London Evening Standard 1 June 2017

Prince William’s
noble cause
Lifelong republican
Alastair Campbell
praises the young
royals’ mental
health campaign
Page 14
Thursday 1 June 2017
FREE
standard.co.uk
WEST END FINAL EXTRA
MAY: I’LL
FIGHT
TO EARN
YOUR
TRUST
Joe Murphy Political Editor
THERESA MAY called on the public to “trust” her
today as a new poll revealed support for Jeremy
Corbyn surging in London.
The Prime Minister used a key speech in the
North-East to inject a touch of humility into her
plea for five more years at No 10. “If you put your
trust in me, back me, I will strive to be a leader
worthy of our great country,” she said. “People
Continued on Pages 2 & 3
PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS COLLS, COURTESY OF THE EDIT, NET-A-PORTER
[ PM’S IMPASSIONED PLEA TO VOTERS AS
POLL PUTS CORBYN AHEAD IN LONDON
‘RUTHLESS’ PALTROW ON
HER MISTAKES, DIVORCE
AND WHY SHE’S MOCKED
FULL STORY PAGE 11
THOUSANDS OF FREE TICKETS TO SEE THE WORLD PARA ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CAPITAL » PAGES 26&27
2
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING STANDARD
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News |
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Tories could lose seats
Continued from Page 1
COMMENT »
LONDONER’S DIARY »
14-15
16-17
LETTERS »
GAMES & PUZZLES »
35
52
can have faith in me because I have
faith in them.” Repeatedly asking for
“faith” or “trust”, Mrs May said she
would “fight to earn every vote” after a
month of campaigning in which the
polls have narrowed, dousing Tory
hopes of a major landslide next week.
A new poll of Londoners reveals
today that more think Mr Corbyn
would make a better Prime Minister.
Labour has opened up a 17-point lead
in the capital. The Tories, who hoped
to gain seats in London, could now lose
them. The current standing of the parties reflects how the capital voted in
1997 when Tony Blair won his landslide
first victory, according to the YouGov
poll of 1,000 Londoners produced for
Queen Mary University of London.
Labour is on 50 per cent, up from 41
per cent a month ago. The Tories are
on 33 per cent, down from 36 in a
month. In March the parties were three
percentage points apart, at 37 to 34.
Asked who would make the best Prime
Minister, 37 per cent picked Mr Corbyn
and 34 per cent Mrs May. A survey taken
just after the manifesto launches last
month had Mrs May ahead by 38 to 32.
The findings are further evidence that
the Tory campaign lost its way after the
row over the so-called dementia tax.
In Mrs May’s fightback speech, she
put the issue of Brexit talks, which she
called the “great national mission”, at
the heart of the election. In London,
VOTING INTENTION
March
24-28
Con
34%
Lab
37%
Lib Dem
14%
UKIP
9%
Green
5%
April 27
to May 2
36%
41%
14%
6%
3%
May
26-31
33%
50%
11%
3%
2%
TRUST TO FIGHT TERRORISM
How much, if at all, would you trust the
following leaders to make the right decisions
about keeping Britain safe from terrorism?
THERESA
MAY
JEREMY
CORBYN
Trust
Would not trust
Trust
Would not trust
42%
46%
41%
47%
Which of the following do you think would make the best Prime Minister?
May
May Remain Leave
Gender
Age
19-23 26-31 voters voters Men Women 18-24 25-39 50-64 65+
Theresa May 38% 34% 25% 56% 39% 30% 23% 29% 40% 56%
Jeremy Corbyn 32% 37% 50% 19% 38% 36% 49% 42% 30% 19%
YouGov / Queen Mary University of London. Sample size: 1,000 London adults. Fieldwork: May 26-31, 2017
YOUNG VOTER TURNOUT WILL BE DECISIVE
LABOUR’S surge reflects YouGov’s
belief that young people will vote in
greater numbers at this election.
Every pollster takes care to reflect
Britain’s precise mix of age groups,
social classes and so on. For general
elections, however, a difficult
judgment must be made about which
respondents will actually vote.
Mr Corbyn was giving a rival vision for
Brexit, saying Labour would protect
the economy, jobs and living standards
in negotiations with Brussels.
Professor Philip Cowley, director of
Queen Mary University’s Mile End Institute, said of the poll findings: “This
YouGov, like all pollsters, asks people
how sure they are to vote.
But some pollsters give more weight
to previous election turnouts, which
found many younger people who
promised to vote did not. “It comes
down to whether that enthusiastic
corps of young people vote or not,”
said YouGov’s Anthony Wells.
wasn’t part of the Conservative script for
the election. They didn’t expect to be
looking at potential losses in London.”
Boris Johnson was today deployed to
rally Tory supporters. “We are fighting
for every vote, because the future of
our country is at stake,” he said. The
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
3
)
| News
in capital as Labour opens 17-point lead
HENDON
Matthew
Offord
(Con)
Challenger:
Mike Katz
(Lab)
Majority:
3,724
TWICKENHAM
Tania
Mathias
(Con)
TORIES
UNDER
THREAT
LABOUR SEATS
THAT NOW
LOOK SAFE
Ilford North
Wes Streeting
Hampstead & Kilburn
Tulip Siddiq
Enfield North
Joan Ryan
Brentford & Isleworth
Ruth Cadbury
Ealing Central & Acton
Rupa Huq
KINGSTON AND SURBITON
James
Berry
(Con)
Challenger:
Sir Ed Davey
(LD)
Majority:
2,834
CROYDON CENTRAL
Gavin
Barwell
(Con)
Challenger:
Sir Vince
Cable (LD)
Challenger:
Sarah Jones
(Lab)
Majority:
2,017
Majority:
165
Foreign Secretary said Home Secretary
Amber Rudd, whose father died on Monday, had given a “heroic” performance
in last night’s TV debate on BBC1. He
accused the corporation of bias, saying
it had been “the most Left-wing studio
audience the BBC has ever brought
together”. The BBC said ComRes, the
pollsters, had picked the audience.
Surprisingly, given the fierce Conservative advertising campaign on
social media to highlight Mr Corbyn’s
record of opposing anti-terrorist laws
and his links with Sinn Fein and Hamas,
he and Mrs May are virtually neck-andneck when Londoners were asked who
they trust to keep the country safe from
extremists. Mrs May is trusted by 42
per cent and distrusted by 46. The
Labour leader, who has argued that
fewer foreign wars would reduce the
terrorism threat, is trusted by 41 and
distrusted by 47.
The fine detail of the survey reveals
that Mr Corbyn is strikingly unpopular
with older voters, with over-65s dividing three-to-one for Mrs May and the
Conservatives. But he has a clear lead
TABLES HAVE TURNED IF
POLL SWING IS CORRECT
AT THE start of May, five Labour
marginals looked at risk. Now four
Tories appear to be. Gavin Barwell,
the minister for London nursing the
capital’s smallest majority (165) in
Croydon Central, is most threatened.
In Kingston & Surbiton, James Berry
(2,834) is in a knife-edge battle with
Lib-Dem rival Sir Ed Davey. Other
fights too close to call are in Hendon,
where Matthew Offord has a majority
of 3,724 over Labour, and
Twickenham, where Tania Mathias
beat Sir Vince Cable by 2,017 votes in
2015. But in Carshalton & Wallington,
Lib Dem Tom Brake is under threat
from the Tories. Breathing easier are
Labour’s Wes Streeting (Ilford North),
Rupa Huq (Ealing Central & Acton),
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford & Isleworth),
Joan Ryan (Enfield North) and Tulip
Siddiq (Hampstead & Kilburn). But
these are estimates, based on YouGov
polling and private intelligence, all
crunched with UK-Elect software.
Joe Murphy
among younger and Remain voters.
O The Tories have had massive donations from the rich, the Election Commission said today. Donor John E Gore
gave £1 million and JCB £500,000.
More election reports Pages 6-9
4
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING STANDARD
)
News |
Kate Proctor Political Reporter
BORIS JOHNSON today said Britain will
continue to pressure Donald Trump
into cutting CO2 emissions ahead of
the US president’s expected decision
to withdraw from the Paris climate
change agreement.
Mr Trump was reportedly preparing
to announce tonight that he will be
pulling America out of its commitment
to the landmark 2015 Paris Accord — a
deal spearheaded by Barack Obama.
His decision has caused alarm around
the world, with China’s prime minister
Li Keqiang issuing a statement stressing
the fight against climate change is an
“international responsibility”.
Mr Johnson, the Foreign Secretary,
told BBC News: “We want to see America to continue to show leadership on
climate change and in reducing CO2
emissions and we continue to lobby
with the Americans to encourage them
to do that.”
His concern comes as Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she was disappointed by Mr Trump’s stance and
would try to influence the country’s
approach to emissions.
Mr Trump promised to abandon the
deal during his election campaign and
to boost fossil fuels.
Trump and Clinton feud Page 24
Southern Rail commuters
face fresh chaos next week
after union bans overtime
Dick Murray
HUNDREDS of thousands of Southern
Rail passengers on commuter lines
serving London face major daily disruption from Monday after union leaders
ordered a return of industrial action.
It means hundreds of trains cancelled,
delayed and more overcrowded than
usual for the foreseeable future —
including election day next Thursday.
Southern, however, was today desperate for a deal and trying to arrange a
last-ditch meeting with Aslef to get the
union to call off a planned overtime ban
by up to 1,000 drivers from Sunday.
The company dramatically cancelled
an 11am announcement, set to detail a
new emergency timetable, in a move
understood to allow a crisis meeting
with Aslef to go ahead later today.
It left Southern’s 300,000 passengers
in the dark about what sort of train
service they will have next week.
Senior company staff worked through
the night trying to arrange the
emergency timetable and are trying to
estimate how many drivers may ignore
the overtime ban and turn up for
work.
Southern relies on driver overtime to
JEREMY SELWYN
Boris urges
Trump to ‘show
leadership’ on
climate change
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Misery: an overtime ban is set to cause
further pain for Southern Rail commuters
run the full timetable and is desperately
rearranging schedules to operate as
many trains as possible — but up to 25
per cent of its 2,240 daily services face
cancellation and delays.
A senior source connected with the
dispute said of today’s meeting: “The
intention is at least to get Aslef to suspend the overtime ban.”
Most drivers work a four-day week
with a fifth day — a rest day — as overtime. An Aslef strike ballot resulted in
an 87.3 per cent turnout with 77 per
cent backing strikes and 95.6 per cent
in favour of action short of a strike,
which includes the overtime ban.
Drivers staged a previous two-monthlong overtime ban that was suspended
in January to allow fresh peace talks —
which failed again — to take place.
Passengers expressed shock and
dismay at the fresh disruption. On
the so-called “train of shame”, the 7.29
Brighton to Victoria, which was late
every day for a year, there was anger.
City worker Sam Lewis, 29, said: “It
is just unbelievable this dispute is still
going on and continues to cause misery.
I know people forced to move and even
split up because of the pressure caused
by this total chaos. Neither side has any
compassion for passengers. They are
all a disgrace.”
Health professional Maurice Britton,
49, said: “The last few weeks have seen
services improve. I am in disbelief this
whole year of misery is about to start
again. No one seems to care and that is
the reality. It is just chaos.”
GTR, Southern’s parent company,
said it was “finalising plans” for which
services will run.
The RMT union is also considering a
further 24-hour strike.
For latest on the strike talks:
standard.co.uk/southern
NEWS IN BRIEF
Manchester benefit gig
sells out in 20 minutes
TICKETS for Sunday’s benefit
concert in aid of the victims of the
Manchester bombing have sold
out in less than 20 minutes.
Demand for the £40 One Love
Manchester tickets crashed the
Ticketmaster website. Stars
joining US singer Ariana Grande at
Old Trafford include Justin Bieber,
Katy Perry and Coldplay.
Ex-Coronation Street star
Barraclough dies at 81
FORMER star of
Coronation Street
Roy Barraclough,
right, has died,
aged 81, after a
short illness. He
was best known for
playing Alec Gilroy in the ITV
soap and for his double-act
Cissie and Ada with Les Dawson.
Brexit pushes up wine
cost to all-time high
THE “Brexit effect” has pushed the
average cost of a bottle of wine to
a record £5.56. Sterling’s slump
against key currencies since the
vote to quit the EU has pushed up
the cost of imports. The price, in
the 12 weeks to March 25, is 16p up
on that period last year, says the
Wine and Spirit Trade Association.
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
5
| News
Google play: tech giant’s new HQ … with rooftop
running trail, pool and sports hall for workers
Joanna Bourke Jonathan Prynn
and Rashid Razaq
WORKERS at Google’s vast new
London HQ will enjoy an unprecedented range of play facilities including
a swimming pool, 200-metre rooftop
running trail and covered sports hall
for basketball, plans reveal.
The Silicon Valley giant lodged an
updated vision for its £1 billion King’s
Cross campus with Camden council
yesterday after scrapping a previous
set of proposals.
Around 4,500 “Googlers” will work
at the 870,000 sq ft building — the first
the firm has designed for itself outside
America — when it is completed.
The venue of seven to 11 storeys will
have facilities that would not be out of
place in a five-star hotel to “ensure the
health and wellbeing of staff and foster
the innovation and creativity that
defines the organisation” according to
the plans.
These include a 300-metre-long landsc aped roof terrace with areas
described as “the fields”, and the “gardens”. It includes a “trim trail” for
runners and walkers with tranquil
“pause areas” surrounded by meadow
and woodland plants. There is also a
rooftop cafe.
A 25-metre swimming pool forms part
of a “wellness and fitness centre”
which also includes a gym, exercise
studio and a 32-metre-long indoor
“multi-use games area” for sports
such as basketball, football and
badminton.
The building, designed by Garden
Bridge architect Thomas Heatherwick
and the Danish Bjarke Ingels Group,
will also have shops and an events centre. When combined with the current
building at 6 Pancras Square and an
additional third property, the
Google campus will have the
potential to house 7,000
employees.
Joe Borrett, director of real
estate and construction, said:
“We are excited to be able to
bring our London Googlers
together in one campus, with
a new purpose-built building
that we’ve developed from the
ground up. Our offices and
Five-star: the
King’s Cross HQ
with 300-metrelong roof terrace,
pool and sports
hall, Below,
designer Thomas
Heatherwick
facilities play a key part in shaping the
Google culture, which is one of
the reasons we are known for being
among the best places to work in the
industry.”
Mr Heatherwick said: “As my home
and the home of my studio for more
than 15 years, I have a close relationship
with King’s Cross.
“The area is a fascinating collision of
diverse building types and spaces and
I can’t help but love this mix of massive
railway stations, roads, canals and
other infrastructure all layered up
into the most connected point in
London.”
The proposals come six months after
Google confirmed it was committed to
the London headquarters — a move
seen as a vote of confidence in
Britain after it leaves the Europpean Union.
Details of the building emerged
as the firm’s London operation is
spearheading the fight against
fake news across Europe with
trainers teaching journalists how
to use its tools to verify photos
and videos are real.
6
News | ELECTION 2017
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING STANDARD
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JUNE 8
Labour inheritance tax raid ‘would
Jonathan Prynn
Consumer Business Editor
Modest: properties such as this terrace in Twickenham (£775,000) and detached
home in Hendon (£750,000) would be affected by Labour’s inheritance tax plans
AN EXTRA 50,000 London pensioners
face “punishing” inheritance tax raids
on the value of their homes under Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto plans, according to a new analysis.
Labour has pledged to scrap Tory
reforms that would have lifted many
pensioner couples out of inheritance
tax by allowing them to pass on up to
£1 million, including family homes, by
2021. This would leave the tax-free
allowance for couples at £650,000.
Research from Savills estate agency says
the proposed move will drag more than
48,000 London homes owned by over65s back into the inheritance tax trap.
One tax adviser called the policy a
“kick in the teeth” for ordinary Londoners who have paid for their homes and
hope to pass them on tax-free. Decades
of price rises means that many are modest suburban properties that were
never intended to be liable for a tax
originally targeted at landed estates.
Many are in marginal seats where the
“grey vote” could make the difference
between Labour or Tory wins.
The borough of Barnet has 4,297
homes worth between £650,000 and
£1 million owned by over-65s, more
than any other part of the capital. These
would be exempt from inheritance tax
under the Conservative policy, which
is currently being phased in, but would
face 40 per cent bills on their value
above the £650,000 threshold under
Labour’s plan.
Other boroughs with large numbers
of properties that would be heavily hit
include Richmond, Bromley, Wandsworth and Ealing — where Rupa Huq
holds the Ealing Central and Acton seat
for Labour with a majority of just 274
Lucian Cook, head of residential
research at Savills, said: “A cut in the
inheritance tax threshold would be
most keenly felt in the affluent suburbs
of London, where older homeowners
are very protective of the substantial
wealth which is tied up in housing.
“It also has the potential to eat into
the inheritance of younger generations,
who have become increasingly reliant
on that money to get on or trade up the
housing ladder. In turn, this may cause
more older households to consider
selling their existing home to downsize
in their retirement.”
Minister for London Gavin Barwell
said: “Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have made clear in their manifesto
that they are planning a family homes
tax which will hit ordinary Londoners
hard. People who have worked hard
and saved all their lives will be punished
if Jeremy Corbyn gets the keys to Downing Street after the election.”
Alex Davies, chief executive of financial advisers Wealth Club, said: “This is
bad news. Inheritance tax is a huge
worry for homeowners — in our recent
survey of high-net-worth investors
nearly a third placed policy changes
and the election as one of their top
concerns, with 45 per cent fearing a rise
in inheritance tax. Existing legislation
ELECTION DIARY
standard.co.uk/politics
CHRIS GRAYLING V
ANDY MCDONALD
GROUND: COMMUTER TRAIN
KICK-OFF: 8AM
Shadow transport secretary Andy
McDonald delighted commuters
making their way into London today
with his pledge to cut the cost of
season tickets by £1,000 over five
years. But those passengers who
checked the fineprint on the back
of the Labour pledge would have
spotted a flaw on the claim.
Labour had used an inflation
formula which was ditched four
years ago.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling
was quick to brand it as another
example of Labour’s sums not
adding up.
Commuters would still save
hundreds of pounds.
Score: Grayling 3, McDonald 2
WHISPERS
O Does Sir Simon Hughes’s ghastly
yellow taxi need a new sat-nav? Some
wayward canvassers have been
delivering Hughes posters over the
border from his former Bermondsey
and Old Southwark constituency in
Harriet Harman’s patch.
O Disgruntled fans paid a whopping
£20 per ticket for a hustings today
organised by Richmond Chamber of
Commerce only to learn that Tory Zac
Goldsmith won’t be there because of
a diary clash. Team Goldsmith insist
they are not to blame — and say the
ticket price is “nuts”.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
‘I didn’t sit through the
whole thing’
Nick Clegg
on whether he watched Tim Farron’s
performance in the BBC leaders’ debate
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
ELECTION 2017
7
JUNE 8 | News
hit 50,000 more London pensioners’
Meet and
greet: Jeremy
Corbyn waves
to supporters
after taking
part in the TV
election debate
Corbyn’s pledge to slash
£1,000 off season ticket
prices falls short by £460
Nicholas Cecil
Deputy Political Editor
is complex and far from perfect but
removing it is a kick in the teeth for
people who have saved over their lifetimes. Even without scrapping it, overall IHT tax take is expected to rise.”
A Labour Party spokesman said: “Reversing the Conservatives’ 2015 inherit-
ance tax give-away, which only benefits
four per cent of estates, will help fund
our plans to transform Britain, including an additional £8 billion for social
care, which is in crisis after £4.6 billion
of cuts by the Conservatives.”
Across London, 343,284 homes are
valued between £650,000 and £1 million. Of these, 176,275 were bought by
owner occupiers, with 48,158 over 65.
In 2013/14, the most recent year with
data, 19,300 UK estates were liable for
inheritance tax — 3,800 were in London
and a further 4,500 in the South East.
Lib Dems draft in Clegg to front campaign finale
Kate Proctor Political Reporter
NICK CLEGG was today drafted in to
front campaigning for Liberal Democrats for the second time in two days.
The former deputy prime minister
visited Kingston Hospital with Tim Farron to warn of the “damaging exodus”
of skilled NHS workers from the EU
because of Brexit.
His intervention comes just 24 hours
after he led the party’s critique of the
Conservative plan to axe universal free
BlogWatch
Rashid Razaq
James Forsyth writes on blogs.
spectator.co.uk: “The BBC’s seven-way
election debate proved that you can’t
have a proper debate with seven
people in it. It was a shouty, bity [sic]
affair in which no one really stood out.
This meant that Theresa May pretty
school meals for infants during a
speech in target seat Vauxhall.
With the Lib Dems averaging 8.5 per
cent in the latest polls, Mr Clegg’s more
frequent appearances beside Mr Farron may be intended to boost the party
in the last eight days of campaigning.
Mr Clegg warned London could lose
8,666 NHS doctors and nurses from the
EU if predictions EU staff will seek to
leave the UK after Brexit bear out.
Alongside Richmond Park candidate
Sarah Olney and former Energy Secre-
tary and Kingston & Surbiton candidate
Sir Ed Davey, Mr Clegg met doctors and
nurses at Kingston who are part of a
support group for EU nationals concerned at the impact of Brexit.
Mr Clegg said: “London depends on
doctors, nurses and other support staff
from the EU. We must guarantee their
rights to stay here immediately to prevent a damaging exodus.”
Businesswoman and pro-Remain
campaigner Gina Miller today joined
the Lib-Dem campaign in Vauxhall.
much got away with her decision not to
turn up. Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t as good
on this programme as he had been on
the Sky / Channel 4 election
programme on Monday night. It was
also a problem for him that Caroline
Lucas was delivering essentially the
same argument as him, but in a more
compelling way.”
Julia Rampen writes on
newstatesman.com: “Scots have voted
tactically on constitutional lines, but
the independence argument is based at
least in part on keeping out the Tories.
A Labour MP is more attractive than
risking a Tory. The litmus test will be
East Renfrewshire, where pro-union
voters can choose between the Tory
candidate and the former chief of
Better Together, Blair McDougall, the
Labour candidate. If he wins, it seems
the anti-Tory vote is back in town.”
JEREMY CORBYN was today accused
of a £460 “con” on hundreds of thousands of commuters, with his election
promise to slash the cost of season
tickets.
Labour pledged that rail passengers
would be £1,000 “better off ” if Mr
Corbyn wins the keys to Number 10
next week.
However, the fine detail of Labour’s
fares polic y shows that it had
“assumed” that the Conservatives, if
they win the election, would revert to
a previously abandoned formula for
setting regulated ticket prices.
Currently, regulated fares — which
include season and commuter tickets
— go up in line with the level of Retail
Price Index inflation.
But Labour’s calculations were based
on a formula of RPI plus one per cent
— which was used until 2013 when it
was ditched amid growing anger from
rail passengers at fast-rising fares for
often overcrowded services.
The Labour analysis suggested that
the cost of an average season ticket of
£2,855 in 2018 would rise to £3,448 by
2022 — a difference of £1,014 over the
five years and a saving of £349 in the
final year.
However, the Conservatives insisted
that they would stick to the existing
formula. If that is used, the same season ticket would rise from £2,855 to
£3,286 — a difference of £551 during
the next parliament.
So Labour’s promise appeared to be
over-inflated by £463, if the same formula was kept until 2022.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling
said: “These dodgy sums are an
attempt by Corbyn to con commuters.
Our policy hasn’t changed and we
remain committed to the five-year
freeze on regulated fares we put in
place in 2015. Once again, Jeremy Corbyn simply hasn’t done his sums.”
However, Labour defended its decision to use the higher figure to calculate future fare rises.
A party spokesman said: “The Tories
haven’t been honest with the public
— the only numbers in their manifesto
are the page numbers. Under our
plans, commuters would still save
money.”
However, at least one independent
expert challenged Labour over the
basis on which it had made the promise, which would have raised the
hopes of hundreds of thousands of
commuters that they could see such a
large cut in the cost of their travel.
Julian Jessop, chief economist at the
Institute of Economic Affairs, said;
“Labour’s calculations assume that
the Tories revert to the previous formula of RPI+1. It is up to Labour to
explain why they think the Tories
would do this.
“It is certainly not in the Conservative manifesto and I am not aware of
any other policy statement that suggests this is Tory policy.”
Labour has also pledged to renationalise the railways, but has refused to
say how this would be funded.
The row over fare cuts is likely to
raise further questions over whether
a Labour government would be a good
steward of the economy if Mr Corbyn
gains power.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has
suggested there is a £9 billion black
hole in his economic plans.
However, Theresa May has been hampered in her attacks on Labour’s economic policies by her refusal to publish
figures for her manifesto, including at
what level she would set a cap on social
care spending for individuals and how
many pensioners would lose the winter
fuel allowance.
@nicholascecil
Political
Punter
Simon English
THE Tories are still going to win,
political punters predict, but the odds
are narrowing. City spread-betting
house IG now projects a majority of 71,
well down but still a way off the hung
parliament YouGov claimed earlier.
After last night’s debate, IG says
Labour will land 204 seats, up from 184
before. By far the greater amount of
money is going on the Conservatives,
it adds, but there are more individual
bets on Labour with punters having a
small nibble on a shock Corbyn win.
Ladbrokes reckons we might not be
as election-crazy as we think. It notes
of the politicians’ TV clash: “Britain’s
Got Talent was on at the same time and
we took more bets on that during the
debate than we did on the election.”
The bookmaker adds that more cash
has been going on a hung parliament
outcome and the odds of a no overall
5/1
The odds Ladbrokes is offering on
the chances of there being no overall
majority
majority have shortened from 8/1 at
the start of the week to 5/1 today. There
has also been speculation that even if
the Tories emerge with enough seats to
form a government, Theresa May would
be so damaged by a below-par result
she might be replaced as PM anyway.
Ladbrokes took a £2,000 bet that
Boris Johnson will be PM on July 1 in
one of its shops in Chelsea yesterday.
That was at 100/1, now it is 50/1.
Over at Betfair Labour have shortened
into 10/1 from 13/1 overnight — but the
Tories have gone out to 1/11 from 1/14.
8
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING STANDARD
News | ELECTION 2017
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
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JUNE 8
Ross Lydall
MARY MACLEOD is in determined
mood. “Is there anything I can do to
help? Sit down with a glass of wine and
talk it through?” she appeals to another
“Remainer” in the Brentford and Isleworth constituency.
With anti-Brexit feelings still running
high, Tory candidate Ms Macleod is
using her charm to win over some vot-
Battleground
Focus
Brentford &
Isleworth
ers in the tree-lined avenues of affluent
Chiswick. “I feel really disappointed
I’m going to lose my European citizen-
ship,” Alexi Wedderburn tells her, furious at being lumped in with the
“Remoaners” for daring to question the
Government’s Brexit strategy.
“We want a close relationship with
Europe. The way she [Mrs May] is going
about it, that is not going to happen. I
don’t want ‘strong and stable’, I want
good leadership.”
Heathrow expansion was previously
among voters’ top concerns in this seat,
London’s third most marginal, but this
is now far outstripped by Brexit. Energetic Ms Macleod, born in London,
educated in Scotland and a Chiswick
resident for years, is a Remainer and
proud member of “Team Theresa”.
She lost the seat in 2015 to Labour’s
Ruth Cadbury, also a Remainer and no
fan of Jeremy Corbyn, by 465 votes.
The rematch is confused by the decision of Ukip (3,203 votes) and the
Greens (2,120) not to stand. About 57
per cent of the constituency voted
Remain in last year’s referendum.
Ms Macleod says the choice is between
Mrs May and Mr Corbyn, and voters
need to decide who will best stand up
for the UK’s interests.
In Chiswick, at the eastern end of the
constituency, stained glass doors are as
likely to be opened by children’s nannies as the homeowners. Ms Macleod
urges them to pass her leaflet to their
employers as it is “neck and neck”.
Prior to becoming an MP, she was a
consultant and was seconded to work
for the Queen, advising on the future
of the monarchy. The period famously
included a visit by the monarch to the
home of Glasgow resident Susan
McCarron for a cup of tea.
Ms Macleod’s opposition to a third
Heathrow runway is counter to her
party leader. She wants a “better not
bigger” airport and suggests a tunnel
from Brentford to central London
under Chiswick and Hammersmith.
One man tells her that he and his wife,
both previous Tory voters, have made
up their minds, and probably not in a
good way. Asked for his motivation, he
says: “Brexit.”
Another is undecided. and recalls Ms
Macleod previously helped her daughter. Her biggest concern is how her
daughter and grandson can find a
home of their own.
Over in Brentford Ms Cadbury is being
challenged by Labour voter Eamonn
Sylvester over her lack of faith in Mr
Corbyn. She backed last year’s vote of
no confidence in him and was one of 47
Labour MPs to rebel on triggering Article 50. She admits: “I have no confi-
JEREMY SELWYN
Team Theresa high-flier in charm
offensive to win back key marginal
Charming the
Remainers: Tory
Mary Macleod
campaigning in
Chiswick and,
inset, Labour’s
Ruth Cadbury
in Brentford
dence in his leadership. How do we get
that leadership to deliver the policies
which means we win elections?”
Previously a councillor for 25 years,
she is widely recognised and appears
well liked. In red L K Bennett coat from
a charity shop, she pushes wheelie bins
blocking the pavement back into gardens as she canvasses. Mr Corbyn is
CLAIM: MOST RESEARCH AND EXPERTS SAY
GRAMMARS DON’T IMPROVE SOCIAL MOBILITY
Key quote
‘The Conservatives want to take us back
50 years, to an outdated system of
grammar schools and secondary
moderns, ignoring all the research and
expert advice that show it will damage
the life chances of so many children’
Liberal Democrat manifesto, May 26
Analysis
The number of grammar schools in
England and Wales peaked in 1964, at
almost 1,300. Today there are 163. The
advantage for pupils who attend modern
grammar schools is outweighed by the
disadvantage for those who don’t,
research shows. Experts such as Sir
Michael Wilshaw, then chief inspector of
schools, have also weighed in. He said:
“The notion that the poor stand to
benefit from the return of grammar
schools strikes me as quite palpable
tosh and nonsense — and is very clearly
refuted by the London experience.” The
Conservatives argue that “people get
lost in the argument about whether the
FactWatch
grammar schools of the Fifties and
Sixties improved social mobility or
not” (they didn’t) and promise that
“there will be no return to secondary
moderns”. Grammars would only be
one type of school among many in a
diverse system, with changes made
to the system to ensure more
disadvantaged children attend them.
Verdict
Most research and experts seem to
agree that grammar schools do not
improve social mobility overall,
because the advantages for pupils who
attend them are outweighed by the
disadvantages for those who don’t.
O Full Fact is the UK’s
independent factchecking
organisation. For sources
and more factchecks go to
fullfact.org
10
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
11
| News
Gwyneth: I’ve milked every opportunity
Rashid Razaq
Culture Correspondent
GWYNETH PALTROW has spoken
about the pain of her divorce and how
she has “ruthlessly” pursued success.
The actress opened up about how she
coped with criticism from the media
and about her split from Coldplay’s
Chris Martin.
Paltrow, 44, told Net-a-Porter’s digital
magazine The Edit: “I’ve had an
extraordinary life, where things have
happened in a huge way — huge success, huge joy, huge pain, huge loss.
“The reason I feel happy today is
because I’ve milked the f*** out of every
opportunity. I haven’t made one mistake that I haven’t used as a stepping
stone to get somewhere else. I’m ruthless when it comes to using the hard
things.”
She defended her wellness and luxury lifestyle brand Goop, which has
Actress opens up about divorce, Goop
and using mistakes as ‘stepping stones’
been criticised for promoting £260
“sex dust” smoothies and pyjamas
costing £225.
She said: “People were fine with me
as an actress, but with Goop it was like,
‘Stay in your lane’. Women, in general,
get a lot of pushback, especially if
you’re successful and attractive.
“I’m not saying I’m attractive. I mean
when you’re considered attractive.”
The mother of two stood by the term
“consciously uncoupling” — the phrase
that she and Martin used when
announcing their separation in 2014.
She said: “People are coming around.
I know it’s a dorky term, but it’s very
worthwhile. I’m always the person who
gets shit at first, but then later people
say, ‘Hey, maybe that’s a good idea,’
WATCH
THE VIDEO
ONLINE
standard.co.uk/
tigerwoods
Slurring Tiger caught on camera
POLICE footage shows Tiger Woods
struggling to walk after officers woke
him at the wheel of his running car.
The 14-time major golf champion was
arrested for driving under the influence
in Florida and blamed his state on an
“unexpected reaction” to a mix of
prescription medicine.
Jupiter police department released a
dashcam video of the former world
number one failing to pass a sobriety
test a short drive from his home.
He is seen struggling to stay upright
as he fails to walk in a straight line
after getting out of his Mercedes in the
early hours of Monday. The 41-year-old
was unable to say where he was, and
could barely keep his eyes open.
Officers described him as having
“slow, mumbled and slurred” speech.
The force corroborated Woods’ claim
that he did not have alcohol in his
system.
The golfer, who is recovering from
back surgery, apologised and said he
took “full responsibility” after spending
nearly four hours in jail.
He will appear in court in Palm Beach
county on July 5.
John Dunne
I don’t mind. I wanted to turn my
divorce into a positive.
“What if I didn’t blame the other person for anything and held myself 100
per cent accountable? What if I checked
my own shit at the door and put my
children first? And reminded myself
about the things about my ex-husband
that I love and fostered the friendship?
What I put myself through to get there
O To see The
EDIT’s full
interview go to
www.net-a-porter.
com/magazine/
404/18 or
download the free
EDIT app at the
App Store and
Google Play
was the most difficult thing I’ve ever
done in my life.”
She said she takes her children Apple,
13, and Moses, 11, everywhere so that
she can use them as a “shield” against
the paparazzi and also revealed that
she even occasionally eased up on her
fitness and healthy eating regime.
Paltrow said: “I can’t be on a cleanse
all the time… I did one for seven weeks
last year and it was awful. My first meal
of the day is normally lunch. I keep it
light on carbs so my energy levels don’t
peak and valley through the day.
“At home, I loosen the reins: a glass
of wine, maybe a baguette dripping in
cheese, some fries… on vacation, I eat
what I want — and there’s no exercising
either.”
12
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
13
| News
Make a date as West End’s Novikov
serves up 30 days of dining delight
Calendar
events: the
window display
at Novikov. Its
celebrity diners
include Rihanna
and Pixie Lott
Jonathan Prynn
Consumer Business Editor
WEST END restaurant Novikov today
helps kick-start the inaugural London
Food Month with the first of 30
spectacular events in June.
The restaurant’s bosses and chefs
have lined up a separate masterclass, promotion or special menu
for every day of the month. Each
will be flagged up in an advent calendar-style daily “reveal” in the
restaurant’s windows starting with
today’s hearty barbecue one-off
— a whole lamb cooked on a
charcoal hog roaster and served
with piadina flat bread.
Caroline Taylor, general
manager of Novikov Mayfair,
said: “We couldn’t decide on
only one celebration. So like
an advent calendar, we will
open the door to a different
celebration every day to mark Novikov’s Food Adventure Calendar.”
The schedule at Novikov, which has
two dining rooms, one serving Italian
food and one specialising in Asian cuisine, will mark well-known dates in the
June diary. For example June 10, the
Queen’s official birthday, is being
marked with the installation of a popup gin distillery, plus a special gin
martini menu and gin masterclass in
the lounge bar.
Two days later, on Russian Federation
Day, a £150 platter of caviar, smoked
fish, Russian salad and a vodka shot is
O SADIQ KHAN
is calling on
Londoners to vote
for the dish that
makes their city
the culinary centre
of the world.
All those who
vote in the
#MyLondonDish
competition will
be entered into
a contest to win
tickets to the
Night Market.
To choose
#MyLondonDish
go to visitlondon.
com/
mylondondish.
Voting is open
until June 30.
being served. Novikov, whose celebrity
diners include Rihanna and Pixie Lott,
is owned by Russian restaurateur
Arkady Novikov.
London Food Month starts today with
140 events across the capital in the first
24 hours. Other events include the 12day Night Market in Kensington, opening on June 7. For a limited offer of
2-for-1 tickets, enter code FOOD at londonfoodmonth.co.uk/night-market
Chef Mohacho
asks Londoners
to pop in for a
taste of Spain
Lizzie Edmonds
CELEBRATED Spanish chef Nieves
Barragan Mohacho will give Londoners
a taste of her anticipated new restaurant at a one-night pop-up.
Mohacho, the former executive head
chef and public face of the acclaimed
Barrafina restaurants, is launching a
Spanish restaurant, bar and asador — or
grill — in the autumn called Sabor with
business partner José Etura. The new
venture, on Heddon Street, will focus
on classic tastes from Spain, using traditional ingredients and methods.
Etura said: “We
want to take them
on a journey
t h ro u g h S p a i n ,
showing off the best
food and dishes.”
The pair will take
over Stevie Parle’s Grill menu: Nieves
Craft restaurant in Barragan Mohacho
Greenwich for one
night only at the London Food Month
event on June 16, serving “a taste of the
new restaurant menu” for £48. It is likely
to include: Torreznos de Soria, pork belly
and Tortilla Bacalao, salt cod tortilla.
Tickets for the feast, including a welcome drink, cost £48, available at
saborlondon.tocktix.com
14
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING STANDARD
Comment |
Even this staunch republican is
full of praise for the young royals
Is Mr Corbyn remotely
capable of governing?
JEREMY Corbyn wants us to take seriously the prospect that
he could win the election. We should take him at his word
and ask whether he is remotely capable of the serious
business of government. The question feels more urgent
now that some — and we stress some — polls, including that
of London voters published in this paper today, suggest
Theresa May might end up with a similar majority to the one
she started with or even manage to lose this election.
Her refusal to take part in any TV debates was another
hubristic misstep. Her stand-in Home Secretary, Amber
Rudd, put in a gutsy performance last night, just days after
her father passed away, and has emerged as the star of an
otherwise wooden Tory campaign. But it would have been
sensible for Mrs May to have agreed to one seven-way debate
at the start of the campaign rather than risk looking frit on
the eve of the election and gifting her opponent a platform.
Of course, polls have been wrong before, as they were at
the last election and the referendum, but they were wrong
together and in the same direction. Today the polls vary
widely, from predictions of a hung parliament to a sizeable
Tory majority. The main factor driving the differences is
whether the pollsters think younger people, the majority of
whom appear to support Mr Corbyn, will vote in greater
numbers than at previous elections. That is not a matter of
computer calculation but judgment — and no one will know
the answer until June 9. This paper believes everyone, young
and old, should shoulder their responsibilities as citizens of
a democracy and take part in this election. We also hope
they think responsibly about the choice in front of them and
consider these questions about the Labour leader.
Crucial choice
First, has Mr Corbyn or his colleagues demonstrated an
ability to manage the British economy? The answer is
patently no. The fact the shadow cabinet don’t know details
of their policies in interviews has been embarrassing. For
experts who understand those details, the verdict has been
clear: the debt and deficit would soar; businesses would be
damaged; taxes on enterprise would rise; trade unions
would be able to hold the country to ransom as they now
hold their party hostage. It would mean fewer jobs, higher
prices and lower living standards. The Labour leader may
promise a fairer Britain but his policies would deliver a
poorer and more unequal country.
Second, has Mr Corbyn shown he could lead the country
abroad and keep it safe? Again, the answer is no. His disdain
for Britain’s allies such as the US, his embrace of failed states
such as Venezuela and Cuba, his association with the IRA
and PLO, his militant pacifism, his commitment to unilateral
disarmament, would pose a huge risk to our national
security — and a huge departure from the place in the world
that Labour governments, as well as Conservative, have
secured for Britain. It is those who wish there would be no
more wars who create the conditions likely to generate
conflict and disorder. On the central issue of Brexit, the
Labour leader has been even less clear on specifics than
Mrs May. Indeed, his ambivalence over our EU membership
was a contributing cause of our departure.
Third, does Mr Corbyn have the temperament, work-rate
and judgment to be Prime Minister? The fact that most
Labour MPs don’t think so hardly inspires confidence. Nor
does his reliance on the likes of Diane Abbott, John
McDonnell and the soft bigotry of the hard Left. The mask
sometimes slips and reveals a very ugly face. Unlike many
politicians, the problem with Mr Corbyn is not that he’s
inconsistent and U-turns too much — it’s that he refuses to
change his long-held, disturbing views about how this
country should be run.
Now is the time for all voters to focus on the choice before
them. Anyone who cares about the long-term future of the
country should have serious reservations about putting
Mr Corbyn and his fellow travellers in Downing Street.
Noble cause:
the Duke of
Cambridge,
photographed for
the new issue of
GQ magazine
Alastair
Campbell
A
S SOMETHING of a lifelong
republican, I was surprised
to be asked by the young
royals’ Heads Together
campaign to record one of
their recent films about the importance
of being open about mental health.
The idea at the heart of the #oktosay
campaign was to film people who had
experience of mental illness talking
with the person they usually opened
up to when ill — in my case, my partner
Fiona, who has had to live with my onoff depressions and addictions, not to
mention the occasional psychotic
breakdown, for almost 40 years. It got
a fair amount of attention, though nothing like the 25 million hits for the transatlantic Facetime chat on mental health
between Prince William and Lady
Gaga!
It got me thinking, though — I wonder
if Prince William would do one of my
monthly GQ interviews. So I asked, and
the royals surprised me again, with a
near immediate “yes”. It gave me an
easy first question — what was a nice
future King like him doing with an old
Leftie republican like me? The answer
was our shared passion for breaking
down the stigma and the taboo surrounding mental illness.
The republican in me was mildly irritated when the young royals — William,
Kate and Harry preside jointly over
Heads Together — entered this space,
given that it seems unfair that whatever
cause they support can get massive
additional attention, and with it political and fundraising clout. The mental
health campaigner, though, was
delighted, and a lengthy taped interview, face to face on his home turf,
Kensington Palace, was a great way of
finding out whether he is sincere about
the cause.
I believe he is. Would he stand on
ceremony? He didn’t. Was there any
real passion behind the shy exterior?
There was. And when later the photographer and his team arrived, they could
not believe how relaxed he was, nor
their luck that out of nowhere came his
wife, the two children wanting to play
with him, and the family dog Lupo.
A fair part of the conversation, published in GQ today, was about the grief
he experienced when his mother died,
not just the searing emotional pain and
his difficulty with coming to terms with
it, so that only now does he really feel
able to open up about it, but also his
evident anger at the role of the media
in her life and death, and the torture
he went through in walking behind his
mother’s coffin, things of which I was
aware at the time, when working for
Tony Blair and seconded to support
NORMAN JEAN ROY
Established 1827
William, Harry and
Kate are making a
real difference with
their interest in
mental health
If William
carries on
like this,
who knows,
I might end
up finally
doing as
my mother
said, and
become a
monarchist
the Palace team planning the funeral.
What son doesn’t miss his mother
when she’s gone? As we talked in Kensington Palace, I kept thinking of my
own mother, born in the same year as
The Queen, 1926, and given the same
Christian name, Elizabeth, but unlike
The Queen no longer with us, and
unlike me a fervent monarchist. She
knew that I liked his mother already,
given the smitten entries in my diaries,
which record the times when on any
meeting with her the hard-man spin
doctor would melt into adolescent
adoration of one of the most beautiful
women on the planet.
Diana was, though — and to this day,
two decades on, still is — a huge loss to
Brand Britain. As we near the 20th
anniversary of her death there will be
a lot of focus on her, and on her legacy.
Prince William talks very movingly of
what she continues to mean to him and
to Harry, and although he denies it was
her own struggles that led them to
adopt mental health as their issue,
there is no doubt that the struggles they
have had in dealing with loss have given
them an empathy and understanding
of mental health that helps to bring it
alive for people.
A few weeks after the Heads Together
films were released, and Prince Harry
had spoken about how he had needed
counselling to deal with the aftermath
of his mother’s death, The Sunday
Times ran a story quoting anonymous
sources that The Queen wished her
grandsons to desist from further baring
their hearts and souls. I have enough
experience of Sunday newspaper stories not to be certain if there was any
truth in this one. But I hope not. And
if there is, I hope they ignore it, because
their campaign is making a real difference, by normalising conversations
about mental health.
That can only be a good thing,
because I know plenty of people who
find mental illness hard enough but
who find the stigma and taboo — particularly in the workplace — even
harder.
In taking this on, William, Kate and
Harry are doing a real service to a campaign which feels like it is nearing a
tipping point. They know as well as I
do, and Prince William says as much,
that the anti-stigma campaign cannot
be a substitute for the services needed
to help and support people when ill.
But it is an incredibly important accompaniment, which if successful can
prevent illness, and help prevent the
ultimate in mental illness, suicide.
Prince William has experience of
dealing with the shattering effect of
suicide, in his work as an air ambulance
pilot. I also know he and Kate have
made a private visit to the country’s
only suicide sanctuary, of which I am
a patron, and he was shocked to discover it is the only one of its kind.
On that, and on much else besides,
the interview is a remarkable read for
anyone interested in him, his life and
why he feels so passionately about
mental health. And if he carries on like
this, who knows, I might end up finally
doing as my mother said, and become
a monarchist.
After all, I did put The Queen in my
Winners book as one of the great
enduring winners of our time. And
Donald Trump manages to challenge
anyone’s faith in an elected head of
state every single day.
O Alastair Campbell is an ambassador
for Time to Change, Mind, Rethink and
Alcohol Concern, and patron of the
Maytree Suicide Sanctuary in Finsbury
Park, to whom the fee for this article
will be donated.
To read more log on to:
standard.co.uk/comment
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
15
| Comment
Scrapping free
school meals is
a betrayal of all
our children
Henry
Dimbleby
O To order prints or signed copies of any Evening Standard cartoon, call 0191 603 0178 or visit adams.newsprints.co.uk
O Contact Adams at: cartoonist@standard.co.uk
May must recognise that teamwork is
a better way to govern than autocracy
Matthew
d’Ancona
I
N A campaign of hectic volatility,
Amber Rudd is fast emerging as the
Conservative Party’s leader-inwaiting. Though her elderly father
died on Monday, the Home
Secretary not only insisted upon
appearing at the BBC’s leaders’ debate
last night (standing in for Theresa May)
but acquitted herself impressively in the
seven-way shouting match.
As the other six engaged in playground
politics, Rudd addressed viewers as
adults, reminding them that public
spending requires growth, that
government is about priorities and that
the test of leadership is unpalatable
choices. Whatever happens on June 8,
the Home Secretary is now in pole
position to succeed May.
It is a measure of how much has
changed since the PM called the election
that such a question is even worth
posing. When May announced her
decision to go to the country, the Tories
were more than 20 points ahead and the
media fretted about the difficulty of
making the forthcoming campaign look
like a real fight. Well, it is now.
I still think May will prevail, though not,
perhaps, by the crushing margin that she
had hoped for. Orthodox as it is to say
that he is having a great campaign,
Jeremy Corbyn continues to look and
sound like an affable activist rather than
a prospective Prime Minister. His first
answer to a question is often impressively
calm and mellifluous — but he falters
when pressed for detail, as he did last
night when asked about the Manchester
bomber’s motivation. Worse, his
definition of leadership conspicuously
failed to mention the ability to make
priorities, the readiness to say “no” and
the recognition that diplomacy does not
always succeed. Government is not a
taxpayer-funded rally.
As for the Tories, this campaign has laid
bare shortcomings that will cause serious
problems if they are not corrected. The
attacks on Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill,
May’s chiefs of staff, are ridiculously
overblown and, in any case, miss the
point. Both are advisers of rare ability
who, in a matter of months, helped their
boss restore unity to a party torn apart
by the referendum and establish a new
trajectory for a government dizzied by
the outcome.
What May needs to do on June 9 —
assuming she wins — is to enlarge the
circle of trust and accept, however
begrudgingly, that you need more than
three people to run a country. Much is
made of the PM’s taste for “consultative
and deliberative” government and her
faith in Cabinet committees. But this
inclination is meaningless unless it
reflects a readiness to delegate, to
decentralise power from No 10 to
departments, and to allow senior Tories
other than Sir Michael Fallon — sturdily
reliable though he is — to make media
The facts are back, thanks to Trump
PROMOTING my book Post Truth in the
past few weeks, I have been struck by the
defensiveness of two groups. First, there
are the remaining champions of
postmodernist philosophy who do not like
one bit the suggestion that these
impenetrable Parisian texts, playfully
dismissive of such bourgeois notions as
“truth”, helped pave the way for the
“alternative facts” of Donald Trump’s
presidency. Second, and more familiar,
there are those pundits who simply refuse
to believe that anything new happens,
ever: “Nothing to see here, move along.”
Luckily, readers are proving much more
engaged, wary of a world in which
emotion eclipses evidence and reality is
absolutely fungible. It is no less
encouraging to see the factchecking industry prosper in
response to fake news: the BBC’s
Reality Check, First Draft
News and Full Fact.
The tech giants are on
notice, too: clean up
your act, or face
regulation. Though
the problem is global,
there is something
distinctively British
about the absolute
determination to
prevent the rise of a
British Trump. No
covfefe here, thank
you.
appearances. This campaign has tested
to destruction the proposition that May’s
government should be a cult of
personality. Time to try teamwork.
As for policy: Cameron, always ready
with a cricketing metaphor, used to
speak of the need for “pitch-rolling”
before a significant proposal was
unveiled. The ground, he insisted, had
to be prepared meticulously, glitches
detected, problems anticipated.
Though he did not always succeed, the
principle was sound. What is now
ludicrously known as the “dementia tax”
is, in fact, one of the most enlightened
Conservative proposals in a generation:
it would draw on assets rather than
income to fund domestic social care,
safeguard £100,000 for the individual’s
heirs, and (most important of all)
ensure that payment could be
made posthumously so that the
elderly did not have to sell their
homes.
The error was one of form not
content. Rushed out in the
manifesto, the plan fell victim to
the electoral maelstrom
and was immediately
tarnished by a U-turn
compelled by politics
rather than logic. Had
the pitch been properly
rolled — or rolled at all
— this would not have
happened.
Unfashionable as it
is to say so, there are
still lessons for May
to learn from
Cameron.
“POLITICIANS,” said the banker John
Quinton, “are people who, when they
see light at the end of the tunnel, go out
and buy some more tunnel.” I can’t
think of a better example of this law in
action than Theresa May’s shortsighted, economically illiterate and
frankly baffling decision to remove free
school meals for infants — just when
they are starting to pay off.
Admittedly, I have skin in the game.
Universal infant free school meals
(UIFSM) were introduced just two and
a half years ago, as a direct result of the
School Food Plan [schoolfoodplan.
com] — a blueprint for improving
school food which I wrote with my
Leon co-founder John Vincent.
UIFSM was that rarest of political
specimens: a policy with genuine allparty backing. Brought in by the
Conservative/Lib-Dem coalition, with
enthusiastic support from Labour MPs,
it was deliberately long-sighted.
Illnesses related to bad diet currently
cost the NHS £6 billion a year. One in
five children leaves primary school
obese — and most will stay that way.
Ultimately, prevention is less
expensive (and more humane) than
cure.
Eating a cooked meal in the middle of
the day has been shown to improve
both children’s academic performance
and their overall diet. It is precisely
those families who Theresa May claims
to care about — the “just about
managing” — who benefit the most:
two thirds of children from poor
families do not meet the criteria for
means-tested free school meals.
Introducing the policy wasn’t easy.
Many headteachers had to upgrade
their school kitchens or install new
ones. Caterers had to hire new staff
and up their game. Politicians had to
soothe furrowed brows and distribute
the cash. Michael Gove (then
Education Secretary) and the Lib-Dem
education minister David Laws toiled
heroically to push the policy through.
As this newspaper revealed yesterday,
they wrote to every headteacher in the
country to reassure them that the
upheaval was worth it: “Schools,” they
said, “can plan confidently in the
knowledge that we are making a longterm policy commitment.”
I’m sure they meant every word of it.
For who would be daft enough to
reverse a policy like this without giving
it time to bed down? Some of the
benefits of UIFSM have been
immediate: an amazing 85 per cent of
infants now have a cooked meal at
lunch, compared with 50 per cent in
2013. Headteachers tell us that having
the whole school eating together has
had a transformative effect on morale
and behaviour.
But the biggest rewards are yet to
come, as our children grow up into
healthier, happier adults, and the
strain on the NHS begins to ease.
There is light at the end of this tunnel.
Alas, it seems Theresa May prefers
the dark.
16
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING STANDARD
Politics, party and
pillow talk. Edited by
Joy Lo Dico
Lamé laments
curse of a great
wall of China
A THUMBS DOWN from China for night
czar Amy Lamé’s new book on the history of the LGBTQ+ movement, wittily
entitled From Prejudice to Pride.
The book was sent to printers in
China, who rejected it on the basis of
its content, Lamé said yesterday at the
Royal Vauxhall Tavern, where she
launched the book.
Interviewed on stage by Graham Norton about the tome
aimed at young people,
Lamé, right, explained:
“China said it won’t print the
book. It might have been
because, on page 21,
there’s a picture of
two Chinese lesbians having a good
old snog,” she
mused. “Gathering in public places for
things like
Pride is illegal in China.
It goes to
show we still
have a long way
to go.”
Which printers it
was we don’t know but the book, published by Hachette imprint Wayland,
was eventually printed in Singapore.
Lamé said she experiences prejudice
at home too. “My girlfriend and I were
[shouted at] up on the street in Trafalgar Square last year by some crazy
person who didn’t like the fact that we
were holding hands,” she said.
While serious, the event was
also a celebration, with lots
of laughs. Norton asked of
the history: “How much of
this did you know, and how
much of it were you like
‘Google Gay’?”. “As I’m
sure you know, if you
Google ‘Gay ’ you
never know where
it’s going to end
up,” she said.
Lamé moved
to London
from the US
in 1992. She
said: “I really
came to be
a lesbian.”
Norton assured
her: “You’ve done
very well.”
O IT’S the only question that matters:
Oasis or Blur? NME asks Jeremy Corbyn
that very opinion divider in this week’s
issue. “I’m going to plump for Oasis,”
Corbyn says. “But I know this will
immediately divide the audience, so
what I should have said was, ‘I’ll refer it
to a focus group to decide,’ but I’m not
keen on focus groups.”
Perhaps Blur is the Tory choice — all
that talk of a big house, a very big
house in the country ...
The darling books of May could save us
TRUMP is playing hard to get with
the Paris climate accord, and this
week Green Party leader Caroline
Lucas asked “Where is the
Environment?” in the election. If
Theresa May won’t listen to Lucas,
will she listen to favoured author
Donna Leon? May said she read
Leon’s crime books on holiday.
Venice-based Leon gets exercised
about global warming, and criticised
Quote of the day
“He wasn’t at a barn
dance in Londonderry
downing Guinness in
a balaclava”
Russell Brand defends Jeremy Corbyn’s
historic connections with the IRA
May’s dismantling of the Department
of Climate Change last year.
“By God, you just shut that sucker
down,” she said with surprise, in an
email to us. Could Leon persuade
May with literature? “I hope to
heaven that the PM of any nation
doesn’t need to read about global
warming in a crime novel to begin to
consider the possibility that it might
be a reality,” she replied, curtly.
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
17
BONHUGHBON
diary@standard.co.uk
PICTURES: DAVE BENETT
Out last night...
O EXCUSE of the
day: the Russian
Orthodox church
defends one of its
priests driving a
4 x 4 worth 13
times the national
salary. “Jesus
himself wore
expensive clothes
that were given to
him as presents
by people who
respected him.”
Terrific titfers:
clockwise from
main, Pam Hogg,
Stephen Jones,
Philip Treacy and
Virginia Bates;
fashion journalist
Hamish Bowles,
Paul Simonon of
The Clash; Love
Magazine’s Katie
Grand
Covfefe is this season’s ne
w black
STILL wondering what “cov
fefe” means? Yesterday, Don
tweeted the already-noto
rious typo, causing pundits ald Trump
to come up
with their own definitions.
Actor Hugh Bonneville thin
ks it mig
be sartorial. “Loving my styli
sh new covfefe,” he Instagram ht
yesterday. “Everyone’s wea
med
ring them this season.”
Hats off to celebrate a great milliner
MILLINER Stephen Jones may be way off 100 but he
nevertheless celebrated his centenary last night,
throwing a gala dinner merging his 60th birthday
party with his 40th anniversary in the industry. Held
at Bistrotheque in Hackney, the dress code inevitably
called for hats, and the mad hatters in attendance
O THE Londoner
flicked on the BBC
today to see Mary
Beard, Cambridge
classicist, and
Peter Stringfellow,
gentleman’s club
owner, taking part
in Election Blind
Dates. Peter, a
Remainer, said
immigrants “make
their money and
then they go away
to their own
businesses”. Mary
replied: “Can I
parody you and
say ‘I’m a
Remainer because
I want all those
nice Eastern
European girls to
come and take
their clothes off in
my club. I’d love to
teach you, Peter.”
“It’s too late to
teach me anything,
Mary.” Old dog.
included designer Pam Hogg, fellow milliner Philip
Treacy and queen of vintage Virginia Bates.
Jones shows no sign of slowing down: he still
provides the cherry on top for models Kendall
Jenner and Bella Hadid, and made Pippa Middleton’s
wedding veil. Here’s to the next 100 years.
Borwick in the firing line
KENSINGTON’S Tory MP,
Victoria Borwick, pictured,
might have wished she’d
followed Theresa May’s
lead and stayed away from
Notting Hill last night. The
holy setting of St John’s
Church didn’t inhibit
constituents, who booed
the visibly nervous Borwick
when she ducked questions
on how to tackle Brexit.
“We need to work
together,” she said. “We’re
much stronger together
than we are separately”.
“Answer the f**king
question,” one guest
shouted. Labour candidate
Emma Dent Coad jabbed a
finger at Borwick. “She,”
Coad said scornfully,
“voted against Remain
three times — no wonder
she can’t answer the
question”. The audience
stamped their feet and
heckled Borwick, before
“People in
covfefe houses
shouldn’t throw
covfefe.”
Lib-Dem candidate
Annabel Mullin continued.
“Nine times she voted
against climate change,”
she said, referring to
Borwick’s reluctance to
support preventative
measures. “Every breath
we take is what she was
voting against, I’m asking
you to employ me.” One
attendee scoffed: “No
chance.” Mullin shrugged:
“I’ll take that as a maybe.”
Tough crowd.
Hillary Clinton
tweets Donald
Trump yesterday
after he calls
her “crooked”
and a “terrible
candidate.” Get
over it, Donald.
London’s
favourite
glossy is
available
every
Thursday
and
Friday
Londoner’s
Diary online
standard.co.uk ⁄
diary
Follow us on
Twitter
@standarddiary
18
THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017 EVENING
STANDARD
News |
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @standardnews and Instagram @evening.standard
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR have signed
three generations of a culinary dynasty
to provide fine dining to fans.
Michel Roux Jr will be accompanied by
father Albert and daughter Emily in the
kitchens for 12 matches a season when
Spurs’ £800 million New White Hart
Lane ground opens next year. They will
deliver a “world-class” experience to
fans paying for premium packages.
Roux Jr and Emily met former Spurs
captain Ledley King to unveil the deal at
Roux at Parliament Square, right.
Rachel Dickerson
LUCY YOUNG
Spurs score deal
with Roux family
Hyde Park to
host baseball’s
big hitters for
quick-fire game
David Churchill
HYDE PARK will be transformed into
a baseball diamond for a quick-fire,
Twenty20 cricket-style version of the
game never before seen in Europe.
The Major League Baseball takeover
will see stars of the game take to the
field to smash as many home runs as
possible against the clock.
Ex-pro MLB legends Carlos Peña, Cliff
Floyd and Shawn Green will be among
the big hitters in the Boston Red Sox v
LA Dodgers “Home Run Derby”.
Green, who has hit 328 home runs in
his career, will pull on the LA Dodgers
jersey, while Peña and Floyd, who have
scored 286 and 233 home runs in their
careers respectively, will play for the
Boston Red Sox.
The park’s transformation for the
July 4 MLB Battlegrounds showdown
will begin after Justin Bieber headlines
the main stage for the British
Summer Time
Hyde Park festival
two days before.
Kings of Leon
resume the festival again
on July 6.
Floyd, who played
for the Boston Red
Sox, New York Mets
a n d T a m p a B ay
Rays, told the Standa rd i t wo u l d b e
“amazing” to be a
part of a game which
is helping baseball
“grow” in the UK.
Speaking from
America he said:
“They’re trying to
establish something
that is great, and the
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finger
on the
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touch
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game of baseball is great, and to be a
part of this is amazing.
“Intensity-wise, we’ll get the adrenaline going just as if we were going to
play a Major League Baseball game.”
He added: “This is a great initiative to
jumpstart something that has been
lacking.”
The baseball takeover is the latest
attempt by American games chiefs to
import sports from the US.
In January, basketball’s biggest stars
returned to the 02 Arena for the seventh regular season game in London
when the Indiana Pacers took on the
Denver Nuggets. London will also host
four National Football League matches
for the first time this year.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said
he wants to make London the “undisputed sporting capital of the world”
and sees more NBA and NFL games in
particular as part of this vision.
Charlie Hill, Managing Director of
MLB Europe, said: “This represents
an exciting statement of intent for
Major League Baseball in Europe.
“Hyde Park is the perfect
location to bring a flavour of our game to
London with two
of the most popular teams in the
sport — the
Red Sox and
the Dodgers —
set to provide a night of big
hitting on the Main Stage.”
The free baseball event will
run from 5pm to 10pm. The
sport will be mixed with street
food and US music.
Home run: Cliff Floyd will
play for the Boston Red Sox
EVENING STANDARD THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
19
| News
I was fired from Hyundai
car show job for having
my period, claims model
Ross Lydall
Chief News Correspondent
A MODEL claims she was sacked from
representing car giant Hyundai at a
motor show because she was having
her period.
Rachel Rickert, 27, has filed a complaint in the US alleging that she was
“shamed” while working at the New
York International Auto Show in April.
She says she needed to change her
uniform after being unable to take a
lavatory break in time to change her
tampon. She then received a text from
her representative, Erika Seifred, telling
her that the client — Hyundai — wanted
her to take the night off because of her
“period situation”, it is claimed.
Two days later, Ms Seifred called to
tell her that the South Korean manufacturer no longer wanted her to work
at the show because it had heard about
the incident.
Ms Rickert told the BBC: “I was completely puzzled. I was really upset. I
started crying... I book out shows, and
I miss other opportunities. So I was just
like, ‘What? This is not right!’”
She filed a complaint with the US
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday against Hyundai
and Ms Seifred’s management firm,
Experiential Talent, which had hired
her. The complaint is a precursor to a
federal discrimination lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that Ms Seifred
told her she was being dismissed
“because Hyundai heard about Ms
Rickert having her menstrual cycle and
they didn’t want Ms Rickert representing the company any more”.
Ms Rickert had spent three hours
greeting guests at the Hyundai booth
before being allowed to take a break.
In a separate interview, Ms Rickert told
the New York Post: “I’m not going to let
someone tell me I can’t have my period
when I work. It’s unacceptable. You’re
not a robot. You have to use the bathroom especially when you’re on your
period. They just act like we’re not
human. I’m not going to be ashamed
or shamed of having my period.”
She resisted going home afterwards,
as she was being paid by the hour, and
went to work as normal the next day.
Ms Rickert said she had appeared at 50
similar conventions. She said she had
“Completely puzzled”: Rachel Rickert
has filed a complaint against Hyundai
William: Royal family is in a good
place but needs vision to survive
Robert Jobson
Royal Editor
PRINCE WILLIAM has revealed he
believes the monarchy must “have a
vision” to stay relevant and survive.
The future king said he believes the
institution “is in a good place” but suggested the royals must not be complacent as it is “important you look
forward” and have a “plan”.
The Duke of Cambridge, 34, spoke
out about the future of the monarchy
in a frank interview with Tony Blair’s
former spin doctor and journalist
Alastair Campbell for British GQ Magazine’s July issue.
When Mr Campbell, who describes
himself as a “Leftie republican”, asked
how the monarchy had bucked the
trend in a “non-deferential, anti-establishment” age, William said: “I do feel
the monarchy is in a good place and my
grandmother has done a remarkable
job leading the country — her vision,
her sense of duty, her loyalty, her steadfastness, it has been unwavering.
“We now have three generations of
working royals, four altogether, and
that movement through the genera-
Tribute: Prince
William says the
Queen has done
a “remarkable
job” of leading
the country
tions allows the monarchy to stay relevant and keep up with modern times.
You are only as good as your last gig
and it is really important you look forward, plan, have a vision.”
The prince, second in line to the
throne, spoke of what it was like to learn
to be head of state. “You learn on the
job,” he said. “There is no rulebook.”
He also revealed he believes media
figures took advantage of his mother
as his parents’ marriage collapsed in
the Nineties. The prince slammed the
press for their treatment of his mother
and revealed he considered giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry.
William said: “There is a certain element of Fleet Street getting fed up with
nice stories about us. They want the
past back again, soap, drama.
“I couldn’t do my job without the
stability of the family. Stability at home
is so important to me. I want to bring
up my children in a happy, stable,
secure world.” Admitting he and his
family lead an “abnormal life”, he
added: “Totally, but I can still try to
protect them as children.”
Alastair Campbell Page 14
Going
Out
The best
of what’s
on and,
where to
go, arts,
film and
music
Tomorrow
and every
Friday
‘I’m not
going to let
someone
tell me I
can’t have
my period
when I
work’
Rachel Rickert
not received any of the $5,000 (£3,879)
she had expected to earn.
“I’m not going to let people treat
women this way,” she said. “It’s a natural thing that we have, our periods, and
it’s not like I want special treatment
because of it. I just want to be respected
as a human and to be able to go to the
restroom. And not to be considered a
bad employee because I needed to use
the bathroom.”
Hyundai Motor America said it had
not yet been informed of the claim, but
was looking into the allegations.
“We take any complaint like this seriously and will respond appropriately
once we have a chance to investigate the
merits of the claim,” the firm said. Ms
Seifred did not wish to comment.
@RossLydall
20
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
News in Focus |
T
he speed of Jared Kushner’s
descent from boy wonder to
whipping boy has been consistent with everything else
in Donald Trump’s Washington. Chaotic. Mystifying. And perhaps
concealing something much, much
darker.
At the start of last week, Kushner,
Trump’s son-in-law and political factotum, was basking in the success of
Trump’s tour of the Middle East. He had
put together the jaunt through Riyadh
and Jerusalem, the rhetoric and images
of Trump the dealmaker and improbable peace-maker.
But by the weekend, he was hunkered
down at a Trump golf course in New
Jersey fighting off allegations of collusion with Russia.
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @esfeatures
The Kushner files
Trump’s son-in-law Jared was America’s golden boy. But
the halo has slipped, reports Philip Delves Broughton
Not so long ago, Kushner and his wife
Ivanka gleamed as the William and Kate
of the Trump ascendancy. Modern,
youthful, liberal restraints on Trump’s
circle of intemperate plutocrats. The
kale salad to his well-done steak with
ketchup.
Today, they look bloodied and bedraggled and are reportedly pining for their
old lives in New York. Their old home,
their old gym, their old friends, and
their old business interests.
Kushner comes from his own property
dynasty. His grandfather, a Holocaust
survivor, and father built a rough-andtumble empire of flats and small commercial buildings in New Jersey.
Kushner grew up wealthy in a conserv-
ative, Jewish community. He was admitted to Harvard shortly after his father
pledged to give $2.5 million to the university, and later obtained a law degree
and MBA from New York University. In
2004, his father, Charles, was jailed for
a year for hiring a prostitute to seduce
and blackmail his own brother-in-law.
Kushner took over the family business
in his mid-20s and set about establishing
himself in Manhattan. He bought a gossipy local newspaper, the Observer, and
shifted his investments out of New Jersey
rental into more salubrious New York
skyscrapers. He capped it all in 2009 by
marrying Ivanka, an heir to a much more
famous New York property family.
To remind himself of the lows of his
father’s incarceration and the highs of
acquiring multi-billion dollar properties, he kept a framed copy in his office
of the first page of Charles Dickens’s Tale
of Two Cities: “It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times…”
His father-in-law was impressed by his
commitment to family first, his aggression in negotiations and his ability to
stare down creditors during the depths
of the financial crisis.
Washington, though, has proved
tougher than bank lenders.
K
ushner arrived in January,
hailed as the architect of his
father-in-law’s improbable
victory. He had orchestrated
the team of data scientists
who identified pockets of potential
Trump support around the country and
played their Facebook news feeds to
perfection. He had convinced Rupert
Murdoch that Trump was a serious
candidate. He had made Hillary Clinton’s campaign operation, and most
Washington pundits, look 20 years out
of date. He and Ivanka looked poised to
rule the capital.
Kushner’s reward was a pair of adjoining offices down the corridor from the
President, the title “senior advisor”, and
a great swathe of responsibility: peace
in the Middle East, relations with China
and Mexico, the opioid epidemic, veterans affairs, reorganising the federal
government and reinvigorating American innovation. When business leaders
wanted access to the President, it was
Kushner they called first.
He managed it all with a light touch.
When Trump’s healthcare plan was
going up in flames, he was on a skiing
holiday with his family. Steve Bannon,
Trump’s chief strategist, calls Kushner
“air” for the way he floats in and out of
meetings.
Kushner’s signature achievements so
far have been arranging the Middle East
trip and a meeting between Trump and
the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
But given the problems now swirling
for him, those may be the only two
achievements carved into his political
tombstone. He and Ivanka risk being
drummed out of Washington, snared in
legal trouble, neither having shed the
impression that they were in it for anything but even more money and influence than they already had.
The FBI is now said to be interested in
two meetings Kushner had with
Russian officials in the period between
Donald Trump’s election and his
inauguration.
The first, in early December at Trump
Tower in New York, was with Sergey
Kislyak, Russia’s long-serving ambassador to Washington. No fault in an
incoming administration getting to
know the diplomatic corps.
The problem, as reported by The
Washington Post, was that they “discussed the possibility of setting up a
secret and secure communications
channel between Trump’s transition
team and the Kremlin, using Russian
diplomatic facilities in an apparent
move to shield their pre-inauguration
discussions from monitoring.” At the
time, the Obama administration was
still in power, and Kushner’s discussion looks at least suspicious and to
some, perhaps treacherous.
The second meeting was with
Sergey Gorkov, head of Russia’s
development bank, and a graduate
of Russia’s spy school, the Academy
of the Federal Security Service.
Gorkov’s bank has been on a US
sanctions list since Russia invaded
Ukraine in 2014. Kushner failed to
mention either meeting on the security forms he had to fill out when he
took a job at the White House but later
offered to amend them.
On Sunday night, Mr. Trump praised
his son-in-law in a statement: “Jared is
doing a great job for the country. I have
total confidence in him. He is respected
by virtually everyone and is working on
programs that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and
perhaps more importantly, he is a very
good person.”
But beyond his father-in-law, there are
few willing to make a stand for Kushner.
There are no Kushner loyalists screaming out his name. He would make an
easy sacrifice if the Russia scandal further engulfs the President.
Trump’s base won’t care if he disappears, as Kushner and his skinny ties
are as alien to the white working class
as they are to him. And the executives
courting his favour will do the same with
the next person to take his job.
“Air” could easily vanish. America
would scarcely know he was gone. Only
Trump would notice the silence.
@delvesbroughton
Special
relationship:
President Trump
with son-in-law
and senior
advisor Jared
Kushner, who
is married to
Ivanka Trump
21
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
| News in Focus
The power of paralanguage —
how emoji changed the world
Richard
Godwin
W
E’VE all found ourselves
in situations where
emojis have provided a
more apt response than
words. You’re trying to
end an awkward midnight text exchange:
monkey-no-speak, peace sign, bed? The
Prime Minister is giving a Facebook live
interview: angry red face, angry red face,
angry red face?
Or perhaps you’re
working in the White
House and your boss
Donald Trump has just
d e c i d e d t o f i re F B I
director James Comey and
only bothered to brief press
secretary Sean Spicer, one hour
beforehand, and now all the phones are
buzzing like crazy. As the Washington
Post reported on May 10: “When asked
Tuesday night for an update on the
unfolding situation, one top White
House aide simply texted a reporter two
fireworks emojis.”
Whatever, it should come as no
surpri se that the White House
backchannels to the press by means of
cutesy glyphs. Emoji – from the Japanese
for picture (e) plus character (moji) —
have seeped into every area of digital
life. There are 3.2 billion internet users
worldwide and according to one source,
92 per cent of them regularly use emojis.
The forthcoming Emoji Movie stars T J
Miller as the (non-existent) “meh”
emoji who must learn the timely
lesson that it’s OK to have
more than one reaction. The
smiley cushion is a staple of
tourist tat stalls from Kuala
Lumpur to Blackpool.
It has all happened so
rapidly too. While emoticons
such as :-) date back to the advent
of email in 1982, and emojis have been
standard on Japanese “feature phones”
since the late-1990s, it wasn’t until 2011
that Apple introduced its emoji
keyboard. You can now make use of
1,088 distinct emojis.
The annual release of new emojis by
Unicode, the California-based non-profit
consortium that standardises text across
the internet, is greeted as a major event.
Among recent additions are a
vomiting face, a
breastfeeding woman, a
hedgehog, broccoli
(which can double as
cann abis), and the
English, Welsh and
Scottish flags.
Linguistics professor Vyvyan Evans,
author of The Emoji
Code, is a leading authority on digital communication. He sees emoji as an
evolutionary response to rapid mobile
communications, much as punctuation
helped ease the transition from oral to
written traditions.
Evans feels it is inaccurate to call emoji
a language — it has no grammar or
syntax, so attempting to translate
regular sentences into emoji feels a bit
like playing charades. It is a paralanguage,
approximating the roles that gesture,
expression and tone of voice play in
spoken communication. “When
we’re talking to someone, 60-70
per cent of ‘social meaning’ comes
from non-verbal cues,” says Evans.
“We can produce over 10,000 facial
expressions, for example. What
emoji do is bring emails, texts and so
on back into line with speech.”
This was pretty much the logic of
their inventor, Shigetaka Kurita, who
drew up the first 272 emoji while
working at the Japanese
telecommunications company NTT
Docomo in 1999. And you can see the
evidence of this function on emojitracker.
com, which counts emoji use on Twitter
in real-time, like a sort of stock
exchange for sentiment. Almost all of
the most popular emoji are emotional.
Tears of joy — the Oxford English
Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2015
— has racked up 1,705,847,010 uses.
Heart, heart eyes, floods of tears, kiss
and slight dejection also score high.
Still, if emotion is what makes emoji
useful, what makes them fun is their
near-infinite array of interpretations.
We all know, I hope, that if your partner
sends you an aubergine followed by a
peach followed by a question mark, it’s
fairly likely they’re not asking what you’d
like for supper. Apple — the Mary
Whitehouse of the Unicode panel —
recently redesigned the peach emoji so
that it looked less like a bum. Instagram
briefly banned the aubergine from its
search terms to avert dick pix. But users
are more than capable of reverseengineering their own meanings for
chrysanthemum, woman making OK
sign, grapes, etc. The water closet
emoji has recently emerged as
Instagram slang for woman
crush, for example.
Trump himself doesn’t
seem to have located emojis
— small mercy — but his
advisers are well-versed in
their use as internet cant. The
clique surrounding the far-Right
isolationist Steve Bannon refers to
former Goldman Sachs banker Gary
Cohn with the globe emoji as way of
mocking his globalist sympathies.
Meanwhile the snowflake emoji has
been reclaimed by liberals , and often
features in Twitter profiles along with
the rainbow flag (LGBT-friendly), the
raised fist (Resist!), and the paperclip
(the closest emoji to the safety pin worn
in solidarity with minority groups.)
There’s a set of unofficial Jeremy Corbyn
emojis for the election.
Of course, who does and doesn’t get
to be represented in emoji form is
in itself political. Unicode 5.0
features a hijab emoji —
petitioned for by a Saudi
schoolgirl — while Apple
began introducing skin
shades with its iOS 8.3
update. But as the
range expands, so the
omissions become
more glaring.
Where are the
ginger emojis?
W h ere a re
the curlyhair
emojis?
British
users know
this cultural
‘When
asked for an
update, one
top White
House aide
simply
texted a
reporter
two firework
emojis’
pain: for years we have had to make
do with black coffee or green tea
to represent tea. And this week,
the Plan International UK launched
a campaign to introduce a period
emoji so as to help banish stigma
around menstruation.
Still, according to Jeremy Burge of
Emojipedia, the most common
requests are for branded emojis.
“There’s already a coffee cup but a
lot of people ask for a Starbucks
emoji,” he tells me. “Football team
logosare also in demand but go against
Unicode selection factors.”
We are tribal animals after all. And the
number of companies offering
customisable emoji suggest that the days
of centralised emoji planning will not
last for ever. All of which places great
responsibility on Unicode. “It’s a nongovernmental organisation, but it
is dominated by older white
male engineers from Silicon
Valley who ultimately answer
to shareholders,” says Evans.
“And they’re making decisions
about how the world
communicates,
which is quite odd if
you think about it.”
There are 11 full
voting members of
Unicode, who each
pay $18,000 a year:
Silicon Valley giants
Adobe, Apple,
Facebook, Google, IBM,
Microsoft, Oracle and Yahoo; German
software company SAP; Chinese
telecoms company Huawei; and the
Government of Oman.
Evans sees censorship as a developing
issue. Apple recently changed its gun
emoji to a water pistol, and led the revolt
against the rifle emoji.
But a more insidious threat lurks deep
in our cortexes. The Sapin-Whorf
hypothesis (hotly debated in linguistics
circles) posits that the grammatical
patterns of your native language alter
how you think. “There’s now brain scan
evidence to support this hypothesis,”
says Evans. “So I’d argue that there is a
potential danger with emoji. If Unicode
can change and influence these systems
of communication, ultimately for the
interests of the shareholders of its
m e m b e r c o m p a n ie s , t h e re a re
potentially pernicious downstream
consequences.”
One potential way is by limiting our
emotional range. This is the theme of
the Emoji Movie, as it turns out. Humans
are imitative. We take our social cues
from those around us. We’re also lazy.
It’s so much easier to sympathise with a
smiley face than think through a
response. It’s so much easier mock
with a tears of joy than it is to
reason. A sort of cutesy flippancy
comes to stand in for our full
emotional range. We become
nodes in a system, our
10,000 potential facial
expressions reduced to a
drop-down menu of bits of
code chosen by a
g r o u p
o f
unaccountable tech
billionaires. It’s
hard to know how
to feel about
that except
@richardjgodwin
22
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
23
H
News and gossip from the
world of entertainment
by Alistair Foster
@alistair_foster
Understudy Jacob learned
leading role in 24 hours
dave benett
I only met
Kygo days
before our
hit came out,
reveals Ellie
ELLIE GOULDING has revealed
she only met her latest
collaborator Kygo face-to-face
“a few days” before their new hit
single was released.
The pair worked remotely,
sending their work by email to
each other from their studios to
produce surprise hit First Time.
The singer, below right with the
Norwegian DJ, admitted she came
out of hiding to work with him on
the track. It has been streamed
63 million times since being
released this month.
She told the Standard: “I was
supposed to be completely mute
this year and just writing an
album but with this song… it’s
had so much attention.
“Somebody said to me the other
day, ‘Is this your comeback?’ I
said, ‘Absolutely not!’ I was not
supposed to be coming back for a
while but I thought that this song
was so good that I wanted to put
everything I have into it.”
Goulding said the speed at which
the collaboration was made and
released heralds the new way that
music can now be produced. She
added: “Nowadays you don’t even
have to be in the same room to
make music. Kygo and I only met a
few days before we released the
song. It’s a very different world to
how it used to be.
“There’s a lot of collaborations
going on at the moment and
I think that’s really positive.
With everything that’s
happening in the world at the
moment I think the key is to be
making positive stuff that makes
people happy.”
Goulding spoke to the Standard
after she performed, right, an
acoustic set at Abbey Road for the
charity Hope and Homes End Of
Silence gala which aims to raise
awareness of the harm
orphanages can do to children.
She added: “Orphanages do
more harm than good. They
actually end up damaging
young people more than
helping them. They
encourage children to
suppress their wanting to
call out and reach for love
— making them used to
silence and not calling
out for help. I think it’s
really important to
spread awareness that
every child should
have the right to a
loving home and
support network.”
The event also
saw a performance
by Ronan Keating,
and an auction raised £638,427.
ON THE Town’s stand-in
star Jacob Maynard had
just 24 hours to learn the
part after cast member
Fred Haig broke his foot.
The young Londoner
stepped up from the
ensemble cast to take one
of the main roles in the
show at the Regent’s Park
Open Air Theatre, after
Haig suffered the injury in
an early performance.
Maynard, 23, whose roles
include the recent West
End production of Guys
and Dolls, said: “It was a
normal day, we had been
rehearsing all day until
five, and then I got called
in and told the news. Drew
[McOnie, the director] just
said, ‘Jacob you’ve got
this, it is absolutely
fine’ and he said it so
calmly and he had
such faith in me
that I thought
anything was
possible.
“Then we had that
24 hours, staying up
all night with Drew
and the creative
team. I was on the
next night and it
went off without a
glitch. It was a pretty
special feeling.”
Robert Dex
Stepping up:
Jacob Maynard
(Chip) and Lizzie
Connolly (Hildy) in
On The Town
the real star is the choreography
first night
on the town
Open Air Theatre
★★★✩✩
Fiona Mountford
ONLINE
ch with
Stay in touainment
the entert andard
gossip: st tend
.co.uk/wes
MUSICALS at this exquisite venue in
Regent’s Park have, quite rightly,
become key fixtures on London’s
cultural calendar in the summer.
The levels of ambition and
accomplishment increase yearly; last
season’s Jesus Christ Superstar won
the Evening Standard Award for best
musical. On The Town is, like its
predecessors, very good, but it’s best
appreciated by the head rather than
the heart. I admired it throughout,
but was almost constantly
emotionally unengaged.
The piece is, of course, best known
as the 1949 film starring Gene Kelly
and Frank Sinatra. The charisma of
this pair lends immeasurable support
to the very slight storyline, about
three sailors on 24-hour shore leave in
New York. The leads here, including
Strictly Come Dancing finalist Danny
Mac as the lovestruck Gabey, are
efficient and affable, without coming
close to stamping themselves on our
memories. Siena Kelly appeals as
poster girl Miss Turnstiles, the object
of Gabey’s affection.
The real star, however, is the supple
and sinuous choreography from Drew
McOnie, who also directs. Dance
dominates; no surprise given that the
source material was a ballet by Jerome
Robbins. To the strains of Leonard
Bernstein’s beautiful, often haunting,
music, the ensemble twirls about in a
flurry of colourful costumes. Yet there
are no real show-stopping numbers in
time-honoured musical theatre
fashion; the best known, New York,
New York, is oddly thrown away.
The al fresco intimacy of this space
works best with rounded characters
and an involving narrative in which
the audience can get immersed as
darkness descends. It’s all credit that
the Open Air Theatre has set itself
such very high standards.
■ Until July 1 (0844 826 4242,
openairtheatre.com)
More reviews Pages 32 & 33
24
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
News | International
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @standardnews and Instagram @evening.standard
Trump and Clinton reignite feud
He says ‘crooked’
again, she hits
back with ‘covfefe’
Tit for tat: the
president and
former first lady
resumed their war
on social media
and she attacked
him in a speech in
Silicon Valley
David Gardner
US Correspondent
DONALD TRUMP and Hillary Clinton
have reignited their bitter White House
election feud by squaring up on social
media.
While the president branded his
beaten opponent “crooked Hillary” —
an insult he often used on the campaign
trail — Mrs Clinton mocked him by
using his made-up word “covfefe”.
Mr Trump tweeted: “Crooked Hillary
Clinton now blames everybody but
herself, refuses to say she was a terrible
candidate. Hits Facebook & even Dems
& DNC.”
In response, Mrs Clinton fired back
with her own version of the phrase
“people in glass houses shouldn’t
throw stones”.
The former first lady tweeted: “Peo-
ple in covfefe houses shouldn’t throw
covfefe.” The bizarre non-word went
viral yesterday after Mr Trump accidentally wrote it in a tweet and failed
to correct it, with social media awash
with jokes and speculation over its possible meaning.
The president was reacting to
remarks made by Mrs Clinton, who told
a tech conference in California’s Silicon
Valley that she believed Mr Trump may
have “guided” Russian efforts to sabotage her election campaign.
Making clear that she thought he had
“colluded” with Moscow, she also
blasted the election coverage on Face-
book, saying the “vast majority” of
news about her was “fake”.
She claimed there were “1,000 Russian agents involved in delivering those
messages” although it was unclear
where she obtained her figures.
The row blew up as Mr Trump and
his aides were locked in last-minute
discussions over plans to pull the US
out of the 2015 Paris climate change
accord.
While some insiders insisted the decision had been made to withdraw, others claimed the move had not been
finalised.
After weeks of uncertainty, Mr Trump
said he intended to announce his decision in the White House Rose Garden
at 8pm UK time today.
Critics say a withdrawal would harm
America’s standing in the world and
make it more difficult for Mr Trump to
reach agreement with allies on other
key issues, such as trade and terrorism.
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the
European Commission, said he
opposed “behaving as vassals of the
Americans” and blasted Mr Trump for
failing to understand the mechanics of
a withdrawal, which he said could take
three or four years.
“This notion — ‘I am Trump. I am
American. America first, so I’m going
to get out of it’ — that is not going to
happen,” he said.
Meanwhile the BBC reported today
that Chinese and EU leaders are to
agree a joint statement on the Paris
climate agreement, stressing the “highest political commitment” to implementing the deal.
The statement, seen as a rebuff to the
US, will be published tomorrow after
a summit in Brussels.
world in brief
‘Friendly fire’ kills troops
in Philippines city battle
TEN soldiers have been killed and
eight wounded in a “friendly fire”
air strike in the Philippines. The
army is fighting militants allied to
Islamic State in the city of Marawi.
Defence secretary Delfin
Lorenzana said the soldiers “were
hit by our own airstrike”. More
than 100 people have died so far in
the street battles.
Watch the video
standard.co.uk/marawi
Drug antidote to stop
sniffer dog overdose
POLICE in Massachusetts
have started to carry a drug to
protect their sniffer dogs from
overdosing. Naloxone, used for
years to treat humans, is now
being taken on narcotics raids
after three police dogs were
rushed to an animal hospital last
year when they ingested
fentanyl, a powerful painkiller
often mixed with street heroin.
Find the right home
near the right school
Speaking out: LeBron James in training
and the LA home targeted by racists
LeBron hits at
racism after
graffiti attack
David Gardner
BASKETBALL star LeBron James said
“being black in America is tough”
after racist graffiti was sprayed on his
Los Angeles home.
The sportsman, 32, spoke out after
police launched a hunt to find the
person who daubed the n-word on
his front gate. He said the vandalism
shows “racism will always be part of
the world and part of America”.
Speaking at a press conference for
the National Basketball Association
finals in Oakland, California, James
— one of the richest people in sport
— said money did not hold all the
answers. “No matter how much
money you have, no matter how
famous you are, no matter how many
people admire you, being black in
America is tough,” he added. “We’ve
got a long way to go for us as a society
and for us as African-Americans until
we feel equal in America.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers player was
not at home when his house was
targeted. He reportedly bought the
property in Brentwood in 2015 for
$21 million (£16.3 million).
“Hate in America, especially for
African-Americans, is living every day.
Even though that it’s concealed most
of the time,” he added. He mentioned
the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, 14,
who was murdered for supposedly
whistling at a white woman.
“I think back to Emmett Till’s mum
actually,” James said. “It’s one of the
first things I thought of. The reason
she had an open casket was because
she wanted to show the world what
her son went through as far as a hate
crime and being black in America.”
James is the highest-paid player in
the NBA, reportedly earning more
than $30 million (£23.3 million) a year.
Last week he became the all-time
leading scorer in the play-offs, surpassing the record of Chicago Bulls
legend Michael Jordan.
Thug who dragged ex-wife behind car is jailed
Allan Hall in Berlin
School Checker
Rightmove has more properties than any
other site. And School Checker is now on
every property to show you nearby schools,
admission areas and even Ofsted ratings.
A FATHER who tied a noose around
the neck of his ex-wife and dragged
her by car around a German town
has been jailed for 14 years.
Kader K, 28, sustained serious injuries as she was dragged over cobblestones at high speed by the VW
Passat driven by Nurettin B in Hamelin.
Their two-year-old son Cudi, who
was sitting in the back seat, wit-
Serious injuries:
Kader K was left
in a coma for
weeks after the
attack
nessed his mother’s ordeal. Kader
was only saved when the rope
snapped outside a fast-food restaurant and passers-by rushed to her
aid. She lay in a coma for weeks after
the attack last November and has
suffered brain damage that will
require years of therapy.
However, she was fit enough to
appear at Hanover State Court to see
her ex found guilty of attempted
murder after a trial.
In addition to the jail sentence,
Nurettin B, 39, must pay her more
than £100,000 in compensation.
Full names are not reported in German court cases.
25
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
| News
Demolishing
Chelsea market
for flats ‘would
be vandalism’
Ben Morgan and Barney Davis
DEMOLISHING the Chelsea farmers’
market to make way for flats would be
“senseless vandalism”, say residents
and shoppers.
The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS
trust wants to sell the site, off King’s
Road, to developers to fund a new specialist respiratory wing. More than 300
Chelsea residents have objected. Planners are set to make a decision today.
The market is made up of independent
businesses in huts around a square,
including an organic food store and a
pet shop, as well as bars and restaurants. Visitors include Adele, Sir Michael
Caine, Dame Maggie Smith and the stars
of reality TV show Made In Chelsea.
Under the plan, the market in Sydney
Street would be replaced by four residential blocks up to five storeys high,
as well as “high-quality” retail space.
Mohamadreza Sharifi, 65, is a former
manager of the market and owns four
stalls, including an organic shop where
Sir Michael “comes every day to buy
cereal”. He said: “This is a unique little
oasis and should be maintained properly and not sold off. I have been here
38 years and this would be a total waste
of our lives.
“We have no alternative but to leave
if they get permission. It would be a
huge development which would
destroy King’s Road, which is already
over-built.”
In objection, Wangu Chafuwa wrote:
“Closing this market would be yet
another nail in the coffin for independent traders and local community. Stop
this senseless vandalism.”
Hayley Richardson said demolition
would be “a travesty”, adding: “Stop
making Chelsea another Lego town.”
Some residents have written in support. Douglas Shaw said: “The farmers’
market is a huddle of wooden shacks not
befitting the area. We can do better.”
The market has also been earmarked
as a possible site for a station for the
Crossrail 2 rail route.
If plans are approved the NHS trust
wants an extension of 15 years before
permission expires — compared with
three years normally. The proposed
sale would help plug a £2.9 million
funding shortfall for the new wing and
would be ring-fenced, the trust said.
It said: “We have worked closely with
local resident groups to develop these
plans, and are extremely grateful for
their involvement. A number of revisions to the proposed designs were
made as a result of their feedback.”
Kensington and Chelsea council said:
“We do not comment on applications
ahead of committee meetings.”
Women to share their tall stories
Lizzie Edmonds
A BRUNCH where tall women can network and share the challenges — and
benefits — of their height is coming to
London for the first time.
Bree Wijnaar, 33, set up The Tall Society website and community two years
ago in which women can read about
height-related topics, meet others,
discuss best fashion retailers and a host
of other topics.
Business systems analyst Ms Wijnaar,
who is 6ft4ins, was born in Holland and
now lives in New York. She said: “Life
can be tough when you are this tall,
especially in your teenage years. I
Reaching out:
New Yorker
Bree Wijnaar is
hosting a brunch
for tall women
in London
wanted to reach out to other women
of height as I knew they would understand my journey.” The Meet Your Tall
Sisters event in London on June 17 will
cost £50 per person, including food,
drinks, music and a giftbag.
■ For more info, go to:
https://thetallsociety.com/events
Risk: Adele and Sir Michael Caine, with wife Shakira,
are among the market’s fans. Far left, the flats plan
26
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
News |
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @standardnews and Instagram @evening.standard
THE DISPOSSESSED FUND
Your chance to enjoy a special
night at World Para Athletics
David Cohen
WITH six weeks to go before the World
Para Athletics Championships begins,
the Evening Standard Dispossessed
Fund has joined forces with London
2017 to provide a special night of sport
for charitable groups and readers.
As the world’s best athletes prepare to
head to the London Stadium for the
World Para Athletics, starting on July 14,
and for the IAAF World Championships
in August, up to 5,000 free tickets have
been set aside for Standard readers and
beneficiaries of our charitable fund.
In the exclusive first-come-first-served
offer for the night of Thursday July 20:
■ A total of 2,500 free tickets have been
made available for beneficiaries of the
hundreds of charitable groups funded
by the Dispossessed Fund since 2010.
■ Another 2,500 free tickets can be
claimed by general Standard readers.
In 2012, the Paralympic Games sold
out in advance. The events scheduled
on July 20 are set to feature some of the
biggest British names in para athletics
and include finals for the 100m, 400m,
800m, discus, shot put and long jump.
The British para team will be looking
to improve on their haul of 31 medals
— 13 gold, nine silver, nine bronze — at
HOW TO APPLY for free tickets
In action: David Weir wins gold at London 2012
the last World Para Championships in
Doha, the capital of Qatar, in 2015.
In early August, the IAAF World Championships will begin in London. It is the
first time both events are being staged
in the same city in the same summer.
Niels de Vos, championship director
of the World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships
London 2017, said: “It’s extremely
important for us to be working with the
Dispossessed Fund and to show our
support by offering 2,500 individuals
from their funded groups the opportu-
■ Readers seeking free
tickets for July 20 (limit
of four per email
application) should apply
to: paraathletics
championships.com/
eveningstandard
■ Groups funded by the
Dispossessed Fund will be
contacted by The London
Community Foundation
and informed how to
apply for tickets.
nity to see world-class sport. This year’s
championships are set to be the biggest
and best in the history of global para
athletics.”
Jim Armstrong, founder of Laburnum
Boat Club, a Hackney project providing
kayaking to disadvantaged youths and
funded by the Dispossessed Fund, said
the offer was a boon. “We do a lot of
work with children with disabilities,
especially autism, building their confidence and making them independent, so this a wonderful opportunity
to expose them to a world of excel-
lence,” he said. “Many kids we work
with are referred from special schools
or local authorities and exhibit challenging behaviour, but once they get
involved in kayaking, it calms and
focuses them. The World Para Athletics
Championships will be inspirational
for them and raise their aspirations.”
Sab Bham, founder of Salaam Peace,
an east London charity promoting
respect and tolerance through sport,
said he expected to take more than 50
young people along. “We run sports
programmes every Sunday for children
with behavioural issues as well as some
who are physically impaired, such as
through Down’s syndrome, so this special offer is a great chance to show them
what disabled people can achieve.
“One of our patrons is Tim Prendergast, a Paralympic 800m gold medallist
in the visually impaired category, and
he sometimes gives our youngsters
motivational talks. Now our kids will
be able to experience the incredible
atmosphere of the World Para Athletics
Championships for themselves.”
■ The World Para Athletics
Championships run July 14 to 23.
Tickets start at £10 for adults
and £5 for under-16s (tickets.
london2017athletics.com)
27
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Daniel Hambury
| News
‘I’m terrified … winning
gold on home turf is
what you dream about’
David Cohen
Ready, set, go:
British
Paralympians
Georgina
Hermitage,
at the London
Stadium, and
Jonnie
Peacock, far left
RIO Paralympic champion Georgina
Hermitage is expected to be one of
several star British athletes going for
gold on July 20.
Hermitage, 28, holds three world
records in the T37 category — for the
100m, 200m and 400m — but is nervous
about competing on home turf at the
World Para Athletics Championships.
Speaking outside the 60,000-capacity London Stadium she said: “To be
honest, I am completely terrified,
totally bricking it. To perform in front
of your home crowd, for the stadium
to be so full and loud that you can’t
even hear your feet hit the ground, that
is going to be serious pressure.”
The mother of one from Guildford,
who has cerebral palsy and consequently a weaker left arm and leg,
added: “But I am nervous in a good way.
This is what you dream about. As Jonnie
Peacock said, you can be the fastest on
paper but you’ve got to do it when it
matters, and doing it in front of your
home crowd is when it matters.
“This time it’s not about making new
world records, it’s about bringing home
gold. I am coming back from an injury
but I am now training six times a week
and I will be giving it my best shot.”
British athletes are set to complete the
final qualification process next week.
Ms Hermitage had shown athletic talent as a teenager but it was only after
being inspired by the 2012 Paralympic
Games in London that she decided to
take up running seriously.
“For me, 2017 is my 2012 moment,”
she said. “The chance to run for glory
in front of my own people at this level
will never come around again.”
The fact that disadvantaged Londoners helped by grants from the Dispossessed Fund will be in the crowd will
drive her on, she said, adding: “I
recently did a school visit to children
with learning disabilities and when I
was introduced, they were so excited
they gave a collective gasp.
“I was blown away by their response.
There were pictures of Jonnie Peacock
and Dave Weir on their walls and I took
in my gold medals from Rio and they
were trying them on. The joy in their
faces was something I will never forget.
I never realised how much these youngsters look up to us athletes. Para sport
gives them hope and shows them that
people with disabilities cannot be written off. I hope to put in a performance
that will make them proud.”
28
29
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Trend spot
Melt your troubles away: put this bioplastic pocket-sized card in hot water
and it can be used to repair your
tech instantly. £6.99, formcard.com
The master builders
A
N APPLE event is a highly
anticipated, high-octane
ceremony. There are big
names to match the big
announcements, and
choreographed big reveals will travel
around the world in minutes, as the
reverent acolytes reach for their iPhone
7s to share the news.
The next hot ticket for Apple insiders?
Getting a front-row seat at WWDC 2017,
the Worldwide Developer’s Conference,
where Apple will unveil software
updates, and possibly shiny new
gadgetry. It runs for five days next
week, starting on Monday, in San Jose,
California, and draws a global crowd.
The capital’s tech sector will be well
represented: a raft of developers is
People
As Apple’s hot ticket Developer’s summit
kicks off, Ben Travis meets the capital’s
brightest minds making waves in California
poised to make the flight to the west
coast, and then run with whatever CEO
Tim Cook dreams up next.
Meet the capital’s coders who are
California-bound in search of Silicon
Valley’s next big thing.
The trusted advisor
Gabriela Pittari,
Rungway
Venezuelan-born
developer Gabriela Pittari now works
in Camden (“London is the best city
for technology”) and is heading to
WWDC for the first time — she’ll
celebrate her 29th birthday there.
Pittari is lead iOS developer for
mentoring app Rungway, which lets
u s e r s a sk f o r adv i c e o n
personal and professional
issues, for example:
“A ny t i p s
London’s best
Camera add-ons
on how to balance the amount of
communication with my manager?”
She’s there to improve. “Rungway
works perfectly,” she says. “But the
input of the conference will make the
user interface better.”
She’s hoping to hear about new
features within Apple’s coding
language, Swift, which Rungway and
most other apps use. “The hardware is
cool to have but my day-to-day is with
the operating system and the
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Continued on Page 30
Designs on the future: left to right,
Gabriela Pittari, Miguel Angel Quinones,
Martin Hartt, Shaun Rutland and
Rob Elkin
JOBY Griptight
Tripod
Attach your phone to
any metal surface
with this flexible
magnetic tripod to
get selfies that aren’t
taken up by your
outstretched arm.
£24.99, currys.co.uk
MPow Fisheye
Lens
Make your photo feed
stand out with a set of
fish-eye lenses that
clips onto your
smartphone.
£12.79, amazon.co.uk
E-PLG Pet Selfie
Stick
Perfect your pet pics
with this ball that
attaches to the top of
your screen — selfies
are better with fourlegged friends.
£7, amazon.co.uk
Sandisk iXpand
Flash Drive
peak
rungway
hutch
waowi
busuu
Photos take up loads
of space on your
handset — back them
up onto a lightning
port flash drive to
make room for more
snaps.
amazon.co.uk, from
£29.90
Ben Travis
30
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
London Life |
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Pregnancy+ and Baby+, and take it in
turns to attend conferences and stay
home on family and business duties.
An overhaul to the app, planned for
September, is set to bring new
computer graphics and social media
elements to their software.
This is Miles’s third WWDC trip but
he has never met Jony Ive, his hero. “I
studied industrial design too, he has
one of those very impressive journeys
that you look at with admiration,” he
says.
WWDC survival tech: iPhone, and a
grand total of three sets of headphones
(basic earbuds, wireless AirPods,
noise-cancelling Beats by Dre), and a
Macbook Pro for “proper work”.
Continued from Page 29
instruments Apple gives coders.”
Birthday wish: A selfie with design
deity Jony Ive. “If I get to meet him, I’ll
hug him. If I got a picture, it’s going on
my Instagram for sure.”
The master mind
Miguel Angel Quinones, Peak
After two failed attempts it was third
time lucky for Quiñones, aged 33, in
the WWDC ticket lottery. He’s heading
out with brain-training app Peak, which
has its HQ in Holborn. He finds
London’s tech scene more lively than
the “quite small” iOS community in
Warsaw, where he worked for five years
after growing up in Barcelona.
His tip for this year’s conference is a
potential augmented reality update.
“Apple could build tools for developers
to build first-class AR apps,” he says.
“At Peak we’re reactive. We always look
at what the trend is and see how we can
adapt it to our app.”
Apple hero: Swift creator Chris
Lattner. “To introduce a new primary
language overnight and prompt people
to go and use it was a big feat.”
The fast developer
Martin Hartt, Student at King’s
College London
Hartt is just 20 years old but he’s
already making an impact. After
spending his youth playing Jak and
Daxter on PS2, he became interested
in game creation and started making
his apps. Now a student at King’s
College, he’s heading to WWDC for the
second year in a row after winning
Apple’s WWDC scholarship. There he’ll
Connected: from left, Amber Vodegel, John Miles, Francesca Bradley, Martin Hartt’s Tim Cook selfie and the Peak brain training app
be launching Waowi, an app he’s
developed with his brother Rudy, a
network that encourages conversation
with strangers, inviting users to record
a voice note and chat live.
WWDC highlight: His selfie with Apple
CEO Tim Cook last year: “He stood
there for an hour surrounded by
teenagers trying to take selfies and
seems like a great guy.”
The speed demon
Shaun Rutland, Hutch
After launching game Smash Cops five
years ago the Hutch team has grown
from four staff to 60.
Rutland, 42, is heading to “Dub Dub
Dee Cee” (as he calls it) to show off
latest game Race Kings, a car-based title
he describes as “the most complex
game we’ve ever done”.
His highlight of last year’s WWDC was
seeing Craig Federighi (Apple’s senior
VP of software engineering) mingling
with attendees. “He was approachable,”
Rutland recalls. “That sort of openness
and accessibility is cool.”
W W D C t a r ge t : N ew h a rdwa re
announcements. “It’s exciting for us to
see if we can get our software to utilise
the latest hardware. Apple are very pro
high-end 3D games.”
The prolific speaker
Rob Elkin, Busuu
Elkin, aged 32, is off to San Jose with
language-learning app Busuu, where
he’s hoping to hear announcements
about the Apple Watch and AI that will
impact his Old Street-based company.
But he’s not going just for WWDC — he
helped co-found AltConf, a free
alternative conference next door, which
caters to the overspill of developers
unable to get WWDC passes.
“It started as a co-working space with
a lunchtime talk. In 2013 it ramped up
and became a fully-fledged
conference,” he says. There’s a lot of
chatter about the “cult of Apple”,
though Elkin praises the company for
becoming less, well, culty in recent
years. “They’re able to engage a lot
more, and they listen to feedback from
medium to large companies.”
Most treasured tech: “My iPhone. It
never leaves my side.”
The double act
John Miles and Amber Vodegel,
Health & Parenting Ltd
This husband-and-wife duo develop
apps including advice services
The song star
Francesca Bradley, Shazam
Audio-recognition software Shazam
is a true App Store icon and it has an
office in Hammersmith. The iOS app
has just been redesigned and Bradley,
24, hopes WWDC will bring new Swift
announcements to adapt it further.
“The integration of apps in iMessage
was something Shazam jumped
straight on last year,” she says. “You
c an now Shazam straight from
iMessage.”
This is Bradley’s second WWDC — and
she’s only a recent convert to the Steve
Jobs tribe. “I actually had an Android
when I started at Shazam,” she
confesses. “I got an iPhone in
December — it’s still joked about in the
office today.”
Most-used app: Snapchat. “My goddaughter loves the filters. We’ve just
integrated Shazam in Snapchat too.”
@BenSTravis
31
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
| London Life
Pull shapes: why Twitter
is joining the inner circle
Technology
The Away case has
an inbuilt phone
charger and
ensures clothes
arrive crease-free.
It’s a bag of tricks,
says Ben Travis
TECHNOLOGY has come
full circle. Literally. From
social networks to apps,
the circle is the shape of
the moment. Twitter is
the latest app to “go
round”, currently testing
a new mobile interface
with rounded profile
images, circular buttons
for the “tweet” and “edit
profile” functions and
other edge-less features.
But can a simple change
in shape really be the
answer for an app used by
319 million
people and
facing problems
with spam,
harassment
and attracting
a new buyer?
It’s all about psychology,
explains Lucinda VieiraMartins, senior UX/UI
designer at Shoreditchbased app development
agency Red C Mobile. “I
choose to use rounded
imagery where I can,” she
says. “Round shapes feel
more comfortable to a
user than hard edged
rectangles.”
Ease of use is a factor.
“Rounded edges are also
more in keeping with the
form of a hand. A finger
has a kind of rounded tip
T
‘If we’re going away for the
weekend we won’t bother
bringing a charger — we’ll
just plug in our suitcase’
scratch-resistant outer casing. It has
separate compartments to keep
bulky items like shoes and toiletries
away from your clothes, and a
compression pad that packs down
your outfits to fit more in without
vacuum-packing them (“That can
actually create more wrinkles,”
Korey says). There’s also a built-in
combination lock, toughened zips,
and — yes — wheels that swivel
360 degrees.
After a successful US launch, the
Away case is touching down in the UK
(“People in the UK love to travel a lot,
Europe is so accessible and when
you’re starting in London you really
can get anywhere in the world”), and
is set to be the first in a whole range
of thoughtful portable accessories.
“It was about
understanding how
people travel, what the
pain points are, and
how we can solve
everything,” Korey
explains.
Best of all, it has an
internal USB charger
with enough capacity
to revive an iPhone
five times, and is fully
compliant with the
strict regulations
about carrying
batteries that have
brought in by airlines
in recent years.
“We always joke that
if we’re going
somewhere for the
weekend, we don’t
even bother bringing
a phone charger
because we’ll just
greg funnell
HE AWAY suitcase is clever.
It has an inbuilt charger and
compression technology
that helps you to squeeze in
more clothes without them
creasing or the bag bursting open at
the security check. But the biggest
challenge when designing it was
literally reinventing the wheel.
“They were the toughest things to
develop,” says Away’s co-creator
Steph Korey, who teamed up with
her friend Jen Rubio to make a case
that will put an end to any baggage
misery. “It’s so important that they
move smoothly and are robust
enough to roll over anything. It took
us more than 20 iterations to get to
that perfect wheel. By the time we
got there, that was the moment
where it was like: ‘OK if we can figure
this part out, we’re going to figure
everything out’.”
And figure it out they have. Away
packs a lot of nifty tech into its
The smart suitcase
you can live out of
plug into our suitcase. It’s way more
than what you need,” says Korey. “I
travel a lot but I also run a company,
so being able to stay connected and
in touch with people is a huge
priority for me. One time I was
flying down to Florida to visit my
mum and my phone was dead. I was
at the airport arrivals, just standing
there for an hour hoping she’d drive
by with no ability to actually
call her. I thought: ‘I can
go inside and plug my
It’s in the bag:
above, Away’s
founders Jen
Rubio, left, and
Steph Korey. Left,
Away’s medium
suitcase and
model customer
Karlie Kloss
phone in, but maybe that’s the
moment she’ll drive by and think
I’m not here’.”
The functionality is all packed into
a fashion-conscious design that’s
attracted famous fans including
Karlie Kloss, Jessica Alba, and Suki
Waterhouse, who even has her own
signature pink case.
“For people like them who truly
travel all the time it’s already
annoying enough that you have a
security line and delays, and having
something that can just make things a
little bit easier when you’re on the
road that much is really important,”
Korey says of Away’s celebrity
appeal. “It was also designed
aesthetically to look good which
helps it go along with their whole
look — they’ll tend to be pretty puttogether, even when they’re
travelling.”
Fans are requesting all manner of
other travel products. Korey won’t
give too much away but says: “We
have a design team that are really
exploring all the considerations.
Over the next year you’ll see us start
to come out with some of these
things our customers have asked
for.” For now, it’s never been easier
to pack smarter.
@BenSTravis
■ From £225, awaytravel.com/shop
to it, so it draws the user
into wanting to touch that
more than a rectangle.”
Twitter is by no means
the first tech company to
go round. “Google had a
rebrand and the G they
now use is so round in
form that it’s basically a
slightly cut-up circle,”
says Vieira-Martins.
WhatsApp, Instagram
and Facebook Messenger
have all changed profile
pictures to circular
recently. Each had its
share of
controversy.
“Everyone
thought
[Instagram’s
revamp] was
disgusting at
first,” says Vieira-Martins.
“But now people love it.
You’ve just got to give it
time to grow into itself.”
So could circles alone
give Twitter the edge (or
lack of ) that it needs?
“It’s a positive change,”
says Vieira-Martins.
“They could have done
bigger things — changed
the font or the branding
colour —but this is a
subtle change that will
make a huge difference.”
Katie Strick
@Katie_Strick
32
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
London Life | Books
Paperbacks
William Leith
Nutshell
by Ian McEwan
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Conversations with Friends
by Sally Rooney
Dynamic debut:
Sally Rooney
(Faber, £14.99)
JOHANNA THOMAS-CORR
Reality is Not What
It Seems
by Carlo Rovelli
(Penguin, £9.99)
MOSTLY, when you read books
about science, they make you
feel dumb. But really good ones
make you feel clever. This is a
really, really good book about
science. It’s like a tonic for the
mind. Carlo Rovelli is a physicist,
so of course this book is about
physics. But it’s much more than
that. It’s about thinking clearly. At the start, Rovelli
says: “The more we discover, the more we understand
that what we don’t yet know is greater than what we
know.” He gives beautifully clear explanations of the
ideas of the cleverest people in history, from
Democritus, via Newton, to Einstein and beyond.
Van Gogh’s Ear
by Bernadette Murphy
(Vintage, £11.99)
WE ALL know at least one thing
about Vincent Van Gogh — he cut
off his ear. Or part of his ear,
anyway. He was Dutch, he was
brilliant, he was mentally ill, he
went to Paris, then he went to
Arles in the South of France and
cut off his ear. Soon after that he
was dead. But what about the
ear? What are the actual details?
Bernadette Murphy, who lives in the South of France
herself, tries to find out as much as she can. She is like
a detective on the case of Van Gogh. And she’s
excellent — she creates a vivid picture of this strange,
troubled genius, and also of what it was like to be in
Provence in 1888.
SALLY Rooney’s debut novel feels
like a long email from a particularly
amusing friend. Only in Rooney’s
case the email has gone viral. The
26-year-old Irish writer — a former
European debating champion at
Trinity College, Dublin — sparked a
seven-way bidding war for her fastmoving tale of university students,
Frances and Bobbi, who become
entangled with an older married
couple called Melissa and Nick. To
date, this coming-of-age novel about
love, sex and friendship identity has
been sold to 13 countries. You can
see why.
Rooney has a distinctly modern
voice — wry, fluid, nonchanantly
poetic — that hooks you from the
first fairly undramatic pages.
Set in Dublin over the course of
seven months, the story is told from
the perspective of 21-year-old
Frances, a bisexual communist who
performs spoken word poetry (stay
with me) alongside her ex-lover and
now best friend Bobbi, “who
belonged everywhere and had a
quality about her that made me
invisible by comparison”.
Both have felt the raw end of their
parents’ divorces and both have
come to feel suspicious of traditional
relationships. Face-to-face and over
Facebook Messenger, they chat
about free market capitalism, Ayn
Rand, and whether the college
feminist society should take a
position on the Iraq war.
When they meet Melissa, a noted
photographer and essayist, the
students are drawn into her world of
thirtysomething creatives who eat
avocado and talk at book festivals.
While Bobbi develops a crush on
Melissa, Frances embarks on an
email flirtation with Melissa’s
husband Nick, a handsome,
disenchanted actor. It becomes
particularly complicated when they
all go on holiday to a French villa.
Conversations with Friends has the
quality of feeling both fresh and
familiar. It’s archly political without
being turgid or scabrous, the kind of
novel that young women
Letting women be women
transitioning into adulthood in the
early 21st century may one day call
“seminal”.
The prose is so airy and natural
that you can gulp it down without
worrying too much about the fact
that the characters are all pretty
unpleasant and that, beyond the sex
and discussions about gender
theory, very little happens.
In common with other digital-era
stylists such as Sheila Heti and Tao
Lin, Rooney has hit on a mode of
deliberately flippant self-exposure
that is reliably entertaining. “Do I
sometimes hurt and harm myself,
do I abuse the unearned cultural
privilege of whiteness, do I take the
labour of others for granted, have I
sometimes exploited a reductive
iteration of gender theory to avoid
serious moral engagement, do I have
a troubled relationship with my
body, yes.”
There are obvious parallels with
F Scott’s Fitzgerald’s Tender is the
Night and Simone de Beauvoir’s She
Came to Stay, novels in which the
marriage-wrecking coquettes are
both actresses. Rooney subverts that
power dynamic by making Nick an
actor and Frances a writer.
At Melissa’s birthday party
someone asks her if she is “another
actress” and Frances enjoys hearing
Nick describe her as a “writer”. “I
knew at this point that I was being
interpreted as some kind of vaguely
disruptive sexual presence for the
sake of their joke. It didn’t bother
me, and in fact I thought about how
funny I could make it sound in an
email.”
This is very much a novel about a
young woman looking for meaning
outside of any traditional romance
plot. Rooney captures the mood of
contemporary women who want to
shape their own narratives rather
than be passive actors in someone
else’s story.
But as it dawns on Frances that
she wants to write fiction, she has to
face up to the fact that there are
consequences for recycling your
life for art.
Though it never asks too much of
its readers, Conversations with
Friends casts a long shadow. Rooney
is attuned to the large and small
events that make up human
experience, but she has a novelist’s
gift for refusing to sum up situations.
She leaves you wanting more.
London’s gay culture is as old as the
Queer City
by Peter Ackroyd
(Chatto, £16.99)
mark sanderson
A SMART façade hiding many
secrets; centuries of experience
accommodating youthful appetites; a
hive of industry by day and a manic
party by night: Acton boy Peter
Ackroyd has long cast London in his
own light. This gallop through the
pink past shows it was ever thus.
Here are the Romans disporting
themselves in lupanaria (wolf dens
or public pleasure houses), fornices
(brothels) and thermiae (hot baths).
Here are the Elizabethans packing
out the playhouses that “were little
better than pick-up joints”. Here are
the Georgians mincing in molly
houses where they could parody the
marriage ceremony and give painful
birth to a Cheshire cheese.
The city, says Ackroyd, was “both a
jungle and a labyrinth where gay life
could flourish, each street leading to
another and then another; there was
no end to the possibilities or to the
adventures”. But surely this was just
as true for those who preferred to
enter by the front door?
“The city sexualised everything and
everybody within its ambit. That is
why the masquerades and the
pleasure gardens, the tavern grounds
and the bagnios, were hives of illicit
activity,” he writes. “It is of course
true that there are limits to what two
men can do to, or with, one another,”
sighs our guide to the Wilde side. It’s
all here — in amusing if exhausting
detail — but those interested in this
kind of thing “might be forgiven for
thinking that she or he has read it all
before”. Too right.
Ackroyd’s bibliography lists 171
titles. His regular wingmen — Thomas
and Murrough — have been as
assiduous as ever. Alas, there is very
little of Ackroyd himself. The queer
theme is as slippery as the word
itself. Cracks in the concrete
rex features
MY GOODNESS me, I kept
thinking, that’s brilliant. And
that — that’s even better. A neat
touch here, a glint of beauty
there. This short book is a
pleasure to read. It’s actually the
story of Hamlet, as told by a
baby in the womb. Which
sounds, and is, odd. But McEwan
does it amazingly well. It’s like
the winning entry in a competition to tell a story from
Shakespeare in a novel way. Hamlet, then, is a foetus.
He can hear everything going on around him through
the medium of his mother, Trudy. What he hears is that
Trudy is planning, with his uncle Claude, to murder his
father. Great fun, and very well-written.
jonny davies
(Vintage, £8.99)
Think pink: London’s Pride parade
evidence are filled with conjecture:
“Male servants generally slept
together. Male guests in a hostel or
inn were expected to sleep together,
generally naked.” Lucky them.
When Peter Pansy does make an
appearance the auto-speak comes
alive. “The love for boys was often
deemed to be sexually and morally
superior to the love for women.”
33
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Books | London Life
Climate of Hope: How Cities,
Businesses and Citizens Can
Save the Planet
by Michael Bloomberg
and Carl Pope
(St Martin’s Press, $26.99)
MATTHEW D’ANCONA
city itself
Youthful infatuation? Platonic
idealism or just lust? “It could of
course be a blancmange of all three.”
He dutifully pays almost as much
attention to Sapphism but crossdressing is really what gets him
going. Strangely enough, his 1979
work on the subject is only
mentioned at the back and not in the
“by the same author” list at the front.
He runs out of steam (and interest?)
after the Sixties. Heddon Street, off
Regent Street, is mentioned as the site
of the Cave of the Golden Calf but not
because Bowie was photographed
there for the cover of Ziggy Stardust.
As for the present, it is despatched in
a few pages with nary a mention of
Grindr or chemsex.
Still, such characters as Susan
Guzzle, Lord Dimple and Princess
Seraphina make this a colourful toilet
book. It tells a torrid tale of
persecution and pleasure, of
blackmail and blue murder. Like any
good rent boy, London has the
potential to be all things to all men.
Wind of change:
flooded streets in
New York caused
by Hurricane
Sandy in 2012
rex features
C
ITIES can’t wait for
national governments to
act. They must find their
own ways to help people
protect themselves
affordably.” So declares Michael
Bloomberg in this important new
book, co-authored with Carl Pope, on
the fight against climate change.
Bloomberg is best-known as a global
media magnate and the mayor of New
York City from 2002 to 2013, while
Pope is a distinguished
environmentalist who was executive
director and chairman of the 125-year
old US conservationist group, the
Sierra Club. What makes Climate of
Hope distinctive is the fusion of their
respective talents: business sense and
a deep familiarity with public policy
are intertwined to great effect with
idealism and social responsibility.
The result is a book that eschews
the finger-wagging puritanism of
many green texts and concentrates
remorselessly upon practical
solutions that will not only help to
save the planet but stimulate
economic growth and enhance our
quality of life. It liberates discussion
of climate change from the phony
row between science and denial, and
reframes it in a spirit of pragmatic
optimism: what can be done,
efficiently and urgently, and who is
best placed to do it?
There is plenty here for national
policy-makers, especially on the
need to phase out coal, reform
subsidies to fossil fuel producers,
disrupt utility monopolies so that
sustainable energy can compete,
improve liquidity to encourage
climate-friendly projects (capitalintensive but cheaper in the long
run), and radically increase
transparency on climate-change risk.
Yet the authors’ central contention
is that the grinding, oftenexasperating debate between
national governments is only part of
the answer. “More than any national
law or policy,” they write, “devolving
Local solutions for a global problem
power to cities is the single best step
that nations can take to improve their
ability to fight climate change and,
with it, the health of their citizens
and economies.”
After Hurricane Sandy hit New York
in 2012, Bloomberg responded with
more than 250 achievable measures
— having already launched “PlaNYC”
in 2007, a green civic initiative, to
prepare for such moments. To build
resilience, he argues, cities need to
ensure that they have the best
possible topographical data and
make intelligent use of it; that
insurance premiums are fair and
don’t force people from their homes;
that utility companies are held
accountable for their conduct
during, and preparation for,
emergencies; and that developers are
similarly incentivised to build
responsibly.
The book also has plenty to say on
how enlightened city governance can
reduce emissions in the future, not
least by encouraging smart
construction as well as green
transport. Bloomberg has been UN
special envoy for cities and climate
change since 2014, and is the driving
force behind the Global Covenant of
Mayors for Climate and Energy, a
coalition of 7,000 cities in 112
countries. Because mayors are
engaged in such a specific and
detailed way with the needs of their
cities — and are daily accountable to
their voters — they are perfectly
placed between individual citizens
who often feel powerless and
national governments that move at a
snail’s pace in their quest for global
collaboration.
Accordingly, there is much here for
our own city authorities — and every
newly-elected metro mayor — to
learn from. It is a model text for those
who argue that decentralisation
works best and that most of the
challenges facing humanity in the
21st century require localised
solutions.
But this is emphatically not a tract
for policy wonks alone, or purely for
those with an interest in
environmentalism. Coursing through
every chapter is a lively, rigorous
recognition that we live in a world of
hectic change, matched by an
infectious optimism that the
challenge can be met. In that sense,
the book is an indispensable manual
for our times.
A war reporter treks through the Muslim heartlands of Britain
Al-Britannia, My Country:
A Journey through Muslim
Britain
by James Fergusson
(Bantam, £20)
Sam Kiley
WE LIVE in the age of hysteria.
Mention the words Muslim, Islam,
Islamofascism or Islamophobia
and someone goes nuts. It has
become almost impossible to
discuss rationally the influence
that Islam has had on the United
Kingdom. Severe criticism or,
worse, lampooning the tenets of
the Prophet or the Prophet
himself, and there’s a real chance
someone will want to kill you.
Try to explain to a racist
Islamophobe that the teachings of
the Prophet are less bloodthirsty
and, frankly, point to a more
benevolent God than much of the
Old Testament and you’ll get
accused of supporting terrorism.
It’s this madness, this clash of
civilisations, that the extremists
intend to spread using the tactic of
terror. Osama bin Laden could
never have dared dream of the
chaos that his Twin Towers attack
would unleash: war in
Afghanistan, war in Iraq, war in
Syria; Europe reeling in fear of a
flood of refugees from those wars
and elsewhere. Brexit, even, may
have part of its roots in 9/11.
The consequences for Britain’s
Muslims have been disastrous.
British governments, Fergusson
argues, have been crass and heavyhanded. By clumsily establishing
the “Prevent” strategy, thousands
of young people especially have
felt singled out, spied upon and
alienated from their own country.
That’s not surprising if you turn
teachers and NHS workers into
spies for the government who are
being asked, indeed required, to
report children at risk of
“radicalisation”.
A veteran of wars in Muslim
nations and a journalist of many
years’ experience outside his home
country, Fergusson embarks on a
meandering trek through British
Muslim “heartlands”, from High
Wycombe to Bradford,
Whitechapel to Dewsbury and
Glasgow. Manchester, however,
where Salman Abedi was part of a
community that has produced a
frightening concentration of
vicious Islamic State killers, goes
unexplored.
A Christian, Anglo-Scottish public
schoolboy, Fergusson is scrupulous
about acknowledging his own
preconceptions and spends a lot of
time in the company of reasonable
people who espouse the hard-line
Salafist version of Islam and with
the conservative Deobandis who
dominate the clerical scene in
Muslim Britain. Few, if any, tell him
they support the ideals of IS.
Poverty, drugs, a young man’s
search for meaning, a young man’s
arrogance and a thirst for power
and structure emerge from
Fergusson’s travels as the
motivations for joining these death
cults. But these are my words, not
his. In giving voice to his subjects
it’s hard to know or hear how
Fergusson has synthesised his
knowledge.
The Muslim comedienne Shazia
Mirza sums up the appeal of
travelling to Syria for young IS
brides: “They want to get laid,” she
says, IS is “the One Direction of
Islam”. She might have added that
most recruits to IS have only a
rudimentary understanding of
Islam.
Fergusson shies away from the
more worrying conclusion,
perhaps, which is to ask why even
more idiotic young men, full of
testosterone, don’t follow the call of
jihad? To a certain type of young
man who has lost his way it
probably looks like fun. Like joining
the Blackshirts or the Hitler Youth.
34
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
London Life |
Can trees
think?
In the latest in his series on striking
images our columnist looks at some
remarkable research on plants
Charles
Saatchi
the naked eye
International Journal of
Parapsychology.
His work inspired the research of Sir
Jagadish Chandra Bose, who discovered
that playing certain kinds of music
caused plants to grow faster.
Even if you find that these theories of
plant perception stretch credibility, it
is not far-fetched to admit that we can
see the difference between a happylooking plant and a troubled one.
And if we can accept that it’s possible
to influence plants and trees into being
content, it becomes understandable
that an infants’ school in the West
Midlands took this view to a logical
conclusion.
It has employed a “happiness”
teacher and added happiness lessons
to its curriculum. Included in the
timetable are the Happy Self song, a
Wiggle the Niggles dance, and the
Gratitude game.
But according to the Journal of
Happiness Studies, not everyone wants
to be happy. Many deliberately dampen
their positive moods, thinking that if
they let themselve s be happy,
something bad will happen. In a
number of countries — New Zealand,
for example — many people are afraid
of happiness and would agree with
statements such as “I prefer not to be
too joyful because joy is usually
followed by sadness”.
People in East Asia take a similarly
gloomy view, growing up to accept that
Storm Thorgerson
I
N THE Sixties Cleve Backster,
founder of the FBI’s polygraph
unit, introduced the modern lie
detector to trap criminals. Then,
he decided to go a step further.
He hooked up the machine to a plant
and a tree to detect changes in their
inner energy.
All living organisms emit a slight
electrical pulse and Backster was
convinced he could detect if the leaves
were content, or nervous.
He then watered the plant to see if the
leaves responded. Finding that the
plant indeed reacted, he decided to see
what would happen if he threatened
it, forming in his mind the idea of
lighting a match near the leaf.
And that was when something
happened that has forever transfixed
botanists. The plant didn’t wait for him
to light the match — it reacted to his
thoughts.
After further research with his
polygraph, Backster concluded that
through their psychic abilities, plants
and trees would react simply to his
intent.
One of Backster’s most remarkable
findings was that when plants sense
themselves in the presence of danger,
their inner currents do not get agitated
— they simply become catatonic until
the threat passes.
He also discovered that plants were
aware of each other, mourned the
death of neighbouring plants, and grew
stressful when near people who killed
plants during scientific research.
However, they fondly remembered and
extended their energy out to the people
who had grown and tended them.
Backster termed plant sensitivity to
human thoughts “primary perception”
and first published his findings in the
religion warns that you must “avoid
much laughter, for much laughter
deadens the heart”.
Martin Seligman, the father of positive
psychology, theorises that while 60 per
cent of happiness is determined by our
genetics and environment, the
remaining 40 per cent is up to us.
Seligman describes three different
kinds of happy lives: the pleasant life,
in which you fill your days with as many
pleasures as you can, somewhat
hedonistically. The life of engagement,
where you find deep satisfaction in
Plants remembered and
extended their energy out
to the people who had
grown and tended them
your work, parenting, love and leisure.
The meaningful life, which consists of
knowing your strengths, and using
them in the service of the common
good, finding harmony in aiding others.
That, of course, would include carefully
tending and watering your plants.
And remember, they are monitoring
you.
■ Charles Saatchi’s latest book is Holy
Cow!, published by Palazzo Editions
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35
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
@esviews
Have your say
Twitter: @esviews
Email: esviews@standard.co.uk
Write: The Editor, Evening Standard, PO Box 2309, London W8 5EE
Please give a daytime phone number. Letters withholding name and address will not be published.
#esnewsviews
#eselection2017
#escleancityviews
May’s social care
plan is so flawed
Politicians are as clueless
on Brexit as the rest of us
Enforce the law on
idling car engines
Theresa May says the cost of social
care will be capped but at what level?
We should be told before the election.
The Tory manifesto promised a
“floor” of £100,000 on social care
contributions, which seems
reasonable as it means pensioners can
still pass on that amountwhen they die.
But if one suffers from dementia, the
cost of care can rise to £38,000 a year.
Few people could afford this without
having to sell their home — and where
would any surviving partner live?
May should instead treat dementia
costs in the same way as cancer. Both
should both be treated for free on the
NHS.
Valerie Crews
Terrorism is nothing
new for Londoners
WE HAVE been told repeatedly since
the Manchester attack that we are to
go about our business as usual and
not let the terrorists win.
Yet victory parades by Arsenal and
Chelsea were cancelled on police
orders due to security considerations
and we have armed soldiers on the
streets — something we are told will
make us feel secure.
We are Londoners and we have put
up with terrorist incidents for the
best part of 50 years. What happened
in Manchester may have been new
for them but, for me, it has not
stopped me doing anything I usually
would.
George Curley
Museum entry fees
must be affordable
I READ Simon Jenkins’s article about
paying to visit museums [Comment,
May 30] and I would be in favour of
this but only if it was affordable.
The problem is the example in the
US that Simon provides — $25 (£20)
would not be affordable for many. For
an adult and two kids it could mean a
trip costs up to £50, preventing many
on low incomes from visiting
museums. Therefore, visits would be
limited to those who could afford it.
This is why museums were made free.
If they charged £5, they would make
far more than they do now, but would
not put off the poor. A win-win?
Steve Hanscomb
THE Standard’s call for politicians to
tell us what impact Brexit will have
on Britain’s future will not get an
answer because nobody knows
[“Voters need answers on Britain’s
Brexit future”, Comment, May 30].
The EU referendum has led us into
a disastrous situation, putting even
the unity of our country at risk, as
concern over the Northern IrelandRepublic border is added to the
possibility of another independence
vote in Scotland. A proper party
leader would have admitted that
Brexit will be a problem and called
an election on that basis, but even
now Theresa May has not dared to
state this obvious fact.
It is clear that many Britons have
forgotten why the EU was created in
the first place: as a better way of
dealing with one another than the
two wars we managed in the first half
of the last century. Even now we hear
that the EU will “punish us” when it
is absolutely clear it won’t.
We elect politicians to represent
our best interests in all areas, and
the EU does that already as many of
its policies have been heavily
influenced by British politicians over
the past 40 years. As a country on its
own outside the EU we will have
limited power — this is a reality we
have to come to terms with.
David Reed
Unless the UK restricts the number
of UK citizens who are normally
resident abroad from returning
home, or redefines the term
“non-UK resident students” and the
time they are allowed to stay here
after graduation, or changes our
open borders relationship with
Ireland, Theresa May’s proposal to
cut net immigration to 100,000 will
never be achieved.
You can only assume that the Tory
pledge is not genuine and is simply
designed to win the support of
former Ukip voters and as an initial
Brexit negotiating position.
We will all know in a few weeks’
time — that is unless the Tories come
clean before June 8.
Dr Michael Cross
in HIS column [“Team May — what
team? It’s not going to be a
walkover”, Comment May 30],
Bruce Anderson makes many good
points but misses an important
possible outcome of the election.
What if enough voters return to the
Liberal Democrats to deny Theresa
May a landslide victory or even a
majority?
As we saw during the Coalition
government of 2010, the Tories had
to think much harder about their
policies, how to justify them and
how to make them palatable to more
than just their core supporters.
The Lib-Dems have said they will
not go back into a coalition. But if
they deny May a landslide win they
may have more power to contain the
Tories outside a coalition than in it.
That would be worth considering.
Jon Burden
MICHAEL Davis quite unbelievably
suggests that the Mayor should fine
car drivers for leaving their engines
idling in traffic. Car drivers have no
wish whatsoever to sit in traffic jams,
many of which have been man-made
by taking away entire lanes to be
converted to cycle routes. Might I
add that they already have to pay an
£11.50 congestion charge for the
“privilege” of doing so.
David Taylor
#essportviews
Corbyn is not alone
in forgetting figures
BY anyone’s standards Jeremy
Corbyn experienced a brutal day on
Tuesday at the hands of the media
after a hostile interview with BBC
Radio 4’s Emma Barnett on Woman’s
Hour in which he couldn’t recall the
exact figure for his childcare policy.
In the grand scheme of things,
however, it wasn’t too damaging.
If you want a complete failure over
figures, look no further than
Chancellor Philip Hammond wiping
£20 billion off the cost of HS2 live on
the BBC.
It is absolutely fine for people to
criticise Corbyn for forgetting his
numbers, especially as he went on
the radio specifically to speak about
that proposed policy. He did later
apologise.
But let’s not pretend that briefly
forgetting the figures for a costed and
worthwhile proposal is anywhere
near as bad as the Conservative Party
having to rethink its proposals on
school meals because they calculated
the cost incorrectly.
Julie Partridge
MICHAEL Davis advocates fining
drivers who leave their engines idling
in traffic [Letters, May 30]. Local
authorities should start by publicising
and enforcing the law against running
an engine while parked.
Every time I go out in London, even
if only to walk to local shops or my
gym, I pass cars and vans that are
parked at the kerb with their engines
still running. Typically, the driver
will be playing with their smartphone
or eating.
These people are needlessly and
selfishly causing extra pollution, and
— it would seem — have money to
burn, so why not fine them?
Simon Barnes
Wenger is not the
future for Arsenal
Miscalculation: Jeremy failed to remember the cost of Labour’s childcare policy
So, THE worst-kept secret in football
is out: there will be at least two more
years of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
But what will hurt the “Wenger Out”
brigade most are the comments from
the club’s majority shareholder Stan
Kroenke, known as Silent Stan by the
Gunners fans who want him out. He
had the nerve to say that in Wenger
Arsenal have “the best manager” to
help them win the Premier League,
conveniently forgetting that the title
has eluded the club since 2004.
Kroenke is reportedly set to hand
£100 million for transfers to Wenger
but, compared to what Manchester
United, Manchester City and Chelsea
might spend it is a small amount.
Indeed, he will need a lot more if
Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez decide
to run down their contracts.
I believe Arsenal’s failure to qualify
for the Champions League is just the
start of a tremendous fall from grace.
Nick Bates
36
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Put London on canvas and win £10k
To enter our Contemporary Arts Prize go to standard.co.uk/artprize
That night was
the most upset
I’ve ever been
Music
Canadian pop idol Shawn Mendes has
the same fanbase as Ariana Grande, so
the Manchester bombing shook his world
as well as hers, he tells Craig McLean
F
OR the biggest 18-year-old
manboy in pop, it has been,
it’s fair to say, an up and down
week. Right now it’s ending
on a high for Shawn Mendes.
It’s the Sunday of the bank holiday
weekend and the Canadian teenager
has just performed at Radio 1’s Big
Weekend event in Hull. In front of
25,000 young listeners to the “nation’s
favourite” and their families, Mendes
and his band played a six-song,
27-minute set of catchy guitar-based
pop.
By any measure it was a rousing
success, the all-ages crowd singing
along heartily to the youngster’s
monster, co-written hits, Stitches (from
his 2015 debut album, Handwritten)
and Treat You Better (the lead single
from last year’s second album,
Illuminate).
What the music lacks in edge it makes
up for in choruses — numerous and
catchy enough to enable Mendes to
embark on an eight-month global arena
tour, barely three years into his career
and less than 12 months since he
finished school.
Winding down in his dressing-room
afterwards, the clean-cut singer/
guitarist from Toronto is thrilled at the
experience of making his debut UK
festival appearance on a bill
that also includes Stormzy, Rita Ora
and Kings of Leon. And yet the
determination that made him a 14-yearold social media star is never far
away.
“I came offstage today and thought:
‘I gotta go and learn how to win over a
festival crowd’,” Mendes says with a
frown as he folds his six-foot-three,
gym-lad frame into a backstage couch.
“They were amazing out there but I
need to really be something that takes
people’s breath away. I don’t want to
get on stage and just be another act.”
When I ask if he’s usually this hard on
himself, he replies with the only curse
of our entire interview. “Totally. And
at times I f***ing wish I wasn’t,” he
sighs. “It’s annoying. But there’s a
reason I’m in this place, and that’s
because I question everything I do, and
I make sure it’s better next time.”
The success-hungry Mendes, who
shot to tween fame on micro-videosharing site Vine with six-second cover
versions of Justin Bieber songs, had
ample reason to question everything
at the beginning of the week. The
previous Monday he was driving from
Amsterdam to Paris, less than a month
into a trek that, this week, takes in two
sold-out nights at the O2. Then he
heard the news from Manchester. He
and the manager who discovered him
Rising star: Shawn
Mendes is playing
two sell-out
dates at the O2
Wild and undimmed roar from legends of rock
pop
kiss
O2 Arena, SE10
★★★★✩
THEY’VE reportedly enjoyed crazy,
crazy nights with thousands of
women. Last night, it was the
O2’s turn to enjoy an equally wild
one with Kiss and their heavy-riffing,
fire-breathing, tongue-wiggling
live show.
Devotees young and old donned
face-paint and leathers in homage to
their New York idols, who first played
in the UK more than 40 years ago.
The line-up may have changed since
then but the ethos remains the same:
ear-bleeding guitars, banshee vocals
and outrageous costumes.
Kiss were introduced to the stage as
“the hottest band in the world”,
although upon reflection that might
Dave benett
rick pearson
have been in reference to the sheer
amount of naked flames on show. It
was a wonder bassist Gene Simmons
didn’t set his wig alight.
While much of the music is
preposterous — none more so than
the Spinal Tap-like guitars and
single-entendres of Lick It Up —
Next generation:
Gene Simmons,
far left, and his
bandmates meet
child stars from
West End musical
School of Rock at
the O2 Arena
Kiss are also in possession of some
stone-cold classics. Crazy, Crazy
Nights had a chorus to wake the
dead, Love Gun was cock-rock in
excelsis, and Rock and Roll All Nite
cued arena-wide karaoke.
While Paul Stanley’s voice was
showing signs of road weariness,
Simmons, 67, remains undimmed by
age. The star of the show, he could be
found variously displaying his
disconcertingly long tongue,
hovering above stage on a harness,
breathing fire or simply singing on
I Love It Loud.
There was also a minute’s silence
for the victims of Manchester. Against
such a backdrop, whether last night’s
sheer number of loud explosions
constituted a lamentable lack of
sensitivity or a commendable show
of defiance on the part of the band is
a moot point. What’s not in doubt is
that, five decades into their career,
Kiss are still rocking harder and
louder than most.
37
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
In association with
Arts coverage in the Evening Standard is presented in partnership with Hiscox Home Insurance.
To find out more about their expert cover visit hiscox.co.uk/home
@thestandardarts
hard. It’s just terrifying. You see these
kids every single day, and you’re at
meet-and-greets with them, you’re
hugging them, and you’re performing
for them. Burnt into my brain are
pictures and videos of these kids
smiling and laughing in concerts. And
the thought that something like that
could happen to them just brought me
to my knees. So it was really tough.”
Was it especially tough because his
fanbase is almost exactly the same as
Ariana Grande’s? “Totally. It’s pretty
much right there,” he agrees. But,
more than that: he and Grande had
been on a similar world tour route.
“Either I just played the same venue
she’s [now] at, or I turn up somewhere
and see a sheet with her [show timings]
on the wall.”
In fact, Mendes played Manchester
Arena, he adds quietly, “five or six days
before Ariana”. It was actually threeand-half weeks beforehand but when
‘The thought that
something like that could
happen to these kids just
brought me to my knees’
on Vine in November 2013 debated
cancelling not just their next show but
the whole Illuminate tour.
“I’d say the night of that was the most
upset I’ve ever been in my entire life.
Even with all the other [terrorist
attacks] that have happened, that was
very upsetting to me. It hit home really
you’re a teenager playing in a different
city — or a different country — every
day, a sense of time-slippage is
understandable. And the point stands:
it could have been his fans who were
targeted.
“That was the scary part. That’s what
got me: that could have been my show.
And the day of the Paris show I was just
terrified all day. But we played Ariana’s
song One Last Time before I got on
stage and put her logo up on the screen.
And when I walked into the arena the
whole crowd was just screaming at the
top of their lungs. I almost broke down
again right before I got on stage. But I
got up there and did a little speech
about how we shouldn’t be afraid. And
it was probably the best show on the
tour so far. The emotion was so real.
You could see it.”
Mendes grew up in a middle-class
family in Pickering, Ontario, the son of
a Portuguese businessman father and
English estate agent mother. He still
has family in Bournemouth and he and
his little sister were raised with mum
Karen’s Sunday roasts and shepherd’s
pie. “I feel very comfortable with the
UK tone and humour and laid-back
attitude. I’d say the connection has a
lot to do with beers and drinks! In
Canada everyone is about working
hard and really enjoying life. It’s the
same here,” he beams, relishing the
fact that, on this European leg, he can
do what he can’t yet do in America or
Canada: drink alcohol.
M
endes is also smart
enough to savour the
irony of being someone
“who has his own company employing 60 people” yet is still not treated as legally
adult at home.
Still, under the careful business and
emotional guidance of his parents, this
eminently sensible young man already
has a brace of grown-up achievements
under his belt: a US stadium tour with
Taylor Swift, a performance of Tiny
Dancer onstage in Los Angeles with Sir
Elton John, 20 million Instagram
followers, a UK number one with
Stitches and four million worldwide
album sales.
He visited the UK as a two-year-old
but didn’t come again until he was 15.
Then he played Soho basement bar The
Borderline for “400 girls. I’d never
experienced European madness
before,” he marvels at the recent-butalready-distant memory. “It was blood,
sweat and tears.”
In the three years since he’s graduated
from The Garage in Highbury (600) to
Shepherd’s Bush Empire (2,000) to two
nights at Hammersmith Apollo (7,200).
And now two sell-out O2s (40,000).
“The O2 was the quickest-selling
venue on the whole world tour,”
Mendes grins. “Just as fast as Toronto.
I swear to God, selling out two nights
at the O2 is the most impressive thing
I can tell anyone — more than selling 10
million records or playing with Elton
or Taylor. That’s legit.”
■ Shawn Mendes plays the O2 Arena,
SE10 (020 8463 2000, theo2.co.uk)
tonight and tomorrow
No competition
from top Brand
comedy
Stuart Goldsmith
Soho Theatre, W1
★★★✩✩
bruce dessau
STUART GOLDSMITH is best
known for his podcast
The Comedian’s Comedian, in
which he has recently grilled
Stewart Lee and Russell Brand.
While the podcast is recommended
listening for comedy fans, his
current stand-up show, Compared
To What, is entertaining without
being quite as essential.
Part of the problem is his subject
matter, that over-trodden terrain of
settling into a relationship and
starting a family. His childbirth
routine covers similar ground to
Brand’s latest set, but Goldsmith’s
soppy portrait of pivotal events
from birth to breastfeeding (“magic
boob thing”) cannot compete with
Brand’s visceral account.
Elsewhere the energetic
storyteller displays an eloquent
turn of phrase recalling an incident
when train passengers were silently
united in being irritated by a noisy
commuter. Another highlight is his
intimate description of nosing
around an Airbnb apartment.
Extremely amusing, though I
wouldn’t want him as a lodger.
Goldsmith says the show is about
trying to be less self-involved, but
it is more about taking a leap in
life. Can this city kid adjust to a
place where there is only one bus a
day? Will rural bliss drive him
nuts? If it feels a little too
theatrical, Compared To What is
certainly well-crafted, building to
a neat finale. Probing other
stand-ups seems to have helped
Goldsmith hone his own skills.
■ Until Saturday (020 7478 0100,
sohotheatre.com)
38
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
London Life | Arts
In association with
Raw, radical and ready to fox you
opera
Vixen, Silent Opera / ENO
The Vaults, SE1
★★★★✩
FOR SOME people, silent opera is the
only way to make opera tolerable,
but, despite the name, that isn’t what
Silent Opera offers. There are live
singers and a pre-recorded orchestra,
but the music reaches the audience by
way of headphones. It makes for an
agreeably disorientating experience,
especially in the post-industrial Vaults
beneath Waterloo Station.
Daisy Evans dreamt up the Silent
Opera concept, and she directs
Vixen, “an immersive reimagining”
of Janacek’s The Cunning Little
Vixen. The reimagining is pretty
drastic: Evans’ translation deletes no
expletives, and the action unfolds,
not in some eastern European forest,
but in contemporary London, where
the homeless and the missing fight it
out with bent coppers. The music has
undergone equally radical surgery.
Pre-recorded traces of Janacek’s
robert workman
nick kimberley
Drastic: Rosie
Lomas and
Timothy
Dickinson fight it
out in the Vaults
orchestration survive, filtered
through the haze of Max Pappenheim
and Stephen Higgins’ electronic
score. The bass thump of trains
passing overhead penetrates the
headphones and deepens the mix,
and there is also a small, live band.
This Vixen isn’t Janacek’s. Some
people will hate it for its brutal
treatment of the original, but go
with it, and it’s disturbingly
believable. You can’t always say that
about opera.
■ Until June 10 (0207 401 9603,
thevaults.london)
It’s out of this world
exhibition
Into the Unknown: A Journey
through Science Fiction
Barbican Art Gallery, EC2
★★★★✩
ben luke
DEDICATING a show to science
fiction is ambitious. You could fill
every corner of the Barbican with
original costumes, movie excerpts,
models, drawings and sci-fi-themed
art, and still someone would cry,
“Yeah, but what about…?”
But the Barbican has made a more
than decent fist of it. Essentially
located in the narrow, arcing Curve
gallery, the show leaks into the rest of
the building and occupies its film,
talks and music programmes.
The Curve show is necessarily a
sensory overload, cluttered and
cacophonous. Even the most focused
of us will likely be distracted by
flickering screens above or in the
corner of our eye, by a curious comic
cover or a menacing cinematic prop.
That’s the point. The show is good
on sci-fi’s cross-pollinating nature:
images and ideas echo in disparate
global corners. Artists in the US and
the Soviet Union seized on real
images emerging from the space race
missions, for instance; take the
Soviet script out of Andrey Sokolov’s
London’s
favourite
glossy is
available
every
Thursday
and
Friday
Frontier spirit: the exhibition draws
on material from around the world
illustrations and they could plausibly
be Western future paradises.
Amid a constant tension between
minimal cool and maximal luridness,
key icons of the genre are here:
rather forlorn-looking stormtrooper
and Darth Vader helmets, a Spock
costume and illustrations and models
by H R Giger and Ray Harryhausen.
But many highlights are unexpected,
like Soda Jerk’s video installation
Astro Black, focusing on sci-fi and
African American music culture.
Within the organised chaos, a
narrative prevails, taking us
from Jules Verne’s colonialist
voyages to post-apocalyptic
utopias and dystopias. The
myriad images, books,
sculptures and films’ ultimate
subject, of course, is us. It’s a
sci-fi journey, but also a tribute
to human imagination; our
ingenious hopes and
irrational fears.
■ Saturday until
Sept 1 (0845 120 7511,
barbican.org.uk)
Stars in their eyes:
an illustration by
Soviet artist
Andrey Sokolov.
Below, the show
features costumes
worn by sci-fi
heroes such as
Star Trek’s Spock,
played by the late
Leonard Nimoy
39
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
CELEBRATING
Advertisement feature
GETTY IMAGES
Food
glorious
food
From a fantastic food truck festival to cracking
cocktail-making opportunities, tuck into all
things food and drink with Westfield this June
T
o celebrate the launch of London Food Month, Westfield
and the London Evening
Standard are joining forces.
There will be a food truck festival at both Westfield centres, as well as
masterclasses in cooking, growing and
entertaining. There’ll also be special
offers, fun activities and free foodie
events — from masterclasses and cocktail-making events, to food and winepairing opportunities. Plus, you’ll find a
handful of delicious food discounts.
What’s more, at the London Evening
Standard Night Market, at Perks Field
near Kensington Gardens, Westfield is
hosting an open-air cinema showcasing
an exciting film line-up and live perform-
ances. Stay tuned for some
exciting announcements
throughout the
month — and perhaps buy some
slightly looser-fitting outfits so you
can enjoy a taste
of all this month
has to offer.
And it’s not just
food we’ll be celebrating: on 3-4 June,
Westfield is also hosting ArtsFest.
ARTSFEST & SONG ACADEMY, 3-4 June
Noon-6pm, Southern Terrace, Westfield London (Shepherd’s Bush)
ArtsFest at Westfield London will showcase an exciting mix of
local music and dance acts. Enjoy performances from Indian
dancers to hip-hop crews — all while sampling some goodies
from some of your favourite restaurants, including Byron, Grate
Beer, Caffè Concerto, Crepeaffaire and Tapas Revolution. Plus,
be inspired and entertained by the next generation of songwriters with Song Academy.
The first 100 people to attend ArtsFest on Saturday 3 June
will win a gift bag*.
*Terms and conditions apply
Continued on Page 40
40
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Advertisement feature
celebrates
getty images
The food
trucks have
arrived
The craze for food
trucks is showing
no sign of slowing
down — so from
Mexican to Middle
Eastern, you’ll find
something for every
palate on the road
T
o start London Food Month
with a bang, Westfield London
(Shepherd’s Bush) is launching
a Food Truck Festival from 1-4
June. An array of the centre’s
restaurants will be popping up with
new concepts and there will be a
mix of cooking and cocktail masterclasses with appearances from some of
London’s top chefs.
Since Londoners have become more
adventurous in their culinary persuits,
HelloFresh stand to sample some of its
delicious recipes.
Freixenet
With more than 150 years of wine-making expertise, Freixenet is on a mission
to help people celebrate more. Head to
the Freixenet vintage wine van where
they’ll be serving some essential fizz. Be
one of the first to try its new premium
prosecco and other additions to its sparkling range, as well as the iconic black
bottle Cordon Negro and Cordon Rosado
for rosé fans.
food trucks are no longer an anomoly.
As the desire to try more and more cuisines grows, frood trucks are a great way
to do this — which is why Westfield London is hosting this four-day event showcasing some of London’s most delicious
street food.
The Food Truck Festival will later head
east to Westfield Stratford City from
22-25 June to close London Food Month
with a whole new food truck offering and
lots of entertainment.
Some of the food trucks heading to
Westfield London are:
on a low heat, for a long time and
packing them full of flavour. Head to
the food truck during the event to
sample its lovingly hand-pulled trademark dishes.
Comptoir Libanais
Celebrate summer with Yorica! Being
healthy no longer means not having the
things you love. At Yorica! they believe
in healthy, deliciously natural ice creams,
shakes and fro-yo that are all totally
“free-from” and made using alternative
ingredients such as rice milk and seaweed.
Comptoir Libanais literally means
“Lebanese counter” and this casual,
fuss-free approach is ideally suited to a
food tuck. The truly modern Lebanese
canteen style brings classic flavours of
the Middle East to Westfield. With mezze,
falafel and fresh juices, discover the best
of the Middle East.
Pulled
The Pulled vehicle is a familiar sight to
all food truck connoisseurs and for the
past few years has been selling slowcooked meats around the country. The
Pulled ethos is all about taking British
free range meats and roasting them
Elephant Juice Bar
Elephant Juice Bar has been juicing London since 2008. The incredible tasting
fresh juices, smoothies and superfood
bowls are all made on-site using 100 per
cent fresh ingredients and are bursting
with goodness.
Yorica!
HelloFresh
For the past six years, HelloFresh
has been on a mission to make cooking
easy, enjoyable and healthy by creating
delicious recipes that source the
freshest, seasonal ingredients and
delivers them straight to your door
for you to make at home. Pop by the
Don’t miss your chance to be London’s
hottest foodpreneur
To celebrate the Evening Standard’s
London Food Month and the
10-year anniversary of his lifechanging appearance on Dragons’
Den, Levi Roots is joining with
Westfield to find the capital’s next
food entrepreneur.
hurry, as entries close tomorrow.
Ten people will be shortlisted and
invited to Westfield Stratford City
this month to present their
business ideas to a panel of judges
from the worlds of food and media,
including Levi Roots himself.
If you’re 18 years or over with a
great business idea in the food
industry — whether ingredient
inventors, restaurateurs or cuisine
creators — visit uk.westfield.com/
leviroots to be shortlisted. But
The winner will receive £2,000
towards developing their business,
plus mentorship and guidance
from Levi Roots, and an
opportunity to promote their
product at Westfield*.
*Terms and Conditions apply. See uk.westfield.com/ terms-and-conditions/
london-s-hottest-food-entrepreneurfor more details
41
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Advertisement feature
celebrates
Kick-start
your food
adventure
Are you a kitchen novice? Do you love
food but draw a blank when it comes
to the wine list? Then head to one of
the masterclasses taking place as part
of London Food Month at Westfield
THE WOMEN IN CHAMPAGNE
MASTERCLASS
Searcys Champagne Bar
28 June, 7pm-9pm, £35
Westfield London
Learn about the stories of all the champagne houses that were influenced
by wo m e n , i n c l u d i n g B o l l i n g e r,
Veuve Cliquot and Duval Leroy. With
five cuvées, 100ml serves, cheese
and charcuterie.
Book at searcyswestfieldlondon.
co.uk
BEER AND FOOD MATCHING
Grate Beer
Every Friday in June, 3.30pm-7.30pm
(drop-in, 15-minute sessions)
shutterstock
Westfield London
Matching food with beer can lift a dish
and showcase the complex nature of a
really great brew. Join Grate Beer and
learn how to bring dishes to life. Matching sessions will be:
2 June
Grimbergen and cheese (Belgium)
9 June
Backyard and Chocolate (Sweden)
16 June
Moritz and cured meat (Spain)
23 June
And Union and antipasti (Germany)
30 June
Brooklyn and sushi (USA)
DIM SUM MASTERCLASS
Ping Pong
Other London Food Month offers*
Westfield London
Monday-Wednesday 4pm-5pm,
throughout June
Westfield London
Learn about the flavours and techniques
used in Ping Pong’s Dim Sum menu
from its experienced chefs. Find out
how to roll, fill and fold the pastry like
a pro alongside its talented chefs.
Indulge in some tasty competition with
a prize for the best-looking basket. Book
at SHB@pingpong-group.com
Kids eat for 25p at Byron
Two glasses of prosecco for £7 at Grate Beer
20 per cent off food at Zizzi
Complimentary cocktail when you spend £10 at Ping Pong.
Visit uk.westfield.com for more information or pick up a
London Food Month brochure in centres now.
*Terms & Conditions apply
The Kitchen
COOK WITH LEVI
Levi Roots Caribbean
Smokehouse
Presented by Grundig,
official appliance partner
of London Food Month
1 July, 9:30am, £50 (includes £25
meal voucher)
Westfield Stratford City
Discover Caribbean cuisine with the
trailblazer himself: Levi Roots Join Levi
in his kitchen to inspire those with an
interest in Caribbean food. He will show
how to make some of his favourite dishes
from the menu and will give the opportunityto learn more about what makes
the cuisine so distinctive. Booking
required — visit eventbrite.co.uk
shutterstock
GUACAMOLE-MAKING CLASS
Wahaca
2 June, 10am
Westfield Stratford City
Bring your little Wahacos to explore the
Mexican market with our guacamolemaking workshop. The children will find
out about Mexico’s produce and food
culture as well as learning step-by-step
how to make their very own guacamole
using fresh ingredients from the
Wahaca kitchen. Booking required — visit
stratford@wahaca.co.uk
Hosting live demonstrations during
the Food Truck Festival, showcasing
signature dishes from London’s
b e s t re s t a u ra n t s , t r i c ks o f t h e
trade from top chefs and advice on
sustainable eating.
A Michelin star-studded
experience with Theo Randall
Join Theo Randall (above right) in the
kitchen where he’ll be presenting some
of the best-known Italian dishes from
his award-winning restaurant — Theo
Randall at the InterContinental.
Modern Indian fine dining with
Vivek Singh — The Cinnamon Club
Classically trained in India, Vivek (below
right) has transformed Indian cooking
by drawing inspiration from age-old
recipes and ideas and evolving them to
create dishes “beyond authenticity”.
To read more on what’s cooking in the world of food and drink, visit standard.co.uk/theagenda
42
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
celebrates
Advertisement feature
Your favourite films
in the fresh air
From award-winning blockbusters
to cinema classics, you can catch
them all outdoors at the Westfield
open-air cinema this month
Foodie film lovers will get the chance to experience the
Westfield open-air cinema for 12 nights at The London Evening
Standard’s Night Market.
This summer’s newest outdoor cinema is screening the
ultimate line-up of movies that offer something for everyone.
Choose from Walt Disney Studios and Disney-Pixar family
favourites, as well as Marvel’s Super Heroes blockbusters
and Star Wars adventures from LucasFilm, plus 2017
Oscar®-winners and all-time classics.
Find out what’s showing when and buy tickets at
londonfoodmonth.co.uk/the-night-market
Cinema tickets are available to add on to your general admission Night Market ticket from £4 for adults and £2 for children,
with under-fives free. Prices include complimentary popcorn
and wireless headphones.
©2017 Disney ©2017 Disney/Pixar ©2017 Marvel ©2017 & TM Lucas film Ltd.
43
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
BA’s crisis highlights cost-cut dangers
Anthony Hilton says big firms lack resilience
Page 44
standard.co.uk / business City Editor Jim Armitage
Read by more City people than the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and The Times combined
FTSE 100
FTSE 250
Dow Jones Av CLOSE
£1 buys $1.2850
£1 buys €1.1442
€1 buys $1.1230
up 23.66 at 7543.61
up 27.20 at 19,999.37
down 20.82 at 21,008.65
down 0.40 cent
down 0.29 cent
down 0.07 cent
news in brief
Bank of England staff
may strike over pay
Staff at the Bank of England
were today voting on whether to
strike over below-inflation pay
rises. Unite, Britain’s biggest
union, is consulting members at
the Bank, which employs around
3600 people, after a “derisory”
1% pay rise, Reuters reported. It
is the second year in a row
employees have faced a pay offer
lower than inflation.
Manufacturers thrive
despite exports drag
UK manufacturing activity grew
again last month despite limited
gains in exports. IHS Markit’s
Purchasing Managers’ Index hit
56.7 in May, exceeding the 50
points that indicate expansion.
In April, it reached a three-year
high of 57.3. The result was
powered by domestic demand,
with exports improving “only
in fits and starts”.
Micro Focus calms the
nerves over HPE buy
Micro Focus today reassured
investors over its £7 billion
takeover of parts of Hewlett
Packard Enterprise, highlighting
better-than-expected lifts in
profitability at HPE. Micro Focus
flagged a 10% slump in revenues
from HPE’s software business this
month, but its second-quarter
operating profit margin hit 26.4%,
versus last year’s 24.8%.
Quote of the day
‘Investing in tobacco
is neither acceptable
nor sustainable’
Deborah Arnott,
chief executive
of health
charity Ash,
as UK local
authorities
face pressure
to divest
shares in
tobacco firms
House price falls
fuelling fears of
negative equity
Simon English
FEARS of a major housing market
slump were stoked today when the
Nationwide said prices have fallen for
the third month running.
That is the first time there has been
such a run of declines since 2009 and
will add to concern among homeowners that their most valuable asset is set
to plunge.
First-time buyers who have recently
bought could soon be in negative equity,
owing more than the house is
worth, if the trend continues.
The figures are just the latest gloomy economic news
to emerge on the cusp of
the general elec tion.
Recent data have shown
inflation is rising, pay is at
best stagnant, that the
mortgages market is cooling
and that Britons are racking up
credit-card debt at an alarming rate.
House prices fell 0.2% month-onmonth in May, compared with a 0.4%
drop in April, Nationwide said. That
was far worse than City housing
experts had earlier predicted.
Year-on-year, house prices were 2.1%
higher, slowing sharply from growth
of 2.6% in April. That leaves the average
UK house price at £208,711. In outer
London it is more like £525,000.
Nationwide admits to concern but
says it is far too soon for panic. Robert
Gardner, Nationwide chief economist,
said: “It is still early days, but this provides further evidence that the housing
market is losing momentum. Moreover,
this may be indicative of a wider slowdown in the household sector, though
data continue to send mixed signals.”
Other house indices have been similarly gloomy. The Halifax house price
index recently posted its first quarterly
fall since November 2012.
Housing experts say the Brexit vote
and a rise in stamp duty fees on second
homes have added to the uncertainty.
Economists still think house prices will
rise overall this year — 2% is a typical
estimate.
Samuel Tombs at Pantheon
Macroeconomics predicts
house prices will return to
a “slowly rising path”.
“Surveys suggest supply is
tightening rapidly, employment growth looks set to
remain steady at about 1%
year-over-year, and mortgage
rates still have scope to fall a little
further,” he said. “But the days of surging house prices driven by sharply rising loan-to-income ratios are gone.”
Nationwide also analysed whether
general elections directly affect house
prices. It found that broader economic
trends rather than a change of government have a far bigger effect.
Simon French of Panmure Gordon
said: “The slowdown [is the result of ]
active government policy designed to
slow price growth. The main question
is whether the government will stay the
path or lose its nerve. Recent displays…
suggest this lady is for turning.”
@SimonEngStand
cutting edge british steel in profit
British Steel, sold for £1 last year,
scraped through a sales crunch to
deliver its first profit in 10 years today.
The company’s 4800 steelworkers
will also be given a stake worth 5%
under a new share deal.
Earnings were chalked up at
£47 million for the year ending March
2017 after a £79 million loss last year.
“There’s still a lot to be done,” said
executive chairman Roland Junck, who
admitted the profits, which do not
include heavy financing costs, were
“not enough”. Revenue was lower at
£1.2 billion, due to higher coal costs
which is used in production.
The Scunthorpe steelworks hit the
headlines when the 2015 steel crisis
(pictured) forced former owner Tata to
pull back from the UK.
Buyer Greybull sought to cut costs to
trigger a turnaround.
Junck said an “entrepreneurial
spirit” was starting to flow through
British Steel.
Michael Bow
Property prices, not widget makers, drive our economy
If only we had more factories. For
all the worries about consumer
confidence and house prices,
manufacturers are churning out
widgets as though Brexit was a
figment of our imagination.
Most encouragingly, it’s not just
down to the weak pound boosting
exports. Today’s PMI figures show
domestic demand is the strongest
growing area.
Unfortunately, manufacturing
only makes up one-tenth of the
economy.
The rest — primarily services and
consumer spending — are less
healthy, if the recent GDP data are
anything to go by.
With wages falling rapidly
behind inflation and house prices
on the wane, it’s hard to see either
of those two thriving in the year
to come.
Jim
Armitage
City Editor
commentary
Don’t Touch this bid
Despite its silly name change to
the meaningless Touchstone, the
business formerly known as
Imperial Innovations is one
of which London academia is
rightly proud.
Formed to commercialise the
inventions being made by the
boffins at Imperial College, it now
includes, UCL, Cambridge and
Oxford labs under its remit,
turning inventions into start-up
businesses.
So we should be concerned when
a rival whose shares have tumbled
from 197p to 139p since the start of
the year launches a bid to “merge”
into Imperial’s champion.
Particularly when the bidder is
offering no premium to
Touchstone’s shares and gives only
passing mention of how the
combination would be good for
Touchstone or its employees.
That’s the situation Touchstone
finds itself in with IP Group’s
recent offer: a nil premium bid
valuing it at 307p a share
compared with some analysts’
estimates of its true worth at 480p.
Touchstone rightly said no, and
chairman David Newlands gives a
scathing critique of the deal today.
Trouble is he may end up losing
anyway because Touchstone’s
major shareholders are the same
as IP’s; namely, Neil Woodford’s
Woodford Investment
Management, his old shop Invesco
and hedge fund Lansdowne.
Woodford is not having the best
of years with his intellectual
property investments. As well as
nursing losses on IP, his and
Invesco’s funds have taken a bath
on crisis-struck Allied Minds.
Motivation for the assault on
Touchstone, perhaps?
IP’s proposal talks up the
prospects of a more diversified
group of investments for the
combined company. But
Touchstone, unlike IP, is already
well-diversified.
This deal might improve the mix
of Woodford and Invesco’s lab
investments but it’s hard to see
how Touchstone — and its other
shareholders — benefit.
@ArmitageJim
44
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Business |
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BA’s crisis highlights dangers of cost-cutting
T
he stock market’s verdict on
the disastrous computer
crash which disrupted British Airways’ operations last
weekend was that it was no
big deal. No flights left Heathrow on the
Saturday of one of the biggest weekends
of the year and flights were still not back
to normal by Monday. Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded.
Arguably, it was the airline’s worst
self-inflicted crisis since it was privatised 30 years ago but the shares fell
just 3% on what was a poor day for
airline stocks anyway, so not much
worse than any other carrier. It signals
the market’s view, supported by most
commentators and analysts, that there
will be no lasting damage.
Perhaps that is a bit too complacent.
According to a survey carried out by
YouGov for the Quoted Companies
Alliance, companies estimate that 32%
of their market value is accounted for
by reputation. British Airways’ reputation has already taken a knock but it
could get a lot worse if it turns out the
failure was due to computer hacking
rather than the official line that it was
a power surge.
After all, the local electricity company saw no sign of a surge — and even
if it did, fluctuations in power are the
sort of thing competent IT departments
learned to take in their stride 20 years
ago. BA has a narrow window in which
Anthony
Hilton
city comment
to be candid about what happened. It
is astonishing that its management
seems not to understand this.
The implications go well beyond the
failure of one company to realise how
it ought to behave in order to retain
its customers’ trust. It is part of a
broader canvas that shows how modern management is stripping big
companies of their resilience. A setback that once would have had only a
minor impact, because there was
plenty of spare capacity, now tips the
business over the edge and becomes
a disaster.
The spare capacity has been stripped
out to save money, and there is no
longer any duplication either of facilities or of management and expertise.
Business processes and supply chains
have been made as lean as possible. As
a result, companies are operating without a safety net.
The point of this is that it delivers
larger earnings. But you don’t get a
greater return without adding to
risk, which in this case is that there is
absolutely no margin for error. It is
high time that analysts took note of
this in assessing the quality of corporate earnings.
British Airways was arguably not this
week’s worst example. On Tuesday, it
was reported that a parts shortage had
forced BMW to cut production of its
Series 1, 2, 3 and 4 models not just at
its main plants in Munich and Leipzig
but also in South Africa and China.
Analysts reckon that a week without
production would reduce revenues by
�550 million (£480 million), which is
a lot more than BA plans to pay in compensation to its stranded passengers.
What is interesting, however, is the
cause. BMW cars have steering controls
‘A minor glitch in a
just-in-time supply
chain quickly becomes
a major problem’
supplied by Bosch, another German
company. The problem which arose
this week was that Bosch was unable
to deliver the required units because it
had itself been hit by a shortage of parts
— in this case from one of its own suppliers in Italy.
Why the Italian firm had problems is
not known, but the point is that a minor
glitch in a just-in-time supply chain
quickly becomes a major problem.
Insurers in London, who often end up
paying for all this through business
interruption policies, talk ruefully of a
case a few years ago in which a Canadian company was let down by a South
African supplier, which in turn had
been let down by a Japanese firm.
The buck did not stop there. The Japanese had outsourced production to
Thailand to save money but Thailand
had been hit by floods. London wrote
the flood insurance. That is where the
buck stopped.
The thing that should alarm shareholders is how few executives understand this stuff or think through the
implications of their constant cost-cutting, largely because they count on
being gone long before anything bad
happens. Non-executives are asleep at
the wheel and the risk-control systems
in most companies are simply not
designed for these sorts of problems.
No junior risk officer is going to tell
the chief executive that the supply
chain he has just put in place is dangerously fragile. That is why it is hard to
see how this can be stopped unless
investors wise up to the risks and
understand they now have something
more important than executive pay to
worry about.
Unfortunately, these investors are
often part of the problem, not part of
the solution, because of the pressure
they put on companies. The need to
Secrets of my success
Tammy Einav Joint chief executive of ad agency Adam&EveDDB
What do you do?
If at first…:
Tammy Einav
initially failed to
get a job at DDB
after an interview
but it made her
more determined
to succeed
I co-run Adam&EveDDB, a London
communications agency that looks
after some of the world’s leading
brands, from global giants like VW
and Samsung to local gems like
Marmite and John Lewis. The variety
of our clients means that in any given
day I can be talking about the retail
environment, financial services, the
beauty sector… it’s part of what
makes the job so exciting. I
sometimes find myself quite literally
running from one meeting to another
but am not complaining as it’s a good
form of exercise.
The culture of the agency is really
important to us, so we try to keep the
energy and pace we had when we
were a start-up, and not let hierarchy
and bureaucracy get in the way of
ideas. It’s very open and agile.
What do you enjoy about it?
I love seeing the impact our work can
have on a client’s business. I worked
on the team that pitched for, and
won, the John Lewis account in 2009
and our campaigns have now
become a genuine Christmas event.
The first big campaign, “The long
wait”, was an incredible moment
and it’s grown from there. After the
Monty the Penguin ad in 2014, I was
introduced at a party as “the penguin
lady”. There’s also nothing like the
satisfaction of a pitch which goes well
when you know you’ve been really
stressed about it for the previous
24 hours.
What don’t you enjoy?
Unnecessarily long meetings, I’d put
them into Room 101. People will
schedule meetings for six hours and
then they will fill the six hours when
they should be much more energetic,
quick and focussed. You need to be
clear on what you want to get out of
them, and get the right people
around the table.
What was your biggest
break?
My big break came on joining
Adam&Eve when it was just 10 people
in a room, in its infancy about 10 years
ago. I’d spent my early career at a
number of agencies in London but
Adam&Eve felt like home from the
first day. In the first few months we
were in an office in Covent Garden
which was being torn down. One day I
opened a door to find the floor
floating in mid-air! It was symbolic
that we were about to succeed or
crumble. Thankfully we succeeded.
And setback?
When I first tried to get a job in
advertising, I came to interview at
DDB but didn’t get it. I was really
gutted and it nearly ended my career
before it began but I didn’t let the
disappointment get to me and learnt
from my amateur interview mistakes.
To this day when I sit in the room that
I came to interview in (although it
looks different — more exposed pipes
on the ceiling), I think about that day
and how that failure drove me on.
How do you manage your
work-life balance?
Thankfully I have never needed
much sleep — I’m lucky. Also my
commute is easy. I can walk into the
office in Paddington down the canal
if I want (although I don’t do that
nearly as much as I should). Away
from work I spend my time with my
family and am an avid reader. My day
always ends with a novel. I love
Pilates and yoga, which I try to
condense into my weekends. And
I’m hooked on boxsets — I’ve just
finished Narcos.
Any tips?
Try to be the best version of yourself
rather than someone else’s ideal.
And work with people you respect
and laugh with. It’s the only thing
that saves you at 3am. Advertising is
built on those relationships.
Evening Standard Business Awards:
the media nominees Page 46
deliver earnings growth year in, year
out while competition is intense and
the global economy flat is what has
pushed companies into round after
round of cost-cutting. But while intuitively one appreciates that this is
going on, it is hard to grasp its scale
until someone in the thick of it,
like British Airways or BMW, highlights
the trend.
W
PP’s Sir Martin Sorrell,
a keen student of business trends, wrote in
his recent annual
report that the number of listed companies in the US has
halved in the past 20 years, driven by
consolidation and the pursuit of savings. In 1990, there were 11,500 mergers and acquisitions worldwide; since
2008, the number has more than
doubled to 30,000 with an annual
value equivalent to roughly 3% of global gdp.
As long as the pressure for short-term
profits is maintained, and as long as
companies think it is a good idea to
reward executives on the basis of those
short-term results, these pressures will
only intensify. And yet more fragility
and entirely avoidable corporate disasters will be the result.
Anthony Hilton’s archive: standard.
co.uk/author/anthony-hilton
Staley cuts back
Barclays with
bumper £2.2bn
Africa sell-off
Simon English
BARCLAYS today made a major
step forward in the shake-up led by
chief executive Jes Staley, selling
off a much bigger stake in its Africa
arm than expected.
Staley wants Barclays to become
a simpler, less sprawling affair,
which has a strong presence on the
UK high street, on Wall Street and
in the City.
The bank said last year it would
sell most of its 62.3% stake in
Barclays Africa Group. This
morning it offloaded a £2.2 billion
stake to major investors in a share
placing. That takes it down to 28%,
with the bank aiming eventually
for a stake of around 15%.
Former boss Bob Diamond was a
rumoured buyer of the assets but
was not able to secure a deal.
News of the sale sent Barclays
shares up 3% in early trading.
Staley said the deal “represents a
key milestone in the execution of
our strategy and the restructuring
of Barclays”.
■ Lloyds Banking Group today
completed its £1.9 billion
acquisition of Bank of America’s UK
credit cards business, MBNA. The
Competition and Markets Authority
cleared the way for the transaction
in early May after deciding not to
refer the deal to a Phase 2
investigation. This is Lloyds’ first
deal since it was bailed out in 2008.
@SimonEngStand
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Middle East firm
steps into the race
for Jimmy Choo
exclusive
Joanna Bourke
Bahrain-headquartered private equity
firm Investcorp has joined a queue of
suitors eyeing a takeover of Jimmy
Choo, six years after it first made a bid
for the luxury shoe and bag retailer.
Luxury fashion sources told the
Standard that the Gulf investor — which
has a number of global offices, including in the capital, New York, Singapore
and Abu Dhabi — is “looking closely”
at making an offer for London-listed
Jimmy Choo which put itself up for sale
in April.
One source said luxury “is in the DNA”
of Investcorp, which has already
invested in silversmith Georg Jensen and
Italian menswear brand Corneliani.
In 2011, the company was among bidders vying to buy Jimmy Choo. Both
firms declined to comment today. In
2014, Investcorp lost out to US private
equity giant Blackstone to buy a stake
in fashion house Versace.
If Investcorp does proceed with an
offer in the middle of this month when
the first-round of bids will be called, it
is expected to face competition. Parties
believed to be circling the brand
include US fashion firms Coach and
Michael Kors, fund Mayhoola for
Investments and a number of others.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and
Citi are advising Jimmy Choo, which
became a household name thanks to
Carrie Bradshaw, the shoe-crazy heroine of Nineties TV hit Sex and the City.
Details of the latest contenders came
as Jimmy Choo hosted its annual meeting. Two shareholder groups advised
investors not to back chairman Peter
Harf ’s re-election because he also
chairs the brand’s majority shareholder
JAB Luxury. However, all resolutions
were expected to be approved.
Harf made no mention of the Jimmy
Choo sale, but said: “The prospects for
the business are stronger than ever.”
Shares were up 2.5p to 200p, valuing
the business at £779 million.
45
| Business
FirstGroup ups speed checks in wake of Croydon
Clare Hutchison
FirstGroup has offered drivers
counselling and increased speed
checks after last year’s Croydon
Tramlink crash, its boss said today.
The investigation to discover what
caused the tragedy, which killed
seven people, may take months,
but Tim O’Toole said FirstGroup is
giving staff counselling “to make
sure everyone understands the
importance of maintaining focus at
all times”. It is also dealing with
concerns over rotas and conducting
speed checks more often.
O’Toole reiterated the company’s
Tragedy: seven tram passengers died
“profound sadness” over the
derailment and said FirstGroup
was assisting with official probes.
The transport giant’s full-year
sales rose 8.3% to £5.7 billion
helped by improvements in the US,
where it operates school buses.
Pre-tax profits rose 23% to
£207 million.
High-Street footfall declines and
congestion hurt UK bus revenue,
while rail growth was hit by an
industry-wide slowdown and
engineering works. It warned of
“continued economic uncertainty”
in Britain. Shares sank 8.7p to 141.1p.
@clarehutch
@es_jobourke
“Fame or infamy,
what does it matter?
I shan’t be forgotten.”
Based on the real life story of spy Guy Burgess
starring Rupert Everett and Colin Firth.
A-Listers Season
Carrie on: shoemaker, made famous by Sex And The City, was put up for sale in April
Vote Leave man joins Shore Capital
Simon English
Shore Capital is hiring one of the
architects of the Brexit vote as a
senior political adviser.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive
of Vote Leave, has joined the
broker to work in its capital
markets business.
Simon Fine, chief executive of
Shore Capital Markets, said:
“During a time of transformational
changes in the UK in relation to its
relationship with the rest of the
world as a result of Brexit, Matthew
will provide a unique perspective
for our capital markets business.”
Elliott said: “I am delighted to be
joining Shore Capital to help their
clients understand the changing
political situation.”
@SimonEngStand
Another Country
TONIGHT 10PM
Freeview 8 Sky 117 Virgin 159
46
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Business |
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @standardcity and Instagram @evening.standard
Meet our nominees who have cast a spell
on a multitude of viewers and shoppers
T
HE City’s great and good
are preparing fight it out
at this month’s Evening
Standard Business
Awards. As our panel of
big-hitters prepare to judge the
shortlisted nominees, we profile
the companies changing the rules
amid a rapidly shifting media
landscape. We also examine the
consumer brands forging their way
ahead of the pack in a tough
market, where there are many
demands on disposable income.
media business of the year
■ BT Sport: The broadcasting arm of
the telecoms group will celebrate its
fourth birthday in August. In its short
life, it has shaken up the market for
sports-viewing in the UK, not least by
bringing down the price to view Premier League football.
More than 5 million people now have
access to its output which includes
rugby and hockey, as well as Italian and
German domestic football and, for the
first time, this Winter’s Ashes series.
Audience figures have climbed by 12%
this year. BT Sport has also taken risks
— not least putting the last Champions
League final on YouTube so that all
footie fans, not just subscribers, could
watch it free. The sleepy telecoms
behemoth has certainly woken up.
■ Adam&Eve/DDB: The creative ad
agency behind those heart-tugging John
Lewis Christmas ads wins countless
awards in its sector and is renowned
for sprinkling stardust on brands. The
firm is known for its entertaining hits
for clients which have been as diverse
as H&M, Waitrose, Tanqueray, Harvey
Nichols and SSE.
In the past 12 months it has been picking up more international accounts,
including Samsung’s North America
and Europe accounts. In 2017 so far, it
has won accounts for Max Factor and
for Sky Sports.
But it is its creative work that really
gets people talking, including working
with film director Wes Anderson on
H&M ads and having its Harvey Nichols
characters feature in the long-awaited
Trainspotting 2.
■ Facebook: Love it or loathe it, no
one can deny that Mark Zuckerberg’s
social network has become the biggest
media company on the planet.
Having seen its advertising business
explode, it is now looking to lure
billions of pounds of ads away from TV,
where brands have always spent most
of their budget.
Next year, Facebook will open its new
headquarters in London, creating an
extra 500 jobs and taking the total
number of people it employs in the
capital to 1500. The social network
runs its European business from the
capital and its commitment to London,
soon after the Brexit vote, could not
have been made more clearly.
Magic formula: Framestore, and founder William Sargent (inset), have done wonders for Harry Potter; Facebook is a force, as is BT Sport; Adam&Eve got Adrien Brody for H&M’s ads
■ Framestore: The Oscar-winning
special effects company behind some
of the most memorable Harry Potter
scenes is one of London’s great entrepreneurial success stories.
Framestore was started with a fivestrong team in Soho in 1986 by
Dubliner William Sargent and is now
one of the world’s biggest post-production houses.
It has 1400 staff in offices in London,
New York, Montreal, Chicago and Los
Angeles.
Now the 31-year-old company has set
its sights on the East and a deal at the
end of last year saw China’s Cultural
Investment Holdings buy 75% of the
business, valuing Framestore at
£150 million.
The emerging markets of China and
India, with an estimated combined
audience of almost three billion, are
now firmly in Framestore’s sights.
consumer business
of the year
■ Matchesfashion.com: Both a tech
business and a retailer, Matchesfashion.com jostles with the likes of Yoox
Net-a-porter for the dollars of the
world’s wealthiest fashionistas.
Established in 1990 as a bricks and
mortar retailer by Tom and Ruth Chapman, the company launched online in
2007 and now makes 95% of its revenues online, with 85% of sales coming
from outside the UK.
But matchesfashion.com’s commitment to its home is 100% and it recently
announced a new flagship store in Mayfair, its sixth site in the capital, that will
bring together the physical and shopping experience.
Results published in March for the
first time, reveal soaring sales with 61%
year-on-year growth and full-year revenues of £204 million. Matchesfashion.
com is really setting the trend for
luxury fashion, with online sales up by
73% in 2016.
market to sell exclusively British meat.
The retailer, insurer and funeral provider is finding its voice again.
■ Co-op Food: Four years ago the Coop was in the midst of a crisis that
looked insurmountable. However,
under the guidance of the nowdeparted Richard Pennycook the
mutual has come back from the brink
and this year even overtook Aldi as the
UK’s fifth-biggest grocer.
The Manchester-based retailer is
opening 100 stores as part of a £70 million expansion scheme and the relaunch
of its loyalty programme, which gives
members a 5% discount on Co-op own
brands and donates 1% to community
causes has been very popular.
Co-op even revived its old iconic blue
brand to show how it was reconnecting
with communities and its heritage and
this month became the first UK super-
■ Morrisons: Another retailer in the
throes of a dramatic turnaround, Morrisons has seen like-for-like sales climb
by 3.4% in the past quarter and half a
million more transactions a week than
at the same time last year.
Chief executive Dave Potts has gone
back to basics, extending fresh food,
keeping prices low and pushing childrenswear which has resulted in the first
rise in profits in six years. But the grocer
has also taken risks, notably in its tie-up
with Amazon and dipping its toe back
into the convenience market. It even
plans to revive the Safeway brand, using
it for food it makes for other retailers.
Best of British: Morrisons has turned the corner; Matchesfashion.com is booming overseas; Richard Pennycook saved the Co-op
■ Just Eat: In just a decade Just Eat has
revolutionised the takeaway food
industry and revived thousands of
small takeaways in the process.
There was scepticism when it floated
in London in 2014, but the company,
started in a Danish basement, is now
global in reach and its share price has
doubled as it takes 4.3 orders a second
around the world. It faces competition
from some of the world’s best-resourced
firms — such as Amazon — but it is
undaunted, hence its recent attempt to
merge with rival takeaway platform
Hungry House. A home-grown example
of a tech brand that came out of nowhere
to become a global household name.
■ The Evening Standard Business
Awards, in association with HSBC and
supported by Ballymore, will be held at
Banqueting House, Whitehall, on
June 29. For more information visit:
standard.co.uk/businessawards
#ESBusinessAwards
47
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
| Business
Motor skills: the
British firm makes
catalytic
converters for the
Mini Cooper D,
among others
Buy holiday money
now as pound looks
set to soften in the heat
A
s the last of the spring’s
bank holidays pass,
accompanied by
motorway mayhem and
thunderstorms, attention
shifts towards the promise of a
summer getaway. Hand-in-hand with
such thoughts goes consideration of
when to purchase foreign currency.
For UK holidaymakers, this year
offers a lot to consider.
The first thing they should be
prepared for is that sterling isn’t
going to go as far abroad as in
previous years. The pound is down
over 12% against the euro and US
dollar from last year. It has lost an
eighth of its value. This reflects the
first impact of our decision to leave
the EU, combined with the UK’s large
overseas borrowing. But where
might the currency go from here and
what will influence it?
The first influence will be next
week’s general election. When
Theresa May called an election,
sterling rallied as markets translated
a commanding Tory lead in the polls
into a landslide victory. This was
expected to ease the Prime Minister’s
Brexit negotiating position and the
pound climbed nearly 3% after the
announcement.
More recent polls record the
Conservative lead slipping to 5% and
6% in recent days and one even
suggests the Tories would not achieve
a majority. Sterling has retreated by
1.3% as polls have dipped.
The second is the persistence of a
sanguine outlook for Brexit. The
negotiations are scheduled to begin
soon after the election, in the week
commencing June 19.
Even assuming the Conservatives
still achieve a larger majority next
week, May would have to be nimble
to shift from an electioneering
mode, that looks set to tackle the
EU’s position on citizens’ rights
and the financial settlement,
to a more constructive negotiating
tone.
I’m sceptical that such an
adjustment will be achieved and fear
a difficult start to negotiations.
Markets may well reassess the
assumption that the chances of a
chaotic, no-deal Brexit have reduced.
Third is the outlook for relative
interest rates. The downgrade of UK
first-quarter GDP growth to just 0.2%
threatens the Bank of England’s
growth projections. We believe this
will be consistent with no change in
rates before 2019.
By contrast, over the same period,
we expect the US Federal Reserve to
raise its target interest rate another
five times. In the euro area, the
European Central Bank looks set to
bolster details to reduce its stimulus
over the coming months. This
relative reduction of UK interest rates
is also likely to weigh on the pound.
Of course, other factors should
support the UK currency. The
pound’s decline to date has helped
reduce the UK’s dependence on
foreign borrowing.
The UK’s current account deficit
halved to 2.4% in the fourth quarter
of 2016 from an average 4.7% in the
three years before. Sterling’s fall has
contributed to a narrowing of the
international trade deficit and
boosted relative earnings on overseas
assets. This reduces pressure on the
currency for further adjustment.
Around these levels sterling is
doing its job in helping rebalance the
UK economy.
Moreover, exchange rates compare
relative outlooks and other countries
have their own issues to contend
with. In the US, President Donald
Trump’s administration has
contributed its own volatility to the
dollar, which has been 5% higher
than pre-election levels and retreated
almost all the way back. Progress on
fiscal reform would boost the dollar
from here, while renewed discussion
of impeachment would have the
reverse effect.
Johnson Matthey is set to switch to electric
Michael Bow
Johnson Matthey pledged to survive the
slow death of the diesel car today by turning
its sights on electric car batteries and
cleaning up air pollution.
The 200-year-old British firm makes
catalytic converters for one third of all the
world’s motors, including the Mini Cooper
D, but concerns are growing the move to
electric will hurt it. Chief executive Robert
MacLeod said: “As diesel starts declining we
will adapt our R&D and manufacturing
footprint and move this business forward.”
For now, diesel and petrol catalysts are
doing well due to tighter air pollution rules
in Europe, with sales to car manufacturers
rising 21% to £847 million last year.
Currency benefits helped take total
revenue up 12% to £12 billion and pre-tax
profit soared 19% to £461.6 million.
@signorbow
M
eanwhile, the euro
has risen 4% since the
election of French
president emmanuel
Macron. This
momentum may have further to run,
although concerns of early elections
in Italy and a dovish ECB could cap
the euro’s gains.
The coming months appear to bring
a relatively more challenging outlook
for the UK and we consider the
likelihood of a softer pound,
particularly against the US dollar.
Considering when to buy holiday
currency depends on many factors,
including how much the anticipation
of such a trade is part of the holiday
build-up. For me though, the early
purchase of foreign currency will
leave one less thing to worry about.
Hand-stitched Leather
and Suede Brogues
■ David Page is a senior economist at
Axa Investment Managers
All the
news as it
happens
with the
Evening
Standard
app
Go to: standard.co.uk/apps
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
‘Markets
may well
reassess the
assumption
the chances
of a chaotic,
no-deal
Brexit have
reduced’
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48
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Business |
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @standardcity and Instagram @evening.standard
New journey:
Andy Boland has
pushed the cabs
firm to the
premium end of
the market to
fight Uber
Sainsbury’s flies
flag for the elite
@City_Spy
Military drills could
have a new platform
Addison Lee steps
up a gear as deals
drive sales rise
Alex Lawson
A move upmarket and an expansion
into America has helped cab firm
Addison Lee to fight off the rise of
Uber and post a bounce in sales, it
said today.
Just-filed accounts show that fares
received in the year to last August fell
7.5% to £259.5 million with profits at
£53.9 million.
But the company said that revenues
will be “around a third” higher this
year and profits will grow, without
giving specific figures. It was
acquired for £300 million by US
private-equity group Carlyle in 2013 .
Chief executive Andy Boland said
that the growth came in the wake of a
£70 million investment drive in new
technology, better-equipped cars
and acquisitions in the US.
Last year the London firm bought
executive car service Tristar, which
operates in 83 countries, and in
January snapped up Flyte Tyme,
giving Lee a presence on America’s
East Coast. It now has 1000 Mercedes
in London with in-car wi-fi and
phone charging.
On Uber’s growth in London,
Boland said: “We have reshaped the
business to differentiate ourselves.
As in other parts of the economy, it’s
price versus quality. Our customers
know we’ll pick them up from the
theatre on a Saturday night or do an
early morning airport run and they
can talk to someone helpful if they
have a problem.”
Boland believes the acquisitions
allow Addison Lee to snare UK
business travellers when abroad. It
counts 80% of the FTSE 100 as
customers.
■ Uber has vowed to find a new chief
financial officer to write its “next
chapter” with a potential flotation on
the horizon. Head of finance Gautam
Gupta’s departure was revealed
along with bulging first-quarter
losses of $708 million (£550 million).
The scandal-struck taxi-hailing app
has lost a string of senior executives
in recent months.
@MrAlexLawson
Here’s a novel idea for what to do
with all those defunct North Sea oil
platforms: sell them to the armed
forces for military training exercises.
According to energy trade website
Energy Voice, Repsol Sinopec
Resources UK originally hatched a
plan to sell the offshore wells to the
Ministry of Defence, who wanted to
use them for aerial training towers.
That deal’s off, but with the spate of
offshore shutdowns for oil firms off
the coast of Aberdeen, maybe this
could prove a new money-spinner.
■ Eyebrows were raised last year
when AIM-listed African Potash
agreed to an extortionate loan from
the wife of the finance director. But
that’s nothing compared with the
$2 million shareholder loan given to
Philippines gold miner Metals
Exploration so it can repay its lenders.
More than £1.1 million is being put up
by the Candy brothers, the AIM-listed
miner’s major shareholders. The loan
is to be repaid when it secures a larger
debt deal. The loan carries an eyewatering interest rate of 20% until the
end of August and a 30% penalty rate
after that. The Candys, who declined
to comment, stand to make more than
£200,000 in three months so it’s winwin for the property brothers if Metals
Exploration takes several months to
wrap up a larger funding deal.
London shoppers are not doing
well in quashing the city’s
reputation as the home of the
liberal metropolitan elite.
According to Kantar Worldpanel,
we’re filling our baskets with
olives, vitamins, dental floss and
men’s skincare products far more
than our counterparts elsewhere,
but don’t want as much beer, cider,
bacon or black pudding.
We’re also prone to a splurge in
Sainsbury’s; its market share in
London is double that of its slice
nationally. Non-alcoholic cocktails
and smashed avocado all round at
Sainsbury’s then. Party on.
■ As the pound see-sawed around
yesterday in response to political
turmoil, the City struggled to define
its status. “Pound on cliff edge”
roared one headline, with another
dubbing trading “choppy”. ETX
Capital went out on a limb: “pound
whippy on polls”. Whippy? Sounds
like a rapidly dripping ice cream…
Email us at:
cityspy@standard.co.uk
Cocorose aiming
to be well-heeled
Step up: founder Janan Leo wants to raise £200,000 through crowdfunding
Janan Leo, the founder of foldable
shoes maker Cocorose London, is on
the lookout for funding.
The maker of the stylish handbagready flats, sold in Harvey Nicks and
sported by the likes of Pippa
Middleton and Dame Helen Mirren,
tells Spy she’s looking to raise
£200,000 through crowdfunding to
help develop the e-commerce side of
the business as wholesale markets
become tougher.
Leo, whose business turns over
around £1 million a year, has helped
stuff the Bafta awards goodybags
since she set it up 10 years ago. Spy
reckons Leo, who once accompanied
former Prime Minister David
Cameron as an export champion, will
quick-step her way to the cash.
49
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
London stars
as Hostelworld
ups bookings
Joanna Bourke
Tourists checking into budget
London accommodation have
helped Hostelworld improve
trading momentum, the online
booking platform said today.
The company, advertised by
actor Charlie Sheen (below), said
the 120 London hostels on its
platform were 100% occupied on
April 29, the early May bank
holiday Saturday. Holidaymakers
from Australia, the US, Germany
and France visited London in the
greatest numbers.
Chief executive Feargal Mooney
said: “There is very strong demand
for hostels, and London remains our
biggest destination in the world.”
Chairman Richard Segal told its
annual meeting that total group
bookings in the year to date are
ahead of the same period last
year across all regions, and
Hostelworld expects to meet
full-year forecasts.
However, he noted “more
moderate gains” in
Europe. Overall
bookings dipped
1% in 2016, owing
to “softer demand
in European
destinations as a
result of
geopolitical
events”.
| Business
Inmarsat goes into orbit on
hopes of SoftBank takeover
Jamie
Nimmo
Soft touch:
Masayoshi Son,
founder of
SoftBank, meets
President Trump
market round-up
Chatter that deal-hungry SoftBank
founder Masayoshi Son might set his
sights on Inmarsat sent shares in the
satellite communications firm rocketing today.
The Japanese tech investor’s attempt
to merge SoftBank’s OneWeb business
with Intelsat fell through today, with
Intelsat’s creditors reportedly not backing the $14 billion (£11 billion) deal.
The eccentric Son doesn’t sit still for
long and the collapse of the bid for
Intelsat — which broadcast Neil Armstrong’s moon walk — soon had
rumours flowing that Inmarsat would
be his next target. Reports suggested
that SoftBank, which last year bought
ARM for £24 billion, has already been
in talks with other satellite firms about
merging with OneWeb.
Shares in Inmarsat, which dropped
out of the FTSE 100 last year after tough
conditions in its maritime division,
surged 44p, or 5.5%, to 844p in anticipation of a possible takeover.
The London-based firm was among
the top risers on the mid-cap index,
vying for the top spot with Auto
Trader. The second-hand car dealer
raced 23.3p, or 5.6%, higher to 439.4p
as Barclays upgraded to Overweight
ahead of next week’s annual results.
The bank’s analysts said investors had
steered clear of the shares, wary that
the used-car market might grind to a
halt. “There are risks in the outlook for
used-car pricing, but we do not expect
wide forecourt closures,” they said.
The markets were calmer today after
yo-yoing yesterday when the FTSE 100
briefly hit new highs. The index rose
23.66 points to 7543.61 as traders continue to discount Jeremy Corbyn’s
chances of winning the election.
BT shares fell 3.4p to 306.15p after
Morgan Stanley slashed its rating to
Equalweight from Overweight. The
investment bank suggested the telecoms giant will have to splash the cash
on fibre, with new regulations coming
into play next year. That increased
spending might mean it does not have
enough free cashflow to cover its dividend, Morgan Stanley added.
Broker downgrades left shares in
private healthcare group Mediclinic
28p weaker at 780.5p. Events firm
Ascential, formerly Emap, dipped
2.6p to 352.3p after selling its remaining 11 UK-based magazines and trade
publications for £23.5 million.
@jamienimmo63
More information:
standard.co.uk/business
@es_jobourke
TRADER TALK
■ Citywire AA-rated small-cap star
Harry Nimmo has sold down his
holding in high street fashion chain
Ted Baker as it slides from a rally
which significantly failed to break
through a prior high. Nimmo reduced
his investment in the business from
2.6 million shares, or above 5%, worth
£65 million at a share price of £24.94,
to below a disclosable level. The
business was until recently a top 10
position in his £1.3 billion Standard
Life UK Smaller Companies fund, and
was also a significant position in his
£338 million Smaller Companies trust.
Nimmo has done well out of the
changing face of UK fashion in the
past decade, being an early supporter
of online retailer Asos and break-out
international clothing label Superdry.
Ted Baker has had a rockier path in
recent years, however, hitting an alltime high of £35 in 2015 before sliding.
A rally late last year petered out at £30
and it has continued to drop.
Dave Campbell:
citywire.co.uk
Chairman hits out
on Touchstone bid
The chairman of London
universities incubator Touchstone
today claimed the nil-premium
£500 million approach from IP
Group was a takeover, not a
merger as its rival suggested.
David Newlands said IP’s chairman
told him “the term ‘merger’ had
been used, but that this was in fact
a ‘takeover’.”
Share Prices |
† Dealings suspended
*r Ex-dividend
Ex-rights Issue
a Ex-all
c Ex-capitalisation issue
FTSE 100 UP 23.66 AT 7543.61
3i Group................... 918.....+23.....92812....46812
Admiral Group..... 2047*.....+10.....2288....1680
Ang Americn..........1021... -1012. ...1529...... 572
Antofagasta...........80412.....+312. ...90512....39412
Ashtead Group.......1567.......+1.....1764....87534
Assoc Brit Fds........2995........-1.....3183....1910
AstraZeneca...........5322.....+88.....5505....3680
Aviva......................... 527.......+2.....57012...... 290
Babcock Intl...........93712.....+412. ...1112...... 780
BAE SYSTEMS....... 67114*.....+534. ...67634....46434
Barclays..................20834......-114. ...26714...... 121
Barratt Dev.............. 609......-312. ...62412...... 326
BHP Billiton............1169........-4.. 151812....78612
BP......................... 46912*.....+234. ...52114....34914
BrAmTobacco.........5562.....+32.....5602....4072
British Land............64134.....+734. ...77314...... 500
BT Group.................. 307......-212. ...44414....29712
Bunzl.................... 2428*........-4.....2588 194912
Burberry................1807........-8.....1879....1039
Carnival................ 4985*.....+15.....5005....3075
Centrica.................. 203*........-14. ...24812....11934
Coca-Cola HBC........2294.....+41.....2299....1323
Compass............... 1688*.....+18.....1692 124214
ConvaTec Group.....32934.....+934. ...33012...... 213
CRH.........................2834.....+42.....3342....1700
Croda Intl............. 4004*.....+41.....4017 275414
DCC....................... 7475*.. +100.....8030....5780
Diageo..................236212...+3512. 237212....1737
Direct Line Ins........34914....... +34. ...40034...... 323
Easyjet....................1403..... -11.....1544...... 851
Experian.................1620.......+2.....1708....1224
Fresnillo.................1585.......+9.. 205714....99512
GKN........................35012....... +12. ...37914....24912
GlaxoSmKline....... 1712*.....+812. 174512....1363
Glencore............... 28312*......-112. .....347....12412
Hammerson...........59012.......+5.......606...... 400
Hargrve Lans.........1417.....+19.....1454....1056
Hikma Pharms.......1706.....+18.....2703....1573
HSBC....................... 676*....... +12. ...71514....39214
Imperial Brands366012*...+3112. ...4154....3324
Informa................ 67612*.....+512. ...70412...... 480
InterCont Htls.........4419.....+46.. 443734 261514
Intl Cons Airlines....61212.....+812. .....619....28134
Intertek Gp........... 4326*.....+27.....4337 303712
Intu Props..............27334.....+134. .....320....25434
ITV..........................19434........-1.....22134...... 141
J Matthey................3091..... -21.....3568....2774
Kingfisher............. 32612*.....+112. ...39012....26912
Land Sec.................1081.....+11.....1209...... 810
Legal Gen............. 25112*........-14. .....262....16012
Lloyds Bkg Grp......... 7012..................7312........ 47
Main movers
rises
Price (p) Chg (p) %Chg
Dukemount Cptl............... 0.40.......+0.02.......... +6.7
Brew Dolphin................350.10.... +11.50.......... +3.4
ConvaTec Group............329.80.......+9.80.......... +3.1
PaddyPwrBetfair........8285.00.. +215.00.......... +2.7
3i Group........................918.00.... +23.00.......... +2.6
falls
ftse 100 index
Lond Stk Ex Gp..... 3443*.....+18.....3493....2259
Marks&Sp...............37534......-634. ...39734...... 255
Mediclinic Intl.......... 781... -2712. ...1125....66612
Merlin Ent............ 53212*.....+312. ...53512....31634
Micro Focus Intl.....2444.....+50.....2675....1408
Mondi.....................2033.......+9.....2053....1240
Morrison (Wm)..... 24712*.....+112. .....250....16812
Natl Grid............... 1057*... -3212. 125214....96934
Next........................4398.....+38.....5705....3550
Old Mutual.............18812....... +12. ...22934....16814
PaddyPwrBetfair...8285.. +2151002812....6525
Pearson.................... 711.....+412. ...98912...... 552
Persimmon.............2443..... -12.....2481....1170
Provident Fincl..... 3066*.....+15.. 340214....2125
Prudential............173212......-312. 180112....1096
Randgold Res.........7395.....+30.....9820....5410
Reckitt Benck.........7997.....+59.....8083....6496
RELX.......................1682.....+19.....1685...... 631
Rentokil Intial........26814.....+212. .....269...... 164
Rio Tinto...............311012.......+8.. 371812....1853
Rolls-Royce........... 87914*...+1134. .....895...... 588
Royal Bank.............25734......-214. .....271....14812
Royal D Shell A..... 2112*.....+12.. 229512....1645
Royal D Shell B...215512*.....+12.. 240334....1646
Royal Mail..............44312.......+2.......549....39712
RSA Insurance........62612.......+1.....63514....42512
Sage........................ 724*.....+312. ...80712...... 573
Sainsbury............... 280*........-1.....28312....21112
Schroders...............3166.......+9.....3284....1960
Scottish Mort IT.....40012.....+312. .....403...... 245
Severn Trent...........2510.....+10.....2575....2047
Shire.....................444212..... -29.....5377 270714
Sky............................ 994.......+3.....1050...... 560
Smith & Neph.........1365.....+11.....1369....1065
Smiths Gp...............1605.......+2.....1685....1028
Smurfit Kappa Grp2197.....+16.....2260....1504
SSE.........................1513.......+8.....1644....1369
StanChart................. 736.....+414. ...82112....47114
Standard Life.........38334.......+1.......415....24814
St James Place.......1176.......+3.....1195...... 521
Taylor Wimpey.......19234... -1012. ...20512....10912
Tesco........................ 182......-134. ...21912...... 143
TUI AG....................1202.......+4.....1231...... 813
Unilever................ 4373*...+4112. 437712 305012
United Utilities.......1032.......+3.....1078....85312
Vodafone Grp.........23314.....+134. .....240....18612
Whitbread..........429412*.....+312. ...4380....3283
Wolseley.................5130.....+20.....5285....3489
Worldpay Grp....... 31334*.......+3.......322....24712
WPP........................1750.......+6.....1928....1204
Price (p) Chg (p) %Chg
Taylor Wimpey..............192.70..... -10.40...........-5.1
Spinnaker Opps................ 4.56....... -0.19...........-4.0
Ten Entmt Gp................170.00....... -6.50...........-3.7
Mediclinic Intl...............781.00..... -27.50...........-3.4
Natl Grid.....................1057.00..... -32.50...........-3.0
HOUR BY HOUR
Prev Cls 7519.95
08:30
7550.02
09:00
7539.12
10:00
7546.30
11:00
–
12:00
–
13:00
–
14:00
–
14:30
–
15:00
–
16:00
–
Close
–
t
s
s
s
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
6.56
30.07
19.17
26.35
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
tourist rates
Australia
Canada
Denmark
Eurozone
Hong Kong
Japan
New Zealand
South Africa
Sweden
Switzerland
UAE
United States
Dollars
Dollars
Kroner
Euro
Dollars
Yen
Dollars
Rand
Kronor
Francs
Dirham
Dollars
1.6441
1.6521
8.0888
1.0911
9.5010
135.7800
1.6913
15.8600
10.6500
1.1860
4.4279
1.2270
london bullion
markeT
*net of vat
Gold per oz
Sterling £981.43
Close $1267.12
Prev Close $1263.19
economy
Bank of England base rate (May)
0.25 %
Consumer prices index (Apr)
+2.7%
Brent crude ($)
50.26
Halifax mortgage rate
3.74 %
Prices and indices in
this section are supplied
from various sources and
calculated at different times
and may not always match
those listed in the tables
2016/17 High Low
AEROSPACE & DEFENCE
Chemring.................. 18114......... +34........208.......9014
AUTOMOBILES & PARTS
GKN........................... 35012......... +12...... 37914.....24912
CONS & BUILD MATERIALS
Bellway................... 2819*..........-7......3001.....1622
Countryside Props.... 33512.......+212...... 33734.....17012
CRH...........................2834.......+42......3342.....1700
Marshall................... 41134..........-12...... 42234.....19912
McCarthy&S.............18512*........-112...... 24134.....12914
Taylor Wimpey.......... 19234..... -1012...... 20512.....10912
ELECTRONIC & ELEC EQUIP
Laird......................... 13812..........-34........273......... 95
ENGINEERING & MACHINERY
Bodycote.................77812*.........+1...... 84512.......500
IMI............................1261.........+7......1317.....89112
FOOD PRODUCERS
Cranswick............... 298034.....+1534......3092...195014
Tate & Lyle.................. 739.........+1........850.....60312
GENERAL RETAILERS
Supergroup..............1551.................179334.....1100
HEALTH
ConvaTec Group........ 32934.......+934...... 33012.......213
INSURANCE
Admiral Group........ 2047*.......+10......2288.....1680
Beazley..................... 47112..........-12...... 47514.....32714
Hiscox..................... 1229*.........+1......1237.......903
JardnLlydThm...........1185.........+5......1188.......825
INVESTMENT COMPANIES
British Empire Trust... 681.....................690.......436
Custodian REIT........11334*................... 11414......... 99
UKCPT........................8734*..................... 9112......... 65
IT & INTERNET
Aveva........................1929..........-7......2149.....1481
LEISURE & HOTELS
Greene K..................... 748........-612........910.....64612
Marstons.................13414*........-114...... 15534.....12634
MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
Centaur Media...............50..........-12........ 5714.......3234
OIL & GAS
Cairn Energy............. 20312.........+1...... 25012.......171
Hunting..................... 50712.........+2........650.....30612
Premier Oil....................58..................... 9912......... 48
Soco Intl....................132*................... 16814.......115
Vedanta Resources..... 609........-212....111212.......366
PHARMS & BIOTECH
Hikma Pharms..........1706.......+18......2703.....1573
REAL ESTATE
Big Yellow Gp............ 78812................... 88712.....62912
Capital & Cnties.......31414*.....................363.....25714
CLS............................ 19514........-434........209.....11212
Derwent Lond......... 2757*..........-9....350734.....2230
Grainger................... 26914..........-1........271.......193
Helical......................... 334........-114...... 41814.......228
McKay Secs............... 22814........-434........240.......140
Raven Russia.................48..........-14.......... 55.......3112
2016/17 High Low
Raven Russia Pref...13934*..........-34...... 14814.......115
Raven Russia Wts..........27..................... 2934......... 13
Raven R Cnv Pref...... 11612.....................117.......115
Savills......................... 879.......+14...... 96012.....54214
Tritax Big Box........... 14812.........+1........149.....10434
Urban&Civic................ 267..........-12........275.......183
Workspace Grp......... 87512........-612........890.......569
RESTS PUBS & BREWERIES
Fuller S.T.A.............. 108834.......+334......1125.....92512
SPECIALITY & OTHER FIN
Aberdeen Asset.......28912*......... +12...... 35412.....21212
2016/17 High Low
Brew Dolphin.............350*.....+1112...... 35212.......150
Mattioli Woods......... 81912................... 85814.......644
Paragon...................... 457.........+1...... 49034.......225
SUPPORT SERVICES
Acal........................... 27914.......+134........280.....20314
Atkins (WS)...............2081...................2148.....1191
Dignity.................... 2524*..........-6......2940.....2240
Experian ..................1620.........+2......1708.....1224
Hays............................ 169.........+2...... 17614......... 91
Homeserve............... 74412.......+912........803.....44114
Ricardo..................... 89034.......+834......1040.......645
Robert Walters........43312*................... 46534.......242
2016/17 High Low
Waterman................. 13812..........-1...... 14112.......5212
Wolseley...................5130.......+20......5285.....3489
TELECOM SERVICES
KCOM.............................94..........-14........121......... 87
TRANSPORT
Braemar Ship............. 302......... +14...... 45112.......218
Clarkson................. 2674*..........-6......3033.....1629
Go-Ahead Grp...........1798....... -33......2572.....1686
UTILITIES OTHER
Drax Group............... 34634......... +12...... 39314.......273
AIM
Ashstead Group........1567.........+1......1764.....87534
Caretech................... 39612........-112........410.......228
Christie Grp...................86.....................102......... 71
Cohort......................... 419..........-6........468.......276
Dart Group................ 62012........-412........657.....35412
Elecosoft......................4912..................... 5034......... 19
M&C Saatchi............... 361........-134...... 38334.....27514
Park Group..................8234........-114.......... 88.......5914
Picton Prop Inc............85*....................... 86......... 57
Sopheon..................... 395.....................514......... 90
Telford Homes.......... 42614.......+434...... 43934.......254
Tristel....................... 20912.....................215......... 87
Union Jack Oil................014........................014........... 0
Walker Greenbk........ 21312.....................224.....15514
RECENT ISSUES
ADES Intl Holding.....1224..... -1112......1280.....1224
Alfa Financial Sof....... 418.....................418.......395
Alpha FX Gp................ 440.....................449.......220
Downing Strat........... 10612..........-1...... 10912.......100
Dukemount Cptl............012........................034......... 014
Eddie Stobart Lgcs..... 157........-112........165.......155
Eve Sleep.......................99.....................107......... 98
Global Ports Hldgs...... 730........-114........760.......725
Grand Fortune HG.......1012....................... 11......... 11
Integumen.......................3........................512........... 3
Jupiter Emg&Frtr...... 10212......... +12...... 10212......... 99
K3 Capital Gp............ 12012.....................130......... 95
Medica Group............. 223......... +12........242.......135
Ocelot Partners........ 75514........-534........859.....75514
Path Investments..........034........................114......... 034
Pershing Square.......1212.........+4....123614...118912
SkinBioTherap.............1214..................... 1734......... 914
Spinnaker Opps.............412..........-14...........514......... 412
Ten Entmt Gp.............. 170........-612...... 17914.....16212
Velocity Compo............8934.......+114........103......... 82
50
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Television | Thursday
5.30 London Live News.
6.30 London Film Club.
Movie news, featuring reviews of the latest releases
and interviews with the stars.
7.00 Meet the Russians.
An insight into the lives of wealthy Russians and
Ukrainians living in London, looking at the affairs of
the fashionistas, high-end party planners and the
mega-rich.
8.00 Gareth Malone Goes to
Glyndebourne.
The choirmaster takes his chorus to see Puccini’s La
boheme. The teenagers find the experience
inspiring, but rehearsals for their own opera are
beset by problems.
9.00 NHS: £2billion a Week and Counting.
The interactive show concludes with a look at
whether the NHS should be spending more on
cancer treatments than other illnesses. Last in the
series.
10.00 Another Country (1984).
A homosexual public school pupil in the Thirties
turns to communism in rebellion against the
oppressive nature of British society. Drama, starring
Rupert Everett and Colin Firth.
11.50 For Queen and Country (1988).
A black soldier attempts to return to civilian life after
becoming a hero in the Falklands War, but finds
himself alienated from the community he grew up
in and persecuted by racist police. Drama, starring
Denzel Washington and Amanda Redman.
6.00 BBC News at Six; Weather (S,HD).
6.35 BBC London News; Weather (S).
6.55 Party Election Broadcast (S,HD).
By the UK Independence Party.
7.00 The Andrew Neil Interviews — Tim
Farron (HD).
3/6. Andrew Neil interviews the Liberal Democrat
leader Tim Farron, ahead of the General Election.
7.30 EastEnders (S,HD).
Steven prepares a romantic meal for Lauren, but it
does not go as planned. Max tries to reason with
Jack, and Kim comes up with an idea to help
Denise. Followed by BBC News; Regional News.
8.00 Kat and Alfie: Redwater (S,HD).
3/6. Kat finally meets her son, and Eileen wonders
whether she and Kieran should stay in Ireland for
good. Agnes organises a memorial barbecue, but is
angry when the Moons turn up.
9.00 Frank Skinner on Muhammad Ali
(S,HD).
The comedian explores the boxer’s life, meeting his
brother Rahman and his ex-wife Khalilah, and
visiting the training compound where he prepared
for the Rumble in the Jungle.
10.00 BBC News at Ten (S,HD).
10.30 BBC London News; Weather (S).
10.45 Question Time (S,HD).
32/37. Topical debate from East Barnet in north
London, chaired by David Dimbleby.
11.45 This Week (S,HD).
Andrew Neil introduces a round-table chat in which
he, Michael Portillo and other guests look at political
developments ahead of next week’s election.
(R) repeat (S) subtitles (HD) high definition
6.00 Debatable (S,HD).
32/33. Phil Tufnell, Michael Buerk and Naga
Munchetty use their knowledge and debating skills
to help Manchester solicitor Paul win the cash prize.
Hosted by comedian Patrick Kielty.
6.45 Celebrity Eggheads (S,HD).
21/22. A team from Strictly Come Dancing takes on
the challenge.
7.30 Great British Menu (S,HD).
24/45. The Scotland chefs prepare desserts.
8.00 Springwatch 2017 (S,HD).
4/12. Martin Hughes-Games and Iolo Williams track
down the elusive sand lizard in north Wales, and
Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan present the
latest from the Sherborne Estate.
9.00 Paula (S,HD).
2/3. In the wake of Philip’s death, Paula notices some
things missing from her home and wonders
whether James was involved, while the handyman
becomes more troubled and goes on the run.
10.00 QI (R,S,HD).
4/18. With Jason Manford and Sara Pascoe.
10.30 Election Spy (S).
3/9. Political comedy.
10.35 Newsnight (S,HD).
Presented by Evan Davis.
11.15 Weather (S,HD).
11.20 Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy
Highlights (S,HD).
England v Bangladesh.
12.35 Weather for the Week Ahead (S,HD). 12.40 BBC
News (S,HD).
12.10 Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors (R,S,HD). 1.10 Sign
Zone: Manchester Attack: Terror at the Arena — Panorama
(R,S). 1.40 Sign Zone: Dara and Ed’s Road to Mandalay
(R,S). 2.40 Sign Zone: Second Chance Summer: Tuscany
(R,S). 3.40 This Is BBC Two (S,HD).
6.00 Home and Away (R,S,HD).
James urges Roo to get a professional opinion
about her health.
6.30 5 News Tonight (S,HD).
A round-up of the evening’s headlines.
6.55 Party Election Broadcast: UK
Independence Party (S,HD).
By the UK Independence Party.
7.00 Secrets of Great British Castles
(R,S,HD).
1/6. Historian Dan Jones heads south east of
England to explore the history of Dover Castle.
8.00 The Great Fire: Death and
Destruction (S,HD).
2/3. The worst day of the inferno, revealing how St
Paul’s Cathedral burned so fiercely its stones
exploded and Pudding Lane baker Thomas Farriner
made sure no blame landed on him.
9.00 Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords
(S,HD).
13/16. A troublesome tenant whose behaviour led to
the police being called.
10.00 The World’s Heaviest Child:
Extraordinary People (S,HD).
The story of an 11-year-old from Indonesia who
weighs 30 stone, following doctors’ attempts to
determine the root cause of his massive weight
gain.
11.05 Restless Legs Syndrome: Desperate
for Help (R,S,HD).
Documentary about people with a compulsion to
constantly move their feet.
7.00 100 Days+ (S,HD); Weather.
BBC News teams in Washington DC and London
report on the events that are shaping the world.
7.30 Sounds of the Eighties (R,S).
Music from the BBC archives, featuring Eurythmics,
Spandau Ballet, Phil Collins, Fine Young Cannibals,
Tears for Fears, Suzanne Vega and Simply Red.
8.00 Fossil Wonderlands: Nature’s
Hidden Treasures (R,S,HD).
Professor Richard Fortey Investigates the remains
of an ancient volcanic lake, which contains wellpreserved examples of early mammals and giant
insects. Last in the series.
9.00 The Great Village Green Crusade
(S,HD).
Documentary about Red Dwarf actor and ecoenthusiast Robert Llewellyn’s two-year campaign to
persuade the residents of his Cotswolds village,
Temple Guiting, to generate more of their own
power through renewable sources.
10.30 Engineering Giants: Gas Rig StripDown (R,S,HD).
Tom Wrigglesworth and Rob Bell follow each step
of the process as a gas platform is pulled from the
North Sea and taken to Newcastle to be
disassembled and recycled.
11.30 Catching History’s Criminals: the
Forensics Story (R,S,HD).
Gabriel Weston explores the advances that have
elevated murder weapons from instruments
to pieces of evidence, and looks at the future
forensic developments.
6.00 Blue Bloods (R,S,HD).
When a retired cop is accused of shooting his
mugger, Frank must deal with the aftermath, while
Baez and Danny try to figure out how to bring a
man to justice.
7.00 Blue Bloods (R,S,HD).
Danny is in an unusual situation when multiple
women take credit for the murder of their boss,
while Frank disagrees with a priest about how to
handle a thief.
8.00 Micro Monsters with David
Attenborough (R,S,HD).
Bugs that prefer cooperation to conflict, including
the burrowing cockroach, the green ant, the
suitably named social spider, and the queen bee
overseeing her happy hive of workers.
8.30 Micro Monsters with David
Attenborough (R,S,HD).
The broadcaster concludes his close-up
examination of the bug world with a look at insect
colonies, some of which can span entire continents.
9.00 The Wizard of Lies (HD) (2017).
Premiere. A feature-length account of the
stockbroker and financier Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi
scheme, one of the biggest cases of financial fraud
in US history, that led to financial ruin for countless
people and institutions. Drama, starring Robert De
Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer.
11.30 Silicon Valley (R,S,HD).
Richard looks outside the tech bubble for financial
support, while Jared tries to keep the peace
between Dinesh and Gilfoyle.
12.00 SuperCasino. 3.10 Wentworth Prison (R,S,HD). 4.00
Now That’s Funny! (R,S,HD). 4.45 House Doctor (R,S). 5.10
Divine Designs (R,S). 5.35 Wildlife SOS (R,S).
12.30 Sound of Cinema: the Music That Made the Movies
(R,S,HD). 1.30 Arena: American Epic (R,S,HD). 2.30
The Great Village Green Crusade (R,S).
12.05 Becoming Warren Buffett (R,S,HD). 2.00 Nurse
Jackie (R,HD). 2.40 Nurse Jackie (R,HD). 3.20 Nurse Jackie
(R,HD). 4.00 The British (R,S,HD).
2.00 Film: Adventures of a Plumber’s Mate (1978). Sex
comedy, starring Christopher Neil. 3.50 PhoneShop. 4.25
PhoneShop. 5.00 London Live Review. 5.30 London Live
Review.
6.00 ITV News London (S); Weather.
6.25 Party Election Broadcast (S,HD).
By the UK Independence Party.
6.30 ITV Evening News (S); Weather.
7.00 Emmerdale (S,HD).
Nicola fails to undo the damage she and Jimmy
have done despite working through the night — but
she comes up with an idea to shift the blame on to
a far-from-happy workforce.
7.30 Britain’s Got Talent (S,HD).
14/18. Ant and Dec welcome another eight acts onto
the stage, competing for the next two slots in the
grand final and the chance to perform for royalty
later this year.
9.00 Coronation Street (S,HD).
Nathan punishes Bethany for her behaviour, Kevin
throws a surprise 50th birthday party for Anna, and
Ken’s attacker tells the police they want to make a
confession.
9.30 Britain’s Got Talent Results (S,HD).
15/18. Ant and Dec announce the results, taking two
more acts through to the final — and one step
closer to the Royal Variety Performance.
10.00 ITV News at Ten (S); Weather.
10.45 ITV News London (S); Weather.
10.55 Car Wars UK (S,HD).
The work of Northumbria’s traffic officers, as they
deal with incidents including a vehicle falling from
the sky and a man being thrown from a car while
performing a U-turn.
11.55 Tipping Point (R,S,HD).
138/175. Ben Shephard hosts the quiz show.
6.00 The Simpsons (R,S).
7/22. Apu becomes the proud father of octuplets
and is showered with free gifts from companies that
want him to endorse their products. With the voice
of Butch Patrick.
6.30 Hollyoaks (S,HD).
Sienna does not want to leave Warren after finding
out about the child arrangement order, so decides
to make him love her again and tries to seduce him
at The Loft.
7.00 News (S,HD).
Including sport and weather.
7.55 Party Election Broadcast (S,HD).
Political broadcast.
8.00 The Supervet (S,HD).
A man brings in his doberman, which has a
diseased spinal cord, a cocker spaniel is hit by a car
and a rabbit needs surgery for a broken ankle.
9.00 Catching a Killer (S,HD).
Thames Valley Police’s investigation into the
disappearance of 31-year-old Natalie Hemming in
2016, following the case though to the arrest and
the tragic conclusion.
10.45 One Killer Punch (R,S,HD).
Documentary exploring the consequences of
deadly single hits, from a row over a parking space
in a supermarket car park to an unanticipated fight
outside a nightclub.
11.45 First Dates (R,S,HD).
A ladies’ man hopes to find romance with a PR
manager.
12.50 Jackpot247. 3.00 The Jeremy Kyle Show (R,S,HD).
3.55 ITV Nightscreen (HD). 5.05 The Jeremy Kyle Show
(R,S,HD).
12.45 Bizarre ER (S,HD). 1.40 Ramsay’s Kitchen
Nightmares USA (R,S). 2.30 Grayson Perry: Divided Britain
(R,S,HD). 3.25 Loaded (R,S,HD). 4.15 Location, Location,
Location (R,S,HD). 5.10 Fifteen to One (R,S,HD).
6.00 Nothing to Declare (R,S).
Fly-on-the-wall documentary following the lives of
customs and immigration officers at Australia’s
biggest airports.
7.00 Sun, Sea and A&E (S).
The spread of swine flu puts the island of Majorca
on red alert, and a stag-do reveller is hit by a car.
8.00 Criminal Minds (R,S,HD).
Bodies of missing people are discovered in a
remote region of the Idaho wilderness — and the
BAU team’s investigation leads to fears that
someone may be hunting humans for sport.
Starring Paget Brewster, Thomas Gibson and
Matthew Gray Gubler.
9.00 Criminal Minds (R,HD).
Homeless people begin vanishing from the streets
of Kansas City, prompting a baffled local detective
to call the BAU in an effort to solve the mystery.
Worryingly, a local meat plant is soon suspected of
being behind the disappearances. Crime drama,
starring Mandy Patinkin and Thomas Gibson.
10.00 Scandal (S,HD).
In the final days of his presidency, Fitz uses his
power to make some unexpected changes. Political
drama, starring Kerry Washington and Tony
Goldwyn. Last in the series.
11.00 Criminal Minds (R,S,HD).
The team tries to find a murderous taxi driver
targeting women with a strong natural scent, while
Prentiss is the victim of unwanted attention.
6.00 Futurama (R,S).
The Professor chooses his own clone as heir, but
the obnoxious creation has a hidden agenda.
6.30 The Simpsons (R,S,HD).
Grampa gives Bart a special watch passed down by
his own father.
7.00 The Simpsons (R,S,HD).
Mr Burns decides to open his own university.
7.30 The Simpsons (R,HD).
Bart spends time with Springfield’s grandmothers.
8.00 Beneath the Black: a Journey
Through New Zealand Rugby (HD).
A look at what makes New Zealand so successful at
rugby union, as some of the country’s most famous
players explore the nation’s culture and history.
9.00 Arrow (S,HD).
Oliver recruits a group of unlikely allies for a final
showdown on Lian Yu against Chase and his band
of villains. Superhero adventure, starring Stephen
Amell. Last in the series.
10.00 Jamestown (R,S,HD).
Rumours of a gold mine sends a stir of suspicion
through the settlement, and Jocelyn forces a
reluctant Samuel to help her find the map, while
James Read clashes with the governor.
11.00 Modern Family (R,S,HD).
Phil persuades Jay to help him develop a property.
11.30 Modern Family (R,S,HD).
Gloria gives Claire an unforgettable birthday
experience.
12.00 Cold Case (R,HD). 1.00 Criminal Minds (R,S,HD).
2.00 Sun, Sea and A&E. 3.00 Elementary (R,S,HD). 4.00
Border Security: Canada’s Front Line (R,S,HD). 4.30 Border
Security: Canada’s Front Line (R,S,HD). 5.00 Nothing to
Declare (R,S). 5.30 Nothing to Declare (R,S).
12.00 Modern Family (R,S,HD). 12.30 Modern Family
(R,S,HD). 1.00 Duck Quacks Don’t Echo (R,S,HD). 2.00
Hawaii Five-0 (R,S,HD). 3.00 The Last Ship (R,S,HD). 4.00
Monkey Life (R,S). 4.30 Monkey Life (R,S). 5.00 The Dog
Whisperer (R,S). 5.30 The Dog Whisperer (R,S).
51
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Thursday | Television
London Live
Watch this
Frank discussion on
Ali’s legendary life
Edited by Toby Earle
London Live TV reporter @tobyontv
Old-school setting for Firth
and Everett in this drama
Frank Skinner on
Muhammad Ali
BBC1, 9pm
It’s not often that comedian Frank
Skinner is short of something to say,
but he admits that when he met
Muhammad Ali in the Nineties, he
was too nervous to do anything but
ask for his autograph and a photo.
So sadly we’ll never get to see him
joking around with the boxer who
was almost as famous for his verbal
jabs as his punches. But as the first
anniversary of Ali’s death
approaches, the comedian is on a
mission to find out more about the
man behind the legend — and to learn
how Ali became a champion in the
ring, a hero to the civil-rights
movement and such an all-round
20th-century icon that he could even
reduce other celebrities to tonguetied, star-struck wrecks.
It’s a quest that takes Skinner
to Ali’s hometown of Louisville,
Kentucky, where he meets the nextdoor neighbour who witnessed the
teenage fighter’s dedication to his
sport. He also speaks to the boxer’s
brother Rahman and former wife
Khalilah, who was by his side during
the years when he was banned from
Another Country
London Live, 10pm
Fists of fun: Frank Skinner tells boxer Nicola Adams that he’s a laugher not a fighter
boxing due to his stance on Vietnam.
But while these aspects of Ali’s life
have been well-documented, the film
also turns up some more surprising
stories. We all knew the boxer was a
natural showman, but here Skinner
speaks to an actor who once played
alongside him in a little-known
musical on Broadway. And not all of
Skinner’s research takes place in
America, as he also meet the bareknuckle boxer from an Oxfordshire
estate who would become one of
Ali’s dearest friends.
The Wizard of Lies
Sky Atlantic, 9pm
Catching a Killer
Channel 4, 9pm
The Great Village Green Crusade
BBC4, 9pm
Robert De Niro may still be most
famous for playing gangsters but in
this true-life drama he’s portraying
a different type of criminal as he
takes on the role of Bernie Madoff.
He was the stockbroker, investment
advisor and financier behind a
Ponzi scheme that would lead
countless people and institutions to
financial ruin and see Madoff
sentenced to 150 years in prison.
Directed by Barry Levinson, who
previously worked with De Niro on
Wag the Dog and Sleepers, The
Wizard of Lies tracks Madoff’s
deceptions and their affect on his
own family — including his wife Ruth
(Michelle Pfeiffer), who would find
herself thrust into the media
spotlight due to her unwitting
participation in the scheme.
In May 2016, 31-year-old mother of
three Natalie Hemming disappeared,
sparking one of the biggest missing
person searches ever seen at Thames
Valley Police. This documentary
follows the investigation to its heartbreaking conclusion, and shows how
the detectives had to decide whether
Natalie was alive or dead.
Red Dwarf actor Robert Llewellyn is
passionate about green energy – but
is his enthusiasm contagious?
We’re about to find out as he
embarks on a two-year mission
to persuade the residents of his
Cotswold’s village, Temple Guiting,
to generate more of their own power
using renewable sources.
If the neighbours need any further
convincing, Llewellyn has found
another, somewhat surprising source
of inspiration – Las Vegas. It turns out
that ‘Sin City’ is attempting to keep
its famous neon lights on using only
renewable electricity.
But even if Llewellyn can sell the
villagers on his dream of a windmill
at the top of the hill and a water
turbine in the stream, could the local
electricity grid derail his plans? .
Victim: Missing
stars tHUrsDaY jUne
1 person Natalie Hemming
The Duke of Wellington is
reputed to have said that
the battle of Waterloo was
“won on the playing fields
of Eton”. While
geographers and military
historians would maintain
Belgium was the precise
location, a public-school
education has won many a
great deal, often jobs.
The public-school system
that grooms (mostly)
young men for future
careers is the basis for this
drama starring Rupert
Everett and Colin Firth,
friends at a public school
which has a passing
resemblance to that
Windsor institution. In the
years prior to the Second
World War, Guy Bennett
(Everett) and Tommy Judd
(Firth) strike up a
friendship, the pair
marginalised due to
Gareth Malone Goes to
Glyndebourne
London Live, 8pm
Gareth has just six weeks
to get 50 young people
ready for an operatic
performance at
Glyndebourne, so he’d
better get cracking. There’s
no better place to start than
the Royal Opera House,
which is where he escorts
his group, not for rehearsal
but to learn what an opera
is. Thankfully, his collection
of tonal ranges enjoys the
warbling, the same of
which can’t be said for
their attitude to rehearsals.
Class act: Cary Elwes stars
alongside Rupert Everett
Bennett’s sexuality and
Judd’s politics, both of
which are at odds with
the school’s values.
Their education extends
beyond classes — both learn
that their career prospects
are moulded and restricted
in these early years, their
ideals clashing with a rigid
power structure enforced
by their peers. Everett’s
performance earned him
a Bafta nomination for
Most Promising Newcomer
To Film.
London Film Club
London Live, 6.30pm
The sun has been out for
the allotted three days of
summer, so Baywatch:
The Movie has made its
move to capitalise on our
sadness it has migrated
south for the rest of the
season and left us with a
stifling gloom. The Rock
and Zac Efron’s guns are
out in the big screen
adaptation of David
Hasselhoff ’s opus but will
the London Film Club
team prefer to rub factor
50 cream in their eyes than
watch it again?
London Live is on Freeview 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159 and
YouView 8. You can follow us on Twitter: @londonlive
and like us on Facebook: LondonLive
NOTHING
TO WATCH?
Sign up to
LondonViews.org and
tell us what you want to
see on our TV channel
London Live
stars shelley von strunCkel
aries March 20 – April 18
You complain that others leave both day-to-day
decisions and long range plans to you, but the
fact is that you enjoy organising things
efficiently and do so more swiftly than those
around you. Still, in certain situations, it is
essential that you leave these matters to those
whose ideas they were to begin with.
Call 0904 470 1141* (65p per minute)
Cancer June 21 – July 21
The last thing you would welcome are changes
in certain arrangements you struggled to
organise, but as is becoming increasingly clear,
you have no choice. The irony is, once you are
actually involved in making them, you will
realise that these changes are not just timely, in
some situations they will actually save the day.
Call 0904 470 1144* (65p per minute)
taurus April 19 – May 19
Leo July 22 – August 21
Gemini May 20 – June 20
Virgo August 22 – September 21
Sudden changes in existing arrangements are
not new. There has been talk of such ideas or
offers for ages, it’s just you didn’t take it
seriously. However, this weekend’s encounter
between your ruler Venus and Uranus, planet of
innovation, could see even more excitement
coming your way.
Call 0904 470 1142* (65p per minute)
Only now are you discovering that one particular
individual was economical with the truth. While,
often, that is unimportant, the situation in
question was crucial, and their manoeuvring
improved their position and undermined yours.
Deal with the false impression they have
created, and then discuss the issue frankly.
Call 0904 470 1143* (65p per minute)
Ages ago, when you discussed certain exciting
plans or ventures, you made suggestions that
were as thrilling as they were unlikely. But, then,
at the time, you had little expectation that things
would go further. Now that they are, you will
need to review those plans, explaining to others
what is realistic and what is not.
Call 0904 470 1145* (65p per minute)
Your initial discussions about new ideas were
based more on vague concepts and potential
plans than anything reliable. You assumed
others understood this but now, as you are
talking things over, you realise they did not.
Don’t worry, but clarify the situation as soon as
possible and this time, do so in great detail.
Call 0904 470 1146* (65p per minute)
If It’s your bIrthDay
tOmOrrOw...
While you are amazingly inquisitive about
the world around you, the activities of
others and potential ventures for yourself,
and while you support others in
undertaking even far-reaching changes,
when it comes to altering your own life, it is
another matter. You will discuss the option
with others, often with enthusiasm , but the
issue is turning that enthusiasm into action.
The irony of this is that you are eager to
proceed. You need only take that first step.
The rest will fall into place.
Need advice on
rELatIONsHIPs?
Call and speak to one of
Shelley’s Astrologers
on 0906 400 1008**
(£1.50 per minute)
Libra September 22 – October 22
Capricorn December 21 – January 18
scorpio October 23 – November 21
aquarius January 19 – February 17
sagittarius November 22 – December 20
Pisces February 18 – March 19
As clear-cut as certain arrangements seem, with
circumstances, your priorities and those of
others changing — and often — even the simplest
of plans must be regarded as tentative. That will
not just allow for changes going on around you,
but it will accommodate frequent changes in
your own perspective and plans, too.
Call 0904 470 1147* (65p per minute)
As tempting as it is to battle the unsettling
changes that are currently rearranging various
elements of your life, these are more of a
nuisance than anything else. As difficult as
ignoring them may be, if you can manage to, you
will be free to enjoy the unexpected delights that
are ushered in by these changes.
Call 0904 470 1148* (65p per minute)
Watching arrangements or even alliances you
have worked long and hard to organise come
undone is no fun. Still, deep down, you are
aware that these are not what you had hoped for
and, in truth, are not up to your standards, as a
Sagittarius. Let them go. Trust the instincts that
say that something better is coming along.
Call 0904 470 1149* (65p per minute)
While many sudden changes are about
disruption and nothing more, those currently
coming your way will lead to timely
breakthroughs. Unlikely as that seems at the
moment, explore these. Within days,
circumstances will shift, enough so that it will be
clear how you will benefit from these.
Call 0904 470 1150* (65p per minute)
By no means are you the silent type. You enjoy
chatting with those around you, at home, with
neighbours and colleagues about their lives and
activities and discussing your own. However,
talking about your deeper feelings is another
matter. Despite that, somebody close is anxious
and needs the reassurance only you can give.
Call 0904 470 1151* (65p per minute)
There are many ways to say the simple word ‘no’
but, bizarrely, you have been avoiding all of
them. That is because you are caught in a power
struggle between several extremely determined
individuals. While their issues are not your
responsibility, you need to set clear limits with
them. The sooner you do this, the better.
Call 0904 470 1152* (65p per minute)
Do you want a lIve consultation with one of shelley’s team of professional astrologers? Call 0906 400 1008** NOW
*Astro line horoscopes are updated every Friday. Calls cost 65p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge and will last approximately five minutes. **0906 number costs £1.50 per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Maximum call duration for live services is
20 minutes. Service open daily from 8am-1am. You must be over 18 years old to use this service. Calls recorded and regulated by PhonePayPlus. For entertainment purposes only. Service provided by Spoke. Customer service: 0333 202 3392
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Games & Puzzles |
Play more puzzles online at standard.co.uk/games
& Leonard Barden’s chess problems at standard.co.uk/chess
CODEWORD
1
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W
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9
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26
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I
N
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WIN A River Thames jazz cruise with three-course dinner
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1
15
23
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1
13
20
2
13
10
6
23
13
6
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A B C D E FG H I J K L M N O P Q R ST U V W XYZ
1
2
3
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5
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13
I
23
21
N
6
7
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9
10
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20
21
22
23
24
25
26
4
6
Enjoy a fantastic
evening gliding down
the River Thames to
the sultry sounds of
a jazz quintet, while
tucking into a delectable
three-course meal.
With a glass of wine on
arrival, you’ll glide past
the city’s most famous
landmarks. Why not
finish your night up
on deck to take in the
sights before docking
back at the pier? This
week’s theme is Italian
cities.
13
26
25
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17
6
1
4
8
13
10
24
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18
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6
4
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4
W
Insert letters to form the listed words, moving between adjacent
cells horizontally, vertically or diagonally in any direction. Insert the
remaining letters of the alphabet (except Z) in the grid so that all the
listed words are spelt out in this way.
One prize of A River Thames Jazz Cruise With Three-Course Dinner is available. Terms & Conditions will be sent
with the voucher. One winner will be selected at random from all correct answers received from 30/5/17 to 2/6/17.
TO ENTER: text ES CODEWORD followed by your answer
to 85100 by 23:59 tonight (eg: ES CODEWORD COMO). Texts
cost £1 plus your standard network charge. Or call 0901
292 5008. Calls cost £1 plus your network access charge*.
Need a little help getting started? Text or call our clueline
for up to four extra clues. Text ES WORDCLUE to 85100. Texts
cost £1 plus your standard network charge. Or call 0905 652
6230. Calls cost £1 plus your network access charge*.
Yesterday’s codeword:
Don’t miss tomorrow’s paper for another chance to enter
BRESCIA
CIRCLEGRAM
Discover more gift
experiences at
Answers and clues
change each day at
23:59. Usual
promotion rules
apply – see www.
standard.co.uk/rules.*
Phone & Text
Services Helpline:
0800 839 174.
C
H
R
A
W
O
M
I
G
P
Q
S
B
F
U
L
Y
K
J
N
E
X
D
WIN a Bungee jump at THE 02 Arena
TO ENTER: what letter is represented by the question mark?
Text ES CIRCLE followed by your answer to 85100 by 23:59 tonight
(eg: ES CIRCLE A). Texts cost £1 plus your standard network charge*. Or call
0901 293 6270. Calls cost £1 plus your network access charge*.
O V
U S
O S E L A
?
R
T
S L
W
E
E A
Replace the question
mark with a letter
so that the letters
within each circle
can be arranged to
form words, names or
terms on a common
theme. What are the
three words, and the
letter represented by
the question mark?
Yesterday’s solution:
O: Toulouse, Bordeaux,
Grenoble, all French
cities.
Need a little help getting started? Text or call our clueline for a
keyword clue. Text ES CIRCLECLUE to 85100. Texts cost £1 plus your
standard network charge*. Or call 0901 293 5270. Calls cost £1 plus
your network access charge*.
One prize of A Bungee Jump At The O2 Arena is available. Terms & Conditions will
be sent with the voucher. One winner will be selected at random from all correct
answers received from 30/5/17 to 2/6/17.
Answers and clues change each day at 23:59. Usual
promotion rules apply – see standard.co.uk/rules
Phone & Text Services Helpline: 0800 839 174.
T
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY
BISQUE
BYE
CHOP
COMPLEX
DYE
FUN
JUNE
LUGWORMS
sudoku Experience a bungee
jump with the
backdrop of the O2
Arena. You’ll be fully
briefed and kitted up
before being hoisted
to 160ft above the
London skyline in a
bungee cage. With the
O2 on one side and
Canary Wharf on the
other, the only thing
left to do is jump.
V
RISKY
SLUG
VISTA
Win £50
Fill the grid with the
numbers 1 to 9 so that
each row, column and
3x3 block contains
the numbers 1 to 9.
Target: 30 min
For a chance to win £50
complete the Sudoku
puzzle to discover the
numbers in the three
shaded squares.
For solutions: standard.co.uk/sudokuanswers
21
3
GOGEN
For solutions: standard.co.uk/sudokuanswers
52
To ENTER: Text ES
SUDOKU followed by
your answer (reading left
to right) and name to
85100 e.g. ES SUDOKU
123 John Smith. Texts
cost £1 plus your
standard network
charge*. One prize of £50
is available each week.
The winner will be chosen from all correct entries received between Monday at 00:01 and Friday at 23:59. Texts after this
time will not be entered but you may still be charged. Answers change each day at 23:59. Text helpline 0800 839 174.
double crossword
CRYPTIC
EASY
DOWN
1 Embrace many misguided pals
(5)
2 Seeking the best conclusion,
possibly in fear (5)
3 Appear to have left nothing
good (4)
4 Exist as regions (5)
5 A foreigner to allow to be heard
(4)
6 Avaricious man in grey (6)
9 Place of learning, possibly of
thought (6)
11 Apt to make a little butter (3)
12 Crime engendering much
heatedness (5)
13 Tramp drunkenly around the
Waterloo terminus bar (7)
15 We go to central Tottenham
very little! (3)
16 It helps in swallowing the lot!
(3)
18 A twister does so suddenly,
perhaps painfully (6)
20 It’s applied to violin strings and
possibly irons (5)
21 Shoot for a hunter’s prize (3)
22 He’s always short of time (3)
23 Its shutter works snappily (6)
25 Some of the ravages of time!
(3)
28 Not binders, but seating
arrangements (5)
30 Not for the first time, one takes
the profit (5)
31 Some petrol derivative we all
live to get (5)
32 On us, perhaps, it will fit (4)
33 Supports in the construction of
a dais (4)
ACROSS
4 Swiss city (6)
7 Snake (8)
8 Surgical knife (6)
10 Beer mug (5)
13 Peel (4)
14 Deserve (4)
15 Bottom (4)
16 Spider’s trap (3)
17 Be unsuccessful (4)
19 Require (4)
21 Help (4,1,4)
23 Pointed missile (4)
24 Immense (4)
26 Beer barrel (3)
27 Take notice of (4)
29 Discharge (4)
32 Fruit (4)
33 Rub out (5)
34 Alleges (6)
35 Profitable (8)
36 Cruel (6)
DOWN
1 Stop briefly (5)
2 Adam’s ale (5)
3 Anon (4)
4 Festive occasions (5)
5 Not any (4)
6 Looked at (6)
9 Stadia (6)
11 Pitch (3)
12 Deduce (5)
13 Fuss (7)
15 Offer (3)
16 Marry (3)
18 National song (6)
20 Go in (5)
21 Insulate (3)
22 Possessed (3)
23 Trader (6)
25 Belonging to him (3)
28 Artist’s stand (5)
30 Mutilates (5)
31 Educate (5)
32 Liquid measure (4)
33 Sea eagle (4)
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS
CRYPTIC
ACROSS: 1, Sea-son 7, Once over 8,
(To-) Bias 10, BR-idle 11, PR-ince 14,
Tee 16, Fat-Al 17, Ew-ER 19, Beg-un
21, Mural 22, Aunt-s(-ally) 23, Seek
26, B-as-is 28, Bed 29, An-trim 30,
Made up 31, I-ran 32, E-X-tracts 33,
Skewer.
DOWN: 1, So-MB-re 2, Spider 3,
Nose 4, F-earful 5, Eve-n-t 6, Creel
8, Bit-e 9, Ale 12, Ian 13, Ca-use 15,
Bert-H 18, Wo-man 19, Bun 20, Gas 21, Mus-ic-a-L 22, Air 23, Sedate
24, E-d-’en 25, Kipper 26, Bared 27,
State 28, Bar 30, Miss.
More games and puzzles online at standard.co.uk/games
EASY
ACROSS: 1, Salami 7, Decorate 8,
Tail 10, Circle 11, Dictum 14, Oil 16,
Toils 17, Rota 19, Below 21, Paper
22, Beget 23, Herb 26, Remit 28,
Bud 29, Uranus 30, Lament 31,
Iron 32, Aperitif 33, Tartar.
DOWN: 1, Soccer 2, Acacia 3, Idle 4,
Monitor 5, Balti 6, Teems 8, Trot
9, Ill 12, Cow 13, Ulcer 15, Tepee 18,
Older 19, Bag 20, Let 21, Petunia
22, Bin 23, Humour 24, Eden 25,
Bother 26, Rural 27, Mates 28, Bar
30, Lift.
BACK PAGE
ACROSS: 3, Pedal 9, Crater 10,
Wanted 11, Nomad 12, Ever 15,
Tame 17, Damaged 20, Mad 21,
Donor 23, Amen 25, Diva 26,
Deter 28, Rep 30, Deleted 33,
Edam 35, Ride 36, Order 38,
Unsure 39, Daring 40, Beret.
DOWN: 1, Acted 2, Harem 3, Pen 4,
Eroded 5, Away 6, Lad 7, Steam 8,
Edged 13, Vacated 14, Rated 16,
Managed 18, Doped 19, God 22,
Rider 24, New 27, Recede 28,
Recur 29, Pansy 31, Timid 32,
Deign 34, Free 36, Orb 37, Rat.
*If you call or text after competition closing dates you will not be entered, but you may still be
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THU.01.06.2017
ACROSS
4 In court, claim legal trickery’s a
foregone conclusion! (6)
7 The remaining six balls are not
required (4,4)
8 Admire the sound team that
gets the points (6)
10 Mention rugged peaks? (5)
13 Starting tomorrow, work in
diplomacy (4)
14 The normal Romes for
Catherine (4)
15 The inlet where the water was
hot? (4)
16 Fuss made by the inner man at
a party (3)
17 Though Stephen’s no chicken,
there’s some progress (4)
19 The suburb for Parisians with
flighty ideas? (4)
21 One strongly instrumental in
building a tower amid water?
(5,4)
23 It has its point in traffic control
(4)
24 Medium colours (4)
26 Bathing club? (3)
27 Small part of a potato masher
(4)
29 I have a shot at a villain (4)
32 What some of the Eskimos do
with milk? (4)
33 One of those high spirits (5)
34 Say no to what you don’t want
(6)
35 Team of highwaymen, by the
way? (8)
36 Was set apart in inhospitable
areas (6)
53
54
55
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
Motoring
Tesla S shows
a little power
can take you
a long way
David
Williams
ROAD SAFETY WRITER
of the Year 2017
headed up the M40 in search of that
Snowdonian guest house, fresh air...
and fine-dining in deepest Wiltshire.
Even those accustomed to electric
motoring find the Tesla an eye-opener,
especially the latest P100D. It is superquiet, refined and as luxurious as
you would expect for £131,800 — but
hypercar performance? It hits 60mph
in around three seconds. Delve into
the massive central screen and hit the
“Ludicrous”
button, however,
and you’re in
supercar territory,
hitting 60mph in a
neck-bending 2.5
seconds, or 2.4 if
you hit “Ludicrous
Plus”.
I enjoyed it so
much I wanted to
push on to
Snowdonia, but we
needed lunch so stopped at Hopwood
Services on the M42, plugged in Tesla’s
supercharger and, in less time that it
took to eat our sandwiches, the iPhone
app showed that the batteries were full
again, up from around 60 per cent.
The Tesla S is a fine way to travel.
Power, silence and a guilt-free
conscience are givens. Less expected
a re t h e s w i sh , m o d e r n c a b i n ,
comfortable seating for four or five and
vast amounts of storage in the rear boot
DAVID WILLIAMS
R
ange anxiety is a huge
factor affecting electric car
sales. But how far can you
really travel on battery
power alone from London?
If you junked your diesel or petrolengined car in a bout of environmental
altruism, but still fancied a night away,
or giving the kids a weekend treat, or
a spot of hill-walking, how far would
you get before running out of juice?
Well, how about luxuriating at
upmarket Lucknam Park Hotel, some
105 miles from Charing Cross? Or
l e t t i n g yo u r c h i l d re n l o o s e a t
Diggerland in Devon, 184 miles away?
Or flopping at a remote eco guest house
in Snowdonia, 234
miles away?
Tesla — king of
the electric
motoring jungle —
has just installed
its 100th UK
Supercharger,
capable of topping
up the car’s potent
batteries in under
a n h o u r. To
celebrate, it has
teamed up with a host of organisations,
each of which installed its own
supercharger (bit.ly/2s7bZir). The aim?
To show that long-distance electric
touring is now possible, with top-up
points across the UK and beyond.
So we put it to the test. We picked up
Tesla’s S — the five-door saloon with
coupé-styling — and with batteries at
100 per cent as we left the firm’s
Heathrow centre, and the computer
promising 291 emission-free miles,
Green machine:
the Tesla S made
good going on a
Snowdonia jaunt
and, below left,
to Lucknam
Park Hotel,
Wiltshire
LEADING THE ELECTRIC CHARGE
Most mainstream manufacturers now
offer electric variants (see Go Ultra
Low, bit.ly/2r4xSAF).
Electric car sales rose sharply over
the past two years, with an average of
3,000 per month over the past
12 months. By the end of 2016 more
than 35,000 plug-in cars had been
registered over the year — a record.
and under the bonnet. Passengers love
playing Spotify on the super-large
screen, or gazing out of the panoramic
glass roof. The ride is reasonably good
(it’s a heavy car) and, for the driver,
there is a unique challenge; not using
the brakes. Well, not much, anyway.
The braking effect is so marked when
you deccelerate that initially you stop
too soon — and must accelerate again
to reach the traffic lights. Get the hang
of it, though and you can — largely —
control “stop” and “go” with the
throttle alone.
Plugging into the fast supercharger
at Bryn Elltyd guest house (bit.
ly/2rxl8E5), where they produce their
own electricity, gave the Tesla its
cleanest “drink” ever. After an
VW says that by 2025, 25 per cent of
sales will be electric, and 50 per cent
by 2030. Volvo says 20 per cent by
2025, Daimler says up to 25 per cent
by 2025, as battery prices are falling
with their performance rises.
Few however are as long-legged or
as fast as Tesla’s, which have been
bought by 200,000 customers
worldwide. In London, most Tesla
owners have a 7kwh home charger
(£5-£10 for an overnight charge),
while topping up at public
superchargers costs around £80 for
1,000 miles, roughly half the bill
compared to petrol or diesel. Planning
a long trip is possible by consulting
their map (bit.ly/2rGJbjy).
overnight charge, the batteries sped us
to Snowdonia Mountain Railway,
where we chugged up on old-fashioned
diesel, and walked down before visiting
the bewitching, fantasy village of
Portmeirion on the coast.
Then, we indulged in more clean,
green activity, ziplining high above
Blaenau Ffestiniog at Zip World
(zipworld.co.uk) at 70mph before
exploring the Llechwedd Slate Caverns,
deep underground.
The best part of our round-trip was
plunging silently from Snowdonia to
upmarket Lucknam, Chippenham,
along the fast, twisting, highly scenic
A470 through Wales. Perfect Tesla
country and, on arrival after some 200
miles, we still had 80 miles range left,
so it seemed a shame to stop. Almost.
Tesla is proud of its new, luxurious — and
more day-to-day — electric connections.
It would have been rude not to sample
Lucknam’s (bit.ly/2qst2yn) exquisite
restaurant (Wiltshire Downlands lamb
rump with wild garlic, anybody?), its
500 acres of parkland, spa and grand
rooms, while we used their supercharger.
Just this once, we wished it took a little
longer to get the batteries back to 100
per cent.
Other “destination charging partners”
include country clubs, shopping
centres, car parks, the National
Motorcycle Museum, golf courses,
marinas and many more. Now, what
was that about range anxiety?
@djrwilliams
Bentley’s Supersports roars into the fast lane
road test
Big beast: the low,
broad Continental
Supersports is
claimed to be the
world’s fastest
four-seater, with a
top speed of
209mph
BENTLEY
Continental GT Supersports
Top speed: 209mph C02: 358g/km
Combined mpg: 11 Price: £212,500
IN 2009 Bentley launched a full-fat
version of its Continental GT coupé,
the Supersports, capable of 204mph.
Now the name has been revived for a
slightly crazier version that is capable
of 209mph.
It is claimed to be the world’s
fastest four-seater, and is powered
by a rumbling, roaring, six-litre,
12-cylinder 700 bhp engine with
eight-speed, self-shifting
transmission with paddle
manual control.
Its vast power is harnessed with
four-wheel-drive, while “torque
vectoring” calculates how much
power each wheel needs.
The car is low, broad, stuffed with
carbon fibre and identified by extra
bonnet air intakes and an optional,
slightly naff-looking rear spoiler.
Inside, there are bigger twin turbos
and a special exhaust. In town, the
car is good at disguising its brutish
capabilities and will trundle
through heavy traffic without
drama. Although firm, its ride is also
surprisingly pliant. When opened up,
it becomes a bellowing mastodon,
boasting vast levels of acceleration
that give it the momentum of a
high-speed train. It reaches 0-62 in
3.4 seconds.
For such a hefty vehicle, its steering
is light and direct, and only the car’s
broadness and some three-quarter
rear blind spots remind you how
big it actually is. The coupé has
slightly better dynamics than the
convertible, if you can find
somewhere legal to exploit what this
car can do. Just 710 will be built.
The current Continental is heading
for its 15th birthday and is a bit of a
modern classic, but a properly new
replacement can’t be too far off.
If the current Supersports turns
out to be the original’s naughty
swansong, fans of the car are
unlikely to complain.
Martin Gurdon
Jaguar XK parade
heads to the coast
MORE than 100 classic Jaguar XKs,
pictured, roar off from the National
Motor Museum, Beaulieu, on
Monday June 12, on the Round
Britain Coastal Drive, aiming to raise
£50,000 to fight prostate cancer.
Murray Walker is flagging-off the
stunning line-up of cars between
9am and 10am, as they embark on an
18-day, 3,500-mile tour. It follows a
similar run last year in Jaguar Etypes. More at bit.ly/2qyGTym. DW
56
57
58
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60
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
61
H
| Sport
Crowley’s going
flat out for first
Classic success
Matt Majendie
Let the tournament begin: England and Bangladesh walk out at The Oval as the ICC Champions Trophy gets under way
Eoin: We still have long
way to go to rule world
Tom Collomosse
Cricket Correspondent at The Kia Oval
E
OIN MORGAN believes England are still some way from
their peak as they opened their
Champions Trophy campaign
against Bangladesh today.
Morgan’s team started favourites for
the tournament after making huge
strides in one-day cricket during the
past two years but the captain still sees
plenty of room for improvement.
All-rounder Ben Stokes was named
in the England team after passing a fitness test this morning on his knee, but
the home side suffered an early blow
when Chris Woakes left the field after
bowling only two overs. The paceman
has a left side strain and was being
assessed by the medical team. Woakes
also missed England’s last two games,
due to a thigh problem.
Morgan won the toss and put Bangladesh in to bat. Stokes bowled 10 deliv-
eries at full pace on the outfield and
felt no reaction, meaning he was fit to
bowl. He was the first to strike, too:
Soumya Sarkar cutting a short delivery
straight to sub fielder Jonny Bairstow
on the cover boundary, with Bangladesh on 56.
Soumya made 28 but should have
been dismissed for 11, Moeen Ali dropping a simple chance at square-leg off
Jake Ball. England struck again when
Mark Wood took a brilliant catch at
mid-on off Liam Plunkett to remove
Imrul Kayes for 19, leaving Bangladesh
95 for two.
England sprung a surprise by including seamer Ball ahead of leg-spinner
Adil Rashid, who had been a key man
in previous games. Ball took five for 51
on his one-day debut last year, against
Bangladesh in Dhaka, and impressed
against South Africa at Lord’s earlier
this week.
Much was expected of Stokes in this
tournament but Morgan is already
focusing on the 2019 World Cup, which
will also be held in England.
“We have a long way to go,” he said.
“If we want to be contenders for the
World Cup we need to get our world
ranking up [England are fifth]. We need
a squad playing the majority of games
between now and then. But if things go
well, we can be serious contenders.”
Asked about team selection, Morgan
said: “There is no concern about Ben
[Stokes]. He has been monitored in
terms of how many overs he will bowl
but given the ground and opposition,
we felt four seamers was appropriate.”
Stokes had surgery on his left knee a
year ago and felt pain during last
week’s first one-dayer against South
Africa. He bowled only two overs but
was declared fit for the match at Southampton and managed three overs. He
was then rested for the final match.
Read Tom Collomosse’s analysis from
today’s ODI at standard.co.uk/cricket
Rhododendron ready to bloom in Oaks
Aidan O’Brien can stay on
course for a clean sweep of this
year’s British Classics by winning
the Investec Oaks at Epsom
tomorrow with Rhododendron,
writes Jonathan Hunn.
O’Brien has already scooped the
2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas
this season — courtesy of Churchill
and Winter — and Rhododendron
can keep the ball rolling.
If she or stablemates Alluringly
and Pocketfullofdreams land the
£500,000 feature, then all eyes
will be on the trainer’s possible
seven runners in Saturday’s
Investec Derby.
The Derby is so wide open this
year that bookmakers are betting
9-2 the field. It is a different story in
the Oaks because Rhododendron
looks the outstanding candidate
and she is trading at around evens
tomorrow’s tips
2.00 Zap (nap)
2.35Remarkable
3.10 Idaho
3.45Not So Sleepy
4.30Rhododendron
5.15Seven Heavens
5.50 Juanito Chico
to beat her nine rivals. The
daughter of Galileo was last
season’s leading two-year-old filly
and many expected her to land last
month’s 1,000 Guineas. However,
Ryan Moore’s mount ran out of
racing room about two furlongs
out (right) and Winter had already
flown by the time they got free.
Whether Rhododendron would
have won with a clear run is
debatable but she definitely would
have given the winner more to
think about. Regardless, the form
looks rock solid after Winter’s
runaway victory in the Irish
1,000 Guineas last Sunday.
The Oaks presents a very
different test, not least
because it is over half a mile
further, but Rhododendron
was staying on strongly at the
end of the Guineas.
Biggest dangers look the John
Gosden-trained pair of Coronet
and Enable. The former shaped
well on her return behind Sobetsu
in France and can turn the tables
on that rival, while the latter
impressed with her nimbleness
when winning the Cheshire Oaks.
O’Brien can also land the other
Group One race on tomorrow’s
card, the Investec Coronation Cup,
with Idaho.
There have been times in
Jim Crowley’s career when
the phone barely rang.
Awaiting calls for
potential rides is the want
of every jockey and
Crowley is no exception —
be it his original career in
the saddle over the fences
or following a subsequent
switch to the flat.
But having won the
jockeys’ title for the first
time last season at the age
of 38, the calls are coming
thick and fast.
Many of his rides have
been provided by Sheikh
Hamdan Al Maktoum after
becoming his lead jockey
for this campaign, an
appointment that Crowley
likens to Jose Mourinho
joining Manchester United.
“It’s like a manager going
to a big club,” says
Crowley. “You have to
produce results. You can’t
go to United and not win.”
Continuing the Old
Trafford analogy,
Crowley’s start has been
more Mourinho than
Moyes, leaving January’s
Dubai Carnival as the joint
leading jockey.
He would dearly love to
add another big win to that
number and a first Classic
success on board Eminent,
a son of the mighty
Frankel, in Saturday’s
Investec Derby at Epsom.
But he faces what he calls
“the Coolmore monopoly”
— the all-conquering racing
operation in Ireland.
He says: “You want to win
the big races but there’s
only five British Classics a
season and Aidan O’Brien’s
won the first two and he’s
got plenty in the Derby and
the Oaks [tomorrow].”
Eminent will be among
the favourites in the
Derby but Crowley is
taking nothing for
granted. In fact, he is
grateful to be in this
position at all, the
high of being
crowned champion
followed quickly by a
pile-up at Kempton
which left fellow jockey
Freddy Tylicki paralysed
from the waist down.
Crowley, who broke
his nose in the fall, says:
“That’s still tough — one of
those things that was really
horrible but you have to
block it out. If you think
about it, you’d just be a
nervous wreck.
“But you have to carry on
and, once you are back in
the saddle, your instinct
takes over again.”
The racing world — from
punters to his peers —
would be hard pushed to
find a more popular
winner than Crowley,
whose path to this point
was long and circuitous.
Growing up in a point-topoint family, his riding
began over jumps where
he rode 50 to 60 winners a
season but he believed he
could fair better on the
flat. And so it has proved.
“When I started on the
flat, I was a million miles
away from being champion
jockey so I never thought
about it,” he recalls. “But
season by season that
improved and it steadily
became possible so I never
gave up on that dream.”
Last season finally
proved his moment in the
sun, Crowley pulling away
from an initially tight tussle
with Silvestre De Sousa for
overall victory.
Looking back on the
pair’s head to head,
Crowley says: “He’s a great
jockey and he can pull out
wins other jockeys
couldn’t do so it was a hard
Lucky Jim: Crowley rides
Eminent in Saturday’s Derby
fight. But then I got 38
winners in September,
followed by 46 winners in
October.
“At the time, it didn’t feel
exhausting — just eat,
sleep, race, repeat —
because I never thought
about anything else.
“But it was on the
penultimate day of the
season that my body
finally switched off as I’d
pushed so hard.”
Crowley, who aptly was
born opposite Ascot
racecourse where he was
eventually crowned, is in
contention again in the
early part of the 2017
season and is targeting
retaining his title at the
same time as trying to pick
up bigger victories.
“I love riding winners
whatever the race and you
never get bored of that,”
he says. “But ultimately it’s
the big races you’re after.”
The hope is in what is
remarkably only his
second-ever Derby ride
that begins with Eminent.
■ The Investec Derby on
Saturday is part of
the QIPCO British
Champions Series —
britishchampionsseries.com
62
Sport |
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/eveningstandard
Follow us on Twitter @standardnews
in association with
summer briefing standard sport’s team of writers examine the close-season priorities
Deal or no deal? The business
Arsenal
The best signing they can make this
summer is tying down Alexis Sanchez
to a new contract. The 28-year-old has
proved difficult to manage at times but
in 51 games last season, he was involved
in 45 goals. More than the statistics,
however, Sanchez is a talismanic figure
and his departure would enhance the
sense Arsenal are going backwards as
they face their first season in the
Europa League for two decades.
A close second in terms of importance is keeping Mesut Ozil but the
Gunners also need two marquee signings — at least — to push for the title.
Alexandre Lacazette, Kylian Mbappe
and Thomas Lemar are all of interest.
They are keen on Virgil van Dijk from
Southampton but are behind Chelsea
in the pecking order. They are also
scouting goalkeepers including Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford while Sead
Kolasinac is an imminent arrival on a
free transfer from Schalke. Juventus’
Mario Lemina and Celtic’s Moussa Dembele are also prominent in their thinking
while a move for KAS Eupen striker
Henry Onyekuru has been discussed.
Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny face uncertain futures while David
Ospina is expected to join Fenerbahce
and Lucas Perez return to Spain.
James Olley
Chelsea
It should be a very busy summer for
Chelsea and the first job has to be keeping some of the key players. Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have given
little indication lately that they are
tempted by Real Madrid but the speculation will continue until long-term
contracts are signed. Chelsea cannot
afford to lose either. Hazard is one of
the most exciting attackers in Europe,
while Courtois is one of the finest keepers and can fill the position for the next
decade. The club will have to increase
their salaries to £300,000 a week and
over £150,000 a week respectively.
The most significant outlay is expected
to be on re-signing Romelu Lukaku. The
Belgium striker is the clear first choice
to improve the frontline, with interest
in Alvaro Morata having cooled. He will
not be cheap. Everton bought him from
Chelsea for £28million in 2014 but are
demanding £100m for his now.
A striker will be one of up to six signings that Chelsea plan to make, including at least one wing back, a centre-half,
a central midfielder and a back-up
goalkeeper. Southampton defenders
Van Dijk, Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand are all on the wish-list.
Coach Antonio Conte has earmarked
Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko as
N’Golo Kante’s midfield partner and
they are favourites to buy the France
international for in excess of £40m.
But they will also consider more
attacking players, such as Arsenal’s
Sanchez, to improve competition.
The future of Diego Costa — despite
today’s announcement regarding
Atletico Madrid’s transfer ban — is still
in doubt. Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic
has joined Bournemouth, who also
want Nathan Ake, for £10m. John Terry’s contract has expired, while Michy
Batshuayi and young talent such as
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham are set to be loaned out.
Simon Johnson
BATTLING TO HIT
the BIG TIME
Youngsters who could breakthrough
at the start of next season
Wanted men:
Chelsea are keen
on Tiemoue
Bakayoko while
(right) Kylian
Mbappe, Dusan
Tadic and Ross
Barkley could
head to the capital
Crystal Palace
Palace are in flux following the shock
resignation of Sam Allardyce and their
priority is looking for another manager.
Chairman Steve Parish was stunned
when Allardyce quit but the club do at
least have time to properly assess the
long list of potential candidates they
have drawn up.
Transfer plans are on hold until an
ARSENAL
Jeff Reine-Adelaide (left) and
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (both 19)
were on the fringes of the
squad last season and could
train on. Chris Willock,
also 19, is similarly
rated highly.
appointment is made but Palace have
probably done their biggest business on
the playing side already after Wilfried
Zaha ended uncertainty surrounding
his future by signing a new five-year
contract. Keeping Zaha could be more
important than any signings the incoming manager makes.
Allardyce wanted to sign Mamadou
Sakho on a permanent basis but a deal
now looks increasingly unlikely with
CHELSEA
Andreas Christensen has
impressed for the past two
seasons on loan at Borussia
Monchengladbach but the
21-year-old Denmark
international will be part of
the squad next term.
Liverpool asking for £30m for the
defender. Sakho was a key reason Palace
stayed up but Parish has said any deal
will have to make financial sense.
That is because Palace will have to be
shrewd in the transfer market after
spending close to £40m in January. A
final decision on Sakho, who is recovering from a knee injury, will be made
once a new manager is appointed.
Giuseppe Muro
CRYSTAL PALACE
Midfielder Sullay Kaikai, 21,
(left) will hope to impress
the incoming boss in
pre-season and there
are high hopes for Nya
Kirby, 17, Luke Dreher,
18, and Kian Flanagan, 17.
63
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
in association with
for capital’s premier league clubs
London will be doing
clubs. Kyle Walker is expected to complete a move to Manchester City and
both Danny Rose and Eric Dier are
wanted by Manchester United. Tottenham insist they do not have to sell any
player but with an £800m stadium
project to pay for, the club may find they
have to consider big offers — especially
for players who want to move.
As is his habit, Mauricio Pochettino is
keen to move on fringe players. Moussa
Sissoko, whose move from Newcastle
last summer could potentially cost
£30m wants to leave to save his chance
of playing for France at the 2018 World
Cup. Georges-Kevin Nkoudou made little impact after his move from Marseille
last summer and seems set to return to
France. Janssen is another who may
depart while Michel Vorm may also
move if Spurs turn goalkeeper Pau
Lopez’s loan move from Espanyol into
a permanent switch.
Tom Collomosse
Watford
Tottenham
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SPURS want to strengthen at full-back
and centre-back, as well as attacking
midfield. They’d also like better back-up
for Harry Kane than what Vincent Janssen offers. Ross Barkley, Ryan Sessegnon, Lemar, Adam Smith and Harry
Maguire are among the targets — but
Tottenham’s best players
are coveted by wealthier
tottenham
Striker Kazaiah Sterling
(left) scored in Spurs’
post-season friendly in
Hong Kong, while fullback Kyle Walker-Peters
could also make his firstteam debut in 2017-18.
It is expected to be another summer
of change at Watford and one of the
first things for new head coach Marco
Silva to decide could be the future of
captain Troy Deeney. West Brom are
ready to bid more than £20m for
Deeney and offer him a contract worth
£100,000 per week. The 28-year-old
has been an integral figure at Vicarage
Road for seven years but was often on
the bench and seemed disillusioned
under Walter Mazzarri.
Funds will be available and Silva will
expect the club to strengthen a squad
that under-achieved in finishing 17th.
Silva will consider signing some of his
former players at Hull, including
watford
Midfielder Dion Pereira
(left) featured as a
substitute twice in May,
while defender Brandon
Mason started the 5-0
defeat to Manchester
City on the final day.
­ oalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, and expect
g
the successful Watford scouting network to find more players like Roberto
Pereyra. M’Baye Niang has decided not
to make his loan move from AC Milan
permanent so another forward is likely
to come in.
Giuseppe Muro
West Ham
Fans should not anticipate droves of
arrivals but they will be expecting a
considerable upgrade on last season’s
business. Slaven Bilic has already
promised that quality rather than
quantity will be the mantra, with pace
a priority.
That criteria was not top of the agenda
when West Ham did some early closeseason business with the signing, on a
free transfer, of Pablo Zabaleta from City
but what the 32-year-old loses in the
sprinting stakes, he will more than make
up in character and leadership. West
Ham’s major expenditure could be a
£20m-plus deal to take striker Kelechi
Iheanacho, again from City, but there is
a way to go before this one is done.
Batshuayi could be the next arrival,
following his admission that he may
leave Chelsea on loan to gain more game
time. Southampton’s Serbian winger
Dusan Tadic is another who could join
which could mean Robert Snodgrass,
only signed from Hull in January, could
make an early exit. The goalkeeper situation also remains unclear despite West
Ham activating an option on Adrian’s
contract which will keep the Spaniard
at the club for a further two years. Both
Adrian and Darren Randolph were
dropped by Bilic last season.
Ken Dyer
west ham
Republic of Ireland
Under-19 international
defender Declan Rice is
highly rated and made
his senior debut as a
substitute in the final game
of the season at Burnley.
| Sport
What’s lying in store
during pre-season?
Arsenal: For years
Arsene Wenger resisted
glamour friendlies and
extended pre-season
travelling, but Arsenal
will play two matches
each in Australia and
China, racking up a total
of 21,324 miles before
returning to London to
host the Emirates Cup.
A chance to face one of
their Champions League
nemeses Bayern Munich
will be an early test of
whether Arsenal have
moved forward, while
they also face Chelsea
twice — in Beijing and in
the Community Shield.
Chelsea: There will be
two fixtures in this
country before three
matches against highprofile opposition in the
Far East, with the trip
incorporating over 14,550
miles. The players know
from experience how
much pain lies in store —
last summer’s sessions
with Antonio Conte were
the toughest they have
known. The Italian will be
even more keen to get his
players in shape given the
club will also be involved
in the Champions League.
Crystal Palace: They
will travel to Hong Kong
in July to play in the
Premier League Asia
Trophy, where they will
face Liverpool and either
West Brom or Leicester.
The new manager will get
a full pre-season to work
with the players but will
have to make a quick
assessment of where he
wants to restructure the
squad. He needs to hit
the ground running as
Palace look to avoid
another relegation scrap.
tottenham: Spurs face
Paris St Germain, Roma
and Manchester City
during a tour of the
United States. Mauricio
Pochettino likes to work
his players to the bone
during pre-season and
this summer will be no
different, especially as
there is no major
international
tournament. He is
convinced they will reap
the rewards when the
proper stuff begins.
Watford: A training
camp in Austria will give
Marco Silva a chance to
run the rule over his
squad and start to
implement his ideas. The
Hornets face Aston Villa
and have also confirmed
friendlies away at AFC
Wimbledon and Woking.
Silva is a meticulous and
methodical manager who
will demand a lot from
his players, but the 39year-old has good manmanagement and
communication skills
and Hull’s players were
quickly won over.
West Ham: There are no
long-haul flights but
instead a training camp
in Austria and a minitournament in Germany,
plus a possible match in
Iceland. Last season’s
horrendous injury list
could result in changes to
the pre-season fitness
programme, with Gary
Lewin being brought in
as the head of medical
services. The challenge is
to start the campaign
strongly, especially with
their first three matches
being away from home
following the World
Athletics Championships.
64
Sport |
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
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in association with
Parish wants a
manager who
will stay and
build Palace
Giuseppe Muro
Football Correspondent
United front:
Arsenal’s majority
shareholder Stan
Kroenke has
handed Arsene
Wenger a new
two-year deal
after the manager
won the FA Cup
for a record
seventh time
‘Arsenal’s statement is meaningless —
Wenger was great but needed to go’
Supporters’ Trust board member Phil Wall gives his verdict on manager’s new deal
Y
esterday’s official announcement of a two-year deal for
Arsene Wenger was hardly
unexpected, even before the
leaks that preceded it; a common ploy these days to dilute the effect
of a statement that the authors know
won’t meet with universal approval.
A growing section of Arsenal fans have
gathered under the ‘Wenger out’ banner
recently — and I was among them,
metaphorically, if not actually physically.
A large majority of my fellow Arsenal
Supporters’ Trust (AST) members were
with me, feeling that, while Arsene has
a magnificent past, his time is gone.
A week is a long time in football,
though, and an FA Cup win can change
perceptions. It seems churlish — and to
fans of other clubs reeks of an inflated
sense of entitlement — to want to be rid
of a manager who has just delivered a
third FA Cup in four seasons.
Silverware is, after all, what football is
all about. There were plenty of trophy
cabinet jokes aimed at Arsenal through
Elliott agrees terms
on move to Millwall
Tom Elliott is due to have a
medical at Millwall tomorrow before
completing his free transfer from AFC
Wimbledon, writes Giuseppe Muro.
Elliott has agreed terms and will
become the second summer signing
at Millwall, who were promoted to the
Championship via the play-offs,
following the arrival of James
Meredith from Bradford.
The 26-year-old forward, who scored
13 goals for Wimbledon last season
and was named their Player of the
Year after an impressive campaign in
League One, is out of contract and
rejected a new deal to stay at the Dons.
the drought of 2005-14, so I embrace the
new reality of Arsenal as ‘Cup Kings’,
and, personally, I’d be okay (maybe not
happy) with Arsene being rewarded with
a one-year deal. The AST’s upcoming
end-of-season survey will reveal how
many agree with that.
But the FA Cup is six matches; the
Champions League is 13; and the ­Premier
League 38. It’s been a long time since
Arsene looked capable of producing a
team that could last the distance in the
big two competitions — and that’s where
the problem lies for me and many
fans.
There are fine margins in top-level
football and whether your wage bill is
£50million or £250m you can only put
11 men on the pitch — and they all need
to be motivated.
Too often, Arsenal look lacklustre and
uninterested, so they lose to far-less
talented (and less expensive) teams.
Couple that with a repeated failure to
prepare tactically for the opposition and
I’m in the group that believe another
manager with fresh ideas could get more
out of this squad than Wenger does.
It’s become clear that some on the
board have reached the same conclusion, but the London-based board
­members are there only due to the
­i ndulgence of US-based majority
­shareholder, Stan Kroenke. It’s farcical
that I, Arsenal’s smallest shareholder,
I believe that another
manager with fresh ideas
could get more out of this
squad than Wenger does
have more shares than all the board, bar
Kroenke, and when push comes to
simulated dive I have exactly the same
influence as Lord Harris, Sir Chips
­Keswick and even Ivan Gazidis.
Statements from Arsenal following
Arsene’s reappointment are full of positive but ultimately meaningless phrases
Perez heads player exodus
Continued from Back Page
net a Champions League hat-trick
against Basle in December.
A return to Spain is most likely,
with Deportivo keen on re-signing
Perez in addition to Sevilla wanting
the player. It remains to be seen
whether Everton revive their
interest after they missed out on
the 28-year-old when he moved to
Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal will step up their search
for a central midfielder after it
emerged Santi Cazorla’s Achilles
injury was much worse than first
feared. Cazorla claimed yesterday
Shake and pack! Perez is set to leave
he had undergone eight operations
to cure the problem but will be out
until October at the earliest.
Juventus midfielder Mario
Lemina is among Arsenal’s
preferred options.
about desire, ambition and commitment, but Kroenke has shown his true
hand often enough: he’s in it for cash,
not glory. I don’t want ‘financial doping’,
but as long as the money rolls in Kroenke
will resist change: the top half of the
Premier League will do — and on
Arsenal’s budget most managers would
find it hard to fail at that.
Ultimately, the boardroom problem is
that Kroenke is in sole charge but he isn’t
a fan and has no interest in fans; he’s an
investor interested in dollars.
Supporters can — and will — continue
to complain because they know that it
wouldn’t even take massive investment
to improve the situation, just a fresh,
modern approach.
The titles were great and the football
phenomenal for eight years but, to paraphrase Arsene, we’ve had caviar and
we’re back on sausages. They’re tasty
sausages, but they’re still sausages.
Wenger-out brigade vow to fight on
standard.co.uk/arsenal
Hammers fans sign
up for next season
ALMOST all of West Ham’s season
ticket-holders have already renewed
ahead of next season, despite the
problems in the club’s first season at
the London Stadium, writes Ken Dyer.
Just over 5,000 season ticketholders are yet to renew from a total
of 52,000, the club said today.
“When we took the decision to
move to the London Stadium, we did
so with the belief and confidence that
our fanbase was deserving of a bigger
and better stage,” said co-chairman
David Sullivan. “Our focus now is to
do everything to reward that faith
with success on the pitch.”
CRYSTAL PALACE chairman Steve
Parish says he wants to appoint a
manager who will stay at Selhurst
Park long enough to build the club,
as Steve Coppell did.
Palace have drawn up a long list
of candidates to replace Sam
Allardyce, and Parish is seeking
someone with a long-term vision.
Mauricio Pellegrino, who
resigned from Alaves on Monday,
is the latest name being linked with
the position and Burnley boss Sean
Dyche is also under consideration.
Palace will take their time to
properly assess their options but
Parish does not want someone
who considers the club a stepping
stone to a bigger job.
He has also said Palace are still
weighing up the direction they
want to go in in terms of their
playing style — which will have a
major bearing on who they go for.
“We really want somebody who
feels they can come in and help us
Forward planning: Steve Parish
improve the footballing side of the
club over a long period of time,”
Parish told American radio station
SiriusXM FC.
“That is what we are looking for.
In the past we have had managers
like Steve Coppell who have been
at the club a long time and helped
build the club. If we could get one
of those relationships again that
would be preferable.
“At the moment we have a long
list and are honing that down. It is
about what direction we want to go
in from a playing style. We have got
a personnel and a way of playing.
It has served us well. Do we try and
change that again as we did with
Alan [Pardew]? Or do we stick with
what we have and try and be what
we are, which is pretty effective?
“That is the first question we
have to ask ourselves. That will
inform probably where we go on
the list of managers. After that you
are just looking for somebody who
has got a long-term view for the club.
We do not really want someone
who sees it as a stepping stone.”
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65
66
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
H
Sport |
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Let’s get
physical!
Warburton
relishing
challenge
Alan Dymock in Auckland
First up…
s the Lions tour thunders
towards its first clash, much
of the talk has been about
the physical demands that
lie ahead for the tourists.
While many have already harked back
to 2005, when captain Brian O’Driscoll
was brutally injured in the opening Test
of that series, others have spoken out
about the horrors of scheduling a tour
in a top-Tier nation.
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen
said this week the world champions
would never agree to jetting off for a
tour without more preparation time,
while others have spoken of their
desire to see a Lions tour whittled
down to fewer matches.
However, several of the Lions group
spoke today about their desire to finally
get stuck in to the challenge and tour
skipper Sam Warburton has hit back at
some outsiders’ talk of their current
playing schedule.
The back-rower, who will lead the
side against the Provincial Barbarians
on Saturday, said: “It’s blown out of
proportion. If you’ve got a squad of 23,
yeah it would be brutal but we’ve got
nearly two squads of players so guys
aren’t going to be starting Saturday,
starting Wednesday and starting again
the next Saturday. We’ve got a big
squad of top-quality players that can
deal with that fixture list.
“I can see why people on the outside
would think it’s really bad but it’s okay.
If guys were to start six games before
the Tests, yeah that would be alarm
bells but that’s not going to happen.
“We’ve got a big squad and everyone’s desperate to play, so it’s not as if
there are guys nursing injuries. All the
guys coming in from finals are fresh
and ready to go.”
Warburton is understandably excited
Saturday 8.35am,
Live on Sky Sports 1
Lions
15 Stuart Hogg
14 Anthony Watson
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Ben Te’o
11 Tommy Seymour
10 Johnny Sexton
9 Greig Laidlaw
1 Joe Marler
2 Rory Best
3 Kyle Sinckler
4 Alun Wyn Jones
5 Iain Henderson
6 Ross Moriarty
7 Sam Warburton (c)
8 Taulupe Faletau
NZ Barbarians
15 Luteru Laulala
14 Sam Vaka
13 Inga Finau
12 Dwayne Sweeney
11 Sevu Reece
10 Bryn Gatland
9 Jack Stratton
1 Aidan Ross
2 Sam A-Heather (c)
3 Oliver Jager
4 Josh Goodhue
5 Keepa Mewett
6 James Tucker
7 Lachlan Boshier
8 Mitchell Dunshea
A
about the first outing of the tour, having
had to wait on the sidelines for two
matches before turning out for the 2013
Lions in Australia.
He admitted to being panicked when
he saw others wearing and then
attempting to retain their red jerseys
before he faced the Queensland Reds.
Warburton looked on this new beginning, saying: “Hopefully I’ll stay fit and
get a few fixtures under my belt. I’m
going to need a good few games before
I start hitting my straps.
“Every game is a massive audition for
Firstyname
Lastynamey
Job title if required
Firstyname
Lastynamey
Job title if required
the Test matches, so I’m really pleased
that I’m involved in this first one.”
He is not the only one raring to go,
with fellow starter and Wales captain
Alun Wyn Jones keen to get going. The
lock was asked if he wanted their first
match-up to be a physical encounter.
“Yes, I don’t see why not,” he said.
“Everyone wants to get out of the
blocks so we need a hit out and sometimes when you have an unknown
quality you have to go back to basics
and that’s keeping the ball and going
forward. We have limited physicality
‘We’ve got a big squad
of top-quality players and
everyone is desperate to
play a part on the tour’
Sam Warburton
in training because of the numbers
we’ve had in training.
“It’ll come thick and fast on the
physical [side] but the mental [side] is
important. A lot of these games will
come down to the wire so intensity and
decision-making will be key.”
The players say they are relishing the
physical challenge. Certainly that is
what spectators want to see. As does
Lions head coach Warren Gatland, who
needs to witness his team being tested
before he must make brutal selection
decisions ahead of the First Test at
Eden Park on June 24. Talking directly
to the question of Kiwi teams targeting
players, he also believes his team will
be challenged fairly.
“New Zealand teams play to the edge,
Navratilova hits back at ‘sick’ Court after latest LGBT outburst
Martina Navratilova has
described Margaret Court’s
comments about the transgender
community as “sick and
dangerous”.
After criticism of her vocal
opposition to same-sex marriage
and calls to change the name of the
court named after her at
Melbourne Park, Court responded
yesterday with a controversial
interview.
Speaking on a Christian radio
station, the 24-time Grand Slam
singles champion-turned-pastor
said transgenderism was the work
of the devil and compared
acitivists promoting equal sexual
rights globally to Adolf Hitler.
Condemnation: Martina Navratilova
Her attitude has been universally
condemned by all players willing
to give their views, with Australian
No1 Sam Stosur suggesting some
could choose to boycott Margaret
Court Arena at next year’s
Australian Open.
And in a letter addressed to the
stadium and sent to Fairfax media
in Australia, Navratilova, a
prominent advocate for LGBT
rights, said: “It is now clear exactly
who Court is: an amazing tennis
player and a racist and a
homophobe.
“Her vitriol is not just an opinion.
She is actively trying to keep LGBT
people from getting equal rights
(note to Court: we are human
beings, too). She is demonising
trans kids and trans adults
everywhere.
“And now, linking LGBT to Nazis,
communists, the devil? This is not
okay. This is, in fact, sick and it is
dangerous. Kids will suffer more
because of this continuous bashing
and stigmatising of our LGBT
community.
“How much blood will be on
Margaret’s hands because kids will
continue to get beaten for being
different? This is not okay. Too
many will die by suicide because of
this kind of intolerance, this kind
of bashing and, yes, this kind of
bullying. This is not okay.”
Navratilova has called for the
arena to be renamed in honour of
Australia’s seven-time Grand Slam
singles champion Evonne
Goolagong Cawley.
“We celebrate free speech, but
that doesn’t mean it is free of
consequences — not punishment,
but consequences,” continued
Navratilova, one of the game’s
greatest-ever players.
“We should not be celebrating
this kind of behaviour, this kind
of philosophy. The platform people
like Margaret Court use needs to
be made smaller, not bigger. Which
is why I think it’s time to change
[the] name. I think the Evonne
Goolagong Arena has a great ring
to it.”
67
evening standard Thursday 1 June 2017
| Sport
Fitzpatrick: Schedule is not
daunting — it will just make
Lions more battle-hardened
Chris Jones
All Blacks great Sean
Fitzpatrick believes the most
daunting fixture schedule to ever
face the Lions will ensure they are
battle-hardened for the three-Test
series against the reigning world
champions in New Zealand.
The Lions start the 10-match tour
with the easiest game — against the
New Zealand Provincial Barbarians
on Saturday — and, as well as the
three Tests, face the country’s five
powerful Super Rugby franchises,
plus the Maoris.
But former All Blacks skipper
Fitzpatrick, who is now on the
board of Harlequins, sees only
positives from the tourists’ heavy
workload.
“Everyone is saying this is the
tour from hell and a suicidal
fixture schedule but I don’t agree,”
he said. “If I was a Lions player I
would want to play against
the best and New Zealand
has some of the best
provincial and club
players in the world.
“Even if they lose a
couple of games,
the Lions will be
battle-hardened going
into the First Test. I
am truly excited the
Lions have such a good
squad and will be
playing quality
opposition.
“Billy Vunipola being
injured is a huge loss to the
Lions but they have real
depth and there are guys like
Taulupe Faletau and
CJ Stander who will make a real
impact. I like what I see with
Stander and you need guys with
great engines and who stick
their hands up all the time.
“I see Owen Farrell as a No10
because the Lions have enough
depth in midfield and he can
control games — and with
Johnny Sexton they have two of
the best. Farrell is also the best
in the world when it comes to
goal-kicking.
“There are so many Lions
in contention you would
struggle to name 10 who are
Blowing the
cobwebs away:
Sam Warburton
goes through a
routine (above)
and Rhys Webb
practises his
kicking (below),
as the Lions train
today (left) under
the eye of Warren
Gatland (right) for
the first time since
their arrival in
New Zealand
they play to the limit, but I don’t think
they go out there with the purpose of
trying to injure people,” Gatland
said.
“It’s going to be tough and physical
but there’s no stage [where] I think
these games will go over-the-top in
terms of physicality from both sides.
“We want it to be tough and we want
some clean, hard rugby. I’m confident
all the teams we go up against will go
in there with the same attitude of playing some good rugby on the field and
some entertaining rugby as well.”
quick crossword
ACROSS
1 Believe (6)
5 Cease (4)
8 Wrath (5)
9 Poem (3)
10 Fling (4)
11 Rodent (4)
12 Located (5)
13 Disconnect (6)
16 Trial (4)
18 Discharge (4)
20 Lettuce (3)
22 Shelter (3)
23 Barrier (3)
24 Gasp (4)
25 Disembark (4)
28 Gift (6)
30 Suspect (5)
32 Harvest (4)
33 Spoken (4)
34 Freeze (3)
35 Tired (5)
36 Group (4)
37 Vote (6)
DOWN
1 Obscure (6)
2 Building (8)
3 Whole (6)
4 Compelling (9)
5 Cut (7)
6 Trampled (4)
7 Excuse (4)
8 Donkey (3)
14 Christmas
rose (9)
15 Edge (3)
17 Ocean (3)
19 Substance (8)
20 Beret (3)
21 Crouched (7)
26 Plant (6)
27 Thoroughfare
(6)
29 Clutch (4)
30 Daybreak (4)
31 Attempt (3)
1
Today’s double crossword plus Yesterday’s solutions: p52
3
4
5
6
7
SUDOKU
THU.01.06.2017
8
9
10
11
13
16
21
24
Jordie
Barrett
(Hurricanes)
The 20-year-old
brother of All
Blacks No10
Beauden can play
full-back or
centre. Fitzpatrick verdict: “He
could be a sensation during the tour
and, like Ioane, could potentially
play in the first Test.”
definitely going to be in the Test
side, which is good.”
Fitzpatrick believes his own
country’s strength in depth has
made the Super Rugby matches
between the New Zealand teams
“Test standard” and that will
ensure they are ready to give Lions
head coach Warren Gatland’s men
a difficult time in every fixture.
“The recent match between the
Chiefs and Crusaders was just
outstanding,” he added. “I am also
liking the players coming through
at a time when there are injury
worries to regular All Blacks — and
we are seeing the emergence of
guys who we haven’t previously
heard about.
“The All Blacks selectors have
been in the job long enough to
have created the strength in depth
that you need for a Test series
when there are going to injuries.
“When they won the World Cup
again in 2015, they had 31 players
who could have been picked to
start the final.
“Last year, having lost some of
the greatest All Blacks ever, like
Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and
Ma’a Nonu, they were an even
better side.”
■ The Lions tour of New Zealand
starts on Saturday, live exclusively
on Sky Sports
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20
Rieko Ioane (Blues, below left)
A 20-year-old centre and former
Sevens star who made his Test debut
last year. Fitzpatrick verdict:
“Ioane has shown what a fantastic
player he is and is a real threat with
ball in hand to any team.”
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68
H
Thursday 1 June 2017 evening standard
Inside today!
Your four-page guide to
a summer of ODI cricket
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@standardsport
sanchez
and ozil’s
demands
stokes strikes first ben fit for trophy
Giuseppe Muro
Football Correspondent
❚ PAIR WANT TO KNOW ARSENAL’S
TARGETS AND SEEK MORE MONEY
James Olley
Chief Football Correspondent
ALEXIS SANCHEZ and Mesut Ozil are
seeking assurances over Arsenal’s
summer transfer plans before deciding
whether to stay at the club.
Manager Arsene Wenger yesterday
signed a two-year contract extension
and now begins the task of transforming
his squad into Premier League title
contenders.
Wenger has about £100million at his
disposal and will be given funds from
player sales to reinvest in the team.
Standard Sport understands Sanchez
was unhappy with Arsenal’s business
in the 2015 close-season, when Petr
Cech was the only new arrival.
The Gunners spent almost £90m last
summer but their three major arrivals
— Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and
Lucas Perez — all failed to prevent
Arsenal falling out of the Champions
League for the first time in 20 years.
It is believed that Sanchez and Ozil
discussed possible targets with Wenger
towards the end of the season and they
will now wait to see the club’s summer
strategy in action.
In addition, Sanchez and Ozil are
thought to have increased their wage
demands in the absence of Champions
League football next term.
Arsenal have offered Sanchez a
p a c k a ge wo r t h a m a x i mu m o f
£300,000 a week, while Ozil has an
offer on the table in excess of £250,000
a week. The pair originally sought
parity with the Premier League’s
highest earners but now believe they
are in an even stronger negotiating
position and have upped the ante.
Sanchez is also using a £400,000-aweek offer from China as further
leverage amid interest from a host of
top clubs including Manchester City,
Chelsea, Juventus, Bayern Munich and
Paris St Germain.
It promises to be a busy transfer
window for Arsenal, with several
players expected to depart. Perez is at
the head of the queue after his agent
claimed yesterday that “the idea is to
be able to play for another club”.
The Gunners face making a small loss
on the £17m they paid Deportivo La
Coruna last year after a season of
limited opportunities for Perez. He
started just two League games but did
Continued on Page 64
It’s no-go Diego
as Atletico deals
ban is upheld
Ben Stokes had plenty to celebrate at The Oval this morning, taking the first wicket in
England’s Champions Trophy clash with Bangladesh after being passed fit to play
following scans on his knee injury
Morgan’s World Cup admission: Page 61
Diego Costa’s hopes of a return
to Atletico Madrid suffered a blow
today after the Spanish club had
their transfer ban upheld.
The Spain striker said after
Saturday’s FA Cup Final that he is
only interested in leaving Chelsea
for his former club, despite
interest from Chinese Super
League club Tianjin Quanjian.
But a return to Atletico this
summer has been ruled out after
they had their appeal against a
transfer ban rejected by the Court
of Arbitration for Sport, meaning
they cannot register new players
until January. They could still sign
Costa but are unlikely to be willing
to pay him when he could not play.
Today’s judgment is a boost for
Arsenal in their pursuit of
Alexandre Lacazette as Atletico
were set to rival the Gunners for
the Lyon striker. The ruling could
also impact on Manchester
United’s hopes of signing Antoine
Griezmann. Atletico would be
reluctant to sell the France
forward if they are unable to sign a
replacement.
Atletico were banned last July
from registering players for two
transfer windows for breaching
FIFA rules over signing players
under the age of 18. Although the
court reduced a fine imposed on
the club from £719,793 to £439,873,
Atletico said in a statement: “This
ruling is unfair and causes [us]
irreparable damage.”