd chanted that some were only here for the money. Fernandes, who is currently in Malaysia, oversaw a summer spree that brought 11 senior players to the club, many of them on huge wages.

48

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Football Champions League

Ferguson ready to experiment but Kagawa faces another month out

Barney Ronay Istanbul
For a distinctly callow Manchester United squad tonights appearance at the Turk Telekom Stadium here is not so much welcome to hell as, in many cases, simply welcome. With eight players in the squad yet to make their Champions League debut, and with Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, David de Gea, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes not travelling, this is a weakened team that could yet border on the experimental, testimony both to the fact that United have already won Group H with two games to spare and also to the looming Premier League churn of the next six weeks. Were in a great position, weve qualied, weve got to make sure we play with some pride and weve got to be fair to the other teams, Sir Alex Ferguson said, speaking shortly after United had successfully sidestepped a are-laden reception at Istanbul airport. We are making a lot of changes but the younger players have all got experience to handle the stage. The manager, however, oered a downbeat assessment of the progress made by Shinji Kagawa, who is unlikely to play before mid-December. Hes not started any outside work and were looking at another four weeks away, which is disappointing, he said. Originally we thought three or four weeks now it looks like seven or eight weeks. For Galatasaray, meanwhile, tonight offers an opportunity to make a determined play for second spot in an otherwise open group. Hence the ominously unrestrained airport reception last night, though much of the eect was dissipated by United leaving the airport via a private terminal. It was nothing new, Ferguson said. Weve been here a few times so were used to the Turkish fanaticism and enthusiasm. Its fantastic. Its no issue.

Lennon hopes spirit of Lisbon Lions can carry Celtic forward

Ronnie Esplin

Group G
P W D L F A GD Pts

Group H
P W D L F A GD Pts

Man Utd Galatasaray Cluj Braga

4 4 4 4

4 1 1 1

0 1 1 0

0 2 2 3

9 4 5 5

4 5 12 5 -1 4 6 -1 4 8 -3 3

Results Cluj 0 Man Utd 4, Galatasaray 0 Braga 2 Man Utd 1 Galatasaray 0, Braga 0 Cluj 2 Galatasaray 1 Cluj 1, Man Utd 3 Braga 2 Cluj 1 Galatasaray 3, Braga 1 Man Utd 3

Remaining xtures
Tonight Galatasaray v Man Utd, Cluj v Braga 5 Dec Man Utd v Cluj, Braga v Galatasaray

Sir Alex Ferguson admitted changes would be made in Istanbul but added: Weve got to be fair to the other teams

Galatasaray v Manchester United

Galatasaray
Subs from Ceylan, Balta, Gulselam, Birinci, Sarioglu, A Yilmaz, Melo, Kaya, Amrabat, Elmander, Baros Doubtful Elmander Injured Ujfalusi

Group H

7.45pm SS4

Venue Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul Referee C Velasco Carballo Sp Radio BBC Five Live
Muslera Cris
27 3 25

14
11

Nounkeu
13

Ebou Kurtulus
4 35 17

Riera Inan
8 19 52

Altintop B Yilmaz Young

18 23 14

Colak Bulut Powell

25

Manchester Utd
Subs from Johnstone, Thorpe, Vermijl, Carrick, Petrucci, Cole, Tunniclie, King, Welbeck, Macheda Doubtful None Injured De Gea, Evans, Kagawa, Nani, Rooney, Vidic

Hernndez

Fletcher
24

Cleverley

Anderson
8

Bttner
28 31 4 13

Da Silva
2

Wootton

Jones

Lindegaard

Key One booking from suspension

Probable teams

While there has been some hopeful speculation in the Turkish media about exactly what kind of team Ferguson might put out, he can still call on a strong rst eleven, with Darren Fletcher set to start in mideld and Javier Hernndez likely to play as a lone striker. There may even be a rst appearance this season for Phil Jones, now recovered from his knee injury. Its a big day for Phil Jones because hes been out all season. Hes done enough in training to make sure his tness is OK, Ferguson said. Hes had concussion, he got a rib injury, theyre all different types of injuries. Hes probably still got to develop physically, in terms of his body, hes only 20 years of age. Ferguson also hinted strongly at involvement for Nick Powell, who this time last year was playing at Morecambe with Crewe Alexandra. Most of them, apart from probably Nick Powell, have the experience but they are used to playing in front of big crowds. Powell, obviously hes played in front of 76,000 at old Traord, but its his rst game away from home in Europe. Hes got the temperament. If United can approach their rst appearance at the Turk Telekom in a relaxed frame of mind, it is an experience that promises to retain some vestiges of hells past, given it already has some claim on ocial status as the loudest sporting stadium in the world, having recorded a 131.76 decibels in a derby against Fenerbahce, equivalent to a military jet taking o. Galatasaray will also eld some familiar faces, including Emmanuel Ebou and the on-loan Juventus midelder Felipe Melo, a man known as Pitbull. Against this they have not won at home in European competition since 2009. Statistics are like mini-skirts, they dont reveal everything, Fatih Terim, the Galatasaray manager, said before the home draw with Cluj. Five matches without a win in Istanbul is one statistic he will be desperate to shed.

Neil Lennon will invoke the spirit of the Lisbon Lions as he attempts to guide Celtic through to the knockout stages of the Champions League in Benca tonight. The penultimate Group G encounter will take place at the Estdio da Luz but Lennon will take his players to the Estdio Nacional to train in the morning, the scene of the clubs famous European Cup nal win over Internazionale in 1967. Several of the Lions were on the ocial ight yesterday where they were joined by the trophy, which took up two seats at the back of the plane. A win for Celtic will guarantee them a place in the last 16, with a score draw enough if Barcelona beat Spartak Moscow, and Lennon is looking for every advantage. He said: 1967 is a pivotal day in our history and we all aspire to reach those heights again. The Lisbon Lions are a very special team, a unique bunch of men in the his-

Barcelona Celtic Benca Sp Moscow

4 4 4 4

3 2 1 1

0 1 1 0

1 1 2 3

8 6 3 6

5 5 4 9

3 1 -1 -3

9 7 4 3

Results Barcelona 3 Spartak Moscow 2, Celtic 0 Benca 0 Benca 0 Barcelona 2, Spartak Moscow 2 Celtic 3 Barcelona 2 Celtic 1, Spartak Moscow 2 Benca 1 Benca 2 Sp Moscow 0, Celtic 2 Barcelona 1 Remaining xtures Tonight Benca v Celtic, Sp Moscow v Barcelona 5 Dec Barcelona v Benca, Celtic v Sp Moscow

Benfica v Celtic
Venue Estdio da Luz, Lisbon Referee V Kassai Hun Radio BBC Five Live Benca
Subs from Lopes, Jardel, Vtor, 14 Luisinho, Csar, Nolito, Almeida, John, Pereira Gomes, Rodrigo Doubtful 21 Garay, Pereira, Perz, Matic Salvio Injured Aimar, Martins

Group G

7.45pm SS2

11
1

Artur Luiso
4

Garay
24 25

Malgarejo Perz
25 11

Salvio
18 7 20

Gaitn Lima Samaras

9

Cardozo Hooper
88

Celtic
Subs from Zaluska, Kayal, McGeoch, Watt, Mulgrew, Fedor, McCourt, Nouioui Doubtful Brown, Ledley, Hooper Injured Izaguirre, Rogne, Forrest, Stokes

Commons
15 16 67

Brown
8

Ledley Matthews
2 6

Wanyama Lustig
4 1 23

Wilson

Ambrose

Forster

Key One booking from suspension

Probable teams

tory of the club, and it is very poignant that we are playing in Lisbon. We will train at the stadium in the morning and let these current players get a feel of what is a special piece of history for our club. We did it [trained there] in 2007 and it might inspire them to play as well as they can. Lennon is guarding against the growing feeling that Celtic, with two games remaining, the last being a home match against Spartak Moscow, are all but assured of a place in the knockout stages. We have done remarkably well to be in the position we are in on the back of beating Barcelona but thats gone now, he said. We have two huge games left in the competition. This was always going to be a pivotal game for us. You are never relaxed whoever the opposition is. The landscape of the group can change on one night. This will be as tough as Barcelona if not tougher. The game is very important for both teams. Benca are a formidable team at home, their domestic form is excellent and they, like ourselves, go into the game on the back of a very good win. The captain Scott Brown (hip), Joe Ledley (groin) and the striker Gary Hooper (hamstring) all travelled but Lennon has doubts over one of them, whom he refused to name. PA

Mancini: City cannot let Ronaldo run free

Jamie Jackson
Roberto Mancini has joked only the law may be able to stop Cristiano Ronaldo when Manchester City host Real Madrid tomorrow in a Champions League group game they have to win to maintain any hope of progressing alive. Asked how to nullify the threat of Ronaldo, who last season scored 46 times in La Liga and 60 goals in all competitions, Mancini said: Well call the police. Hes a top player and he deserves to win the Ballon dOr. He scored so many goals last year and that helped them to nish above Bara [to win the title]. I hope he can have a bad night on Wednesday. When you come up against a player who can score one or two goals every game it is dicult. Ronaldo will be making a rst playing return to the city since leaving Manchester United three years ago. Mancini is conscious tomorrow is a big night for the Portuguese. For him it will be, but also for them [Real] its an important game. They still have to qualify, he said. And for Ronaldo, hes coming back to Manchester. City are bottom of Group D with no wins and two points while Real are second with seven points. Mancinis team must beat Real, then win at Borussia Dortmund in the last game, and hope other results allow them to enter the knockout phase. Gal Clichy is a doubt to face Madrid due to a leg injury suered in Saturdays 5-0 rout of Aston Villa. Clichy took a knock to his ankle which required treatment and he was replaced after 73 minutes. Mancini again left Edin Dzeko on the substitutes bench for the game against Villa despite him finding the net nine times in 20 appearances this season. He is an important striker. He deserves to play from the start, like Sergio [Agero], Carlos [Tevez] and Mario [Balotelli].

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, is hoping Cristiano Ronaldo has a bad night on his return to the city

Results
Football
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE P W Manchester City 12 8 Manchester Utd 12 9 Chelsea 12 7 West Bromwich 12 7 Everton 12 5 Arsenal 12 5 West Ham 12 5 Tottenham 12 5 Fulham 12 4 Swansea 12 4 Liverpool 12 3 Newcastle 12 3 Norwich 12 3 Stoke 12 2 Sunderland 11 2 Wigan 12 3 Reading 11 1 Aston Villa 12 2 Southampton 12 2 QPR 12 0 West Ham OBrien 48 35,005 (0) 1 D 4 0 3 2 5 4 4 2 4 4 6 5 5 7 6 2 6 3 2 4 L 0 3 2 3 2 3 3 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 3 7 4 7 8 8 F 25 29 24 19 22 23 15 20 25 18 17 13 9 10 10 12 14 10 18 9 A 10 17 13 13 16 13 12 21 22 16 16 17 18 11 12 21 19 22 30 23 Pts 28 27 24 23 20 19 19 17 16 16 15 14 14 13 12 11 9 9 8 4 *LRPL Taylor lbw b Herath ................................. 18 DR Flynn b Herath .............................................. 20 JEC Franklin st HAPW Jayawardene b Herath .......... 2 CFK van Wyk not out ........................................ 13 DAJ Bracewell lbw b Herath .................................. 0 TG Southee st HAPW Jayawardene b Randiv ......... 16 JS Patel c Karunaratne b Herath............................. 0 TA Boult c DPMD Jayawardene b Randiv ............... 13 Total (44.1 overs)............................................. 118 Fall 18, 35, 46, 60, 70, 79, 79, 96, 97. Bowling Kulasekara 12-4-28-2; Eranga 4-2-10-0; Herath 18-3-43-6; Randiv 10.1-0-37-2. Sri Lanka Second innings NT Paranavitana not out .................................... 31 FDM Karunaratne not out ................................... 60 Extras (w2) .......................................................... 2 Total (for 0, 18.3 overs) ...................................... 93 Did not bat KC Sangakkara, *DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, AD Mathews, HAPW Jayawardene, KMDN Kulasekara, HMRKB Herath, S Randiv, RMS Eranga. Bowling Boult 4-1-15-0; DAJ Bracewell 5.3-0-35-0; Patel 5-1-22-0; Franklin 3-0-15-0; Williamson 1-0-6-0. Toss New Zealand elected to bat. Umpires M Erasmus (SA) and NJ Llong (Eng). Dallas 23 Cleveland 20 (OT); Denver 30 San Diego 23; Detroit 20 Green Bay 24; Houston 43 Jacksonville 37 (OT); Kansas City 6 Cincinnati 28; New England 59 Indianapolis 24; Oakland 17 New Orleans 38; Pittsburgh 10 Baltimore 13; St Louis 13 NY Jets 27; Washington 31 Philadelphia 6.

Basketball
NBA Detroit 103 Boston 83; LA Lakers 119 Houston 108; NY Knicks 88 Indiana 76; Oklahoma City 119 Golden State 109; Philadelphia 86 Cleveland 79; Portland 102 Chicago 94; Sacramento 90 Brooklyn 99; Toronto 97 Orlando 86.

Fixtures
Football
(7.45pm unless stated) UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Group E Juventus v Chelsea; Nordsjaelland v Shakhtar Donetsk Group F Bate Borisov v Lille (5pm); Valencia v Bayern Munich Group G Benca v Celtic; Spartak Moscow v Barcelona (5pm) Group H CFR Cluj-Napoca v Braga; Galatasaray v Manchester Utd NPOWER LEAGUE ONE Bournemouth v Stevenage; Carlisle v Doncaster; Colchester v Coventry; Crawley Town v Yeovil; Hartlepool v Oldham; Portsmouth v Leyton Orient; Preston v Notts County; Scunthorpe v Bury; Sheeld Utd v Crewe; Shrewsbury v MK Dons; Swindon v Brentford; Tranmere v Walsall LEAGUE TWO AFC Wimbledon v Southend; Barnet v Oxford Utd (8pm); Bradford v Plymouth; Burton Albion v Aldershot; Chestereld v Cheltenham; Fleetwood Town v Accrington Stanley; Gillingham v Exeter; Northampton v Morecambe; Port Vale v Bristol Rovers; Rotherham v Wycombe BLUE SQUARE BET PREMIER Braintree Town v Wrexham; Hyde v Alfreton Town; Maccleseld v Manseld IRN-BRU SECOND DIVISION Albion v Brechin; Forfar v Queen of the South (7.30pm)

Stoke Walters 13

(1) 1

Golf
WOMENS CME GROUP TITLEHOLDERS (Naples, Florida) Leading nal scores (US unless stated): 274 Choi N-y (Kor) 67 68 69 70. 276 Ryu S-y (Kor) 66 72 68 70. 277 B Lincicome 68 69 70 70. 278 K Webb (Aus) 69 69 71 69. 279 A Miyazato (Jpn) 70 64 71 74. 280 K Icher (Fr) 67 70 70 73. 281 A Nordqvist (Swe) 69 70 69 73; A Muoz (Sp) 72 72 67 70; C Kerr 67 74 71 69; Feng Shanshan (Chn) 70 69 69 73. 282 C Hedwall (Swe) 70 69 73 70; Pak Inbee (Kor) 70 70 72 70; L Salas 68 71 73 70. 283 B Recari (Sp) 72 69 68 74; C Lacrosse 69 72 72 70; D Kang 69 75 70 69; S Gal (Ger) 70 68 72 73. 284 Kim I-k (Kor) 72 70 69 73; B Lang 71 69 69 75; J Granada (Par) 68 72 70 74; S Pettersen (Nor) 66 71 72 75.

BLUE SQUARE BET NORTH Bradford PA 4 Hinckley Utd 0 ITALY Serie A Roma 2 Torino 0 SPAIN La Liga Real Sociedad L Rayo Vallecano L

Cricket
FIRST TEST MATCH (third day of ve) Galle Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 10 wickets. New Zealand First innings 221 (BB McCullum 68, DR Flynn 53; HMRKB Herath 5-65). Sri Lanka First innings 247 (DPMD Jayawardene 91, AD Mathews 79; TG Southee 4-46). New Zealand Second innings (overnight 35-1) MJ Guptill b Kulasekara ...................................... 13 KS Williamson c HAPW Jayawardene b Kulasekara 10

American football
NFL Atlanta 23 Arizona 19; Carolina 21 Tampa Bay 27 (OT);

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

49

Di Matteo calls on his leaders to work another Chelsea miracle

Dominic Field Turin
Roberto Di Matteo can appear phlegmatic at the worst of times though the ve oclock shadow he sported en route to Italy betrayed a man with too much on his mind. The season has yet to stretch into a fth month but, already, Chelsea are stumbling leaving the management to pluck positives from livid dressing room inquests into sloppy and unacceptable underachievement. There were raised voices at the Hawthorns on Saturday, when their winless Premier League sequence was extended to four matches and suggested a team in retreat. We demand a lot of ourselves, and expect a lot, said Di Matteo. We were very disappointed and frustrated. We all want to see a reaction. One is required in Turin tonight where defeat to Juventus, the team clear at the top of Serie A, would leave Chelsea on the brink of becoming the rst Champions League holders to fail to escape the group stage in their defence. That would be groundbreaking, though for all the wrong reasons. Other elements of this story are depressingly familiar. The hierarchy are twitchy behind the scenes, that long-standing interest in Pep Guardiola unsettling, even if a draw this evening and victory against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday would still feel restorative. Until recently, the current scenario would have been made for Chelsea, a side who revelled in taking on adversity and battering it into submission. Yet, while Di Matteo stressed his team have proved many times before we can put in a big performance, things are dierent now. Last year, when progress had initially

The Chelsea manager, Roberto Di Matteo, knows his side have a mountain to climb against Juventus to keep alive their Champions League aspirations Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images

Group E
P W D L F A GD Pts

Shakhtar Chelsea Juventus Nsjaelland

4 4 4 4

2 2 1 0

1 1 3 1

1 1 0 3

7 10 8 1

5 2 7 6 4 7 4 4 6 11-10 1

Results Chelsea 2 Juventus 2, Shakhtar 2 Nordsjaelland 0 Juventus 1 Shakhtar 1, Nordsjaelland 0 Chelsea 4 Shakhtar 2 Chelsea 1, Nordsjaelland 1 Juventus 1 Chelsea 3 Shakhtar 2, Juventus 4 Nordsjaelland 0 Remaining xtures Tonight Juventus v Chelsea, Nordsjaelland v Shakhtar 5 Dec Chelsea v Nordsjaelland, Shakhtar v Juventus

Juventus v Chelsea
Venue Juventus Stadium, Turin Referee C Cakir Tur Radio BBC Five Live Juventus
Subs from Storari, Lcio, Matri, Cceres, De Ceglie, Pogba, Pepe, Padoin, Giaccherini, Isla, Giovinco, Bendtner Doubtful Pepe, Vucinic Injured None

Group E

7.45pm ITV

9
Buon
1 19

Barzagli
15

Chiellini
3

Lichtsteiner
26 23

Bonucci Pirlo
21 27 9 8

Asamoah
22

Vidal

Marchisio Vucinic Mata

10

Quagliarella

Chelsea
Subs from Blackman, Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Ferreira, Moses, Oscar, Piazn, Marin, Romeu, Sturridge Doubtful Cole Injured Lampard, Terry

Hazard
17

Torres

Bertrand
34 12

Ramires
7

Cole
3 4

Mikel
24 1

Ivanovic
2

David Luiz

Cahill

Cech

Key One booking from suspension

Probable teams

been threatened by a slack away record in the group and was then regularly tested during the slug-fest of the knockout, the London club had been driven forward by ghters. John Terry and Frank Lampard had mustered those around them. Didier Drogba had rediscovered his battering ram best. Ashley Cole and Branislav Ivanovic had refused to wilt, and the older heads had bolstered the newer personnel to conjure their miracle in Munich six months ago. Their success felt fated. Now, though, the onus is on others to summon the response, their natural response an unknown. Leaders are being sought if this team is to shrug itself out of its stutter. But we still have plenty of experienced players in the team, insisted Di Matteo. Petr Cech is there. We have Ivanovic, Mikel John Obi, and Juan Mata. There are plenty of players who can be leaders, and well need everybody to show it in a game like this. Yet their combined efforts could not beat Swansea, Liverpool or West Bromwich Albion in recent weeks. Should they shrink tonight, then the defence could be over. Other clubs would crave the problems with which Chelsea currently contend, and their run of games always appeared daunting, though fragility has been exposed by fading confidence. Chelsea can appear defensively brittle, which could be ignored when goals were pilfered for fun over the opening weeks but has undermined them recently. Di Matteo has suered by being denied a regular back-line combination, the loss of Terry through injury, suspension and then injury again denying him a lynchpin. The captains authority is missed at times like these, with Gary Cahills a more assured presence in his company. David Luiz may delight with his wide-eyed extravagance, an asset when opponents are quaking in arrears, but he is too unpredictable. Arguably Di Matteos most assured centre-half in Terrys absence is Ivanovic though, by moving him inside, further reliance is thrust

upon the unknown quantity that is Csar Azpilicueta. Regardless, the more amboyant approach has aorded all combinations very little cover from central mideld. Ramires strains at the leash whenever employed deep, Lampard is sidelined and Oriol Romeus progress feels stalled, leaving Mikel pivotal. Yet, if the Nigerian does impose authority on Juventus, it will feel like a watershed moment. Yet it is the forward line that draws the focus. While the watching world gasped at the conveyor-belt of chances Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar generated in the autumn, thrilling at the sheer brilliance of their dazzling inter-play, their inclusion has sometimes come at the expense of the teams overall balance. Full-backs have felt lonely while forward-thinkers remain upeld. Any team counterattacking against Chelsea at pace has beneted, with the freedom granted the trio to meander from ank to centre at a whim confusing matters when the ball is surrendered. Chelsea are wonderfully refreshing to watch, but that is because they can be sprung as often as they spring themselves. The biggest sense of deation has surrounded the man that trio were supposed to supply. Fernando Torres deflected Andriy Pyatovs attempted clearance into the net a fortnight ago, but that remains his only reward since the first week in October. There remains industry to the Spaniards game, but too often his runs are predictable. The jeers that accompanied his display at the Hawthorns reflected bewilderment that a striker of his pedigree could fail to prosper with these creative talents around him. Six goals in 18 appearances this term represents an improved ratio as a Chelsea player to date, but the manager is entitled to expect more. Everything had been geared towards eking form from the forward. He was oered the chance to succeed Drogba and remind the world why Chelsea paid a British record 50m to secure his services 23 months ago, and he had started the season so promisingly. Yet that form has dried up. There were autograph hunters waiting for Torres at Turin airport on Monday, but his star feels on the wane. Radamel Falcao, the scourge of this team in the Super Cup in August, feels a more natural t and will be targeted when the transfer window opens in January, even if his arrival would have implications for those already here. Daniel Sturridge remains on Liverpools radar even if, for now, he arguably oers a more of a threat than Torres for the frontline. Yet that is for the future. Minds must focus on emerging unscathed from Turin. Elimination over the next month would have serious implications for all involved.

Masterful Pirlo plans exhibition of skill for a club steeped in history

Playmaker who dazzled at Stamford Bridge returns to strengthen Serie A leaders, writes Richard Williams
An hour spent in the museum attached to Juventuss sparkling new stadium is a journey into a land of heroes, from Altani and Anastasi to Zidane and Zo via a galaxy of immortals wearing the colours of a club founded in 1897 by a group of Turin schoolboys. The current team, it must be said, are doing a good job of living up to the legend, although like their visitors from West London they go into tonights vital Champions League match under the cloud of a couple of worrying results in recent weeks. A defeat by Internazionale two and a half weeks ago not only ended Juventuss 49-match unbeaten record but inicted their rst reverse on home ground since they moved into the replacement for the unloved Stadio delle Alpi at the start of last season. And last Saturday they had to be content with a point at home to Lazio in a goalless contest which, in the absence of the suspended Andrea Pirlo, exposed their lack of a cutting edge. In between those encounters as Angelo Alessio, their deputy head coach, was quick to point out yesterday they scored four unanswered goals in Turin against Nordjaelland, the makeweights of Group E, and demolished the Serie A strugglers Pescara 6-1 on the Adriatic coast. But even those sprees were not enough to banish the doubts surrounding their strength up front against top-level opposition. Pirlo will be back for tonights match in a competition he won twice with Milan. His form has dimmed a little in recent weeks but the 33-year-old playmaker will be hoping to give another masterclass of the sort with which he regaled Stamford Bridge in September, when Juve recovered to secure a draw after falling behind to two goals from Oscar. But they will still be without the presence of Antonio Conte, the head coach who guided them to the title last season and is serving a four-month suspension from match-day activity for his part in the Calciopoli scandal. The alleged oences occurred while he was in charge of Siena during the 2010-11 season, before his return to the club for whom he made 419 appearances as a dynamic mideld player between 1991 and 2004. Contes suspension ends on 8 December and Alessio will be in the dug-out tonight, as he has been since the start of the season, with little apparent damage to their campaign on two fronts. They top the Serie A table again, four points ahead of Inter, although their propensity for drawing matches has been showing on their return to the Champions League, where one win and three draws have left them a point behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Chelsea with two matches to play. Without beating about the bush, we know that its all or nothing, Alessio said yesterday before the teams nal training session. Chelsea are the European champions and theyve been strengthened by the addition of three or four players, so they need to be respected. We dont expect them to come with the intention of concentrating on defence. Theyre not a side who sit back and wait for the chance to counterattack. At the same time we know how strong we are. After starting last seasons Serie A campaign with a daring 4-2-4 formation, Conte adjusted to 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 before settling on the current 3-5-2. In front of Gigi Buffon are three of the veteran goalkeepers fellow Azzurri: the defenders Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. The wide men are the Swiss international wing-back Stephan Lichtsteiner and Kwadwo Asamoah of Ghana, while Pirlo is protected by Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio. It is up front that the selection problems are concentrated, with Conte and Alessio choosing from Mirko Vucinic, who returned to training yesterday after a bout of flu, Sebastian Giovinco, Fabio Quagliarella, Alessandro Matri and Nicklas Bendtner, whose loan from Arsenal has not been a success. Juventus have been linked with Didier Drogba, although the club have been denying the possibility of a bid for Chelseas former centre-forward. Gianluca Vialli, interviewed this week about his links with both of tonights clubs, is urging them to splash out the fortune necessary to lure Edinson Cavani from Napoli but, although the Agnelli family, the founders of Fiat, remain in charge, as they have been since 1923, the nancial resources used to recruit the stars of the past are not available in this phase of the clubs history. As the current standard-bearers for a resurgent Serie A, however, they are invariably good to watch and are approaching tonights challenge with careful optimism. Its our biggest match of the year, Marchisio said yesterday. Theres not one particular player were worried about. Oscar was good in the rst match and hes a great player but we must focus on the whole team. Chelsea denitely have more experience than we do in these games because weve been out of the competition for a few years but that shouldnt frighten us. We have a lot of international players whove been involved in big games, so were well prepared.

The bearded Andrea Pirlo and Juventus team-mates prepare to face Chelsea

50

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

Cricket First Test

27

Years since a side won a series in India after losing the rst Test; England in 1984-85. Since then, Indias series record at home after winning the rst Test is P16 W15 D1 L0

18

Years since a side drew a series in India after losing the rst Test: Courtney Walshs West Indies in 1994

England have lost seven of their last 10 series after losing the rst Test. Their two victories came against Australia in 2005 and New Zealand in 2007-08

Wicket taken in the match by Englands quick bowlers, the fewest for England in a Test since they lost to Sri Lanka at Galle in 2001

68

Runs made in the match by Englands middle order of Trott, Pietersen, Bell and Patel, including three ducks

Overs in the match in which Alastair Cook was not on the eld

47.4

174

Cooks innings was the highest by an England batsman after they had followed on

England unwise to rely on Panesar panacea alone

indierent lines, and failed almost totally to get the kind of reverse swing, supposed to be their forte, that Zaheer Khan and the slippery Umesh Yadav managed. They actually proved to be more destructive than spin to Englands middle order in the second innings. Between them Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan conceded 255 runs in the Test for a single wicket to Anderson. Zaheer and Yadav took seven for 166. The incredible diligence of Cook and Prior, and Nick Comptons contribution to the opening stand of 123 that kickstarted the second-innings recovery, should not be allowed to paper over deficiencies elsewhere. Cook and Prior scored 356 of Englands runs: contributions from the remaining ve of the top seven amounted to a grand total of 114. Kevin Pietersens return has hardly been the homecoming many expected, and it is hard to comprehend how a player of world class can be reduced to a staggering arms-and-legs whirl of ineptitude when encountering a left-arm spinner who is good but not that good. Ian Bells second-innings batting, at least for a while, highlighted even further the crassness of his rst-ball dismissal in the rst innings, but he will return home now for the birth of his rst child knowing that he runs the risk of not regaining a place when he returns. His spot will be taken either by Jonny Bairstow (whose hundred in a warm-up game should be tempered by the fact that centuries were also scored in those games by Cook, Samit Patel, Pietersen, and Jonathan Trott) or Eoin Morgan. Or perhaps both. Certainly there is a case for Morgan, as a left-hander, being in a better position to counter the spin of Pragyan Ojha, which ultimately England found more problematical than Ravichandran Ashwins bag of tricks. If both play it would mean ditching Patel. The idea that they can go in with a batsman light in order to pick Panesar as a foil to Swann just seems even more preposterous now. But, for a four-man attack, a seamer would have to go, and perhaps two if it was decided that Steven Finn should play. Could he play as one of two, operating in short bursts, with the attack based around spin? If so it should be he and Anderson. Englands hopes on the nal day rested on Cook and Prior being able to extend their partnership into the afternoon. But the pitch was more capricious now, slowing almost to a halt and with variable bounce for Ojha. Prior was undone when the ball stopped and sat up on him as he was attempting a back-foot force and he sent back a gentle return catch. Cook found himself torpedoed by a length delivery that turned back at him and scuttled close to the ground before bowling him o his pad. If it was the sort of delivery that he had pushed away time and again during his innings, then perhaps he was thinking of working it to leg. That it took something so insidious to see the back of him tells its story.

Trading places Time to ring the changes Out?

Stuart Broad
Pros Bowled outstandingly in similar conditions last winter and has taken more Test wickets than any other seam bowler in the world this year. Capable of scoring useful runs. Cons His pace has dropped worryingly and he has stopped taking wickets with the new ball. Batting seems to be fading and has limited defensive technique against spin.

Mike Selvey Ahmedabad

India won the rst Test by nine wickets and in grandstanding style an hour into the afternoon session on the nal day, an outcome that had appeared inevitable ever since MS Dhoni enforced the followon on the third day with a lead of 330 and a deteriorating pitch to utilise. Thanks almost entirely to the monumental eort of Alastair Cook and the belligerence and skill of Matt Prior, England managed to run India closer than they might have expected and, at the end of the fourth day, with that pair still at the crease, there was still the faintest sni of salvaging something from the wreckage. It can be better, though, as Robert Louis Stevenson said, to travel hopefully than to arrive. The last ve wickets falling for 66 runs in the morning session, including those of Prior for 91 and then Cook for 176, shattered the dream. To make 406 second time round was a creditworthy riposte but it left India only 77 runs to get, which they achieved in 15.3 overs, for the loss of Virender Sehwag who was caught on the boundary for 25. But Cheteshwar Pujara, opening in place of the bereaved Gautam Gambhir, whose grandmother has died, batted with freedom once more, hitting eight boundaries to make an unbeaten 41 and take his total for the match to 247 without being dismissed. There had been talk that the second Test, in Mumbai, and the third in Kolkata may be switched because of reports of potential unrest in Mumbai in the week following Sundays funeral of the Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray. But the teams will now decamp as planned to Mumbai where they will resume the series at Wankhede Stadium on Friday. As far as India are concerned, there will be little to ponder after such a resounding success. For England, though, there will have to be some serious thought over the next few days in light of some woeful performances. India might have been considered favourite from the moment Cook called wrongly at the toss, and of course that had an impact. But it would be facile to suggest that the result might have been dierent had England had rst use of the pitch. Englands seam bowling, on which they had pinned hopes rather than the dual spin of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, failed to come even close to expectation. Sluggish this pitch may have been at the start and even more so as the game wore on, but collectively the three pacemen were slower through the air than their two Indian counterparts, largely bowled

Samit Patel
Pros Deserves another chance after possibly being sawn-o in both innings. Plays spin excellently and is a very useful fth bowler. Cons Is arguably a bits and pieces player. Not good enough to be a second spinner at Test level, and perhaps not as good a batsman as Jonny Bairstow or Eoin Morgan.

Tim Bresnan
Pros Probably Englands best reverse-swing bowler, a vital skill in India, and outbatted many of the top order in this match. Cons Averages 51.12 with the ball in Tests this year. Bowled only 19 out of 175.3 overs in the match, suggesting a possible lack of faith from his captain. Is he really a better bowler than Steven Finn?

Ian Bell
Selection taken out of management hands as he is returning home for the birth of his child. Monty Panesar would strengthen Englands spin bowling but severely weaken their batting

Exhausted Cook tries to accentuate the positives

Drawn and unsmiling, the captains disappointment is obvious after an emphatic defeat, reports Vic Marks

It was a new and unwelcome experience for Alastair Cook. As convention demands he was required to explain away an emphatic defeat after all the talk of being ready following no less than three practice games. He looked a little drawn and unusually unsmiling. No doubt he was exhausted. Cook batted for more than nine hours to try to save the game for England, a superb innings that might give him much satisfaction down on the farm on some cold winter evening in the future. But in the aftermath at Ahmedabad his obvious emotion was disappointment. We just didnt deliver in the rst innings. That was where we lost the game, he said. We were prepared but maybe we didnt trust our method. He only just remembered to take the positives, as every modern captain must. Briey he spoke of a great ght-

back and spirited batting in the second innings, but he is a modest man. That ghtback was almost entirely dependent on his own performance. Cook and Matt Prior were spirited all right, and Nick Compton batted encouragingly second time around. But in eight innings the batsmen from No3 to No6 on the card mustered a grand total of 68 runs in the match. Moreover, there are many adjectives that might be summoned up to describe Graeme Swanns decision to play those fancy-dan switch-hits against Ravichandran Ashwin with eight wickets down and the match still to be saved, but spirited is not among them. Swann can bat. In these conditions he can bat very well; he could bat for a long time. But he obviously does not think so. Let me pause for a second to count up

how many switch-hits Indias batsmen opted to play in these conditions. Cook acknowledged that there is a lot to ponder before the Mumbai Test, which starts on Friday. Clearly we will look at selection. There were some intelligent men involved in that process. We thought we got it right here but the result showed we might have got it wrong. This was far from being the worst example of English selection on Indian soil. Calcutta 1993 still takes some beating, when Alastair Cook, the England captain, said his side did not deliver in the rst innings. Thats where we lost the game

Graham Gooch led out an England side with four seamers and a callow leg-spinner (Ian Salisbury) 24 hours after India had announced that they were playing three specialist spinners at Eden Gardens. The result: defeat by eight wickets. The subtext of Cooks remarks is that we can anticipate that Monty Panesar, whose stock as a spinner has risen immeasurably over the past ve days, will be in the side at Mumbai. No one knows for certain what the conditions will be like at the Wankhede Stadium, but we have a damn good idea. There is more chance of Andy Flower and Kevin Pietersen embarking on a family holiday together after the tour than England being greeted by a carpet of green grass on the pitch in Mumbai. Listening to MS Dhoni after the game, the notion that his India side would like to play the rest of the series on shirtfront

The Guardian | Tuesday 20 November 2012

51

Weather&Crossword

47

Wickets taken by left-arm spinners in Tests against England in 2012, the record against them in a calendar year

18.14

The combined average of left-arm spinners against England this year. In 2011 that average was 57.87

102.89
Virender Sehwags strike-rate in the match. The rest of the batsmen had a combined strikerate of 43.91

Weather forecast
UK and Ireland Noon
Shetland Islands
Temperature () X Wind (mph) X Showers

Summary
E Anglia, SE England, Lincolnshire, London, Cent S England Breezy with patchy rain and drizzle, but some dry spells are expected on eastern coasts. Mild, albeit with fresh southwesterly winds. Max temp 11-14C (52-57F). Tonight, further rain and drizzle. Min temp 7-10C (45-50F). E Midlands, W Midlands, Yorkshire, NE England An unsettled and windy day with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. The rain will clear eastwards in the evening. Strong southerly winds. Max temp 12-15C (54-59F). Tonight, rain easing. Min temp 6-9C (43-48F). NW England, Wales, SW England, Channel Is A wet and windy day. The rain will ease later along western coasts, but may become heavier further east. Strong south-westerly winds. Max temp 11-14C (52-57F). Tonight, rain clearing east. Min temp 5-8C (41-46F). W Isles, NW Scotland, SW Scotland Persistent and heavy rain for much of the day; turning more showery from the south-west later. Strong southerly winds, gales by evening. Max temp 1114C (52-57F). Tonight, squally showers, stormy. Min temp 3-6C (37-43F).
35 30 25

Full scoreboard
984
India First innings G Gambhir b Swann ............................................................. 45 Played back and missed one that skidded on 126min, 111 balls, 4 fours V Sehwag b Swann ............................................................ 117 Missed attempted sweep at one tossed up outside o 209min, 117 balls, 15 fours, 1 six CA Pujara not out .............................................................. 206 513min, 389 balls, 21 fours SR Tendulkar c Patel b Swann .............................................. 13 Tried to loft to leg but got under it and lobbed to midwicket 25min, 18 balls, 2 fours V Kohli b Swann................................................................... 19 Big turner found gap between bat and pad 70min, 67 balls, 3 fours Yuvraj Singh c Swann b Patel ............................................... 74 Clubbed an ugly full toss straight to long-on 184min, 151 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes *MS Dhoni b Swann ............................................................. 5 Attempted sweep diverted on to stumps via glove and thigh 38min, 37 balls R Ashwin c Prior b Pietersen ................................................. 23 Played back and got a thin edge to keeper while trying to cut 80min, 52 balls, 2 fours Z Khan c Trott b Anderson ...................................................... 7 Big swing outside o produced a thick edge to a diving point 12min, 10 balls, 1 four PP Ojha not out ..................................................................... 0 14min, 9 balls Extras (b1, lb10, nb1).......................................................... 12 Total (for 8 dec, 160 overs) ................................................ 521 Fall 134, 224, 250, 283, 413, 444, 510, 519. Did not bat UT Yadav. Bowling Anderson 27-7-75-1; Broad 24-1-97-0; Bresnan 19-2-73-0; Swann 51-8-144-5; Patel 31-3-96-1; Pietersen 8-1-25-1. England First innings *AN Cook c Sehwag b Ashwin .............................................. 41 Slower ball, tried to drive but edged for sharp catch 148min, 109 balls 7 fours NRD Compton b Ashwin ....................................................... 9 Ball spun from outside o and found gap between bat and pad 50min, 53 balls JM Anderson c Gambhir b Ojha.............................................. 2 Prodded forward and looped an inside edge to short leg 6min, 6 balls IJL Trott c Pujara b Ashwin .................................................... 0 Inside-edged a ighted delivery to short leg via the pad 4min, 4 balls KP Pietersen b Ojha ............................................................ 17 Pitched middle, helds its line, beat the outside edge 5min. 39 balls 2 fours IR Bell c Tendulkar b Ojha ...................................................... 0 Down the pitch, easy take at mid-o 1min, 1 ball SR Patel lbw b Yadav........................................................... 10 Heading down leg, angling in but looked to be missing 55min, 49 balls MJ Prior b Ojha................................................................. 48 Lost o stump after attempting to drive a tossed up ball 138min, 100 balls, 7 fours TT Bresnan c Kohli b Ojha ................................................... 19 Tossed up with extra bounce for edge 70min, 60 balls, 2 fours SCJ Broad lbw b Khan ......................................................... 25 Static on crease to ball that jagged back o a length 33min, 23 balls, 2 fours, 1 six GP Swann not out ................................................................. 3 5min, 2 balls Extras (b5, lb12) ................................................................ 17 Total (74.2 overs)............................................................. 191 Fall 26, 29, 30, 69, 69, 80, 97, 144, 187. Bowling Ashwin 27-9-80-3; Khan 15-7-23-1; Ojha 22.2-8-45-5; Yuvraj Singh 3-0-12-0; Yadav 7-2-14-1. England Second innings *AN Cook b Ojha .............................................................. 176 Caught out by low ball which hit pad and then stumps 556min, 374 balls, 21 fours NRD Compton lbw b Khan................................................... 37 Length ball which kept straight 173min, 128 balls, 2 fours IJL Trott c Dhoni b Ojha....................................................... 17 Turning delivery hit shoulder of bat and carried to keeper 47min, 43 balls, 2 fours KP Pietersen b Ojha .............................................................. 2 Missed full toss, delivery angled away to hit o stump 9min, 6 balls IR Bell lbw b Yadav ............................................................. 22 Fast delivery turned and hit front pad 66min, 59 balls, 3 fours SR Patel lbw b Yadav............................................................. 0 Caught out by yorker, trapped in front of leg stump 1min, 1 ball MJ Prior c & b Ojha ........................................................... 91 Spooned return catch to bowler o shorter delivery 238min, 225 balls, 11 fours TT Bresnan c sub b Khan ..................................................... 20 Caught at cover after failing to keep drive low 75min, 48 balls, 1 four SCJ Broad c & b Yadav........................................................... 3 Return catch o short of a length delivery 14min, 11 balls GP Swann b Ashwin ............................................................ 17 Caught out by fast, straight ball which hit middle stump 36min, 31 balls, 2 fours, 1 six JM Anderson not out ............................................................ 0 5min, 1 ball Extras (b14, lb6, w1) .......................................................... 21 Total (154.3 overs)........................................................... 406 Fall 123, 156, 160, 199, 199, 356, 365, 378, 406. Bowling Yadav 23-2-70-3; Ojha 55-16-120-4; Ashwin 43-9-111-1; Sehwag 1-0-1-0; Khan 27.3-5-59-2; Tendulkar 1-0-8-0; Yuvraj Singh 4-0-17-0. India Second innings V Sehwag c Pietersen b Swann............................................. 25 Caught on boundary after mis-hitting drive 33min, 21 balls, 1 four, 1 six CA Pujara not out ............................................................... 41 51min, 51 balls, 8 fours V Kohli not out ................................................................... 14 17min, 21 balls, 3 fours Total (for 1, 15.3 overs) ...................................................... 80 Fall 57. Did not bat SR Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, *MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Z Khan, UT Yadav, PP Ojha, G Gambhir. Bowling Anderson 2-0-10-0; Swann 7.3-1-46-1; Patel 6-0-24-0. Toss India elected to bat. Umpires Aleem Dar (Pak) and AL Hill (NZ).

11

Heavy showers Light rain Rain

11

Heavy rain Sunny Sunny intervals

In?
Monty Panesar
Pros When he plays England have their best spin duo for since Laker and Lock. Still a high-class bowler, especially to right-handers: India have ve in their top seven. Cons Strangely, England have won none of the seven Tests when Panesar and Graeme Swann have played. Would signicantly weaken Englands batting.

33
Rough

Snow showers
Mostly cloudy

984 988

13

Sleet showers

992 13 33
Rough

14

13

996

1000 1004 14

20 15 10 5

N Isles, NE Scotland, SE Scotland Unsettled and windy with outbreaks of rain, some of which could be heavy for a time. Mild for November. Strong south-easterly winds. Max temp 10-13C (50-55F). Tonight, rain clearing. Min temp 4-7C (39-45F). Northern Ireland, Ireland Heavy rain will clear east to leave sunny spells. However, there will be blustery showers to follow in the west. Strong southerly winds. Max temp 10-13C (50-55F). Tonight, showers in the west. Min temp 3-6C (37-43F).

Channel Islands

1008 1012 13
Rough

0 -5 -10 15

30

UK and Ireland Five day forecast

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Atlantic front Noon today

1016
1024 976
LA

Steven Finn
Pros Englands most dangerous wickettaker, whose development surely cannot be delayed any longer. Bowled beautifully in the ODIs in India last year. Cons England like to control the scoreboard, and Finn tends to be more expensive than Englands other seamers his career economy rate is 3.66. May not be fully t.

984
LX

1016 1016
L Cold front Warm front Occluded front Trough

984 992 1000 1008

1016

High 12 Low 4

High 13 Low 4

High 10 Low 1

High 10 Low 1

High 10 Low 2

Low X will move north. Low A will move south.

Around the world

C F Weather Ajaccio Algiers Amsdam Athens Auckland B Aires Bangkok Barcelona Beijing Belgrade Berlin Bordeaux Boston Brussels Budapest Chagen Cairo 18 17 4 13 18 24 31 18 8 12 6 14 8 7 9 8 23 64 63 39 55 64 75 88 64 46 54 43 57 46 45 48 46 73 Rain Rain Fog Sunny Fair Sunny Sunny Fair Sunny Sunny Fair Cloudy Sunny Cloudy Sunny Sunny Fair Cape Town 25 Chicago 12 Christrch 15 Corfu 18 Dakar 29 Denver 16 Dhaka 32 Dublin 14 Faro 18 Florence 13 Frankfurt 9 Funchal 19 Geneva 7 Gibraltar 19 H Kong 25 Harare 26 Helsinki 4 Innsbruck 6 77 54 59 64 84 61 90 57 64 55 48 66 45 66 77 79 39 43 Sunny Fair Cloudy Rain Sunny Fair Fair Cloudy Sunny Rain Cloudy Fair Fair Sunny Cloudy Sunny Cloudy Sunny Istanbul Joburg Kmandu Kabul Karachi Kingston L Angeles Larnaca Lima Lisbon London Madrid Majorca Malaga Malta Melbrne Mexico C Miami 15 24 21 14 31 30 18 22 22 16 11 13 19 19 19 19 20 26 59 75 70 57 88 86 64 72 72 61 52 55 66 66 66 66 68 79 Fair Sunny Sunny Sunny Fair Fair Fair Sunny Cloudy Fair Fair Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Cloudy Milan Mombasa Montreal Moscow Mumbai Munich N Orleans Nairobi Naples New Delhi New York Nice Oporto Oslo Paris Perth Prague Reykjavik 9 30 4 -1 31 0 18 23 18 25 8 16 15 3 12 24 7 -1 48 86 39 30 88 32 64 73 64 77 46 61 59 37 54 75 45 30 Fair Cloudy Sunny Mist Fair Fog Sunny Cloudy Cloudy Fair Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Fair Cloudy Fair Mist Sunny Rio de J Rome Shanghai Singapore St Pburg Stockhm Strasbg Sydney Tel Aviv 24 17 16 28 4 6 6 18 24 75 63 61 82 39 43 43 64 75 Sunny Sunny Sunny Fair Cloudy Sunny Fog Drizzle Fair Tenerife Tokyo Toronto Vancouvr Venice Vienna Warsaw Washton Wellton 24 8 10 9 12 6 6 11 16 75 46 50 48 54 43 43 52 61 Fair Cloudy Sunny Showers Cloudy Fog Mist Cloudy Cloudy

Eoin Morgan
Pros A wonderful player of spin in one-day cricket who plays with the controlled aggression that was missing from Englands middle order at Ahmedabad. Cons Had a terrible time in Dubai and Abu Dhabi last winter and has not yet worked out how to adapt his game for Test cricket.

Sun & Moon

Sun rises Sun sets Moon rises Moon sets Full Moon 0727 1605 1231 2347 28 November

Guardian cryptic crossword

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Across
1 Aftershave contracts boxer thats tough (6) 5 See 4 9 Twisted end of cap fresh sardine packaging (8) 10 Dried fruit shapes (6) 11 Picked stu thats green and returned bags? (4) 12 Two records, one after the other (6,4) 13 Some strange Nevada city (6) 14,25 Casting TV hit as a weary one gets number (8,2,6) 16 Aldi promotions initially see returns after Tesco misses out to defectors (8) 19 Passion excuse, missing start to party (6) 21 Flo-Jo, ignoring judge, died ugly side of runners eld? (5,5) 23 Hunting call originally sets o hounds onslaught (4) 24 Exposed rider to run with fanatical backing (6) 25 See 14 26 One cuts o foxtrot a losing sequence overturned (8) 27 Second date to be arranged unknown still (6)

10

11

12

Jonny Bairstow
Pros The future of England cricket, Bairstow is intrepid and hugely talented. Played wonderfully in his last Test, against South Africa at Lords, and made runs in the warm-ups. Cons At times in his short ODI career Bairstow has looked lost against spin, particularly in Asia. A bad series could do long-term damage to a rare and precious talent.

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

pitches, where batsmen prevail, seems wide of the mark. That it is what India, under Sunil Gavaskars captaincy, did on Englands 198182 tour. Such a strategy led to a 1-0 India victory and one of the most boring series in living memory. Such thinking is now outmoded. The wicket [in Ahmedabad] got slower and slower and there was not enough bounce, said Dhoni. There was not enough turn and bounce and the contribution of our faster bowlers was very important. What we want to see is the wicket turning from the start, even if that means the match ending in three-and-a-half or four days. That would take the toss out of the equation. There is an obvious logic to Dhonis thinking. At Ahmedabad the toss was important; batting was at its easiest on the rst day. Dhoni thinks he has the stronger

of the two sides and therefore he wants to ensure that good fortune at the toss does not dictate the outcome of the three remaining Tests. Hence he would like the pitches to turn from the start as that would reduce the signicance of the toss. What Dhoni wants very often happens in India. Indias captain was also asked about the balance of the England bowling attack. His response was interesting and unusual normally they say thats entirely a matter for them. Instead he said: The three seamers are their strength and they backed their strength. It was the right decision. It was hard to tell whether he was trying to be helpful to his young opposite number or just plain mischievous. My suspicions are that Dhoni may well be a highly accomplished poker player. There is no doubt that he holds all the cards at the moment.

26

27

No 25,798 set by Tramp

3 Snack done perfectly that is providing sandwich for son (7) 4,5across Composition of Page/Plant disc in an artwork (9,8) 5 Balls trapped in underwear they split hairs (7) 6 Urge forward, one to mark short footballer (5) 7 yet unusually hurt tackling nothing? (4,3) 8 Want skinny rat? Watch catcher, ultimately, six feet under collecting equipment for sewer (6,3,6) 15 Sugar maybe taking one part of 7 tree (9) 17 Not friendly while one cuts nutritional description of water (7) 18 After change of centre spread, becomes more bare (7) 20 Restricted part of street magicians vanishing trick essentially, around America (3,4) 22 See 2
Solution No. 25,797

Down
Stuck? For help call 0906 751 0038 or text GUARDIANC followed by a space, the day and date the crossword appeared another space and the CLUE reference to 85010 (e.g GUARDIANC Monday12 Across1). Calls cost 77p per minute from a BT Landline. Calls from other networks may vary and mobiles will be considerably higher. Texts cost 50p per clue plus standard network charges. Service supplied by ATS. Call 0844 836 9769 for customer service (charged at local rate, 2p per min from a BT landline). Want more? Access over 4,000 archive puzzles at guardian.co.uk/crossword. Buy the Guardian Cryptic Setters series (4 books) for only 20 inc UK p&p (save 7.96). Visit guardianbooks.co.uk or call 0330 333 6846.

2,22 So a heartless Led Zeppelin IV tours awful will you attend? (8,3,4,5)

J E I NN E L K L E I C N MA D E A L G R E A I C I R C E F OG E O A UN I O R N

S M L T R A F A L A D S T E R TW U A S OU T S QU A U E P T S E T P L P O E L E S P E R F A O M Y C H A S T I I I R I N J A C K L I G L S E

T R U E S

U C G A R L O I R P E R E S C A Z A V N E C T R S E R I I V E N E G

Tuesday 20.11.12

Carroll fires another blank and is taken off as West Ham are held by Stoke
Football, page 47

guardian.co.uk/sport

Richard Williams Major reason for putters to go belly up Page 47

Di Matteo considers dropping Torres for Chelseas showdown in Turin

Sturridge may start up front at Juventus Manager admits players are frustrated
Dominic Field Turin
Roberto Di Matteo insists Chelsea remain united and has urged his players to believe in their capabilities as he gives serious consideration to dropping Fernando Torres for tonights critical Champions League match at Juventus. The holders go into the group game in Italy knowing victory would propel them into the knockout phase, but with a recent sequence of two wins in seven having drained momentum from their campaign. There were angry scenes in the dressing room after Saturdays loss at West Bromwich Albion, players venting their frustration at the recent underachievement, with all painfully aware that defeat to the Serie A champions would leave them on the verge of becoming the rst defending champions to fail at the group stage. Di Matteo retains the support of his players, with Gary Cahill claiming the squad were all behind him, and hes denitely the right man for the job. Yet the Italian has some dicult choices to make in terms of his selection, principal among them who starts up front. Torres has started every game for which he has been available this season, but has scored only once since the rst week in October and was peripheral at the Hawthorns. Dropping the 50m British record signing would still constitute a considerable risk, particularly given the hierarchys potential reaction should it backre and Chelsea lose, but Di Matteo is conscious that, in the absence of experienced players such as Frank Lampard and John Terry, something has to be done to shrug his team out of their lethargy. Ive always said that we have two strikers in our team, Fernando and Daniel Sturridge, said the manager. Theyre both t and Ill have to see how were going to go tomorrow. I will do whatever I believe is best for this game. Chelsea are light in terms of options at centre-forward and are expected to pursue their interest in the Atltico Madrid forward Radamel Falcao in the midwinter window. It would take a fee similar to that spent on Torres to secure the Colombian, and any move would have implications for the two forwards currently at the club. Sturridge, whose opportunities have been limited, has been the subject of a further inquiry from Liverpool, the club who had tried to secure him back in August, and could yet depart in the new year. Di Matteo, who should welcome back Ashley Cole from a hamstring injury and is considering David Luizs involvement, remains optimistic his side can rally despite recent sluggish form. The players need to have belief in themselves, and thats the most important aspect, said the manager. We work together and, at

Cook holds his hands up and warns changes are on the way
Vic Marks Ahmedabad
Alastair Cook, who had batted so heroically in his rst match as Englands ocial captain, oered no excuses after his side slumped to a nine-wicket defeat in the rst Test against India but hinted there would be changes ahead of Fridays second Test in Mumbai. Having hit a superb 168 not out on Sunday, Englishmen abroad dared to hope that Cook and Matt Prior might conduct a great escape. But within the rst hour both were dismissed by the left-arm-spinner, Pragyan Ojha, and there was only token resistance from the tail. India were left with just 77 runs for victory and these were knocked o with some disdain in 15.3 overs with a urry of crisp strokes from the man of the match, Cheteshwar Pujara. We were prepared but we didnt deliver, Cook, who made 176, said while identifying the paltry rst-innings score of 191 as the main cause of the defeat. As captains do, he expressed condence in his players even though Englands four middle-order batsmen contributed only 68 runs in the match. We have a lot of quality players with good records, who Cheteshwar Pujara, the man of the match, helped polish o the 77 runs India required for victory in the rst Test have scored 100s. But the contribution from the middle order was not enough. Everyone will have to look at themselves. The lads who have not performed will be disappointed but they will bounce back. Cook hinted that there would be changes for the second Test. Clearly we will look at selection. There were some intelligent men involved in that process. We thought we got it right here but the result showed we might have got it wrong. The middle-order batting is an obvious source of concern. But Englands pacemen, who have been so highly regarded, also underperformed, albeit on an extremely sluggish pitch. Of these, Jimmy Anderson was the solitary wicket-taker he dismissed tailender Zaheer Khan while the Indian fast bowlers, singled out for special praise by their captain, MS Dhoni, took six wickets in the match. It is widely anticipated that Monty Panesar will be recalled by England on a pitch expected to oer assistance to spinners in Mumbai. One change is certain. As arranged before the start of the tour Ian Bell is ying home for the birth of his rst child and will miss the second Test. He did not take to the eld on Monday so that he could catch an early ight from Ahmedabad. Mike Selvey, page 50

Chelseas out-of-form striker Fernando Torres may prove the fall guy as his manager aims to transform the clubs fortunes Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty

the moment, were all in it together and believe we have a good group, a good team, and are pulling together. We believe we can get a positive result. There was obviously frustration after the result on Saturday, and thats normal when things dont go your way. We owe ourselves a good performance. But weve proven many times before that, when it

counts, our players can be counted upon. We know itll be difficult, but theyre under pressure as well to win this game. We can get a win or a draw and will be OK. Juve need to win the match. Its quite clear this is a game where we have to be focused. Its almost a knockout game a few months early, and nobody wants to become the rst holders to be knocked out at this point. There is pressure on the managers shoulders already, only six months after he led this team to their rst European Cup, with the hierarchy anxious that the recent dip is not prolonged. The club chairman,

Bruce Buck, and the chief executive, Ron Gourlay, are due to y to Italy today, the technical director Michael Emenalo having accompanied the squad to Turin, with the players seeking to make amends. In the short space of time Ive been here, losing games is not acceptable, said Cahill. When you do lose people are disappointed, hurt and upset, so Saturdays reaction [in the dressing room] was a positive thing. Sometimes things need to be said. Id be worried if people just got showered and then got on the bus. Richard Williams on Juve, page 49

Cost of Olympic Stadium to reach 630m if West Ham move in

Owen Gibson
If West Ham United are chosen to move into the Olympic Stadium at a London Legacy Development Corporation board meeting next month, the now iconic stadium is likely to have cost at least 630m by the time it reopens in 2015 or 2016. The club believes its tenancy bid remains the only viable solution to secure the long-term health of the Olympic Park and a future free of public subsidy. But some who will make the decision believe that, as the costs continue to spiral, it would be better to press ahead with the quicker, cheaper option of re-opening it as a multi-use stadium without football. The board remains split and will discuss at a meeting next month whether to press ahead with a full-scale conversion that would install retractable seats, a cantilevered roof and permanent hospitality facilities at a cost approaching 200m. Even at the most conservative estimate the conversion budget would be 160m including 25m of contingency. But as contractors have yet to be appointed and the work is not fully costed, the overall cost could end up being 200m. Added to that are the cost of previous failed tender processes, lost revenue while the gates are shut and the 429m cost of building the stadium in the rst place. West Ham delivered a best and nal oer on Friday that is believed to represent an improvement on the 10m it originally put on the table, as well as rent of 2.5m a year and a claimed 6m-a-year uplift for the LLDC from increased revenue from naming rights and catering. Sources close to the negotiations have Dennis Hone, the chief executive of the LLDC, said that, were West Ham chosen, the stadium would not open until 2016 disputed those gures and also point out that the LLDC is liable for around 2.5m in annual match-day costs if West Ham move in. Dennis Hone, the LLDC chief executive, has admitted it could be August 2016 before the rst competitive match is played in the stadium. Insiders now believe the stadium could be reopened for less than the 38m put aside by the LLDC from the original 9.3bn public funding package if the decision were taken to drop West Ham and press ahead with an alternative option to appoint a stadium operator that could co-ordinate a programme of athletics, concerts and other sports. Under that scenario the stadium could open by spring 2014. But the majority of the board, including the London Mayor Boris Johnson, is understood still to favour the West Ham option. The former sports minister Richard Caborn said the ongoing saga was the one serious mistake in the run-up to the Games. The option of building a stadium suitable for Premier League football and athletics was closed off in 2007. The Olympics were a fantastic success but this is the one area where we got it wrong. I put the argument for a multi-sport stadium that would be like the Stade de France but 10 to 15 years on and I was shouted down, said Caborn. Stadium shambles, page 46