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Boris Johnson invokes Thatcher spirit with greed is good speech U-turn could result in plain packaging on cigarettes by 2015 NHS to launch Tripadvisor-style website Missing: hard drive containing Bitcoins worth 4m in Newport landfill site Prime minister's questions: Mickey Fab gives it plenty of lip Happiness study finds that UK is passing point of peak life satisfaction Carole Waugh: how a secret life led her into the path of a murderous conman
Boris Johnson invokes Thatcher spirit with greed is good speech

London mayor calls for return of selective schools in bid for Tory right's support
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.47 GMT Jump to comments ()
Boris Johnson: 'Some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses.' Photograph: Julian Makey/Rex Features
Boris Johnson has launched a bold bid to claim the mantle of Margaret Thatcher by declaring that inequality is essential to fostering "the spirit of envy" and hailed greed as a "valuable spur to economic activity". In an attempt to shore up his support on the Tory right, as he positions himself as the natural successor to David Cameron, the London mayor called for the "Gordon Gekkos of London" to display their greed to promote economic growth. Delivering the annual Margaret Thatcher lecture, Johnson also called for the return of a form of grammar schools. He qualified his unabashed admiration for the "hedge fund kings" by saying they should do more to help poorer people who have suffered a real fall in income in recent years. But he moved to forge his own brand of Conservatism, which contrasts with the early modernising of the prime minister, by claiming that it was "futile" to try to end inequality. In highly provocative remarks, Johnson mocked the 16% "of our species" with an IQ below 85 as he called for more to be done to help the 2% of the population who have an IQ above 130. "Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85 while about 2% " he said as he departed from the text of his speech to ask whether anyone in his City audience had a low IQ. To muted laughter he asked: "Over 16% anyone? Put up your hands." He then resumed his speech to talk about the 2% who have an IQ above 130. Johnson then told the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, which helped lay the basis for Thatcherism in the 1970s: "The harder you shake the pack the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top." Johnson moved to associate himself with what were seen as the excesses of 1980s Thatcherism as he said: "I stress I don't believe that economic equality is possible; indeed some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity." He made clear, however, that Thatcherism needed to be updated for the 21st century. "I hope there is no return to the spirit of loadsamoney heartlessness figuratively riffling banknotes under the noses of the homeless and I hope that this time the Gordon Gekkos of London are conspicuous not just for their greed, valid motivator though greed may be for economic progress, as for what they give and do for the rest of the population, many of whom have experienced real falls in their incomes over the last five years." Johnson, who is assessing when to return to Westminster to ensure he is in a strong place to challenge for the Conservative leadership when the prime minister stands down, also reached out to the Tory right by: Calling for a form of grammar school to be revived as he spoke of the need for academic selection, which he renamed as "academic competition". He also called for the return of the assisted places scheme, abolished by Labour in 1997, in which the state paid private school fees for gifted children from less affluent backgrounds. Warning that the accession of Romania to the EU means that London can do nothing to stop the "entire population of Transylvania" from pitching their tents in Marble Arch. Calling for his pet project, a new airport in the Thames Estuary, to be named the Margaret Thatcher International Airport. On the politically sensitive issue of inequality Johnson warned that the growing competition Britain faced in a globalised economy meant that inequality would deepen. He said: "No one can ignore the harshness of that
competition, or the inequality that it inevitably accentuates, and I am afraid that violent economic centrifuge is operating on human beings who are already very far from equal in raw ability, if not spiritual worth." Johnson called for the rich to be hailed for their contribution to paying for public services as he said that the top 1% of earners contribute 30% of income tax. "That is an awful lot of schools and roads and hospitals that are being paid for by the super-rich. So why, I asked innocently, are they so despicable in the eyes of all decent British people? Surely they should be hailed like the Stakhanovites of Stalin's Russia, who half-killed themselves, in the name of the people, by mining record tonnages of coal?" The mayor added: "It seems to me that though it would be wrong to persecute the rich, and madness to try and stifle wealth creation, and futile to stamp out inequality, we should only tolerate this wealth gap on two conditions. One, that we help those who genuinely cannot compete; and two, that we provide opportunity for those who can." On Europe, he said it was "time we sorted out the working time directive and time we generally persuaded the Eurocrats to stop trying to tell us what to do". Johnson said Thatcher would have "comfortably seen off Salmond" by arguing that Scottish independence would have been "the demolition of Britain lopping the top off the most successful political union in history". But she would also recognise "that England has been so far short-changed by devolution" and give the cities "more powers to raise locally the taxes they spend locally [and] give the politicians an incentive to go for policies that promote growth". He added: "We may not have many gunboats any more, but we hardly need them, because we are already fulfilling our destiny as the soft power capital of the world and that is thanks to a woman who knew all about soft power and the deep Freudian terror that every man has for the inner recesses of a handbag."
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U-turn could result in plain packaging on cigarettes by 2015

Ministers set to be given power to introduce policy after lobbying by medical organisations, health experts and campaigners
Denis Campbell and Patrick Wintour The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.13 GMT Jump to comments ()
Medical organisations and health experts have been lobbying to ensure that cigarette packets are stripped of their colourful packaging. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA
Cigarettes could be sold only in plain packets after a government U-turn on a major public health policy that previously appeared to have been dropped. In a surprise move the coalition is set to give ministers the power to introduce the policy, although actual implementation will be subject to an evidence review. The latest volte face came after a cross party group of peers tabled amendments to the children and families bill that would have introduced standardised packaging. The group, led by Lord Faulkner, were confident of winning the vote in the Lords since they had prestigious medical support in the Lords for the measure. The evidence review, which will be led by Sir Cyril Chantler, a distinguished doctor, academic and NHS administrator, will report by the end of March. Subject to its findings, plain packaging could be in force before the 2015 general election. The move on cigarette packaging is the third time in a week that ministers have sought to distance themselves from big business. On Monday the government ended years of resistance and agreed to a cap on payday loans, and in the past few days has also agreed to stricter rules on the behaviour of banks. Medical organisations, public health experts and anti-smoking campaigners have been lobbying the government for several years to ensure that cigarette packets are stripped of their colourful packaging, which research shows helps encourage children to start smoking. Sources stressed that the evidence review was needed to help minimise the threat of legal action by the tobacco industry against subsequent implementation of the policy. In July the health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that ministers had decided to hold off introducing plain, or standardised, packaging until the evidence from Australia, which last December became the first country to take such action, had been evaluated. That was widely seen as ministers jettisoning the policy, despite strong public backing among supporters of all three main parties. The cross-party amendment had been tabled by Faulkner, a Labour peer, Lady Tyler, a Lib Dem, Lady Finlay a cross-bencher and Lord McColl, a Tory. Faulkner said: "Tobacco packaging is the last way in which the tobacco industry can advertise and market its lethal products; we have now stopped all conventional advertising and the retail display ban will come into in full effect in 2015. The industry likes to pretend that packaging is not advertising, but in fact it is very carefully designed to appeal to its target markets." But other insiders say that opposition to the move, which tobacco companies fear could seriously affect sales, had
faded away and that David Cameron who in July was accused of putting the interests of big business ahead of those of people's health was not opposed to it. It is understood that Downing Street's opposition to the measure started to fade as it saw the extent to which bad publicity was causing political damage, as well as undermining its claims to be concerned with public health. Well-placed sources said it was not 100% certain that plain packaging would definitely come into force as a result of the primary legislation the government now plans, but that there was "a momentum to do it". The coalition's amendment is not simply a ploy to head off a likely defeat for ministers when the existing amendment is voted on in early to mid-December, sources insisted. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, welcomed the move. "When the government said it wasn't ready to make a decision on standardised packaging of cigarettes the tobacco industry thought it had killed it stone dead. The government is to be congratulated for listening to parliamentarians from across the political spectrum in both the Commons and the Lords, and making the right decision, ignoring the industry and going ahead," she said. Alex Salmond's Scottish government plans to introduce plain packaging in 2014-15, while the Republic of Ireland has also begun the process of also following Australia's lead. Labour demanded that ministers push ahead with the policy without delay. "We need immediate legislation for standard cigarette packaging, not another review. The government needs to stand up to the tobacco industry's vested interests", said Luciana Berger, the shadow public health minister. "The evidence to support standardised packaging is clear. The consensus is overwhelming. We don't need any further delay while 570 children are lighting up for the first time every day," she added. Mark Littlewood, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: "This could potentially be a very disappointing U-turn by the government. "Plain packaging will have a negligible impact on health, will boost the black market, and do enormous harm to small businesses. "In the words of David Cameron, let's treat adults like adults and give them more responsibility over their own lives. "It's about time the government looked towards education rather than even heavier regulation of a legal product enjoyed by millions of ordinary consumers."
NHS to launch Tripadvisor-style website
Following a three month trial involving 20 hospital trusts, the scheme is to be rolled out nationally next year
Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
Tim Kelsey: NHS has to innovate and create a 24/7 modern consumer health service that is more open and transparent.
The NHS is to establish a patient feedback website, styled after the popular travel site TripAdvisor, to allow patients to post complaints online including those containing potentially derogatory comments about medical staff and show hospitals' responses to them in real time. In an interview with the Guardian, Tim Kelsey, the NHS director in charge of patients and information, said a lowkey three-month trial involving 2o hospital trusts on the Care Connect website had seen complaints and reviews logged, mapped and dealt with, night and day, in London and the north-east. The scheme will be rolled out nationally next year. Kelsey pointed out that serious issues had already been tackled using the system highlighting one instance when an elderly patient recovering from a cancer operation had been "left without morphine for a few hours something she needed every four to five minutes". Her daughter posted on the website that "the surgeon came into the room and not only berated the staff again but said 'this unit is really going downhill'. The whole experience is surely unacceptable in this day and age." Kelsey said that this was not about "naming and shaming" but instead allowed the NHS trust in question St Helier in south London to contact the patient within hours of the complaint, before escalating it to the patient liaison service within 48 hours. "It's what any consumer of health services would expect," he said. The news of the system's planned roll-out came as the Patients Association charity published its annual study highlighting stories from patients and their families. The report said too many parts of the NHS had "lost their way", with a lack of basic care in hospitals, and the NHS often forgetting that "care and compassion should be at the heart of what staff do". Kelsey said that by embracing "openness" the NHS would improve. He said the idea came from the United States, where cities such as Boston, New York and Miami have pioneered a system of public feedback to reshape public services. "Local authorities have invited the public to tell them about services. People can tweet, send in pictures. In the US 90,000 citizens do this every day about their trash not being delivered and the state of roads. "This allows local authorities to hold providers of services to account and it's transforming services. The last mayor
of New York, Michael Bloomberg, said that he thought it was a more legitimate form of citizen engagement than democracy itself". The system allows the NHS to deal "intelligently" with patients, often in surprising ways, Kelsey said. "This has gone really quite well. So we have taken the decision to roll it out nationally next year" He said this was "creating a 24/7 modern consumer health service". The NHS had to innovate in terms of patient safety, especially since the Francis inquiry into the appalling care at Mid Staffs hospital concluded that the health service must become more open and transparent and "embody a duty of candour". While the public can access Care Connect online, by text, phone, Twitter and Facebook, their complaints and reviews are first assessed by case handlers who moderate the posts for privacy and, if out of hours, they contact the hospital to ensure the issue is taken up immediately. However, posts on social media cannot be moderated possibly exposing NHS staff to libel and threatening to breach patient confidentiality. "You cannot screen this stuff out on Twitter or even on Facebook which can see people repost stuff," said Phil Booth of privacy campaigners medConfidential. "I am not sure they have thought this through." Comments on the site last night showed that at a London hospital vulnerable patients were being "smeared and laughed at" by staff; that a routine blood test left a patient with a lump the size of a tennis ball at Guy's hospital; in Essex a woman complained that she waited two months for contraception; and in Surrey an alleged failure to spot an ecotopic pregnancy left a woman infertile. The British Medical Association had concerns that comments would be patrolled effectively. A spokesman said: "It's important that comments that are defamatory, or which threaten the confidentiality of other patients, are screened out and consideration is given to how patients might interact with the service using social media." Jane Barnacle, Kelsey's deputy, admitted that it was difficult to police complaints made on Twitter and Facebook. "The law does apply to social media so people would have to be careful." The system was designed to "allow the public to choose the privacy level that suits them. If they wish to remain anonymous they can, or they can choose to have the details of their problem made public, as long as it passes the moderation process, either with or without their name published." The website has cost 150,000 to set up. The plan is to bring in a private company eventually to run the service. The NHS deals with over 1 million patients every 36 hours, but officials are confident that it can handle the volumes of complaints.
Missing: hard drive containing Bitcoins worth 4m in Newport landfill site

A digital 'wallet' containing 7,500 Bitcoins that James Howells generated on his laptop is buried under four feet of rubbish
Alex Hern, technology reporter The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.00 GMT Jump to comments ()
The 7,500 Bitcoins on the hard drive were worth around 500,000 when it was thrown in the rubbish. Since then, the value has soared. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Buried somewhere under four feet of mud and rubbish, in the Docksway landfill site near Newport, Wales, in a space about the size of a football pitch is a computer hard drive worth more than 4m. It belonged to James Howells, who threw it out when he was clearing up his desk in mid-summer and discovered the part, rescued from a defunct Dell laptop. He found it in a drawer and put it in a bin. And then last Friday he realised that it held a digital wallet with 7,500 Bitcoins created for almost nothing in 2009 and then worth about the same. "You know when you put something in the bin, and in your head, say to yourself 'that's a bad idea'? I really did have that," Howells, who works in IT, told the Guardian. "I don't have an exact date, the only time period I can give and I've been racking my own brains is between 20 June and 10 August. Probably mid-July". At the time he obliviously threw them away, the 7,500 Bitcoins on the hard-drive were worth around 500,000. Since then, the cryptocurrency's value has soared, passing $1,000 on Wednesday afternoon.
In 2009, a few months after Bitcoin's launch, it was comparatively easy to 'mine' the digital currency, effectively creating money by computing. Photograph: Rick Bowmer/AP
Although Bitcoins have recently become part of the zeitgeist with Virgin saying it will accept the currency for its Virgin Galactic flights, and central bankers considering its position in finance seriously Howells generated his in early 2009, when the currency was only known in tech circles. At that time, a few months after its launch, it was comparatively easy to "mine" the digital currency, effectively creating money by computing: Howells ran a program on his laptop for a week to generate his stash. Nowadays, doing the same would require enormously expensive computing power. That lost hard drive, though, contains the cryptographic "private key" that is needed to be able to access and spend the Bitcoins; without it, the "money" is lost forever. And Howells didn't have a backup. Howells stopped mining after a week because his girlfriend complained that the laptop was getting too noisy and hot while it ran the programs to solve the complex mathematical problems needed to create new Bitcoins. In 2010, the Dell XPS N1710 broke after he accidentally tipped lemonade on it, so he dismantled it for parts. Most were thrown away or sold, but he kept the hard drive in a desk drawer for the next three years until that fateful summer day when he had the clearout. Howells didn't realise his mistake until Friday. Since then, he said, "I've searched high and low. I've tried to retrieve files from all of my USB sticks, from all of my hard drives. I've tried everything just in case I had a backup file, or had copied it by accident. And nothing." He even went down to the landfill site itself. "I had a word with one of the guys down there, explained the situation. And he actually took me out in his truck to where the landfill site is, the current ditch they're working on. It's about the size of a football field, and he said something from three or four months ago would be about three or four feet down." After he stopped mining Bitcoins in 2009, Howells hadn't given the currency much thought. "I hadn't kept up on Bitcoin, I'd been distracted. I'd had a couple of kids since then, I'd been doing the house up, and forgot about it until it was in the news again." Howells considered retrieving the hard drive himself, but was told that "even for the police to find something, they need a team of 15 guys, two diggers, and all the personal protection equipment. So for me to fund that, it's not possible without the guarantee of money at the end." As such, he's resigned to never getting the virtual money back. "There's a pot of gold there for someone I'm even thinking of registering www.returnmybitcoin.com. It's available," he said. He has also set up a Bitcoin wallet for donations aimed at recovering the hard drive. "If they were to offer me a share, fair enough," he said. "If they were to go out and find it for themselves it's my mistake throwing the hard drive out, at the end of the day." A spokeswoman from Newport council emphasised that any treasure hunters turning up to the landfill site wouldn't be allowed in, but "obviously, if it was easily retrieved, we'd return it." "I'm at the point where it's either laugh about it or cry about it," Howells says. "Why aren't I out there with a shovel now? I think I'm just resigned to never being able to find it." Nonetheless, he continues to believe, as he did four years ago, that Bitcoin is the future of money. "I still think it's
going to go higher. I just think it's the next step of the internet, which is why I mined it in the first place. When I first came across it, I knew straight away. We had everything else at the time; Google, Facebook, they were already the market leaders in their areas. The only thing that was missing was an internet money." Bitcoin: what you need to know
Prime minister's questions: Mickey Fab gives it plenty of lip

Michael Fabricant looked like a cross between one of the Village People and the evildoer who ties the heiress to the railroad track
Simon Hoggart The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.21 GMT
David Cameron and the Conservative front bench listen to Ed MIliband at prime minister's questions. Photograph: PA
Prime minister's questions was, as usual, as revealing of useful information as a cuneiform tablet written on mud. Still, it had its moments. For example, we learned that David Cameron really suspects that he cannot grow a moustache. (It is his smooth skin that makes my colleague Steve Bell draw him topped with a condom.) Tory MP George Freeman asked about the Movember prostate cancer campaign. Cameron praised the "magnificent growth" on his upper lip, claiming that other Tories now looked like "banditos". Suddenly we were in a spaghetti western, For A Few Dollars More, perhaps theme music for the energy companies. The prime minister added, "this is not something I am fully capable of myself, so I am envious". Few men would willingly admit that. And there, behind him, as if to mock this modesty, was Michael Fabricant, wearing a huge fake black moustache, looking like a cross between one of the Village People and the evildoer who ties the heiress to the railroad track. All we needed was a few cigarillos and stripy ponchos. It was more entertaining than the rest of the session. Maybe the
we needed was a few cigarillos and stripy ponchos. It was more entertaining than the rest of the session. Maybe the party leaders have learned that the public really does dislike name-calling and abuse, which would be a shame. PMQs without name-calling and abuse would be like rugby without tackling; it isn't pretty, but it is the point of the game. For example, the best joke of the exchange with Ed Miliband was not just dreadful, but dreadfully dreadful. A threeyear-old child would eschew it. If you found it in your cracker, you would send the lot back to Taiwan. It began when Ed Miliband asked about the coalition's plans to cap payday loan rates, when it wouldn't do the same for energy prices. How was it that the latter meant living in a Marxist universe, while the other was a solemn duty of government? The prime minister replied that he had listened carefully to the Labour leader on Desert Island Discs. "He is no longer a follower of Marx, he is loving Engels instead!" This was a reference, I suppose, to Angels, the song which was one of Miliband's selections. But it doesn't make a point. It's not even a proper pun. "Ah, uh, ah!" remarked the baffled opposition leader. He added: "You'd think he'd spend his time trying to be prime minister." But of course Cameron didn't invent the "joke". It was the work of some understrapper who is, even now, probably hanging from his thumbs in a dungeon listening to Michael Fabricant's greatest speeches on a continuous loop. Shortly afterwards Miliband accused the coalition of allowing some 31,000 old people to die last winter as a result of the cold and energy prices. Cameron responded that 36,500 had died while Miliband was energy secretary. To wave one shroud might be thought tasteless; to brandish 67,500 at once seems ghoulish.
Happiness study finds that UK is passing point of peak life satisfaction

Economists say that per capita incomes above UK's adjusted level of $37,000 make people less contented
Larry Elliott, economics editor The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.00 GMT Jump to comments ()
'As countries get richer, higher levels of GDP lead to higher aspiration people see wealth and opportunity around them and aspire to having more.' Photograph: Alamy
The latest addition to the burgeoning field of "happiness economics" has a sobering message for Britain: this is as good as it gets. For years, economists have debated if there is a cut-off point beyond which growth adds nothing to wellbeing. Now in a study published on Thursday, the day that official figures show the fastest growth for three years two economists have gone a step further and estimated that "sweet spot" with some precision. And the UK has reached it. According to Eugenio Proto of Warwick University and Aldo Rustichini of University of Minnesota, life satisfaction peaks when incomes per head adjusted so that money buys the same basket of goods and services worldwide reach $36,000 (22,000) a year. Per capita incomes in the UK on this basis are $37,000. Beyond this point, they say, we get richer but less contented. Proto said: "Our new analysis has one very surprising finding which has not been reported before that life satisfaction appears to dip beyond a certain level of wealth. In our study we see evidence that this is down to changes in the aspiration levels of people living in the richest countries. "As countries get richer, higher levels of GDP lead to higher aspiration. There is a sense of keeping up with the Joneses as people see wealth and opportunity all around them and aspire to having more. But this aspiration gap the difference between actual income and the income we would like eats away at life satisfaction levels. "In other words, what we aspire to becomes a moving target and one which moves away faster in the richest countries, causing the dip in happiness we see in our analysis." Using a mixture of survey evidence and GDP data, the study found a strong link between rising incomes and happiness for poor countries. Nations with a GDP per head below $6,700 were 12% less likely to report the highest level of life satisfaction than countries with a figure of about $18,000. But at about $20,000 GDP per capita, the link becomes less obvious, with people only 2% less likely to attain the highest levels of life satisfaction than in countries with the highest average incomes ($54,000). After $36,000, happiness falls slightly. The study used a combination of survey evidence, adjusted to reflect cultural differences, and GDP data to judge if higher incomes make people happier. Some economists are sceptical about this approach, saying life satisfaction does rise as incomes go up. Philip Booth, editorial director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: "There are well-known problems in using happiness data in studies such as these, though the most comprehensive evidence suggests wellbeing does continue to rise with income. "However, there are simple solutions if people feel happier on lower incomes they can work less or they can migrate from countries such as the US to countries such as Greece or South Korea. Neither of these things seem to be happening."
happening."
Carole Waugh: how a secret life led her into the path of a murderous conman
She thought Rakesh Bhayani was 'one of the good guys'. But he was a dangerous fantasist who killed her for her money
Alexandra Topping The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.12 GMT
Carole Waugh's body was found in a holdall in a lock-up garage in New Malden, south London. Photograph: Rex
From the outside, Carole Waugh had an enviable life. Living in a luxury 650,000 flat in central London, the 49year-old was fond of her Cartier jewellery and liked to tell people about her close links to the Gaddafi family, whom she claimed to have met while working as an accounts clerk in Libya. But her wealth made her a target for the "dirty rotten scoundrel" Rakesh Bhayani, the 41-year-old conman who was found guilty on Wednesday at the Old Bailey of her murder, after killing her in her central London flat with a single stab to the neck. Bhayani's sidekick, Nicholas Kutner was found not guilty of Waugh's murder but guilty of perverting the course of justice by helping to cover up the killing. Bhayani and Kutner had both admitted conspiracy to defraud. Waugh's body was found in August last year zipped up in a holdall in the boot of a car in New Malden, south London, four months after she first disappeared. Police investigating her death discovered a life she kept secret: single and somewhat lonely, she had worked as a part-time escort, calling herself PoshTottyFun.
It was this that put her in the path of the "practised and extremely competent liar" who stabbed her and hid her body before systematically emptying her bank accounts. "Carole Waugh's murder was the senseless killing of a woman who put her trust in people she thought were her friends," said Detective Chief Inspector Justin Davies of the homicide and major crime command. "Bhayani is a confidence trickster who murdered her with the sole intention of stripping her assets and the belongings she had worked hard for." Waugh, it appeared, had started to become difficult, demanding that Bhayani returned more than 40,000 he owed her. On the night of the 16-17 April 2012, he killed her in her Marylebone flat, later recruiting a homeless man to buy "the biggest holdall you can find" in order to hide her lifeless body. Plans to burn Waugh's body in the Cotswolds were abandoned, and it was found in a lock-up garage in New Maldon on 2 August last year. After her death, Bhayani and Kutner had wasted no time "spending her money, using it to buy gold, use prostitutes and live a champagne lifestyle", said Davies, adding: "I hope today's conviction and subsequent jail sentence brings some solace to Carole's family." Waugh's family described her as loving, proud and fun-loving. Partial to luxury goods, somewhat preoccupied with money, she was single and independent, and had lived on her own since moving from her home village in County Durham in her early 20s. On AdultWork.com she described herself as "not a professional but an enthusiastic amateur" who could give "the genuine girlfriend experience" and was interested in "good clean adult fun". It was through one such site that she met Bhayani, a married father of two with a dangerously out-of-control gambling addiction. She lent him 40,000 in February 2011 and paid him 12,000 to receive treatment for his gambling. When he was arrested for fraud, she wrote in a reference that he was "one of the good guys", and visited him in prison. Clearly, she had thought they were friends. But, said Gibbs: "Mr Bhayani doesn't really do friends." Bhayani insisted they were indeed friends, but he was exposed as a consummate conman and fantasist who had illegally remortgaged his brother's and parents' house and recruited a series of lookalike women to pose as Waugh after her death, sending one to buy Chanel on the victim's Barclaycard. In the days and weeks after Waugh's murder, Bhayani and Kutner sold her furniture and jewellery, emptied the savings fund she had opened for her niece and secured a 200,000 bridging loan on her Marylebone flat. The money disappeared in a blaze of excess. Bhayani booked himself into the high-end No 5 Cavendish Square in the west end, losing thousands on roulette tables. Kutner, meanwhile, took a university student who needed help with her fees for a night out that ended at the luxurious Sanderson hotel, the next day losing hard at another casino. Later, he posed as Carole's brother, Chris, in an attempt to sell her flat. The pair were caught after trying to rent out her flat to two different tenants. Afterturning up at the property at the same time, the would-be tenants alerted police. "They were exactly like the two conmen in the Steve Martin film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels but one was a killer, too," said a detective who worked on the case. Bhayani was arrested coming home from a holiday in Mallorca with his ex-wife and daughter, but it was not until 2
August that Waugh's body was found at the garage, where Bhayani had left it on 21 May. Elie Khoury, 40, said to have helped to recruit the women to impersonate Waugh, was cleared of conspiracy to defraud. Previously, Julie Witham, 47, admitted to impersonating Waugh, and was sentenced to 140 hours' unpaid work. Three other alleged impersonators await trial.
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Nigella Lawson's personal assistants spent 685,000 in 'greedy free-forall'

Defence lawyers claimed the sisters were allowed to spend freely because they knew the TV chef was a daily drug user
Robert Booth The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.00 GMT
Nigella Lawson, who defence lawyers claimed was a daily drug user and didn't want the sisters to share her 'guilty secret'. Photograph: Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images
The personal assistants to the TV chef Nigella Lawson racked up bills of 685,000 in a four year "greedy free-forall" spending up to 50,000 a month on high fashion, cash withdrawals and luxury hotels, a court heard on Wednesday. Lawyers for Elisabetta Grillo, 41, and her sister Francesca, 35, have claimed that Lawson allowed them to spend freely on the account of Lawson's former husband, Charles Saatchi, because they knew she was a daily drug-user taking cocaine, class B drugs and prescription medicines and claimed she didn't want them to share this "guilty secret" with her husband. Opening the case against the Grillo sisters, who worked for Saatchi and Lawson throughout their 10-year marriage, prosecuting counsel Jane Carpenter said it was "preposterous to think they [Lawson and Saatchi] would have allowed such personal expenditure". "This trial relates to the high-life lived by Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo," she said. "The sort of life you may often see portrayed in glossy magazines, but we say they did it not by their own endeavours but in a greedy and fraudulent free-for-all abusing the trust of their employers in a four-year spending spree." The court had earlier heard claims the women, who each deny a charge of fraud, had become caught in "a huge internal wrangle" between the chef and her former husband, as counsel for Elisabetta Grillo, Anthony Metzer QC, submitted an "abuse of process" application to have the case thrown out.
He said the case was "a convenient forum for Saatchi and Lawson to reprise a disputed issue between them in relation to their marriage in the criminal courts when the subject of libel, short of anything malicious being alleged, would not be possible." The judge, Robin Johnson, refused the application and Lawsonfaces cross examination in the case at Isleworth crown court in west London as early as Friday. Saatchi is expected to be cross examined on Thursday. In pre-trial discussions, which the judge ordered could be reported, Metzer said Saatchi considers Lawson "a criminal because she has been taking class A drugs in her home". The court also heard Saatchi threatened to sue Lawson for the money the Grillos' allegedly took if she refused to give evidence in the trial. When the case opened on Wednesday, the jury heard that between 2008 and 2012 Francesca Grillo spent 580,000 including an estimated quarter-of-a-million pounds on items with price-tags in excess of 2,350. Her older sister spent 105,000 over the same period. The pair shopped at Chanel, Miu Miu, Loius Vuitton and Prada, travelled internationally, sometimes taking the couple's children abroad alone, and stayed in top hotels. The bills were settled automatically at the end of each month by direct debit from the Coutts bank account used by Saatchi's company, Conarco, the court heard. Carpenter said Saatchi insists that when the credit cards were issued it was made clear they were to allow the assistants to make purchases for his own family and only with approval and they were not permitted for personal spending. "You may think it must be an employees dream to have a company credit card that is always accepted," Carpenter said. "For some people the temptation of having a credit card they can use to buy high-value goods for their own benefit is too great." The scale of the alleged spending came to light in June 2012 when Rahul Gajjar, Saatchi's accountant, noticed the monthly outlay had risen from 10,000 to 20,000 a month to over 50,000, the court heard. Carpenter said there was particular concern about the unauthorised use of a minicab account, including one car that was booked to take Francesa Grillo to a polo match in Berkshire. According to the prosecution, the women admitted they had been using the accounts for personal spending and after a meeting between Francesca Grillo and Saatchi at his gallery in London it was agreed to settle the matter amicably. At this point Saatchi thought the alleged unauthorised spending was in the tens of thousands each month. Francesca said she would get an evening job to start paying the money back. But when Gajjarr later presented them with a new deal that they would continue to live for free at the family home in Battersea, but on reduced wages, the women became "agitated and even angry" and the meeting broke up without agreement. Francesca's attitude was "it was humiliating to live in the house on less pay and would rather go to jail," Carpenter said. It remains unclear who called the police, the court heard but the pair were arrested and interviewed on 2 August 2012 and declined to comment. They were bailed and reinterviewed in January this year and maintained their silence. The case continues.
UK claims growing support over migration in clash with Brussels

Cameron unveils plans to curb EU migrants' access to benefits but Brussels says freedom of movement is nonnegotiable
Rowena Mason, Political correspondent The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.21 GMT Jump to comments ()
David Cameron in the Commons. The prime minister is under intense pressure over immigration as new figures on migration are published. Photograph: PA
France and Germany have joined Britain in unveiling plans to restrict benefits for European Union migrants, as David Cameron prepares for a clash with Brussels over the historic principle of free movement. Downing Street claimed there is a growing coalition of support for a Europe-wide debate on the issue before a summit in Lithuania on Thursday, where Cameron will urge fellow leaders to bring an end to "vast migrations" from poor to rich EU countries. The prime minister is under intense pressure at home over immigration as the government prepares to publish new figures on migration on Thursday and he tries to address public concern about an influx of arrivals from Bulgaria and Romania when EU controls end on 1 January. On Wednesday, he unveiled plans to make EU migrants wait three months before they can claim jobseeker's allowance, a six-month limit on the length of their claim and a year-long bar on deported beggars and rough sleepers re-entering the country. However, the government faced criticism from Labour as it emerged that only some of the restrictions would be in place by the new year and there were no estimates for how many Romanians and Bulgarians would be discouraged from coming to Britain. At the same time, Liberal Democrat sources said the impact of the proposals would be "relatively small". While the opposition accused Cameron of a panicked and inadequate response, the prime minister's plans to challenge the principle of free movement also set Britain on a collision course with Brussels.
In a telephone call on Tuesday night, Jos Manuel Barroso, the European commission president, delivered a personal warning to Cameron that he must not undermine the fundamental rule governing EU membership. "Prime minister Cameron called me yesterday, informing me about the intentions he has on these issues of freedom of movement, and I had the occasion to underline to [him] that free movement is a fundamental treaty principle that must be upheld," he said. "The principle of free movement is one of the most valued principles by the EU citizens. There is clear evidence of its economic benefits but we are also aware of the challenges that this can also bring, particularly for local communities and services, and EU rules already include measures to prevent abuse." There was also sharp criticism from Lszl Andor, the EU employment commissioner, who warned that the new benefit restrictions risk portraying Britain as a "nasty country", and Viviane Reding, vice-president of the EU executive, who said freedom of movement is "non-negotiable". "If Britain wants to leave the single market, you should say so. But if Britain wants to stay a part of the single market, free movement applies. You cannot have your cake and eat it, Mr Cameron," she told Reuters. However, developments on the continent suggest Cameron will not be battling the Brussels executive alone. In a sign of shifting opinions, Germany's new coalition agreement acknowledged that "poverty migration is causing considerable social problems in individual cities with regard to integration, securing existence, accommodation and health provision". The pledges set out by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Social Democratic party defended the principle of free movement but said the new coalition would "reduce incentives for migration into the welfare systems by making amendments to domestic laws within the framework of European law". France also on Wednesday unveiled plans to crack down on abuse of employment rules among some immigrant workers, branding this "social dumping" and calling it "a threat to the economic and social fabric of France, which cannot be accepted". Paris and Berlin do not share the UK's level of concerns about the principle of free movement but Downing Street sources said these moves to curb migrant benefits indicated growing support for Cameron's drive for reform. Late on Wednesday, Cameron made it clear he would press on with plans to discourage unemployed migrants from poorer EU countries, regardless of the threat of potential legal action from the European commission. "To anyone and this is not just Romanians or Bulgarians to anyone in other European Union countries thinking of coming to Britain because it's easier to claim benefits, housing benefit or unemployment benefit, I think it's very important out send a clear message out that that is not the case," he told the BBC. The Liberal Democrats said on Wednesday they supported the crackdown but senior sources added that they did not think it would affect a huge number of people or save the taxpayer much money. In an email to supporters, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, made the case that the biggest reason to back the changes was making sure that Britain retained a welcoming attitude towards immigrants. "I am urging all pro-Europeans to back the changes to the access European nationals have to UK benefits announced by the coalition government today," he says. "Freedom of movement is a cornerstone of the European project and millions of Brits benefit from it every year. "But years of mismanagement of the immigration system have undermined people's confidence in it and this loss of faith must now be addressed. That is the only way to preserve this nation's warm and welcoming nature. If we are to protect the right to move and work in the long-term, we must ensure it does not become an automatic right to claim benefits." Labour did not dispute the aims of Cameron's proposals but criticised the prime minister for failing to act quickly
Labour did not dispute the aims of Cameron's proposals but criticised the prime minister for failing to act quickly enough to restrict immigration from Bulgaria and Romania. Senior Labour sources also questioned his motives, suggesting Cameron was acting under pressure from more than 40 backbenchers who are trying to delay the lifting of the controls on the two eastern European countries until 2018. "The prime minister is acting because he faces a Christmas nightmare of Conservative backbenchers rebelling," the Labour source said. "He is not taking considered and thoughtful measures to deal with immigration, he is just panicking. It is ridiculous and farcical to try to blame Labour when the Tories agreed to the accession treaties. This is not clearing up Labour mess, he is clearing up Conservative problems."
David Cameron's migration plans are impractical, inequitable or illegal

There will be no flood of Bulgarians and Romanians. But in any case, wasn't it the Tories who championed a 'wider' Europe?
Alan Travis, home affairs editor theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.34 GMT Jump to comments ()
Romanian workers pick grapes in a Sussex vineyard: no 'second-class Europeans'. Photograph: Jason Alden/Rex Features
David Cameron's sudden crackdownon EU "benefit tourism" six weeks before Romanians and Bulgarians get unrestricted access to the British and European labour markets is a sad reflection of ministers' failure to tackle increasing fears that have been voiced all year over their arrival. Only last week, in the face of an incipient Tory backbench rebellion, the immigration minister, Mark Harper, finally set out the official assessment of what is likely to happen in the new year and why it is unlikely to be a repeat of 2004, when Poles and other eastern Europeans were allowed to come and work in Britain.
It is worth remembering that Romania and Bulgaria actually joined the European Union in 2007 under accession treaties voted for by the Conservatives who were always the party most enthusiastic for a wider rather than a "deeper" Europe. The treaties provided for a seven-year transition period, after which Romanians and Bulgarians would be free to work anywhere in the European Union, including Britain. That day will arrive on January 1. As Harper told the potential Tory rebels last week, any move to extend those restrictions any further by Britain would immediately be ruled illegal under the accession treaties. No European court need even hear the case: the high court in London would be more than likely to declare the move illegal. In the face of some of the more hysterical predictions, such as that all 21 million Romanian citizens will up sticks and come to Britain, the government has wisely avoided trying to predict numbers, arguing that that is a "fool's errand". But it has set out the reasons why numbers are unlikely to replicate the mass arrival of the Poles 10 years ago. In the first place, in 2004 Britain was one of only three larger countries, along with Sweden and Ireland, to allow the Poles immediate access to the labour market; this time, eight other countries, including that job-creating powerhouse of the eurozone, Germany, will open their borders at the same time. In the second place, as Romanian and Bulgarians ministers keep explaining, the big migration of their citizens took place in 2007, when they joined the EU. Then, 3 million Romanians left to live in other parts of the EU. The vast majority went to live and work in Italy and Spain, in each of which the Romanian and Bulgarian communities number more than 800,000, and where the labour markets have already opened to them. Fewer than 130,000 live in Britain. This doesn't mean to say, however, that nothing should be done to address anxieties that any new wave of migration may put extra pressure on public services. Cameron and his home secretary, Theresa May, knew this back in April when they first wrote to the European commission, along with the Germans, Dutch and Austrians, pressing for fresh action to curb so-called benefit tourism. In particular, they pressed then for effective sanctions against EU migrants who abuse freedom of movement or defraud the benefits system. The joint letter admitted that those people could already be expelled under existing EU powers but complained that they could not be barred from re-entering the country virtually the next day. As neither Romania nor Bulgaria is joining the Schengen EU free movement area on January 1, it may well be open legally to Britain to secure a joint agreement that anybody found begging or sleeping rough be sent back to those countries and then barred from re-entry for 12 months although that would raisehuman rights concerns. Given that fewer than 6% of EU migrants in Britain claim out-of-work welfare benefits, including job seeker's allowance, within six months of registration, and an smaller proportion of that number are found to be fraudsters, this is a narrow point. Jonathan Portes, the former chief economist at the Department of Work and Pensions has said that the changes in the habitual residence test, too, are just tweaks to the system that will affect few migrants. The commission has repeatedly asked Britain and Germany for hard evidence of the scale of benefit tourism, but it has not used the lack of this as an excuse to do nothing. There have already been moves to tighten access to other welfare benefits, and many other EU countries already require contributions, such as national insurance payments, to be made before migrants can gain access to public services and benefits. Many of the media and political anxieties centre on the possible arrival of more Roma people but few realise that they
make up only 3% of the total population of Romania. The typical Romanian migrant is far more likely to be young with a higher skill profile than other migrants and without at least initially a family, thus limiting their potential demand on services. The Conservatives, especially John Major, championed the cause of the enlargement of the EU partly to counter what they saw as the Europhile drive towards ever deeper integration. Major travelled the capitals of the former communist states of eastern Europe to persuade them to rejoin Europe, amidmuch talk of a "common European home", rather than be left locked into a former Russian empire. The law now says those people cannot be treated as second-class Europeans any longer.
Brian Cox attacks 'nonsensical' plans to cut science funding and student grants
Science broadcaster criticises proposals to slash science funding by 215m and convert 350m of grants into loans
Shiv Malik theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.34 GMT Jump to comments ()
Brian Cox: 'The future of our economy essentially rests on and investment in students Virtually every [developed] country in the world knows that.' Photograph: Steve Black/Rex Features
One of Britain's leading science personalities has said government plans to cut hundreds of millions in science funding and grant provision to poorer students are "nonsensical". Professor Brian Cox said that proposals by the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) to slash science funding by 215m over two years and convert 350m of student grant payments into loans would damage a national
priority. "The future of our economy essentially rests on an investment in students Virtually every [developed] country in the world knows that," Cox said. Recently revealed by the Guardian, the swingeing budget measures that are expected to take effect from next year have in part stemmed from over-expenditure on supporting students in the private college sector a cost which has trebled in the last year to 175m. On Tuesday night, the department confirmed that it had initiated a leak enquiry after high-level documents detailing rangeing financial measures, some of which are awaiting approval from Nick Clegg, were passed to the Guardian. Cox said that if the measures were the result of a budget "cock-up" with millions more diverted to private colleges than expected then it would be wrong to divert resources away from a "national priority". "Policy should operate for the good of the country the decision has been made at a high level, correctly in my view, that science and research in general and higher education should be a priority." "George Osborne... [David] Cameron, [David] Willetts, Vince Cable, everyone agrees that investment in higher education is considered a priority. Everybody agrees that. So when you make accounting errors even of this scale, then it shouldn't be the case that you say to BIS: 'Well, it's your cock-up, you deal with it.' "We're talking about a national strategy and that's the language that's been used Once you've said that and once you accept it, then if you making an error in another area, then it's a cross-government problem it's not a single department's problem this is a national strategy." Former Labour minister Alan Milburn, the coalition's current social mobility adviser, warned the grant cut could deter the poor from getting a degree. Milburn said that restoring student grants had been part of the coalition deal that allowed parliament to treble tuition fees in 2010. "A reasonable level of student grant was supposed to remove any financial barriers for lower income youngsters from applying to university," he said. He added that "even before any proposed cut in the value of the grant there has been a big drop in mature and parttime students applying to university". "The risk is that this proposal increases confusion and ends up deterring the very cohort of students ministers say they want to attract into higher education," he said. Labour said it would table a series of parliamentary questions to discover what ministers knew and when, and whether they were warned about the risks of students at private colleges "soaking up" public subsidies. Shadow higher education minister Liam Byrne added: "Ministers must confess now if they were warned that their free market experiment would damage Britain's public universities. "We cannot have a situation where science and students are forced to pay the price for a toxic combination of dogma and incompetence." One of the most outspoken student critics of the government, the president of the University of London Union (ULU), Michael Chessum, said that students were facing a debt-ridden future and called for students to organise protests against the plans.
"These cuts are the result of a government that cares nothing for public, accessible education and everything for an ideologically driven and chaotic market model implemented with some truly spineless Lib Dem co-operation. "The future that our education system is facing is debt-ridden, marketised and exclusive, and we must organise a national-level movement to prevent nightmares from becoming a reality." Lobby group Science is Vital said it was extremely concerned by the reported budget plans and said it would fight any attempt to drop the government's commitment to a ringfence of science research budget. A statement on the group's website said the possibility of cuts would come as "a major disappointment to researchers across the country" who have already "weathered austere times". Biologist and chair of Science is Vital, Dr Jennifer Rohn, said: "The government has talked about making Britain the best place in the world to do science. It needs to make good on that promise. "In March we, together with over 50 renowned scientists, called for a long-term increase in science funding to 0.8% of GDP to ensure the future of science in the UK. BIS must find ways to meet its obligations to research by maintaining its promised funding in the short term, and in the long-term, by increasing it."
Chapmans at the Serpentine: Ronald McDonald, Nazis and Daniel Craig as a gorilla
Some of the despicable, gooey and funny things on show at the Serpentine by art's enfants terrible as they enter middle age
Adrian Searle The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.33 GMT Jump to comments ()
Excess and labour ... Jake (right) and Dinos Chapman with 'Fucking with Nature (Somewhere Between Tennis Elbow and Wanker's Cramp)' Photograph: David Levene
Dressed in Ku Klux Klan pointy-hatted smocks, rainbow-striped socks and hippy sandals, an audience of mannequins stalk Jake and Dinos Chapman's Come and See at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. The gallery is filled with familiar horrors: giant vitrines heaving with piles of corpses. There are zombies, Nazis, Ronald McDonald crucified dozens of times, rampaging dinosaurs and a pair of unpleasantly hairy human legs, reproduced at a God-like scale. We might have seen all this before, but the excess and labour and attention to detail is still a wonder. Jake and Dinos Chapman Come and See Serpentine Gallery, London
Starts 29 November Until 9 February Details: 020-7402 6075 More details Then there are the tabletop brain experiments, jury-rigged with hammers, glistening cerebellums, bottles of goo, power tools and tubes. These mad torture-decks, sticky with unnameable juices and given a liberal sprinkling of maggots and mealworms, are ossified in distressed, patinated bronze. Somewhere among them, the heads of Jake and Dinos suck at the breast.
The Sum of all Evil (detail), 2012-2013 Jake and Dinos Chapman. Photograph: White Cube
As well as a flock of stuffed crows, old sculptures and new, plus delicate recent drawings filled with spidery whorls that look old as if scavenged from Hans Bellmer's dustbin the walls are covered with etchings, paintings, artschool life drawings by Jake (Dinos burned his) and lines of vinyl text, like a hyperbolic cosmic gush written by HP Lovecraft or William Burroughs in sci-fi mode. The text is portentous drivel. How many cosmic hurricanes spraying out into the void can one take? This sort of thing rattles some of the Chapmans' commentators. Serpentine directors
Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist say in a statement that the Chapmans "compel us to confront the nagging fears that lie at the dark heart of the western psyche". That's one way of looking at it. Entering middle age, the Chapmans are no longer the enfants terrible they perhaps once were, however infantile the humour might appear. Yesterday, I asked Dinos when they were going to grow up. "Never!" he replied. Horrormovie schlock is but one of the artists' modes. The Chapmans' art is enjoyable rather than shocking. In the end, you focus on their demonstrable craft, drawing, production values and other misdirected skills.
The Axminster of Evil, 2008 Jake and Dinos Chapman. Photograph: Todd-White Art Photography/Courtesy White Cube
The Chapmans are very good at what they do, even when they do things badly on purpose. They always go too far: but too far is not always quite far enough. How far can anyone go in the name of art? The most upsetting is often the quietest and least dramatic. The rest is a circus and a charade. Real shock lies elsewhere, outside the gallery. The Chapmans know this. More and more, I feel that their best things are the smallest. One of the cave-like gunpowder rooms in the centre of the gallery is filled with table-top arrangements of cardboard dinosaurs and models of earlier works and exhibitions, complete with little painted card spectators. One paper cut-out woman has fainted. These small, collaged papersculptures have a great feel, sense of touch and play. Everything they do comes over as a silent snigger. The other powder room has been decked out as a cinema, where a hilarious film plays, cobbled together from an early video made in the studio, and the 15 minutes or so of the 2010 film The Organ Grinder's Monkey, all that the Chapmans managed to complete of their commercial debut before time and money ran out. It's a spoof life-of-theartist movie, starring Rhys Ifans and David Thewlis (with Daniel Craig dressed in a gorilla suit). There is masturbation, cockroaches, there is filth, abuse and dank humour. We even revisit the Chapmans' old art school, where a life-drawing tutor, played by Thewlis, remembers the pair as diligent, affable, "passable" students. In another vignette, the brothers themselves appear in cameo, emerging from a giant vagina, given birth by Samantha Morton. It is all very gooey and despicable, and very funny.
is all very gooey and despicable, and very funny.
Early Works 1977 - 1983. Jake and Dinos Chapman. Photograph: White Cube
Will children be horrified, corrupted, or given nightmares if they see this show? Adults might have a bit of explaining to do, but there's nothing so nasty here as the eyeball-slicing scene in the 1929 surrealist masterpiece Un Chien Andalou, let alone on the TV news. Kids are not so innocent, and know the difference between life and art. They might just want to go home and make a Chapman for themselves.
Rebekah Brooks 'ordered deletion of millions of News International emails'

Phone-hacking trial hears 90m emails were recovered from company's system but millions of others were lost permanently
Nick Davies The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.01 GMT
Rebekah Brooks outside the Old Bailey in London. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Rex
Rebekah Brooks ordered the deletion of millions of emails on News International servers, but many of the messages survived as a result of technical problems and the instructions of other senior executives, the phone-hacking trial has heard. A jury at the Old Bailey was told that 90m emails had been recovered from the company's system but that many millions of others had been lost permanently whether by accident or deliberate policy. Some of the recovered emails were read out in court as part of a set of agreed facts about the lost material. The jury heard that from the period before 2005, very few messages survived simply because the company had no archiving system. After an archive was created in 2005, some 10.4m messages were naturally purged from the servers over the following five years and could not be recovered since there was no back-up system. The court was told that by 2008 the servers were struggling to deal with the weight of stored traffic and that some users were having to wait 30 minutes to log on. In November 2009 at a time when, the jury has been told, there was publicity about phone hacking surviving emails recorded that senior executives were asking for "a more aggressive purging policy". In January 2010, an email recorded a new official policy whose stated aim was "to eliminate in a consistent manner across NI (subject to compliance with legal and regulatory requirements as to retention) emails that could be unhelpful in the context of future litigation in which an NI company is a defendant". By May 2010, it had been agreed that the company would delete from the system all messages sent up to 1 December 2007. The jury has heard that police originally investigated phone hacking at the News of the World during 2006 and that the paper's specialist hacker, Glenn Mulcaire, was jailed along with the royal editor Clive Goodman in January 2007. In August 2010, Brooks emailed the IT department asking what progress had been made with the deletions. She was told: "This has and is being done" but that they had not sent out a company-wide message about their deletion plans "because it could be misconstrued if leaked externally". In the same message, Brooks suggested a new cut-off date, saying that "everyone needs to know that anything before January 2010 will not be kept". The IT department replied, pointing out that the agreed policy was to delete only up to 1 December 2007. Brooks replied: "Yes to Jan 2010. Clean sweep." During the following month, however, as the IT department attempted to implement the policy at the same time as they moved all their data to new servers in the company's new offices, they found "the task was putting extreme strain on the servers" and they halted the process. On 7 October, Brooks wrote to ask about progress on email deletion. On 8 October, the company's legal director, Jon Chapman, wrote to the IT department referring to "current interest in the News of the World 2005/6 voicemail interceptions" and asking them to preserve messages sent by Andy Coulson and eight others. From 10 January 2011, the company's new general manager, Will Lewis, sent a sequence of instructions asking for
the preservation of more messages in connection with an internal inquiry which he was leading into Ian Edmondson, who, the jury has heard, had been suspended the previous month from his job as the News of the World's assistant editor. At first, Lewis asked for the retention of messages sent and received by Coulson and 11 other named individuals. The following day, Lewis added 19 more names from the news and features departments. On 18 January, he added 52 more names. By 20 January, he was asking for some or all of the messages involving a total of 105 users to be extracted from the servers before any further deletions were made. The court was told that their messages were saved on to a laptop. Brooks, Coulson, Stuart Kuttner and Edmondson deny conspiring to intercept communications. The trial continues.
Stop deferring to human rights court, says senior judge

Lord Justice Laws makes speech likely to find favour in Downing Street and among Eurosceptic Conservatives
Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 21.03 GMT
Chris Grayling has said the European court of human rights has 'reached the point where it had lost democratic acceptability'. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA
UK courts should stop deferring to the European court of human rights on every issue and develop their own rulings, according to Lord Justice Laws, the longest serving court of appeal judge. In a speech likely to find favour in Downing Street and among Eurosceptic Conservatives, the senior judge questioned what has become a basic tenet of judicial hierarchy and said legal interpretation in Britain of human rights legislation had taken a significant "wrong turning".
The government is in dispute with the Strasbourg court over granting prisoners the right to vote something the human rights court says it must do. The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has said the European court had "reached the point where it had lost democratic acceptability". Laws' Hamlyn lecture at Inner Temple Hall in central London comes as the political debate over whether Britain should defy Strasbourg's ruling that prisoners must be given the vote is intensifying. MPs are considering three options on whether or how to comply with a European court decision on prisoner votes originally made by the human rights court in 2005. His attack focused on a pivotal judgment made by Lord Bingham, in a case called Ullah, in 2004 relating to the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as guaranteed by Article 9 of the European convention on human rights. "The duty of national courts is to keep pace with the Strasbourg jurisprudence as it evolves over time," Bingham declared. But in his lecture, Laws rejected that conclusion. "I have, in common with others, come to think that this approach [treating Strasbourg decisions as authoritative] represents an important wrong turning in our law." The UK supreme court have accorded "overriding force to the notion that only Strasbourg's rulings on the convention are 'definitive' or 'authoritative'", Laws observed. "Why should this be so?" In Britain, Laws said, there remained "a deep sense that matters of state policy are in essence the responsibility of the elected arms of government," while in other equally democratic states a different view might be taken of the respective roles of the elected arms and the judiciary. He said the historic role of human rights law was to protect fundamental values. "It is not to make marginal choices about issues upon which reasonable, humane and informed people may readily disagree." He added: "Fundamental values possess at the very least an irreducible minimum. But short of that, the balance to be struck between policy and rights, between the judiciary and government, is surely a matter for national constitutions." Laws said: "There may perfectly properly be different answers to some human rights issues in different states on similar facts. I think the Strasbourg court should recognise this." The "deference to the Strasbourg court", he said, was "apparently quite unwarranted" by the Human Rights Act. "Strasbourg case law is not part of the law of England; the human rights convention is," he concluded. "If we develop it according to the methods and principles of the [English] common law, it will enrich us." It was reasonable to believe, he suggested, "that human rights are like the human heart: the bigger they get, the weaker they get." There is already a legal doctrine, the "margin of appreciation", that is supposed to allow the 47 member states of the Council of Europe within the jurisdiction of the ECHR some latitude in interpreting Strasbourg court judgments according to national traditions. The coalition government has attempted to expand that degree of judicial freedom by reforming the process. The prime minister, David Cameron, has said he would not rule out abandoning the human rights court if he won the next general election. The last lord chief justice, Lord Judge, repeatedly stated that Strasbourg decisions are not "binding" on the UK but should merely be "taken into account". Grayling has said he is considering pulling Britain out of the human rights convention. A Conservative party position paper on its future policy towards Strasbourg is expected to be published in February next year.
Water shortages may make fracking impractical, industry says

Quantities required for the fracking process may make it problematic in areas of the UK where resources are scarce
Fiona Harvey theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.50 GMT Jump to comments ()
Anti-fracking protesters outside IGas's Barton Moss site in Eccles, Greater Manchester. Photograph: Northern Gas Gala
Fracking may be impractical in parts of the UK due to the scarcity of local water supplies, and in other areas will have an impact on local water resources, the water industry has admitted, in a deal struck with the oil and gas industry. The controversial process of shale gas and oil extraction uses hydraulic fracturing technology or fracking, where water and chemicals under very high pressure are blasted at dense shale rocks, opening up fissures through which the tiny bubbles of methane can be released. But the quantities of water required are very large, leading to cases in the US - where fracking is widespread - where towns and villages have run dry. In a memorandum of understanding published on Wednesday, the water trade body Water UK and the UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG), which represents fracking companies, agreed to cooperate on expanding the number of fracking sites in the UK. But in their agreement, noting "the pressure on local water resources", Water UK acknowledged: "The quantities of water needed vary by site and throughout the gas exploration and production process, but the demand could have an impact on local water resources. This demand may be met from a number of sources, including the public water
impact on local water resources. This demand may be met from a number of sources, including the public water supply, direct abstraction, water transported by tanker from other areas, or recycling and reuse of treated flowback or produced water." They added: "However, where water is in short supply there may not be enough available from public water supplies or the environment to meet the requirements for hydraulic fracturing." Water can be brought in from other areas, but this is costly, causes a nuisance to residents, and in large quantities would be impractical. It may be possible to use seawater in some areas. UKOOG said dealing with such issues was one of the purposes of the memorandum. Water UK told the Guardian there could be risks to the water supply particularly in the south-east, where the pressure of population puts supplies under stress. The Environment Agency admitted at a public meeting in Balcombe in Sussex where the fracking company Cuadrilla has been drilling for oil that pressure on local water supplies could raise serious problems. An official told local residents: "The big question mark is over cumulative demand for water in the south-east should this industry take on a much bigger size." Ken Cronin, chief executive of UKOOG, said the agreement with the water industry "should give reassurance to local communities that the development of shale gas in the UK can proceed with minimal impact upon the local water and waste services". But the potential need to abstract water from underground sources or rivers has raised concerns. The new water bill is likely to lead to a large increase in the amount of water taken by water companies from rivers and streams, and has been criticised by campaigners for enshrining very lax controls on how much they can take. This could lead to water courses running dry, with dire effects on wildlife. If water companies are under pressure to supply more for fracking, this could put even more pressure on resources. Tony Bosworth, energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "This new industry report raises concerns about the impact fracking could pose to water-stressed southern England. Draft guidance from the Environment Agency is full of holes and doesn't adequately address the risks to water supply and quality. The desperate search for shale gas and oil must not be allowed to cause water shortages for critical public purposes, and increases in hosepipe bans." The fracking industry's deal with water utilities comes as iGas, which along with Cuadrilla is one of the few companies with plans for fracking in the UK, unveiled details of proposed drilling at its Barton Moss site, near Manchester. The company now has planning permission from Salford council, at a site about the size of a football pitch, where a vertical exploration well will be drilled, taking about eight to 12 weeks. No fracking will take place in the initial phase, as engineers will take samples for analysis to discover whether fracking might be necessary to recover any gas found. A small protest is taking place at the site, with protesters from Frack Free Greater Manchester staying in tents, near Barton aerodrome and the M62 motorway. The BBC reported on Tuesday that a man had been arrested on suspicion of causing an obstruction, as the drilling rig arrived at the site.
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Jon Venables tweet gets man suspended jail term

James Baines, who tweeted images purporting to be of James Bulger's killer as an adult, gets 14-month suspended sentence
Press Association theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 12.47 GMT
Jon Venables, pictured in 1993: An injunction prohibits the publication of any information purporting to identify the appearance, whereabouts, movements or new identities of Venables or Robert Thompson, who were convicted of the two-year-olds murder in November 1993. Photograph: PA
A man who tweeted images purporting to be of James Bulger's killer Jon Venables as an adult has been given a 14month suspended prison sentence. The term, suspended for 15 months, was handed down at London's high court for a flagrant contempt of court on the part of 27-year-old security guard James Baines. Baines, who is from Liverpool and close to the Bulger family, will also have to pay 3,000 in costs. He admitted disobeying a January 2001 injunction binding on the whole world, which prohibits the publication of any information purporting to identify the appearance, whereabouts, movements or new identities of Venables or Robert Thompson, who were convicted of the two-year-old's murder in November 1993. It was made on the basis that the pair would face an acute risk of serious physical harm or death upon their release. The case was referred by the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, after Baines put images purporting to identify Venables as an adult on his Twitter profile on 14 February this year the 20th anniversary of the crime. One image showed Venables in a school photograph as a child while below and alongside were different images of an adult male. They were accompanied by the tweet: "Its on bbc news about the jon venables pic on twitter saying its been removed eerrm no it hasn't." The attorney general said in a statement: "It gives me no pleasure to bring a third case for breaching this injunction and I do so purely in the wider public interest. "The order has been in place for many years and applies to both media organisations and individuals. It is meant not only to protect Venables and Thompson but also those members of the public who have been incorrectly identified as being either of them."
Baines's counsel, Peter Lownds, said the tweet came at a highly emotional time for the community. Baines, who attended the same school as cousins of the Bulger family, admitted that he went "far too far". "He had a very strong emotional reaction to the anniversary. He accepts it is not an excuse for his behaviour but it is offered as some explanation for why he became involved in the very substantial social communication over Twitter and Facebook at about that time. "He recognises and accepts that, while he is entitled to hold his strong views, he was completely wrong to do what he did on that day and was not entitled to take the law into his own hands." He said the court had seen a letter from James's father, Ralph, which was relevant to the situation and reflected discussions he had had with Baines.
Bedroom tax: stress and struggle as benefits clawback hits home

Claimants explain how the policy has forced changes, from heating cutbacks to fruitless hunts for smaller homes
Amelia Gentleman The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.59 GMT Jump to comments ()
David and Janet Scriven found there were no two-bedroom houses to move to and are resigned to paying extra rent to stay put. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian
Since the introduction of the bedroom tax in April, David Scriven has stopped using the central heating in his home, as a way of keeping down costs. His 17-year-old son comes downstairs to do his college work on the sofa in the front room, which is the only room that is heated.
front room, which is the only room that is heated. David, 59, and his wife Janet, 54, would like to move out of the four-bedroom house where they brought up their six children, but there are no two-bedroom homes in the area to downsize to: so they are resigned to paying an extra 96 a month out of the low wages he gets as a part-time worker at the nearby Co-op and the benefits he receives to top up his salary. The bedroom tax means his income has been reduced by a fifth. "That was the money we used to pay for the gas and electricity. I work in the freezer department so the cold doesn't affect me so much," he says, and laughs, but his son complains about their refusal to put the radiator on in his room; they bought him a fleece to wear in bed. They say they find the biggest problem is buying things. The family has stopped shopping at the Co-op, which they find too expensive, even with the 10% employee discount, and has switched to Iceland. "I've come to terms with it," Scriven says. He takes the money in cash every Monday to the council offices. "I understand I have to pay. It is either that or we're out on the street in a tent." Many of the 140 tenants affected by the bedroom tax on the Bushbury Hill estate in Wolverhampton would like to downsize to smaller houses, but the available stock makes this impossible. The majority of 850 houses on this quiet 1920s estate have three bedrooms, only around 100 have two and there are only 11 one-bedroom flats. When we visited the estate in March, just before the policy began, housing officers expected a large number to find ways to move elsewhere, but so far only five people have been helped to find new homes as a result of the policy. The rest want to stay in an area to which they feel very attached. Since there is no prospect of swapping to smaller properties, most have no option but to respond to the introduction of the policy by radically restricting their spending. The cost of the benefit cut for spare bedrooms can be calculated only by looking at items that have not been bought winter coats, fresh food, bus passes, gas and electricity, clothes. There are no spare rooms in the three-bedroom house Stacey Poulton, 22, shares with her three-year-old son and four-year-old daughter. She is still classified as under-occupying her home because, by housing benefit rules, until the children are 10 they are expected to share a room. Since April she has been paying 44 a month to the council. "It might not sound like a lot but sometimes I think: 'Shall I put some money on the heating or shall I buy some food?'. I have sometimes gone without dinner so I can feed them," she says. This winter she has cut down on the heating and dressed the children in extra layers of clothing. She hasn't managed yet to put aside enough money to buy a winter coat for herself. "Last year, I could have saved for it. But this year, once you've paid for what you need, the money is gone." So far, she has continued to pay for internet access at home, so she can keep going with her Open University psychology course; she is halfway through her second year. "I'm trying to better myself for me and for my kids. Without the internet, there's no way I can do that, but I might have to get rid of it." The only way for her to downsize would be to move off the estate, but that would mean moving away from her mother and grandmother, both in walking distance, who help her with childcare, and it is not clear that moving would save money either for her or the government, since the subsidised rents on the houses on Bushbury Hill are much lower than anything she would find in the private rented market. Bill Heywood, tenancy manager on the estate, is sympathetic. "Even if Stacey moved now, she would have to move back again to a three-bedroom house in a few years time when the children are older." For the moment, the question of her moving is hypothetical: "It would be extraordinarily difficult for Stacey to find a two-bedroom house. Historically, councils and housing associations have tended to build three-bedroom houses, because that has always been seen as a sensible size for a family home. The stock is fixed, and demand for two-bedroom properties is huge.
Stacey Poulton with Dylan, her son. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian
"It's like trying to get a quart into a pint. We can't just magic up properties for her. She would be at the bottom of any council list, because clearly she is not in housing need: she has a house. She could go to the private sector, but that would be much more expensive." After a year spent helping tenants here prepare for and deal with the consequences of the policy, Heywood is being frustrated by an initiative he believes was conceived in Whitehall, with the London housing market in mind, by people with little understanding of the housing sector elsewhere in the country. The Department for Work and Pensions says the policy, which it calls the removal of the spare room subsidy, is "designed to bring fairness back into a system that has led to 375,000 households in the social rented sector in England and Wales alone living in overcrowded accommodation. At the same time there are approaching 1m spare rooms in social housing being funded by the taxpayer." Heywood says: "The government's case is that there are X million people living in overcrowded accommodation and X million underoccupied, so people need to move. As a soundbite it makes perfect sense. But this is a Treasurysponsored policy to save money why should the Treasury know anything about social housing? If you had equal numbers of one-, two- and three-bedroom properties, you could do the moving-around required, but you can't, because there has been 70 years of social housing from the 1920s to the late 1980s where we have built mostly three-bedroom properties, followed by 25 years of not building much. We have a legacy stock of large houses." Around the corner, Peter Inscoe, 46, an unemployed sign-maker with 20 years of experience, and a talented graphic artist, has only got through the last eight months because a network of friends and relatives have been able to pay his quarterly gas and electric bills, source cheap meat for him, buy his weekly bus pass and club together to get him a secondhand fridge when his old one stopped working. He is still living in the three-bedroom home he was allocated 12 years ago, at a time when demand for properties here was very low. He was born on the estate, has strong ties with his neighbours and is reluctant to leave his home because of the policy; he is confident that he will eventually find a new job, at which point he will be paying the 80 a week rent himself and the bedroom tax will no longer affect him. If he were to find a one-bedroom flat off the estate, it is likely that it would cost more and the government would end up paying more, since he would no longer be under-occupying. In any case, he wonders how he could afford the actual cost of moving. But the cost of staying represents over a quarter of his income (20 out of his weekly jobseeker's allowance of 71). So far he is only 10 in arrears, but he has found himself unable to find the new council tax contributions he must pay. "I haven't been able to pay the 6 a month council tax. It's crazy, but there is literally no spare money."
pay. "I haven't been able to pay the 6 a month council tax. It's crazy, but there is literally no spare money." His next-door neighbour's ex-husband brings her meat every week, at cost, which she shares with him. A friend, who is working, pays 23.30 a fortnight for his bus pass, which makes continuing to look for work more feasible. Another friend has been paying the quarterly gas and electricity bills since April. His neighbour and sister clubbed together to find 60 to buy a second-hand fridge from a charity store over the summer. ("It sounds like the offspring of Darth Vader, but it's a fridge," he says.) "Without all that help, I would have sunk months ago. It does embarrass me sometimes that I am effectively relying on people to live. I am surrounded by really good people." His weekly food budget has shrunk to 20. "If it weren't for Poundland and the deals from Asda, it would be harder. But I defy anybody to walk into Asda and try to live on 20 a week. It's bloody difficult. It is a crappy situation, to be brutally honest. I don't like it." A new weekly food bank has opened on the estate, and is helping people in his situation, but for the moment he feels uncomfortable about taking that kind of assistance.
Peter Inscoe outside his home. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian
Inscoe has just finished two years on the Work Programme, the government's scheme designed to help the long-term unemployed, but has yet to find new work. He hopes that his friends will be able to continue to support him until there is an upturn in the sign industry. "I do wonder if there is ever going to be a day where the people who are helping me aren't able to help any more. That worries me. I'm embarrassed by it all. I should be standing on my own two feet. Someday, I will be working, and I'll be able to say thank you to all these people who have helped me." Heywood says: "We are back to Dickensian support networks. Most people don't have someone who is happy to pay their bus pass, or their gas and electricity." The tenancy manager knows that moving can prove more expensive for both the tenant and the state. In preparation for the introduction of the benefit cut last December he helped Dave Ireson, 57, to downsize from a three-bedroom house on the estate, where the rent was 80 a week, to a one-bedroom property where the rent (paid in full by the taxpayer) is 113 a week. This move triggered by a policy designed to save money by forcing tenants out of homes that are too big for them has ended up costing the government more. It has also been very destabilising. "Of the five people we have helped to move, no one has said 'I'm delighted; I can't wait to leave my house'. They have all been reluctant. People are reluctant to move, so they are making sacrifices, finding other ways to make up the difference," Heywood says. A year ago, the estate office hired another full-time employee to help people avoid rent arrears. Across the estate, arrears stand at around 50,000, which is only a 1% increase on last year, a testament to good management by estate
officials. Of the 140 people affected by the bedroom tax, about half are in arrears with their rent; so far the average sum owed is about 75. Across Wolverhampton, since the policy was introduced, rent arrears are up by 16%, which will eventually mean there is less money from the council for estate upkeep. Nationwide, a survey by the National Housing Federation showed that, after six months, 51% of households affected by the bedroom tax were unable to pay their rent. In September the UN housing rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, described the policy as "shocking" and called for it to be abandoned. Labour has subsequently said that it will drop the bedroom tax. Lynne Powell, 61, a former school cleaner, who has been living on the estate for 33 years and brought her three children up in the house she is now classed as under-occupying, has started eating more frequently at her children's homes to cut down on food costs. As well as being faced with the bedroom tax, her income has shrunk considerably because she has also recently lost her incapacity benefit after being assessed as capable of working in the newly tightened fitness-for-work tests despite back and joint problems so painful that she has been prescribed morphine patches. Unable to find the 20 weekly payments out of her 71 income support, Powell applied for a discretionary grant to pay the tax, and was given one until the end of the year. The government has allocated 180m to councils to fund these discretionary housing payments to help people cope with the new policy. She is already 90 in arrears, and doesn't know what she will do once the grant runs out. She, too, is reluctant to move. "It isn't just a house. This is my home," she says, moving from her chair with difficulty to stop her granddaughter, Grace, 2, from patting at the characters on the television screen. She is aware that there is almost no chance of swapping to a one-bedroom flat on the estate, so she hopes to be able to get by until retirement age, when she will no longer have to pay the tax. For the moment, the process has been so stressful that her doctor has given her sleeping tablets. "It's a nightmare. I sometimes think it's because people are living longer, they're trying to kill us off with worry." She is also trimming her costs, by keeping her heating down and accepting more assistance. "My children will help me, but I don't see why they should go without to help me." Jane, 27 (who asked not to be identified), is a beneficiary of the new policy, in that she was housed this summer, with her three-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter, in one of the three-bedroom houses vacated by a single tenant, who moved out when she realised she was going to be unable to pay the bedroom tax. However, because her children are not yet eligible for separate rooms, she in turn is paying about 40 a month in bedroom tax for under-occupying one room. There was no point waiting for a two-bedroom house, given that there are very few of them, and the alternative was likely to have been a homelessness hostel, so on balance she feels lucky to have a permanent home. But it is still a wrench. "That 10 [a week] extra could have gone to the children. That is money that's meant for the children." Tina Jarvis, 45, is already 970 in arrears after a confusing three years since she was made redundant from her job as a team leader in a delivery company. By the summer, she was going further into arrears as a result of the bedroom tax when her brother found her sitting in the dark with no food, no electricity and no gas. He helped her apply for a discretionary payment, which she has been granted until next year, but because she is paying off earlier arrears in instalments, and paying back earlier loans, her income has been cut and she too is sitting without the heating on. After 45 minutes in her home, my feet feel cold. Her health has deteriorated significantly since redundancy in 2010. "I got into deeper depression because of not being in work. People find it hard to understand." She is suffering from extreme agoraphobia and hasn't been out of the house for two years. She relies on weekly deliveries from the local food bank of a carrier bag full of produce pies,
cheese, tins, yoghurt and milk. She would like to move, in theory, but doesn't want to lose the support network she has built up over 19 years in the house where she brought up her daughter, with her brother and neighbours nearby. She asks Heywood if there is any chance of swapping the house for one of the bungalows on the estate, but since these are reserved for older people, he explains she would have to wait another 20 years before she qualifies. "At what point do things get so bad that you consider moving?" Heywood asks. "I don't know when that point comes. This is an experiment that we are still in the middle of. It feels like the government are seeing how hard they can make it for people before they crack."
Charities attack treatment delays for mental health patients

Ministers urged to act quickly as survey finds 12% of people are forced to wait more than a year to be seen
Haroon Siddique The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
Paul Farmer of Mind: 'It is far from acceptable that in some parts of the country people are still waiting over a year to access treatment'. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
More than one in 10 people with mental health problems are waiting for longer than a year before receiving talking treatments and more than half are waiting longer than three months, mental health charities and practitioners have found. The We Need to Talk Coalition said that delays and a lack of choice were having a devastating effect on people who were not getting the right treatment, while others were being driven to pay for private treatment.
were not getting the right treatment, while others were being driven to pay for private treatment. It said the NHS should offer a full range of evidence-based psychological therapies to all who need them within 28 days of requesting a referral. Official figures published last month showed that more than 80,000 of the 241,250 patients referred by GPs and other clinicians to talking therapies in the second quarter of this year waited more than 28 days to receive treatment. Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, which is part of the coalition, said government investment in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme had helped millions with some improvement in waiting times but that more needed to be done. "It is far from acceptable that in some parts of the country people are still waiting over a year to access treatment," he said. "This must urgently be addressed if the government's commitment to parity between physical and mental health care is to be realised. "We're urging the government and NHS England to take heed of this new report and make sure that people with mental health problems are getting the right treatment when they need it." Almost a fifth of adults in the UK experience anxiety or depression, according to official figures, and it costs the economy 7.5m, the majority through lost employment. The We Need to Talk coalition questioned more than 1,600 people who have tried to access talking therapies such as counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) on the NHS in England over the last two years. In response, 12% said they waited more than 12 months and 54% more than three months. Doctors from across Europe, including the UK, have told the Guardian that the soaring use of antidepressants is partly due to the meagre availability of other therapies. The government has for the first time asked NHS England in its mandate to set out standard waiting time and access standards for mental health services. But the standards, currently being drawn up, will not come into effect until 2015, which Mind says is too late, necessitating "another long wait for people who desperately need support". We Need to Talk's concerns extend to the range of services available. CBT is the most commonly prescribed treatment but it is not suitable for everyone and 58% of people said they were not offered a choice in the type of therapy they received. One in 10 said that they faced costs for private treatment because the therapy needed was not available on the NHS. Health minister Norman Lamb said that IAPT was a victim of its own success. "More people than ever before are getting access to talking therapies thanks to our 450m investment in the IPAT programme," he said. "Due to its initial success, demand has increased and this has led to increased waiting times in some parts of the country." James Morris, chair of the all party parliamentary Group on mental health, said he fully supported reducing the waiting time to 28 days as soon as possible and increasing the range of therapies on offer: "There's been considerable progress made but there are still differences between the way physical and mental health services are treated in the NHS," he said. Case study: Lisa, 51, from Stratford Upon-Avon, was born in Zimbabwe but moved to the UK in 1994 when she was deported because she was transgender, having been imprisoned for six weeks and given electric shock treatment, she said. She had a sex change in 2000 but continued to suffer from the depression she said had plagued her since childhood. She was medicated and did art therapy before, four years ago, a psychiatrist suggested she should have psychotherapy or CBT. However, Lisa waited for 18 months to have an initial interview and another 18 months for
treatment to start, eventually, in November last year. She pointed out that even when you get treatment the waiting to feel better goes on as the impact is not immediate. It is only in the last two months that it has begun to work, she said. "If I had this sooner, maybe I would have been confident enough to let somebody into my life rather than be afraid of everything and everyone," she said. "The talking has helped me understand why I am who I am. Before I was lost." Even though she is now getting treatment, it is in Leamington Spa, meaning she has a hour journey each way, which she said can be difficult after a gruelling session. "Sometimes I get out of the place and I am suicidal," she said.
Andrew Mitchell's legal team loses costs appeal in 'plebgate' libel action
Tory MP's law firm missed budget deadline for litigation case against the Sun over its coverage of Downing Street incident
Lisa O'Carroll theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.10 GMT
Andrew Mitchell launched his libel action against the Sun after it alleged he used the word pleb about police officers at Downing Street. Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters
Andrew Mitchell's libel action against the Sun over its "plebgate" coverage has been dealt a blow after the court of appeal ruled against his legal team on a 500,000 costs challenge. Friends of the former Tory chief whip have said he nonetheless intends to press ahead with his litigation, but it means his lawyers may end up recovering none of their fees even if they win their case. His law firm, Atkins Thomson, were appealing a decision by the high court which had previously capped the fees that they could charge to about 2,000 because they had failed to get documents relating to their budget into the court
in time, claiming they had been understaffed. Atkins Thomson had submitted a 506,425 costs budget. Costs for the case if it goes the whole way are estimated at around 1m for both sides. Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, said: "The defaults by the claimant's solicitors were not minor or trivial and there was no good excuse for them." He acknowledged the decision "seems harsh in the individual case of Mr Mitchell's claim", but said the court hoped their decision would "send out a clear message" and that "legal representatives will become more efficient and will routinely comply with rules, practice directions and orders". Graham Atkins, the MP's lawyer, said Mitchell would not have to bear the costs. "This is an unfortunate ruling for a variety of reasons, but will not affect our focus, which is on winning the libel case and vindicating our client," Atkins added. "We represent Mr Mitchell on a no-win, no-fee basis and he will not be affected financially by this judgment." Mitchell's lawyers are one of the principal firms dealing with civil litigation against the Sun's parent company, News UK, in relation to alleged phone hacking of celebrities, politicians and others. The firm said at a costs hearing in June that one of the reasons it was unable to get the budget preparation done in time was because it was a small law firm and was busy with "significant prior preparation" for a hearing in relation to the hacking litigation at the high court. It said its firm had just two London partners and two of its three solicitors were on maternity leave. The Sun's political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, told Sky News said on Tuesday night that the paper was intending to fight the action and that it was looking forward to its "day in court". Mitchell launched his libel action against the paper after it broke the story last September featuring the allegation that Mitchell had used the word "pleb" about police officers at the gates to Downing Street. The Tory MP, who resigned as the government's chief whip after the "plebgate" affair surfaced, admits swearing but denies it was directed at the officers or that he called them plebs. The Metropolitan police said on Tuesday that five police officers all members of the elite Diplomatic Protection Group will now face gross misconduct proceedings linked to the subsequent row, meaning they could lose their jobs. The Crown Prosecution Service has also charged one officer, PC Keith Wallis, over the allegation that he falsely claimed to have witnessed the incident in an email to his MP. A spokesperson for the Sun said: "The Sun will be defending Mr Mitchell's libel action on the basis that our original story was true and published in the public interest." Lawyers say that Wednesday's ruling is one of the most significant since Mr Justice Jackson's reforms to court rules introduced in April requiring litigators to prepare a detailed costs budget at the start of the litigation and then stick to it. Murray Heining, chairman of the Association of Costs Lawyers, said: "This case can be regarded as easily the most important civil litigation judgment of the year. I am quite sure that today's judgment will provoke much discussion and rightly so. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other
inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.
Misty the dinosaur sold in UK auction

Diplodocus skeleton discovered in Wyoming by palaeontologist's sons snapped up for 400,000
Sam Jones and agency The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.42 GMT
A handler from the West Sussex auction house tending to Misty: the diplodocus skeleton sold for 400,000 on Wednesday. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Even in a catalogue crammed with such weird and poignant wonders as a gang of card-playing stuffed squirrels, the mocked-up skeleton of a miniature centaur, a dodo's leg bone and the preserved body of a giant tortoise reputed to have shuffled off its shell at the grand old age of 255, Misty was always going to be the prize lot. On Wednesday, four years after her magnificent bones were chipped from the hard rock of northern Wyoming where they had lain for at least 150,000 millennia, the diplodocus's skeleton sold for 400,000. Misty short for the "Mystery quarry" where she was unearthed is thought to be the first large dinosaur skeleton to be auctioned in Britain. The 4-metre high (14ft), 16.5-metre (55ft) skeleton was found almost intact in 2009 after Raimund Albersdrfer, a slightly harassed German palaeontologist busy excavating a quarry in Ten Sleep, Wyoming, told his two sons to leave him alone and try exploring nearby.
After a few hours of steady digging, Benjamin and Jacob returned and announced that they had found a bone so big they couldn't carry it. Nine weeks later, Misty had emerged, bone-by-bone, from the rock and had been wrapped in plastic and taken to a conservation lab where she was prepared for her journey to Holland. Once in Europe, she was handed over to master dinosaur builder Aart Walen, who mounted her bones on a frame. Errol Fuller, an author and natural history expert who curated the Evolution sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, West Sussex, said the diplodocus bones were incredibly rare. "There are probably about six of these in the great museums of the world, including in Pittsburg and Washington," he said. "You are talking about a very rare item indeed. Even if you were lucky enough to find one in the first place, the digging out and the preparation then involved is an enormous undertaking. Extracting Misty from her stony mattress, he added, would have been a difficult and time-consuming task in itself. "The rock that it was embedded in would have been extremely hard to break away from the bones, and you couldn't go at it with a sledgehammer because the bones were vulnerable to breaking."
BBC chief wants corporation to be 'less British' defending the licence fee
Tony Hall says the broadcaster must be more aggressive in promoting its cause before charter and licence fee renewal Read Tony Hall's Voice of the Listener and Viewer speech
John Plunkett theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.36 GMT Jump to comments ()
Tony Hall has said the BBC must use its TV, radio and online services to promote itself ahead of the licence fee renewal in 2016. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA
The BBC director general has said the corporation must be more aggressive and "less British" about using its own TV, radio and online services to make the case for the licence fee. Firmly setting out his stall for renewal of the BBC's charter and licence fee in three years' time, Hall said it was too early to say whether BBC3 or BBC4 should be axed, as some critics have suggested, warning that any attempt to shrink the corporation could lead to a repeat of the backlash that greeted its ill-fated plans to close Radio 6 Music. Hall indicated that the BBC would be more assertive than in the past in fighting its corner and should not be afraid to use its TV, radio and online services to promote its cause. His comments come ahead of what is certain to be a long and bitterly fought lobbying battle to secure renewal of the royal charter agreement, setting out the BBC's scope and remit, and 3.6bn-a-year licence fee funding deal with the government. Both agreements run until the end of 2016, but critics of the BBC, including Tory party chairman Grant Shapps, have already argued that the corporation must reform its ways if it is to retain its current levels of funding. "We need to be less British about saying what you get for 40p a day," said Hall, the daily cost of the 145.50 annual licence fee. "We have got to get aggressive about making this case to people," Hall told the annual conference of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer in London on Wednesday. "We do need to use our own airwaves to make the point what we offer. James Harding [director of BBC news and current affairs] came in with an interesting thought. For 40p a day you get a news service, on radio, online, you get Newsnight oh, and by the way, you get drama, and local radio, you've got music on Radio 1. "We have to get more aggressive in using our own airwaves and I have got a team working on that." In his speech, Hall admitted there will be "hard choices to come" about further cost cutting, with a further 100m of annual savings to be found "to fund our new ambitions" on top of the existing 700m target. Asked about the suggestion, by the corporation's former Olympics director Roger Mosey and Question Time host David Dimbleby, that the BBC should consider axing some of its TV channels to concentrate resources on BBC1 and BBC2, Hall said he was "trying to work out the answer to that question". "I need to understand emotionally, and I need to understand the data, that shows what we can do and if we can't do things, I will say so," said Hall. He said it would be a "difficult year" ahead. "We are not there yet, it's too early to get into discussions saying can we dump this or dump that. I am working out how we match ambition to resources." Hall added: "You can have whatever size BBC you want, but you will lose stuff. What interests me is that people will pick on things and say you can lose that, and then a whole load of other licence fee payers rightly say, that's of huge value to us.
"What is sitting on my shoulder a lot is what happened a few years ago when there was a plan to kill off the Asian Network and 6 Music and how people said hang on, we attach huge value to this. "Commentators can talk about this and that, what matters is your relationship with the BBC and your passion for what we are doing," he told the conference. Hall said the BBC had to do more to encourage use and awareness of its less popular services. He confirmed he was not aware, before the Scottish National Party's announcement on Tuesday, that it planned to replace the BBC in Scotland with a new Scottish Broadcasting Service if the nation voted for independence in next year's referendum. But he said it was not an issue he would consider in any shape or form before the referendum vote because of the implications for the BBC's impartiality. "What we are not doing is talking about what happens after the referendum for one very clear reason; it is our journalists' job to report impartially on the Scottish referendum and debate within Scotland and for the whole of the UK," said Hall. The director general rebuffed home secretary Theresa May's suggestion, made at the Society of Editors conference two weeks ago, that the BBC News operation, including its online activities, was threatening the future of local newspapers. Hall said he was "really impressed" by what he had seen at the local and regional level, which he said reinforced local democracy. He said he had a meeting with the Newspaper Society, which represents local and regional newspaper editors, last week to "work out ways we can support each other". "I don't buy the argument we are killing each other. We can work together on these things," he said.
Tony Hall's comparison with 20 years ago (click for larger image). Photograph: BBC
Hall used his speech to suggest that the licence fee, in real terms, was cheaper today than 20 years ago, when he said it was 147.77 in today's prices. Responding to criticism of the scale of the BBC's activities, he said the corporation had a 42% share of TV and radio, against 46% 20 years ago. But with an explosion of TV and radio channels, and online, he said the BBC was "delivering more without costing more".
"It is quite wrong to suggest that this quality is produced at the expense of others," he said. "The BBC is part of a virtuous circle. We do well. Others have to compete. They raise their game. We respond. Competition spurs us all on. And the creative strength of the whole UK industry rises, from Downton to Broadchurch, The Inbetweeners to Channel 4 News, Moone Boy to Gary Neville." Hall said new research, to be published by the BBC later this month, showed across Europe where public service broadcasters were strong, so were commercial broadcasters, and said BBC1 came out on top in a survey of 66 major TV channels around the world. Flagging up BBC1's Doctor Who 50th birthday special, he said: "Of course, not every BBC programme is a Doctor Who, but there are broadcasting organisations all over the world where not one programme is a Doctor Who The confidence and commitment we show in drama, I want in music and the arts too." To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.
Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor takes $10m at the box office in three days
BBC's 50th anniversary episode is global hit, with takings placing it third in US after Gravity and Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Mark Sweney theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.14 GMT Jump to comments ()
Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor starred Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt. Photograph: Adrian Rogers/BBC/PA
Doctor Who's 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor has made more than $10m (6m) in box office takings in its first three days being aired in cinemas around the world. Digitally The Day of the Doctor has also raced to the top of episodes purchased on Apple's iTunes in the US and Amazon's television chart. Based on the first day of sales it is set to be the most downloaded episode of 2013 for the BBC on iTunes. The BBC launched the The Day of the Doctor in 3D in cinemas in 15 countries from Russia to Ecuador on Saturday, and by the end of the day of Monday fans had forked out $10.2m (6.25m) to watch it. In the UK box office revenues from the anniversary edition which featured three doctors, Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt as well as a cameo by Tom Baker came to 1.8m in its first three days. This was good enough to rank it third after Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Sandra Bullock's space survival film Gravity. The BBC said that in the US the film took $4.7m on Monday night alone, selling 320,000 tickets, which made it the second biggest film of the day after Hunger Games. In terms of average revenue per screen the BBC said it was number one in the US on Monday, with 650 cinemas airing the 75-minute anniversary edition for an average of $7,155. Hunger Games, on much wider release in 4,163 cinemas, made $2,623 per screen on average. More than 70,000 Australian fans made it to the cinema to watch Doctor Who on Sunday. "We organised the global cinema events to give the fans an opportunity to get together and enjoy a unique moment in Doctor Who history as one," said the BBC Worldwide chief brands officer, Amanda Hill. "It also gave those same fans who didn't have 3D TVs a chance to see the special in its biggest and most amazing form. We had no idea that there would be such a demand at the global box office. This demonstrates how huge the show remains in the UK and how far it's come internationally over the last few years." The anniversary episode is also being screened in cinemas in countries including Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. The Day of the Doctor also attracted the biggest ever audience on the BBC's US cable channel, BBC America, averaging 2.4 million viewers. This was despite being aired at 2.50pm on the US east coast (11.50am in California) well outside of a primetime evening viewing slot. A primetime repeat attracted a further 1.2 million viewers. The BBC is also claiming a Guinness world record as "the world's largest ever simulcast of a TV drama", with episode aired in 94 countries. The most anticipated episode since the show was regenerated in 2005 attacted more than 10 million viewers to BBC1 on Saturday night, the most popular edition outside Christmas and new year holiday specials. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.
To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.
Alistair Darling accuses Salmond of 'back of envelope' data for Scotland

Former chancellor criticises Scottish government over debt burden and oil forecasts if independence achieved by 2016
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.52 GMT Jump to comments ()
Alistair Darling, head of the Better Together campaign, speaks about the Scottish government's white paper on independence. Photograph: Ken Jack/Demotix/Corbis
Alistair Darling, the former Labour chancellor, has accused Alex Salmond of publishing "highly misleading, back of an envelope" figures on Scottish independence, in a scathing attack on the first minister's forecasts for Scotland's wealth. Darling said the Scottish government had greatly underestimated the potential debt that an independent state could face immediately after independence by presenting only the most optimistic figures for its debt payments and North Sea oil receipts. Jim Gallagher, a professor and former Whitehall civil servant who opposes independence, said that the actual figures for debt interest payments and oil income could double Scotland's debt repayments in 2016/17 to at least 9bn, knocking a substantial hole in its finances in the first year of full independence. Darling, who is now chairman of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, said the white paper's only table of figures
on Scotland's finances after independence were "naive in the extreme" and "unlikely to be believed". He said: "I'm very, very, angry that they're using figures that frankly don't stand 10 minutes' examination." He said no UK chancellor would be allowed to present a single table of financial figures in any budget, or fail to publish long-term projections, including pessimistic and optimistic scenarios, yet Salmond wanted voters to back independence without giving any financial projections beyond the first year of independence, in 2016. That single table, said Darling, assumed that the Treasury would agree to let Scotland to keep its share of the UK's debt in the Treasury, keeping it on the UK balance sheet after independence and allowing Scotland to continue paying it off with the UK's favourable interest rate. The white paper figures for 2016/17 also used the most optimistic predictions for oil income that year, assuming Scotland got the most favourable geographic share of North Sea oil and gas fields upon independence. There was no guarantee either would be true, Darling said. "This is back of the envelope stuff. This is the stuff you do on the kitchen table. It doesn't stand up to any scrutiny whatsoever." The National Institute of Economic and Social Research had estimated this year that, if the UK insisted that Scotland took control of its share of public debt, the new independent country would face an extra premium on its debt interest rates of 0.72% to 1.65% above the UK's 4.1% rate of interest. That would leave Scotland between 1bn and 2.2bn worse off. Angus Armstrong, the institute's director of macroeconomics and former head of macreconomics at the Treasury, told the Guardian that after seeing the white paper he believed that extra interest rate could be higher; he was now calculating what the premium might be. Darling added that the predictions of the Office for Budget Responsibility for oil revenues estimates that the Scottish government and the oil industry had rejected as too gloomy would leave Scotland worse off by at least an extra 3.5bn. Gallagher, director-general of devolution at the Cabinet Office and justice ministry under Labour, said the Institute of Fiscal Studies had predicted last week that Scotland's deficits and debts would worsen after 2017 unless Scotland cut public spending sharply or increased taxes. Armstrong said the UK would find it very hard to agree to keep Scotland's debt on its books, since that would hit the UK's credit rating and risk the Treasury paying higher debt interest rates at the same time as the UK's GDP was cut by 10% following Scotland's independence. The Scottish government did not respond to Darling criticism or offer further financial projections, but Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy first minister, accused the former chancellor of a "rattled and feeble response" to the white paper. She said: "The no campaign is rapidly running out of ideas, and have nothing positive to say. And he even denied he had said that an independent Scotland using the pound would be 'logical' and 'desirable'. Yet we all heard him say it. All of this shows that Mr Darling's own sums don't stack up and we can't believe a word the no campaign say." During a stormy debate on the white paper at Holyrood, where Salmond was called "the patron saint of blind optimism" by Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, the first minister insisted Scotland's economy would grow after independence. He said his plans to extend free child care to all under fives by 2026 would entail a "transformational" change to family incomes, saving families with young children up to 4,600 a year. That could increase the number of women in work by 6%, increasing tax revenues by 700m.
"With independence we would keep this revenue here in Scotland to reinvest it in child care for all, a model we know from countries such as Netherlands works well for children's development, female participation in the labour market and the wider economy," he said.
Katy Perry and Arctic Monkeys sign on to bring real X factor to the Brits
Hat designer Philip Treacy will style the 2014 award statues, and James Corden will host the show at the O2 in London
Mark Sweney The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
Katy Perry sings in traditional Japanese dress at the American Music Awards in LA at the weekend. Photograph: UPI /Landov/Barcroft Media
Arctic Monkeys and Katy Perry are to perform at the Brits for the first time next year, as part of new chairman Christian Tattersfield's plan to build the UK's annual music awards into a 10 million-viewer event. Tattersfield, co-chief executive of Warner Music UK, wants to build on the success of this year's Brits, which drew the biggest audience for a decade on ITV with 8.1 million viewing live or watching on catch-up. James Corden will host the show, at the O2 in London on 19 February, for a fifth and final time, while ITV has extended its broadcast relationship to 23 years, keeping the TV rights until 2016. Tattersfield said his aim is to continue to build the Brits as a promotional platform for a wider range of musicians than the largely pop-oriented acts that perform on The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent.
the largely pop-oriented acts that perform on The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. "I'd like the Brits to get to 10 million viewers, to continue where we left off [last year]," he said. The Brits, he said, should be "a fixture, a promotional platform on TV outside of X Factor and Britain's Got Talent which are very narrow in the kind of artist they want, which is basically pop acts. Arctic Monkeys at the Brits represents that." Hat designer Philip Treacy will style the Brits 2014 award statues, following in the footsteps of Vivienne Westwood, Sir Peter Blake and Damien Hirst. Tattersfield said that about four years ago the Brits was in a "sorry state", with ratings down to 4.5 million and ITV's longstanding relationship "somewhat in jeopardy". "It was a shambolic show which meant some big acts were hesitant to perform," he said. "The last three years have been professional, slick the kind of place that represents the UK music industry in the way it should be represented." ITV is increasing its coverage of the 34-year-old event, and will air the 9 January nominations show on ITV1 for the first time in a decade.
90,000 Porsche gets low-carbon government grant

Porsche's hybrid Panamera S with electric motor and petrol engine will get 5,000 off the pricetag, thanks to a public subsidy
Adam Vaughan The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.50 GMT Jump to comments ()
The Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid is displayed at the Shanghai auto show. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Buyers of a new luxury hybrid Porsche will have 5,000 knocked off the asking price thanks to a government subsidy. The 89,900 Panamera S E-Hybrid, which uses an electric motor as well as a petrol engine, is eligible for the government's plug-in car grant a subsidy scheme introduced in 2011 as a way to increase the adoption of electric cars. Most of the cars eligible for the discount, from the Nissan Leaf at the lower end to the BMW i3 at the higher end, cost in the region of 21,000-35,000 before the grant. But there is no cap on the price of car that can benefit from the subsidy. Dr Neal Hockley, a lecturer in economics and policy at the University of Bangor, said: "Subsidising electric Porsches is a terrible policy. The UK government already provides considerable financial incentives for low-carbon transport through fuel duty and vehicle exercise duty. Subsidies for posh cars are unnecessary." A Porsche spokesman said: "All we can say is government puts these structures in place to encourage manufacturers to build low-emissions cars and that's exactly what we've done. The grant was not why we've built that car. It's one of the suite of benefits, and I think it's very fair because it's under a system of regulations that the government set up. I'm not sure there should be an exception for any sort of vehicle." The Department for Transport, which pays the grant, also defended the payments for the Porsche. "The grant is not designed to incentivise particular models, it is to incentivise the development and roll-out of emerging low carbon technologies which we expect to become mainstream in coming decades," a spokesman said. "Making the grant available in this instance meets that goal, as it would with any other ultra-low carbon vehicle." The plug-in hybrid car, which can go from 0 to 60mph in 5.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 167mph with the aid of the petrol engine, is also exempt from paying the London congestion charge and vehicle excise duty. It emits 71g/km of CO2, compared with the average for new cars of 133.1g/km in 2012 and 239g/km for Porsche's top-end Panamera, the Turbo S.
Scottish independence: Spain blocks Alex Salmond's hopes for EU transition

No automatic welcome for independent Scotland, says Mariano Rajoy, who expects UK to take same stance on Catalonia
Severin Carrell and Ashifa Kassam in Madrid The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.57 GMT
The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.57 GMT Jump to comments ()
Scottish independence: Mariano Rajoy has warned against European regions embarking on 'solo adventures in an uncertain future'. Photograph: Gabriel Pecot/AP
Alex Salmond's plans for an independent Scotland to smoothly join the European Union have been dealt a painful blow after the Scottish first minister's proposals were dismissed by Spain's prime minister. Mariano Rajoy said his government believed an independent Scotland could only apply to join the EU from outside the organisation as a new state, as he warned against regions of Europe embarking on "solo adventures in an uncertain future". His intervention confirms long-held suspicions that the Madrid government will resist the Scottish government's plans because of its rejection of Catalonian independence, which has seen large marches in Barcelona in favour of secession. While Rajoy's government faces an election in late 2015, before Scotland formally seeks to become independent, it will be seen as an effective veto on immediate Scottish entry to the EU, threatening to have a fatal impact on Salmond's hopes of winning next year's referendum. Already trailing in the polls, Salmond has repeatedly insisted that EU membership for Scotland will be smooth and pain-free, and would allow Scotland to retain sterling as its currency, the UK's opt-outs on policies such as Schengen border controls and the UK's rebate. Speaking at a joint press conference with the French president, Franois Hollande, Rajoy said: "It's very clear to me, as it is for everybody else in the world, that a country that would obtain independence from the EU would remain out of the EU, and that is good for Scottish citizens to know and for all EU citizens to know." Rajoy said EU treaties "apply only to member states that have agreed and ratified them, and if a part of one member state cleaves from the member state, it converts itself into a third part with relation to the EU." "That is the law and that law applies." He added: "In no way does it benefit our European regions and our citizens to propose divisions or solo adventures in an uncertain future in which the exit points may seem clear but the destination is unknown." In a statement the UK government appears to have anticipated, Rajoy said he would expect David Cameron, the UK prime minister, to take the same position if Catalonia sought to join the EU as an independent state. On Tuesday the European commission signalled it was sticking to the stance taken by the commission president, Jos
Manuel Barroso, that a region of a member state which gained independence would be seen as a new state, outside the EU. Speaking shortly after Salmond released his 670-page white paper on independence, a commission spokesman said its "well-known position" on this had not changed. "I can specify that the treaty provides some clear articles when it comes to the need for a new, third country to apply to the EU if they want to join," he said. "Any process of a particular region of a member state leaving this member state will have treaty implications." Rajoy's statement came as Scotland's external affairs secretary, Fiona Hyslop, continued a series of private meetings with European diplomats to press the Scottish government's case that the European treaty could allow Scotland to join via a "common accord" process without the need to formally apply as a new member state. A spokesperson for deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said there was no provision in the EU treaties for existing EU citizens to be forced to leave the organisation. She said that there was also a significant difference between Scotland's quest for independence and the secession movement in Catalonia, as Scotland's referendum was officially supported by the UK government. "We note that the Spanish prime minister has said he has not read our proposals, but Mr Rajoy has previously indicated that he considers the Scottish and Catalan situations are 'absolutely and totally different'," she said. "Scotland is already an integral part of the EU, and there is nothing in the entire body of EU treaties which provides for the expulsion of an existing territory or the removal of its inhabitants' rights as EU citizens." A smooth and fast transition into the EU is crucial to Salmond's plans for Scotland to achieve independence with the minimum of disruption and economic risks. He also believes Scotland should be allowed to keep using sterling and reject the euro, and retain all the UK's rebates and existing opt-outs policies observers believe are unlikely to be accepted by EU members and are likely to rile the Spanish and other powerful EU states. Based on legal advice from the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, Scotland's chief law officer, Sturgeon said the Lisbon treaty had provisions under Article 48 where all 27 member states could agree to allow Scotland to make a smooth transition to membership in the 18 months after independence. That process would allow the treaty to be amended through an "ordinary revision procedure initiated by the United Kingdom government". Only an hour or two before Rajoy's press conference, the UK government said that was "a very novel interpretation of EU law". A spokesman stated: "The legal basis for the conventional and widely accepted position that, as a new state, an independent Scotland would have to apply to join the EU is set out in the legal paper published in February. "Nor is it clear from this document what grounds they have for their strong assertion that an independent Scotland will somehow automatically retain the UK's opt-outs or a share of the UK rebate we can see no legal or political basis for such an emphatic claim. "It will be interesting to see how other [EU] member states react to the claims the Scottish government have put forward in this document." Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said Spain could be followed by other EU member states: "The
nationalists insisted an independent Scotland would not be put outside the European Union but this intervention from the Spanish prime minister directly contradicts this assertion. "Hard won opt-outs on Schengen, the Euro and the rebate would be in doubt and might have to be traded away to get back in. At breakfast the SNP said there was little doubt, by teatime there was little certainty."
Tony Blair plotted military intervention in Zimbabwe, claims Thabo Mbeki

Former South African president says his country was asked by UK for help with military plan to remove Robert Mugabe
David Smith in Johannesburg The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.21 GMT Jump to comments ()
Tony Blair with Thabo Mbeki in 2007. Mbeki has alleged that Blair pressured him to join a 'regime change scheme' in Zimbabwe. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Tony Blair and former South African president Thabo Mbeki clashed on Wednesday over claims that Britain had been prepared to use military force to overthrow Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. Mbeki alleged that the former British prime minister pressured him to join a "regime change scheme" as Zimbabwe plunged into a political and economic crisis in the early 2000s. But the claim was strongly denied by Blair's office. Both the UK as its former colonial power, and South Africa, its most powerful neighbour, have long played an intimate role in Zimbabwean affairs. But their leaders were divided on how to act when it descended into chaos following the violent seizures of white-owned farms. Blair, who had made a triumphant military intervention in Sierra
Leone, was determined that Mugabe should step down whereas Mbeki was ready to accommodate him. "The problem was, we were speaking from different positions," Mbeki said in an interview on al-Jazeera. "There were other people saying, 'Yes indeed there are political problems, economic problems, the best way to solve them is regime change. So Mugabe must go'. This was the difference. So they said, 'Mugabe must go'. We said 'But Mugabe is part of the solution to this problem'." Mbeki made reference to a retired British general, thought to be Lord Guthrie, who was chief of the defence staff during the first Blair government. In an interview in 2007 Guthrie recalled that "people were always trying to get me to look at" toppling Mugabe by force, though he did not mention Blair by name. Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela in 1999 and lost power in 2008, said: "There is a retired chief of the British armed forces who said he had to withstand pressure from the then prime minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair ... Tony Blair who was saying to the chief of the British armed forces, 'You must work out a military plan so that we can physically remove Robert Mugabe'. "We knew that because we had come under the same pressure that we need to cooperate in some scheme. It was a regime change scheme, even to the point of using military force and we were saying no." Solidarity and anti-colonial sentiment remains strong among Africa's liberation movement leaders. Mbeki condemned the way in which Britain presumed it could still meddle in Zimbabwean affairs. "You are coming from London, you don't like Robert Mugabe for whatever reason - people in London don't like him - and we are going to remove him and therefore it means we are going to put someone else in his place? "Why does it become a British responsibility to decide who leads the people of Zimbabwe? So we're saying, 'No, let Zimbabweans sit down, let them agree what they do with their country.'" Mbeki later helped broker a power sharing agreement between Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) following a violent election in 2008 that cost at least 200 lives. But he was strongly criticised by the MDC for siding with Mugabe and devising a "conspiracy" to divide and weaken the opposition. Mugabe remains the only leader Zimbabwe has known since it gained independence from Britain in 1980. He continues to use anti-British rhetoric to whip up support and has singled out Blair for particular criticism, once declaring at a summit of world leaders: "So Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe." Earlier this year he told the UN general assembly: "Shame, shame, shame to the United States of America. Shame, shame, shame to Britain and its allies. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans, so are its resources. Please remove your illegal and filthy sanctions from my peaceful country." The 89-year-old has often accused Britain of using sanctions, and backing the MDC, in an attempt to effect regime change. He claimed Britain sent hit squads to kill cabinet members. In 2000 Zimbabwe's state television even reported that a British invasion force had been deployed in neighbouring Botswana, making the unlikely claim that a naval flotilla was present in the landlocked Okavango delta. Tendai Biti, a veteran MDC politician who became finance minister in the unity government, said he had never heard the claim of a possible British military intervention before. "It's a serious allegation to make and I think there should be evidence," he said. Despite years of persecution by Mugabe, the MDC would not have welcomed external military intervention, Biti insisted. "It could not have worked. The people of Zimbabwe and the MDC do not believe in violence and do not believe there can be any solution other than a sustainable democratic process. If you look at the history of Africa, it is littered with civil wars and coups; the violence is cyclical." He added: "The British would have invaded for what? Certainly not for [MDC leader] Morgan Tsvangirai who
He added: "The British would have invaded for what? Certainly not for [MDC leader] Morgan Tsvangirai who would have refused to assume power under any undemocratic conditions." After leaving office as prime minister, Tony Blair set up the Africa Governance Initiative, which currently has staff working in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Malawi and South Sudan. Last week Blair delivered a speech at the Guinea Investment Conference in Abu Dhabi. On Wednesday he denied Mbeki's allegation. A spokesman said: "Tony Blair has long believed that Zimbabwe would be much better off without Robert Mugabe and always argued for a tougher stance against him, but he never asked anyone to plan or take part in any such military intervention." Mbeki stuck to his guns, however. His spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said: "Former president Thabo Mbeki maintains what he told al-Jazeera as a factual and accurate account of what happened."
Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore suffers prison heart attack

One of Italy's most wanted criminals is said to be in stable condition at London hospital after being rushed from prison
Josh Halliday theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 11.42 GMT
A court artist impression of mafia boss Domenico Rancadore, who is fighting extradition to Italy. Photograph: Elizabeth Cook/PA
The mafia boss Domenico Rancadore has been rushed to hospital in London after suffering a suspected heart attack in prison. Rancadore's lawyer, Alun Jones QC, told the high court on Wednesday morning that the 64-year-old was in a stable
condition and was believed to have been taken to St George's hospital in Tooting, south-west London. "Mr Rancadore was taken to hospital. That obviously has a bearing on the application. We cannot give the court any information because the hospital and prison will give us hardly any information," said Jones. Rancadore, who has been on the run for nearly two decades after fleeing Sicily to escape his mafia links, was expected to learn on Wednesday whether he would be allowed to return to his home in Uxbridge, west London, on conditional bail. The former "man of honour" of the mafia group Cosa Nostra has been in police custody since he was arrested in August by Metropolitan police officers, acting on a European arrest warrant. Rancadore is fighting extradition to Italy where he is facing imprisonment after being convicted in his absence of "mafia association". Jones said Rancadore, who was described as suffering a heart condition at previous court hearings, had had a stable night and was having an angiogram on Wednesday morning. He added that Anne Skinner, Rancadore's wife, who was sitting at the back of the court, had not been told which hospital he had been taken to but that it was believed to be St George's. "It really does seem extreme that Mrs Skinner, who has been married to her husband since 1976, isn't allowed to talk to his doctors let alone her husband," he said. "Mrs Skinner desperately wants this matter resolved as quickly as possible." The high court was due on Wednesday to hear an appeal by the Italian authorities against the decision by the Westminster magistrates to grant conditional bail to Rancadore. The court of Palermo, where Rancadore was convicted of mafia association in 1998, believes Rancadore poses a "significant flight risk" if he is allowed to leave police custody. The high court judges hearing the appeal, Mr Justice Ouseley and Lord Justice Goldring, agreed the hearing should be adjourned until Thursday. Goldring said: "I certainly will express the view that it is of crucial importance that the information [about Rancadore's condition in hospital] is provided to the legal team and to Mrs Skinner, but that is just a personal view." Rancadore is expected to be subject to strict conditions including an order to wear an electronic tag, visit a police station twice daily, answer his mobile phone at all times and provide a 50,000 security if he is eventually released on bail.
Ministers will order ISPs to block terrorist and extremist websites

PM favours model used to successfully police online child abuse, but broadband companies are wary of infringing free speech
Juliette Garside, telecommunications correspondent The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.55 GMT Jump to comments ()
James Brokenshire, the UK's crime and security minister, said an update on the government's plans to tackle terror content online was imminent. Photograph: Michael Dunlea/Rex Features
The government is to order broadband companies to block extremist websites and empower a specialist unit to identify and report content deemed too dangerous for online publication. The crime and security minister, James Brokenshire, said on Wednesday that measures for censoring extremist content would be announced shortly. The initiative is likely to be controversial, with broadband companies already warning that freedom of speech could be compromised. Ministers are understood to want to follow the model used to crack down on online child abuse. The Internet Watch Foundation, which is partly industry-funded, investigates reports of illegal child abuse images online; it can then ask service providers to block or take down websites. The prime minister, David Cameron, is understood to favour a similar model for terrorist content. A governmentfunded body, possibly within the counter-terrorism referral unit, will order companies including BT, TalkTalk, BSkyB and Virgin Media to block websites, according to industry sources. "There are freedom of speech issues," said one source. "For extremist material the government needs to ensure there is a process in place to test what is illegal." Following the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, Cameron vowed to "drain the swamp" in which he said Islamic extremism was being allowed to breed. Action against websites inciting terrorist acts was one of a series of measures announced by the PM in June, with others including extremist groups on campuses and in prisons, support for madrasas promoting tolerance and helping mosques expel extremists. Broadband companies and the search engines Google and Bing have already agreed to help police child abuse material, by blocking content and posting warnings and links to watchdogs and advice sites. From next year, all customers of the major broadband companies will be asked whether they wish to install filters that block violent or adult content.
But broadband companies are reluctant to be labelled as the watchdogs of the web, and want to be sure they are following the law before agreeing to block material that some customers may feel entitled to access. "There is always a concern about mission creep," said a second internet service provider source. "When it comes to incitement it's not as clear cut as child exploitation. If there is a robust appeals process, that could potentially overcome some of those concerns." An announcement on government action on extremist websites had been expected this week, but officials have not yet formally laid out their plans to broadband companies. Speaking at the Internet Service Providers Association conference in London on Wednesday, Brokenshire said an update was imminent. Policing the internet is shifting from a reactive process, where authorities are alerted to illegal content, to a proactive one, where public funds could be spent seeking out banned material. The Internet Watch Foundation is piloting a change in its methods that would see its agents actively search the peerto-peer networks of the so called dark web to identify abusive images. Cameron is also pushing for a formal collaboration with the US on illegal online activity. On 9 December the UK policing minister and the US assistant attorney general will co-chair the first meeting of the taskforce to combat online child sexual exploitation crimes.
Anxiang Du found guilty of murdering family of four

Jury rejects lesser charges of manslaughter over deaths of Jifeng Ding, Ge Chui and their two daughters in April 2011
Laura Dixon theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.26 GMT
Jifeng Ding with his wife Helen and daughters Xing and Alice: Anxiang Du was found guilty of their murder. Photograph: Northamptonshire police/PA
A businessman who killed his former colleagues and their two school-age children after losing a lengthy and "acrimonious" legal battle has been found guilty of their murder. Anxiang Du, a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, was found guilty at Northampton crown court of killing Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, a university lecturer, his teacher wife, Ge, who was known as Helen, and their two daughters, Xing, known as Nancy, and Alice, stabbing them to death in their home on the day of the royal wedding. Du went on the run after the killings and was not found until the summer of 2012, living semi-rough on a building site in Morocco. The search for him was one of the biggest manhunts in Northamptonshire police's history, with more than 240 police officers deployed to try to track him down during the course of the investigation.
Anxiang Du went on the run after the killings and was not found until the summer of 2012. Photograph: Northamptonshire police/PA
Du, 54, had not denied killing the family, but his defence team had argued that a 10-year court battle with his former friends over a shared business venture had left him suffering from depression so severe it altered his judgment. His lawyers had argued he should have been found guilty not of murder, but of manslaughter on the grounds of loss of control or diminished responsibility. The prosecution rejected this claim, saying while Du may have had depression, the murders were a "cold-blooded" and "considered act of revenge". The jury of eight women and four men took just over three hours to find him guilty of murder on all four counts. William Harbage QC, for the prosecution, had told them that Du had come up with the plan after his legal appeals had reached the end of the road. The night before the killings, he had been served with an emergency injunction that prevented him from disposing of any of his assets.
Du travelling on a bus on the day of the killings. Photograph: Northamptonshire police/PA
Facing "financial ruin", and an 88,000 bill for costs, he packed his passport and a knife before travelling to Northampton with the family's address written on a piece of paper. He left his wife a goodbye note in their shop in Birmingham that read "everyone has to say farewell one day". CCTV evidence during the trial played to a silent courtroom showed Du casually ambling around the bus station as he sought out the Ding's family home in the hours before they died, the knife hidden in his backpack. When he got there, he would later say in interviews, he entered through the back of the house, and asked Jeff Ding for the money he felt he was owed before pulling the knife from his bag. He killed Jeff and Helen in the kitchen, and then went upstairs and attacked the two girls after finding them, in the words of Harbage, "cowering in a bedroom". Postmortems showed all the family had suffered multiple stab wounds, with those to the chest proving fatal. Ding and his eldest daughter had suffered self-defence wounds as they tried to fight him off. Afterwards, Du later admitted, he slept for a while, before stealing the family car to try to hunt down a friend of the Dings who had helped fund their legal battle. While at first officers thought they may be dealing with a murder-suicide, and focused their search on London, Manchester and the Midlands, it later became clear Du had fled the country, turning a quadruple murder case into an international manhunt. Initial searches for Du at airports and on Eurostar services had drawn a blank, but police later established that he had driven to London and abandoned the car on a residential street. By 8am on 30 April, the day after the killings, he was on a coach to Paris, and soon after travelled undetected through Spain to the ferry port at Algeciras. It was a neighbour who found their bodies of the Ding parents, hidden behind a blue velvet curtain in the room that backed on to the garden, on Sunday evening, more than 48 hours after the family had been murdered. Du was later found after someone from the building site spotted his photograph in a newspaper. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Davies, who led the investigation, said Du had successfully evaded detection for months. "That's why I say he was a man with a plan. He did not hit any radar," he said, adding that it had been "one of the biggest and worst cases, in terms of the loss of life, the nature of the killings and the number of challenges" police faced throughout the investigation. The judge, Mr Justice Flaux, said after the verdict: "Anxiang Du, you have been found guilty of four counts of murder. No doubt your counsel will explain to you there is only one sentence I can pass for this."
Helen Ding's father Zuyao Cui and her brother Xin Cui. Photograph: Northamptonshire police/PA
He paid also tribute to members of Helen Ding's family who had travelled from China to be in Northampton for the case. "I have observed the dignified way in which you have conducted yourselves throughout this trial, which must have been truly horrendous for you in a way that the rest of us cannot understand. "I know nothing I can say will assuage the pain of the deaths of your sister, daughter and family. I just hope that at least the fact the man responsible for their deaths has been brought to justice will provide you with some closure over these terrible events." He is expected to sentence Du on Thursday. Zuyao Cui, Helen's father, had sat at the back of the court room every day of the trial, listening to proceedings through a translator. He said his daughter had been "a good mother, a good wife and she taught the two girls very well", and said hearing the evidence in court had been "like a knife to the body". "When the two families heard about this it was like the whole sky has fallen down," he said. "We all cried together." Asked what he would say to the man who killed four members of his family, he said: "I would ask Du why you did what you have done? How can you be so cruel?" Steve Chappell, the chief prosecutor for the CPS in the east Midlands, said: "This was a brutal, shocking crime. Anxiang Du travelled to the Dings' home armed with a knife and killed the whole family in their own home. The evidence was clear that this was an act of pre-meditated revenge and Du knew what he was doing. "The Ding family were honest, hard-working and well-liked people. It is a tragedy that their lives were cut short in this way. Our thoughts and condolences are with their family and friends."
Cuts may force councils to stop funding arts and leisure services by 2015
Study warns that authorities will have to focus on core services, leaving others such as libraries and leisure centres at risk
risk
Patrick Butler, social policy editor The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
Playground funding may disappear as councils run out of efficiency savings. Photograph: Fabrice Trombert Photography Inc/Getty Images
Local council funding for "quality of life" services such as leisure centres, libraries and playgrounds will largely disappear in the next three years as authorities focus their depleted resources on crisis interventions for the poorest people, a study says. The report on spending and savings plans found that by 2015 many councils in England will have exhausted "back office" efficiency savings. As a result they will be forced to reduce core services to the bare bones, while any services they have no legal obligation to provide will be at risk of being cut entirely. Only a rump of services used predominantly by the poorest and most vulnerable residents, such as child protection and elderly care, will remain, warns the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report, as universal services enjoyed by all sections of the community face the axe. Children's centres, youth services, arts and culture activities, neighbourhood wardens and street cleaning are already being cut back, while social care services for elderly people are being restricted to those with the most critical needs, it says. The impact of funding decisions will increasingly be felt by the wider public, the study warns, as councils are forced to make fundamental choices about how to deploy their shrinking funds: "To cope with the cuts to come, it [local government] is being forced to reconsider what services it can provide and for whom." Councils are drawing up budgets for the 2014-15 financial year on the back of three years of cuts and rising demand for social care. English councils' funding is being cut by 29% over five years to 2015, the study says, making local government "one of the foremost casualties of austerity in the UK". The stresses facing local authorities are underlined in a separate report published by the Audit Commission, which reveals that one in 10 of England's 353 local authorities are in danger of going bust, while almost a third experienced "financial stress" in 2012-13 as a result of cuts in government funding. The commission says the poorest authorities have carried a greater cuts burden than their more affluent counterparts: almost half (49%) of English councils covering the 20% most deprived areas faced cuts of more than 15% in 2013/14 compared with 2010/11. Fewer than one in 10 councils (8%) in the most wealthy areas suffered reductions on such a scale. The JRF study found that councils in the north and the Midlands had seen their spending power reduced by 100 a
head more than in affluent areas, and that government-imposed funding reductions were proportionately greater in Labour-controlled councils than Tory or Liberal Democrat authorities. John Low, policy and research manager at JRF, said: "As we approach the fourth austerity settlement for local government in December, it is clear the cuts are biting deep into the poorest and most deprived communities. Unless we can muster the national will to correct or mitigate the unacceptable divergence of resources between more and less affluent authorities, we are slowly but inexorably creating a more divided society." However, Brandon Lewis, the local government minister, argued that deprived areas "continue to receive and spend far more funding per household than other parts of the country" in absolute terms. He said: "Councils should be making sensible savings, such as through joint working, cutting fraud, better procurement and tackling tax evasion. Rather than the doom and gloom peddled by the JRF, the latest independent polling shows that the public are more satisfied with town hall services than ever before." The JRF study, carried out by academics at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities, is the second part of an in-depth research project analysing the distribution and impact of local government funding cuts, and how councils and residents cope with them. It examined three councils in detail: Newcastle upon Tyne, Milton Keynes and Coventry. It found that where funding is cut from services such as libraries, parks and even litter collection, councils were increasingly expecting communities to step in. "If budget cuts continue at the levels anticipated, all but the most vulnerable will be expected to do more for themselves and to supplement state services with commercial alternatives," said Annette Hastings, a co-author of the report. So far, local services predominantly used by wealthier groups such as arts and culture have faced the highest percentage cuts, while those used by poorer residents, such as social care, have been relatively protected. But the study says this degree of insulation will not continue and that the poorest communities, who rely most on council services, will be worst affected. It says: "It needs to be constantly borne in mind that public services play a much more important role in the lives of people on low incomes compared to those living in more affluent circumstances. Poor people cannot replace a visit to the library or free museum with a visit to the bookshop or theatre. Neither can they augment the care funded by local government with care purchased from the market."
Woman 'gave 60,000 inheritance to Maoist sect before falling to her death'
Police investigate circumstances surrounding death of Sian Davies, 44, who broke her neck in fall at south London property
Josh Halliday and Vikram Dodd The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.34 GMT
The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.34 GMT
Police in Brixton near the address where Aravindan and Chanda Balakrishnan are accused of keeping three women in servitude. Photograph: Guy Corbishley/Demotix/Corbis
A member of a Maoist sect is believed to have handed up to 60,000 from her late father's inheritance to an extreme leftwing commune before falling to her death from a bathroom window of the house they shared. Sian Davies, 44, died with only 5 to her name in 1997 after breaking her neck in a mysterious fall from the property in south London, where she lived with the couple who have been accused of keeping three women in servitude for 30 years. A s police began formally interviewing the three alleged victims for the first time on Wednesday, more details emerged about Davies, who is said to have vanished without trace after joining the sect in the late 70s. A former pupil of Cheltenham Ladies' College, who grew up in an idyllic market town in north Wales, Davies refused to meet her mother for almost two decades and was cut off from her family by followers of the Marxist collective led by Aravindan Balakrishnan, known as "Comrade Bala". Balakrishnan, now 73, and his wife, Chanda, were arrested last week on suspicion of keeping three women in servitude. Davies is understood to have inherited 60,000 from her father, Alun, when he died aged 56 in 1970. She went to London with her university boyfriend, known only as Martin, around 1977 and was drawn into the tight-knit collective. She is believed to have spent the next 20 years living with the group at various addresses in the capital before being left paraplegic after falling nine metres (30ft) from a second-floor window at the house they shared. Davies was treated in King's College hospital in London for eight months, but Maoist group members informed her mother that she was "travelling in India" and sent "her love". They clashed with doctors who wanted to contact her family. Davies is understood to have died with barely any personal possessions only a handful of Marxist teachings, and 5 in her bank account raising fears that her inheritance might have been used to fund the living arrangements of the extreme-left group. Dudley Heslop, a community worker who claimed to be a past member of the Brixton collective, told the London Evening Standard: "His followers were committed to becoming revolutionaries. He would say, 'I am the Christ, follow me'."
Scotland Yard is examining the circumstances around Davies' death as part of its investigation into the Maoist sect. Officers are reviewing which inquiries were made on behalf of the coroner, who described the death as a mystery and recorded an open verdict. Eiddwyn Evans, a former Metropolitan police officer turned private investigator, who examined the death on behalf of the Davies family, raised questions about the fatality in a TV interview. "I tried and tried for months. I felt within my heart it was such a distressful thing for Mrs Davies she was begging and begging to get in touch with her but obviously these people, they merely closed every door," he said in a BBC Wales programme broadcast in 1997. The Met police commander Steve Rodhouse confirmed on Wednesday that detectives were reviewing papers from the inquest but said there was nothing to suggest the verdict was wrong. Rodhouse said police were investigating a series of allegations, including claims of physical and emotional abuse. "The crucial issue for us is that, on the basis of the information that we have had indirectly from victims, clearly criminal offences have been committed. What we need to do now is to understand that in much more detail." The inquiry, using 47 officers, was launched after three women a 30-year-old Briton, a 57-year-old Irishwoman and a Malaysian national aged 69 were rescued from a house in Brixton, London, where they said they were being held. Detectives stressed the unique nature of the case and warned about jumping to conclusions that the case amounted to "modern-day slavery". Rodhouse said: "We have not yet been able to formally interview the victims in this case so we don't fully understand the nature of the allegations. "The victims are in the care of specialists who have got great experience of dealing with people who have been subject to trauma. We're working to [the] advice of those experts as to how best to handle those victims, to support them and of course draw out the evidence we would need to substantiate any prosecution." Police have begun interviewing 50 witnesses and ploughing through other material relevant to the case, though Rodhouse said police had no reason to believe there were more victims.
Alexander Litvinenko inquest: high court halts lifting of secrecy order

William Hague successfuly argues that airing secret documents about former KGB spy would harm national security
Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 10.21 GMT
Alexander Litvinenko pictured in intensive care in 2006. Photograph: Natasja Weitsz/Getty Images
Lawyers for the Foreign Office have succeeded in overturning a coroner's ruling that secret documents should be released for the inquest into the death of the former Russian dissident and KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko. In a unanimous decision, three judges at the high court accepted that the foreign secretary, William Hague, should not have to reveal material relating to the 2006 poisoning of Litvinenko on the grounds that it would be a risk to national security. Litvinenko, 43, consumed radioactive polonium-210 while drinking tea during a meeting with former Russian security colleagues at the Millennium hotel in Grosvenor Square, central London. He died three weeks later. In May this year, the assistant coroner Sir Robert Owen agreed to exclude material from the inquest that suggested Russian state agencies were involved in Litvinenko's death. He also agreed to keep secret evidence that considered whether or not the UK authorities could have prevented Litvinenko's 2006 murder. But he said summaries of other documents should be disclosed despite an application by the Foreign Office that they should all be subject to a public interest immunity (PII) certificate. The coroner ruled that disclosure was necessary for a "fair and meaningful" inquest. In Wednesday's judgment, however, Lord Justice Goldring said: "The coroner did not really explain the reasoning which drove him to decide that the need for 'a full and proper inquiry' outweighed the real risk of damage to national security. "There is nothing to suggest he had in mind such observations [by senior judges] to the effect that it would be very rare for a court, especially regarding such issues as national security, to question the view of the secretary of state that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest The weight the coroner gave to the views of the secretary of state was insufficient and amounted to an error of law. "It was clear that the narrative of the inquest would be adversely affected by non-disclosure, although that could to some extent be ameliorated. Although this is not satisfactory, the essential issue is not whether or not the process of the inquest would be prejudiced by non-disclosure; plainly it would be. The question is whether that prejudice outweighs the real risk of significant damage to national security." The Guardian and other media groups had intervened in the case at an earlier stage to argue that open justice would be damaged if relevant material was not released. There is due to be a pre-inquest review on Friday to prepare for further hearings if there is to be no public inquiry.
In response to the high court ruling, Owen said he would "reflect carefully on the detail of today's judicial review PII judgment", hear submissions on Friday on the scope of the inquest and "in due course make a ruling".
Christian guesthouse owners lose appeal over right to bar gay couples
Supreme court dismisses claim by Peter and Hazelmary Bull that right to manifest religious beliefs was breached
Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 10.56 GMT Jump to comments ()
Peter and Hazelmary Bull operate a policy at their hotel that double bedrooms are available only to heterosexual married couples. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PA
The Christian owners of a hotel in Cornwall who banned a gay couple from staying have lost their final battle in the British courts to win legal support for their selective guest policy. The supreme court unanimously dismissed an appeal by Peter and Hazelmary Bull that their right to express their religious beliefs had been breached. The Bulls operate a policy at their hotel, stated on their online booking form, that double bedrooms are available only to "heterosexual married couples". The case was originally brought by Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy, a gay couple, whose booking was refused in September 2008. The supreme court judges said that although the Bulls' rights under the European convention on human rights to manifest their religion were at issue it was justifiable and proportionate to limit them in order to protect the rights of
others. Delivering judgment, the deputy president of the supreme court, Lady Hale, said: "Sexual orientation is a core component of a person's identity which requires fulfilment through relationships with others of the same orientation." Homosexuals, she added, "were long denied the possibility of fulfilling themselves through relationships with others This was an affront to their dignity as human beings which our law has now (some would say belatedly) recognised. "Homosexuals can enjoy the same freedom and the same relationships as any others. But we should not underestimate the continuing legacy of those centuries of discrimination, persecution even, which is still going on in many parts of the world." There was no question of replacing legal oppression of one community with legal oppression of another, she maintained. "If Mr Preddy and Mr Hall ran a hotel which denied a double room to Mr and Mrs Bull, whether on the ground of their Christian beliefs or on the ground of their sexual orientation, they would find themselves in the same situation that Mr and Mrs Bull find themselves." After the ruling, Hazelmary Bull said: "We are deeply disappointed and saddened by the outcome. We are just ordinary Christians who believe in the importance of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. "Our B&B is not just our business, it's our home. All we have ever tried to do is live according to our own values, under our own roof. "These beliefs are not based on hostility to anyone we certainly bear no ill will to Steven and Martyn. Our policy is based on our sincere beliefs about marriage. "Britain ought to be a country of freedom and tolerance, but it seems religious beliefs must play second fiddle to the new orthodoxy of political correctness. "We appealed to the supreme court to introduce a bit more balance when dealing with competing rights of sexual orientation and religious liberty. Somehow, we have got to find a way of allowing different beliefs to coexist in our society. But the judges have sidestepped that big issue, and reinforced the notion that gay rights must trump everything else. "What does this mean for other people in Britain who believe in traditional marriage not just Christians, but Muslims, Jews, people of all faiths and none?" Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute which supported the Bulls' appeal, said: "What this case shows is that the powers of political correctness have reached all the way to the top of the judicial tree. So much so that even the supreme court dare not say anything against gay rights. "Lady Hale effectively said gay rights are almost untouchable because of the rulings by European judges. This ruling is another slap in the face to Christians, and shows that the elite institutions are saturated with a liberal mindset which cares little about religious freedom. "Parliament needs to reform the law to allow a more reasonable approach which balances competing rights. Otherwise, Christianity will become the belief that dare not speak its name." But Wendy Hewitt, deputy legal director at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, welcomed the ruling. "The courts have been very clear throughout this long-running case that same-sex couples should not be subjected to discrimination when accessing services," she said. "This is what parliament intended when it approved the 2007 sexual orientation regulations and then passed the
Equality Act 2010, well aware that gay men and lesbians have long suffered discrimination when seeking to stay away from home as a couple. Each of these parties has the same right to be protected against discrimination by the other." Phil Allen, employment partner at the law firm Weightmans, said: "Where characteristics protected by equality legislation conflict, employers, and ultimately courts, face a challenging balancing act. The judgment reinforces the message that no individual may insist on manifesting their religious beliefs, whether in a commercial or employment context, where the rights of others may be impacted."
Poor oral hygiene linked to heart disease study

Paper finds that gum disease can prompt inflammatory response that leads to cardiovascular disease
Haroon Siddique The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
A paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine says that 'free sugars' are 'particularly potent drivers' of gum disease. Photograph: Nathalie Louvel/Getty Images
Excessive sugar not just fat and salt in junk food can cause heart disease, experts writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine have warned. The risk posed by saturated fats and salt are already generally accepted, and sugar has been blamed for fuelling obesity, but the editorial, published on Thursday, says that a link between poor oral health and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been demonstrated by a "convincing evidence base". Co-author Dr Ahmed Rashid, from the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge,
said: "It's an additional mechanism by which junk food can elevate your risk of having a heart attack. We know that junk food causes heart disease, we assume it's through salt and fat but people don't mention sugar, or if they do it is in terms of obesity". Gum disease, which can be triggered by excess sugar consumption, can prompt an inflammatory response that leads to CVD through a process called atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, the paper says. It points out that "free sugars", which includes those added by manufacturers and present naturally in honey and fruit juices, in fizzy drinks and other junk foods are "particularly potent drivers" of gum disease. "The UK population should be encouraged to reduce fizzy drink intake and improve oral hygiene," said Rashid. "Reducing sugar consumption and managing dental problems early could help prevent heart problems later in life." Sugar has already been blamed this year as being the real villain behind the obesity epidemic, by a US doctor, who described it as "addictive and toxic". But the latest UK guidance on the prevention of CVD at population level mentions the reduction of sugar only indirectly (pdf). The paper says that the association between oral health and CVD "suggests that reducing sugar consumption may be a particularly important target for future health policy in this area". Tracy Parker, heart health dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, which has said a 20% tax on sugary drinks would reduce obesity, said: "A diet full of junk food can have all sorts of unhealthy consequences. As well as being high in salt and saturated fat, which can increase your blood pressure and cholesterol, processed foods and fizzy drinks are often packed with sugar. Too much sugar is bad news for your teeth and gums."
Speaker's committee to look into electronic voting

John Bercow sets up rare independent commission to explore possible reforms in move towards digital democracy
Patrick Wintour, political editor The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 12.03 GMT Jump to comments ()
John Bercow, the Commons Speaker. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
John Bercow, the Speaker of the Commons, is establishing an independent commission on digital democracy, including the prospect of introducing electronic voting at elections. Describing his blueprint for Parliament 2.0, Bercow said in a speech to the Hansard Society that parliament needed to "reconcile traditional concepts and institutions of representative democracy with the technological revolution witnessed over the past decade or two, which has created both a demand for and an opportunity to establish a digital democracy". Bercow has deployed Speaker's committees to look at issues such as the representation of minorities in parliament, but it is the first time he has looked at how democracy can be reformed beyond parliament. Bercow says Estonia, "where a quarter of the votes cast at its last national election in 2011 were delivered online, is well worth investigation". Core membership of the commission will include parliamentarians, industry experts and academics, supplemented by a circle of specialist witnesses and public engagement. The report is due to be completed by 2015, when the UK will mark the 750th anniversary of parliament and the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Bercow says the commission will need to ask "searching questions about the digital divide, the haves and have-nots of the internet and the smartphone, not least because of the accumulating evidence that the Berlin Wall which undoubtedly exists in this terrain is no longer about age but relates to affluence and the lack of it". "A digital democracy should not reinvent the divide in franchise of the 19th century in a new high-technology form. It has to be universally inclusive and not a geeks' nirvana." He says the commission's topics will include e-petitions, public reading for bills, the use of online media by MPs and the engagement of citizens in parliamentary activity. Bercow also claimed MPs in the past fiddled their expenses as a "displacement activity" because Parliament had become irrelevant and ineffective. He said after becoming Speaker in June 2009 he feared for the future of parliament, describing it as a "virtual corpse". "The blunt truth is that the expenses debacle was a particularly embarrassing layer of icing on an especially unappetising cake ... the reality in 2009 is that the House of Commons as a meaningful political institution, an effective legislature, had been in decline for some decades and was close to reaching the point where it had become, to distort Walter Bagehot slightly, a dignified part of our constitution without much actual dignity. "The House appeared to be little more than a cross between a rubber stamp and a talking shop which had taken to collective activity such as the imaginative interpretation of what might be a legitimate expense claim as much as an odd form of displacement activity as out of any shared sense of malice or corruption." But an influx of new MPs in 2010, the novelty of coalition, and procedural changes such as forcing ministers to answer more urgent questions had sparked a revival. "Far from being in the final twitches of our mortal life, the virtual corpse has staged an unexpected recovery," he said. "It turns out that in the spirit of Dr Who, the parliament elected in 2010 has not been about death but about regeneration."
Bercow also claimed MPs in the past fiddled their expenses as a "displacement activity" because parliament had become irrelevant and ineffective.
Financial
Power to set bank leverage ratios is blunt but powerful Vince Cable defends Royal Mail valuation as profit almost doubles Royal Mail major shareholders to be asked if shares were too cheap New RBS chief Ross McEwan denies 'systematic' profiteering Albemarle & Bond issues second profit warning in two months City grandee alleges 'dirty tricks' in ongoing legal spat with ENRC Yellow Pages owner Hibu calls in administrators Tesco planning same-day delivery as it battles rivals Bank of England has no veto over Help to Buy, Carney tells MPs More Londoners opting to live on boats 'is leading to overcrowding' United Utilities pledges to raise water bills only by RPI inflation Consumer-led recovery slows as caution sets in Royal Mail's flotation row: two unexplored questions OECD takes aim at Greek red tape to boost growth Tesco: private investors may feel shelves stacked against them North Sea oil and gas at risk, Aberdeen survey says Npower to cut 1,400 UK jobs in outsourcing to India Debt could trigger next crash, says thinktank Premium-rate phone line firm fined and banned
Power to set bank leverage ratios is blunt but powerful

Leverage ratios matter in particular to the UK because of the sheer size of our banking system relative to the economy
Chancellor George Osborne's concession on leverage ratios looks more than a little grudging. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/PA
The power to set banks' leverage ratios is one of the bluntest tools in a regulator's toolbox, and thus is one of the most powerful. It was a nonsense, therefore, that, until Tuesday's U-turn George Osborne didn't want the Bank of England to get its hands on this essential piece of weaponry until 2018. Leverage ratios measuring how much pure loss-absorbing capital a bank holds relative to its gross assets matter because strict rules in this area tend to be associated with a strong banking system. "If I could pick one element that was essential to the performance of the Canadian banking system during the crisis it was the presence of a leverage ratio," said Bank governor Mark Carney. And they matter in particular to the UK because of the sheer size of our banking system relative to the economy. That was one reason why Sir John Vickers' Independent Banking Commission recommended a minimum leverage ratio of 4%, higher than the 3% norm set by the international regulators in Basel. When the government opted for 3%, Vickers, rightly, protested about the watering-down of proposals that were meant to be adopted as a package. Andrew Tyrie's separate Commission on Banking Standards then took up the good fight, arguing that the Bank's financial policy committee (FPC) should be granted powers immediately to set leverage ratios. Osborne finally seems to have conceded that these wise heads should be heeded. The concession by the chancellor still looks a more than a little grudging: the threat of a rebellion in the Lords over the banking reform bill seems to have changed his mind. Never mind. The important point is that Carney sounds enthusiastic. As Tyrie noted, the Bank's review will be about how the FPC should exercise its new powers, not whether it wants them.
Vince Cable defends Royal Mail valuation as profit almost doubles

The business secretary has been under fire over Royal Mail's sale price since before the flotation
Sean Farrell theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 11.34 GMT
theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 11.34 GMT Jump to comments ()
The business secretary, Vince Cable, defended the government's valuation of Royal Mail on Wednesday after solid results from the newly privatised group sent its shares even higher. Royal Mail was privatised last month when the government sold 60% of its stake to investors in an initial public offering (IPO). Cable has been under fire over Royal Mail's sale price since before the flotation. The company's shares surged by more than a third on their first day of trading and have risen further since. Ahead of the group's stock market debut Cable dismissed a likely jump in the share price as "froth" and said it would take months before the shares settled to their true value. Giving evidence to the business select committee alongside his advisers, Cable stuck by "froth" as a "good old Anglo-Saxon term" and said market prices were not always rational. "It will be a long time before we can take a view," he said. Cable and Michael Fallon, the business minister who handled the flotation, said they decided against increasing the sale price by 20p a share because the market was already jittery over a potential US debt default. But Mark Russell of the Shareholder Executive, which oversees state-owned businesses, admitted he and the government were surprised by the size of the rise in Royal Mail shares. "We did not anticipate the share price to move as much as it did I don't think any of us anticipated the size of the jump," he said. Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail, lent Cable and Fallon support as she announced a near doubling of first-half profits in Royal Mail's first set of figures as a publicly traded company. "This was the most complex transaction in my career and I believe the government did a really good job," she said. She added that analysts were getting over-excited about potential payouts from Royal Mail off-loading or selling and leasing back some of its vast property holdings. Clifford Chance, the City law firm with links to investment banks and big investors, is now analysing the company's portfolio of 2,000 UK properties. Greene said: "People are probably running away a bit with themselves. They are looking at development with signs in their eyes that we would be a bit surprised by." Royal Mail shares were up 5% by mid-morning on Wednesday to 559.5p 70% higher than the flotation price of 330p. Its market value has increased by 2.3bn since the flotation, which valued Royal Mail at 3.3bn. Operating profit for the six months ended 29 September was 283m, up from 144m a year earlier. This year's figure was boosted by a 35m VAT credit and restructuring costs 50m lower than the year before. Total revenue increased 2% to 4.52bn, helped by growth in Royal Mail's all-important parcels business. Royal Mail's performance depends heavily on increasing parcel volumes, boosted by deliveries of online purchases, and cutting costs to make up for declining letter deliveries, which fell 4% in the first half. Parcel volumes were flat in the first half, mainly because the hot summer reduced online purchases, Royal Mail said. But the introduction of size-based charges increased parcel revenue by 9%. Business customers have been wary about signing up to Royal Mail and have switched some business to competitors
Business customers have been wary about signing up to Royal Mail and have switched some business to competitors while the threat of industrial action loomed, the company said. As a result, parcel volumes may be flat for the nine months to the end of December, which includes Royal Mail's busiest period over Christmas. Greene said Royal Mail's Christmas parcel revenues were vital for the company to keep investing and improving. "It affects everything because as a group if the revenue line comes off we have a very high fixed-cost base because we are a universal service provider." Royal Mail is in talks with the Communication Workers Union over a deal on pay and working conditions after the union called off a strike. The two sides have extended the deadline for agreement by a week, until 3 December. Royal Mail said it expected to pay a final dividend of 133m for the full year.
Royal Mail major shareholders to be asked if shares were too cheap

Commons business committee plans to write to large investors as part of bid to find out if state-owned postal service was undervalued
Simon Goodley theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.51 GMT
Business committes members will ask major new Royal Mail shareholders them why they bought shares after the flotation to gauge if the share price was undervalued. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
Royal Mail investors who bought large stakes in the postal service following its 3.3bn privatisation last month are to be asked by MPs why they have staked hundreds of millions of pounds on the view that the government sold the firm on the cheap.
The news emerged after the Commons business committee investigating the Royal Mail flotation questioned the business secretary, Vince Cable, and his ministerial colleague Michael Fallon how the offer was valued, prompting an assertion from Cable that there was no need for an independent inquiry into the process. Committee chairman Adrian Bailey said he will be writing to the The Children's Investment Fund (TCI) and GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, which have built up their Royal Mail stakes since its listing to more than 6% and 4%, respectively having decided the shares would rise far above their 330p flotation price. He said: "Yes, we might well want to [write to major new shareholders to ask why they value Royal Mail so highly]. We are reviewing the transcript [of evidence] to identify areas to follow up." The committee has been investigating whether the taxpayer has been shortchanged by the Royal Mail flotation, in which 60% of the shares were sold to outside investors last month. The share price has since soared by about 70%, prompting criticisms that the government could have demanded a higher price. The Bow Group, a thinktank led by former prime minister Sir John Major, has called for an independent inquiry into the privatisation. When asked if he thought an inquiry was required, Cable replied: "Absolutely not. We think this is a good process for the taxpayer." He added that the valuation was only one criteria in deciding whether or not the taxpayer had received value for money, as the company could have withered and its services put at risk without access to private capital to invest in its future. "Bearing in mind the set of objectives which we set at the very beginning ... the value for money is partly dependent on the offer price, it's partly dependent on the continuing value of the state's [30%] share, and it's partly dependent on what happens to the company. If the company isn't able to invest successfully [in its business], you could be left with a serious casualty. When we take all those things together, I think the conclusion will be, when people have settled down, that this has been a very professional well-managed and successful operation." Royal Mail floated at 330p a share when the government sold 600m shares last month. Once the shares began trading on the stock exchange, they quickly soared. The shares were up 5% on Wednesday afternoon following the group's first results statement as a public company, changing hands at around 563p. Also being questioned alongside Cable and Fallon were Mark Russell, the chief executive of Shareholder Executive which holds state stakes in businesses, and William Rucker, the chief executive of the government's main financial adviser, Lazard. Russell said the government had been taken by surprise by the surge in the share price, telling the committee: "We did not anticipate the share price to move to the extent that it did." He added, however, it had been anticipated that the shares would rise following privatisation, which was part of the reason why the government had retained a 30% Royal Mail stake. Typically, the City hopes the shares rise by around 10% on the first few days of trading following a flotation. Bailey also asked the witnesses if it was predictable that Royal Mail shares would surge so strongly, with the offer was 20 times oversubscribed by investors. Lazard's Rucker claimed not: "A lot of the orders [for shares] that go into the books ... there is a heavy element of gaming. The three biggest orders were $1bn each. That would have represented 20% of the company. Those institutions had no expectations of ever receiving anything like that quantity of the stock."
New RBS chief Ross McEwan denies 'systematic' profiteering

McEwan admits damaged reputation but says bailed-out bank did not wreck businesses to gain assets
Jill Treanor The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.27 GMT
Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, Ross McEwan, claimed that the profiteering allegation had 'done serious damage to RBS's reputation'. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
Royal Bank of Scotland's new boss admitted on Wednesday night that the reputation of the bailed-out institution has been seriously damaged by allegations that it is deliberately wrecking small businesses in pursuit of profit. But Ross McEwan, who started as chief executive last month, fought back against the claims made by Lawrence Tomlinson, an adviser to business secretary Vince Cable. The allegations against the 81%-taxpayer owned bank, in a report published on Monday, have prompted the interest of City regulators and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). McEwan said the bank had not received any evidence of a systematic effort to make money from customers by pushing them into its turnaround division, known as the global restructuring group (GRG). Pledging a full investigation by law firm Clifford Chance, McEwan said: "It is important to note that the most serious allegation that has been made is that RBS conducted a 'systematic' effort to profit on the back of our customers when they were in financial distress. "We do not believe that this is the case, but it has nonetheless done serious damage to RBS's reputation. No evidence has been provided for that allegation to the bank." Tomlinson makes allegations in his report compiled from evidence he had received from businesses that RBS was pushing businesses into its GRG division, which in turn was buying up properties through its specialist property
was pushing businesses into its GRG division, which in turn was buying up properties through its specialist property arm West Register to make a profit. Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of RBS, called the allegations "unsubstantiated" and "anecdotal" in an interview with the BBC in which he said the bank had dealt with tens of thousands of customers in distress since the crisis. "If there are facts that show we have behaved in the wrong way then we will take appropriate action," said Hampton, who acknowledged the bank may have been "too heavy" in some instances. RBS has not received the details of the individuals and businesses used by Tomlinson to compile his report, which Cable has already handed to City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority. The FCA is expected to conduct a detailed analysis of the allegations. The SFO has not launched a formal investigation but said: "We are aware of the issue and monitoring developments." The identities of individual customers are not contained in the Tomlinson report in order to protect their relationship with RBS but about 20 examples are thought to be attached to the report sent to regulators and the Department for Business. In his report, Tomlinson, a Yorkshire-based entrepreneur who is also a customer of RBS, said he had "shocking examples of business owners being confronted with last minute demands for information and money" that have forced their businesses over the edge. Tomlinson also called on all banks to look at the way they handle businesses in distress and for the FCA and the government to consider if the current rules are robust enough to protect customers. Lloyds Banking Group is also named in the report but does not face the same criticism as RBS. RBS was one of the biggest lenders before the 2008 banking crisis and at one stage was responsible for 50% of all property loans to small businesses. A report the bank commissioned into its own lending practices, also published on Monday, by former deputy Bank of England governor Sir Andrew Large, said it had contracted its lending after the crisis too quickly. McEwan said: "RBS played a big role in the lending boom that led to the UK's economic crisis. After the crash, tens of thousands of our customers saw their asset values plummet and ended up in serious financial difficulty. This was an economic crisis for Britain, but it was also a very personal tragedy for many families and small businesses around the country." Concerned that the allegations will undermine trust in the bank already battered by a 390m Libor fine and a mounting bill to compensate small businesses missold interest rate swaps McEwan insisted the Clifford Chance review would be independent. It would report back by 31 January after scrutinising the main findings of the Tomlinson report, interviewing bank staff and customers and reviewing samples of loans. Clifford Chance would also advise RBS on whether the allegations appear to have substance and make recommendations about steps, if any, should be implemented as a result.
Albemarle & Bond issues second profit warning in two months

Shares plunge 40% as pawnbroker reveals it has resorted to melting down gold items to stay within lending limits
Sean Farrell theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.25 GMT
Albemarle & Bond came close to breaking lending agreements with its banks last month and had to delay its annual results. Photograph: Mick Sinclair/Alamy
Albemarle & Bond has resorted to melting down and selling gold jewellery from its stores to avoid breaching debt covenants, as the crisis-hit pawnbroker issued its second profit warning in two months. The company said it had kept within its 53.5m borrowing limit by curbing lending and "a programme of exceptional smelting of retail stocks". Albemarle & Bond has been battered by the plunging price of gold and has started melting down its inventory of jewellery and other gold items that were not likely to sell before Christmas, giving it an immediate release of cash to prop up its finances. The company came close to breaking lending agreements with its banks in October and was forced to delay announcing its annual results. The smelting spree was revealed in a gloomy trading update warning that its plight was worse than investors believed. The shares slumped on the news, closing down 33.5%, or 12.5p, at 24.75p, compared with a 52-week high of 240p. "The board believes that market expectations are significantly more optimistic than its own," the company said. Albemarle & Bond suffered a loss in the first five months of its financial year despite efforts to cut costs. The Reading-based group, which includes Herbert Brown jewellery and pawnbroking stores, said this came despite slashing costs and closing 33 pop-up gold buying stores out of its 230-store estate. The company was founded in Bristol in 1983 with a single shop. The profit warning followed a dire update in late September that saw Chris Gillespie announced as the new chief executive, joining from doorstep lender Provident Financial. The firm has been hit by heavy falls in the price of gold after expanding rapidly when people were cashing in their gold items to take advantage of soaring prices. Two years ago it declared "the age of the pawnbroker" as it launched "pop-up" shops specialising in gold. The drop in the gold price more than 27% from the average price in March has hammered the company's finances
as the value of assets on its books has fallen. A&B and its bigger rival H&T opened new shops focused heavily on gold, landing them with fixed costs that gave them little scope to scale back when the post-crash gold rush ended. Gold is seen as hedge against inflation but fears of a global rise in pricing pressures have receded, amid a calming in the eurozone crisis and signs that the US central bank will pare back its $85bn-a-month stimulus programme. Albemarle & Bond said there had been no signs of recovery in the market. Its "pledge book" of customer items secured against loans has fallen 12%, hit by the falling gold price and competition between pawnbrokers. The group also said its woes were compounded by a bill for its failed attempt to secure a 35m cash injection from its biggest shareholder EZCORP last month, when talks on a deeply-discounted rights issue were aborted. Gillespie said: "Tough trading conditions have continued to impact our results but we are making progress controlling costs and managing within our constrained banking facilities." The company said it planned to post its annual results around 9 December and was in continuing talks with its banks. In the financial crisis, banks tightened lending to indebted households and the price of gold rocketed as investors sought to protect their money from the threatened global meltdown. People in need of cash rushed to pawn or sell their jewellery but signs of economic recovery and receding fears about runaway inflation sent the gold price on international markets falling.
City grandee alleges 'dirty tricks' in ongoing legal spat with ENRC
Sir Paul Judge claims Kazakh mining company is trying to entrap him and has been hacking his email and telephone
Simon Goodley The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.53 GMT
Paul Judge alleges a journalist was attempting to entrap him. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe
Paul Judge alleges a journalist was attempting to entrap him. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe
The bitter legal spat between Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) and its erstwhile director, Sir Paul Judge, intensified yet again on Wednesday when the City grandee claimed the Kazakh miner had used "dirty tricks" to entrap him, as well as hacking his email and telephone. The allegations were made in Judge's response to an earlier claim filed by ENRC, in which the mining firm published what it said were transcripts of conversations showing its former director leaking confidential company information. Judge, who is a sheriff of the City of London and potentially a future lord mayor of London, had previously denied he was party to the discussions. However, in new court papers the businessman now admits the conversations took place, but says that he was speaking to an individual claiming to be a journalist, who was in fact "acting on behalf of [ENRC] and/or individuals associated with [ENRC]". ENRC denies employing the journalist. Judge further alleges the journalist was "attempting to entrap [him] into making statements which could be used against him [he] therefore made statements in the belief that they would be conveyed back to those instructing [the journalist]". The defence states that Judge believed his actions would expose the company's "dirty tricks" by revealing it to "a larger audience of individuals within [ENRC]". He also says that the company was hacking his email and telephone. The account is the latest salvo in ENRC's lawsuit against Judge, which alleges he deliberately disclosed confidential company information to the media. Judge has filed a counter claim denying the accusation and accusing the mining firm of libel. ENRC, whose businesses are currently being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), rose to become a member of the FTSE 100, but its shares crashed after numerous allegations were made about the firm. The group delisted its shares from the stock exchange on Monday. In the wake of recent controversies involving controlling shareholders in ENRC and Bumi an Indonesian miner new stock market rules are being brought in to protect minority investors in major companies. After a year-long consultation, the Financial Conduct Authority has strengthened the listing regulations for major companies to give minority shareholders additional voting rights and greater influence over key decisions. But the regulator has stopped short of demanding an increase in the free float the amount of shares available to trade from the current 25%.
Yellow Pages owner Hibu calls in administrators

Firm which is struggling with massive debt pile says new structure will safeguard its 12,000 employees
Sarah Butler The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.42 GMT
Bob Wigley says Hibu is now closer to securing a new capital structure that would 'enable the business to survive and prosper'. Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe for the Guardian
The listed company which owns Yellow Pages has called in administrators as it struggles with a massive debt pile. Hibu, which changed its name from Yell in 2012, will continue to trade as normal as its operating divisions have been transferred to a new holding company owned by the firm's lenders. The company said the new structure would safeguard its 12,000 employees. Its creditors include George Soros's hedge fund, private equity group Blackstone and investment bank Deutsche Bank. The lenders took control in a deal agreed in July which has slashed the company's debts, built up during an acquisition spree in the early 2000s, to 1.5bn from 2.3bn. Hibu's shares have been suspended since July, but the appointment of administrators from Deloitte to the listed entity now officially renders the stock worthless as the company is delisted today. The administration will also fend off an emergency general meeting which had been planned for next week where shareholders would have had a chance to question the company's management. Several hundred shareholders had forced Hibu to call an EGM, where they planned to grill management over the handling of the administration and appoint new non-executive directors. Bob Wigley, chairman, said the dismantling of the listed company brought Hibu a step closer to securing a new capital structure that would "enable the business to survive and prosper and to safeguard the prospects for our 12,000 employees". He said that Hibu's new digital services were growing quickly and finding new customers. "Our enhanced digital product offering is growing fast and increasingly finding new customers following our recent marketing campaign."
Tesco planning same-day delivery as it battles rivals

Move would see the UK's biggest online grocer competing with Ocado and Asda
Sarah Butler The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 20.10 GMT Jump to comments ()
A Tesco food delivery lorry. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Demotix/Corbis
Tesco is preparing to offer same-day delivery for online groceries as it fights to shore up its struggling UK business and take on rival services by Waitrose, Morrisons and Asda. The move would see the UK's biggest online grocer competing with Ocado, the company which delivers Waitrose groceries and is set to offer the same service for Morrisons shoppers in Warwickshire early next year. Bigger rival Asda is also planning to introduce same-day grocery deliveries next year. Tesco is already trialling same-day deliveries of food in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, under which shoppers can order goods by midday for delivery by 6pm. Simon Belsham, managing director of grocery home shopping, said: "The trial is working successfully and we are looking to roll that out further." The news emerged as Tesco opened a 120,000 sq ft centre near Erith, south east London, its sixth dedicated online distribution centre for food. The supermarket uses the "dark stores" so called because they are not open to the public in addition to picking groceries for online shoppers from 300 stores. Belsham said Tesco, which controls 47.5% of all online grocery sales in the UK, needed to build capacity because online sales were growing faster in London than elsewhere. Tesco continues to increase market share online, despite losing ground in its stores. A flurry of notes from City analysts earlier this week suggested the supermarket was set to reveal another set of poor underlying sales next week, putting pressure on boss Phil Clarke, who is trying to turn the business around. The Erith centre, which will be able to process up to 4,000 orders a day when it is running at full capacity, uses hitech warehouse technology to enable it to offer 30,000 different items, 50% more than the average store and 16%
more than the five other dark stores. Belsham said that would allow Tesco to offer more specialist ethnic foods and upmarket lines helping it to appeal to a broader range of shoppers in London. Meanwhile Tesco is also piloting a collection service at its small Express stores for groceries ordered online. The service is run out of a Tesco delivery van parked behind stores in Datchet and Harrow. Belsham said that combining stores and online services was an important part of Tesco's future.
Bank of England has no veto over Help to Buy, Carney tells MPs
Committee could advise government if scheme puts financial stability at risk, says governor, but Treasury will have final say
Heather Stewart The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
The Bank of England's financial policy committee (FPC) has the power to review the Help to Buy scheme yearly. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, has insisted Threadneedle Street does not hold a veto over George Osborne's controversial Help to Buy policy should the scheme jeopardise financial stability. The chancellor announced in October that the Bank would be asked to review the taxpayer-backed mortgage support scheme yearly, amid growing fears it could inflate an unsustainable housing bubble. But in a letter to Treasury select committee chairman Andrew Tyrie, published on Thursday, Carney makes clear that while the Bank's financial policy committee (FPC) could advise the government at any time if Help to Buy is putting financial stability at risk, the final decision about if it should continue will lie with the Treasury.
financial stability at risk, the final decision about if it should continue will lie with the Treasury. "The FPC has no power to require the Treasury to vary the terms of, or close, the Help to Buy scheme," Carney writes in reply to a letter from Tyrie earlier this month asking him to clarify the Bank's role. "The FPC only has the authority to make recommendations in connection with such matters the FPC is not constrained by the government's timetable for any such advice; it could make recommendations at any time." That message appeared to contradict statements by senior coalition figures, including Conservative chairman Grant Shapps, who told BBC Radio in September: "We put the Bank of England solidly in charge of this scheme. We've said to them: 'You look at this every year, and if you're not happy with this Help to Buy Scheme, then you'll be [able] to cancel it." Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said of the policy last month: "Of course we need to moderate it, even turn it off if we think it is not appropriate and is providing inappropriate stimulation to the housing market. That is precisely why we have transferred the right to do that to the Bank of England so they can keep an eye on it not politicians, not George Osborne, not the Treasury." Tyrie, whose committee expressed concerns about Help to Buy when it was first announced by the chancellor in March, said: "This letter is a step forward: it brings some much needed clarity to the government's Help to Buy Scheme. We now know who is responsible for what." The second phase of Help to Buy, which was launched recently, offers borrowers taxpayer-backed mortgage guarantees on homes worth up to 600,000. It has been criticised by a series of economists, including Carney's predecessor, Lord King, who said government support for the housing market could prove politically difficult to withdraw. Other observers, including the select committee, have argued that without a surge in housebuilding the main impact is likely to be a rise in house prices, lifting home ownership further out of reach for lower earners. Carney has made clear that he will monitor developments in the recovering housing market closely. At the recent inflation report press briefing, he said: "The Bank will remain vigilant to risks to financial stability from the housing sector, in particular from rapid increases in house prices and household leverage." A Treasury spokesman insisted the chancellor had never suggested the Bank could wield a veto over Help to Buy and stressed it would be unlikely the government could ignore a statement from the FPC warning that Help to Buy was jeopardising financial stability.
More Londoners opting to live on boats 'is leading to overcrowding'

London assembly members say extra moorings are needed as people seek to avoid high rents and property prices
Harriet Meyer
There are 4,000 permanently moored residential boats in the capital at sites such as Maida Vale. Photograph: Richard James Taylor/Getty Images
Up to 10,000 Londoners are opting to live on boats to avoid soaring rents and house prices in the capital, according to a report. London assembly members said extra moorings were needed to support rising numbers of water dwelling residents, estimating that 10,000 people could be living on London's 100 miles of canals and 42 miles of river. The report by the assembly's environment committee comes as average house prices in Greater London top 475,000. There are 4,000 permanently moored residential boats in the capital at sites such as Maida Vale, with an average of two residents per boat. But the committee said the figures from the Canal and River Trust showed that the number of boats at casual and visitor moorings had soared by 35% to 957 from 626 in 2011. Although it admits it is hard to pin down the number of people living on the water, it said the increase was likely to indicate rising demand for permanent homes on the capital's rivers and canals. Jenny Jones, who led the work on behalf of the committee, said: "Nobody is suggesting that this is the answer to London's housing crisis but it is proving a bit of respite for people who have got to be in London as boat life is definitely cheaper." But the lack of moorings is "resulting in hotspots of overcrowding, which creates issues among boaters and for communities living nearby". The report shows that the number of moorings in popular spots has doubled since 2011, with waiting lists of several years in some spots. In some areas boats may be moored up to four deep from the bank. This can contribute to local environmental and nuisance issues such as air and noise pollution from generators, stoves and engines, as well as navigational challenges for those trying to use the waterways. The report emphasises that there need to be local solutions to these issues, worked out by boaters, land residents, navigation authorities, boroughs and other official bodies. However, Alan Wildman, chairman of the Residential Boat Owners' Association, said that residential moorings are "sold at a heck of a premium". "Avoiding the high cost of rent is not the right reason to live on a boat," he said. "It's not like living on a flat on water - and people in the main have no particular security of tenure except under the terms of their mooring contract."
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United Utilities pledges to raise water bills only by RPI inflation

North-west England water company says it will use part of a 75m tax rebate to mitigate next year's planned price rise
Press Association The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.27 GMT Jump to comments ()
The water company United Utilities has offered some respite on bills for hard-pressed households, announcing a 20m "special discount" on next year's planned price rise. The group, which serves around 7 million people in the north-west of England, will limit its 2014/15 price rise to no more than the retail prices index (RPI) inflation, scaling back a planned 1.2% rise on top of RPI. The move follows pressure from the regulator Ofwat to consider reducing price increases amid the squeeze on family finances. Ofwat determines how much water firms can spend and raise prices within five-year "price control"
finances. Ofwat determines how much water firms can spend and raise prices within five-year "price control" periods. The watchdog is taking a tough line on tariffs, having refused a price increase requested by Thames Water. Ofwat's chairman, Jonson Cox, recently wrote to all water companies asking them to consider whether they needed to increase their bills for 2014/15 by the full amount set out in the last price review, given the squeeze on household incomes. Warrington-based United said it would use part of a 75m net tax rebate to offer the 20m discount. The rebate was gained after a longrunning corporation tax dispute with HM Revenue and Customs. The remainder of the tax windfall will also be used to benefit customers, with 17m earmarked for those struggling to pay their bills and 38m for "future sharing with customers". Another 90m in tax savings is also expected between 2015 and 2020, which it said would be used to help customers. United's announcement comes as the company seeks to calm mounting public anger over rising household bills and supplier profits. The group revealed a 14% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to 215.7m in the six months to 30 September, while earnings increased by 9% to 343.2m thanks to cost-cutting. It hit customers with a 4% price rise in April inflation plus 1% which pushed half-year revenues up by 30m to 853m. But it said it was proposing price rises of below inflation under its business plan for 2015 through to 2020, which will be submitted to Ofwat before Monday's deadline. Steve Mogford, United's chief executive, said on average the group's prices will rise by less than inflation across the entire decade to 2020 and that the group was investing at least 800m this year in its network and on improving services. United revealed that shareholders will benefit from a 5% increase in their dividend payout, to 12p a share. Meanwhile, Severn Trent Water has reported a 0.4% increase in half-year underlying earnings to 266.9m and confirmed a 6% increase in its shareholder payout. It also said prices would rise by less than inflation in the next financial year, but is still finalising its new five-year business plan.
Consumer-led recovery slows as caution sets in

Rising living costs dampen sales for retail sector while imports are growing faster than exports, ONS finds
Larry Elliott, economics editor The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
The rising cost of living is hitting confidence and high street spending, surveys suggest. Photograph: Daniel Deme/EPA
Fears that Britain's consumer-led recovery is losing momentum are increasing amid signs that the rising cost of living is hitting confidence and high-street spending. The latest survey of sentiment towards the economy shows that the steady rise in confidence seen the start of the year has slowed in the past month. Thursday's report from YouGov and the Centre for Economic and Business Research followed the CBI snapshot of retailing, which found that upbeat business forecasts from shops and stores had fallen short for a second month. Official data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that consumer spending was a crucial factor in the 0.8% jump in national output in the third quarter of 2013, but the CBI and YouGov/CEBR studies point to a slowing in the first weeks of the fourth quarter. The ONS's figures for GDP showed that manufacturers were increasing their stockpiles of unsold goods in the three months to September in anticipation of the surge in consumer spending, seen in the summer, continuing into the winter. Retailers are banking on consumers rushing to the shops in the last few weeks before Christmas, the CBI said, as it published its latest distributive trades survey which showed sales volumes well down on expected levels in November despite increases in staff to cope with a hoped-for surge in spending. Mirroring other recent surveys of the retail sector, the monthly distributive trades survey suggests that the cost of living rises and news of big increases in energy bills are making consumers more cautious. Barry Williams, chief merchandising officer for food at Asda, and chair of the CBI distributive trades survey panel, said: "This is the second month in a row that retailers' expectations for growth have been disappointed, perhaps due in part to the mild start to autumn. "But despite challenging conditions on the high street, retailers remain optimistic for the Christmas period, and have taken on more employees in anticipation of a shopping rush that should add jingle to the tills." The CBI data shows department stores, grocers and clothing shops are finding trading conditions particularly tough, but the recovery in the housing market is helping sales of household goods and DIY equipment. YouGov/CEBR said consumer confidence rose in November for the 11th successive month but the boost was smaller than in any month since February and still left optimism five points below its level at the time the financial crash broke in 2007. Stephen Harmston, head of syndicated reports at YouGov, said: "While consumer confidence is still improving it looks like it is starting to flatten out. There is now a large discrepancy opening up between how [people] feel about
looks like it is starting to flatten out. There is now a large discrepancy opening up between how [people] feel about different areas of their economic lives. Although they are seeing house prices continuing to rise and more activity in their workplaces, these are not things that help pay the bills in the short-term. "Add to this the fact that consumer confidence levels are still greatly below where they were before the financial crisis and it is clear why consumers conditioned to caution are not yet ready to spend. As a result, although economic optimism is generally increasing, businesses are not seeing the impact at their tills." The ONS breakdown of growth in the third quarter showed household spending contributed 0.5 points of the 0.8% increase, the fastest since the second quarter of 2008. Investment added 0.2 points and the increase in stocks a further 0.9 points. But with imports rising faster than exports, net trade subtracted 0.9 points from growth during the quarter. Stephen Lewis, chief economist at Monument Securities, said: "To the extent that rebalancing of the UK economy is occurring, the figures strongly suggest it is in the wrong direction, towards consumption and away from net exports. "It is far from clear that the pick-up in consumer spending is prompting companies to step up their capital expenditure. Spending on transport equipment, the strongest element in capital outlays over the quarter, is characteristically lumpy and not especially responsive to short-term changes in the demand outlook. The UK authorities, however, appear to have long since abandoned their rebalancing goal in favour of stimulating growth, from whatever source and at any cost."
Royal Mail's flotation row: two unexplored questions

Why was the flotation roadshow conducted under such a gloomy cloud and why was the dividend set so conservatively?
The Royal Mail roadshow was conducted under a cloud. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
The business select committee, after its third attempt to solve the mystery of Royal Mail's post-flotation soaraway share price, cannot claim to have uncovered a killer fact. Wednesday's session ran to the now-familiar script. Ministers, supported by their advisers, insisted that 330p was the correct clearing price for 600m shares. They emphasised the risks to the business, such as a strike and the lack of a pay deal. They said institutional buyers would have evaporated if pricing had been pushed harder. They pointed to the arrival of two enthusiasts for the shares TCI, a hedge fund, and GIC, the Singapore wealth fund in a thin market. And business secretary Vince Cable stood by his "froth" remarks, arguing that perspective (anything between three months and two years, apparently) is required to judge real value. The official account, it has to be said, carries internal logic. One can see how and why decisions were made at every stage. Yet the share price still stands above 550p, valuing Royal Mail at 2bn more than the price at which the government sold 60%. What happened? Aside from the TCI factor (undoubtedly real), two elements may have been under-explored so far. First, the flotation roadshow was conducted under a gloomy cloud. Unlike most flotations, where advisers tend to shout about their wondrous potential of their clients' business, the build-up to the sale of Royal Mail was all about the risks. Quarrelsome relations with the Communication Workers Union were mentioned time and again. The transforming effect of the new regulatory regime, allowing Royal Mail greater freedom to set the price of stamps, hardly got a look-in. One could argue that the government was obliged to err on the gloomy side because the unwritten rule of privatisations is that no retail investor must be hurt. Even so, the pace at which Royal Mail, for all its day-to-day challenges, is generating cash in the new regulatory world is striking. Wednesday's half-year numbers showed net debt reduced by 183m to 723m between March and September. And that's before the benefit of refinancing the debt at 3.5%, rather than the 8% being charged by government, kicks in. Some analysts think Royal Mail will show net cash in three years' time. The second is related: was the initial dividend of 133m, or 200m (20p-a-share) on an annualised basis, set too conservatively? Again, one can understand why Royal Mail would wish to start cautiously. There is a long road ahead to modernise operations, especially on the parcels side. The rate of decline in the volumes of letters is unpredictable, and could accelerate. Strikes could still happen. Even so, note Barclays' forecast for the rate of dividend increase 23% a year, compound, for three years. So 28p-ashare next year, followed by 33p, and then 37p. In other words, investors were being offered a 6% yield at the flotation price, with the possibility of a near-doubling of the dividend by March 2016. Those dividend increases are not guaranteed obviously. But the chance of success amounts to a strong entry on the "reward" side of the risk/reward ledger. None of which is to deny that 565p, wednesday's share price, carries a strong whiff of irrational exuberance, to use the phrase Cable borrowed. But, come on, the shares could surely have been sold close to 400p if the government had not so obviously painted itself as a frustrated seller and if Moya Greene, Royal Mail's chief executive, could have been prodded to be a tad more aggressive with her initial dividend.
OECD takes aim at Greek red tape to boost growth

Thinktank wants Greece to tackle 555 regulations hindering growth in retail, food processing, building materials and tourism sectors
Phillip Inman, economics correspondent theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.31 GMT Jump to comments ()
Workers carry crates filled with grapes on their shoulder at a vineyard in the city of Keratea, east of Athens. The OECD is targeting Greek bureaucracy. Photograph: John Kolesidis/REUTERS
Shops in Greece must be free to offer buy-one-get-one-free deals and determine their own product sell-by dates as part of wide ranging reforms to regulations that have prevented the debt-stricken country from recovering after the financial crash, according to a leading thinktank. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said a bonfire of harmful regulations restricting trade and investment in four key industries was needed to create a more vibrant economy and foster growth. The Paris-based thinktank wants Greece to tackle 555 regulations hindering growth in the retail trade, food processing industry, building materials sector and tourism. It said the industries, which account for more than one-fifth of the economy, would generate !5.2bn (4.3bn) in extra activity once the measures were implemented. The report came as the OECD predicted Greece's debt would stay above 160% of GDP until 2020, almost 35 percentage points above the level forecast by its EU/IMF lenders in July. A steep fall in prices is behind much of the country's deepening debt problem. A forecast 12% fall in prices more than previously predicted would hurt growth and push the debt to GDP ratio higher. "About two-thirds of this difference reflects the assumed larger deflation," the OECD said. "Deflation pressure may be stronger and last longer than expected."
Greece is in its sixth year of a recession exacerbated by the austerity measures attached to its multibillion euro bailouts Prices moved into deflationary territory for the first time in over four decades this year. "If negative inflation risks materialise, assistance from Greece's euro area partners may need to be considered," the OECD said. The thinktank is the only major international organisation forecasting a seventh consecutive year of recession for Greece in 2014 it forecasts the economy shrinking by 0.4%. Athens and its lenders expect GDP growth of 0.6% next year. The slump has shaved about a quarter off economic output. Risks to real growth are "still on the downside" even if the country fully implements all the reforms imposed by its lenders, the OECD said. Reform measures could also drag prices lower, but the overall effect would be expansionary as new entrants into sclerotic industries, increase overall activity, it said. Kostis Hatzidakis, Greece's minister for development and competitiveness, said that while the Greek economy has stabilised, there was widespread agreement that the country's "dwindling competitiveness" was restricting the recovery. "It is true that our economy has been plagued by bureaucracy, protectionism and market distortions for a long time," he said. "Our efforts have focused on generating growth by implementing and enhancing structural reforms, and not just by fiscal consolidation. "Two necessary conditions for these structural reforms are to improve our competitiveness and to build a new, investment friendly, business environment." Horst Reichenbach, the head of the taskforce sent by Brussels to oversee Athens' use of EU loans, said he wanted Greece to press ahead quickly to remove obstacles "that will have significant effects". At the moment shops must gain clearance from public officials to offer discount deals. Sell-by dates on milk and other foodstuffs are also set by the Greek authorities. Among 329 recommendations, the OECD report said price restrictions also hampered competition in the tourism industry, which must submit cuts in nightly room charges to local public officials or trade associations. Licensing requirements that prevent new entrants to all four iundustries must be repealed to allow greater competition, it said. The report, which said the recommendations needed to be implemented in full to reap the benefits, said: "Such benefits generally take the form of lower prices and greater choice and variety for consumers. Often this will result from entry of new, more efficient firms, or from existing suppliers finding more efficient forms of production under competitive pressure."
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Tesco: private investors may feel shelves stacked against them

The company discloses only information that is already publicly available. So how come City analysts seem a step ahead?
Nils Pratley The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.59 GMT
A Tesco food delivery lorry. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Demotix/Corbis
Ring up Tesco's investor relations department to discuss next week's trading statement and, if you are a member of the public, you will be told to get lost. If, on the other hand, you are a City analyst collecting your thoughts before penning a "preview" research note, you may be granted a conversation. Naturally, Tesco's well-trained professionals would never let slip anything untoward: strict rules govern such conversations. And, the company says: "We are aware of our obligations and we do not give selective disclosure." But from the analysts' point of view, it may still be interesting to hear which pieces of publicly known information crop up. There is a lot to talk about, after all: weak market-share data in the UK, a sluggish Irish economy, upheaval in Thailand, opening hours in Korea, etc. Whether such chats contributed to the mass outbreak of bearishness in the analyst community about Tesco's thirdquarter figures, we can only speculate. But it is certainly the case that the 2.5% fall in the company's share price on Tuesday coincided with cuts in sales forecasts by analysts from Tesco's own brokers, Deutsche and Barclays, and others. In the circumstances, you can't blame the private investor on the outside for feeling that, however tight the rules and however correct Tesco's behaviour, it's a two-tier market.
North Sea oil and gas at risk, Aberdeen survey says

Concerns emerge days after 10bn worth of new projects as well as a 4bn windfarm were postponed or reconsidered
Terry Macalister The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
Concerns have been raised about future investment and production in North Sea oil and gas. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
There are mounting concerns in the North Sea oil and gas industry that the Scottish independence debate, skill shortages and soaring inflation are undermining future investment and production. The worries, some of which are highlighted in a survey from Aberdeen published on Thursday, have surfaced just days after 10bn worth of new oil and gas projects as well as a 4bn windfarm were postponed or reconsidered. Hydrocarbon output from the North Sea plunged by 14% last year and is expected to fall another 8.5% in 2013, putting greater pressure on the government amid fears over mounting energy security and rising fuel bills. The 19th Oil and Gas Survey published by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by law firm Bond Dickinson shows strong recruitment trends and high wages. But Kenny Paton, oil and gas partner at Bond Dickinson, said more and more of his clients in oil and gas plus other sectors were raising questions about uncertainty created by the referendum in Scotland. "This report provides more evidence that oil and gas businesses are concerned about the lack of information. The main concerns that we are being approached about involve personal and corporate tax issues and fiscal policies, but a "yes" vote could impact companies in a number of ways that they need to factor in to their business planning." The research was undertaken before Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, published a white paper on Tuesday, but Paton said he did not see anything in that "manifesto" that really changed the picture of uncertainty. The Grampian survey showed that a 6.5% pay increase, which has helped to drive up overall industry costs, and other benefits for oil workers still left many employers struggling to find skilled staff. A record number of contractors in the oil and gas sector 98% are looking to recruit in the next 12 months as
investment in 2013 hit a record high of 13.5bn. But the current level of spending is expected to fall off in the coming years, while the number of new wells drilled so far this year has already fallen to 27, compared with 41 in 2012 and 76 in 2008. At the end of last week, Shell and Statoil revealed that they were postponing the development of the 4.3bn Bressay heavy oil field in the North Sea on the grounds of difficult conditions and high costs. The project was meant to extract up to 300m barrels of recoverable oil, but a spokesman for the operator, Statoil of Norway, said it had "decided to reconsider the development concept and delayed the field development decision". Statoil also postponed its even bigger Johan Castberg scheme in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea earlier this year, while Chevron of the US made clear its Rosebank scheme in the West of Shetland was in doubt. Chevron said the 6bn project was under review despite global oil prices close to $110 (68) per barrel because it "does not currently offer an economic value proposition that justifies proceeding with an investment of this magnitude". Three months ago the trade body, Oil & Gas UK, warned that the production efficiency of fields had fallen from 80% to 60% over the last seven years and said that several fields now cost more than 40 ($65) per barrel to operate. "Despite impressive investment in new developments, the production efficiency of existing assets has been in worrying decline, with a number of fields failing to produce as expected," said Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK. Sir Ian Wood, an oil company veteran, produced a review of the North Sea industry that warned of the need for a much more hands-on role for a government-appointed and beefed-up regulator. Paton said the Wood report and other indicators made clear that structural issues needed to be tackled for the industry to prosper regardless of whether the industry came under the Saltire or Union Jack.
Npower to cut 1,400 UK jobs in outsourcing to India

Union leaders warn the moves will backfire and further tarnish the reputation of npower, which came bottom for customer service in a recent survey
Terry Macalister The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.54 GMT
Npower is to cut 1,400 UK jobs. Photograph: Andy Hepburn/PA
Npower is to close offices and outsource work to India in a move that will see 1,400 UK staff lose their jobs at the energy supplier. The announcement is expected to intensify public anger around the activities of the Big Six power companies and raise the political heat in Westminster where energy has risen to the top of the political agenda. Trade unions accused npower of serving up a "Christmas nightmare" by planning to offshore 1,400 jobs to India and transfer a further 570 to another British firm, probably Capita. It is understood that frontline call-centre operations will be outsourced to a third party in the UK, with back-office work moved to India. Union leaders warned the moves would backfire and further tarnish the reputation of npower which came bottom for customer service in a recent survey and which told a parliamentary committee earlier this year that it had paid almost no corporation tax for three years. Npower, the energy supplier of Germany's RWE, hit gas and electricity customers with a 10.4% rise in fuel bills earlier this month and its central London offices were the target of fuel poverty demonstrations earlier this week. The company declined to comment on the planned office and staff cuts but well-informed sources told the Guardian that npower staff would be informed of the changes at 9am on Thursday. Npower said in a statement: "As we announced a couple of months ago, npower has been undertaking a major review of sites, operations and people across the UK. "We've been doing this to improve our customer service and keep our costs down, at a time of external pressures on customers' bills. As we've always said, we'll tell our people first and then inform the media," it added. Npower and the other big six firms such as SSE and Centrica insist that they are having to raise domestic bills and trim their costs in a bid to counter the impact of rising wholesale prices and green levies for home insulation. Npower's parent RWE said earlier this month that 6,750 jobs would need to be cut across Europe as it tries to reduce a debt mountain of over 28bn, partly caused by the Berlin government's decision to phase out nuclear power stations. In Britain RWE shelved plans for a 4bn wind farm in the Bristol Channel this week, a week after it sold off part of its gas and electricity supply business. It has also put up for sale its DEA business which operates oil and gas fields in the UK North Sea and also shelved plans to construct new nuclear plants in Britain. But Matthew Lay, National officer with the Unison union said npower had consistently let its customers and staff down by not investing enough in the workforce, technology or in the latest customer service techniques. "This has led to a huge number of complaints which the company seems to think they can deal with by shifting the
"This has led to a huge number of complaints which the company seems to think they can deal with by shifting the responsibility to somewhere else, including to India. "If the company goes ahead with this disastrous plan, it will backfire badly, damaging their already tarnished reputation for customer service. "At a time when unemployment is high, what commitment does it show to the UK by shipping these much-needed jobs abroad? And what does this say about their commitment to staff when npower have kept them on tenterhooks, waiting for the axe to fall, for weeks?" Colin Smith, the GMB union's northern region senior organiser, said his union would vigorously campaign against the offshoring of jobs to India because it had absolutely "nothing to do with customer service and everything to do with cost". The GMB added that it understood that site closures will be at Peterlee in Durham, Thornaby in North Yorkshire, and Stoke-on-Trent. "This is about the cost of living, bad management and naked greed. At this time of the year when the Christmas lights are being turned on for most people, npower workers, their families and communities have no yuletide greetings," said the GMB's Smith.
Debt could trigger next crash, says thinktank

Report suggests urgent action is needed 'to stop the UK sleepwalking into a major personal debt crisis'
Phillip Inman The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
The Smith Institute said policies adopted by the government and regulators since the crash had failed to prevent an escalation of debt. Photograph: Alicia
The Smith Institute said policies adopted by the government and regulators since the crash had failed to prevent an escalation of debt. Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Observer
A growing band of credit-hungry consumers could trigger another financial crash in 10 years as banks, payday lenders and credit card companies add to the debts of low and middle income earners, a leftwing thinktank has warned. The Smith Institute said policies adopted by the government and regulators since the crash had failed to prevent an escalation of debt among vulnerable younger workers and young families keen to establish a home and live independently. In a report, Tomorrow's Borrowers: Personal debt by 2025, the thinktank suggests that urgent action is needed "to stop the UK sleep walking into a major personal debt crisis". The report written before the chancellor, George Osborne, agreed to limit the interest rates charged by payday lenders concludes that the economic recovery, which has gathered pace since the spring, will not by itself reduce the growing risk that millions of people will become overburdened by debt. "Personal indebtedness is likely to carry on increasing, with greater levels of unmanageable debt among both low and middle income households," said the thinktank, which was founded in honour of former Labour leader John Smith. The report shows that on current trends many young people who take on debt today will find they are saddled with it for longer than previous generations.
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Premium-rate phone line firm fined and banned

RS Premium ran adverts and sent emails to jobseekers and househunters to call a 070 number which charge up to 50p a minute
Hilary Osborne theguardian.com, Thursday 28 November 2013
RS Premium has been fined 120,000 and will no longer be allowed to operate a premium-rate phone number. Photograph: Felix Clay
A company which scammed jobseekers and househunters into racking up costs calling a premium-rate phone line has been fined by the regulator PhonepayPlus. RS Premium ran adverts and sent emails asking people to call a 070 number which looked similar to a mobile number but charged the caller up to 50p a minute. One caller who complained to PhonepayPlus reported being charged 130, while another said her profoundly deaf daughter had been landed with a 95 bill after contacting the number using text type. In no cases were callers told the cost of the calls or offered a job interview or a home viewing. The company has been fined 120,000 and will no longer be allowed to operate a premium-rate phone number. In October PhonepayPlus fined a sole trader, John Francis, 75,000 for a similar scam, and it said consumers should take care when dialling 070 numbers. Paul Whiteing, chief executive of PhonepayPlus, said: "No scams are acceptable but those that target people who are working to find a job or a home and are already hard pressed are particularly shocking and will not be tolerated."
In the past the communications regulator, Ofcom, had proposed closing all 070 numbers because their resemblance to mobile numbers made them popular amongst fraudsters. It reversed that decision, but is currently assessing their use.
International
Is Shinzo Abe's 'new nationalism' a throwback to Japanese imperialism? Senkaku islands row reflects broader tensions between China and Japan CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan 'unmasked' by Imran Khan's party Pakistan's prime minister announces new army chief as spymaster retires NSA 'collected details of online sexual activity' of Islamist radicals Greek court acquits editor who leaked 'Lagarde list' of suspected tax evaders Two killed as crane collapses at Brazilian World Cup stadium Belgian senate panel to vote on bill to extend euthanasia to minors Silvio Berlusconi's critics toast former PM's ignominious exit from senate Ups and downs of Silvio Berlusconi's political career timeline New Zealand aims to become leading maker of diet wines Spanish pianist not guilty of noise pollution and psychological damage Mali coup leader arrested on kidnapping charges Germany's grey manifesto is more old than bold Rwanda launches circumcision campaign to tackle HIV Latvia's prime minister resigns over supermarket roof collapse For Canada's remote towns, living with polar bears is growing more risky Polar bear numbers in Hudson Bay of Canada on verge of collapse Egypt's highest-profile secular activists threatened with arrest
Is Shinzo Abe's 'new nationalism' a throwback to Japanese imperialism?

The escalating standoff in the Pacific is seen by Beijing and Seoul as proof that Japan is reviving its military mindset
Simon Tisdall in Yokosuka theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 10.46 GMT Jump to comments ()
Members of Japan's maritime self-defence forces: Abe believes Japan's national interest is existentially linked to freedom of navigation and open sea lanes around the Senkakus and elsewhere. Photograph: Toru Hanai/Reuters
The deepening confrontation between Japan and its giant neighbour, China, over a disputed island chain, which this week sucked in US military forces flying B-52 bombers, holds no terrors for Kenji Fujii, captain of the crack Japanese destroyer JS Murasame. As a battleship-grey drizzle sweeps across Yokosuka harbour, home port to the Japan maritime self-defence force and the US Seventh Fleet, Fujii stands four-square on his helicopter deck, a totemic red Japanese sun-ray ensign flapping at the flagstaff behind him. His stance exudes quiet purposefulness. The Murasame, armed with advanced missiles, torpedoes, a 76mm rapid-fire turret cannon and a vicious-looking Phalanx close-in-weapons-system (CIWS) Gatling gun, is on the frontline of Japan's escalating standoff with China and its contentious bid to stand up for itself and become a power in the world once again. And Fujii clearly relishes his role in the drama. Asked whether he will be taking his ship south, to the hotly disputed waters off the Senkaku islands in the East China sea (which China calls the Diaoyu and claims as its own), Fujii smiles and bows. His executive officer, acting as translator, explains that "for security and operational reasons" the captain cannot comment. The situation there is just too sensitive.
The disputed islands in the East China Sea known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters
The name Murasame means "passing shower". But Japan's decision last year to in effect nationalise some of the privately owned Senkakus officials prefer to call it a transfer of property rights triggered a prolonged storm of
privately owned Senkakus officials prefer to call it a transfer of property rights triggered a prolonged storm of protest from China, which has been sending ships to challenge the Japanese coastguard ever since. So far, there have been no direct armed exchanges, but there have been several close shaves, including a Chinese navy radar lock-on and the firing of warning shots by a Japanese fighter plane. China's weekend declaration of an exclusive "air defence identification zone" covering the islands was denounced by Tokyo and Washington and sharply increased the chances of a military clash. US B-52 bombers and Japanese civilian airliners have subsequently entered the zone, ignoring China's new "rules". On Tuesday, Beijing said it had monitored the flights; its next move is awaited with some trepidation.
Japanese navy on manoeuvres last year: Beijing and Seoul view efforts to give Japan a bigger role on the world stage as intrinsically threatening. Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
For Shinzo Abe, Japan's conservative prime minister who marks one year in office next month, the Senkaku dispute is only one facet of a deteriorating east Asian security environment that is officially termed "increasingly severe" and which looks increasingly explosive as China projects its expanding military, economic and political power beyond its historical borders. One year on, Abe's no-nonsense response is plain: Japan must loosen the pacifist constitutional bonds that have held it in check since 1945 and stand up forcefully for its interests, its friends and its values. The way Abe tells it, Japan is back and the tiger he is riding is dubbed Abe's "new nationalism". It is no coincidence that high-level contacts with China and South Korea have been in deep freeze ever since Abe took office, while the impasse over North Korea has only deepened. Unusually, a date for this year's trilateral summit between Japan, China and South Korea has yet to be announced. The Beijing and Seoul governments profess to view Abe's efforts to give Japan a bigger role on the world stage, forge security and defence ties with south-east Asian neighbours, and strengthen the US alliance as intrinsically threatening a throwback to the bad old days of Japanese imperialism.
Shinzo Abe reviews troops near Tokyo: Abe believes Japan must loosen the pacifist constitutional bonds that have held it in check since 1945 and stand up forcefully for its interests. Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
Abe is also charged with arrogance, chauvinism and historical revisionism, by minimising or ignoring wartime legacies such as the controversy over Korean "comfort women" who were forced into prostitution by Japanese troops during the second world war. Addressing the UN general assembly in September, Abe set an unapologetically expansive global agenda for a newly assertive Japan. Whether the issue was Syria, nuclear proliferation, UN peacekeeping, Somali piracy, development assistance or women's rights, Tokyo would have its say. "I will make Japan a force for peace and stability," Abe said. "Japan will newly bear the flag of 'proactive contribution to peace' [his policy slogan]." Referring to the initial success of his "Abenomics" strategy to revive the country's economic fortunes, he went on to promise Japan would "spare no pains to get actively involved in historic challenges facing today's world with our regained strength and capacity The growth of Japan will benefit the world. Japan's decline would be a loss for people everywhere." Just in case Beijing missed his drift, Abe spelled it out: as a global trading nation, Japan's reinvigorated "national interest" was existentially linked to freedom of navigation and open sea lanes around the Senkakus and elsewhere. "Changes to the maritime order through the use of force or coercion cannot be condoned under any circumstances." Akio Takahara, professor of international relations and law at Tokyo university, said such statements made clear the Senkaku standoff was potentially precedent-setting for all the countries of the region, including Vietnam and the Philippines, which have their own island disputes with Beijing. "[Senkaku] must be viewed as an international issue, not just a bilateral issue and it is very, very dangerous. They [China] must stop the provocations," Takahara said. "If Japan did buckle, it would send a very bad message to China's hardliners, they would be triumphant and the modernisers and reformers would be marginalised."
A senior government official was more terse: "We don't want to see China patrolling the East and South China seas as though they think they own them." Abe's forcefulness has produced forceful reactions. In a recent editorial, South Korea's Joongang Daily, lambasted him as "one of the most rightwing politicians in Japan in decades". It continued: "Buoyed by the nationalist mood sweeping Japanese society since Abe took the helm of the once-pacifist nation, [rightwing politicians] are increasingly regressing to a militarist path As a result, the political situation of north-east Asia is becoming shakier than ever." Pure hyperbole, say Abe's defenders. Tensions were high primarily as a result of China's aggressive bid for hegemonic regional leadership, a senior foreign ministry official insisted, while describing the antagonistic South Korean leadership's anti-Japan behaviour as "strange" and "emotional". Abe's premise, said government spokeswoman Kuni Sato, was that, after years of restraint, "Japan can now do what other countries do within international law". What Abe was doing was "necessary and justified" in the face of China's diplomatic hostility and rapid military buildup, said Yuji Miyamoto, a former ambassador to Beijing. "Only three countries don't understand this policy China, South Korea and North Korea," said Nobuo Kishi, the prime minister's younger brother and senior vice-minister for foreign affairs. In contrast, the members of Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) were mostly on board. Abe's advancing security agenda suggests his second year in office will be even more rumbustious than the first. It includes creating a national security council modelled on the US and British versions (David Cameron and William Hague have offered their advice), a new national security strategy, revamped defence guidelines, and a harsh state secrets law. Criticised by the UN and the main opposition parties, the proposed law threatens long jail sentences for whistleblowers and journalists who break its vague, catchall provisions. Abe has increased the defence budget for the first time in years, is overseeing an expansion of naval and coastguard capabilities (Japan's maritime self-defence force, or navy, is already the second biggest in Asia by tonnage), and has gathered expert support for a reinterpretation of article 9 of Japan's pacifist constitution to allow "collective self-defence" meaning that if the US or another ally is attacked, Japanese armed forces will join the fight. On the diplomatic front, Abe is busily wooing his Asian neighbours. Having visited all 10 members of Asean in his first year, he will host a gala Asean summit in Tokyo on 13 December that looks very much like an anti-China jamboree. He comprehensively outflanked Beijing during this month's typhoon emergency in the Philippines, sending troops, ships and generous amounts of aid, the biggest single overseas deployment of Japanese forces since 1945 while China was widely criciticised for donating less financial aid that the Swedish furniture chain Ikea. Abe is also providing 10 coastguard vessels to the Philippines to help ward off Chinese incursions. Improved security and military-to-military co-operation with Australia and India form part of his plans. Officials insist, meanwhile, that the US relationship remains the bedrock of Japanese security. Taking full advantage of Barack Obama's so-called "pivot to Asia", Abe's government agreed a revised pact in October with the US
secretary of state, John Kerry, and the defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, providing for a " more robust alliance and greater shared responsibilities". With a wary eye on China, the pact envisages enhanced co-operation in ballistic missile defence, arms development and sales, intelligence sharing, space and cyber warfare, joint military training and exercises, plus the introduction of advanced radar and drones. Japan is also expected to buy American advanced weapons systems such as the F35 fighter-bomber and two more Aegis-equipped missile defence destroyers. Washington is positively purring with pleasure over Abe's tougher stance. "The US welcomed Japan's determination to contribute proactively to regional and global peace and security," a joint statement said. The pact reflected "shared values of democracy, the rule of law, free and open markets and respect for human rights". But Abe's opponents fear the country is developing a new military mindset. What the Japanese public makes of what seems to amount overall to a landmark post-war shift in the scope and ambition of Japan's regional and global engagement is hard to gauge. China's disapproval ratings are a record high 94%, but a big majority (80%) of people polled also believe good bilateral relations are important. Many cling to the old pacifist verities but many others now understand the world around Japan is changing fast and unpredictably, said Kuni Miyake of Tokyo's Canon Institute for Global Studies. "Despite his conservative, hawkish image, Abe is in fact a very pragmatic, reasonable politician. But he is also proud of Japan and he is saying it's OK to be proud," Miyake said. "A huge power shift is going on in east Asia. Before Abe and the new era, we were day-dreaming. We thought we could follow pacifism, not threaten anybody, have no army, and the world would leave us alone. We were in a bubble. And it worked because of the US alliance, not because of pacifism. "The next generation doesn't believe that People are aware that prayers for peace are not enough. We have to deter many potential aggressors. If China insists on being a Pacific power and challenges the US-Japan hegemony at sea, a showdown is inevitable," Miyake said. For Takahara, the opposite holds true. There were limits to what Japan could do when faced by China's rising power and Abe's approach was fraught with peril. "There is really no choice but to use diplomacy and dialogue to mend ties with China," Takahara said. "Abe is very rightwing by traditional measures. He is a historical revisionist at heart. He would really like to visit the Yasukuni shrine where Japan's war dead are remembered. He is a nationalist But Abe won't succeed with his 'new nationalism'. We are a post-industrial society. There's no way the youngsters will go along."
Senkaku islands row reflects broader tensions between China and Japan
Experts say chances of head-on collision between the world's second and third biggest economies are growing
Simon Tisdall in Tokyo theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.37 GMT Jump to comments ()
A Japanese surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands in the East China sea. Photograph: Uncredited/AP
The potentially explosive struggle between China and Japan for physical control of the energy-rich Senkaku islands in the East China Sea reflects broader security, ideological and historical tensions between the two east Asian leviathans, the world's second and third biggest economies respectively, which could yet produce a head-on collision, Japanese officials and analysts say. According to a senior government adviser, the security situation in the east Asian region has begun to resemble Europe in the 1930s, when a resurgent, re-arming Germany began to project its power beyond its borders. China's declared defence budget has expanded five times over in 10 years to $102bn (63bn) in 2012, almost double Japan's, the adviser said. For its part, Tokyo says it wants to talk, but is busily boosting its military and security capabilities and alliances. "China tries to present a smile to the world but it will always revert to bullying when it suits it," the adviser said. "They have bigger guns and bigger money than us, but they can't lead. They have no vision for the world Integrating China into the global mainstream is the biggest challenge of this century. I hope they will be like us one day. But it may not happen." Yoshiji Nogami of the Japan Institute of International Affairs said European governments and businesses were failing to appreciate or understand the extremely high levels of instability in east Asia, partly because of "wishful thinking" arising from a desire to profit from China's vast markets. "The US-Japan security alliance is expanding in scope in the South China Sea, not only in the East China Sea. The Australians and the Indians are getting involved, too, so if things deteriorate further, it potentially gets very dramatic," Nogami said. "China is not going to back off. It views the East China Sea as a core interest. But so too does the US forwarddeployed navy and Japan. So how do we manage this clash of core interests? I think the situation can ultimately be managed, but for the next decade or more the atmosphere will be very uncomfortable." Officials complained that like its predecessors, China's new leadership under its president, Xi Jinping, was willing to whip up residual anti-Japanese sentiment to distract attention from the country's severe social and economic problems. Portraying Japan as a threat also served the People's Liberation Army, which used it to justify increased
problems. Portraying Japan as a threat also served the People's Liberation Army, which used it to justify increased weapons budgets. Following acceptance of his "reform" programme at the Communist party's central committee plenum earlier this month, Xi was emerging as the strongest Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping (who died in 1997), the officials said. His approach to external (as well as internal) security and defence issues was uncompromising, and on occasion confrontational, the officials said. There is deep frustration in Tokyo that Beijing does not give more weight to Japanese support for China's development. "There are 20,000 Japanese companies investing in China, mostly in manufacturing, employing 10 million Chinese workers," a senior official said. Two-way trade was very important for both countries, but China's behaviour often jeopardised it, and Japanese businesses were beginning to look elsewhere. "Japan and China have tremendous communication problems," said Yuji Miyamoto, a former Japanese ambassador to Beijing, pointing to China's suspicions over what it views as reviving nationalism in Japan under conservative prime minister Shinzo Abe. "There is no dialogue at present. Neither leader has an incentive to deal. We need a confidence-building process," he said. "It is too early to say whether China is a threat to Japan. There are conflicting currents [in the Beijing leadership]. One group definitely wants a superpower position in the world. Other groups say China needs co-operative relationships. I don't know which way it will go. But Japan and the international community still have time to influence China's decision." For Japan, the unstable outlook in east Asia is compounded by uncertainty over the unpredictable behaviour of nuclear-armed North Korea. "If Kim [Jong-un, the North Korean dictator] goes crazy, he could blow up everything. Tokyo would collapse," the senior government adviser said. Japan's relations with South Korea are also at a low point, poisoned by renewed recriminations over second world war legacies. For all these reasons, Miyamoto said, the US-Japan alliance was more important than ever. "We need a long-term regional security framework. But we need the US more, until such a framework can safeguard every country. Because, at present, the situation is so fragile, so unstable, so insecure."
CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan 'unmasked' by Imran Khan's party

PTI party names man in letter to police demanding he be nominated as one of those responsible for drone strike
Jon Boone in Islamabad theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.52 GMT
theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.52 GMT
Supporters of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party protest in Karachi against drone strikes at the weekend. Photograph: Fareed Khan/AP
The political party led by the former cricket star Imran Khan claims to have blown the cover of the CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan as part of an increasingly high-stakes campaign against US drone strikes. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party named a man it claimed was head of the CIA station in Islamabad in a letter to police demanding he be nominated as one of the people responsible for a drone strike on 21 November, which killed five militants including senior commanders of the Haqqani Network. John Brennan, the CIA director, was also nominated as an "accused person" for murder and "waging war against Pakistan". The US embassy said it could not comment but was looking into the matter. The CIA spokesman Dean Boyd would not confirm the station chief's name and declined to immediately comment, AP reported. If his identity is confirmed it will be the second time anti-drone campaigners have unmasked a top US spy in Pakistan. In 2010 another CIA station chief, Jonathan Banks, was named in criminal proceedings initiated after a drone strike. Banks was forced to leave the country. As with the Banks case, questions will be raised about how the PTI came to know the identity of the top US intelligence official in the country. Although nearly all foreign spies in Pakistan use diplomatic cover stories to hide their occupation, many, including station chiefs, are declared to the country's domestic spy agency. The letter signed by the PTI spokeswoman Shireen Mazari demanded the named agent be prevented from leaving the country so that he could be arrested. The PTI said it hoped he would reveal "through interrogation" the names of the remote pilots who operated the drone. "CIA station chief is not a diplomatic post, therefore he does not enjoy any diplomatic immunity and is within the bounds of domestic laws of Pakistan," the letter said. The accusation comes at a time when drones have once again become a matter of intense controversy in Pakistan. The country's interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar, denounced a drone strike in early November. Although the attack killed the much hated chief of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, Nisar said it had wrecked the government's efforts to hold peace talks with militant groups.
efforts to hold peace talks with militant groups. And it infuriated Khan, who has built much of his political platform around opposition to drones, which he claims are largely responsible for the upsurge of domestic terrorism in Pakistan in recent years a suggestion disputed by many experts. The 21 November strike was even more provocative as it was one of the first ever strikes outside the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where nearly all attacks by the unmanned aircraft have taken place in the past. The attack on a religious seminary associated with the Haqqani Network was in Hangu, an area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province where Khan's PTI leads a coalition government. Khan responded with a massive rally in the provincial capital of Peshawar and ordered PTI activists to block vehicles carrying supplies to Nato troops in Afghanistan. However, party workers have struggled to identify Nato cargo amid all the sealed containers plying the roads to Afghanistan. The exercise has received no support from the national government and the police have tried to stop PTI workers blocking lorries.
Pakistan's prime minister announces new army chief as spymaster retires

Nawal Sharif's choice of 'gentleman' Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif will keep government in control of civilian affairs
Jon Boone in Islamabad theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 11.41 GMT Jump to comments ()
Lt Gen Sharif is Pakistan's newly appointed military chief, succeeding Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Photograph: ISPR/EPA
Pakistan's prime minister has appointed a new army chief closely associated with the country's recent struggles against domestic militancy, following weeks of delay and speculation over who would fill the powerful role. Nawaz Sharif announced that Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif, the brother of one of Pakistan's most decorated war heroes, would take command of the nation's 600,000-strong army, after the retirement of Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, a former military spymaster who ran Pakistan's army for an unprecedented double term. The new chief will not only control the country's nuclear arsenal, he will also have a deciding say on Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan during a critical period that will see the end of the Nato combat mission in the country. A close ally of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, Sharif in recent years has held senior roles running the army's training and education programmes as well as being intimately involved in re-focusing Pakistan's army on counterinsurgency warfare against militant groups in the tribal west of the country. His brother Shabbir was killed in action during Pakistan's 1971 war with India that led to East Pakistan breaking away to form Bangladesh. Hamid Hussain, an expert on Pakistan's army, said Raheel Sharif was "a below-average officer" not well suited to lead a country in the midst of a bloody war against militants. "He's nice, a gentleman but not regarded very highly," he said. "Most people in the army think his professional ceiling is at the major general level." New army chiefs are usually announced six to eight weeks before they take command, giving them time to prepare for the job. But Nawaz Sharif, the country's three-times prime minister, refused to make a quick decision, instead waiting until the very last minute and only calling his new chief into a meeting on Wednesday morning. The decision is particularly fateful for Sharif, whose previous term as prime minister was ended by a military coup d'tat in November 1999. The general who seized power, Musharraf, had been handpicked as army chief by Sharif just a year previously. The drawn-out decision-making process has prompted speculation that the prime minister was deliberately attempting to stand up to a military establishment that is over-mighty and, he believes, a source of many of the country's problems. However, according to one senior former colleague of Kayani, the delay was caused because Sharif had seriously considered re-appointing Kayani for a third term. In the months since Sharif came to power, the prime minister had become convinced Kayani was committed to stopping the army from interfering in civilian affairs: "The overall policy of the army during this period under Kayani has been to allow the politicians to take the driving seat again," said the former colleague. When the option of reappointing Kayani ran into staunch criticism and had to be dropped, Sharif and his advisers were at a loss for whom to pick, he added. Keeping Kayani would have been immensely controversial given the widespread disgruntlement within the army over his second term.
Analysts do not expect a radical shift in direction under Lt Gen Sharif, who reflects the outlook of an army moulded by six years of Kayani. Lt Gen Sharif was closely involved in developing new counterinsurgency tactics designed for combating militants. He also worked on efforts to confront India's "Cold Start" doctrine, which enables the Indian army to attack Pakistan at short notice. The focus on domestic militancy is unlikely to change, even though Pakistan's civilian rulers are resisting army calls for a military operation in North Waziristan, a pocket of territory controlled by the Taliban and al-Qaida affiliates. All analysts agree that a military takeover is unimaginable as the army is still recovering from the reputational damage done by Musharraf's period in power and other major embarrassments, particularly the deep penetration into Pakistani territory of US special forces in 2011 during the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. It is not known whether Kayani, who was ranked as 28th most powerful man in the world by Forbes Magazine last year, will be given an official position after retiring on Thursday. But it is likely that the outgoing army chief an avid golfer and president of the Pakistan Golf Association will spend plenty of time at a custom-built mansion overlooking the greens of one of the country's finest courses.
NSA 'collected details of online sexual activity' of Islamist radicals

Document leaked by Edward Snowden shows agency sought out 'vulnerabilities' such as looking at explicit material online
Ewen MacAskill The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 12.36 GMT Jump to comments ()
The NSA is said to have targeted 'radicalisers' by collecting details that could undermine them, including online viewing habits. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
T he NSA has been collecting details about the online sexual activity of prominent Islamist radicals in order to undermine them, according to a new Snowden document published by the Huffington Post. The American surveillance agency targeted six unnamed "radicalisers", none of whom is alleged to have been involved in terror plots. One document argues that if the vulnerabilities they are accused of were to be exposed, this could lead to their devotion to the jihadist cause being brought into question, with a corresponding loss of authority. As an example of vulnerabilities, it lists: "Viewing sexually explicit material online or using sexually persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls." The names of the six targeted individuals have been redacted. One is listed as having been imprisoned for inciting hatred against non-Muslims. Under vulnerabilities, the unnamed individual is listed as being involved in "online promiscuity" as well as possibly misdirecting donations. Shawn Turner, press spokesman for the US director of national intelligence, in an email to the Huffington Post, said it was not surprising the US government "uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalise others to violence". The article was written by the former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who met the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in May and was given a large cache of leaked documents. One of the documents says the aim is to look at "six prominent, globally resonating foreign radicalisers", the audiences they reach and potential vulnerabilities. It says: "Communications profiles of these English-language radicalisers reveal that very few of contacts noted were associated with terrorism, suggesting that the target audience includes individuals who do not yet hold extremist views but who are susceptible to the extremist message." Vulnerabilities identified include: "publishes articles without checking facts"; "deceitful use of funds"; "charges exorbitant speaking fees"; "attracted to fame"; and "glamorous lifestyle". One of the six is described as a "US person", meaning a citizen or permanent resident, but the others are not identified other than to say they are living outside the US. A document said a significant proportion of their audience was in Pakistan.
Greek court acquits editor who leaked 'Lagarde list' of suspected tax evaders
Retrial finds Kostas Vaxevanis did not infringe privacy laws by publishing list of 2,000 rich Greeks with Swiss bank accounts
Helena Smith in Athens theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 15.18 GMT Jump to comments ()
Kostas Vaxevanis, left, after his arrest. His acquittal, he said, was a 'great day for press freedom' and a victory over corruption. Photo: Georgia Panagopoulo/AFP/Getty
The journalist who caused uproar in Greece by revealing the names of thousands of suspected tax evaders has emerged triumphant from his clash with the country's justice system after a court acquitted him of breaking privacy laws. After sitting for more than five hours, the three-member tribunal unanimously declared today that Kostas Vaxevanis had not infringed privacy laws by publishing the personal data of those named on the so-called Lagarde list. "It is a great day for press freedom," said the 47-year-old editor, who published the list in his bimonthly investigative magazine Hot Doc 13 months ago. "With this unanimous decision, we have emerged totally victorious today," he told the Guardian. "Our opponents are all those who wanted to cover up the system of corruption and vested interests that governs this country." More than 2,000 wealthy Greeks who held secret bank accounts in the Geneva branch of HSBC were named on the list. Many belonged to the country's elite, with politicians, businessmen, oligarchs and shipping families among those revealed. Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief after whom the infamous file is named, handed the list to her then Greek counterpart, the finance minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou, in the hope that the authorities in Athens would carry out an audit of those on it. A supreme court prosecutor proposed last week that Papaconstantinou, the architect of debt-stricken Greece's first EU-IMF sponsored bailout, be tried for dereliction of duty in his handling of the list. The former minister, who was expelled by his own centre-left Pasok party, has been accused of tampering with the list to remove the names of three of his relatives. "What we did was in the public interest," Vaxevanis insisted outside the courtroom. "Greece, to this day, remains the only European state not to have made even one euro in reclaimed tax by pursuing those whose names were on the
only European state not to have made even one euro in reclaimed tax by pursuing those whose names were on the Lagarde list. Other countries, such as Portugal and Germany, made millions." Vaxevanis had originally been acquitted last year but in an unprecedented step a public prosecutor overturned the verdict, claiming that it had been made in haste, and he was retried for the same crime. The case had been a bizarre footnote to the crisis that has enveloped the country since its descent into bankruptcy four years ago.
Two killed as crane collapses at Brazilian World Cup stadium

Sepp Blatter 'deeply saddened' by tragedy Fifa says safety of workers is 'top priority'
Jonathan Watts, Latin America correspondent The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 21.07 GMT
Brazil' s World Cup preparations suffered a deadly setback on Wednesday when a crane collapsed, killing two building workers at the So Paulo stadium that is due to host the opening match. Corinthians, the Brazilian football club that will move into the new stadium, confirmed the deaths of Fabio Luiz Pereira and Ronaldo Oliveira dos Santos on their website, in a joint statement with the constructors, Odebrecht. Coming a week before the draw for next year's tournament the fatalities revive concerns about unsafe infrastructure and the slow pace of construction, which have dogged Brazil for more than a year. Odebrecht said the crane that hoisted the last part of the structure of the metal roof of the stadium collapsed shortly before 1pm on Wednesday during a routine operation to put the final section of the cover over the north stand. The death toll was originally reported as three but later revised down to two.
Workers stand near the crane that collapsed. Photograph: Nacho Doce/REUTERS
The 70,000-seat Itaquero stadium also known as the Arena Corinthians will stage six World Cup matches, including the host nation's opening fixture on 12 June 2014, against opponents to be determined at next month's draw, as well as a semi-final. Under a Fifa deadline it should be completed by the end of next month. Photographs showed substantial damage to a perimeter wall but the joint statement said: "The structure of the grandstand was not compromised."
The Corinthians and Odebrecht statement added: "Teams of firemen are in place. At the moment all efforts are focused to provide full assistance to the families of the victims."
The tangle of metal at the back of the arena. Photograph: Nelson Antoine/AP
Corinthians also announced the club would respect seven days of mourning for the victims of the tragedy. The stadium has been evacuated and, according to globo.com, the rescue effort is being led by the fire department with ambulances and a military police helicopter also on hand to help. One worker, Jos Mario da Silva, said: "I walked right underneath the crane on the way to lunch. If it hadn't collapsed at lunchtime, a lot more people would have died." Fifa has given the tournament organisers until 31 December to have all 12 stadiums ready and the collapse at the Itaquero stadium, which was 94% complete, may throw out that deadline.
The arena as it looked before the accident. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Action Images
Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, tweeted: "I'm deeply saddened by the tragic death of workers @Corinthians arena today. Our heartfealt [sic] condolences are with the families." Jrme Valcke, Fifa's general secretary, tweeted: "Extremely shocked by the news from So Paulo. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this accident."
He added: "We are currently awaiting further details from the authorities, who are investigating this tragic accident." A further statement said: "Fifa and the LOC [local organising committee] have learnt of the death of workers at the Corinthians Arena site in So Paulo with great sadness. We wish to send our heartfelt condolences to the family of the workers who tragically died today. "The safety of workers is the top priority for Fifa, the LOC, the federal government. We know the safety of all workers has always been paramount for all the construction companies contracted to build the 12 Fifa World Cup stadiums.
A man takes a picture of the ruptured stadium. Photograph: Nacho Doce/REUTERS
"The local authorities will fully investigate the reasons behind such a tragic accident." Fifa said there would be an update once further details of the accident were released by the Brazilian authorities. The cause will be investigated but earlier delays may be a contributing factor. Construction was held up for several months this year due to disagreements between Odebrecht and Corinthians, and a dispute with the government over funding. At one stage Valcke warned that the entire World Cup schedule could be changed. This latest in a long line of delays and fatalities relating to World Cup construction projects is clearly an embarrassment to Brazil, Odebrecht and those responsible for the project. According to the Folha do So Paulo newspaper, a reporter at the scene was beaten and had pictures of the accident deleted from his cellphone by an Odebrecht engineer and guards overseen by Andres Snchez, the Corinthians executive responsible for the project. Brazil's sports minister, Aldo Rebelo, was appointed in 2011 and recently vowed the World Cup stadiums would be completed in time to satisfy Fifa. The ministry's official Twitter account carried initial reaction to Wednesday's events. "The ministry of sport profoundly laments the accident at the Arena Corinthians and expresses solidarity with the families of the victims," it said. Other football infrastructure projects have been hit by cost overruns and failures to meet targeted completion dates. In Rio de Janeiro the Maracan which will host the final match was supposed to have been finished at the end of last year after a 1bn reais refurbishment by Odebrecht but reopening was twice delayed. A judge attempted to hold up its first match a friendly between Brazil and England in May on the grounds that
the site was unsafe but the game went ahead despite areas with scaffolding, cables and bolts jutting out from concrete. In Salvador close to the venue where the World Cup draw will be made on 6 December a roof partially collapsed at the new Arena Fonte Nova in April because pools of rain proved too heavy for one of the membrane panels. It is not only the 12 World Cup stadiums that have been affected. In April a worker was killed during building work at the Palmeiras stadium in So Paulo. Before that eight spectators were injured when a guardrail gave way at Arena Grmio Porto Alegre during a match. Most worryingly Rio's Engenho stadium which will be used for the 2016 Olympics had to be closed for repairs six years after it opened due to reports showing winds of 63mph could rip off a roof that is already suffering from corrosion. A World Cup stadium in Manaus has also suffered delays and is struggling to reach Fifa's year-end deadline. It remains to be seen what impact Wednesday's accident at Itaquero will have on the construction schedule. Corinthians, favourite club of the former president Incio Lula da Silva, were expected to play their first competitive game at the stadium in early March. Once finished, the ground will have a regular capacity of 48,000 with an additional 20,000 temporary seats for the World Cup.
Belgian senate panel to vote on bill to extend euthanasia to minors

Backers say bill will allow 'merciful' escape for children with debilitating illnesses but opponents fear it may lead to infanticide
Reuters in Brussels theguardian.com, Tuesday 26 November 2013 20.34 GMT
The bill on extending the right to die to terminally ill minors in Belgium will only go before MPs if it gets the backing of a senate panel on Wednesday. Photograph: Julien Warnand/EPA
Belgian lawmakers are to vote on whether to support a bill that gives extremely sick children the right to die. The proposed legislation would make Belgium the first country to remove the age limit for euthanasia though it would insist parents have a role in their child's decision to die. "We want to provide the freedom of choice, also to minors who are able to make up their own mind," said one of the bill's backers, Jean-Jacques De Gucht, from the Flemish liberals, who form part of the ruling coalition. A senate panel on Wednesday will vote on whether to allow the bill to be heard in parliament. The panel's backing would be an important move in the bill becoming law as the committee shares the same political makeup as the broader parliament. The legislation will give a merciful way out for young people suffering from debilitating conditions and legalise a practice that is already going on in secret, say the bill's backers. "Imagine a cancer or leukaemia patient, a child whom we have already treated for eight years and in which we reach a stage where we know there is nothing more that we can do to cure him," said Marc Cosyns, lecturer of medical ethics at Ghent University. Opponents say it would open the door to infanticide and leave the ultimate decision in the hands of someone too young to make it. Euthanasia is illegal in most countries. "Once the possibility for euthanasia exists for children, demand is likely to rise. It's clear among adults that it is difficult to keep euthanasia within limits once the taboo of killing has fallen," said Benoit Beuselinck, an oncologist and founder of campaign group euthanasiestop.be. Some religious groups have also come out against the legislation. The Netherlands already lets terminally ill children seek euthanasia. But the age limit is 12, and anyone up to 16 has to get full parental consent. Analysts said there was a good chance the bill would get backing from the senate's joint justice and social affairs panel, as it had already been proposed by members of the Flemish and Walloon arms of the coalitions liberal and socialist parties. The third coalition partner, the Christian Democrats, has acknowledged there is a broad political consensus to extend euthanasia to minors, but is pushing for a minimum age limit of 15 and tighter rules on medical panels reviewing euthanasia requests. "In matters of life and death it is no mistake to think a bit longer about the law we are creating," said Els Van Hoof, a CD senator. The proposed law already says children choosing to die would have to be of "sound mind and judgment", effectively ruling out infants. Dutch data suggest those under 18 make up a tiny fraction of people seeking euthanasia. Only five minors requested it between 2002 and 2013, only one of them under 16. Belgium is already seen as one of the world's most liberal countries when it comes to euthanasia, and allows it for
Belgium is already seen as one of the world's most liberal countries when it comes to euthanasia, and allows it for people who are not terminally ill.
Silvio Berlusconi's critics toast former PM's ignominious exit from senate
Italian parliament expels 77-year-old after conviction for tax fraud at his Mediaset empire but tycoon vows to stay in politics
Lizzy Davies in Rome The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
Silvio Berlusconi tells supporters that he will remain in politics. Opponents gathered outside the senate called for him to be jailed. Photograph: Eidon/Demotix/Corbis
Showing on a loop on the screens outside Palazzo Grazioli was a compilation of clips that had a strangely retro feel to it. In one, Silvio Berlusconi was laughing with Tony Blair; in another, he was chatting affably with George W Bush. Jacques Chirac, Kofi Annan, even Pope Benedict XVI: the roll call of former leaders went on and Berlusconi, in a somewhat more youthful guise, was with them all. Across town, in a historic and at times openly confrontational series of votes, Italian senators were bringing an end to the former prime minister's near two decades in parliament. But, lest anyone think the 77-year-old might take that as his cue to join his old confrres in retirement, he made it clear that, as far as he was concerned, his political career was still very much ongoing. "Today they [my opponents] are celebrating because they have managed to bring an adversary an enemy before the executioner's squad. They are euphoric," he told the supporters who had gathered outside his mansion to hear of
his "persecution" by the country's judiciary. "They have been waiting for it for 20 years But I don't believe they have definitively won the match of democracy and of freedom." Waving her flag dreamily as the strains of party anthems thundered around Piazza Venezia, Mariella, a fan from the southern region of Calabria, gave her verdict: "It's a coup d'tat. Because justice is not a weapon." Rather than consigned to history, she added, Berlusconi was still the man to lead Italy forward. "Even at 76, 77 years old, if he can rouse young people like that, he's the future," she said. Most Italians disagree with that assessment. As news of the expulsion came through, a group of anti-Berlusconi activists began celebrating outside the senate with spumante (sparkling wine) and chants calling for the former prime minister to be sent to prison. The move ends the partial immunity from which, as a senator, Berlusconi benefited, though his lawyers have dismissed his arrest as a possibility. The landmark expulsion confirmed by the senate speaker at 5.42pm after several hours of fractious debate followed Berlusconi's definitive conviction for tax fraud at his Mediaset television empire on 1 August. He denies any wrongdoing, and ever since, the political debate of Italy a country in grave need of concerted action to lift it out of its longest postwar recession has been dominated by the saga. Though not part of his actual sentence, the ousting was deemed necessary under an anti-corruption law passed last year that prohibits anyone with a conviction of more than two years from holding elected office or standing for office for six years. Berlusconi was also ordered to serve a four-year prison sentence, commuted to one, which will be enforced next year, either as community service or house arrest. In the senate on Wednesday, centre-left MPs from the Democratic party (PD) combined with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and others to approve the expulsion to the obvious rage of Berlusconi loyalists. Several of his female senators had come dressed in black, at least one with an armband. At one point, they began chanting "Silvio, Silvio". The vote attracted some of the recently appointed senators-for-life, among them the architect Renzo Piano. In a defiant address that sounded much like an election campaign speech, Berlusconi acknowledged that the expulsion one of the heaviest blows in his eventful political career had made for "a bitter day, a day of mourning for democracy". But, speaking to fans waving the flags of his newly revived Forza Italia (FI) party, he said he would continue to "fight for our freedom" from the outside. "We will stay on the field," he said, pointing to Beppe Grillo, figurehead of the M5S, and Matteo Renzi, the Florence mayor likely to become the next chief of the PD, as examples of leaders orchestrating their parties from outside the national parliament. "My father has been stripped of his seat as senator, but it will certainly not be today's vote that will undermine his leadership and his commitment," said Marina Berlusconi, the media magnate's eldest daughter, who is regularly tipped by the Italian media as his most likely political heir a prospect she rejects. For the moment, Berlusconi will remain at the helm of the party named after a football chant, which he first launched for his entrance into politics in 1994. Replaced as the main centre-right party by the Freedom People (PdL) for several years until this summer, FI was reformed and, on Tuesday, moved into opposition by Berlusconi, who has seen his power base split by a breakaway faction led by an erstwhile loyalist, Angelino Alfano. Alfano, the interior and deputy prime minister, has pledged his allegiance to Enrico Letta's government, which emerged stronger from a confidence vote on Tuesday. Most analysts agree that, as old age and party splits combine with continuing legal woes, Berlusconi's farewell from politics is inevitable. Among other matters, he has been ordered to stand trial on charges of bribing a senator in an
attempt to bring down Romano Prodi's government, and is appealing against a first-grade conviction handed down in June for having sex with an underage girl and abusing his office to cover it up. He denies the allegations in both cases. But the question most observers ask is how long his goodbye will be - and nobody believes that the expulsion by itself will stop him. "It's certainly not the end for Berlusconi. He will join Beppe Grillo as a party leader outside of parliament and in 10 days time Matteo Renzi will be a party leader outside of parliament," said James Walston, of the American University of Rome. "Even when he's barred from taking part in politics, he'll take part in politics."
Ups and downs of Silvio Berlusconi's political career timeline

Italian former prime minister has been expelled from Senate 20 years after entering politics by founding Forza Italia party
Lizzy Davies theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.57 GMT
Silvio Berlusconi waves to supporters outside his house in Rome on the day he was stripped of his Senate seat. Photograph: Angelo Carconi/EPA
1993
Silvio Berlusconi, a law graduate and billionaire media tycoon, founds his own political party, Forza Italia Go Italy named after a chant used by AC Milan fans.
March 1994
He wins first of three election victories and forms a coalition with the rightwing National Alliance and Northern League. The coalition crumbles after seven months after it emerges Berlusconi is being investigated for bribery.
League. The coalition crumbles after seven months after it emerges Berlusconi is being investigated for bribery.
April 1996
Berlusconi loses first of two elections to Romano Prodi.
May 2001
He returns to power as prime minister. His government goes on to be the longest-serving in Italy since the second world war.
August 2004
Berlusconi hosts Tony and Cherie Blair at his Sardinian hideaway.
April 2006
He declares himself "the Jesus Christ of politics" on the campaign trail, but loses again to Prodi at the ballot box.
July 2006
He is ordered to stand trial for alleged fraud, false accounting, embezzlement and tax fraud.
May 2008
Berlusconi is elected prime minister for the third time. He faces 50 votes of confidence over the next three years.
October 2009
Patrizia D'Addario gives a TV interview claiming Berlusconi slept with her knowing she was a prostitute. Months of lurid allegations of Berlusconi-hosted "bunga bunga" sex parties follow.
December 2009
Berlusconi is hit in the face with an alabaster statuette of Milan cathedral during a political rally.
February 2011
A judge orders Berlusconi to stand trial on charges of paying for sex with underage alleged prostitute Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug, a charge they both deny. He is also accused of abuse of office after it emerges he intervened in 2010 to have her released from a police station where she was being held for theft.
12 November 2011
Four days after losing his parliamentary majority Berlusconi steps down as prime minister.
28 October 2012
Berlusconi, angered by a court's jail sentence for tax evasion, a decision he believes is politically motivated, threatens a snap election to bring down the prime minister, Mario Monti, and throw the world of Italian politics into a panic.
7 January 2013
Berlusconi renews his coalition with the far-right Northern League Alliance
24 February 2013
Italy heads to the polls. Centre-left Enrico Letta forms a government which includes a close ally of Berlusconi's, Angelino Alfano.
24 June 2013
Berlusconi is sentenced to seven years for abuse of office and paying a minor for sex.
27 November 2013
Berluscono is expelled from the Italian Senate.
New Zealand aims to become leading maker of diet wines

Growing market for lower-alcohol, lower-calorie 'lifestyle wines' prompts seven-year investment by government and industry
Sam Jones The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.38 GMT Jump to comments ()
The level of alcohol in wines is thought to have crept up in recent years. Photograph: STOCK4B GmbH/Alamy
Not content with its reputation for zingy sauvignon blancs, smooth pinot noirs and competitively priced fizz, New
Zealand has announced its intention to become the world's leading producer of decent wines for the discerning but diet-conscious drinker. With a thirsty eye on the growing market for "lifestyle wines" those with fewer calories and lower alcohol levels the government has decided to pour NZ$8.13m (4m) into the quest for viticultural and oenological supremacy. The seven-year investment will help fund a NZ$16.97m (8.5m) "world-leading" research programme put together by the ministry for primary industries and the New Zealand wine industry. Philip Gregan, the chief executive officer of New Zealand Wine, said the joint project would produce "tangible outcomes" not only for the grape and wine industries, but also for the country's economy. "This programme will capitalise on the domestic and international market demand for high-quality, lower-calorie and lower-alcohol 'lifestyle' wines by developing new, natural techniques for grapevine growth and wine production utilised across the New Zealand wine industry," he said. "Our point of difference will be producing premium wines that can be naturally produced using sustainable viticultural techniques and native yeasts providing an important point of difference to existing processing methods." The announcement comes amid growing consumer appetite for lower-alcohol wines. A study conducted over the summer in the UK, the US, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland showed that 38% of wine drinkers or more than 80 million people were buying wines with alcohol levels below 10.5%. Natasha Rastegar, a senior project manager at the market research and strategy company Wine Intelligence, which carried out the survey, said the popularity of low-alcohol wines was chiefly down to their lower prices. "Some may also be motivated to buy lower-alcohol wines thanks to the health benefits of less alcohol and specifically because of there being fewer calories per glass," she said. "In the UK for example 21% of regular wine drinkers choose lower alcohol because it's cheaper than standard wine, whilst 20% choose it because it has fewer calories." The main challenge for wine producers, said Rastegar, was finding a way to improve the quality and taste of loweralcohol wines. Justin Howard-Sneyd, a master of wine, wine-maker and global wine consultant at Laithwaite's, agreed there was a demand for wines with less alcohol after decades of wines getting stronger. "Alcohols in wine in the last 30 years have gradually crept up and I think the reason for that is the riper the grape is, the juicier it tastes and the resulting wine the 14-degree [14%] wine tastes richer and fuller-bodied and more appealing than a 12-degree wine from the same grape," he said. "So wine-makers across different countries have been finding it easier to sell more alcoholic wines because of the taste preference." But, he said, people were beginning to give more thought to what and how they drank. "They're starting to realise that the wine they're consuming is of a higher alcohol level than perhaps they were used to and perhaps they were consuming more wine than was good for their waistline and their health. People are thinking of ways to drink a bit less: either drink better wine but less often, or drink the same amount of wine but lower alcohol." The difficulty, he said, was finding pleasant-tasting wines below 10 degrees: producing a wine with lower alcohol levels meant the maker had either to use grapes that were not fully ripe risking an unbalanced wine or take some of the alcohol out of wine made with fully ripened grapes, which could yield a "slightly engineered" wine. "It's a very interesting move from the New Zealand government," said Howard-Sneyd. "If they can produce very delicious tasting, high-quality wine that has low alcohol levels, I think that will be welcomed by the industry and by customers because there definitely is some demand for wines that aren't quite so alcoholic but it is a challenge."
Spanish pianist not guilty of noise pollution and psychological damage

Prosecutors pressed for seven-year sentence but judge finds neighour's claims 'unreliable and exaggerated'
Ashifa Kassam in Madrid theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 15.57 GMT Jump to comments ()
Professional musician Laia Martin (left) has been found not guilty of harming her neighbour through long hours of piano practice. Photograph: Robin Townsend/EPA
A Spanish court has acquitted a pianist who was facing seven years in prison of causing psychological damage and noise pollution. The trial attracted worldwide attention after public prosecutors demanded a custodial sentence for Laia Martin, 28, over her piano playing. Martin's neighbour, Sonia Bonsom, complained she suffered anxiety from hearing eight-hour practice sessions, five days a week, between 2003 and 2007. At the time, Martin was a music student in the Spanish town of Puigcerd. She is now a professional pianist. Bonsom told the court that Martin's practice schedule disrupted her sleep patterns and led her to develop serious anxiety issues. "This has caused me a great deal of stress," she told the court. "There was even a moment when I couldn't move my arm because of anxiety." She claimed she and her family had moved house to escape the noise. Prosecutors eventually reduced their demand for jail time from seven years to 20 months. They asked to have Martin
Prosecutors eventually reduced their demand for jail time from seven years to 20 months. They asked to have Martin banned from any profession involving a piano for four years and for her to pay more than !20,000 (16,700) in fines and damages. They also sought jail time for Martin's parents, who were named as accessories. According to a written ruling issued on Tuesday, the court in north-east Spain cleared Martin and her parents of both charges. The court said there was no evidence that the piano playing was the direct cause of Bonsom's problems, and found her claims to be unreliable and exaggerated. Noting that the family had taken measures to soundproof the room in the rental apartment where Martin practised, the judge also expressed disapproval that the case had gone as far as it had. Bonsom told the court she now hates pianos so much she cannot even stand to see them in films.
Mali coup leader arrested on kidnapping charges

General Amadou Haya Sanogo is accused of systematically torturing and executing soldiers who questioned his rise to power
Associated Press in Bamako theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.15 GMT
Amadou Sanogo has been arrested in Mali and charged with kidnapping. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images
The military strongman who led last year's military coup in Mali was arrested on Wednesday and charged with kidnapping, hours after he was forcibly escorted from his home in the capital by soldiers. General Amadou Haya Sanogo led the March 2012 coup and is accused of systematically torturing and executing soldiers who questioned his rise to power.
"Sanogo has been inculpated for complicity in kidnapping. Right now that is the only charge," said the country's chief prosecutor Daniel Tessougue, who was reached by telephone on Wednesday. "He could be charged with other crimes later." Sanogo's spokesman, Lt. Mohamed Boua Coulibaly, confirmed that the general had been taken by force from his residence earlier in the day by a unit of soldiers sent by the ministry of defence. Despite stepping down and handing control to a civilian administration, Sanogo remained a powerful force in Mali for much of 2012, and many believe he was calling the shots. In August, the country held its first election since the coup, electing a new leader whose administration has not shied away from confronting the powerful and much-feared Sanogo. On 31 October a judge issued a summons calling for Sanogo to present himself before the court to answer questions regarding his alleged role in the abuses. Sanogo repeatedly failed to show up. The judge who had issued the summons reportedly received death threats, and was given a security detail for his protection. Most Malians had never heard of Sanogo last spring, when a mutiny broke out at a military garrison, located just miles from the presidential palace. The rioting rank-and-file soldiers asked Sanogo, then an army captain, to be their leader, and together they marched on the palace, ending two decades of democracy in a matter of hours. The country's elected leader fled, and Sanogo appointed himself president. Although forced to step down just weeks later, he still held the reins of power. In May, protesters allied with Sanogo broke through the security cordon at the presidential compound, and beat interim leader Dioncounda Traore.Although Sanogo denied involvement in the attack, it was seen by many as Sanogo's reminder to the country's civilian administration of who was really in charge. "The Malian judge and judiciary have shown that no one, not even a four-star general, is above the law. This is a very encouraging step for the victims of the alleged crimes committed by those loyal to Sanogo and for Mali's struggle to address the culture of impunity," said Corinne Dufka, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, who has led 10 missions to Mali to investigate allegations of abuse since the start of the country's crisis.
Germany's grey manifesto is more old than bold

The coalition deal the CDU/CSU and the SPD have spent so long thrashing out reflects the priorities of an ageing nation
Philip Oltermann in Berlin
theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.16 GMT Jump to comments ()
The next German government, like the next U-Bahn, will be along in a minute. Photograph: Jockel Finck/AP
One of the small ways in which Berlin life differs from London life is that people rarely rush up or down escalators. Even in the heart of the city, there's no two-way traffic on the way down to the underground. You just stand there and wait. If you miss the next U-Bahn, so be it: another will be along in a minute. Much the same logic applies to politics. Whereas the current British government was formed during a frantic five-day wargaming session, hurried along by a civil service worried that the markets would make the government "pay a price" for indecision, 66 days have passed since the German general election and Wednesday's presentation of a coalition agreement. And that may not even the end of it: only if a coalition deal passes an SPD membership ballot will Angela Merkel be sworn in for her third term as German chancellor on 17 December. If the Social Democrat party faithful say no, everything goes back to the top of the escalator, so to speak. Asked by a Danish journalist at her press conference on Wednesday if she didn't find the speed of the process incredibly frustrating, Merkel shook her head: "I just sit calmly and get on with my work." The advantage of the slow-stream approach to coalition-forming is that it should produce stabler coalitions and more thought-through policies; the risk is that it can entirely sap the process of its spirit of adventure, and make bold decisions unlikely. The coalition agreement the CDU/CSU and the SPD presented today bears out the latter rather than the former. The SPD leader, Sigmar Gabriel, can present his party members with at least three key policies that have survived from his election manifesto: the introduction of a minimum wage, rent controls in major cities including Hamburg, Munich and Berlin, and dual citizenship, all of which had previously been noisily dismissed by conservative politicians and business leaders. There are caveats: the minimum wage won't come into full effect until 2017, and dual citizenship will only apply to those born in Germany, not the first generation of Turkish "guest workers" who gave birth to them. But these policies have been discussed at such length that it is hard not to see them being realised in the coming term. It should be enough to guarantee a yes in the SPD membership ballot. What is noticeable is that while the left mostly got its way on social issues, the conservatives barely had to compromise on any of the more fundamental questions around healthcare, tax rises or Europe. Greece is mentioned in the coalition agreement but there are no concrete measures on debt restructuring or what to do
about Greek unemployment. If this is supposed to be the "Marshall Plan for Europe" that the SPD announced in its election manifesto, it may struggle to live up to such bold a name. Germany under a grand-coalition government may become more socially liberal but it will remain conservative in its attitude to debt and spending. The title of the coalition treaty is Shaping Germany's Future, but the priorities it sets are very much those of an ageing nation. On pensions, the two parties didn't so much compromise as push through changes that will please the elder members of their respective constituencies. While crisis-hit countries like Greece are raising the pension age, Germany will move to lower it: in the future, those of who have worked for a full 45 years can earn a full pension from 63, four years earlier than the statutory threshold of 67. Gabriel claims it is a gesture of "fairness" towards parents who have worked harder than their children ever will. The CDU, on the other hand, has got its way with a "mothers' pension", which aims to do more to compensate mothers who had children before 1992: more "fairness" for senior citizens. Experts calculate the cost of the "pension with 63" at !5bn (4.2bn) a year and the "mothers' pension" at !6.5bn, dwarfing the !6bn the coalition pledges to invest in education and research for younger people. At 45, Germany's median age is almost three and a half years higher than the median age of the rest of Europe. Rarely have the consequences of this been more evident in the coalition agreement: it reads like the manifesto of a country that feels it has worked hard to accrue its current wealth, and doesn't fancy too much heavy lifting in the future.
Rwanda launches circumcision campaign to tackle HIV

Health ministry wants 700,000 men to undergo non-surgical circumcision to help lower HIV rate of 2.9%
David Smith, Africa correspondent theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.48 GMT Jump to comments ()
An HIV/Aids victim at Kigali morgue. Rwanda plans a nationwide campaign to non-surgically circumcise 700,000 men in a bid to cut rates of HIV infection. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Rwanda says it has become the first country to launch a nationwide campaign to "non-surgically" circumcise 700,000 men in an attempt to cut rates of HIV infection. The health ministry said circumcision was a crucial part of its strategy for achieving an Aids-free generation in Rwanda, where the adult HIV rate of 2.9% is already among the lowest in Africa. Agnes Binagwaho, the health minister, said at the project's launch: "Rwanda is the first country to launch nonsurgical adult male circumcision with an aim of reducing HIV infection." The ministry said it aimed to circumcise 700,000 males between the ages of 15 and 49 across the country by the end of 2016. It is receiving support from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the US and the UN. Non-surgical circumcision involves the use of a plastic device called PrePex, comprising two rings and an elastic band, that cuts off blood supply to the foreskin, which loses sensation and shrivels, similar to the process of removing the umbilical cord of a newborn child. The PrePex has to be worn for a week, after which it is removed and the dead foreskin is cut off. Its makers claim that men "can resume work and almost all daily activities shortly after the procedure", with the device "designed to be placed, worn, and removed with minimal disruption", although they should abstain from sex for six weeks afterwards. The PrePex was approved by the World Health Organisation in May after three years of clinical trials and has also been cleared by the US Food & Drug Administration. Binagwaho said it had been "clinically validated as a bloodless procedure that doesn't necessitate injected anaesthesia". Studies have found that voluntary medical male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV/Aids infection by roughly 60%. The PrePex, made by an Israeli company, Circ MedTech, is already being used in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Concerns have been raised about its price, usually around $20 (12.34). Unitaid, a global health initiative to raise funds, has said more market competition is needed to make PrePex affordable for supply to the world's poorest people.
Latvia's prime minister resigns over supermarket roof collapse

Valdis Dombrovski accepts political responsibility for tragedy in which 54 people were killed and at least 40 injured
Associated Press in Riga theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 12.24 GMT
Valdis Dombrovskis has resigned after the collapse last week of a supermarket roof in Latvia's capital, Riga. Photograph: Ints Kalnins/Reuters
Latvia's prime minister has resigned after accepting political responsibility for the collapse of a supermarket roof in the capital that killed 54 people. Valdis Dombrovskis' decision means that his center-right government automatically falls. He was the longest serving prime minister in Latvia's history. "Considering the ... tragedy and all the related circumstances, the country needs a government that has a majority support in parliament and can solve the situation that has arisen in the country," Dombrovskis told journalists after meeting President Andris Berzins. Last week's collapse of the Maxima supermarket was the worst disaster since Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and has caused outrage among Latvians. Police have opened a criminal investigation into the cause of the disaster. Possible explanations include a flawed design, substandard construction materials, and corruption. Berzins has accepted the resignation and is now searching for a candidate who will need to put together a new coalition, the president's office said. Dombrovskis came to power in 2009 as Latvia's economy was sinking into a deep recession and was charged with leading harsh budget cuts and tax increases while at the same time implementing tough structural reforms demanded by international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund. Dombrovskis was re-appointed twice as prime minister since then, and is widely credited with preventing the small Baltic nation from going bankrupt. Latvia's economy has returned to growth and was the fastest growing in the European Union over the past two years. On January 1, Latvia will become the 18th member of the euro area.
For Canada's remote towns, living with polar bears is growing more risky
Melting sea ice is forcing polar bears on to dry land and, increasingly, into contact with humans
Suzanne Goldenberg in Churchill, Manitoba theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.16 GMT
It was just a few days after a polar bear had mauled two people in the centre of town that the patrol officer pulled up by the school and scanned his binoculars along the rocky shoreline of Hudson Bay looking for any signs of a telltale white lump. "There could be a bear, or several bears, right there hiding in the willows and you wouldn't even know it," said Bob Windsor, the officer for Manitoba Conservation. He had received three reported sightings in town that morning; there could be up to 20 on a typical November day. Such is life in Churchill, a town with about as many polar bears as people. But living with polar bears is growing more risky, for both species, in a future being written by climate change. The loss of sea ice has already caused a precipitous drop in the bear population around Hudson Bay, forcing bears off their platform for hunting seals their main source of food. The ice season in Hudson Bay has fallen by about one day each year over the past three decades, interrupting the polar bears' prime feeding season in the spring and keeping them off the ice longer into the autumn and winter. Scientists say the starving bears are resorting to risky and atypical behaviours, such as cannibalism, and are wandering far inland, where they come into closer proximity with people in the small communities across the north. For Windsor, who has a bandolier of shotgun shells slung around the seat of his truck, meeting a bear is all in a day's work. The officer, equipped with scare pistol armed with blanks, an array of firecrackers, an air horn and a paintball gun, spends his nights and days herding polar bears out of town and back on to the tundra. "The bears that we deal with in our programme, we are teaching them to be scared of people," Windsor says. "Every bear that we chase, maybe we are helping out somebody down the line that encounters a bear, because it recognises that that's a person and that is something to be scared of." But Windsor's job is expected to grow more difficult with a warming Arctic. Local people in Churchill, and aboriginal hunters in the self-governing territory of Nunavut, report a rise in sightings of bears near communities in recent years. Most encounters between the people of Churchill and the polar bears have been near misses like the case of the woman who threw a bag of groceries at a bear to chase it away, and a man who distracted a bear from his two young children by swatting the animal with a dog leash. By the first week of November, there had been 168 such harmless
children by swatting the animal with a dog leash. By the first week of November, there had been 168 such harmless incidents in Churchill this year. Most of those bears were sub-adult males. "Think of them as teenagers," said Daryll Hedman of Manitoba Conservation. "They are the ones that seem to get themselves into trouble."
Polar bears playing in Hudson Bay. Photograph: Rex Features
About a dozen polar bears that had been caught in town and resisted officers' efforts to chase them away were confined to a polar bear jail until they could be returned to the wild. But in the pre-dawn hours of 1 November, an intruding polar bear ripped the ear of a young woman making her way home from a Halloween party and then pounced on a neighbour who came to her rescue, badly lacerating his head and torso. The attack occurred in front of a dozen onlookers, who screamed, banged pots and pans, let off firecrackers and shot at the bear repeatedly without effect. "My heart was pounding out of my chest," said Didier Foubert-Allen, another neighbour. "I shot at the bear maybe four times when I realised it was not going anywhere." The bear,now streaked with blood, ran off only when Foubert-Allen ran for his truck and charged the bear with lights blazing and horn blaring. Scientists predict a rise in such encounters across the north, with the melting of the sea ice. Wildlife managers across the polar region are already planning for a future of rising encounters between polar bears and humans. The governments of America and Norway are working to assemble a database of bear attacks across all five polar range territories Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia in anticipation of a rise in such conflicts. To date, there are 110 recorded instances of polar bear attacks causing severe injury. James Wilder, the US fish and wildlife agency biologist overseeing the registry, said that number should be set against the "thousands and thousands probably tens of thousands of nonviolent encounters with polar bears" across the north. Until this autumn, Churchill had a fairly peaceful history of living with polar bears, with only two recorded fatalities attributed to attacks from the creatures since 1717. Conservation officials in Churchill and Nunavut are working on early-warning systems for intruding polar bears, such as radar or sophisticated ear tags. Last year, officials in Churchill fitted one of the town's worst nuisance bears an adult male known locally as Lardass with an ear tag fitted with a VHF transmitter.
One of many polar bear alert warning signs in Churchill. Photograph: Paul J Richards/AFP/Getty Images
The device was designed to send a text message to conservation officials if Lardass wandered towards town, allowing the bear patrol to intercept the repeat offender. However, the tag fell off and the bear patrol lost track of Lardass until late September. Some American polar bear scientists have proposed Churchill residents make greater use of bear spray. Such irritant sprays are commonly used in wilderness areas of Alaska and other places where there is a risk of running into grizzlies. Officials and conservation groups are also revisiting the once taboo notion of taking adult bears who are repeat offenders to the zoo, rather than killing the animals to reduce the risk to humans. The notion would upset the idea of only consigning orphaned cubs to a lifetime in captivity, and remains highly controversial. "It is not know how well an adult bear would adapt to a captive life but in this situation where the choice is death by euthanasia, maybe it's a reasonable thing to try to see if it could be happy in a captive setting," said Geoff York of WWF. But authorities are increasingly going to have to confront such difficult situations, as melting sea ice forces polar bears off their traditional platforms for hunting seal on to dry land. The decline of the sea ice and the shortage of food are cutting into the birth rate for female polar bears, threatening the survival of cubs and leading to strange or dangerous behaviour. "Where really good research has been done, we find bears that are nutritionally stressed or otherwise desperate will try things that are risky," said Tom Smith, a wildlife biologist at Brigham Young University who studies human-bear interactions. Researchers have seen evidence of cannibalism, which was previously unknown, and greater movement inland by polar bears, which ordinarily stay within five miles of the coast. There had been at least one recent incident of a polar bear travelling as far as 250 miles inland in search of food, Smith said. The most dangerous behaviour of all, however, may be coming into contact with humans. Scientists expect that, too, to rise, as the polar bears are pushed off the ice. "When we see bears attacking people that is a very good sign that these are bears that are on the edge," said Smith. For the moment, Churchill is holding its own. The town is seen as a model of human-polar bear coexistence. Children are trained in polar bear safety, and at the height of the season, Windsor and his colleagues are on 24-hour shifts. But the polar bear alert programme Churchill is so proud of is operating on a tiny budget: just $95,500 (59,000).
The authorities have already been forced to turn to tourists and television crews to "sponsor" expensive helicopter airlifts of animals from the polar bear jail back into the wild. And so long as there remains seasonal ice in Hudson Bay, the town expects to continue seeing polar bears. Michael Spence, the mayor, acknowledges it is impossible to guarantee there will never be another polar bear attack in the town especially in a future under climate change. "You can't close every street. You can't fence the community," he said. Encounters with polar bears were a fact of life, Spence said even those that resulted in violence. "The unfortunate part is, it is going to happen, because of where we live: we coexist," Spence said. "I think it's just like rolling dice: it will happen, but it's when it will happen." This trip was supported by Explore.org, Polar Bears International and Frontiers North
Polar bear numbers in Hudson Bay of Canada on verge of collapse

Climate change is warming the Arctic and melting its ice cover, with grave consequences
Suzanne Goldenberg in Churchill, Manitoba theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 14.18 GMT
Melting ice is cutting polar bears off from their food source in Hudson Bay, and death rates have soared. Photograph: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
Polar bear populations are a sensitive topic for the Canadian government, which has faced international criticism for its policies on climate change and for allowing limited hunting of bears, mainly by indigenous communities.
The Canadian environment minister provoked outrage last October when she discounted abundant scientific studies of polar bear decline across the Arctic, saying her brother, a hunter, was having no trouble finding bears. Leona Aglukkaq, an Inuk, spoke of a "debate" about the existence of climate change. "Scientists latch on to the wildlife in the north to state their case that climate change is happening and the polar bears will disappear and whatnot," she said. "But people on the ground will say the polar bear population is quite healthy. You know, in these regions, the population has increased, in fact. Why are you [saying it's] decreasing?" she told a meeting. "My brother is a full-time hunter who will tell you polar bear populations have increased and scientists are wrong." Scientists dispute this. One single polar bear population on the western shore of Hudson Bay, for example, has shrunk by nearly 10% to 850 bears in under a decade, according to the latest Canadian government estimate seen by the Guardian. The rate of decline and an even sharper drop in the birth and survival rate of young cubs puts the entire population of western Hudson Bay polar bears at risk of collapse within a matter of years, scientists have warned. "All indications are that this population could collapse in the space of a year or two if conditions got bad enough," said Andrew Derocher, a polar bear scientist at the University of Alberta. "In 2020, I think it is still an open bet that we are going to have polar bears in western Hudson Bay." The latest Canadian government estimates, which have yet to be shared with independent scientists or the public, confirm scientists' fears that the polar bears of the western Hudson Bay have little chance of long-term survival. In 1987, when the first reliable estimates of polar bear population were made, using a technique known as mark and recapture, there were about 1,200 bears in the western Hudson Bay area; by 2004, the figure had dropped to 935. "Now we are somewhere in the ballpark of 850," said Nick Lunn, an Environment Canada scientist, who is considered to be the leading expert on the polar bear population of western Hudson Bay. "This gives us a glimpse of what may be coming down the road for other subpopulations." The polar bears of western Hudson Bay are at greater risk in a warming Arctic because of their relatively southern exposure. But scientists have projected two-thirds of all polar bears could disappear by 2050 under climate change. Polar bear experts had been braced for a 10% decline in the western Hudson Bay population, based on observations about the retreat of sea ice and the deteriorating condition of polar bears, especially mothers and cubs. The ice-free season in Hudson Bay has expanded by about a day every year for the past 30 years, reaching 143 days last year. Scientists have predicted polar bears will be unable to survive once it reaches 160 days. Earlier break-up is forcing polar bears off the ice at their peak feeding time in the spring, when bears typically pack on two-thirds of the weight they need to survive the year. With freeze-up occurring later each year, bears are skinnier and less healthy when it comes time to return to the ice. "You can see their backbones and their hips and shoulder blades when they are moving and they are visibly thin," said Ian Stirling, a wildlife biologist at the University of Alberta, who has studied the population for more than 35 years. Scientists are already seeing the effects of that extended starvation on future generations of polar bears. Female polar bears are now on average 88lbs lighter than they were in the early 1980s. They are having fewer cubs,
and those cubs tend to be lighter, which means they have a lower rate of survival. Stirling, who conducts aerial surveys of polar bears, said he was struck each year by the scarcity of young cubs returning to the ice in the autumn. "There is no way a population can remain stable, if the young aren't surviving," said Stirling. "If the climate continues to warm, slowly and steadily, they are on the way out."
Egypt's highest-profile secular activists threatened with arrest

Warrants are issued for Ahmed Maher and Alaa Abdel Fattah a day after dozens of fellow campaigners are arrested
Patrick Kingsley in Cairo theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.56 GMT Jump to comments ()
Secular activists protest in Cairo. Photograph: Ahmed Abd El-Latif/AP
Arrest warrants were issued for two of Egypt's highest-profile activists on Wednesday, a day after 79 other secular campaigners were detained in Cairo in the largest crackdown on non-Islamist dissent since the fall of Mohamed Morsi. It was the first use of a draconian new protest law that was enacted on Sunday and has been condemned by the UN and human rights groups. Ahmed Maher, the leader of a youth movement that helped spearhead Egypt's 2011 revolution, and Alaa Abd El Fattah, an activist targeted by every administration since Hosni Mubarak, were accused of masterminding a protest outside the Egyptian parliament. "We're back to Mubarak's time," said Maher by telephone, while he considered whether to hand himself in to the
police. "I feel it's the same atmosphere as it was in 2008, when I was hiding and trying to escape the police, and trying to make my wife and family safe." Twenty-two female protesters, many of them well known for their activism during and since the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, said they were beaten and harassed by police during their arrest on Tuesday night before being abandoned in the desert several miles south of Cairo. At least 24 of their colleagues remain detained. The activists were among the first to be arrested under a new law that demands protesters seek permission from the police to demonstrate in public. Those arrested had gathered without permission outside the Egyptian parliament to protest against the way Egypt's new constitution is set to allow the army to try civilians in military courts and police used the new law to arrest them within minutes. One activist who tried to apply for permission to protest said he was made to wait four hours at a police station before his application was rejected on the pretext that he had made a mistake on the form. The UN has called the new law "seriously flawed", while Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and 19 Egyptian human rights groups have said it threatens the right to protest. The arrests capped a week in which non-Islamist activists re-emerged in significant numbers for the first time since Morsi's overthrow. Islamist supporters of the former president have turned out to protest across the country almost daily since July, calling for Morsi's return and condemning the killing of about 1,000 of his supporters. Fourteen female Morsi supporters were given 11-year jail terms on Wednesday for carrying pro-Morsi balloons and forming a human chain at a protest this month. But non-Islamists have been far thinner on the ground, critical of the new army-installed government's brutality but uncomfortable standing alongside backers of Morsi, whose government they saw as similarly autocratic and whose removal many of them supported. Now some of them are making their street presence felt once more, starting last week on the second anniversary of a series of 2011 protests that left more than 40 dead, and continuing with Tuesday's demonstrations. After the new government enacted or drafted legislation impinging on the right to protest, free association and civilian trials, activists have begun to fear a return to the oppression of the Mubarak era and are raising their voices accordingly. "What's going on is putting us back to Mubarak's age and it's even worse, actually," said Gehad Yonis, a 29-yearold engineer and activist who was detained for six days last week for visiting his friend in hospital who had been shot by police during a protest. Yonis said he and his friend Ronny were taken to a police station where they were beaten and Ronny was denied adequate medical treatment. "We started the revolution on 25 January 2011 against policemen," Yonis said. "We were against torture in the police stations and the rough treatment of civilians. Now they're dealing with civilians in an even rougher way, with more blood, and they know they won't get blamed." Many revolutionaries still balk at aligning themselves with Morsi supporters. Those gathering in central Cairo over the past few days have chanted against the remnants of the Mubarak regime and military rule and Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood too. Morsi shied away from implementing a similarly worded protest law this spring, but his administration nevertheless cracked down on many of the same activists arrested this week. They are furious that he seemed to encourage police brutality during his year in office, and consider the Brotherhood two-faced for once cosying up to the very military whose rule they now condemn.
whose rule they now condemn. "We can't forget what they did, and all the blood that was spilt because of them," said Alaa Ghanen, an activist whose 16-year-old brother Mohamed has been detained in an adult jail since last Tuesday, when he was seized on his way home from a football match. Police claim he had been protesting. Ghanen said that regardless of what had happened since Morsi's overthrow, his removal had been necessary to further what she saw as the goals of the 2011 revolution: social justice and police reform. When Morsi was in power, she said, revolutionaries were waging a battle on two fronts, whereas today they had one enemy: the security state. "Six months ago we were also fighting the Brotherhood," she said. "Now it's just the people versus the government."But whether the people are with the secular revolutionaries is impossible to judge. General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the army chief who brought down Morsi, is widely popular, with posters of his face seen on most streets in Cairo. Many activists agree that he would win a presidential election by a landslide. At the other end of the spectrum, the Brotherhood and their supporters seem able to rally far more protesters than any secular group. Meanwhile, many Egyptians are tired from three years of economic and political mayhem, and are fed up with what some perceive as an urban revolutionary elite that seems to lack clear goals. "The people over there, what do they really want?" asked Adel Saleh, a bus driver watching a protest this week in central Cairo. "I've been without work for the past three years and I just want this country to get better. But the protesters, they want this cycle to go on and on." But as he wondered what to do about his impending arrest, Ahmed Maher told the Guardian that many Egyptians were beginning to have second thoughts about a government whose introduction they cheered in July: "There's a big debate now in the Egyptian community. Some people say: yes, kill them [the activists], and put them in jail. But also there was a lot of criticism of what happened yesterday, and other people are now worried about what will happen next."
Reviews
OAE/Levin/Chuang review Nickelback review Alex Horne: Lies review The Anatomy of Melancholy review Lizzie Siddal review
OAE/Levin/Chuang review
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London An early work by Mendelssohn proves no lost masterpiece, despite the skilful playing of Ya-Fei Chuang and Robert Levin
George Hall The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.47 GMT Jump to comments ()
Ya-Fei Chuang frenzied fingerwork, but Mendelssohn's Concerto in A flat for Two Pianos disappoints
Mendelssohn's exceptional abilities manifested themselves early. Aged 16 he produced his Octet for Strings, and a year later his overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream two works that indicate not only a major talent coming into its own, but also indisputable artistic genius. Yet many of his other youthful pieces still languish in obscurity; so it was good to have the opportunity, courtesy of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and pianists Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang (who are married to each other), to encounter a major work of a similar vintage. Sadly, the Concerto in A flat for Two Pianos, written in 1824 when Mendelssohn was 14, is no lost masterpiece. Lengthy and garrulous, it stands out from the standard virtuoso concertos of its time only in having two soloists rather than one. Frenzied fingerwork here delivered enthusiastically by both participants clutters up the fast outer movements, though the finale also reveals Mendelssohn's youthful veneration for Johann Sebastian Bach. Neither, though, offers the kind of distinctive material that marks his finest achievements, whatever his age; only the central andante rises to an appreciable level of invention. Levin and Chuang reappeared after the interval, this time seated at the same keyboard rather than facing each other over separate fortepianos. They brought an admirable sense of cohesion to Schubert's Fantasy in F minor, joining the disparate sections skilfully. Directed from the violin by leader Margaret Faultless, the OAE had a mixed evening. Their opener, Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, offered intermittent drama, though some of the passage-work descended into routine rather than maintaining a sharp expressive edge. Beethoven's Eighth Symphony went much better; the musicians kept it consistently on the move, achieving a more sharply defined ensemble than they had managed earlier on.
Nickelback review
The Hydro, Glasgow The lyrics are painful and the banter's predictable, but at least the Canadian four piece are amiable hosts
Malcolm Jack The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.28 GMT Jump to comments ()
Cheesily contrived songs, and possibly less popular than a pickle Nickelback's Chad Kroeger. Photograph: Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Haters love to hate, and few bands get hated quite like Nickelback. Earlier this year the Canadian quartet were voted second-worst group of the 1990s (behind Creed) by Rolling Stone readers. Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney has singled them out as being why "rock'n'roll is dying". A Facebook campaign was once organised to prove a pickle could win more likes. Vitriolic as the attacks are, any successful band is liable to gain a proportionate amount of detractors, and Nickelback have shifted more than 50m records. As frontman Chad Kroeger announces in his haemorrhoidal growl: "We're just gonna jam a little toon about the good old days," you can easily appreciate how he manages to rub some people up the wrong way. But try telling the guy in the front row who later borrows the singer's mic to propose to his girlfriend. "Addaboy, you romantic fucker, welcome to the club," croaks Kroeger, who earlier this year married Avril Lavigne. Photograph invokes an idealised nostalgia for small-town days of youth broadly relatable to many but specifically true probably not even to its author, and typifies the cheesily contrived, if fairly benign side of Nickelback. Far grimmer is the casual misogyny of Something in Your Mouth the lyrics of which actually flash up on the giant screens. Rockstar requires no further critical derision. But as they neck shots, flick plectrums into the crowd and yell "thank you so much" after pretty much every song, Nickelback are amiable hosts, and there's a commendable leanness, pace and power to this performance. Their 2001 breakout single How You Remind Me arguably only takes to a logical commercial extreme the arena-sized angst originating with Nirvana. And the closer, Burn It to the Ground, sends one newly engaged couple and several
originating with Nirvana. And the closer, Burn It to the Ground, sends one newly engaged couple and several thousand people around them into a state of moshing bedlam. Faint praise maybe, but you don't see many pickles managing that. Did you catch this gig or any other recently? Tell us about it using #Iwasthere
Alex Horne: Lies review

Soho theatre, London Truth, falsehood and the autobiographies of Andre Agassi, Michael Caine and Cherie Blair in a highconcept show whose cleverness only slightly outshines its jokes
Brian Logan The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.27 GMT Jump to comments ()
Brisk and slippery Alex Horne. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian
Does it matter whether standup comedians tell the truth? On some level, it must why else do they keep telling us "This is a true story"? The question's been bugging Alex Horne, who wants to be truthful onstage (he tells us), but frets that his actual life isn't funny. From this conflict an honest man trapped in a liar's job Horne fashions a terrific, high-concept comedy show, intricately constructed and forever whipping the rug out from under us as he riffs on truth, fiction and that grey area in between. Alex Horne Lies Soho theatre,
Soho theatre, London
Until 30 November, then touring until 29 March Box office: 020-7478 0100 Venue website He opens with a great set-piece, lip-synching to a recording of his own voice, then chatting with that recording, until we lose track of who's who. Recorded-Horne keeps interjecting throughout the show. "Carry on, sir!", he'll encourage. "Will do," responds Horne glumly. "No choice." (At times, it's like standup Beckett: Joking for Godot.) Joining these two voices are those of Michael Caine, Andre Agassi and Cherie Blair: Horne has spliced up audio versions of their autobiographies so he can converse with them, too. They've all turned the "true" stuff of their lives into a compelling narrative. Can Horne do the same? The only problem is that Horne's concept, and his trickery, is so dazzling the actual material can look plain by comparison. A riff on various synonyms for "goodbye" is mildly amusing. Elsewhere, the show strays into Robin Ince's Book Club territory by mocking celebrities' ropey prose. Better is the section recounting Horne's mealymouthed, mischievous appearance on Radio 4's A Good Read , or another where he Hugh Grant-ishly stifles his dismay when a pregnancy scan seems to reveal his unborn lacks a spine. Throughout, rapid-fire backchat continues between Horne's recorded self and celeb friends. It's brisk and slippery, philosophical and ridiculous and a real treat. Did you catch this show or any other recently? Tell us about it using #gdnreview
The Anatomy of Melancholy review

Oval House, London This adaptation of a 17th-century tome on depression captures the original's insight, but fails to reimagine its wordy weight
Lyn Gardner The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 16.35 GMT Jump to comments ()
Rochi Rampal, Craig Stephens, Graeme Rose and Gerard Bell in Stan's Caf's The Anatomy of Melancholy. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian
If you are fearful of losing your wits, then you should certainly avoid being surprised by a crocodile. You should probably also eschew milk, unless it's asses' milk. Do not dream of eating eels (particularly around the time of the solstice). As for cabbage, well it causes troublesome dreams and sends up black vapours. Holidays are going to be a bit tricky too: you mustn't even think of visiting Albania, Lithuania, Pisa or Romney Marsh. It's the bad air, you see, that is likely to make you succumb to a fit of depression. The Anatomy of Melancholy Oval House, London SE11
Until 30 November Box office: 020-7582 7680 Venue website Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy, first published in 1621, is a weighty tome that runs to almost 1,500 pages and details Burton's armchair musings on the causes and effects of depression. Burton wasn't a doctor, but he had a strong interest in medicine and read widely. The result is a book that gathers evidence from the ancient doctors and philosophers and presents medical anecdotes. Rather like those health columns in our own time that offer conflicting advice as researchers change their minds about what is good and bad for us, Burton's book is a series of propositions: vomiting up a snake could be a very bad thing, but then again it might be a reason for hope. Stan's Caf is a company that has always liked a challenge, whether it's animating world statistics via grains of rice or explaining market economics through the tulip mania of the 17th century. It has often found theatrical ways to make audiences re-examine and reconfigure their world view. But this doggedly faithful adaptation never finds the theatrical language to explore Burton's archaic text. There is little reason why we are watching, rather than merely listening. Or indeed reading for ourselves. It often feels illustrative, repetitive, dusty and dry. If after two hours and 40 minutes you rubbed any two members of the audience together, the chances are we would have caught alight like tinder. With serious editing, there could be something intriguing here. Certainly there is wry amusement to be gained from some of the absurdities of Burton's thinking, but also wonder at how a man living 400 years ago could have such a good grasp of mental health issues. At times his modernity is startling, and there is no need for the production's visual tics to hammer that home. A cast of four works very hard, and the twinkle in the eye of Gerald Bell always helps this theatrical medicine to slip down. But sadly it was only on leaving the theatre that my spirits soared. Did you catch this show or any other recently? Tell us about it using #gdnreview
Lizzie Siddal review

Arcola, London The story of the pre-Raphaelite muse and painter is sad, but lacks fresh insight, despite Emma West's superb performance
Lyn Gardner The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.10 GMT Jump to comments ()
Emma West as Lizzie Siddal at the Arcola theatre, London. Photograph: Simon Annand for the Guardian
You may not recollect the name, but you will certainly know the face of Lizzie Siddal, the pre-Raphaelite model who was immortalised by John Everett Millais. Millais painted her as Ophelia while she lay in a tin bath of water so cool she caught a chill. It's a romanticised depiction of female victimhood seen through the male gaze. In poster form, it has graced generations of teenage girls' bedroom walls. Lizzie Siddal Arcola theatre, London E8
Until 21 December Box office:
020-7503 1646 Venue website Jeremy Green's play attempts to look behind the image at the life and tragic early death of the woman who "climbed down from the gallery wall and picked up a paintbrush". Siddal was a talented enough artist to attract art critic John Ruskin as her patron. But her decline, brought about by ill health, the reluctance of lover Dante Gabriel Rossetti to marry her, the stillbirth of their daughter and laudanum addiction, was swift. Rossetti buried the sole copies of his poems in her grave, only to have them dug up seven years later so he could publish them. All this has already been well rehearsed on TV and elsewhere, and Green's play competent but never thrilling reiterates it without adding a fresh angle. It does little to rescue Siddal from the footnotes of the Brotherhood, although it is always watchable and benefits from a clever design by David Woodhead that conjures the ivy-clad mystery of a pre-Raphaelite model. But this is a play driven by biography rather than ideas or a real sense of the need to tell this particular story at this particular time. What lifts it above the ordinary is a superb performance by Emma West who not only looks remarkably like Siddal, but also brings a passionate inner life to this troubled but talented woman. There is fine support too from Daniel Crossley playing several characters, including the flawed and pompous Ruskin. Did you catch this show or any other recently? Tell us about it using #gdnreview
Comment & debate
What Paul Flowers and Nigella Lawson can tell us about addiction America isn't leaving the Middle East, unfortunately Austerity is wreaking havoc, but the left can unite to build a better Europe Diary: Rowan Williams is back and bashing the prime minister Labour must answer the SNP with more than a slogan
What Paul Flowers and Nigella Lawson can tell us about addiction
These allegations should remind us that addiction is no respecter of class, money or beauty
Tanya Gold The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.34 GMT Jump to comments ()
'I am not surprised by the behaviour of Flowers, even if it seems cartoonish to others. I did not find Uncle Monty funny either.' Photograph: PA
Paul Flowers is now a joke; a fat man yearning for crystal meth. He is a comedy gay, a comedy Christian, a comedy ex-banker and now a comedy addict, widely mocked, as if the average mind cannot process so many apparent contradictions in one solitary man. Uncle Monty from Withnail & I, says Private Eye, with what you might call exquisite obviousness. (Don't all old poofs look the same, eh?) The former Co-op Bank chairman is also, most shamefully, a fresh weapon in the coming general election campaign, which will, as ever, be an exercise in monied disinformation. Now David Cameron suddenly and only in this promising instance! develops a hunger for public inquiries. He wants, with his customary cynicism, to know about the sins of bankers, at last. What took him so long? Nick Clegg, meanwhile, asks on LBC why Ed Miliband didn't know what Flowers got up to with boys and powders? Why? Or, in fact, did he know? Was he complicit? Was Red Ed snorting ketamine off Karl Marx's tits? Why did Flowers give 50,000 to Ed Balls (except he didn't)? Was it for Benzos? Or "Brown"? Etcetera. Addiction is no respecter of class, money, or beauty and it is not malicious; it falls where it falls. I believe it is genetic, but triggered by trauma; you can have an underlying predisposition, but still escape its realisation. The science is too young for certainties though; better to goggle and stare at its curious ways. Last year the death of the vastly wealthy addict Eva Rausing in her mansion in Belgravia provoked amazement, as if mental illness is only the preserve of the financially unfortunate, or congenitally useless. A story is brewing over the alleged cocaine use of Nigella Lawson, Fortune's daughter, if ever I saw her; it is exposed by her ex-husband Charles Saatchi, of all people, in an ongoing court case. Drug use in the paradisical ponds of Chelsea? That is the cognitive dissonance that maims. I am not surprised by the behaviour of Flowers, even if it seems cartoonish to others. I did not find Uncle Monty funny either. A heartbroken comedy rapist, dying of obesity and the shadow of homophobia, now happily resurrected in Private Eye, eh, eh? The question is not why was Flowers foolish enough to ask a male prostitute if he might enjoy crystal meth, and to take him to a party full of people who might be surprised that Flowers was considering using crystal meth, the other drugs no longer working for him? The real question is, again: what took him so long to get there, and what else has he done? If the reporting is accurate, Flowers is an addict at the bottom of the curve, plumbing his own capacity for self-disgust with something close to exhilaration. The more self-destructive a behaviour is, the more appealing he will, for the moment, find it. Addiction is no mystery to those who have seen it up close. It has as clear a progression as a common cold, and is no less prosaic in its wanderings: loneliness, or discomfort in one's skin; enjoyable drug use; then reckless, or desperate, drug use; then denial; then recovery, or death. Using addicts don't make old bones. In their deepest selves, they don't want to. This, of course, is a minority view. Who would want to be close enough to judge it? Denial wanders from the addict's internal mind to those who mock, or despise, him. Last week I attended a debate organised by the Spectator
magazine. It was full of the rich, the politicised, the influential. The proposition was: Addiction is not a disease. The alternative was left unsaid in the title, but I heard only "moral failing" bouncing in the void. We heard the testimony of experts, who said they did not know when drug use ceased to be voluntary, but they thought it did (although Dr Theodore Dalrymple does not), and also of recovering addicts, who know that it does. But the motion was carried. Addiction is not, it seems, a disease. Then what is it? A mysterious form of ill-fortune, it seems possibly a "condition" but not needful of medicalisation, and certainly not of funding; just pity, maybe, or sometimes giggling, or a judicious kick in the arse. Why else would someone destroy themselves? As a species, it is an accepted convention; as an individual, less so. So onwards goes the queasy conviction that the addict is somehow responsible. As I said, a joke. Twitter: @TanyaGold1
America isn't leaving the Middle East, unfortunately

The Iran nuclear deal is a product of the failure of the war on terror. It should at least hand more control to the region's people
Seumas Milne The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.00 GMT Jump to comments ()
Illustration by Matt Kenyon
Remember how we got here. Three months ago, the US, Britain and France were poised to launch yet another attack on an Arab and Muslim country, this time war-wracked Syria. An unexpected, and unprecedented, vote by British MPs halted the bid to escalate the war. That stiffened resistance in the US Congress.
As Obama struggled to win support, Russia seized the chance to press for the UN-supervised destruction of Syria's chemical weapons. A deal was reached and the threat of attack abandoned. A couple of months on and Iran, Syria's closest ally, has now signed an agreement with the big powers to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief and Syrian peace talks are back on the agenda for the new year. The west's August attempt to confront the Iranian-Syrian "axis of resistance" has been turned on its head. Russia has been bolstered without lifting a finger. The closest US allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia, are crying betrayal and demanding their supporters sabotage the deal in Congress. In fact, both agreements simply reflect a recognition of reality after 12 years of failed wars of intervention across the Middle East. In the case of Syria, despite covert intervention by western and Gulf states, the Assad regime has been gaining ground as the rebel camp slips further into the grip of al-Qaida-linked sectarian jihadists. When it comes to Iran, the Shia Islamic republic has been hugely strengthened by the west's war on terror and the US-British invasion of Iraq in particular. Sure, Iran has been hurt by sanctions imposed by nuclear-armed states and the campaign of assassinations and sabotage waged by the US and Israel. But the restrictions on its uranium enrichment programme agreed in Geneva on Sunday are significantly less onerous than those Iran offered in 2005, when its proposal of a centrifuge cap of 5,000 was rejected by the US out of hand. It now has upwards of 16,000. What has changed is that the costs of confrontation with Iran have escalated for the US; the credibility of an all-out attack on Tehran is now vanishingly small; the west's Arab allies are in turmoil or immersed in an unwinnable regional sectarian war and Iran holds a key to conflicts the US wants defused or settled, from Palestine to Afghanistan. Whether the nuclear agreement lasts or goes further, Geneva is a measure of realism in a region turned upside down by increasingly bizarre alliances. Take Israel, the secular Jewish state, and Saudi Arabia, the Sunni sectarian autocracy. They are now not only working hand in glove against Iran, but both strongly backed the abortive attack on Syria and championed July's military coup against the elected Islamist president in Egypt. The US-backed theocratic Saudi dictatorship, along with the UAE, Jordan and Israel, are now in close alliance with the secular military regime in Cairo which is busy buying weapons from Syria's ally Russia while Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are the main backers of Islamist and jihadist rebel forces in Syria. In fact, the Saudi authorities have been offering to release their own jihadist prisoners if they agree to go and fight in Syria and Lebanon with alQaida-linked groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, Islamist Turkey, which also backs the Syrian rebels, is trying to move closer to Iran. The chaos and cross-currents are a product of the war on terror and the Arab uprisings that flowed out of it nearly three years ago. The campaign that began in Afghanistan, and passed through the destruction of Iraq via drone wars against the terror groups it fuelled, reached its last phase in the attempts to hijack or crush the popular revolts across the Arab world. At every point, the war has failed in its stated aim of fighting terror and left a trail of destruction, death and sectarian conflict in its wake, from Pakistan to Libya. It has also revealed the limits, rather than the extent of US and western power to impose its will by military force. And it's that strategic defeat and overreach paid for at such great human cost that has been reflected in the deals made with Iran and Syria this autumn. The US administration has now signalled it wants a more modest engagement in the Middle East, focused on Iran, Syria and the Israel-Palestine conflict, as it "pivots" towards Asia and the rising power of China. "We've got interests and opportunities in that whole world," as Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, puts it. That's been interpreted by some as the prelude to a US withdrawal from the most directly western-dominated region in the world, encouraged by declining US dependence on Middle East oil.
That would be too much to hope for. The US has been boosting its military presence and archipelago of bases in the Gulf, and the Middle East will continue to be crucial to the global energy market. But the failure of the war on terror and US decline means it is likely to try to use a reduction of tension with Iran to streamline and scale back its military involvement. Which would, of course, be welcome for the people of a region trying to carve out their own future. The west's baleful terror war will carry on across the Arab and Muslim world in the form of drone attacks and special forces operations. But the appetite for full-scale air and land campaigns seems to have exhausted itself. That can only be good for all of us. Twitter: @SeumasMilne
Austerity is wreaking havoc, but the left can unite to build a better Europe
Zealots for neoliberalism have created a humanitarian tragedy across the continent. It is our destiny to fight back
Alexis Tsipras The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.00 GMT Jump to comments ()
Young people during a general strike in Greece last November. 'Europe needs an anti-austerity and anti-recession front.' Photograph: Menelaos Mich/Demotix/Corbis
More than 1,000 young people a day are joining the ranks of Europe's unemployed. In the past four years the army of jobless people across the continent has grown by more than 10 million.
In Greece, despite the government's claim that austerity has been a success, the 2014 budget imposes new public spending cuts and more job losses. The economic and humanitarian catastrophe is unprecedented in peacetime: 27% unemployment, 60% youth unemployment, a 25% shrinking of GDP, 40% reduction in family income. And, even after relentless pain, the debt-to-GDP ratio is almost 180%. It was only 120% in 2010 when the first austerity measures were imposed. But, the human tragedy is not limited to Greece. Wages across Europe have been slashed and the welfare state scaled back at a rate unprecedented in the postwar era. Millions are struggling to pay their mortgages, electricity bills or medical and student debts. Europe's humanitarian crisis is unlike anything experienced in 60 years, with 120 million people enduring conditions of extreme difficulty, according to the Red Cross. This is not a natural phenomenon, but is, to use Nelson Mandela's words, "manmade" poverty. Zealots for neoliberalism have turned ordinary people's lives upside down. Their structural adjustment policies serve a model of economic governance that transfers risk on to the shoulders of ordinary workers and the young. But the response of EU and national leaders is hopeless. The main EU policy initiative on youth unemployment ("youth guarantee") amounts, for example, to just !6bn or 0.6% of the EU budget for 2014-2020. Austerity, work precarity and the dynamics of the markets undermine the ability of low- and middle-wage earners to make a decent living. Household debt is extremely high in the Netherlands and Malta (almost 220% of GDP), while in Portugal, Spain and Italy many businesses are trapped in a spiral of debt. Those European leaders who claim that the current medicine is a "success" are hypocrites. For millions of people, the European dream has turned into a nightmare. Eurobarometer surveys show the growing crisis of confidence in the EU and the catastrophic rise in the popularity of far-right parties. What should give us hope is the emergence of new solidarity groups and community-based movements. They can and will lead to greater democratic participation and control. The European elections next May also provide an opportunity to start a real dialogue with the people especially those who feel that no one cares for them about a new basis for meaningful democracy and human dignity. It is time for Europe to stop the shocking breach of human rights by reshaping the state, restoring growth and creating high-quality, stable jobs with the protections that have historically contributed to the European social model. Europe needs an anti-austerity and anti-recession front, a solidarity movement for its working people, north and south. This could deliver a pact for democracy, development and social justice. We must rebuild solidarity among the young, the workers, the pensioners and the unemployed to break down the new dividing line between Europe's rich and poor, the "mur d'argent" to use a historical phrase that has become topical. I will be standing for the presidency of the European commission on behalf of the European Left party, and that decision is motivated by our desire to reunite Europe and rebuild it on a democratic and progressive basis. There is an alternative to the present crisis and it is our duty and destiny to fight for it.
Diary: Rowan Williams is back and bashing the prime minister

A poetic buffet from the turbulent priest
Hugh Muir The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.00 GMT
Rowan Williams on TS Eliot: I don't know what he would make of our present PM. I have a suspicion he might have approved of him. I don't find that a very comfortable thought.' Photograph: By permission of Harvard University
Time away from the public glare seems to have been good for the former archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. But change can only go so far. He's still feisty. Speaking at the annual TS Eliot Society lecture in Cambridge on Tuesday night, he recalled the poet's assertion that a competent agnostic would make a better prime minister than an incompetent Christian. "I don't know what he would make of our present prime minister," he said. "I have a suspicion that he might have approved of him. I don't find that a very comfortable thought." Neither would most Tories, Rowan. The bee in our bonnet about freedom of information shenanigans continues to sting. For there is a curiosity. Last month, the coalition signalled its intention to go to war with Brussels over the trousering of jobseeker's allowance by foreigners. In an assault personally led by PM Dave, Poles were singled out as the biggest recipients of the allowance. The Mail, apparently fully briefed, got quite excited. "In February 9.2% of all jobseeker's allowance claimants were non-UK nationals," it said. "It includes 35,000 from the EU, 35,000 from Africa, 33,000 from Asia and the Middle East and 6,500 from the Americas." Figures there for Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal, Iraq, Nigeria, Jamaica and France. Around the same time, political researcher Alex Nice, who was also seeking precise guidance, received a reply to his FOI request. He asked for data held by the Department for Work and Pensions on people from EU countries and outside who claimed jobseeker's allowance in 2011-12. The answer was puzzling. "Data on nationality is not routinely published, as the source systems used to capture and process benefit claims typically do not include a nationality marker," he was told. And even in the case of other benefits, where nationality and residency are factors, "once residency has been determined, nationality is not required for further processing and is therefore not routinely held on DWP computer systems". Way too expensive to answer that question. Still, if there is a headline in it One wouldn't be surprised to hear something further in the coming days about migrants who commit criminal offences, for government-inspired foreigner bashing is all the rage in the redtops. But once again, the gathering of that information will not have been easy. "How many non-UK nationals have been prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service in the last six months," asked shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry. "The Crown Prosecution Service does not maintain centrally held data that would enable defendants to be identified as UK nationals or not," replied the solicitor general Oliver Heald QC. Answering that question would be way too expensive, he said. Still, if there's a headline in it Impasse at Margaret Thatcher House in Finchley, where her successor, Mike Freer MP, who led the drive for new
Impasse at Margaret Thatcher House in Finchley, where her successor, Mike Freer MP, who led the drive for new anti-squatting laws, finds the forecourt to his constituency office is being squatted. Freer is using charm to negotiate himself out of a tight spot. "I appreciate you feel your point is important, but I must stress that I am trying to deal with constituents who are facing urgent medical issues and child protection issues, to name but two. Having made your point through your protest, I now politely ask you to stop." The squatters are also the height of civility. "We are keeping the area clean and tidy and are aiming to install some plants and window boxes to make the area more beautiful and attractive," they wrote back. But they're no pushovers. "We shall be advised in all the matters by our good friends Bindmans solicitors," they said. Finally, what a night at the civil service awards, and who would begrudge the high-income child benefit charge team HM Revenue & Customs being shortlisted for the communication award. Alas, it didn't win. Last month it emerged that 165,000 high-earning parents claiming child benefit had not signed up for self-assessment by the time of the deadline, as they were supposed to do which might suggest communication wasn't all it might have been. So there is a logic to these things. Twitter: @hugh_muir
Labour must answer the SNP with more than a slogan

Unless Ed Miliband defines what One Nation means, the nationalists could win a victory that will leave him paralysed
Martin Kettle The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.30 GMT Jump to comments ()
Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon launching the Scotland's Future white paper. Photograph: Michael Boyd/EPA
Two days on from its Clydeside launch, and having now had five hours on a train from Glasgow roll on, HS2 to read most of its 600-plus pages, Alex Salmond's white paper Scotland's Future looks a less significant document than it was billed as being. And yet it is simultaneously also a much more significant one. How can both be true? Here's how. The so-called white paper is an intervention in two otherwise separate debates which it is in Salmond's interests to weave together. The first, self-evidently, is about Scottish independence from the UK. Here he has, as yet, no majority. The second debate, though, is implicit throughout the document. For want of a better term, it is about the preservation of social democracy. On this, Salmond arguably does have a majority. His challenge now is to leverage his majority in the second debate into a majority in the first. Salmond's problem is quickly summarised. Voters are not persuaded about independence. The polls tell a consistent story, with 39% expecting to vote yes and 61% to vote no. To turn those numbers around, Salmond therefore has to take all the risks out of independence, which he tries to do by claiming that all the many things Scots like about Britain including the Queen, the pound and the chance to watch Doctor Who will still be there after 2016. In essence, that's what the white paper launch in Glasgow on Tuesday was designed to tell Scots. Its message was that there are no risks or downsides to independence. Most of the immediate counterblasts, including from Alistair Darling, focused their fire on this reckless claim. Keeping the pound, endless oil-fuelled prosperity and continuing EU membership cannot be guaranteed as easily as the SNP claims. The critics make the charge powerfully. All are indeed big risks. There have been fewer counterblasts, however, against the nationalists' claims about independence's upsides. Three of these claims loom particularly large in the white paper and in the speeches that Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon made at the launch. The first is that an independent Scotland would provide a more generous welfare benefits system, including the abolition of the bedroom tax. The second is that home rule would draw a line against privatisation; Royal Mail would be renationalised, public service broadcasting safeguarded and the NHS and higher education remain in public hands. The third is the banishing of Trident a policy which may no longer feel quite so risky in the aftermath of this week's Iran agreement. The anti-independence campaign does little to counter these arguments. That's partly because the main parties backing the Better Together campaign Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are divided on some of them, sometimes internally. They are unable to speak with one voice, so they say nothing. But it's partly also because these upside arguments chime with Scottish public opinion. This causes a big problem for Better Together. Admittedly, it's one they are coping with so far. Better together than not together is as coherent a position in the debate about Scotland as in the debate about Europe. But better together for what larger purpose? To be a nuclear weapons state with a permanent seat on the UN security council? To be a state in which sovereignty rests with the crown, not the people? To be a society in which bankers pay no penalties and learn no lessons while public goods face another decade of cuts? In the absence of a larger, or a more positive common UK purpose, Salmond is therefore trying to appropriate Scotland's rich social democratic tradition for his independence campaign. He says that only through independence can Scotland's traditions of social solidarity be preserved against privatisation, cuts and nuclear weapons. Understandably there are many who sympathise, like John Harris writing in the Guardian this week. Whether Scots really have more "social democratic" views than others in the UK is a vexed issue. Polls certainly show that Scots are opposed to the bedroom tax, Royal Mail privatisation and nuclear weapons, often by large majorities. But they also think the unemployed should have to work for their benefits, and that UK nuclear weapons should remain in Scotland while the Union exists, views which don't so easily square with the leftwing self-image. Meanwhile a recent poll found while 61% of Scots agree with the statement that "there is one law for the rich and one for the poor", so did 63% of English people. And differences between Scotland and England over Europe, though real, are not dramatic. All of which also suggests the idea that Scots have markedly different political attitudes
to the rest of the UK need treating with caution. In the end, though, Scots seem to believe they march to this different political drum. Salmond's and Sturgeon's strategy would be incomprehensible otherwise. But it does not follow that independence is in fact the way to safeguard social democracy, especially if the Institute for Fiscal Studies is correct about the tax rises and spending cuts which will face an independent Scotland in the decades ahead, with declining oil revenues and an ageing population. What does follow, therefore, is that Better Together, or at least some of its main supporters which in practice overwhelmingly means the Labour party need to have a much more articulate modern social democratic offer to put to the UK as a whole, including Scots. Granted, the polls suggest the no campaign may win next year anyway, because of fears about the downsides of independence. And that's fine, as far as it goes. But the argument against independence would be much stronger with a better formulated upside argument about the Union. Salmond's white paper has put the need to answer such questions on the agenda, not only in a Scottish context though that is obviously where it is most immediately pressing but in the UK as a whole. It does so, moreover, at a time when western European social democrats are mostly struggling to win elections. This increases the pressure on Ed Miliband, not just Darling, to make One Nation mean something more than a slogan. It challenges Labour to define the British common weal and the place, if any, of Trident in the Britain he wants Scots to stay in. At the moment that's not happening. Yet without it, Salmond could run away with a referendum victory which will not solve Scotland's problems, and at the same time will make everything Labour stands for much harder to achieve in the Britain that remains.
Editorials & reply
European migration: wanted an argument In praise of the Iveagh bequest Japan and China: collision course We need to talk about immigration, just not in this way The real winners in Germany's election My friend Araucaria Will the English still see the fairest of them all reflected back? Corrections and clarifications Fast and fabulous Under a fallen log is a pink slime mould Tough choices over Scottish independence
European migration: wanted an argument

Successive governments have manoeuvred themselves into a political dead end
Editorial The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.44 GMT Jump to comments ()
There is a dangerous silence at the heart of the migration debate: the sound of someone making a different case. What emerges is less an exchange of views, more a wall of noise which makes voters more anxious, not less. Politicians feel driven to make ever-bolder promises. The end result is not voter satisfaction but voter scepticism about the limits of political action. It is easy to see why politicians are so worried. Each new poll shows a growing hostility to more migration. With the rapid approach of the new year, the day that the interim measures restricting Romanian and Bulgarian immigration are lifted, public opinion has been stoked to fever pitch. In the past week, polls in two right-leaning newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times, have reported huge majorities in favour of maintaining the measures. Nearly 50 backbench Tory MPs have signed a motion saying the same thing. Renegotiating EU treaties to return control of national borders to national governments is now top of the wishlist for EU reform. And a poll in the Tory-held constituency of Thanet reveals backbenchers' worst nightmare: a surge in Ukip support that splits the vote and lets Labour in. Meanwhile, the former Labour home secretary Jack Straw has been apologising for his government's decision not to introduce interim measures to restrict the number of Poles who came to work in the UK after accession in 2004 something no major party advocated and now the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, matches and sometimes exceeds every Tory commitment to restrict migration. Successive governments have manoeuvred themselves into a political dead end. The impact of the unanticipated influx of Poles and other nationals from eastern Europe, and the immediate impact on public services, has stifled proper discussion ever since. It is rarely pointed out that in 2004 Britain was the biggest EU country not to introduce interim measures. Poles, unable to go to Germany or France to work, came here instead. The result as most people recognise has been good for the economy. But the folk memory is of a crisis that politicians were far too slow to acknowledge. Gordon Brown's notorious "bigoted woman" remark came to symbolise in particular a Labour disregard for the real experience of people who should have been natural supporters. The discourse ever since has been relentlessly negative, leaving opinion out of line with the evidence most people think migration is bad for the economy and that immigration is rising a lot, neither of which is true, while only a fifth know that the Conservatives have pledged to halve net migration. But surveys also find that the hostility is abstract not personal, and as long as they appear self-sufficient, migrants are welcome. LSE research actually finds that ethnically diverse communities in London are more resilient than others. It seems likely that migration has become the proxy for a deeper anxiety about living standards, jobs and public services. In this fantasy world, it is quite logical to want to find ways to shut migrants out, and since the EU is perceived to be the main source of migration (rather than the Asian subcontinent, which is in fact where most new migrants are from), then it should be against Europe that action is taken. Hence the latest moves to restrict access to benefits and tighten "habitual residence tests" that Ms Cooper reasonably pointed out should have been taken months ago in order to be in force from next January if they were to be taken at all. As before, they are mainly window dressing, more windmills tilted at in order to buy off public concern: some, like the six-month limit on jobless benefits, are already in place, while the evidence suggests that few EU migrants claim benefits anyway. Other measures risk a stand-off in the European courts. But in the current mood of political consensus they go unchallenged. As a nationalist right gains strength across Europe, the old nasty party must not be allowed to capture the country.
In praise of the Iveagh bequest

The 1st Earl of Iveagh left Kenwood house on the edge of Hampstead Heath in north London to the nation
It sounds like a Victorian novel. In fact, it's Kenwood, an Adam house of perfect proportions built in the late 18th century on the edge of Hampstead Heath in north London, together with its contents, which include some of the world's finest paintings, among them probably the greatest of Rembrandt's self-portraits. It was left to the nation by the eponymous 1st Earl of Iveagh, who had snatched the house from under the noses of the developers a few years before his death in 1927. On Thursday it reopens after a major restoration intended to bring it closer to the earl's original stipulation of making the home of an 18th-century artistic gentleman open to everyone. As the backdrop to some of the agonising encounters between Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, it became globally famous. But thousands of Londoners already knew it as the setting for annual outdoor concerts. Iveagh's fortune came from Guinness. Buy that man a pint.
Japan and China: collision course

It is time to turn down the volume of simplistic nationalist rhetoric and to pursue pragmatic dialogue
Is it Europe before the first world war or the second? Analysts disagree, but all see the escalation of military threats between the two industrial giants China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea with growing alarm. The latest crisis was caused by China's decision to extend its "air defence identification zone" (ADIZ) over a group of uninhabited islands which Japan calls the Senkakus and China knows as the Diaoyutai. Several overflights later, not least by a pair of US B-52 bombers, and nothing much has changed, except that a hairtrigger that originally was
not least by a pair of US B-52 bombers, and nothing much has changed, except that a hairtrigger that originally was to be measured in hours and governed by the speed of boats, has now become a matter of seconds. Few can say what prompted the latest Chinese move. This is a time when the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, is attempting to drive major economic reform and the announcement may be a sop to the military, when its voice in the national debate could be weakening. It is hard to avoid the conclusion, though, that the declaration was a way of testing the waters for a reaction which they duly got. The state-run China Daily accused Japan and the US of overreacting, saying that if the world's sole superpower needed multiple ADIZs to fend off perceived threats, China should be allowed theirs. Besides, they claimed the measure was not targeted at any particular country. This is not how it is seen in Japan, which has witnessed a growing number of confrontations, or "incidents", over islands in which Beijing showed little interest for much of the last decade. For Japan, the dispute over the islands is part of a major naval push to extend China's maritime influence beyond the first island chain of the Pacific. China claims the status quo was changed by Japan's decision to nationalise the islands. What they don't want to admit is that this was done to stop the islands being used by Japanese nationalists on madcap flag waving stunts. The land to which the islands are closest is neither Japan nor China, but Taiwan with which Tokyo has few problems. Last year Taiwan showed the way out of these disputes by signing an agreement with Tokyo which sidestepped the issue of sovereignty and divided the fisheries to mutual benefit. This model, first applied in the North Sea, is the only rational way out of these disputes although it is not one that Britain is particularly keen on applying to the Falklands. China and Japan agreed in 2008 to co-operate on the joint development of the East China Sea. Further talks have never been pursued and, to date, not even a hotline exists between the two powers to avert another incident in the sea or in the air. It is time for people in China and Japan to turn down the volume of simplistic nationalist rhetoric and to pursue pragmatic dialogue.
We need to talk about immigration, just not in this way

David Cameron is tilting at windmills. Freedom of movement exists across Europe but a rational debate about earned entitlement is needed
David Blunkett The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
David Cameron presented a highly misleading portrait of the entitlements available to new arrivals to Britain, which was then repeated uncritically by some sections of the media.' Photograph: Aaron Sneddon
David Cameron is seeking to outflank Ukip with the announcement of restrictions of benefits for European Union migrant workers. He presented a highly misleading portrait of the entitlements available to new arrivals to Britain, which was then repeated uncritically by some sections of the media. This came as no surprise. My own experiences this month have left me shaken by the utter irrationality of both reporting and public debate on immigration. Throughout my political life, I've not been a stranger to controversy. I have from time to time deployed the old chestnut of having been "taken out of context". But rarely have I found myself quoted when the words - in this case "riots"- attributed to me have not actually been said. Not taken out of context, but not used. So it was on 11 November, when BBC Radio Sheffield put out a tweet that said: "MP David Blunkett fears race riots could hit Sheffield if some people living in the Page Hall area don't change their attitudes." Extraordinarily, not only was this not a quote from me but it went out before 7am, prior to my interview with the station, after 8am. (Radio Sheffield have since expressed their regret at the error.) And so, while I do not resile from anything I said, I certainly reject criticism for words that I didn't use. For those who are unfamiliar with the situation in my constituency, let me explain. Over the last three or four years there has been an influx of Slovak Roma families into a tight-knit and highly deprived community in Sheffield. The neighbourhood is already a melting pot from around the world: there are longstanding residents of Pakistani origin, of Yemeni descent and, more recently, from Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tensions have arisen in the past, as they often do with rapid change, but Sheffield has a proud history as a City of Sanctuary. Which brings me to the question of how a 20-minute walkabout in the area concerned with a Radio Sheffield journalist could lead to a media flurry about the danger of riots. I talked about the need to avoid outsiders visiting an area with the express intention of inciting conflict, as happened in Bradford. I should know, because I had to deal with the aftermath of those riots as incoming home secretary. How many of those who commented on this story did so without accessing what was really said in that walkabout interview, or in the subsequent eight-minute live interview on the Monday morning? I did the walkabout to put the record straight; to get across the message that someone, somewhere, did understand that there were real challenges but that hate, short-term fixes, and culture clashes would solve nothing. My mistake was believing that being on the record would lead to an honest and rational debate. Far from it. Headlines like "Fear, loathing and prejudice in Blunkett's back yard", "Smirking Roma migrants boast: We get FIVE TIMES more cash in Benefits Britain", and "Roma in Sheffield: 'When it goes off, it will be like an atom bomb here'". Even this respected newspaper fell into the trap. Not of the hysteria of the rightwing media, but the very opposite. The presumption that any honest appraisal is somehow, in the words of one of your columnists, tantamount to "racism", and by another, comparable with Enoch Powell. Readers with some grasp of history might understand the offence this causes. Powell talked about stopping people coming to our country and about "pickanninies". The idea that anything in my interviews offers a political or moral equivalent is dangerous, childish and unworthy of high editorial standards. The subsequent furore has been risible but also distracting. The real question is how not if we deal with genuine challenges of helping locals through difficult times while working with new arrivals who want to learn how best to fit in without losing the best of their cultural heritage.
Contrary to David Cameron's tilting at windmills on the issue of benefits this week, there is no change in his pronouncements from what has existed since 2004. The issue then and the issue from January in relation to Bulgaria and Romania was not entitlement to benefits (we had already tightened the habitual residence test), but whether people were allowed to work legally. This whole area is now so muddled and bedevilled by myth and misunderstanding that it's hard to get across what some of us have been arguing, as I did in my interview: that we'd rather people work than draw down benefits! Given that freedom of movement exists across Europe, a rational debate about tough conditionality and earned entitlement is needed to avoid further myths arising. On 24 October, in a parliamentary answer to me, the government confessed it had no idea how many eastern Europeans were drawing benefits. Pressure on services, including health and education, has been considerable. The response on the whole has been magnificent. People have pulled together, but social cohesion remains on a knife-edge. In Sheffield, we need support from the community and for the community. We need integration with no loss of heritage, and a clear appreciation of what is and is not acceptable. This is not about benevolent indulgence but achievement of genuine equality in support and contribution. To succeed we need central government to be proactive in supporting hard-pressed local agencies and to have mechanisms to allow drawing down on European cohesion funding from next year. If any good can come out of what has been a disgraceful episode of misreporting followed by a deeply depressing failure to salvage any sensible debate from it, it must be that government lift their collective heads out of the sand and listen to the modest demands of those who have been engaged on this vital issue for so long, including a restoration of the migration impact fund cut in June 2010. But one final thought in what has been, for me, a nightmare experience. Namely, that those who condemn others from a very safe distance might examine their own conscience. As I've discovered over the last 45 years working in Sheffield, it is a great deal easier to do nothing except condemn the actions of others than to get stuck in, and by so doing connect with that all-too-messy business of political action. Action, Mr Cameron, not political posturing.
Letters
The real winners in Germany's election

Alan Posener seems a little confused about the meaning of victory (Merkel's sham victory, 26 November). Angela Merkel may preside over the largest party grouping in the parliament but, as his numbers show, nearly 60% voted against the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CDU/CSU). He also admits that the Social Democratic party of Germany (SPD), Greens and the Left party could in fact form a
government as they hold a majority of seats. It is therefore only because the SPD is so far refusing to contemplate a coalition with the Left party that Merkel's party has any chance of forming a government at all. Many members of the SPD oppose a coalition with the CDU/CSU and Sigmar Gabriel's promise to give party members a vote on any coalition agreement may not be "brinkmanship" but an attempt to keep his own party members on side. His view that a government of SPD, Left party and Greens, broadly committed to social justice and protection of the environment, should spell "real trouble" for Germany would require some explanation, seeing that his implied neoliberal prescriptions do not find much electoral support. Harry Ziegler University of Lincoln Alan Posener is right: it is unsatisfactory that "backroom deals" will decide the composition and the programme of their next government. The coalition negotiations have taken two months. Yet Germany hasn't in this time fallen apart. In contrast, remember the rhetoric here in May 2010 from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats about the sense of urgency and their "acting in the national interest". Ahead of the 2015 general election, we need public debate about what to expect in terms of processes and timescales if a majority government is not the outcome. Some clarity should reduce uncertainty and make it less likely that our politicians give us another rushed shotgun wedding. Dr Alex May Manchester
Letters
My friend Araucaria
John Graham (Araucaria) was my chaplain at Reading University from 1968-71 (Report, Obituaries, 26 November). He showed me by his own presence and in his own being the presence of the God who actually loves me. He was fun to be with, kind and generous; I count it such a privilege that he was in my life through those formative undergraduate days. He was on holiday when I married but arranged to meet us next day as we were honeymooning close by. He kept in touch from then on in his gentle unassuming way, visited us with Margaret when he remarried, and has been one of those few, special wise men in my life. His positive influence in my life has been immeasurable. He'd been much in my thoughts and prayers and I wrote to him for the last time a few weeks ago; I just hope he was able to pick up from my card the love and esteem I hold him in. Reading tributes, I realise how very many knew and loved him through his crosswords but there must also be so many others, like me, who knew him as John, not as Araucaria, whose lives have been touched, warmed and enriched by him.Thank you so much for everything you've been and meant to us and our family, John. Jane Evans Welshpool, Powys
Letters
Will the English still see the fairest of them all reflected back?
How refreshing to read John Harris's hope that a vote for an independent Scotland could enable at least one part of the UK to try to build a fairer society (If I were Scottish I'd grab the chance of independence, 25 November). I've noticed that an online petition for greater equality (thefairpenny) has a hugely disproportionate number of signatories from Scotland. The Scottish are maybe more fair-minded than the English and perhaps an independent Scotland will be a model for a fairer England. Kate Green London If Scotland opts for independence, it will no longer be possible for England to pass reforms such as the creation of the NHS thanks to Scottish votes. Scotland (and Wales) have long acted as a distorting mirror which has reflected back an undeserved image of England as a basically fair society. After 2014 we might have to start looking at ourselves as we really are. Ivor Morgan Lincoln The SNP promises a sharp cut in corporation tax. This means it intends that Scotland will steal tax revenue from the rest of the UK, as Ireland does today, by encouraging companies that make profits from the UK to pretend these are generated in token offices in Scotland. John Wilson London Supporters are making much of an independent Scotland's right to introduce progressive measures in areas such as education and child welfare, as well as other social benefits. Scottish voters should make sure these commitments are in binding constitutional provisions that mean no future Scottish government can violate them. Ireland came to independence on the back of radical promises, only to renege on all of them and become a tawdry rightwing dependency which clears everything with the European central bankers and the money markets before cutting every social provision to the quick. Westminster seems benign in comparison. Eoin Dillon Dublin If Yorkshire and the other northern counties of England were allowed to join with Scotland to become North Britain, I would certainly vote for independence from London. Denis O'Connor
Otley, West Yorkshire What a lot of work Alex Salmond and the SNP have put into this vast independence document. Surely the first thing will be a presidential election or is that what this is? Pam Brown Lakenheath, Suffolk Does the Better Together campaign think we're stupid? My local cable provider in Luxembourg can give me BBC, and ITV and Channel 4. Cliodhna Dempsey Bereldange, Luxembourg Scotland keeping the pound would be as independent as a student leaving home, but returning to be fed and have clothes washed. Pete Bibby Sheffield With the departure of Scotland from the union, will we become Little Britain? Ann Mahoney London
Corrections and clarifications

GCHQ | Richard III hearing | A Whole New World | Unchartered/uncharted near homophone
Corrections and clarifications column editor The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.32 GMT
GCHQ, one of the three UK intelligence and security agencies, is the Government Communications Headquarters, not the General Communications Headquarters as we had it in an article (EU demands legal redress from US in fallout from Snowden leaks, 27 November, page 18). An article about the adjournment of a high court hearing over where the remains of Richard III should be buried said that a further hearing, with Leicester city council as a full participant, would be possible before the new year. A "not" was missing from that sentence (Richard III kept waiting for final resting place, 27 November, page 17). A Lost in showbiz column said A Whole New World, a song covered by Katie Price and Peter Andre, was from The Little Mermaid. The song is from another Disney film, Aladdin (What a beautiful thing is Kanye and Kim's new music video, 22 November, page 2, G2). Near homophone corner: "First there was dad rock but now Sir Mick Jagger is to enter unchartered waters of greatgrandad rock (Great-granddad Jagger, 25 November, page 3).
grandad rock (Great-granddad Jagger, 25 November, page 3).
Fast and fabulous

RWE drops the Atlantic Array windfarm project ( Report, 26 November). Energy companies increase profit per customer by 77% in one year. Apologist from the Department of Energy says: "Profits are needed if energy companies are to continue to invest in Britain's energy infrastructure." Presumably RWE will now reduce their prices as they don't need the profits to invest in the infrastructure? J Oldaker Nuneaton, Warwickshire Why do those against the proposed HS2 high speed train not ask the people of east Kent about HS1 instead of telling us what we think? Larry Elliott is wrong for once (HS2: a London gravy train not an engine of growth, 25 November). I was on HS1 when I read his claim that we Kentish commuters would rather have a slow journey than pay more. It was at midday, the train completely full, with people sitting on the floor. We love HS1, and its branch lines have transformed the lives of many here, just as HS2 will do in the north. Professor Stephen Bax Canterbury, Kent Your article ( Out and down, 26 November) questions whether cricketers might be more prone to depression than other sportspeople because of the nature of the game. But depression is a very common condition that we just don't talk about. One in four people experience some form of mental health problem in a year; if cricketers are representative of this, then five players in a match may be unwell. And two of the panel of umpires. Andrew McLellan London "Warne slams Clarke fine and goes on attack against Anderson" ( Report, Sport, 26 November). I used to play a game where the fielding side clapped in each opposition batsman as he came to the wicket. Now, what was it called? Ted Booth London Iain Noble describes the condition induced by seeing a naked Warren Mitchell on stage (Letters, 26 November) as "post-dramatic stress disorder". Post dramatic undress disorder, surely (PDUD)? Stewart Conn Edinburgh
Under a fallen log is a pink slime mould

Titchmarsh nature reserve, Northamptonshire: The mould looks like small globules of thick blood oozing from the wood
Matt Shardlow The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 20.59 GMT Jump to comments ()
Pink slime mould (Arcyria denudata) growing on wood. Photograph: Sanamyan/Alamy
The rumble of traffic on the A605 spreads over the Nene valley and a grey autumnal sky hangs overhead. This is a straightforward nature reserve two big gravel pits, popular with ducks, greylag geese and other water fowl, edged with willows and a larger wood. Said to be the largest heronry in Northamptonshire, at this time of year this is a roost for thousands of jackdaws. Their metallic "kyows" and "tchacks" as they congregate towards dusk coagulate into a bubbling cacophony that eventually masks the road. A brace of splendid drake goosander cruise along the lake, passing with stately poise through the milling wigeon and gadwall. The goosander is a regal duck with an opulent, low-slung hull brilliant white with a ostentatious pink blush on the bow, topped with a deep green, sculptured bust and signed off with the fine, hooked red bill. Further up the lake are small flotillas of smart and self-conscious pochard, nervous and sociable tufted duck and adorable but aloof goldeneye. The drake of the latter is a particularly enjoyable duck to watch with his rounded features, white sides, black head and back and carefully placed little white patch between his yellow eye and petite black bill. Fungi are common rewards on autumn outings. Unfortunately the grassland here is too nutrient-rich to support a rich fungal flora, perhaps due to topsoiling during the restoration of the gravel pits, these days discouraged as it makes for rather dull habitats. Dead willow wood does form a good substrate for fungi. Projecting exactly horizontally from a fallen bough are a dozen sharp-edged, red, semicircular, blushing brackets (Daedaleopsis confragosa). Under a fallen log is a pink slime mould (Arcyria denudata), looking like small globules of thick blood oozing from the wood. On the footprint of an old bonfire the burn site ochre cup (Anthracobia melaloma) has covered the charcoal surface
with its little orange discs.
Letters
Tough choices over Scottish independence

Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond holds a copy of the white paper on independence after its launch at the Science Centre in Glasgow. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
John Harris (If I were Scottish I'd grab the chance of independence, 25 November) identifies the problem, but then optimistically posits the flourish of a constitutionalist's pen as the solution to the Westminster-centric neoliberal consensus he rightly deplores. But as Grangemouth so clearly exposes, globalised capital remains indifferent to national borders. When all that is solid has melted into air and the Transatlantic Trades and Investment Partnership adopts a global outlook which the most devout internationalist might be proud of it is only by exercising equivalent muscle in the form of collective state regulation and democratic control that we can resist the corporate drive to commodify every corner of our lives, whatever our nationalities. The alliances which might challenge the dominance of corporate power around the world do not as yet exist in Scotland, so claims that it provides terrain for a different settlement are overstated. It is ironic also that on the other side of the debate, the state levers referred to by the United with Labour campaign are precisely those which the last government proved so reluctant to deploy, and for this government are a democratic impediment to profit maximisation. Mike Cowley Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism
Despite any wild claims by Alex Salmond, the European Union (EU) treaties have not changed, nor has the position of the European commission. Quite simply, Scotland will have to reapply for membership, and even the fast lane to EU membership is a long road. The commission was quite clear in it interpretation. In 2004, it stated that: " when part of the territory of a member state ceases to be a part of that state, eg because that territory becomes an independent state, the treaties no longer apply to that territory. In other words, a newly independent region would, by the fact of its independence, become a third country with respect to the union and the treaties would, from the day of its independence, not apply anymore on its territory." The commission reaffirmed that position again this year. The idea that Scotland could secure independence in the morning and have the saltire flying as the 29th member state by dinnertime is as arrogant as it is fanciful. We have heard Scotland would be welcomed with open arms because of our fishing water and oil reserves would that negotiations for EU membership be so simple. Pro-independence supporters are less keen to admit that as a new applicant to the EU, Scotland would not have an opt-out from the euro and would be obliged to join when it met economic conditions. The UK's opt-out to Schengen's open borders would also be lost. Furthermore, some other EU states, like Spain or Belgium, under pressure from their own independence movements, would not embrace Scotland's membership. Could these obstacles be overcome? Eventually, yes. But the lengthy process would not only jeopardise our employment rights during the years of negotiations, it would leave us no better off in pursuing a strong economy and advanced social rights at EU level. David Martin MEP Labour Simon Jenkins (Don't lecture Scots. They want freedom, not wealth, 27 November) is clearly right to advocate an offer to Scotland of a status somewhere between full independence (which would be a tragedy for the whole UK) and the current degree of devolution. The polls suggest a clear majority of Scots at present want neither independence nor the status quo, but much greater control of their own affairs within the UK. The continuing failure of the Labour and Conservative parties to promise Scotland full internal self-government (perhaps modelled on that enjoyed by Massachusetts or New South Wales within their federations) as an attractive alternative to independence is both incomprehensible and unforgivable. There's still time, but not much. Brian Barder London John Harris grasps a core difference between Scottish and English perspectives on the independence debate. While the former can offer a vision for a progressive society that can stimulate passionate commitment, the absence of an analysis providing a similar narrative for the UK together leaves the no campaign peddling negativity. A visionary agenda is hamstrung by a no campaign composed of a coalition of interests that cannot generate a coherent or positive alternate. Having worked in Scotland for 35 years, if I were still there, I would grab independence too. But now retired in England I am despairing that so little is being done on the left to capture all our imaginations and at least make no a positive option for Scottish voters. Alan Barr Drybeck, Cumbria As someone safely ensconced on the right side of the border as far as John Harris is concerned, I'm still waiting for someone to assure me that Scotland voting yes doesn't consign my English pals to the "eternal Tory government" that John refers to. I was hoping that he would address the issue and offer some reassurance, but after raising the issue he moved on. Is there any reasoned argument that doesn't foresee an endless Tory hegemony in the rump of a postindependence UK? I'd gladly vote for a Scottish Elysium, but not at the expense of consigning my English pals to misery without end. What kind of socialist, worthy of the name, would do that? Alistair Richardson Stirling It is possible that the establishment down here is more worried about the referendum than John Harris suggests.
Why, were it not so, are we to have the launch of the 1914 Remembrance events, not in Westminster abbey but in August in a cathedral in Glasgow, less than six week before the referendum? What a great opportunity to tell the Scots to forget Culloden and to concentrate on how brave and British we are when we all struggle together. Bruce Kent London
Obituaries
Les Halpin obituary Stan Stennett obituary Anne Barton obituary
Les Halpin obituary

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown The Guardian, Thursday 7 November 2013 17.12 GMT
Les Halpin believed terminally ill patients would be willing to take more risks in using drugs that were still under development
I first met Les Halpin, who has died of motor neurone disease aged 56, not long after he was diagnosed in 2011 with the progressive neurological disorder. Despite knowing that there would be no new treatment options open to him, Les, supported by his wife, Claire, was determined to find a way of ensuring that future sufferers would not face the
same obstacles he had. The final two years of his life were dedicated to Empower: Access to Medicine, a campaign to improve access to drug treatment for people with uncommon and life-threatening illnesses. Les was a constituent of mine in Gloucestershire, and I was privileged to work with him in bringing his campaign to the attention of Westminster politicians and policy-makers. The e-petition he started can be seen online at accesstomedicine.co.uk. A statistician by profession, Les could see that the amount of investment in drug development was not reflected in the number of medicines that reached the market. He aimed to tackle the lack of drug development, and what he saw as a cumbersome, expensive and slow system, as well as a general reluctance on the part of doctors to prescribe drugs at the trial stage because of the threat of litigation. Les launched the Halpin protocol, a proposal to allow patients the choice of trying experimental drugs, with informed consent, when there was no other treatment open to them. He was clear that terminally ill patients would be willing to take more risks in using medicines still under development. Les was born in London and brought up in Essex. He graduated from Exeter University in 1976 with a first in mathematical statistics and operational research. After working for Barclays Bank, British Gas and Lloyds Bank, in 1984 he joined the financial services company Record Treasury Management. In 2007 he joined Lightfoot Solutions, a business consultancy, becoming its chairman in 2009. Before his diagnosis, he led an active life, flying, skiing and hiking. He had a dry wit, which he used in support of his campaign he certainly gave John Humphrys a good run for his money on a telephone interview from his bedside on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme in February. Les met Claire while they were both students at Exeter University. She survives him.
Stan Stennett obituary

Comedian, actor and pantomime veteran, he played the garage mechanic Sid Hooper in the TV soap Crossroads
Dennis Barker The Guardian, Tuesday 26 November 2013 16.49 GMT Jump to comments ()
For years Stan Stennett's company ran the Roses theatre, Tewkesbury, where his friend, Eric Morecambe, died in 1984. Photograph: ITV/Rex
With his doleful face, good-natured smile and ever- gleaming teeth, the stalwart entertainer Stan Stennett, who has died aged 88, was a favourite in pantomimes and seaside shows around the UK for decades. After starting out as a musician, he found success at the BBC, cracking jokes on the radio series Welsh Rarebit and compering The Black and White Minstrel Show on television in the 1960s. He went on to act in soap operas, playing Hilda Ogden's brother Norman Crabtree in Coronation Street in 1976. An appearance on Crossroads in 1971 as Harry Silver, a GI on the run in the village, led to a recurring role on the series in the 1980s as the garage mechanic Sid Hooper. The character caught on and stayed in the show for much longer than planned thanks to Stennett's sympathetic portrayal. On one occasion, Stennett approached a woman who was having trouble with her car. "Thank heavens it's you, Sid," she said. "You'll be able to get me out of this." While pointing out that he was Stan the actor rather than Sid the mechanic, Stennett was still able to get the car going.
Stan Stennett revered Laurel and Hardy, Mack Sennett and Buster Keaton. 'We are trying feebly to imitate these people,' he said. Photograph: Associated Newspapers/Rex
He cheerfully admitted that his joke books contained 25,000 gags, most of them of the seaside-postcard variety, such as "My mother-in-law is so bandy that she is the only woman I know who is able to walk up a bowling alley while a game is still going on." Stennett's period with The Black and White Minstrel Show did not endear him to the younger and more politically correct generation of TV comedy producers who later took charge. Stennett argued that when the clever satirists took over, audiences tended to stay away. He revered comedians such as "Laurel and Hardy, Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton these were the gods We are trying feebly to imitate these people." Born in Pencoed, a small village just outside Bridgend, south Wales, Stennett was brought up by his grandparents, Richard and Annie, after his mother, Doris, died when he was young. During the war he drove a bus in the army and honed his jazz guitar skills; after demob he worked as a driver for the band leader Ivy Benson and her swing group. He gave impromptu shows for fellow drivers in transport cafes, sometimes using a table as a stage. Stennett also played in various music combos, toured with Max Miller and performed on the same bill as stars such as the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope and Ken Dodd. He began to make a name as a standup comedian with an act in which he
Brothers, Bob Hope and Ken Dodd. He began to make a name as a standup comedian with an act in which he played a very small guitar and wore a hat with an arrow through it. Once he was making serious money, Stennett began to indulge his love of aircraft. He had always dreamed of flying and volunteered for the RAF but was turned down because of his poor eyesight. He spent his earnings on 18 aircraft that he owned and flew over the years. He favoured flying, rather than driving, to his theatre touring engagements. For a time, to help pay for his luxurious hobby, he said he personally piloted locally bred lobsters from Swansea to Bilbao. Once, when flying from Cardiff to Swansea, the engine packed up. He crossed his fingers and managed to glide to a disused aerodrome. "Somebody is taking care of me," he said. In the main, somebody usually did. Even with the gradual disappearance of many variety theatres, he kept a full schedule. Two of his most popular creations were Billy and his cross-eyed dog, Bonzo. Billy was a central character in many Stennett pantomimes, with members of the audience ready to boo and hiss if any of the other characters did anything nasty to him. Some children sent Bonzo bones through the post. The characters endured for decades. Next month Stennett had been due to perform in Billy and Bonzo Meet Mother Goose in Bedwas, near Caerphilly. In the 1970s Stennett staged, scripted, produced and starred in his own summer show at the Grand Pavilion in Porthcawl. His wife, Elizabeth, whom he had married in 1948, and their two sons, Roger and Ceri, helped behind the scenes in the company he formed to put on his shows. For years the company ran the Roses theatre, in Tewkesbury, where Stennett's friend Eric Morecambe died after a performance in 1984. Stennett later appeared on TV documentaries paying tribute to Morecambe, and he continued to take roles on popular shows such as Heartbeat, Doctors and Casualty, as well as appearing with Lee Evans in the TV film The History of Mr Polly (2007), based on the HG Wells novel. He continued to tour theatres and arts centres with nostalgic shows of wartime songs. A golf lover and a former director of Cardiff City FC, the irrepressible Stennett was made an MBE in 1979 for his theatre and charity work. He published his autobiography, Fully Booked, in 2010. As a young man, he had boasted that he had been in every branch of entertainment except circus. As an elderly one, he breezily commented that he was now an "alternative" comedian because the comic establishment was now filthy whereas he had stayed clean. He is survived by Elizabeth, his two sons, his grandson, Sam, and a great-granddaughter, Merryn. Stan Stennett, comedian and actor, born 30 July 1925; died 26 November 2013
Anne Barton obituary

Shakespeare scholar whose accuracy of perception brought out the playwright's brilliance and humanity
Peter Holland The Guardian, Monday 25 November 2013 13.03 GMT Jump to comments ()
Anne Barton, who was born in New York, arrived at Girton College, Cambridge, in 1954. Photograph: Ramsey & Muspratt
Considering the moment when, in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra finally gets rid of the clown who has delivered the basket of figs and asps, Anne Barton wrote: "We feel that precisely because she has walked through the fire of ridicule she has earned the right to say, 'Give me my robe, put on my crown, I have/Immortal longings in me.' And she does so at once. Comedy flowers into tragedy, without a break or mediating pause." Anne, who has died aged 80, had the gift for a Shakespeare critic of pinpointing a moment perfectly, the elegance of her prose and accuracy of her perception combining to bring out the playwright's brilliance and humanity. The generations of students who read her introductions to Shakespeare's comedies in the US-published Riverside Shakespeare edition not only learned about the plays but also how one might write about them, and how critical writing can make the familiar startlingly unfamiliar in all its complexity. In this way she taught her readers exactly what Shakespeare (or Ben Jonson or Byron) achieve and how they do it. Born BarbaraAnn Roesen in New York, she was the daughter of Blanche and her wealthy engineer husband, Oscar. Her final-year paper at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania under the name of Bobbyann Roesen on Love's Labour's Lost achieved the distinction of being published in Shakespeare Quarterly (1953), America's leading journal in the field. A chance encounter on a summer course in Britain encouraged her to apply to Cambridge and she arrived at Girton College in 1954 to write a doctoral thesis, supervised by Muriel Bradbrook. Published as Shakespeare and the Idea of the Play (1962), it pointed to Shakespeare's conception of what a play is and how his drama shows its selfconsciousness as a play. While still a graduate student, now named Anne, she married William Righter in 1957. She returned to Girton in 1960 as a research fellow and then joined the faculty of English. After her divorce from Righter, in 1969 she married John Barton, one of the creators, with Peter Hall, of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The result of their marriage was a series of productions highly informed by critical analysis. They shared a passion for plays they felt had always been undervalued and for ways in which the theatricality of production could be emphasised, as in John's Richard II for the RSC in 1971. Anne's analysis of Hamlet as a play overwhelmingly self-conscious of its own status as a play, set out in her introduction to the New Penguin Shakespeare edition in 1980, was fully reflected in John's RSC production in the same year. Anne and John bought a near-derelict Elizabethan manor house near Stratford-upon-Avon with appropriately Shakespearean connections. Hillborough Manor gave Anne the chance to entertain lavishly and stylishly for her friends, graduate students and at Christmas the RSC. In 1972, she left Cambridge as a lecturer to take up a chair at Bedford College, London. Two years later she became
In 1972, she left Cambridge as a lecturer to take up a chair at Bedford College, London. Two years later she became the first female fellow of New College, Oxford. In 1984 she returned to Cambridge as a professor and a fellow of Trinity College, where she would live for the rest of her life. That year she published Ben Jonson, Dramatist, a book of vast scope and imaginative sympathy in its understanding of what makes Jonson so unlike Shakespeare, and a rescue-act in its astonishing demonstration of the successfully experimental nature of Jonson's last plays, works till then dismissed as failures. It was her prompting that led the RSC triumphantly to produce The New Inn (1987) and Sejanus (2005), neither works that most thought worth staging. She continued to pursue her other literary passion, Byron, whose Don Juan she held, as had Shelley, to be the greatest English long poem since Paradise Lost. She brought together many of her articles in Essays, Mainly Shakespearean (1994) and never quite finished her study of forests and parks in early modern drama. After the sale of Hillborough Manor, Anne bought an equally striking home, Leverington Hall, near Wisbech, but she came to prefer being in college in Cambridge, in rooms full of beautiful paintings, the small Japanese sculptures known as netsuke, the last of her father's collection of clocks and her cats. Her opening chapter in The Names of Comedy (1990) was shaped around TS Eliot's poem on the naming of cats. As a girl, Anne had tolerated being taken to dances, provided her escort left her alone in a corner with a book. Macular degeneration in her last years was a cruel affliction, but her prodigious memory, to which she had committed an astonishingly wide range of poetry, was a comfort. In hospital she entertained herself and astonished others by reciting Shakespeare sonnets by the score. She is survived by John. Anne Barton, Shakespeare scholar, born 9 May 1933; died 11 November 2013
Sport
Willie Mullins likely to run Prince De Beauchene in Hennessy Gold Cup Sports book of year 2013: Jamie Reid wins with horse racing story Doped New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams primed to make final impact Stuart Broad: Adelaide Test, not Jonathan Trott, must be England focus Australia's Israel Folau aims to cap good campaign with win in Wales Mitchell Johnson defends Australian tactics and captain Michael Clarke Rugby World Cup 2015: late kick-offs and high ticket prices test fans Everton ready to cope without Leighton Baines, says Phil Jagielka
Everton ready to cope without Leighton Baines, says Phil Jagielka Premier League poaches Team Sky sporting director to boost young talent Celtic fans urged to leave politics at home as Uefa acts over banners Owen Coyle feels destiny is at hand for Wigan in the Europa League Tottenham Hotspur's Andr Villas-Boas out to avoid Arctic chill in Tromso Michael Laudrup knows Swansea face a testing time against Valencia Andr Villas-Boas bullish about his future as Tottenham Hotspur manager Qatar grants exit visa to stranded French footballer Manchester United's best days are still to come says David Moyes Slipshod Manchester City leave it late against Viktoria Plzen Match fixing: English football players arrested in global investigation Ryan Giggs sparks Manchester United rout of Bayer Leverkusen
Willie Mullins likely to run Prince De Beauchene in Hennessy Gold Cup

Trainer keen after learning weights will not rise for big race Runner is also favourite for Becher Chase the next weekend
Chris Cook The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.25 GMT
The trainer Willie Mullins is likely to run Prince De Beauchene in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday. Photograph: Julian Herbert/Action Images
Willie Mullins expects to have at least one runner in Saturday's Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, a race which has resisted his several attempts on it, and Prince De Beauchene seemed most likely to represent the Irish trainer as he considered his options on Wednesday. Newly returned from saddling Simenon in the Japan Cup, Mullins learned that the Hennessy weights were unlikely to rise further and said: "I'm leaning towards running Prince De Beauchene now." Speaking from his Carlow base, the trainer said he was "delighted" with the 10-year-old's return to action, when he was third in a Grade One at Down Royal. "He's been a bit problem-prone. We've minded him for the Grand National the last two years, only for it to go wrong at the last minute. This year we'll probably just race him." Stress fractures caused Prince De Beauchene to be ruled out of the last two Nationals, both being sustained a couple of weeks before the big day, at a time when he was at or near the top of the betting. Mullins clearly believes he has a big handicap in him and appeared encouraged by Wednesday's news that the top weight, Cape Tribulation, is an
big handicap in him and appeared encouraged by Wednesday's news that the top weight, Cape Tribulation, is an intended runner, meaning Prince De Beauchene's current burden of 11st 9lb will not increase. He also expects to run Terminal, pulled up in the Kerry National last time. "We've a good record in the race," Mullins says of the Hennessy, though there is a cheerful tone of irony in his voice. He is remembering the 2002 race in which Be My Royal sprang a 33-1 shock before being disqualified months later for a positive morphine test, believed to have been caused by a batch of contaminated feed that prompted a spate of positive tests. Mullins felt at the time that his horse had been "the victim of serious injustice" and spent years on an unsuccessful attempt to get the disqualification overturned. Now he sounds convincing when saying, "It's in the past" and that there are no hard feelings. "We learnt a huge amount about the way the system works. I wasn't entirely happy with it but there were lots of wheels within wheels which weren't ever made known to the common man, for want of a better word, or to trainers. "There was supposed to be zero tolerance but there's no such thing. They had the bar set at a certain level [in testing for morphine], which they determined. Afterwards they raised it to a level at which Be My Royal would not have been disqualified. "We'd be better equipped, next time, to deal with such a thing, as would the authorities. They applied the rules but they could see the anomalies. The rules were changed, and probably for the better, because we contested it." Ticking off some of his other Hennessy runners, Mullins recalls Hedgehunter as being "a bit unlucky", while Alexander Banquet was placed and Snowy Morning was favourite before taking an early tumble. "We've been knocking at the door, so I'd love to win it ... again." There has been talk of Mullins running more horses in Britain through the winter, due to the difficulty of finding races for all his talented horses in Ireland, but he has sent only four over this season and achieved a single win. That may be about to change, as he intends to run "two or three" at Newbury this weekend, including Vicky De L'Oasis in a Listed hurdle. The following weekend he has several options for Aintree's Betfred Becher Chase, including Prince De Beauchene again and On His Own, who are in the same ownership. He can only be encouraged by the success at Ascot last weekend of his Annie Power, who beat the classy Zarkandar. "She jumped like a relative novice and still managed to win nicely," Mullins said. "I was very impressed by her." Still, Mullins would not be drawn on whether the Champion Hurdle would be her spring target, since he has the reigning champion in his yard. "We're not trying to take on Hurricane Fly at the moment. She'll be entered in everything from two miles to three miles but he'll get first choice in all those races. We'll try and keep them apart." Mullins said he had read a recent article in the Irish Field which suggested that his dominance of Irish jump racing had reached such a stage that the sport was in danger of becoming boring. The trainer was reluctant to respond but said Sunday's card at Fairyhouse would "put a hole in that theory". "I've nothing in the Drinmore and my two in the Hatton's Grace won't start first or second favourite." But he still has Hurricane Fly, who now holds the world record for top-class races won and is likely to meet whatever wins the Hatton's Grace when he runs next, at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting. The horse will shortly turn 10 but appears not to be showing it, on the gallops, at least. "I've been very happy with him, the last couple of mornings," Mullins said.
Sports book of year 2013: Jamie Reid wins with horse racing story Doped
'A rollicking tale of crooked bookies and nobbled nags' Author 'thrilled and delighted' by surprise outcome
Sean Ingle The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 21.13 GMT
Jamie Reid celebrates taking the sports book of the year honour with Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang. Photograph: Steve Welsh/PA
Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang by Jamie Reid, a rollicking tale of crooked bookies and nobbled nags with a sprinkle of sex and royalty for good measure is the surprise winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year for 2013. Reid's story, only the second racing book after Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse in 2001 to win the award, beat the favourites Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh and I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic by Ibrahimovic and his ghostwriter David Lagercrantz. Reid a racing punter and columnist at the Financial Times receives a 25,000 cheque, 2,500 William Hill bet and a day at the races. Appropriately he promised to place his bet on "a nice each-way horse that is talked up by those in the know". Doped tells the true story of Bill Roper, a bookmaker and gambler who attempted to finance his extravagant lifestyle by doping horses and how he was brought down after he attempted to nobble a royal horse. It is written like a thriller and it came as little surprise that Reid confirmed that he had already received several approaches for the film rights. "After tonight we'll have to tell them that they will cost a bit more now," he joked.
"After tonight we'll have to tell them that they will cost a bit more now," he joked. Reid admitted that he was "thrilled and delighted to win" but that it came as a little bit of a shock. "I wanted to tell a good story," he said. "I didn't want it to be a dry and esoteric racing book. "Unless you go to Cheltenham at March or some of the other big races you don't get those buccaneering characters that you had 50 years ago and I must admit that is very sad because it is part of the flavour of horse racing," he added. Graham Sharpe, William Hill spokesman and co-founder of the award, said: "Jamie Reid's brilliantly constructed book lures the reader into his masterly recreation of late 50s/early 60s England in which social class counted for far more than workplace competence. Nowhere more so than in the historically class-ridden world of horse racing. "This background, generously scattered with sex and drugs and royalty, is the setting for a perfectly researched, paced and plotted unravelling of probably the most shocking, cynical, sustained attempt to dope sometimes fatally innocent racehorses and endanger jockeys for personal gain." Reid's book beat a shortlist that also included Ed Hawkins' account of match-fixing in Indian cricket, Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy; A Journey to the Heart of Cricket's Underworld; David Epstein's The Sports Gene; and Daniel James Brown's The Boys In the Boat: An Epic True-Life Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin. All shortlisted authors received 3,000 and a 1,000 bet. Meanwhile the chairman of the judging panel John Gaustad, the co-creator of the award and founder of the former Sportspages bookshop, said that he was "immensely proud" that the awards had reached their 25th birthday. "When we started out I never envisaged we'd get this far or the awards would be so successful," he said. "Back then it depressed me that sports books were hidden in a dark corner of bookshops. We set out to raise the profile of sports writing and my God we have."
New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams primed to make final impact

Williams is first Kiwi to be named world player of the year Tuivasa-Sheck and Vatuvei set to be fit to face Australia
James Riach The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.01 GMT Jump to comments ()
Sonny Bill Williams stretches during New Zealand training before the World Cup final against Australia on Saturday. Photograph: rlpix.com
New Zealand have admitted they will start as underdogs in the World Cup final against Australia on Saturday, although Stephen Kearney could have a full-strength side available, including the newly crowned world player of the year, Sonny Bill Williams. Williams, who was on Wednesday night named the 2013 Rugby League International Federation Player of the Year, will line up for the Kiwis at Old Trafford when they attempt to defend their title secured against the odds in Brisbane five years ago. The Kiwis' leading try-scorer in the competition, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, will be fit to face Australia and his fellow winger Manu Vatuvei trained on Wednesday and is expected to feature. The second-row Frank Pritchard, who missed the dramatic 2018 semi-final victory over England, also trained following a hamstring injury. The Australia full-back, Billy Slater, could make a return to action after missing the 64-0 rout of Fiji with a knee injury. Tim Sheens, the Australia coach, said: "He trained very well. I'm never confident about these things but from what I saw today it gives us some hope that he will be available." Kearney, the Kiwis coach, admitted his world champions would be underdogs, having beaten Australia only twice in five years, but claimed the last-gasp win over England will stand them in good stead for a tough match. "We were pushed right to the last 20 seconds and it took a pretty brave performance from the lads to get themselves in a position where they could come out winners [against England]. I've got no doubt that's going to be a benefit," he said. "We've beaten Australia twice in the last five years. Looking at their team we're well aware of the calibre of player that they have. We do start as underdogs but the lads are confident that, if they bring their best performance on Saturday, then we will give ourselves a great opportunity. "We've had two wins in the last five years so for us it's a matter of making sure we turn up." The New Zealand captain, Simon Mannering, added: "I think the record speaks for itself. They [Australia] are a very consistent team and you regard them as the best around. It's going to be a great challenge for us. What has happened before doesn't count for much going into this one. It's who turns up." Williams was named international player of the year at an awards ceremony in Manchester, following an impressive first season back in the sport after time spent playing union and pursuing a career in professional boxing. He is the first New Zealander to win since the award's inception in 2008, with Australian players receiving the accolade for the last five years. The 28-year-old Sydney Roosters forward, who won from Danny Brough and Greg Inglis, was also named in the International Team of the Year with England's Sam Burgess. George Burgess won the International Rookie of the Year award. Regarding Williams Kearney said: "There's still one game to go and, knowing how Sonny thinks, he wants to make
his biggest impact on Saturday. I knew how Sonny was going to turn up and perform. "When you have achieved what he has achieved across three sports, the way he goes about his business and applies himself, that's the value of someone like Sonny. He has an impact on the game and can change the game in the blink of an eye. There are not many players who can do that, past and present."
Stuart Broad: Adelaide Test, not Jonathan Trott, must be England focus
Two-day fixture will give clue who might bat at No3 in Ashes 'We need to get back to training at Alice Springs this week'
Andy Wilson in Uluru theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.00 GMT
Stuart Broad throws a boomerang during England's team visit to Uluru before the two-day game against a Chairman's XI. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Battered in Brisbane, ferociously mocked, and then rocked by the departure of Jonathan Trott, England have rarely been in greater need of a leader to drag them back on to the front foot before next week's second Test in Adelaide. In the unusual and spectacular surroundings of Uluru, and after a range of experiences including boomerang throwing and camel riding, Stuart Broad stepped forward. Broad came through an acid test of his own strength of character with flying colours at the Gabba, returning serve to the Courier Mail with six wickets in Australia's first innings, and a defiant cameo with the bat after England had collapsed in reply. He is confident the rest of the team have the ability to do the same, and in addition to becoming the first player to go public with his support and sympathy for Trott, he suggested there would be no better way for
England to boost their stricken team-mate than by turning up the heat on David Warner, his verbal tormentor. "He scored a very good hundred when he could play with no pressure on him," Broad said of Warner's secondinnings century, his first against England. "It's up to us to get runs on the board and apply some pressure to all their top order to get into a position like we did on day one in Brisbane. We know we need to get our plans right to him." That in turn places the pressure squarely on the shoulders of England's top six, whatever shape it takes. "Adelaide is a place where you need to score big first -innings runs," added Broad. "The pitch will be very different to Brisbane. We're very focused on that." The batting order for the two-day fixture against a Chairman's XI in Traeger Park should provide a clue to England's plans for replacing Trott. Ian Bell has said in the past that he would love a crack at the No3 position, but England may be reluctant to lose his reassuring presence at No5 after the success he enjoyed in the summer. Joe Root emerged unbeaten and in credit from the second-innings carnage, showing again his ability to learn quickly on the job after falling quickly to Mitchell Johnson first time around. He even seemed to irritate Johnson with his cherubic smile, much as he did Warner in the Birmingham Walkabout way back in June, and that could see the Yorkshireman batting in the third different position in as many Tests. Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow would seem to be the two leading candidates to replace Bell or Root in the lower middle order, especially after Ben Stokes failed to impress with bat or ball in his only previous tour appearance in Perth. However, all three are expected to play in Alice. The ruthless reality is that Adelaide, rather than Trott, has to be England's priority now. "The first thing to say on that is the team are heartbroken Trotty's had to go home," added Broad. "We're very supportive of him and we're on the end of a phone when he needs us. "We all hope he gets home and gets some privacy and the help he needs with his recovery. He's been part of the side for four or five years, he's a fantastic guy. He gave us a lot of solidity in the No3 spot. We know how much he loves playing for England so it was obviously a huge decision for him to pull out of the tour. We're fully behind him he's got to get himself better first and foremost. "I think this team is very good at focusing on the cricket when that time arises and although the changing room's thoughts are with Trotty, we need to get back to training at Alice Springs this week we've got a huge task on our hands. This squad has a real steely determination and the Gabba result hurt us. We're a proud bunch and I'm sure that the performance levels will be back up to where they need to be come Adelaide. The Gabba wasn't good enough. We've shown plenty of times in the past that we can bounce back from a bad start to a series." For Broad, alone among the England team, a repeat of his first Test performance would do pretty well and he is relishing whatever abuse he receives on or off the field. "I think the on-the-field stuff has been fine," he said of the sledging which has become a major issue post-Brisbane, but which he described as par for the course. "It's been tough, but we're grown up, we train ourselves to expect that. "The boos didn't affect me too much. Picking up eight wickets in the game, that can stand me in really good stead for the rest of the series. I felt in pretty good rhythm. But picking up five-fors in a losing Test match doesn't mean a lot. This match was slightly different because of the pressure and different things going on with how the Australian people have reacted, but it's about the result. "We've got to go to Adelaide, make sure we nail that first hour, start well and get back on the train. We won't build it up as a must-win game, but we know it's important to get back individually and as a team." Even by the recent standards of England reviving after slow starts, whether in Brisbane 2010, Colombo or most recently Ahmedabad, retaining the Ashes from here would be the ultimate demonstration of their resilience.
Australia's Israel Folau aims to cap good campaign with win in Wales
Wallabies back believes transition to rugby union has been slow, but nine tries in his first year have made a big impression
Paul Rees The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.00 GMT Jump to comments ()
Israel Folau feels there will be a bit of spice in Australia's Test encounter against Wales at Cardiff. Photograph: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
Israel Folau is coming to the end of his first year as a rugby union player after making his name in league and then dabbling with Australian rules. He describes his progress as slow, but needs two tries against Wales on Saturday to break the record for a Wallaby in a season. Goodness knows what the full-back will be like when he moves into the fast lane. It has not been a great year for Australia. A series defeat by the Lions in the summer prompted the resignation of their head coach, Robbie Deans, and they only avoided finishing bottom of the Rugby Championship by beating Argentina in the final round. Various players have been involved in drink-related incidents with a number suspended. But Folau, who scored two tries on debut against the Lions and has since added seven more, has stood out. A case, perhaps, of Israel leading the Wallabies to the promised land. Folau is a natural athlete and a player who invariably does the right thing. There is probably no one better under the high ball in the world, a legacy of his days in rules. He has the strength to break tackles, as well as the agility to avoid them, and when he gets into his stride, which he does quickly, he is hard to bring down. The way he linked with Quade Cooper at Murrayfield on Saturday for his ninth Test try, coming into the midfield on an angle to receive an inside pass, was not suggestive of someone trying to find himself in the sport.
"It has been a pretty tough transition," said the 24-year-old, who joined the New South Wales Waratahs last December after his bid to return to rugby league was thwarted by the salary cap regulation. "It has definitely not been easy and to score nine tries is not something I thought would come my way in the first year. They are down to my team-mates and while I never expected to have the opportunity to play union, I am thoroughly enjoying it. I am slowly getting there." So much so that he has signed on for another two years, ensuring he will be around for the 2015 World Cup in England, when Australia will be in the toughest of the groups, facing not just the host country but Wales. The Wallabies have won the last eight matches against Wales, but in the last three a penalty has proved the difference between victory and defeat. The men in red boast 11 players on Saturday who were in the Lions' squad this year, including the wing George North who, in the second Test in Melbourne, picked up Folau and hoisted him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. That has prompted a spoof advertisement that has gone viral on the internet, bearing the words: "New Israel Folau backpack as worn by George North. Easy to pick up, lightweight, just throw it over your shoulder." Folau has seen the funny side, but has not forgotten how the series against the Lions ended in ignominious defeat in Sydney. "There will be a bit of spice in the game after the Lions," he said. "A lot of the Welsh boys were involved and it's still clear in our minds. It's going to be a big contest. The World Cup is at the back of my mind and it was a big reason why I came to union. North is a big strong lad and I just ended up in an awkward position. It's all fun." Folau is enjoying playing alongside Cooper, who was restored at outside-half after Ewen McKenzie replaced Deans. Folau was on the wing against the Lions and the Wallabies, who had James O'Connor playing at 10, struggled to get him into matches: it was only when the ball was kicked to him that he threatened, but Cooper, as he showed at Murrayfield, can maximise the full-back's threat. "Quade is a great player and does a lot of unexpected things that others cannot do," said Folau. "You have to react to what he does and that is where my league and rules background helps. He looks as if he is going to do one thing and then does another, and you need the instinct to react quickly. We are getting used to him as a group, backs and forwards. I am building combinations with him each week, developing an understanding so we can call it as we see it. You have to be in the right place at the right time as a full-back: even a couple of metres off makes a big difference. "We want to finish the year on a high. Robbie gave me my chance against the Lions when I was not expecting to play and Ewen has brought us together as a team. We want to become a force." Folau already is.
Mitchell Johnson defends Australian tactics and captain Michael Clarke

All-rounder unrepentant over stance against England
All-rounder unrepentant over stance against England 'I think it's worked for us, they're rattled by it'
Press Association The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 15.45 GMT
Mitchell Johnson has defended Australia's and captain Michael Clarke's tactics against England in the first Ashes Test. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA
Mitchell Johnson is unrepentant about Australia's hard-nosed Ashes tactics and spoke up for his captain Michael Clarke. "I think it's worked for us. I definitely think they're rattled by it," he said. "They don't like it at all. Obviously their coach has come out and wanted a truce from what I've heard. That's not going to change from our end." Johnson defended Clarke, who was fined 20% of his match fee for sledging England's Jimmy Anderson. "It was pretty quiet the whole match until close to the end. I thought it was really good what Michael did, as a captain. That's what you want your captain to do stand up for the players and that's what he did."
Rugby World Cup 2015: late kick-offs and high ticket prices test fans
Organisers hope the tournament will forge enough memories that people forget how much they had to pay for the privilege
Robert Kitson The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.11 GMT Jump to comments ()
The Webb Ellis Cup in New Zealand for the 2011 tournament when the host union lost 30m. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
It is impossible to please everyone when staging a major international tournament and the 2015 Rugby World Cup is proving no exception. Blame it on the London Olympic afterglow, perhaps, but charging 715 for the best final seats and arranging for all England's four pool games to be 8pm kick-offs is already testing the faith of ordinary families. The lack of discounted child tickets in the knockout stages and a cheapest adult price of 50 for Argentina v Tonga in Leicester were also among the details tucked away in the schedule announcedon Wednesday by England 2015 organisers, many of whom helped deliver last year's Olympics. They clearly hope the next Rugby World Cup will forge enough memories that people forget how much they had to fork out for the privilege. But goodness knows it is going to cost them. Want a ticket to England's opening game against Fiji or the Cook Islands on 18 September? Even a category C adult ticket that is, somewhere behind the dead-ball line staring at the corner flag will set you back 160, with a posh halfway line seat available for 315. Fancy watching the final under the eaves of the vertiginous South Stand? That will be 150 a pop. "Our aim is to sell out every ticket at every venue," said Debbie Jevans, England 2015's chief executive. The elephant in the boardroom is that the organisers have to stump up a whopping 80m for the privilege of staging the event and can claw that sum back only through ticket revenue. With Old Trafford becoming unavailable and Wembley limited to only two games because of clashes with other events, there has to be a premium paid elsewhere. The IRB hopes to make a surplus of 130m from the tournament, compared with 122.4m in 2007 and 90m in New Zealand in 2011 when the host union ended up losing 30m. The RFU hopes to make a 15m profit, quite apart from the sizeable knock-on benefits for the domestic economy. The demands of broadcasters, however, also need accommodating which is why England's pool games are being played at night, slightly undermining ER2015's claims of family-centric entertainment. Waiting for the same packed train with thousands of other noisy fans at Twickenham station is an uncertain environment for eight-year-olds in late afternoon, never mind at 10.30pm when the pubs have been open all day and you live in Norfolk. "This is a global event with TV audiences on the other side of the world," countered Brett Gosper, the International Rugby Board's chief executive. In fairness, the 14 evening kick-offs in 2015 contrast favourably with 26 in New Zealand last time around. The good news is that bargains will be available. Under-16s can watch the pool game between England and Wales at Twickenham for only 15, and a family of four can watch the Springboks play Uruguay or the United States at the Olympic Stadium for a grand total of 70. There is also a better spread of fixtures for the Tier Two nations who, in most cases, will have virtually the same amount of recovery time between games as their Tier One cousins. It is a shrewd move, too, to offer the first wave of public tickets in May/June next year to rugby club members, with the rest going on general sale in September 2014. In total, say the organisers, half a million of the 2.3m available tickets will be sold at 50 or less. By 2015 it is also hoped the planned redevelopment of Twickenham station will be mostly complete, with talks already commencing with the train companies to minimise the transport bottlenecks which afflict every major international day. As yet, though, no government intervention has been forthcoming to minimise the number of
tickets being sold on by touts. "We believe passionately there should be a legislative process as there was during the Olympics," Jevans said. There is also no guarantee the host nation will make it out of the pool, which includes Australia and Wales, an issue no organising committee can control. "If you're going to succeed, you've got to play the best and be the best," said Bill Beaumont, the RFU chairman . Nor is there a chance of unblocking the fixture logjam which will force England to field a below-strength side in the opening Test of next year's tour to New Zealand on 7 June because of its proximity to the Premiership final.
Everton ready to cope without Leighton Baines, says Phil Jagielka

Captain confident team-mates will fill big hole left by defender Goodison Park side will face 'a little bit of to-ing and fro-ing'
Everton's Leighton Baines has been ruled out for six weeks but his captain, Phil Jagielka, believes the defence can cope. Photograph: Paul Mcfegan/Sportsphoto
The Everton captain Phil Jagielka is confident his side will find a way to cope without the injured left-back Leighton Baines. The England defender has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a broken bone in his right foot. Baines has played every minute of Everton's last 51 Premier League games, so his unavailability for the visit of Stoke on Saturday will bring a degree of unfamiliarity to a defence that has traditionally been a tight unit. "The left-back slot has always been done blindfolded when the manager has come to write the teamsheet," Jagielka said. "When someone does get injured and you are going to miss him from between one and six weeks, then there is
said. "When someone does get injured and you are going to miss him from between one and six weeks, then there is going to be a little bit of to-ing and fro-ing with who is going to play. "We've been fortunate that we have not had to do that so far so we will look at the positives in that respect and deal with what's to come. "I'm sure the manager will enjoy the challenge of coming up with the right personnel and formation to play against Stoke to come away with the three points. "Bryan Oviedo wasn't in the squad [last weekend] but he will obviously be an option. Sylvain Distin could possibly play there, as could Gaz [Gareth Barry] and Seamus Coleman. We just have to wait and see." Jagielka has personal experience of breaking a bone in his foot two years ago and while he played through it thanks to a series of pain-killing injections he understands Baines' injury is slightly more complicated. "I've spoken to him and he is hobbling around a little bit now," he told evertontv. "I saw at half-time [in Saturday's 3-3 draw against Liverpool] that he was struggling to put his boot on. "I've broken a little toe myself and it is painful but unfortunately he has broken one in the middle so it's in more of an awkward place. There's a possibility that once he goes for another x-ray after the swelling has gone down that it won't be as bad but, as a rule of thumb, bones take a little while to mend. "Whether he can mask the pain and get through it while the bone heals, we will have to wait and see. He will be a big miss but it gives opportunities to other players in the squad to stake their claim."
Premier League poaches Team Sky sporting director to boost young talent
Dan Hunt hired to improve chances of homegrown players FA aiming to learn lessons of Britain's cycling revolution
Owen Gibson The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.00 GMT
The head coach Dan Hunt at a GB track cycling team pursuit boot camp in 2011. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
The Premier League has poached the sporting director of Team Sky to improve the chances of homegrown young players and help English football learn the lessons of Britain's cycling revolution. Dan Hunt, who replaced Sean Yates as sporting director at Team Sky in January, is understood to have been hired as the Premier League's director of elite performance. He will be expected to work with clubs to effect a shift in the mind-set of English football in an attempt to reverse the alarming decline in opportunities for homegrown players. Hunt was involved in Team Sky's inaugural season in 2010 before returning to British Cycling to coach the team pursuit quartet to their second successive gold medal at the London Games. Hunt had been an integral cog in the British Cycling machine as it developed a world leading position in the sport. He began working with British Cycling as women's programme coach in 2005, having previously worked with Nicole Cooke. "It was a programme which was basically failing at the time and my job was to go in and turn it around," he said this year of building up to a Beijing Games where he was responsible for riders who won two gold and two silver medals. Hunt will report to Ged Roddy, the Premier League's director of youth who has overseen the introduction of the 340m Elite Player Performance Plan amid concern over the quality and quantity of homegrown talent in the top flight. The troubled FA Commission, which has drawn criticism over its remit and make-up, has reignited debate over how to address what the FA chairman, Greg Dyke, called an "alarming" decline in homegrown players in the top flight. In the Premier League era the proportion of homegrown players has fallen from 69% to 32% and Roddy has said the aim of the new plan is simply to produce "more and better" players who are qualified to play for England. One of the key challenges is finding a way to combat the short-termism of owners, executives and managers and to give them more incentive to blood young players in their late teens and early twenties. The controversial Elite Player Performance Plan, introduced a year ago, precipitated an overhaul and regrading of academies throughout the game, the introduction of a new under-21 league, the removal of travel time restrictions for young players, a new compensation system and a shift in mind-set to encourage more "contact time" and also better quality coaching. The document also highlighted the need for football to be less myopic and look to learn lessons from other sports and disciplines, from music and ballet to rugby and cycling. A similar philosophy has been espoused by Dan Ashworth, the Football Association's director of elite development, who is based at St George's Park and is responsible for developing the supply line of talent coming through the England development sides. The "aggregation of marginal gains" theory that has seen first Peter Keen and then Sir Dave Brailsford transform British cycling into a world leading force on the track and the road and latterly provided two successive British Tour de France winners, has become a cliche in sports performance circles. But the basic premise a restless curiosity to look for anything that will deliver a performance advantage, from sports science and medicine to coaching and psychology is one that Roddy is keen to seed throughout academies in the professional game. He said in an interview with the Guardian last month that he hoped the new system, which grades academies according to their coaching and facilities, would lead to more consistency of philosophy and approach across the game. Hunt, who has no previous football experience but began his career working alongside Roddy at Bath University and also worked at the English Institute of Sport before joining British Cycling, is expected to work directly with the clubs to improve standards and share best practice. The Premier League has been criticised for failing to engage with the FA's review, with its chairman, Anthony Fry, declining to sit on the panel.
the FA's review, with its chairman, Anthony Fry, declining to sit on the panel. Its chief executive, Richard Scudamore, has claimed that the huge investment in the EPPP is evidence that it is taking the issue seriously and that clubs are committed to developing more and better homegrown players. The loss of Hunt will be seen as a blow to Team Sky, which presented him as a long-term successor to Yates when the former team director resigned in October last year for personal reasons and retired from the sport.
Celtic fans urged to leave politics at home as Uefa acts over banners
Club faces fine over 'political' display by fans against Milan 'Football stadia should not be used to promote political views'
Celtic supporters displayed banners during the 3-0 Champions League defeat by Milan. Photograph: Brian Stewart/EPA
Celtic's chief executive, Peter Lawwell, has demanded fans leave their political views at home after Uefa began disciplinary action against the club over an "illicit banner". The club face a fine over a display that featured images of the Scottish historical figure William Wallace and the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, along with a set of lyrics, during the 3-0 defeat by Milan. The banners, which were displayed in and around the section housed by the Green Brigade group of supporters, read "The terrorist or the dreamer, the savage or the brave, depends whose vote you're trying to catch or whose face you're trying to save". The club vowed to ban any fan involved in a political display as Lawwell insisted they were not welcome at Celtic Park. "Last night was nothing more than clear disrespect for the club and our supporters, who now face another Uefa charge," Lawwell said. "There have now been a number of Uefa charges made against the club during the last three years, relating to behaviour, displays and pyrotechnics - it cannot go on any further.
years, relating to behaviour, displays and pyrotechnics - it cannot go on any further. "Let's be very clear. Following the actions of a small minority, these charges are made against the club. It is the reputation of Celtic, our great club and our great fans which is damaged, while others carry on indulging in such behaviour. "Our supporters do not want this any more. We are a non-political organisation, a top football club in fantastic shape, aiming to play its part as a major football club on the European stage. "Regardless of the political views people hold, football stadia, whether it is Celtic Park or anywhere else, should not be used to promote these. This is something which all football authorities, including Uefa, have stressed for some time and something well known by all supporters. "The club don't want it, our manager and our team don't want it, our supporters don't want it and the football authorities don't want it it has to stop."
Owen Coyle feels destiny is at hand for Wigan in the Europa League
Victory over Zulte Waregem could secure knockout place Manchester United's Will Keane looks close to loan deal
Owen Coyle, the Wigan Athletic manager, knows there is 'a fantastic chance' to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages. Photograph: Paul Currie/Action Images
Owen Coyle, the Wigan manager, knows the incentive is there and wants his team to earn a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday night.
stages of the Europa League on Thursday night. The Latics have acquitted themselves well during their first foray into Europe and sit second in Group D with two matches remaining, heading into a tie with Zulte Waregem at the DW Stadium. Victory over the Belgian club, with whom they shared a goalless draw in their opening match, would secure qualification for Wigan providing Maribor do not beat top-of-the table Rubin Kazan. Coyle said: "We're the only second-tier team operating in the Europa League and we have a fantastic chance with two games to go to qualify for the knockout stages, which would be an incredible achievement. We want to do everything in our power to try and achieve that goal. "We want to stand toe to toe with some good players and good teams. We've done that to this point but we want to take that to the next stage. "The incentive is there not only for ourselves but also Zulte Waregem, because it could be a Milan, an Ajax, a Napoli there's going to be some fantastic teams coming out of the Champions League never mind the quality that's already in the Europa League. "For us to be able to reach that 32 would be a great achievement but we're going to have to go and earn it. This is a very good side, very attack-minded, they've got some terrific players." Wigan will know before kick-off whether they can book their spot on Thursday because Rubin Kazan meet Maribor in an early match. The Russians have been the class act of the group but Wigan put up a good fight in both their matches against Rubin, drawing at home and going down to a narrow loss away. In contrast, Rubin recorded heavy wins against both Zulte and Maribor, who Wigan visit in their final group match next month. Coyle said: "The players will certainly know the outcome of the game between Rubin and Maribor but regardless of what that result is our destiny is in our own hands. "After four games in the group we were disappointed to lose our unbeaten European record last time out in Kazan it sounds brilliant that doesn't it. We want to get going again and the players have shown they're very much up for the challenge." Wigan will also be looking to begin another unbeaten home run after losing at the DW Stadium for the first time this season against Brighton on Saturday. That left Coyle's side 11th in the Championship table, four points off a play-off place with a game in hand. Thursday's match will be the Latics' 22nd of the season and the first in a run of 12 matches in less than six weeks. There looks set to be a new face in the squad for Saturday's match against Derby, with the 20-year-old Manchester United striker Will Keane on the verge of completing a loan move. Coyle said: "I'd be very surprised if that's not concluded in the next day. "I spoke again with [United manager] David [Moyes] yesterday just before they were flying off to Germany. We're both happy in terms of how it proceeds from a football perspective." Coyle confirmed, though, that Aston Villa have recalled the winger Marc Albrighton. The 24-year-old played four matches for the Latics after joining a month ago and Wigan had hoped to hang on to him.
him. Coyle said: "If he goes back to Aston Villa and plays in the first team then great; if he's left kicking his heels then I think he'll be as frustrated as the rest of us because he certainly made an impact at Wigan Athletic and would have continued to do so." Albrighton would have been ineligible for Thursday's game. Coyle expects to make four or five changes to freshen the side up but Lee Nicholls will keep his place in goal because Scott Carson is still recovering from an ankle problem.
Tottenham Hotspur's Andr Villas-Boas out to avoid Arctic chill in Tromso

Pressure is on despite 'meaningless' Europa League tie Norway's Tromso have problems of their own
David Hytner The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 20.11 GMT
Andr Villas-Boas, centre, takes a Tottenham Hotspur training session in preparation for the Europa League tie against Tromso. Photograph: Steven Paston/Action Images
The results have been poor, the manager has no long-term future and dark skies frame the scene. These are, indeed, testing times for Tromso, a small Norwegian club from inside the Arctic Circle who will on Thursday evening attempt to add to the problems of Tottenham Hotspur. The teams meet in what is, on the face of it, a meaningless Europa League group K tie, with Tottenham having already qualified for the last 32 of this marathon competition.
For Andr Villas-Boas, though, the sub-zero occasion at the 6,000-capacity Alfheim Stadion will be an opportunity to begin the recovery process after Sunday's 6-0 Premier League humbling at Manchester City. The manager's future has come under serious scrutiny and not only because of City, rather the worrying drift in his fortunes since the 3-0 home defeat by West Ham United on 6 October. The tie against Tromso is hardly the main event of the week. Manchester United visit White Hart Lane on Sunday for a match in which Villas-Boas desperately needs a good result. But there is now a little more interest in events at this Norwegian university town, where pitch darkness currently grips at lunchtime. It should be a stroll for Spurs on the synthetic pitch. They demonstrated their superiority in the fixture at White Hart Lane in September, when the 3-0 win was marked by comfort, and since then Tromso's soap opera of a season has spiralled. They sacked the manager, Agnar Christensen, in early October, promoting his assistant, Steinar Nilsen, as the interim replacement, but he could not prevent relegation from Norway's Tippeligaen, the season follows the calendar year and finished on 10 November. The club is financially stricken, with cost-cutting measures now in place ahead of the next domestic season. The goalkeeper Marcus Sahlman, for example, one of the highest earners on 4,000 a week, has agreed to look for a new employer, while they have sent back loanees, including Fulham's Josh Pritchard. Tromso might not have made it this far in the Europa League, having lost to Besiktas in the play-off round only to be reinstated when the Turkish club were disqualified. Nilsen knows his managerial role is temporary, with Christensen's long-term successor not yet identified. He will oversee the game against Spurs and the final Europa League tie, at Sheriff Tiraspol, on 12 December. There will be a second-string feel to Villas-Boas's line-up as he has left behind a host of first-team players. Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Youns Kaboul, Sandro, Paulinho, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe have been rested while Emmanuel Adebayor has suffered a groin strain and he joins Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose as injury casualties. The Portuguese used this tournament last season his first at the club to drill into the players his match-day methods and to build momentum, but this time he may need them to provide evidence for his defence. In the face of criticism of the team's attacking shortcomings, he has pointed to their goalscoring record in all competitions, which stands at 32 in 20 matches. Tottenham have nine in 12 league fixtures but Villas-Boas can massage the numbers with the Europa League. It is a politician's trick. Spurs have one of the three 100% records in Europe's second-tier tournament this season but, in truth, there has been little rejoicing at their dispatching of Tromso, Anzhi Makhachkala and Sheriff, who did not carry big reputations before them. Tromso are the least fancied of the bunch and their toils have been summed up by the statistic that says they have managed only four shots on target in their four games. For Tottenham victory would guarantee they advance as group winners, ensuring they play the second leg of their last-32 tie at home. The real business, however, is against United.
Michael Laudrup knows Swansea face a testing time against Valencia

Victory would seal place in Europa League knockout stages Manager says run of conceding late goals is over
Michael Laudrup, the Swansea City manager, knows that Valencia have a huge history in European competition. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images
Michael Laudrup expects Valencia to be a different proposition at the Liberty Stadium from the one on show in their September meeting at the Mestalla. Swansea stunned the Spanish club and claimed one of their most famous results with a 3-0 victory in the opening round of Group A. That win came during a miserable start to the season for Los Che and heaped pressure on their coach, Miroslav Djukic. Valencia's form initially recovered, however, and three consecutive Europa League wins mean they are top of the group. However, they have lost four of their past six league games in the Primera Division and lie 11th in the table. Laudrup said: "It was special for this club to beat one of the big teams in Spain, people here could tell you thatBut then they came back on track, they won a few games.They have lost a few in the last few weeks, but it will be different to the game there because they already qualified, they don't have to think about this competition before February so it changes things. "It was a great win because of the reputation of Valencia. "They have played in the Champions League and reached two finals last 12 years ago. "We played a great game out there, but we have to remember they played 80 minutes with one man less [after Adil Rami's red card] and in difficult circumstances because of the atmosphere. "We played well, it was a good game, and it would be nice to repeat. it but it won't be easy. He added: " I have watched them a lot lately because of this game including the match with Elche at the weekend and I thought they played very well in first half. But they lost the game and this happens in football. It's difficult because sometimes nothing seems to go your way, it's normal and it's happened to us here. "We are still facing one of Europe's big teams. You can't change a history of a club for a couple of mediocre seasons; it takes many years to write a history of club, although they are now playing in the Europa League after being Champions League finalists, we should not doubt the big history this club has had."
Champions League finalists, we should not doubt the big history this club has had." Swansea would themselves have secured qualification from the group had they managed to hold on for victory in either of their two games against the Russian club Kuban Krasnodar. But conceding stoppage-time equalisers in both fixtures mean Swansea still have work to do. A win would guarantee their advancement, while a point may prove to be enough depending on the result in Kuban's clash with St Gallen. Laudrup insists Swansea's recent run of conceding late goals, with a potential Premier League win over Stoke also being relinquished in added time, is firmly behind them after the weekend victory over Fulham. He said: "All the players were disappointed it happened, it happened in the Premier League too. "So you don't have to talk about it because sometimes the more you talk about it the more you feel it. "You could feel it against Fulham at the end, but now we're past it we don't have to talk about it." Laudrup hopes to have the winger Pablo Hernndez back against his former club. Hernndez has played only 29 minutes since 1 September because of a thigh injury which flared up again after his initial recovery. "Pablo is a possibility for this game," Laudrup said. "I don't think he's desperate to play against Valencia, he is desperate just to play. He was out for many weeks, he came back for half an hour and then he was out again."
Andr Villas-Boas bullish about his future as Tottenham Hotspur manager

Portuguese more 'immune' to criticism than when at Chelsea Discussions with White Hart Lane board confirmed
David Hytner The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.01 GMT
Andr Villas-Boas says he will emerge from his crisis at Tottenham Hotspur, describing himself as "immune" to the criticism that would have unnerved him at his previous club, Chelsea. The manager, who was preparing for Europa League tie at Tromso in Norway, has found himself fighting for his job after the club's hierarchy took a dim view of Sunday's 6-0 defeat at Manchester City. It represented the low point of a trying period that has featured home defeats by West Ham and Newcastle, a worrying struggle for offensive fluency in the Premier League and the perception at the club that he has looked to blame others for the difficulties.
blame others for the difficulties. Villas-Boas desperately needs a positive result and performance against Manchester United at White Hart Lane on Sunday and, if he could get one, he could move forward with renewed confidence. The Portuguese admitted that the club's board had voiced their misgivings about the City result at a meeting with him and he said he was not bothered that the chairman, Daniel Levy, had remained silent in public. Villas-Boas presented a bullish front and suggested he was a stronger character than the one who was sacked by Chelsea in March of last year after eight months in charge. "I am immune right now," he said. "I used to read a lot into situations like this, into pressure points when I was at Chelsea, but not any more. I am very indifferent. There is only one [area] that I come under pressure from, which is the press. "The only conversation [the board and I] had recently was two or three days ago. The board is of the same opinion that everything went wrong [at City] and we hope to get some response in the future. It was an ordinary meeting. We only spoke very briefly about the game." Villas-Boas said he does not want or need a public show of support from Levy. "No, no, that's not his style and neither do I ask for things like that," said Villas-Boas, who maintained that he had the "confidence" of the board and players. The manager had angered some of the squad with his post-match comments at City, when he said that he and they ought to be "ashamed". They felt he had passed the blame on to them but the club have sought to highlight the way that he included mention of himself as well. The fact that some of the players interpreted Villas-Boas's comments as criticism of them alone reveals either their sensitivity or how they view the manager. "All of these people were involved in this difficult experience all of us feel sad and shame for taking part in it," Villas-Boas said. "The only thing we can do now is avoid a slip-up of this nature. We want to forget about the result but for that to happen we need to get into a streak of wins."
Qatar grants exit visa to stranded French footballer

Zahir Belounis expected in Paris on Friday Two-year struggle to leave Arab state is over
Owen Gibson
Zahir Belounis had appealed to the Qatar 2022 ambassadors Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane to secure his exit from Qatar.
Zahir Belounis, the French footballer trapped in Qatar without pay due to the country's sponsorship system for migrant workers, has been granted an exit visa after a two-year struggle and is scheduled to leave the state this week. Human-rights organisations welcomed the move but said they would continue to campaign for the exit visa system to be abolished amid reports of widespread mistreatment of migrant workers building the wherewithal for the 2022 World Cup. In a message tweeted by his brother Mahdi, Belounis said: "I thank people for everything. If I am out, it is because of your fantastic commitment and support for human rights." His brother confirmed that an exit visa has been granted and that he expects Zahir to return to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with his wife and two young children on a flight that will take off on Thursday. The French ambassador to Qatar, Jean-Christophe Peaucelle, also confirmed that following "intensive work" with the Qatari authorities Belounis has been issued with an exit visa and will be able to return home. Belounis had been in dispute with his former club, El-Jaish, for more than two years over unpaid wages. But even after agreeing to give up his claim to the money, he had not been allowed to leave the country under the kafala sponsorship system that ties migrant workers to their employers. In a desperate plea to the Qatar 2022 ambassadors Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane, highlighted by the Guardian this month, Belounis said he had been "living a nightmare" for the past two years. "This is great news for Zahir and his family, but there are still huge numbers of men and women still trapped in Qatar on account of its exit visa system," said Nicholas McGeehan of Human Rights Watch. "Their rights are no less important than Zahir's and their mistreatment is no less shameful. Hopefully this outbreak of common sense is a precursor to Qatar abolishing the exit visa system altogether and getting serious on labour reform." The decision to allow Zahir to leave came as the global players' union FifPro was due to arrive in the country with representatives from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for four days of talks. "As the worldwide representative for professional footballers, FifPro will be able to welcome back a long-lost family member," it said following news that Belounis had secured an exit visa. The organisation had said it was "seriously concerned" by allegations of human-rights violations in the construction of World Cup stadiums and related infrastructure.
These have become a major issue for Fifa and the World Cup organisers since in-depth reports by human-rights organisations and an investigation by the Guardian into the plight of Nepalese migrant workers highlighted the scale of the problem. The ITUC has claimed that 4,000 workers could die before a ball is kicked unless there is serious reform of the system to hold subcontractors to new laws, and kafala is abolished. "A grave injustice is nearly over for Zahir and his family. One man and his family have come to illustrate the conditions faced by 1.3 million migrant workers in Qatar," said Sharan Burrow, the ITUC general secretary. "The torment that Zahir and his family have been put through because of bad laws which give workers no rights should never be repeated." Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, has said "fair working conditions" must be introduced quickly in Qatar. Blatter, said it would host an "amazing World Cup" and was "on the right track" with regard to workers' rights. But a week later he met the ITUC and others in Zurich and Fifa put out a statement in which it said the situation was "unacceptable" and insisted "fair working conditions with a lasting effect must be introduced quickly in Qatar". This week, on a trip to Kuala Lumpur, he appeared to blame the European media for "attacking" Qatar over the issue and claimed the focus on workers' rights was "not fair". The Qatar Football Association has denied Belounis's claims, saying that it had helped him recover unpaid wages when he played for another club in the country, but that he had never lodged a complaint about al-Jaish.
Manchester United's best days are still to come says David Moyes
Manager delighted by 5-0 away defeat of Bayer Leverkusen Ryan Giggs hailed for role in win two days before 40th birthday
Andy Hunter at BayArena The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
David Moyes claimed the best was still to come from Manchester United and possibly even Ryan Giggs as he heralded the 5-0 destruction of Bayer Leverkusen as the finest moment of his brief Old Trafford reign. Giggs produced an outstanding 90-minute display against Sami Hyypia's team, playing a part in three United goals, as Moyes's team secured qualification for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a game to spare. United will seal top spot in Group A and thereby avoid group winners such as Real Madrid, Atltico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain with a point at home to Shakhtar Donetsk on 10 December. Wayne Rooney also shone, having a hand in four of the United goals as the visitors recorded their biggest away win in the European Cup for 56 years. Moyes said: "It was one of my best days as Manchester United manager but the best days are still to come. There will
Moyes said: "It was one of my best days as Manchester United manager but the best days are still to come. There will be better days to come. We won well, we played well, with some outstanding performances. To come to Germany and win 5-0, and they have a great record here in Leverkusen, puts it in perspective as well." Giggs turns 40 on Friday but made a mockery of the ageing process with a commanding performance in central midfield. "People mention his age but all you should mention is his football ability," said the United manager. "He is an unbelievable footballer. You could say he is getting better. His vision, his pass for Nani's goal: you wouldn't have said he needed to come off. He is a wonderful player and I am really fortunate to be working with him." Asked how long the Welshman can continue at this level, Moyes replied: "Ryan will tell us when he has had enough or when he thinks his time is up. He keeps training day in, day out, keeps playing and I think his performances since I came here have been excellent. He's been great." Antonio Valencia, an Emir Spahic own-goal, Evans, Chris Smalling and Nani all scored but Giggs claimed United should have had more. "I think our speed [was the difference]," said the United player-coach. "The first goal was a good example: quick play. It was a pleasure to play behind our front four."
Jonny Evans, right, and Ryan Giggs celebrate Manchester United's third goal against Bayer Leverkusen scored by Evans. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
The Welshman added: "We could have scored more but we can't be too greedy. To score five anywhere in Europe is a great result. Going into a game knowing a win puts us through is a carrot and the five goals and a clean sheet is a bonus. It was a pleasure." Moyes was also impressed by the understanding between Rooney and Shinji Kagawa, who produced a creative display in the No10 role he favours. The United manager added: "I said at the start of the season that sometimes Wayne might have to play up front and Shinji in behind when Robin [van Persie] is injured. I thought Shinji played really well tonight, he was excellent, but he has been excellent when he's played off the left as well. We have some really good players. "Wayne does not need a rest just now but I will be watching for any signs that he does, which is why we need people in form and fit. I will keep him as fresh as I can but he is one of these players who is probably better playing. I don't want to find myself losing him for five or six games somewhere in the season."
Slipshod Manchester City leave it late against Viktoria Plzen

Manchester City 4-2 Viktoria Plzen Aguero 33, Nasri 65, Negredo 78; Horava 43, Tecl 69 The best images from the Etihad Stadium
Jamie Jackson at the Etihad Stadium The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
Samir Nasri scores Manchester City's second goal in their Champions League match against Viktoria Plzen at the Etihad Stadium. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters
Joe Hart made a blemish-free first club appearance for a month and Manchester City can still win Group D although that will be difficult given the final game is at the home of the European Cup holders, Bayern Munich. Each of these headlines should please Manuel Pellegrini, but City's slipshod defending and application is less palatable to a manager who demands consistent high performance. Until Alvaro Negredo tapped in 12 minutes from time and Edin Dzeko's late header confirmed the win, Viktoria Plzen were heading for a first point of the phase which, given City's superior quality, was hardly desired. Despite fielding a B-list defence featuring Hart, Micah Richards, Martin Demichelis, Joleon Lescott and Aleksandar Kolarov, Pellegrini pointed at deficiencies in the whole side. "One of the most important things to be an attacking team is to know how to defend well," he said. "Today we did very, very bad. I am satisfied because we won the game 4-2, but I think we didn't play well we didn't play with the intensity and the pace we are playing at home. "I am not talking about just Richards and Lescott, I am talking about the whole team. The whole team must know how to defend. We didn't have the intensity or the pace today to do it and I am not talking about individual players." There were kinder words for his goalkeeper. "I think Joe Hart played very well. I didn't expect that he would have to work so much during the game because I think this is the match when the other team, including Champions League and Premier League, had the most chances to score," the manager said.
Pellegrini was not prepared to say if Hart had done enough to start against Swansea City here on Sunday. "From tomorrow we will start thinking about the next game. Now we are talking about the Premier League." Pressed again if the thinking is that Costel Pantilimon remains in his strongest side until the Romanian's form dips, Pellegrini did offer Hart a glimmer of hope. "I repeat, today I am thinking about Champions League. From tomorrow, we will start thinking about who is the best 11 to start for the next game, from the goalkeeper to the other players," he said. Hart had been given the nod by Pellegrini in an XI containing only three first-choice players Fernandinho, Sergio Agero and Samir Nasri with the rest second-stringers, a category into which the England goalkeeper has fallen. When the Plzen captain, Pavel Horvarth, swung in a free-kick from the right it went straight at Hart for him to collect. This was the sum of all questions posed to Hart until the 24th minute, when another aerial delivery was once again taken smoothly. Then he released Agero quickly with a punt downfield from which the striker might have given City the lead. Instead Firat Aydinus, the referee, wrongly whistled for an infringement on the edge of the area and though Agero went on to finish, it counted for nothing. Hart should then have had to pick the ball out from his goal twice. He could do nothing when Frantisek Rajtoral was allowed to slip through unchallenged before fashioning an effort that if either a decisive shot or pass should have given Plzen the opener. Instead, the ball rolled harmlessly wide of Hart's right-hand post. There was an even clearer chance when Daniel Kolar left Lescott behind and squared to Michal Duris, but his glancing effort was misdirected. Moments later, Rajtoral was adjudged to have handled in the area and the referee pointed to the spot. Agero, on 15 goals in 15 appearances this season beforehand, duly maintained his goal-a-game ratio, giving Matus Kozacik no chance. Yet as half-time beckoned Plzen shocked City, scant resistance from the midfield allowing Tomas Horava to collect and beat Hart with a piledriver shot to his right. Agero's removal for Jess Navas at half-time proved a precaution "Sergio hasn't any problems. He knew from the beginning that he was going to play just 45 minutes," Pellegrini confirmed before the excellent Nasri appeared to have won the game for City by finishing from close range for his third of the season. But a mix-up in the home area reminiscent of the away form that has handed City four losses in their last six league outings allowed Stanislav Tecl to score Plzen's second goal. If Negredo and Dzeko had not intervened, Pellegrini would have been even more unhappy. As it was he was left a relieved man who could afford to praise the opposition. "Yes, they played very well. It is a merit of Plzen the way they play. I saw the last game they played against Bayern Munich, I thought they did really well," he said. "I talked to the players before and said if you give them space and time they will do damage."
Match fixing: English football players arrested in global investigation

Former Premier League player Delroy Facey one of suspects National Crime Agency's arrests are first of their kind in UK
Owen Gibson The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
Former player-turned agent Delroy Facey is among those who have been arrested on suspicion of match fixing. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images Sport
Six people have been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into an international match-fixing ring targeting English lower league football matches. The suspects, thought to be held at a police station in the Midlands, reportedly include current players and the former Premier League footballer turned agent Delroy Facey. The arrests, made by the new National Crime Agency over the past two days, mark the first time that police in the UK have amassed enough evidence to arrest those involved in seeking systematically to fix matches to make money in the vast illegal Asian betting markets. "Six men have been arrested across the country as part of an NCA investigation into alleged football match fixing. The focus of the operation is a suspected international illegal betting syndicate," said the NCA on Wednesday night. "The NCA is working closely with the Gambling Commission and the Football Association. This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide further detail at this time." The arrests are believed to relate to non-league football and follow an undercover investigation by the Daily Telegraph that suggested fixers from Asia were targeting matches in Britain. In a series of covert conversations recorded by the newspaper over the past fortnight one of the arrested individuals claimed that lower league matches could be fixed and correctly forecast the outcome of three games played by the same team. It quoted him as saying the price for fixing a match in England was 50,000. Over recent years an epidemic of match fixing has been uncovered in European football. Largely fuelled by unregulated betting markets in Asia, the ease and speed with which bets can be placed over the internet and mobile phones and the globalisation of crime, sport and betting, arrests have been made across the continent. In February Europol said it was probing 380 suspicious matches in co-operation with police forces across five countries. Recently attention has turned to Asian gangs thought to be targeting lower league matches in England, with millions of pounds wagered on a single non-league tie. According to international betting monitors, some nondescript non-league matches were attracting as much money as
According to international betting monitors, some nondescript non-league matches were attracting as much money as a Barcelona game. The fixers are thought to focus on the goals scored market, betting on a minimum number of goals and bribing teams or players to concede. Earlier this year UK bookmakers stopped taking bets on matches featuring AFC Hornchurch, Billericay Town and Chelmsford City due to integrity concerns. In March the FA told all the Conference South clubs "to remind their players and officials of their responsibilities under the betting and integrity rules of the FA". But the FA was criticised for not doing more to investigate the issue. In Australia, four British players who spent part of last season with clubs in the Conference South have been arrested and charged for alleged fixing in the Victoria Premier League this year. They have been suspended by Fifa and are due in court later this month. An FA spokesman said on Wednesday night: "The FA has been made aware of a number of arrests in relation to an NCA investigation. We have worked closely with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time due to ongoing investigations." The Football League's chief executive, Shaun Harvey, said it had not been contacted over the investigations. "The threat of corruption is something the Football League and other football authorities treat with the utmost seriousness. The integrity of our matches and our competitions is the bedrock of the domestic game."
Ryan Giggs sparks Manchester United rout of Bayer Leverkusen

The best images from the match
Guardian report Min-by-min Match facts
Leverkusen 0 Man Utd 5

Champions League Leverkusen Antonio Valencia 22, Emir Spahic 30 o.g., Man Utd Jonny Evans 66, Chris Smalling 77, Luis Nani 88
Andy Hunter at BayerArena The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 23.42 GMT Jump to comments ()
David Moyes would not be "a fish in water" at Manchester United, according to Jos Mourinho, but he is adapting swimmingly to life in the Champions League. United cruised into the knock-out phase with a game to spare as they dismantled Bayer Leverkusen, the second-placed team in Germany, with the finest result and performance of Moyes's reign. Directed superbly by the ageless Ryan Giggs, and illuminated by the creativity of Wayne Rooney and Shinji Kagawa, the Premier League champions routed Sami Hyypia's side with arguably their best European away performance since the 2011 semi-final win at Schalke. It was their biggest away win in the European Cup since defeating Shamrock Rovers 6-0 in 1957 and a significant step in Moyes's development work at Old Trafford. "I'd say it is the best performance so far because of the clean sheet and five goals," the United manager said. "But I want this to be a regular thing, not just something we do now and again." First place in Group A will be assured with a point at home to Shakhtar Donetsk on 10 December but that can wait. Moyes will first savour a statement victory by any European standard and one that looks more impressive given the absences in the United ranks and Leverkusen's form coming into the contest. Hyypia had overseen the club's best start to a Bundesliga season with 10 wins from 13 matches, only the might of Bayern Munich keeping them from the summit, and they faced United seeking a ninth consecutive home win in the Champions League, a proud record stretching over three campaigns. They departed in a dishevelled, sorry state. United had the injured Michael Carrick and suspended Marouane Fellaini missing from central midfield but that does not detract from the remarkable feat contained within it. Giggs started against formidable opponents two days shy of his 40th birthday, an age when most would struggle to climb the stairs at the refurbished BayArena, and his contribution would have looked good on a 20-year-old. Giggs was part of the United squad that lost here in the 2002 semi-finals, when Klaus Toppmller's serial runners-up advanced on away goals before succumbing to Zinedine Zidane's exquisite volley for Real Madrid at Hampden Park. Another member of United's class of 2002 was also present, Sir Alex Ferguson, albeit enjoying the comforts of the VIP section on this occasion. The former United manager would be dragged back in time by Giggs's commanding performance. Initially it was the composure and authority of the remarkable 39-year-old that stood out for United, wearing black armbands in memory of Bill Foulkes. Leverkusen's three-man attack converged on the visitors' central defence from the opening whistle and Rio Ferdinand was particularly indebted to Giggs for clearing up several loose touches. As Giggs began to break forward with immaculate touch and vision, however, so Moyes's team assumed control. They were within sight of qualification with only a third of the game gone. United took the lead just as Leverkusen were threatening to dominate. In the space of two minutes Emir Spahic headed over from Gonzalo Castro's corner, Castro shot wastefully high after Jonny Evans allowed a Leverkusen defensive clearance to reach the United area and Stefan Kiessling was denied by the defender's fine interception having beaten Ferdinand easily on the edge of the box.
Antonio Valencia, right, scores Manchester United's opening goal against Bayer Leverkusen. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
Seconds later the flow of the game and the mood of the crowd were reversed. From the corner that followed Evans's excellent block on Kiessling, Kagawa dispossessed Stefan Reinartz in central midfield. Enter Giggs. The Welshman was quickly on the scene to take on possession and release Wayne Rooney down the left. Rooney floated an inviting cross into the centre for Kagawa, who failed to connect, as did Emre Can behind him, enabling Antonio Valencia to steal in unmarked to convert at the back post. Kagawa and Rooney were also instrumental when United doubled their advantage. Reinartz fouled the Japan international down United's left and Rooney swept the resulting free-kick into the heart of the Leverkusen six-yard box. Two defenders rose with Chris Smalling and the ball sailed off the head of Spahic his eyes closed into the unguarded half of Bernd Leno's goal. Moyes' men United remained comfortable, in stark contrast to the frustration running through the Leverkusen ranks. Hyypia's team were clearly unprepared for United's superiority and their own, error-strewn performance; hardly surprising given they last lost at the BayArena in March. They simply could not cope with Rooney and Giggs, who were involved in four and three of the United goals respectively. Giggs's corner produced the third for Evans, when Patrice Evra flicked on the delivery, Leno saved from Rooney at close range and the Northern Ireland defender bundled the ball home. Number four was a delight, Kagawa flicking the ball through to Rooney inside the area, the striker chipping Leverkusen's overworked keeper and Smalling arriving from an onside position to convert. The fifth showed Giggs at his most creative. A first-time flick sent Nani clear of the German defence and, having rounded Leno, the winger clipped a nonchalant finish over the line. Leverkusen were left swimming with the fishes, not Moyes.
G2: Comment & features
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Could SuBo write a new Scottish national anthem?

Alex Salmond's independence manifesto is oddly quiet on what will happen if Scotland drops God Save the Queen. Could Calvin Harris or Emeli Sand pen a new tune? We look at some contenders
Susan Boyle time to step up? Photograph: Getty Images
The Scottish government's white paper on independence may run to 670 pages, but Alex Salmond seems to have given very little thought to who's going to write the first proper Scottish national anthem. Fortunately there are plenty of options.
Calvin Harris
The problem with most national anthems is that very few have moments where it all properly goes off, and they never include zapping noises that sound like 70s space guns. So the Dumfries-born chartmauler and last year's highest-paid DJ in the world could clean up here. If he won't sing it himself, his pal Rihanna once played Glasgow's SECC on two successive nights, which surely qualifies her for honorary Scot status.
Michelle McManus
The winner of Pop Idol's second season subsequently fronted a musical called Discotivity, which set the birth of Christ to disco tunes, so her versatility is not to be underestimated.
CHVRCHES
If you squint your ears a bit the lyrics to recent single The Mother We Share could perhaps relate to Scottish independence. Failing this (and The Mother We Share does include the F-word, which may raise eyebrows at the 2016 Olympics) the band have already started work on their second album, so there's probably a spare song knocking around.
Bill Drummond
The former KLF man closed his mid-80s solo album with his father reciting Such a Parcel Of Rogues In a Nation, Robert Burns' two fingers to the politicians who signed the act of union in the 1700s. (Sadly, though, Bill was actually born in South Africa.)
Scott Fitzgerald
The UK's 1988 Eurovision entrant might not seem like an obvious choice but his son Ki has worked with chart acts such as Lawson and The Wanted, as well as Lady Gaga producer RedOne, so he might be able to help out.
Boards Of Canada
If the aim is to create an anthem even more droning than God Save the Queen these funsters from Edinburgh could do the job. And the country might also receive some much-needed coverage on Pitchfork. (If "the Boards" are busy, maybe give Mogwai a call.)
Susan Boyle
DING DING DING we have a winner. Mind you, she turned down an invitation to be Dusty Springfield when the Pet Shop Boys headlined Glastonbury, so there's every chance she'll turn this down as well. In which case
Emeli Sand
On second thoughts this is unlikely. It's a nice idea, but she prefers to keep a low profile.
Whooah Livin' in Mayfair! Prince William's Bon Jovi moment reimagined

Last night, Prince William joined Jon Bon Jovi to sing Livin' on a Prayer a song about a poverty-stricken couple struggling to make ends meet. Should this happen again, Stuart Heritage imagines lyrics he might feel more comfortable with
Watch Prince William's performance with Taylor Swift and Jon Bon Jovi Thomas used to work with the stocks Then the markets collapsed Now he's down to his last pair Of Crocs, which sucks Henrietta's down in the dumps Her butler's on strike She has to make her own lunch Boiled dove, boiled dove They say we've got to hold on to what we've got Doesn't really matter If we need it or not We've got big houses, and rifles we bought For fun let's give them a shot Whooah, we're halfway there Livin' in Mayfair All my neighbours are Russians I swear Livin' in Mayfair Henrietta's awfully miffed Her pony has got gout And it was a gift from mum, her mum Thomas dreams of running away When he cries in the night His hedge fund reminds him It's OK, someday We've got to hold on to what we've got 'Cause it doesn't really matter If we earned it or not We went to good schools and that's a lot For cash, we'll just sell our yachts Whooah, we're halfway there Livin' in Mayfair My gap year was wicked I swear Livin' in Mayfair We've got to hold on, ready or not You'll wear your red trousers when they're all you've got Whooah, we're half way there Livin' in Mayfair Eat this swan, it's delicious I swear Livin' in Mayfair
Arnon Milchan and a brief history of Hollywood spies

The history of Tinseltown is littered with allegations of espionage, as the revelations about the successful producer has reminded us. Welcome to the world of 'thespionage'
Arnon Milchan with Justin Timberlake. Photograph: Getty Images
The history of Hollywood is littered with spies. So it should come as no surprise that the producer Arnon Milchan began his working life as an Israeli secret agent and arms dealer. The billionaire behind Fight Club, Pretty Woman and Heat confirmed rumours of his shady past in an interview broadcast on Israeli television on Monday. At one point, we learned, he ran 30 companies worldwide on behalf of the Israeli government. He joins a long line of Hollywood power-brokers who have dabbled in the spying game. In the early 1950s, the head of foreign and domestic censorship at Paramount was a CIA employee named Luigi Luraschi. Among Luraschi's many covert triumphs was the insertion of "well-dressed" respectable "negroes" into US movies, to undermine Soviet propaganda about the state of race relations in America. Luraschi certainly wasn't working alone. In 1950, the CIA bought the film rights to George Orwell's Animal Farm, and funded the 1954 animated version, ensuring that the book's message was portrayed as strictly anti-Soviet. Likewise, the 1958 film of Graham Greene's The Quiet American revised the story of the novel on the advice of the CIA, portraying the morally dubious titular character as an unambiguous hero. The author, himself a spy for MI6, disowned the adaptation, calling it a "propaganda film for America". There have been countless collaborations since. For the filming of Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears in 2002, producers were granted a personal tour of the CIA headquarters, and star Ben Affleck teamed up with agency analysts to research the role. In her book The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television, US academic Tricia Jenkins describes Affleck's 2012 film Argo as CIA propaganda , white-washing the agency's
involvement in Iran. The Iranian media went further, accusing Affleck himself of being a spy. He would not be the first actor to sideline in espionage if he was. The release of official US spy files in 2008 revealed Sterling Hayden, who played the mad general in Dr Strangelove, was drawing on his first-hand experience of military work as a US secret agent parachuted into Croatia. Other actors' lives as spies are less a matter of public record, more the product of romantic speculation. One recent Greta Garbo biography suggests she planned to personally assassinate Hitler, and helped smuggle the Danish physicist Niels Bohr out of Hitler's reach, although this is more likely to have been the work of double agent Juan Pujol Garcia, who used Garbo as a code name. The sensationalist Hollywood biographer Charles Higham is likely responsible for one of the most famous stories of thespionage. In his biography, Errol Flynn: The Untold Story, he claimed Flynn had been a Nazi spy, who had once met with Adolf Hitler. And how do we know this? Because, according to Higham, Cary Grant was working for British intelligence, counter-spying on him.There may be more than a grain of truth to such claims, and then again they may be pure invention. That's the thing about spies and actors. You never quite know with either where the stories end and the truth begins.
No 3,226
Is Sony's 'smart wig' even more absurd than Google Glass?

Need a computerised toupee made of yak hair? Of course you do. Thankfully, Sony have patented the 'smart wig' but where can you get one?
One of the smart wig patent drawings. Photograph: Sony
One of the smart wig patent drawings. Photograph: Sony
Age: In development. Appearance: Like hair. But smarter. This can't be what it sounds like. Oh, but it can and it is. Please tell me it's just a smart-looking wig. I can't and won't. Fine. It's a computer in a toupee, isn't it? That's the idea. Whose idea, exactly, and how are they still alive? Engineers at Sony. And they're alive and thriving because enough of their ridiculous ideas turn into hugely successful products. But but a wig? A smart wig? So they hope. The electronics giant has applied to patent a "wearable computing device" wired into a hairpiece. The application states the smart wig could be made from "horse hair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair, buffalo hair or any kind of synthetic material". Wool? Feathers? Human hair? Are they drunk? To be fair, the purpose of a patent is to cover all possible bases. It doesn't mean the finished product has to come in a choice of yak or buffalo. But why would anyone want a feathery PC on their head? Well, for one thing, because it might give them super powers. Are you drunk now as well? No, I've just been browsing the patent's extensive list of possible smart wig functions. Such as? Bat-vision. Apparently it could deploy "ultrasound waves" to detect nearby objects and help navigate through darkness. Pssh. And? Wig-sensing. It could use vibration or small electric shocks to provide "tactile feedback" to the wearer. Plus it could monitor environmental conditions and users' vital signs. Oh. Hmm. Any more? Telepathy, for one. Or "wig-to-wig communication" via the tactile feedback mechanisms. Also telekinesis, using facial expressions or brain activity to control, for example, a computer presentation. That sounds brilliant. Anything else? Self-awareness. It could be fitted with an electronic compass and camera to let the user know "whether the wig is correctly mounted on the head or not". I must have it. You'll have to wait a while. I must have it at once! Keep your hair on. Do say: "At the end of the day, it's still a wig." Don't say: "What next, mind-reading merkins?"
Why The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen is a role model for our times
Jennifer Lawrence plays a young woman who is not defined by her relationship to men, and who is bringing down the system
Suzanne Moore The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.33 GMT Jump to comments ()
'Sure Katniss Everdeen is an idealised fantasy anti-authoriatarian heroine What she isnt is either 'girly' or interested in riches.' Photograph: Allstar/Lionsgate/Sportsphoto Ltd
All hail Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games trilogy. If you are the mother of a pre-teen girl, you will know the whispered relief around these films. "About time. Go!" If you would like your teenage daughter to see something other than the underclass sobbing on a crass talent show, orange twentysomethings Botoxing themselves, or girls who are just "naturally thin" and who giggle when their clothes just drop off, then you will already know about them. If, like me, you simply would like to see a young woman not defined by her relationship to men, crack open the pick 'n' mix. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Production year: 2013 Country: USA Cert (UK): 12A Runtime: 146 mins Directors: Francis Lawrence Cast: Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Jena Malone, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hucherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, josh hutcherson More on this film Clearly I am not alone. Nor is my youngest. Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, has had the fourth biggest box office weekend opening in history. Ever since the first film came out, my daughter read the books by Suzanne Collins and we have a shrine to Peeta, Katniss's fellow contestant. The books are neither warm nor easy, but then dystopian futures of totalitarian states (Panem, as it is called) only
work when they're not so far from the imagination. In The Hunger Games, the rich and powerful control the Capitol and dress in grotesque Gaga-ish costumes while the poor live out in the Districts and are treated with increasing contempt. This is a police state where "peacekeepers" kill and torture. Hegemony is maintained by giving them very little that's why Katniss learned to hunt illegally but staging huge spectacles: each District is "reaped" to find two people who are chosen for the televised Hunger Games. So this is a satire on the kind of TV that its target audience watches. The games are a brutal contest to kill every other contestant. It is the logical conclusion of reality TV: survival of the fittest. At the centre of this is Katniss, played by the sparky Jennifer Lawrence, who is seen on red carpets in apparently awful outfits. What do I know? Every time I read these gown-downs, as I call them, I like the ones the fashionistas hate (Bjork wearing a swan being my all-time favourite). We have seen Lawrence being chatted up on camera by sleazoid Jack Nicholson, who, to be fair, is only three times her age. And we have seen her lose it in front of the paparazzi, screaming: "Stop. Stop. Stop." So she isn't just acting cool, she is cool and aware that she wants to keep her body healthy-looking, not a size zero. The obligation to be a role model is daunting and modern. I can't remember wanting to be anyone other than Mr Spock and David Bowie. The female bit is blank my memory is only full of girls I did not want to be or never imagined I could be. Since then, we pretty much have a roll-call of politically correct heroines, but still have to go some way back to find tough, independent women, from Linda Hamilton in Terminator to Sigourney Weaver in Alien, or Tarantino's fantasy of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. Japanese cinema has produced some magnificent female characters, and, of course, we rewrite the "final girl" of the horror genre: in which, after several women have been raped/killed/tortured, the final girl turns the table and survives. Lately though, for teenage girls, we have had Twilight's mopey and passive Bella Swan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is long gone, so to see Katniss (more akin to Neo in The Matrix) as resilient and smart and reluctantly becoming a symbol of a revolution is quite something. Guys fall in love with her but she really has better things to do: the uprising. Unlike Russell Brand's fluffier talk of revolution, the movies do not shy away from the violence and executions that accompany the suppression of dissent, with the great Donald Sutherland's watery eyes conveying pure evil as the president. For a glossy Hollywood product, the movie echoes 70s cult movies like Rollerball. But what feels different now is to have the main character as more than a love interest. The little girls sure do understand. We have seen Olympian Rebecca Adlington weeping because her body is not "bikini ready", we have Oscarwinning Emma Thompson saying, at 54, she has to take whatever role she can get Yes, I know this is posh selfdepreciation, but all female actors say this. When did cinematic progress for women stop? The early 80s? Tough, complex female characters have migrated to TV with Hollywood lagging behind Borgen, The Killing, Homeland et al (although Carrie's jitters are now tiresome). Sure, Katniss is an idealised fantasy anti-authoriatarian heroine. She is also confused, stubborn and vulnerable. What she isn't is either "girly" or interested in riches. She makes her bow and arrows to bring down the system. Nothing is said about gender. She is taller than one of her partners and it's her physical and mental prowess that we root for. Seeing our young heroine survive whatever the system throws at her, shooting a flaming arrow across a cultural landscape barren of images of young, self-contained female strength, is brilliant. The world depicted here is of gross inequality, mass surveillance, brutal crushing of dissent, where the young are sacrificed and where there is real hunger. A fantasy of the future? So go Katniss Everdeen, as they say: "Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favour." After all, it's just a game. Just a movie.
Mary Berry or Alex Ferguson: the search for 2013's top celebrity memoir
With Christmas approaching, it's time to sort out the winners and losers in the battle for the year's best celeb autobiography. Will it be David Jason or Amanda Holden? Or could Mo Farah clinch the top slot?
John Harris The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.50 GMT Jump to comments ()
Celebrity memoirists (from left): Mary Berry, Mo Farah, David Jason, Jennifer Saunders, Alex Ferguson, Amanda Holden, Ann Widdecombe and John Bishop. Photograph: Guardian montage
Like "modernised" Conservatism, digital cameras and rock music made by people under 50, the Christmas celebrity memoir may be breathing its last. In 2012, a year that brought us books by such titans as Cheryl Cole, David Walliams and Tulisa Contostavlos , sales were 45% down on their 2008 peak. You might, then, have expected publishers to drop the ghost-writers and stop making huge payments to sportspeople, comedians and Britain's Got Talent judges, and stick with cookbooks. But no: 2013 has brought a mind-boggling crop of memoirs all of which are being offered to the public as if they represent the acme of Christmas wonderment. My job is to spend 10 days immersed in the "best of the batch", carefully taking notes, and chewing my knuckles, while an array of famous authors are brutally played off against one another to find a winner. Needless to say, this remains a vital public service, because the celeb book's decline is obviously relative and plenty of people are still buying them. In large quantities, too: at the time of writing, David Jason's My Life had already sold 134,895 copies. A lot of people, then, will be getting it for Christmas. Read on. This may prove to be useful
ROUND 1 Mary Berry, Recipe For Life v Mo Farah, Twin Ambitions

The opening clash is between an iconic cake-maker raised in the upscale environs of Bath Spa, and the distance runner and creator of the enduring(ish) Mobot, who spent a lot of time as a child in the tiny African state of Djibouti. What is the latter like? You can only wonder. "Life wasn't easy in Djibouti," says Mo, "but it wasn't desperately hard, either." Brings the images flooding into your head, doesn't it? Or what about this: "Everyone rolled up their sleeves and got on with it we learned that you didn't get anywhere without putting in the work." Ground down by a life that was not easy but not too hard either and always having to roll their sleeves up, the family eventually left for Europe, leaving behind Mo's twin brother Hassan (from whom his book takes its title, though Mo's bro barely figures in it), a rum turn that is never satisfactorily explained. Anyway, Mo's first glimpse of London is described in truly poetic terms: "The buildings were bigger. The cars were bigger." And after he makes big strides as an athlete, he arrives in the US. "Cars, buildings, food, portions: they were all double the size in America," he observes. Top guy and all that, and hats off for simply ignoring the "Plastic Brit" rubbish, but compared to the thrill of watching him take those medals, reading his book is like falling asleep in a cold bath. Mary Berry's has similar moments of complete tedium, but in some ways, Recipe For Life is the story of one woman valiantly putting up with patriarchy and making the most of things via mixing bowls and whisks. Her dad, a one-time mayor of Bath, is male chauvinism incarnate, as proved by his response to her future husband's request that he grant them permission to marry. "She's very difficult," said Pa Berry. "You do realise what you're taking on? And she may never have children." They got hitched, anyway, though even now, it doesn't seem like anyone in her house has read any Germaine Greer. "Cashmere polo necks are one of my wardrobe staples," she says on page 313, "not only because I get so chilly, but because my husband Paul says I've got scraggy around the neck, which is quite right." Berry's ghostwriter, one Catherine Woods, does a creditable job of evoking the tweedy stoicism of a woman who is undeniably all right. There are also a number of recipes, including one for something called iced lemon flummery, which involves cream caster sugar, milk and more cream, and is surely just the kind of thing we should all be eating these days. This alone is enough to send her flying past Mo Farah. Winner: Mary Berry
David Jason, My Life v Jennifer Saunders, Bonkers

The autobiography of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is called My Life, but that's where the similarities between him and David Jason unfortunately end. The latter's 392-page memoir is built on the flimsiest of foundations. Worse, Only Fools And Horses only enters the story three-quarters of the way through, and can't redeem an exhausting book that gets waylaid in the showbiz undergrowth. "At the age of eight or nine," he says at one point, "I did become the owner of a pair of perfectly fitting wellington boots." Actors, eh? Give them a ghostwriter (Giles Smith, who memorably worked on Keith Richards' Life, is credited in Jason's acknowledgements business is obviously slow), and they'll not only fixate on surreal minutiae, but also do that thing thesps always do, when they endlessly mention long-forgotten theatre productions. This happens a lot: if you have any appetite for limp anecdotes about plays called things such as Trousers Overboard! at Bromley Rep, you'll love it. Pre-Del Boy, Jason says he became known for "introducing additional physicality into farces". It got him a long way, but also into the odd scrape. Witness what transpires on page 119, when one Paul Bacon, Jason's co-star in a theatrical production of The Rivals, invited him round for "supper", and then "put his arms around me and started to kiss me". The man who would go on to be the voice of Danger Mouse obviously didn't want any additional physicality introduced into his own farce though his friendship with Bacon endured, and the would-be seducer eventually went on to play a renowned dog. "He found household-name fame at a remove," Jason reveals, "as the voice of Hector in the hugely popular children's glove-puppet show Hector's House." Woof woof! Though the title of her own memoir seems celestially crap ("Bonkers" I mean, really), Jennifer Saunders fares a bit better. Some of the stuff about her and Dawn French does not exactly suggest deep insight ("The crucial element in our double act has been our friendship"). She also digresses a bit too much. But the chapter about her breast cancer is done with affecting candour, the stuff concerning Ab Fab is borderline unputdownable, and by page 50, I realise I am actually quite enjoying myself. One big coup de grace arrives on page 143, when she is out with Roseanne Barr in LA, and meets Dolly Parton. "She opened her jacket. And there they were not just her tits but her glorious tattoos," Saunders recalls. "They were angels and flowers, shaded in pink and blue pastels. I was gobsmacked. Her words, 'This will go no further, right?' were fully adhered to. Until I got back to the hotel. I had to tell someone, so I just about told everyone. I didn't want to wake up the next morning and doubt my own story. I had seen Dolly Parton's tits."
This is actually only a footnote. But in sporting terms, it suggests an inspired goal scored from the halfway line, if not two. Winner: Jennifer Saunders
Alex Ferguson, My Autobiography v Amanda Holden, No Holding Back

By the time I get to these two, one thing has started to bother me. What has happened to the ditzy, rushed, slightly confused authorial voice that usually defines celeb autobiographies? Witness 2011's classic by James Corden, and a choice sentence indeed: "The publisher has just told me that I'm already 5,000 words over the required amount, which I can't quite believe." Amanda Holden's effort rubbish title, lousy typeface superficially suggests that she might be making a last stand for that way of doing it, but no: even she seems to be aware that deconstructing your own book as you write it isn't the greatest of ideas. The chapter about the still-birth of her son is inevitably moving and occasionally all but unbearable. Her memories of glimpsing the heights of showbiz via her first husband, Les Dennis, have a certain something ("During one show, Les farted next to Roy Walker"). But God, when their marriage comes to grief, it all pours forth, to no one's great benefit. Is there anyone out there who wants to know what it's like arguing all the time with the former host of Family Fortunes and one-time comedy partner of the much-missed Dustin Gee? If so, sneak into WH Smiths and immerse yourself in pages 90-140 (approximately). In 2002, she was filming Cutting It in Manchester; he was back at home in Norfolk. "Our enforced separation wasn't helping Les and I get our marriage back on track," she writes, "and when he was invited to take part in Celebrity Big Brother I have to admit that I didn't discourage him." So, off he went into that killer series that also starred Goldie and Anne Diamond, and featured Dennis talking to chickens. "I think he originally did it to be funny," says Holden, "but it apparently just came across as mental." Seeing Alex Ferguson among 2013's celeb biographies is a strange thing. The no-nonsense, anti-showbiz Alex, whose elegantly damning chapter about David Beckham ("I was starting to despair of him I could see him being swallowed up by the media or publicity agents") confirms how much he loathes the modern celeb whirl and its inevitable intersection with his sport. Most of the time, he wants to be seen as a modern Yoda, some of whose Jedi-esque wisdom is positively gnostic. "The balls are always in the air," he muses. "You have a range of targets and compensate from the list when one gets
"The balls are always in the air," he muses. "You have a range of targets and compensate from the list when one gets away." At one point, he claims that "momentum has its own logic". There's more: some people, he says right at the end, are "happy to stay at home or watch the birds and the ducks float by in the park. And some want to go to the moon." From time to time, he seems to have got there himself, metaphorically speaking, as proved on page 125, where he recalls an altercation with the decidedly non-cosmic Roy Keane. "You've changed," says Keane. "Roy," says Ferguson, "I will have changed, because today is not yesterday." That's right! Change I will have, because yesterday today not is! The force is strong in this one, and he glides through to the semis. Winner: Alex Ferguson
Ann Widdecombe, Strictly Ann v John Bishop, How Did All This Happen?
All political careers end in failure, blah blah. But perhaps not failure as soul-chewingly awful as this. In late 2012, Ann Widdecombe was in panto in High Wycombe alongside Craig Revel Horwood from Strictly (in drag, natch) and a star turn winningly described by her towards the end of her memoir: "Muddles was the ventriloquist Steve Hewlett, whose dummy is Pongo the Skunk. Why they are not on television I don't know." How you get from the front rank of politics to that point is an interesting question. Ooh, she is awful, and I don't like her. Her story careens from her nomadic childhood her dad was in the navy through Birmingham and Oxford Universities (pater paid for the latter), and on to life at the fag-end of 18 years of Tory government, when the woman later cast as "Widdy in Waiting" launched a crusade to take Britain back to 1962, or thereabouts. As with most things, she is quite upfront about this. Not only does she think men are "sharper, wittier and more entertaining" than women, but she says she prefers "what we had fifty years ago". This is because she lives in her own private dystopia, which bears no resemblance to, you know, real life. "Take out a library book," she says at one point, "and you will be given a form asking for your sexual preferences and racial origins." No you won't, you silly old moo. Arena-filling Merseyside/Cheshire borders comedian John Bishop, by comparison, seems to be a nice enough human being. Three years ago, my annual celeb-books experience was less than enlivened by the beatifically bad memoir
being. Three years ago, my annual celeb-books experience was less than enlivened by the beatifically bad memoir written by Michael McIntyre. I try to know as little as I can about modern standup, but it seems to me that Bishop essentially deals in the same kind of low-grade, culture-for-the-cultureless observational comedy, while avoiding MM's crucifying bumptiousness. This is to his eternal credit, but it also means his memoir has almost nothing on which to actually comment. "For me, a new school was always an opportunity to make friends and have fun," he writes. Really? No! "When I was 10, we left Winsford and moved back to a council estate in Runcorn." Did you? Steady on. It is nice that he got back with his estranged wife when she saw one of his early gigs and glimpsed the man he had once been (or something). It is creditable that he rode a bike from Australia to Liverpool to raise money for the NSPCC. I don't know: I feel a bit evil taking such a self-evidently nice fella to task, but his book is just too dull. Mind you, this opinion may not be as controversial as I think, as evidenced by an episode replayed on page 300. Towards Christmas, he is idly standing by a display of his own DVDs in HMV, when is compelled to reach for one, and topped by a concerned bystander. "I wouldn't buy that," says the man. "He's shite." Winner: John Bishop, simply for not being Ann Widdecombe
SEMI FINALS Mary Berry v Jennifer Saunders

So it is that the draw falls along gender lines. And, come to think of it, class lines, too because both Berry and Saunders' "mems" (a Saunders term) are smattered with stuff that evokes the pine-scented milieu of the English middle classes. Before anyone starts: yes, I'm middle-class too. But this has to be settled somehow. So it occurs to me that such a nail-biting clash is best decided by establishing who is guilty of the most uber-bourgeois paragraph, a crime punishable with defeat. Saunders has a stab on p214 of Bonkers when she explains why she, Ade "Viv from the Young Ones" Edmonson and their daughters relocated to the West Country. "We moved there permanently because we felt that the girls Ella, in particular needed the freedom that Devon would provide," she says. "She had expressed the desire to run on the moor and ride ponies. We didn't realise quite how keen the others would be. We were anxious, particularly about Beattie, who was very happy in Richmond." On the "What's the bedroom tax?" scale, this scores a seven. But then Mary Berry steps in. "By this time," runs page 216 of her book, "all of our children had gone away to school. Thomas was a real daredevil, far happier climbing trees than he was sitting in a classroom, so when he was 13, we sent him to Gordonstoun in Scotland The school, which counts Prince Charles amongst its distinguished alumni has its own fire brigade " Snip! That's a 10, and she's OUT. Winner: Jennifer Saunders
Alex Ferguson v John Bishop

Bishop has essentially scraped through thanks to the luck of the draw, and will inevitably be crushed. There are similar reference points in his and Ferguson's books Bishop, after all, once played non-league football but this face-off is a bit like Wilmslow Albion being forced to play Juventus. Ferguson's book is the tale of his climactic run with Manchester United, whereas Bishop's boils down to ramblesome evocation of a mid-life crisis and his successful exit from it. Besides, he also cannot compete with the parts of Ferguson's meisterwerk that suggest a self-help book: as with his sage advice for anyone me, for example who sometimes wakes up at 5am and tries hard to get back to sleep. "You've had your sleep. That's why you wake up," says Fergie-Yoda. Brilliant! He wins, easy. Winner: Alex Ferguson
Jennifer Saunders and Alex Ferguson: head to head. Photograph: Rex Features
THE FINAL Jennifer Saunders v Alex Ferguson

What an odd pairing. In fairness, comparing these two is like trying to establish the relative merits of, say, paint and porridge, but it has to be done. Two trips to the cafe and some iced lemon flummery later, and it all becomes clear. Yes, Ferguson's stuff about Beckham, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy et al is insightful and often blunt. It helps that there are walk-on parts for Tony Blair, and even a mention of P Diddy. But nothing really compares to the two soaraway highlights of Bonkers. They are too lengthy to reproduce here, but Saunders' conversations particularly via fax with her Ab Fab co-star Joanna Lumley are a hoot. She knows this, too: "Some of my happiest times have been sitting in the back of a car with Joanna," she says, "having conversations in character that just make us wee." And me, nearly. In any case, her supremacy is clinched by the tale of her and Ruby Wax being dragged around India by Goldie Hawn circa 1997 as they are pressured to come up with a script for a film Hawn envisages as being about a fiftysomething woman who and these are Saunders' words, not Hawn's - "goes to India, looks gorgeous and finds herself".
Blair tells Murdoch: God told me to visit Wendi

But Rupey's having none of it, while this week in politics David Cameron is revisited by Raisa the ex-police horse and George Osborne worries about why no one noticed the problems with Paul Flowers
John Crace The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 18.06 GMT
Wendi Deng and Tony Blair: it was God calling. Photograph: Jennifer Graylock/Max Mumby/Indigo
Tony Blair: I only come in peace. Rupert Murdoch: That's not what I'm hearing, sonny. Blair: What are you talkin' about? Murdoch: According to my sources Blair: Not phone-hackers, I hope. Murdoch: Don't get clever with me, sport. Blair: Now guys ... I mean, Rupert ... Let's just calm down a bit, shall we? Let me categorically state this: I never made wild and beautiful love to that woman while the coyotes howled outside under the Californian stars. Murdoch: Yeah? Then how come you just happened to spend a few nights Blair: I prefer to call them "encounters". Murdoch: at my ranch, with my wife, when I wasn't there and neither of you bothered to tell me. Blair: It was like this, Rupey. I just happened to be driving my Chevvy convertible down the Pacific Highway late one July night. The hood was down. The hot tub was calling. My shirt was unbuttoned to the waist and the soft summer breeze was blowing through my hair. I had the Eagles' Witchy Woman playing on the stereo and I was just, like, you know, chillin' out, wonderin' what more I could do for world peace and how much I could get away with chargin' for my next lecture tour. Murdoch: And? Blair: You know, I just had this sense that God wanted me to go to Wendi. To offer her comfort. To let her know her daughter your daughter and, most importantly, my godchild, is truly blessed. Murdoch: And this cosmic intervention happened on several different occasions? Blair: It's like that when you're doing the work of God. Murdoch: Well, I'm telling you this for nothing, drongo. You and me we're through!
Cherie Blair: Have you heard all the rumours about you and Wendi? Tony Blair: You don't want to believe everything you read in the Daily Mail. Cherie Blair: It's absolutely scandalous ... Tony Blair: I know, Cherie. Cherie Blair: That someone else got to sell that story to the Mail before we had a chance to. That's 300K we've missed out on. That's another new flat for Euan. Or a new spring wardrobe for me. We're going to be absolutely destitute now, Tony. Tony Blair: Aw shucks, Cherie, I do love you so much. I'm sure we will get by. George Osborne: Christ, Cams, what do you make of the Murdoch-Blair story? Did Tony give you a heads-up about it when we were all hanging out together at the Freud-Murdoch party a few weeks back. David Cameron: Don't believe everything you read in the Daily Mail. Osborne: Tell you what, Cams. It's not a good idea to get on the wrong side of anyone in the Murdoch empire, is it? Cameron: Too right, Ozzy. Raisa the ex-Police Horse: There you are, my darling. Where have you been all this time? Cameron: Er ... I've been a bit busy. Raisa: Have you forgotten all those sweet nothings you used to whisper into my ear as your chubby thighs tightly gripped my flanks? How you said we were going to be best friends for ever? Cameron: I'm sure I didn't say anything like that ... Raisa: But we all thought it, didn't we? The happiest day of my life was when I was tethered up outside your home, panting and sweating after a hard morning's hack across the Cotswolds. Cameron: I have no idea what you are talking about. Lynton Crosby: Are there any bits of your past you would prefer were erased? Cameron: Only the past 10 years ... Crosby: That's no problem, cobber. I think you'll find that every broken promise you've ever made has just been accidentally deleted from the Tory website. Cameron: Masterful, Lynters. Now, has anyone seen that idle fucker Cleggster? Nick Clegg: I'm not an idle fucker. Cameron: Then how you come you never seem to be doing anything? Clegg: Because you never let me do anything. Cameron: To be fair, Cleggster, you are a bit useless. Clegg: That is SOOOOO unfair. I've done loads of things. I've emailed every radio and TV station to say I'm ready
to talk about what a huge difference the Lib Dems have made and how we are going to be a force to be reckoned with at the next election ... Cameron: And have any of them got back to you? Clegg: No. But it's still early days ... Osborne: Sure, Cleggster, sure. Now bugger off and rearrange the glasses on the Cabinet table. Dave and I have things to talk about. Cameron: Do we? Osborne: Only Paul Flowers, the Co-op bank chairman ... Cameron: What about him? Osborne: You know we were smearing Labour for not having suspected he was an incompetent druggie and for trousering loads of cheap loans ... Well, it turns out our mob weren't so clever either. We all met with him loads of times to talk about how the Co-op was the best bank to take over the Lloyds branches, and none of us had a clue. Cameron: So no one noticed he only had the vaguest grasp of banking or economics ... Osborne: To be fair, that could apply to any of us ... Cameron: True. Ah, well, no real harm done. Back to business. Do we have any plans to help all those we've forced off benefits? Osborne: Sure do. We're going to try to limit the interest rates of Pay Day loans companies to 1,200% per annum. Cameron: Who says we're not the caring party?
Jack Monroe's tomato and bean soup recipe

This healthy soup is a speedy staple add a handful of cheese and serve with crusty bread for a delicious lunch
Jack Monroe theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 10.42 GMT Jump to comments ()
Jack Monroe's tomato and bean soup. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
This tomato and white bean soup is a staple in my household, as it is speedy and I usually have all of the ingredients to hand. The beans pad it out with protein for a hearty, healthy lunch I use the tinned baked variety, with the tomato sauce rinsed off, as they are the cheapest. (Serves 4) 28p a portion 1 onion, peeled and chopped, 11p 200g carrots,, sliced, 19p 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped, 5p 1 tbsp oil, 3p 140g double concentrate tomato puree, 35p 500ml vegetable or chicken stock, 2p Few thyme or rosemary leaves, 10p 400g white beans, 25p Add the onion, carrot and garlic to a saucepan with the oil, and saute for a few minutes to soften. Add the tomato puree, stock, herbs and beans, and simmer for 10 minutes to heat through. This can be served chunky, by removing half, pulsing in a blender, and adding back to the pan, or smooth, by pulsing the lot. Serve with crusty bread.
Jack's tips
To make it extra special, add a handful of cheese before serving. The herbs can be replaced with a shake of mixed dried herbs, or fresh basil for a lighter, fresher taste. For more recipe ideas, including using up remaining ingredients, see agirlcalledjack.com or follow @MsJackMonroe on Twitter.
Jell-O salads: American abomination or Thanksgiving treat?

Spectacular salads are an American speciality and none are more striking than jellied versions. This Thanksgiving, do you fancy tuna, onion and olives encased in lime Jell-O?
Felicity Cloake The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
Mmm Jell-O loaf with eggs and lettuce. Photograph: Constance Bannister Corp/Getty Images
This Thursday is Thanksgiving; a time to give thanks for the harvest and, as far as I'm concerned, for all the brilliant foodstuffs America has gifted us over the years. Just look at the revolution they wrought on salad! Not for them a bowl of limp leaves, parsimoniously accessorised with a curling slice of cucumber or watery tomato not when they've got the cobb, the waldorf, the mighty caesar. But these stalwarts of the room service menu are only the tip of the iceberg. Lurking below the waterline are more esoteric examples you're unlikely to find in many restaurants. The frog eye, for instance, is a Mormon classic made with pasta, tinned pineapple and mandarin segments, condensed milk and marshmallows. Or the candle salad: this obscene-looking arrangement of a banana thrust into a pineapple ring and topped with a maraschino cherry, "melted wax" mayonnaise dribbling down its length, made its first appearance in 1950 in the unlikely environs of A Child's First Cookbook. But even these pale in comparison with the Jell-O salad. Though jellied dishes were nothing new, the invention of powdered gelatine in 1894 brought them to a mass audience for the first time. Laura Shapiro, the author of Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century, explains that "nothing so quickly identified a meal as upscale, glamorous and artistic as a magnificent salad". You already had the golf salad (hard-boiled egg yolks mashed with mayonnaise, then rolled in cottage cheese), the porcupine salad (pear studded with almonds) the banana-nut salad (nuts tucked into the banana skin), and a million more. The advent of Jell-O suddenly offered "a miraculous way to do all these things and then package them in shimmering colours". These jellied salads quickly became "wildly popular", probably because, Shapiro says: "There was nothing remotely salad-like about them. You ate dessert and called it salad it was supremely sweet, which was the goal of an enormous amount of American cooking and eating."
Orange Jell-O ring with whipped cream and olives. Photograph: Constance Bannister Corp/Getty Images
These striking dishes soon became a favourite on special occasions. Baltimore-based food writer Wendy Tien, who grew up in the midwest, recalls: "It was impossible to attend a picnic or potluck in the 70s without encountering at least one usually two one 'savoury', the other sweet. "The worst were those combining tinned tuna or chicken and shredded veg in lime Jell-O which, by the way, is just as sweet as the other flavours, so it was rather like sugary, fruit-flavoured cat food with a little salad mixed in. Savoury Jell-O salad led me to perfect the art of pretending to take a hearty bite and disposing of it in a napkin." Though the Jell-O salad's heyday was definitely in the last millennium, it is by no means a historical curiosity Shapiro tells me that, to this day, you can hardly find a food-court salad bar in the US that doesn't have squares of Jell-O, "sitting right out there as if they really are raw ingredients like the carrot shreds and kidney beans". Indeed, Minnesota chef Junji Umezu will be tucking into a perfection salad at this year's holiday dinner: "It is olives, celery and sweet pepper in a lemon juice-spiked gelatine mix. We have it for Thanksgiving every year. Personally, I dig it good texture and flavour but I grew up with it. My wife, on the other hand, thinks it's disgusting." Having been tempted to try cooking ring around the tuna, a "beautiful jewel-like entree" from 1963's The Joys of Jell-O, I must sadly concur with her: it seems Jell-O salad is one of those things you just can't take up as an adult. Raw onion, tinned tuna, stuffed olives and celery encased in a sweet, vinegary lime jelly certainly made for a memorable meal, but it's not one any of my guests gave thanks for. Perhaps next year I'll have a go at the candle instead.
How to make the perfect pecan pie

Pecan pie southern gem or pretender to the pumpkin's crown? What desserts will you be whipping up in honour of
Pecan pie southern gem or pretender to the pumpkin's crown? What desserts will you be whipping up in honour of Thanksgiving?
Perfect pecan pie. All photographs: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian
This week, in honour of Thanksgiving, I've finally been let loose on one of my favourite American desserts. Despite its heavenly combination of rich nuttiness and caramel sweetness, as a speciality of the south, pecan pie wouldn't have featured on the first Thanksgiving table. In fact, it didn't put in an appearance until the late 19th century. To be honest, even if they had come across trees bursting with nuts, I doubt the pilgrims would have approved of such wanton indulgence ancient loyalties aside, let's be honest here folks: a buttery, nutty sugar pie is a much easier sell than anything made out of pumpkin. So, if you've never got on with the classic squash-based number, and even if you're not intending to go the whole hog with candied sweet potatoes and a bourbon noodle kugel (well, Thanksgivukkah only comes once every 70,000 years), it's a great excuse to make a proper pecan pie.
Pastry
Jamie Oliver pecan pie
Every good pie starts with good pastry but where pecan's concerned, there's little agreement as to what that is. Southern Living magazine specifies 'refrigerated piecrusts' which seems to mean ready-made shortcrust pastry, sprinkled with icing sugar in what one online commenter described as "a clever way to make it taste homemade". Tamasin Day-Lewis makes a plain shortcrust in All You Can Eat, America's Test Kitchen's New Best Recipes goes for a sweet one, Jamie Oliver flavours his with orange zest and vanilla in Jamie's America, Annie Bell enriches hers with egg and suggests using spelt flour as "its character works well with the pecan filling" in her Baking Bible, and the Essential New York Times Cookbook proposes a cream cheese pastry on the basis that "you want a pastry that is firm and buttery but not too sweet, because the pecan filling is intensely sweet".
Cooks Illustrated pecan pie
I like the rich crumbliness and complementary nuttiness of Bell's pastry, but in the end I agree with the New York Times: the savouriness of their crust, like that of Day-Lewis', is a great foil for the treacley filling, while the crunch is the perfect contrast to its gooey richness. However, like Southern Living the Times doesn't blind bake the shell before adding the filling, which I think is a mistake: though the sides are crisp, the bottom stays doughy and raw in both cases. This is not a dish that deserves to be rushed.
Filling
New York Times pecan pie
If the proper pastry is contentious, then the best way to fill it is an even stickier subject. Broadly speaking, the inside of a pecan pie is a kind of custard made from eggs, melted butter and some variety of sugar but there's little agreement beyond that. Corn syrup is often used in the States, and I go to some trouble to get hold of the dark stuff for the New York Times recipe, only to be underwhelmed by the results. It tastes faintly like thin treacle. Oliver suggests using molasses instead, but I find the flavour too strong; pecan pie should taste caramelised, rather than bitter. Bell, meanwhile, goes for golden syrup, which, along with her lemon zest and juice, makes her pie taste more like a British treacle tart. DayLewis uses dark muscovado, which gives her filling a more subtle toffee-ish flavour.
Southern Living pecan pie
More striking than the taste, however, is the texture of Day-Lewis' tart: where many of the others have a slightly jellied consistency, hers is velvety smooth, like a silky set custard. I put this down to both the cream she uses and the cooking process: she heats the filling over a bain marie with a little cornflour until it thickens. This seems to stabilise it, which makes it much quicker to bake and negates the danger of it curdling in the oven like the Southern Living pie (which is so revolting I have to throw it away). After making the maple-syrup version of the Cooks Illustrated pie I'm torn the flavour seems so quintessentially American (if not southern) that I'd love to include it, but the texture of Day-Lewis' tart is undeniably superior. In the end, I decide to combine the two, substituting maple syrup for half the sugar, and cutting the amount of cream to keep it fairly thick.
Flavourings
Tamasin Day-Lewis pecan pie
There's no need for much more than nut and sugar here: Oliver's cinnamon and Day-Lewis, Cook's Illustrated and the New York Times' vanilla all seem unnecessary, as does Bell's lemon zest. However, I do like the idea of nodding to another great American tradition with a little strong liquor; the Times and Joy of Cooking use dark rum, while Oliver and Southern Living suggest bourbon. Far more Southern, and a great excuse to invest in a bottle.
Nuts
Annie Bell pecan pie
Last but not least, the pecans themselves. Toasting them before use as the New York Times and Cooks Illustrated recommend really brings out the flavour; definitely an extra step worth taking. The latter also recommends using chopped nuts, on the basis they're much "easier to slice through and eat". Day-Lewis and the Joy of Cooking both use whole nuts, and everyone else goes for a combination of the two; much the best option as far as I'm concerned. Chopped nuts add body and that all-important nuttiness to every bite, while those on top both look pretty and toast further in the oven, adding an even more intense burst of pecan flavour.
The perfect pecan pie
Felicity Cloake's perfect pecan pie
This is a dessert that should be all about the nuts: allow to cool, then serve with a scoop of ice cream (buttermilk would be good), or (however un-American) a dollop of creme fraiche for contrast.
(Makes 1 x 23cm pie) For the pastry 190g plain flour !tsp salt 75g cream cheese 110g butter, chilled 1.5tbsp very cold water 1.5tsp cider vinegar For the filling 125g pecans 100g dark muscovado sugar 100g maple syrup 85g butter 200ml single cream 2tbsp cornflour 2tbsp bourbon 2 egg yolks !tsp salt To make the pastry, mix the flour with the salt. Add the cream cheese and rub in, or pulse briefly in the food processor to combine, then cut the butter into 2cm chunks and rub in or pulse until it's the size of a garden pea. Stir in the water and vinegar and pulse or rub in until the butter is the size of small petits pois. Tip into a bag and knead until it comes together into a dough and feels slightly elastic. Form into a disc and chill for 45 minutes or up to 12 hours. Grease a 23cm loose-based tart tin and roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick. Use to line the tin, then chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C. Tip the pecans on to a lined baking tray and bake for about 6 minutes until toasted. Allow to cool slightly, then roughly crush half of them. Prick the pastry base several times with a fork, line with foil and fill with baking beans, rice or dried pulses. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and beans and bake for another 6 minutes until golden. Meanwhile, put the sugar, syrup, butter and cream into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and stir together until it melts. Sprinkle over the cornflour and whisk until it thickens into a smooth, silky mixture. Take off the heat and stir in the bourbon, egg yolks and salt, followed by the crushed pecans. Tip into the pie crust and arrange the remaining pecans on top. Bake for about 25 minutes until set on top. Allow to cool before serving. Pecan pie: southern gem or poor pretender to the pumpkin's crown? And if you're not sold on either, what will the Americans among you be making for dessert tonight?
Has anyone got a better name for mincemeat?

Readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts
Mmm what should we call that lovely stuff inside? Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian
Having just made a batch of mincemeat, I wish there was a more appropriate term for the labels: there's no meat, no suet (or even vegetable fat); just fruit, spices and cider. Has anyone come across a better name that doesn't conflict with the Trades Descriptions Act or EU bureaucracy? Jill Bennett, St Albans, Herts Post your answers and new questions below or email them to nq@theguardian.com. Please include name, address and phone number
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Gambles: the IT guy Janet Delaney's best photograph: a burnt-out San Francisco kitchen
Gambles: the IT guy

He's Beyonc's designer, he's dating a model, and when he picked up a guitar, he accidentally ended up with one of the most striking albums of the year. Laura Barton meets the New Yorker who calls himself Gambles
Laura Barton The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 17.30 GMT Jump to comments ()
Matthew Siskin, AKA Gambles. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Matthew Daniel Siskin, the musician better known as Gambles, is sitting in a London cafe drinking raspberry lemonade and talking about the person who inspired his song Animal, a slow, heartfelt appeal to a lover to "follow me, between these words where we can be". The New Yorker tells me slowly: "I can't say who it is. But she knows. That it's her."
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Gambles Trust Gmbls 2013
Meanwhile, I am keeping a quiet tally of all the women who surface in Gambles' life and lyrics: the people mentioned or alluded to, for example, in the 13 songs that appear on his debut album Trust. With its striking honesty and raw Cohenesque tone, it is one of the saddest and most impressive records of the year. There is Eloise, the friend who spurred him on to write music. And Sophie, who came up with the name Gambles as they walked along a beach in Atlantic City one day. There is an anonymous girl with whom he was once obsessed. There is Beyonc, for whom Siskin works in his day job as creative director of a design company (it runs her website, which launched last year). There is his girlfriend, the model Britany Nola, about whom he talks with sweet enthusiasm (where they met, how he wooed her). And most particularly, there is his unnamed ex-wife: it was their marriage, their divorce, the loss of their child and the loss of his mind that inspired so many of Trust's songs. "I can talk about this shit, it's fine," he says, half to himself, half to either me or the lemonade. "I hate being misunderstood. And I hate the idea of being thought a bad person. I did a lot of crazy shit I couldn't explain to people. When I started to write these songs, I felt like I had certain things I needed to say out loud. Mainly just to her. To tell her she's awesome. To say, 'You're incredible and I wasn't kidding about anything I said before.'" What was surprising to Siskin, now 31, was that he felt the desire not just to say these things but to sing them. Although he had played guitar in a rock band some years before, he had chosen design as a career. "So I wasn't setting out to have a musical career," he says. "I just felt I had to sing." What happened next was, therefore, the unexpected blossoming of a near-accidental music career. A year ago, he recorded a distorted, unpolished one-take version of a song, Trust, and posted it on the internet. Somehow, it was found by the music website Pitchfork. "And then," he says, "all these people wanted to work with me." You would be forgiven for assuming that this ascent was an exercise in marketing prowess. Siskin is, after all, an expert in this field. And yet these songs, the wrench of them, suggest otherwise. "As a designer, I think strategically. I think branding. I think ingredients. But I wasn't trying it just came out sounding like that. Honestly. And I hate a lot of bands and singer-songwriters because it's so, 'Poor me, oh me, look at me.' Because it's just ego and wrong. With my songs, I know it's different." Siskin's day of reckoning had been coming for a while. He had been working on "lots of big projects for lots of big clients" while his emotional life was in a downward spiral: he and his wife had married quickly and lost a baby; both were now struggling to cope. There was a lot of drinking, a lot of drugs, a lot of difficult behaviour, and he was plagued by the feeling that something was not right in his life. "I was always two people. I felt, 'It's time to become one person.' It was very physical, which sounds like such bullshit, but I'd wake up in the middle of the night, in bed with my wife, having a panic attack. I'd be freaking the fuck out. And she'd say, 'What is wrong with you?' All I could say was, 'I'm not doing what I should be doing.' And I began to take that out on everyone around me." One day, he went out and bought a guitar and stared at it for days before reminding himself how to play. "Then, on my Blackberry, I started writing lyrics. It was like being honest for the first time. And then it was like a flood. I didn't even know it was in there." The decision to pursue a musical career startled many of those close to him. "My dad said, 'You're making a huge mistake, what are you doing? You're giving up this life to be a singer?' He said, 'You're delusional! Come on, son, get it together, that's not what life's about!'" But Siskin stood fast. "I told him, 'You're not wrong but you don't understand yet.'" They have, by now, accepted this new career. "They get it," he says. "They love it and it's all good." His mother has even become his business manager. His father, a shoe designer, has given his blessing in the form of a pair of boots. Siskin nods down to his feet. "These boots I have he made them. They're custom Gambles shoes." In its original incarnation, the album culminated in the track 265 a sober, haunted portrayal of the very end of a relationship named after the number of the house where he and his wife lived. Siskin planned to end the record here
relationship named after the number of the house where he and his wife lived. Siskin planned to end the record here "because it was the last place I was with her. I would go to the house and sit on the end of the bed, and she would sleep, and I would wish I didn't feel this way." But, as he began to emerge from their breakup, he found other songs arrived, ones that reflected "that I was alive and living and walking around, meeting amazing people. And I thought, 'Well, that should be in there, too, because I'm not just this sad songwriter holding on to this relationship." Siskin has seen his ex-wife once since they split. He sent her his songs and asked her to dinner and feels they both found comfort in the meeting. "She said the one lyric that stood out to her in Trust was, 'When he's gone you can begin.' She said, 'It humanised you because I suddenly understood the whole thing.'" They have both begun again. His ex-wife has remarried, and Siskin does not hear from her. He has his new relationship, new friends, a new career, and there is a gleam to him, as if he is somehow exhilarated to find his life so transformed. But every once in a while even he reels at the memories these songs bring back, at the honesty of his own lyrics. "Anyone who knows us personally, anyone who was there, knows what I'm singing about," he says. "Some days I listen to them and think, 'Shit, was I really this open?'"
Janet Delaney's best photograph: a burnt-out San Francisco kitchen

'I like how the flour and baking soda survived the fire. It looks like you could still make a cake' Having trouble seeing the full image? Click here
Interview by Kate Abbott The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013 Jump to comments ()
A detail from Mary Gardner's Kitchen after the July 10th Folsom St Fire, 1981, by Janet Delaney. Click to enlarge
It was 3am and I was just getting ready for bed when I noticed that the sky outside my window had turned red. Then I heard fire engines and I knew the apartment block next to mine had gone up in flames. South of Market by Janet Delaney
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Tell us what you think: Star-rate and review this book When I realised I wouldn't be in direct danger, I went to photograph the fire. While pictures of a blaze are seductively red, the actual experience of one is terrifying. I wanted to show that instead, so the next morning I went over to see what I could find. You'd have thought the police would have stopped me, but because I had a camera and tripod I looked official. They gave me a pass, and I walked right into an apartment. A shaking, elderly woman called Mary Gardner was in her kitchen being interviewed by local TV. She had lived there for 30 years, raised her children there, and a young journalist was asking her appallingly intimate questions about how it felt to lose everything. The thought of posing that question to a stranger made me feel sick. I felt it would have been way too intrusive to photograph her, so I turned my camera away and snapped her kitchen sink instead. I felt invasive, but at the same time I was adamant that the fire should be recorded as part of my overall South of Market project. I asked Mary's permission first. "Take the picture," she said. "I want everyone to see what happened here." Firemen were boarding up the windows, so all the light was going. With all their activity, the floor was shaking, too, so I asked them to stop for a moment. I can't believe they actually did. It was 1981, and I was living in the South of Market area of San Francisco, a poor neighbourhood full of factories and warehouses with some housing mixed in. A fire department around the corner had just been closed, so it had taken a long time for the trucks to show up. That's why the fire raged out of control. I wanted to capture something universal, but also find something symbolic to show how this neighbourhood was effectively under siege by this lack of support. San Francisco was becoming the place to be for the gay community. Because the old warehouses in South of Market were being converted, a lot of gay men were moving in. There were plenty of bathhouses and sexual playhouses around the area, too and there was still a lot of homophobia.
When reporters asked the fire chief how it had started, he pointed to the newly arrived gay community as a likely cause. There was a rumour the fire started in a poppers factory, and he repeated it. This ended up being reported in the papers. But they found it was actually a disgruntled former employee of a building contractor who had set some painting rags alight. It was just one more story that showed the fear surrounding this changing San Francisco. I like how you can still see the residue of home life: the fact that the flour and baking soda survived fascinated me. It looks like you could still make a cake. Homelife and domesticity, the shot seems to say, are fragile yet tenacious things. And is that a skateboard up top? Perhaps Mary put it out of reach of a naughty grandchild. All these years, I've wondered what it's doing up there.
CV
Born: Compton, California, 1952. Studied: San Francisco Art Institute. Influences: Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Eugene Atget. High point: "Being out on the street shooting. Photography is my best friend." Low point: "The transition from analogue to digital. It took me 10 years to feel confident about it." Top tip: "Spend as much time as you can on an artwork. We get too distracted these days."
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Narnia's Lost Poet: the Secret Lives and Loves of CS Lewis; Tudor Monastery Farm TV review TV highlights 28/11/2013
Narnia's Lost Poet: the Secret Lives and Loves of CS Lewis; Tudor Monastery Farm TV review
AN Wilson's documentary about CS Lewis was a loving tribute to his subject
Lucy Mangan The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
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AN Wilson on CS Lewis great feeling and sentimentality. Photograph: Ian Denyer/BBC/What Larks Productions Ltd/Ian Denyer
Where do you go if you're a nine-year-old boy in Belfast, 1907 and your mother has just died? If you're Clive Staples Lewis known to his friends and family as "Jack" you go, almost immediately, to a boarding school in England, sent by a loving but grieving and misguided father. Your inner self goes anywhere but. Lewis retreated into the Norse myths and legends whose "pure northernness" bleak, wild, cruelly magnificent was balm for a boy in mourning. Out of that came a career at Oxford and then Cambridge, as an English and medieval scholar, and success as a children's novelist he created the Narnia stories, of course and as a Christian, whose faith and accessible prose and radio broadcasts gave succour and strength to a nation during and after the second world war. All this, Lewis's biographer AN Wilson set out with great feeling and no sentimentality during Narnia's Lost Poet: the Secret Lives and Loves of CS Lewis (BBC4). It is always a delight to see a presenter transformed by a love of his subject, and never more so than with Wilson, whose default expression lies somewhere between nauseated and spitting contempt and can be a touch offputting to those who come across it unprepared. Lewis led not so much a double life as parts of many. He was an Oxford student who only pretended to live in halls, because he was in fact living with a woman called Mrs Moore, the mother of his friend Paddy. The young men had met during officer training and had promised to take care of the other's single remaining parent should one of them die in the war they were about to go off and fight. Paddy was killed in action in 1918. Lewis lived with and loved Mrs Moore certainly as a second mother, probably as a lover until she died. After that, of course, came Joy Gresham and the part of the story the wider public came to know first through his book A Grief Observed and later through the film Shadowlands another great loss that made you wonder, his observations notwithstanding, how he bore it. Lewis was an atheist who became a devout and publicly proselytising Christian, a scholar immersed in what many would think of as the driest of subjects in the dourest, most emotionally repressed of environments medieval literature in 1920s-50s Oxbridge who, as AN Wilson said, habitually listened to his heart rather than his head and who from childhood had been animated by a profound and innate sense of the ineffable. He relates in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, how as a child, his older brother Warnie constructed a miniature twig-and-moss forest for him on a biscuit tin lid, and the young Jack was overcome by a mixture of longing and elation: "an unsatisfied desire that is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction." That was before his mother died. Maybe without that void to fill, he would have been satisfied with myths, legends, an "ordinary" wife and an ordinary academic career. As it was, he found Mrs Moore and God, and gave us Narnia instead. All these links, currents and crosscurrents were delicately evoked rather than determinedly traced by Wilson, as is surely proper when it comes to reading the man in his work and the work in the man. It created a beautifully appropriate air of loving respect both for the man and his art, that was as much of a tribute to him as the plaque just
unveiled in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. You were surprised by the joy indeed. Now, you know I love me a bit of how-they-did-it-in-ye-olden-times reality TV, right? And you know I particularly love me a bit of the BBC's Victorian/Edwardian/Wartime Farms with their wattlework, willow-weaving and er wrationing, yeah? Well, step back baby, because we just went hardcore with thank you all the television gods Tudor Monastery Farm (BBC2). I'm sorry, I've been away and not able to alert you to its return before this, the third episode, but it's all on iPlayer. I am a little bit worried, however. There seems not to be quite the granular detail there was in earlier series, which, given the rich pickings of the period is doubly concerning, and the level of repetition in the voiceover script was truly ridiculous (yes, yes, they drank ale because it made unsanitary Tudor water safe. We have read Any Three Pages of Any Tudor Historical Fiction. We Tudor get it. Move Tudorly on). Don't start diluting this potent little brew, or I promise I will get a little-bit-later-than-medieval on your ass. This week's TV highlights TV listings in full
TV highlights 28/11/2013
Legacy | Getting Rich in the Recession: Scrappers | Surviving the Arctic with Chris Terrill | 4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog | Drifters | What Happens in Kavos | Blue Bloods | Football: Swansea City v Valencia
Gwilym Mumford, Julia Raeside, John Robinson, Rachel Aroesti, Hannah Verdier, Ben Arnold, David Stubbs, The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
Charlie Cox and Romola Garai in Legacy. Photograph: Slim Film & TV/BBC/
Legacy 9pm, BBC2

Beautifully shot, London-set cold war thriller starring Charlie Cox as a rookie British spy who finds out his late father was also up to his neck in the game. It's 1974 and Britain is bricking it over an imminent Russian attack. A strong cast includes Romola Garai and Andrew Scott, playing fellow agent and KGB man respectively, both of whom offer Charlie their own particular flavours of betrayal. Looming over it all is Simon Russell Beale at his beady-eyed, controlled best. Ninety minutes of tense, stylish joy. Julia Raeside
Getting Rich in the Recession: Scrappers 9pm, Channel 4

There's the Kirstie Allsopp way of doing the recession, all painting over furniture and making jam. Then there's the way they do it at this scrapyard in Sydenham, London. A million tonnes of electrical goods are discarded each year, with much of what is wasted still functioning. As this doc proves, there's potential for profit for those willing to roll up their sleeves. Glamorous it isn't, but in tough times, and with metal prices soaring, it's a way to make a living. John Robinson
Surviving The Arctic with Chris Terrill 9pm, Channel 5

On his first survival mission, Terrill immerses himself in the reindeer-centric lifestyle of the Sami people. But there's no pre-Christmas jollity here: eagles circle the skies, the snow is studded with reindeer corpses and sledge rides result in a faceful of icy shards. Because it's self-shot, the sense of adventure is palpable, but some rarely seen reindeer moments do look a bit as if they were filmed on a mobile phone. Luckily, Terrill conveys enough enthusiasm in his lo-fi footage to keep the magic intact. Rachel Aroesti
4,000-Year-Old Cold Case: The Body in the Bog 9pm, BBC4

Nowadays, when the weather's on the turn, we whack up the central heating. But for iron-age types, the solution was less expensive: butchering their own royalty to appease the rain gods. Or so archaeologists have concluded, following the discovery of 17 remarkably preserved murdered bodies in peat bogs in Ireland, some with terror still etched on their faces. As one forensic scientist comments: "They clamour for our attention as individuals." A haunting, Wicker Man-style tale for chilly evenings. RA
Drifters 9.30pm, E4
You're never far from a laugh with Jessica Knappett's comedy of early 20s malaise. In this final episode, the girls are desperate to make some extra cash, so Bunny naively offers to model for a painter, while Laura toughs it out as her agent. Meanwhile, Meg's creepy ex, Mark, comes into his own when he hosts a 90s night, complete with a crowd full of adoring women and a guest appearance from Pat Sharp. And, in a plot that illustrates Meg's selfishness, when he finds a new girlfriend she realises she wants him back. Hannah Verdier
What Happens In Kavos 10pm, Channel 4

What Happens In Kavos returns to Corfu for another round of nation-shaming, just in case you weren't depressed enough by the first series. In the first in this new run, there is alarm at the medical centre in Kavos as a reveller is
brought in having been discovered collapsed in a bar. Doctors fear that a spiked cocktail is the cause. Those wondering how the resort's humiliating drinking games are conjured up, meanwhile, are able to follow the reps as they devise a deeply unpleasant new range. Ben Arnold
Blue Bloods 10pm, Sky Atlantic

Season four of the family/cop drama begins with the introduction of a new female rookie, as well as a cop-killing in the park. The cops know who did it, but pesky procedures mean they have to get an ID that will stand up in court, and prosecutor Erin doesn't think their sole witness is up to the job. Cue anger both within the station and among the family. All photogenically slick and by the book, but it does make you wonder if mainstream cop drama hasn't actually taken an evolutionary step backwards since Hill Street Blues. David Stubbs
Football: Swansea City v Valencia 5.30pm, ITV4

Swansea began their Europa League Group A campaign in attention-grabbing fashion, with a 3-0 triumph at Spanish titans Valencia. Since then their European performances have tailed off while Valencia's have improved markedly, meaning that Michael Laudrup's side now trail tonight's opponents at the top of Group A. That said, a win here will return the Swans to the top of the group, ensuring qualification to the knockout stages in the process. Preceded by Tromso vs Tottenham. Gwilym Mumford
G2: Puzzles and cartoon
Sudoku 2,668 hard
Sudoku 2,668 hard

The Guardian, Thursday 28 November 2013
Fill the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9. For a helping hand call our solutions line on 09068 338 228. Calls cost 60p per minute at all times. Service supplied by ATS. Buy the next issue of the Guardian or subscribe to our Digital Edition to see the completed puzzle.
Table of Contents
The Guardian and The Observer Top stories Boris Johnson invokes Thatcher spirit with greed is good speech U-turn could result in plain packaging on cigarettes by 2015 NHS to launch Tripadvisor-style website Missing: hard drive containing Bitcoins worth 4m in Newport landfill site Prime minister's questions: Mickey Fab gives it plenty of lip Happiness study finds that UK is passing point of peak life satisfaction Carole Waugh: how a secret life led her into the path of a murderous conman UK news Nigella Lawson's personal assistants spent 685,000 in 'greedy free-for-all'
Nigella Lawson's personal assistants spent 685,000 in 'greedy free-for-all' UK claims growing support over migration in clash with Brussels David Cameron's migration plans are impractical, inequitable or illegal Brian Cox attacks 'nonsensical' plans to cut science funding and student grants Chapmans at the Serpentine: Ronald McDonald, Nazis and Daniel Craig as a gorilla Rebekah Brooks 'ordered deletion of millions of News International emails' Stop deferring to human rights court, says senior judge Water shortages may make fracking impractical, industry says Jon Venables tweet gets man suspended jail term Bedroom tax: stress and struggle as benefits clawback hits home Charities attack treatment delays for mental health patients Andrew Mitchell's legal team loses costs appeal in 'plebgate' libel action Misty the dinosaur sold in UK auction BBC chief wants corporation to be 'less British' defending the licence fee Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor takes $10m at the box office in three days Alistair Darling accuses Salmond of 'back of envelope' data for Scotland Katy Perry and Arctic Monkeys sign on to bring real X factor to the Brits 90,000 Porsche gets low-carbon government grant Scottish independence: Spain blocks Alex Salmond's hopes for EU transition Tony Blair plotted military intervention in Zimbabwe, claims Thabo Mbeki Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore suffers prison heart attack Ministers will order ISPs to block terrorist and extremist websites Anxiang Du found guilty of murdering family of four Cuts may force councils to stop funding arts and leisure services by 2015 Woman 'gave 60,000 inheritance to Maoist sect before falling to her death' Alexander Litvinenko inquest: high court halts lifting of secrecy order Christian guesthouse owners lose appeal over right to bar gay couples Poor oral hygiene linked to heart disease study Speaker's committee to look into electronic voting Financial Power to set bank leverage ratios is blunt but powerful Vince Cable defends Royal Mail valuation as profit almost doubles Royal Mail major shareholders to be asked if shares were too cheap New RBS chief Ross McEwan denies 'systematic' profiteering Albemarle & Bond issues second profit warning in two months City grandee alleges 'dirty tricks' in ongoing legal spat with ENRC Yellow Pages owner Hibu calls in administrators Tesco planning same-day delivery as it battles rivals Bank of England has no veto over Help to Buy, Carney tells MPs More Londoners opting to live on boats 'is leading to overcrowding' United Utilities pledges to raise water bills only by RPI inflation Consumer-led recovery slows as caution sets in Royal Mail's flotation row: two unexplored questions OECD takes aim at Greek red tape to boost growth Tesco: private investors may feel shelves stacked against them North Sea oil and gas at risk, Aberdeen survey says Npower to cut 1,400 UK jobs in outsourcing to India Debt could trigger next crash, says thinktank Premium-rate phone line firm fined and banned International Is Shinzo Abe's 'new nationalism' a throwback to Japanese imperialism? Senkaku islands row reflects broader tensions between China and Japan
CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan 'unmasked' by Imran Khan's party Pakistan's prime minister announces new army chief as spymaster retires NSA 'collected details of online sexual activity' of Islamist radicals Greek court acquits editor who leaked 'Lagarde list' of suspected tax evaders Two killed as crane collapses at Brazilian World Cup stadium Belgian senate panel to vote on bill to extend euthanasia to minors Silvio Berlusconi's critics toast former PM's ignominious exit from senate Ups and downs of Silvio Berlusconi's political career timeline New Zealand aims to become leading maker of diet wines Spanish pianist not guilty of noise pollution and psychological damage Mali coup leader arrested on kidnapping charges Germany's grey manifesto is more old than bold Rwanda launches circumcision campaign to tackle HIV Latvia's prime minister resigns over supermarket roof collapse For Canada's remote towns, living with polar bears is growing more risky Polar bear numbers in Hudson Bay of Canada on verge of collapse Egypt's highest-profile secular activists threatened with arrest Reviews OAE/Levin/Chuang review Nickelback review Alex Horne: Lies review The Anatomy of Melancholy review Lizzie Siddal review Comment & debate What Paul Flowers and Nigella Lawson can tell us about addiction America isn't leaving the Middle East, unfortunately Austerity is wreaking havoc, but the left can unite to build a better Europe Diary: Rowan Williams is back and bashing the prime minister Labour must answer the SNP with more than a slogan Editorials & reply European migration: wanted an argument In praise of the Iveagh bequest Japan and China: collision course We need to talk about immigration, just not in this way The real winners in Germany's election My friend Araucaria Will the English still see the fairest of them all reflected back? Corrections and clarifications Fast and fabulous Under a fallen log is a pink slime mould Tough choices over Scottish independence Obituaries Les Halpin obituary Stan Stennett obituary Anne Barton obituary Sport Willie Mullins likely to run Prince De Beauchene in Hennessy Gold Cup Sports book of year 2013: Jamie Reid wins with horse racing story Doped New Zealand's Sonny Bill Williams primed to make final impact Stuart Broad: Adelaide Test, not Jonathan Trott, must be England focus Australia's Israel Folau aims to cap good campaign with win in Wales Mitchell Johnson defends Australian tactics and captain Michael Clarke
Mitchell Johnson defends Australian tactics and captain Michael Clarke Rugby World Cup 2015: late kick-offs and high ticket prices test fans Everton ready to cope without Leighton Baines, says Phil Jagielka Premier League poaches Team Sky sporting director to boost young talent Celtic fans urged to leave politics at home as Uefa acts over banners Owen Coyle feels destiny is at hand for Wigan in the Europa League Tottenham Hotspur's Andr Villas-Boas out to avoid Arctic chill in Tromso Michael Laudrup knows Swansea face a testing time against Valencia Andr Villas-Boas bullish about his future as Tottenham Hotspur manager Qatar grants exit visa to stranded French footballer Manchester United's best days are still to come says David Moyes Slipshod Manchester City leave it late against Viktoria Plzen Match fixing: English football players arrested in global investigation Ryan Giggs sparks Manchester United rout of Bayer Leverkusen G2: Comment & features Could SuBo write a new Scottish national anthem? Whooah Livin' in Mayfair! Prince William's Bon Jovi moment reimagined Arnon Milchan and a brief history of Hollywood spies Is Sony's 'smart wig' even more absurd than Google Glass? Why The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen is a role model for our times Mary Berry or Alex Ferguson: the search for 2013's top celebrity memoir Blair tells Murdoch: God told me to visit Wendi Jack Monroe's tomato and bean soup recipe Jell-O salads: American abomination or Thanksgiving treat? How to make the perfect pecan pie Has anyone got a better name for mincemeat? G2: Arts Gambles: the IT guy Janet Delaney's best photograph: a burnt-out San Francisco kitchen G2: TV and radio in G2 Narnia's Lost Poet: the Secret Lives and Loves of CS Lewis; Tudor Monastery Farm TV review TV highlights 28/11/2013 G2: Puzzles and cartoon Sudoku 2,668 hard

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Top stories UK news Financial International Reviews Comment & debate Editorials & reply Obituaries Sport G2:

Boris Johnson invokes Thatcher spirit with greed is good speech

U-turn could result in plain packaging on cigarettes by 2015

NHS to launch Tripadvisor-style website

Missing: hard drive containing Bitcoins worth 4m in Newport landfill site

Prime minister's questions: Mickey Fab gives it plenty of lip

Happiness study finds that UK is passing point of peak life satisfaction

Nigella Lawson's personal assistants spent 685,000 in 'greedy free-forall'

UK claims growing support over migration in clash with Brussels

David Cameron's migration plans are impractical, inequitable or illegal

is all very gooey and despicable, and very funny.

Rebekah Brooks 'ordered deletion of millions of News International emails'

Stop deferring to human rights court, says senior judge

Water shortages may make fracking impractical, industry says

Sign up for the daily email

Jon Venables tweet gets man suspended jail term

Bedroom tax: stress and struggle as benefits clawback hits home

Charities attack treatment delays for mental health patients

Misty the dinosaur sold in UK auction

Alistair Darling accuses Salmond of 'back of envelope' data for Scotland

90,000 Porsche gets low-carbon government grant

Scottish independence: Spain blocks Alex Salmond's hopes for EU transition

The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.57 GMT Jump to comments ()

Tony Blair plotted military intervention in Zimbabwe, claims Thabo Mbeki

Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore suffers prison heart attack

Ministers will order ISPs to block terrorist and extremist websites

Anxiang Du found guilty of murdering family of four

Du travelling on a bus on the day of the killings. Photograph: Northamptonshire police/PA

The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 19.34 GMT

Alexander Litvinenko inquest: high court halts lifting of secrecy order

Poor oral hygiene linked to heart disease study

Speaker's committee to look into electronic voting

John Bercow, the Commons Speaker. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Power to set bank leverage ratios is blunt but powerful

Vince Cable defends Royal Mail valuation as profit almost doubles

theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 11.34 GMT Jump to comments ()

Royal Mail major shareholders to be asked if shares were too cheap

New RBS chief Ross McEwan denies 'systematic' profiteering

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Albemarle & Bond issues second profit warning in two months

Yellow Pages owner Hibu calls in administrators

Tesco planning same-day delivery as it battles rivals

A Tesco food delivery lorry. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Demotix/Corbis

More Londoners opting to live on boats 'is leading to overcrowding'

The Guardian, Wednesday 27 November 2013 22.36 GMT Jump to comments ()

United Utilities pledges to raise water bills only by RPI inflation

Consumer-led recovery slows as caution sets in

Royal Mail's flotation row: two unexplored questions

OECD takes aim at Greek red tape to boost growth

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Tesco: private investors may feel shelves stacked against them

A Tesco food delivery lorry. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Demotix/Corbis

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North Sea oil and gas at risk, Aberdeen survey says

Npower to cut 1,400 UK jobs in outsourcing to India

Npower is to cut 1,400 UK jobs. Photograph: Andy Hepburn/PA

Debt could trigger next crash, says thinktank

Top credit cards

Premium-rate phone line firm fined and banned

Is Shinzo Abe's 'new nationalism' a throwback to Japanese imperialism?

CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan 'unmasked' by Imran Khan's party

theguardian.com, Wednesday 27 November 2013 13.52 GMT

Pakistan's prime minister announces new army chief as spymaster retires