Opinion It Environment ‘Coastal squeeze’: the fight to save

doesn’t matter shoreline habitats from rising tides

if a girl page 32
identified as a
cat (she didn’t).
The issue is how
post-truth
politics exploits
it
Nesrine Malik
page 22
Tuesday 27 June 2023
theguardian.com/au
Published in sydney, Australia

Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill asking questions about the PwC scandal at Senate estimates. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

PwC to publicly name all staff involved in tax

scandal, inquiry told
company with scepticism. motive, to try and phoenix itself back ways of PwC, which have now been company would not be based alongside
Henry Belot PwC has announced plans to divest into some sort of connection with the revealed to the Australian people as existing PwC businesses.
itself of all government work in Aus- government,” O’Neil told the ABC. contemptuous,” O’Neil said. Government contracts provide
The consultancy firm PwC will name all tralia by spinning off a new company, “I am very concerned at this point “There is a very big bridge between about 20% of PwC’s revenue but Car-
staff involved in the tax scandal short- as part of a $1 buyout by private equity of time that the motivations of those at where PwC currently is and any mod- roll said the divestment would “ensure
ly after it completes an internal inves- investor Allegro Funds. PwC remain self-centred and not about icum of trust that a government might stability for the rest of PwC’s clients in
tigation. The chair of PwC’s governance service.” have with services provided to them by other parts of the business”.
“This is a comprehensive, detailed board, Justin Carroll, said the divest- Sign up for Guardian Australia’s a company still dominated by a major- State and federal departments of
investigation and as you can appre- ment was an “extremely difficult deci- free morning and afternoonemail new- ity of PwC staff.” finance both said they would be waiting
ciate, we need to get it right,” acting sion” that was necessary to protect jobs sletters for your daily news roundup PwC’s acting chief executive, Kris- to assess the impact of the proposed
PwC chief executive, Kristin Stub- and regain trust after a confidentiality News of the plan emerged last week tin Stubbins, told a NSW parliamentary restructure.
bins, told a parliamentary inquiry on scandal damaged the firm’s reputation when it was reported that 130 PwC Aus- inquiry that no one involved in the The Australian Department of
Monday. and revenue. tralia partners and 1,750 staff would confidentiality scandal would be trans- Finance said it would “carefully con-
“When the investigation is com- But Labor senator Deborah O’Neil move to a new company that had been ferred to the new company. sider the implications of these changes
plete, which it will be shortly, we will be questioned the $1 divestment and com- codenamed “Bell”. “We will make sure that all staff and for existing and future contracting
naming all those people who did any- pared it to phoenixing – the act of liqui- O’Neil said it was not clear wheth- partners included in that transaction arrangements”.
thing wrong and there will be appro- dating a struggling business before a er PwC staff who were aware of the have not done the wrong thing,” Stub- Greens senator Barbara Pocock,
priate accountability.” new company is created with the same misuse of confidential tax information bins said. “Anyone who has done the who sits on a parliamentary committee
Meanwhile, the firm has been ac- staff and management. would be transferred to the new com- wrong thing, when we complete our examining PwC’s conduct with O’Neil,
cused of trying to “phoenix” its staff “[PwC has been] very, very slow pany. investigation, will be announced and said government departments should
back into business with state and fed- with very resistant responses to public “Let’s face it, people who have been those people will not be going across.” continue to view the firm cautiously.
eral governments, with departments inquiries and yet we have this un- on the partner track for most of their Stubbins said the firm would not
urged to view the creation of a new seemly haste, with a profit-driven life have been [indoctrinated] into the profit from the divestment and any new Continued on page 2
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

2 Headlines

Continued from page 1 that the practices, the protocols and under way through the Australian fed- The New South Wales minister for waste and ineffectiveness in consul-
the leadership really understand what eral police and a range of inquiries finance, Courtney Houssos, said the tancy hires.
“We need more than verbal assur- government expect from them. and a mere change in structure and state government would be assessing PwC has been contacted for a re-
ances,” Pocock told the ABC. “The “We have a fair distance to travel leadership doesn’t deliver what is really the integrity of the divested business as sponse.
government needs to be confident with some very significant procedures needed here.” part of a broader promise to combat

New Zealand PM sparks row after flying to

China with backup plane
a second 30-year-old 757 trailing the
Australian Associated Press other one that’s empty,” he told News-
talk ZB. “It also speaks to concerns
The New Zealand defence force plane about the reliability of those aircraft
ferrying the country’s prime minister breaking down as we’ve seen in past
to China this week has been judged so times. We don’t need to take two air-
unreliable that a backup plane flew in craft to an event like that.”
reserve, prompting criticism of Chris The leader of the rightwing ACT
Hipkins by the opposition. party, David Seymour, said the extra
The use of a backup plane follows emissions were “the equivalent of driv-
previous mishaps involving aircraft car- ing a Ford Ranger the distance of a trip
rying New Zealand leaders. to the moon three times”.
The New Zealand Herald first re- The party has pledged to take New
ported that a second New Zealand Zealand’s defence spending to 2% of
Royal Air Force (NZRAF) plane was GDP, saying it would fund a replace-
travelling alongside the Kiwi dele- ment for the two 757s before their
gation, which landed in Beijing early scheduled replacement date of 2028.
on Monday. The journey from Wel- Through official information requests,
lington to Beijing took 22 hours, with ACT has revealed $NZ103m ($63m) has
the RNZAF Boeing 757 requiring two been spend on maintaining the two air-
stops – in Cairns and Manila – to refuel craft since 2017.
en route. About 100 people are part of New
A spokesperson for Hipkins said the Zealand’s delegation to China this
second plane went as far as the Phil- The New Zealand prime minister, Chris Hipkins, will meet China’s president, Xi Jinping, this week. Photograph: Getty Images week, which will include the first meet-
ippines capital but headed south after ing between Hipkins as prime minister
the first 757 took off successfully. Former prime ministers Dame Ja- cial visit to the US in June 20233, while Key in 2016 was cut short after a 757 and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
A spokesperson for the New Zeal- cinda Ardern and Sir John Key have she also took a commercial flight home was grounded in Townsville, forcing Joining Hipkins is Henare, now
and defence force said there was “noth- previously become stuck during trips from Melbourne in 2019 after another the prime minister and his entourage to tourism minister, the trade minister
ing unusual with the Air Force pro- around the world after NZRAF Boeing engineering issue. stay the night in far north Queensland Damien O’Connor, staff, media, a 29-
viding backup aircraft, where available.” 757s and Hercules aircraft broke down. The then-defence minister, Peeni while they waited for a backup plane. strong group of business executives,
“The second Air Force Boeing 757 In 2022, Ardern was left stranded Henare, and a 30-strong delegation The opposition leader, Chris Luxon, and the national kapa haka champions.
is providing backup to the primary air- in Antarctica overnight after a Her- were stuck in Solomon Islands in a former chief executive of Air New The New Zealand delegation will
craft in case of serviceability issues … cules broke down. The travelling dele- August 2022, while in 2019 the former Zealand, criticised Hipkins’ use of also travel from Beijing to Shanghai on
The reason is to ensure the mission is gation was accommodated on an Italian deputy prime minister Winston Peters a backup plane on environmental the NZRAF plane before leaving China
successful.” it said. plane from McMurdo Sound travelling needed a second RNZAF plane to pick grounds. on Friday afternoon.
Boeing has been contacted for com- to Christchurch the following day. him up after breaking down in Vanuatu. “If we’ve got a climate emergency,
ment. A 757 broke down on Ardern’s offi- A trade mission to India headed by it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have

Anthony Albanese says government needs

to ‘make it clear’ what is at stake in voice
referendum
it clear and encourage people to look at for this proposal … I believe that a
Josh Butler what the words are that are being put majority of Australians will come to
forward, the very simple proposition.” the view that I have,” Albanese told the
Anthony Albanese has shrugged off Yes23 spokesperson Jade Ritchie ABC.
polling results showing slipping sup- said the campaign was “focused on “I’m very confident as people mobi-
port for the Indigenous voice, but con- people, not polls”. lise, when the campaign is actually on,
cedes the government needs to “make “History shows referendums are you will have the business community,
it clear” what is at stake in the refe- hard and we’re going to see a lot of polls union movement, sporting codes, every
rendum as the campaign begins. between now and referendum day,” she one of which have supported the
The prime minister is confident of told Sky News. constitutional change. You will have
a yes vote in the referendum, expected Sign up for Guardian Australia’s faith groups out there arguing for a yes
in October, as he flags the Labor party free morning and afternoon email new- vote,” he told Today.
will swing in behind the official Yes23 sletters for your daily news roundup The yes campaign and Albanese
campaign to bolster its work. In a series of media interviews government sources are heavily down-
“The ballot is not this Saturday. We on Monday, Albanese downplayed the playing the significance of the recent
have got to explain what it is about, we In a series of media interviews on Monday, Anthony Albanese downplayed the sliding numbers, noting the several months polling, noting the time left until pol-
will continue to do so,” Albanese said. polling numbers, noting the several months until referendum day. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/ until referendum day. The government ling day – expected in mid-October
The latest Newspoll, published in has long maintained that voters’ atten- – and the pro-voice campaign still to
the Australian on Monday, found 43% shown a clear majority support the refe- campaign rhetoric may shift as polling tion would focus more strongly in the reach top gear.
in favour of the voice, 47% opposed, rendum. day comes closer. final month. The Yes23 campaign will host a
and 10% undecided. It’s the latest poll Asked if he and the government “That will happen, the single one- “I think that as Australians focus on nationwide series of Come Together
showing slipping support for the voice, needed to simplify its messaging on the word slogans [yes] will certainly be what is before the Australian people in For Yes community events this Sunday,
but stands in contrast to the Guardian voice to explain the change more clear- there,” he said. the last quarter of this year, recognition
Essential poll which has consistently ly to voters, Albanese flagged that the “But what we need to do is to make and listening, all upside, no downside Continued on page 3
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Headlines 3

Continued from page 2 “This isn’t something that’s a party tralians in our constitution”. ment “will continue to govern across gum at the same time or not?” he said
political campaign, but the Labor party “We will put that case very strongly,” the whole range of portfolios, but at the on ABC radio.
and on Monday announced plans to you can expect to give support,” Alba- he said. same time … we will continue to put our Ritchie said the yes campaign had
activate hundreds more through a nese told a Canberra press conference. Albanese and Labor MPs have been case”. 10,000 active volunteers who would be
series of grants to fund smaller events. “As you can faith groups, sporting seen more frequently in yes campaign But the opposition leader, Peter focusing on community events, local
Albanese confirmed on Monday the codes, business groups, trade unions, T-shirts and merchandise in recent Dutton, said the government was dis- conversations and spreading infor-
Labor party machine would also get non-government organisations. This is weeks. tracted. mation about the voice, including ef-
behind the voice. Guardian Australia now over to the Australian people, and The government has come under “The prime minister named this as forts to combat misinformation.
understands the ALP will stand up its we will be campaigning.” fire from conservative critics over his No 1 issue when he was elected in “We truly believe the right infor-
campaigning infrastructure, including The prime minister told Today claims it is prioritising the voice over May of last year, and I think a lot of mation is getting out there and we’re
phone banks and doorknocking efforts, that Labor “will be out there putting everyday cost of living issues. Albanese families and small business people are seeing a lot of goodwill amongst
to spread the yes message. the case to recognise Indigenous Aus- rejected that claim, saying the govern- right to point out, can he walk and chew people,” she said.

Sexuality a factor in stabbing murder of

Anthony Cawsey in Sydney park, inquiry told
“All of these circumstances give rise
Australian Associated Press to a reasonable suspicion Mr Cawsey
was the target of an attack on the basis
Sexuality may have played a part in the of the expression of his sexuality,” Ms
unsolved stabbing murder of a “charis- Heath said.
matic and kind” Sydney man in Centen- The barrister described the police
nial Park nearly 14 years ago. investigation into the killing as “exten-
A special New South Wales in- sive and thorough” but said authorities
quiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes has ex- failed to bring a charge against the sus-
amined the case of Anthony Cawsey, 37, pect until 2015, despite having “all rele-
whose body was found in the eastern vant” evidence against him in 2010.
suburbs park in September 2009. “It appears this was motivated by
Cawsey had walked from his Red- his pending release from custody at
fern flat to the park, a well-known loca- the expiration of his sentence for other
tion for gay beats, in the early morning matters, rather than any breakthrough
while phoning a chat line. in the case,” she said.
He was later found with a single She criticised the timing, saying
stab wound to the chest, while his “unexplained” delays in prosecution
pants were pulled down, revealing pink such as in this matter risked weakening
women’s underpants and a G-string. the crown case and should be avoided.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Cawsey, who worked as a sta-
free morning and afternoonemail new- gehand, was described as physically fit
sletters for your daily news roundup and “vibrant, charismatic and kind”.
Moses Kellie, a person of interest Sexuality may have played a part in the 2009 stabbing murder of Anthony Cawsey in Sydney’s Centennial Park, a NSW inquiry into The 11th block of hearings in the in-
who has since died, was charged over LGBTQ+ hate crimes has been told. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian quiry – looking into suspected LGBTQ
the murder in 2015 but the case was dis- + hate crime deaths in NSW between
missed and the killer’s identity remains suggesting sexuality played a part in caused his death,” she said. dering through a park wearing “girlies 1970 and 2010 – concludes this week.
unknown. the unsolved murder. Evidence showed, she submitted, panties”. The commissioner, supreme court
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Kath- “The circumstances of Mr Cawsey’s that Mr Cawsey had gone out to seek Immediately before his death, Mr judge John Sackar, is due to deliver a
leen Heath, said on Monday it was hard death give rise to a possibility his sex- a sexual encounter and left a message Cawsey had connected with a man via final report in August.
to ignore the “confluence of features” uality was a factor in the attack which on the gay chat line that he was wan- the chat line and engaged in phone sex.

‘Quite phenomenal’: Australia’s Jason

Belmonte makes more tenpin bowling
history
with spares”, after missing two against you’ve got millions of people watching
Jo Khan Prather, but was happy to have made because its televised live. So it’s added
history. pressure… with the heat of the lights,
Australian tenpin bowler Jason Bel- Belmonte’s mum, Marisa Belmonte, the temperature is actually a bit dif-
monte has further cemented his place who owns Orange Tenpin Bowl, said ferent.
in the record books after becoming the she was proud to watch her son break “It’s quite phenomenal really, can
first PBA Tour player to roll three per- yet another record. you imagine someone in golf getting
fect 300 games on live TV. “I was so excited, we were watching a whole in one three times in three
A 300 game is achieved by scoring a it live and my heart was pounding,” she events?”
strike in every frame – the highest score said. “He has just dominated in the last Belmonte’s skill and distinctive
possible in tenpin bowling – and having 10 years and he gave it his best go, he two-handed bowling style has helped
one aired live is a goal for most profes- had to come back hard and he did that make him a highly marketable star in
sional bowlers. with a 300 game.” professional tenpin bowling – he has his
Belmonte has 25 300 games in his Marisa said scoring a perfect game own merchandise line and hundreds of
PBA Tour career, with his first televised on live TV is significant because of the thousands of followers on social media.
in 2012 and second 10 years later in Jason Belmonte has made more tenpin bowling history after rolling three 300 games on added pressure of lights, cameras and He holds the record for the most
2022. live TV. Photograph: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images many more viewers than normal. majors at 15, with the nearest behind
The 29-year-old hails from the New “You’ve got to have have everything him holding 10, and is one of the
South Wales town of Orange, where his game came at the PBA Tour finals in to miss the final. Prather eventually lost go right, the lane conditions, you have few non-Americans to have ever been
parents built a tenpin bowling alley just Washington on Sunday. to fellow American Kyle Troup in the to constantly adjust,” she said. ranked No 1.
weeks after he was born. He rolled his However, Belmonte, the defending championship match. “It’s a very different atmosphere
first ball when he was 18 months old. champion, was knocked out by Amer- On Twitter Belmonte said he was when you’re bowling at an event like
Belmonte’s third televised 300 ican Kris Prather in a two-frame roll off “annoyed with the issues I’m having that, you’ve got TV cameras there,
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
4 Headlines

HWL Ebsworth hack: sensitive information

from dozens of government agencies may be
compromised
information” in the HWL breach.
Josh Taylor Paterson said the coordinator must
be open and transparent in any inves-
Hundreds of clients of law firm HWL tigation of the hack.
Ebsworth, including dozens of govern- “The first task of the coordinator
ment agencies, have been in discus- must be to get to the bottom of what
sions with the firm over whether highly government data has been lost in the
sensitive legal information has been ex- HWL Ebsworth attack, the implications
posed. of the breach and how to mitigate
The Russian-linked ALPHV/Black- them, and steps being taken to inform
cat ransomware group hacked the law and support affected parties,” he said.
firm in April. Earlier this month, the The concern over the hack goes
group published 1.1TB of the data it beyond government clients, with Na-
claimed to have stolen, later estab- tional Australia Bank stating earlier this
lished to be 3.6TB worth of data. month that it was seeking information
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s from the law firm over whether any of
free morning and afternoonemail new- its own information had been affected.
sletters for your daily news roundup HWL Ebsworth was also involved
An analysis of more than 1,000 con- in the case around Virgin Australia’s
tracts with HWL Ebsworth published administration at the start of the
on AusTender over the past decade re- Covid-19 pandemic, but Virgin Australia
vealed that at least 60 departments or said it has been assured by the firm its
government agencies have used HWL data is not included in the hack.
Ebsworth’s services including the De- The minister for cybersecurity, Clare O’Neil, says the HWL Ebsworth hack is one of the ‘most significant cyber incidents that we’ve Prof Monica Whitty, head of depart-
fence Department, Home Affairs, the experienced as a country over the last year’. Photograph: matejmo/Getty Images/iStockphoto ment of software systems and cyber-
Australian federal police, Prime Minis- security at Monash University, said
ter and Cabinet, Services Australia and for the National Disability Insurance affected, but said it was a “significant ment of Air Marshal Darren Goldie the hack should cause business and
the Fair Work Ombudsman. Scheme was also trying to confirm incident” the government was deeply as Australia’s inaugural national cyber government to consider the cyber-
The total value of the published whether its client data was included concerned about. security coordinator. security risk of their suppliers closely.
contracts in the past decade alone adds in the hack, as HWL Ebsworth had “I would place it in the realm of HWL Ebsworth told Guardian Aus- “I think part of the problem is that
up to almost $140m. represented the NDIA in coverage cases the most significant cyber incidents tralia last week it would not com- a lot of organisations will use third
Many of the contracts are for the at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. that we’ve experienced as a country ment on specific clients, but said it parties in some way or another, but
provision of legal services or advice The Digital Transformation Agency over the last year, along with Latitude, was continuing to do a detailed and the consideration of their secure sys-
but some detail much more sensitive also said it was seeking to learn wheth- Optus and Medibank,” she said. “What’s comprehensive review of the data as tems often doesn’t come into play,” she
work, including cases with the govern- er its own information may have been been really important with this partic- swiftly as it can. said. “So they may be keeping their
ment insurance fund, Comcover, legal affected after having recruited HWL ular incident is that the cyber incident Shadow cybersecurity minister own systems secure and thinking that’s
advice on monitoring the use of human Ebsworth to conduct a privacy impact response coordination function, which James Paterson said in a statement enough. But when you’ve got third par-
embryos in research, and investigation assessment for the former Morrison we have been building over the last Goldie’s appointment should have ties, you’ve actually got to think about
into complaints of breaches of the government’s digital ID legislation last eight months or so, was on the ground come sooner, saying he could have and maybe ask the questions regarding
public sector code of conduct at the year. with this company from the very begin- been in the role for what Pater- their own cybersecurity practices.”
Department of Veteran Affairs. The minister for cybersecurity, ning.” son said was “one of the most se-
Guardian Australia reported last Clare O’Neil, said on Friday she could O’Neil made the comments in a rious data breaches affecting sensitive,
week that the agency responsible not say which departments had been press conference to mark the appoint- and potentially classified, government

Queensland police Tasered Aboriginal man

six times before he died, coroner hears
who had followed him into the street.
Australian Associated Press A lone officer and his police dog,
Turbo, in a marked police vehicle lo-
An Indigenous man was Tasered six cated Ashley about 6.55pm.
times by Queensland police and se- The officer called out to Ashley to
dated by ambulance officers before he get on the ground but he made unintel-
suffered a fatal cardiac arrest, a coroner ligible noises and walked away.
has heard. Turbo made contact with Ashley’s
The coroners court in Brisbane on arm and chest, and he stabbed the dog
Monday held a pre-inquest conference repeatedly with the surgical scissors,
into the death of Ashley Charles Wash- causing the dog to retreat to the police
ington, 31, on 13 December, 2020 in Too- vehicle.
woomba. “(The officer) then deployed his
His family members, who listened Taser, which caused Ashley to fall to
to proceedings by phone, requested he the ground briefly and he was directed
be referred to during the inquest as to put his hands behind his back,” Lio-
Ashley. Willie said.
Counsel assisting Sarah Lio-Willie While the officer attempted to re-
said a home owner in the suburb strain him, Ashley struck the officer in
of Mount Lofty discovered Ashley at the face and arm with the scissors.
6.35pm allegedly trying to remove The officer used his Taser on Ashley
items from the home including sun- again, causing him to fall to the ground,
glasses, surgical scissors and cash. and then radioed that he had been
Ashley left the property wearing Ashley Charles Washington was Tasered six times and had six police officers restrain him as paramedics administered a sedative, a stabbed and requested assistance.
only a pair of shorts and became Queensland coroner has heard. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP
aggressive towards the home owner Continued on page 5
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Headlines 5

Continued from page 4 decline followed by cardiac arrest after All of Ashley’s encounters with He also had methamphetamine in and reasonably.
he was put in an ambulance, police and paramedics were captured his system in the toxic or lethal ranges. A Queensland Ambulance Service
“(The officer) continued to cycle the Paramedics performed CPR but on body-worn cameras. The examination found an undeter- investigation found the paramedics
Taser for four rounds,” Lio-Willie said. Ashley was declared dead at Too- A forensic examination of his body mined cause of death that could have failed to adequately observe Ashley’s
Five other officers arrived and woomba Base Hospital at 8.01pm. showed injuries from a Taser to the been brought about by severe heart dis- condition. But they also faced dark,
placed Ashley in handcuffs and pushed The first responding officer and back of his neck, right upper arm, left ease that could have caused a cardiac rainy conditions and there was no
his legs towards his buttocks but he Turbo recovered from their injuries. upper buttock and right thigh. arrest at any time combined with stress wilful omission of care.
continued to yell and spit blood. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Ashley had suffered from coronary and drug use. A three-day hearing from 29 August
Paramedics administered a sedative free morning and afternoonemail new- atherosclerosis but there were no signs A police internal investigation has at Toowoomba before state coroner
and Ashley’s heart rate went into rapid sletters for your daily news roundup of an allergic reaction to the sedative. found that the officers acted lawfully Terry Ryan is due to call 10 witnesses.

Russian squatter leaves Canberra embassy

site after high court loss
“It’s not just that they haven’t made
Christopher Knaus a compelling case for constitutional
validity, they’ve made absolutely no
Australia’s high court has dismissed case,” he said.
Russia’s attempt to temporarily hold on Last year, the National Capital Au-
to the site of its proposed new embassy thority attempted to cancel the lease
in Canberra, describing its challenge to on planning grounds, saying Russia
laws cancelling the lease as “weak” and had not progressed with works despite
“hard to understand”. holding the site since 2007.
An hour after the ruling, a Russian That prompted a separate case in
official who had been squatting on the the federal court, which settled this
Yarralumla site left in a diplomatic ve- year. As part of that settlement, the
hicle. He didn’t say anything to waiting commonwealth consented to orders
reporters. that Russia be allowed to maintain
Russia had on Monday morn- possession of the site.
ing launched an urgent application Hyde, acting for Russia, argued that
to temporarily prevent the Australian there had been no explanation for
government from entering the site of its the commonwealth’s sudden change in
new embassy, while the court hears the position.
main constitutional challenge against But Jagot said the changed circums-
the federal legislation. tances related to the laws passed this
Russia expressed fears that the inte- month, in which the federal parliament
grity of the partially completed em- demonstrated its desire to strip the
bassy building, on which it has spent A Russian official leaves the partially built new embassy near Parliament House in Canberra. Russia has lost its initial high court bid to Russian government of the site.
US$5.5m (A$8.2m) already, would be hold on to the site. Photograph: Yoann Cambefort/AFP/Getty Images Speaking on Monday afternoon just
compromised if Australia was allowed before the squatter left the site, Alba-
on to the block. minister is that the security personnel and difficult to comprehend. concerns over its proximity to parlia- nese said the court had made clear
The loss of integrity to the build- of my client who is on the land … is not Her evaluation of the case was that ment. there was no legal basis for a Russian
ing could force Russia to demolish the seemingly a risk,” Russia’s counsel Elliot it was “weak, indeed, as I have said, On Monday, Begbie told the high presence to continue “and we expect
structure if it was successful in its high Hyde told the high court on Monday. often difficult to understand”. “There court that Australia had offered to not the Russian Federation to act in accor-
court challenge and was later allowed Sign up for Guardian Australia’s is no proper foundation for granting the release the site while the constitutional dance with the court’s ruling”. The
to hold on to the lease, it argued. free morning and afternoonemail new- interlocutory injunction as sought by challenge was heard. prime minister added he didn’t envi-
Russia’s lawyers also told the high sletters for your daily news roundup the [Russian Federation],” she said. Begbie said he had written to sage any diplomatic mission for any
court that its continued possession of But Tim Begbie KC, acting for the Jagot described Russia’s suggestion Russia’s lawyers on Saturday to make country being built on the site in the
the land posed no security risk or oth- commonwealth, said Russia had failed that there could be some loss of inte- the offer but had heard no response. future.
erwise prejudiced the Australian public. to demonstrate that its constitutional grity to the building as “too vague and In an apparent reference to the It is currently unclear when the
In doing so, it pointed to the words challenge to laws passed earlier this nebulous”. Wagner mutiny in Russia over the high court might hear Russia’s full
of the prime minister, Anthony Alba- month, stripping Russia of the lease, “There is no meaningful evidence to weekend, he said: “I do not criticise my constitutional challenge to the federal
nese, who said last week that he had was compelling. explain why the [Russian Federation] friend for not responding to this letter. laws.
no concern about a lone Russian man “Once that is accepted, their whole takes the view that it would have to de- Russia has had other things on its mind The Russian government maintains
squatting on the land, describing him argument is over,” he said. stroy the buildings,” she said. over the weekend.” a diplomatic presence at its existing
as “some bloke standing on a blade of Justice Jayne Jagot agreed. She The federal government in mid- Begbie argued that Russia’s chal- embassy in the Canberra suburb of Grif-
grass”. said Russia’s constitutional challenge June passed legislation to cancel lenge to the Albanese government’s fith.
“The stated position of the prime against the laws appeared to be weak Russia’s lease, citing national security laws cancelling the lease was weak.

Billionaires ‘disappointed’ after superyachts

banned from Naples port
port. magnates saying they’re thoroughly Costanzo Jannotti Pecci, the president
Angela Giuffrida in Rome Corriere della Sera reported that disappointed that they can’t dock in of the Naples unit of Unione Industriali,
the media tycoon Barry Diller was Naples any more,” the source added. told Il Mattino. “There is a feeling that
A superyacht owned by Bernard Ar- also forced to renounce Naples after One of the letters, from a company superyachts mustn’t come to Naples.
nault – the world’s second-richest man the Mergellina harbourmaster banned that charters a yacht owned by a Tur- There even seems to be a lack of aware-
– has been banned from docking in yachts of more than 75 metres in length kish billionaire and is registered in the ness of the pleasure that a tycoon might
Naples owing to a new regulation that for security reasons. Cayman Islands, said: “Our boat meas- get from our city. The fame of a city
has left multibillionaires “thoroughly A source at the port said the move ures 85 metres and I have seen larger such as Naples increases through these
Mergellina port in Naples, which could
disappointed” about missing out on not host the 101-metre long, six-deck vessel. was “incomprehensible” given that me- ones moored there without any prob- people.”
staying at the southern Italian city. Photograph: Eddy Galeotti/Alamy gayachts had been able to dock there lem. Why is this no longer possible? Massimo Luise, who manages a pier
Symphony, the LVMH boss’s 101 for the past 20 years, and that Naples Big yachts bring money, they bring jobs, at Mergellina that hosts luxury yachts,
metre long, six-deck vessel was cast The ban reportedly came as a sur- would miss out on the type of visitor and it’s really regrettable that they can told Corriere della Sera that while
adrift off the coast of Naples before prise to the fashion tycoon, who has who brought some lustre to a city that no longer stop in Naples.” he respected the rules, the economic
being told it could not be hosted at previously been able to dock the yacht, “often makes the news for negative rea- Business unions have also criticised repercussions for Naples were consi-
Mergellina port due to a recently intro- which contains a glass-bottomed swim- sons”. the new regulation.
duced limitation on size. ming pool and outdoor cinema, at the “I am getting many letters from “There are many consequences,” Continued on page 6
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

6 Headlines / News

Continued from page 5 city full of culture and tradition which who over the years have come here,” he ing attention as they enjoy other parts moored off Forte dei Marmi in Tuscany
can no longer welcome guests of the said. of Italy. Last week, a Spanish tourist and to get a glimpse of the actor, who was
derable. calibre of Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny While Naples may be out of bounds, fan of DiCaprio almost drowned after onboard.
“It’s a shame for Naples, a special Depp, Jeff Bezos and Jennifer Lopez, the rich and famous have been attract- attempting to swim to a superyacht

Weather tracker: extreme heat to spread

across southern US and Mexico
ing many without air conditioning and
Alice Fowle (Metdesk) fresh water. Several heat-related deaths
have been reported by local media.
Extreme and prolonged heat looks set Across Australia, a long band of rain
to continue across the southern states will stretch more than 3,000km (1,800
of the US and Mexico through this miles) from the north-west through to
week. This heatwave, which has already the central region and into the south-
brought record temperatures across east – including the outback. It is ex-
Texas through the past two weeks, will pected to bring anywhere between 10
extend into states such as Oklahoma, and 100mm of rainfall across the entire
Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana over region through this week. For the out-
the coming days. back, this will easily surpass the winter
At least 50 million people have been climatological average for rainfall in
placed under extreme heat advisories just a few days.
as temperatures are forecast to soar An area that is particularly at risk
at least 5-10C above the climatological is around Alice Springs and Yulara,
average, with daily maximum temper- across southern and western parts
atures reaching 40-45C (104-113F). San of the Northern Territory, where the
Angelo airport in Texas has already rec- highest rainfall totals are expected of
orded two consecutive days where the 50-100mm. This region of the North-
temperature hit 45.6C (114F), which sur- ern Territory is classed as a semi-arid or
passes its highest ever temperature by arid environment and on average rece-
three degrees. ives only 250-300mm of rain every year.
This heat will continue to put stress People look at the low water level in the Malpaso dam in Chiapas, Mexico. Photograph: Carlos Lopez/EPA Alice Springs usually gets only 10.3mm
on power grids across the southern of rainfall in June. As a result, the
states and Mexico. Texas in particular US that is disconnected from the na- to voluntarily cut back on electricity already surpassed last year by 9% due Australian Bureau of Meteorology has
is uniquely vulnerable to power failures tional grid. As a result, the power grid due to anticipated record demand. to the heat. Blackouts have been re- issued a flood watch warning through
as it is the only state in the contiguous operator for Texas has asked residents In Mexico, demands on energy have ported in Cancún and Tulum, leav- the entire week across four states.

Afternoon Update: China downplays Russia

turmoil; Taylor Swift presale hiccup; and rain
coming to eastern Australia
consolidate the credits they are entitled
Antoun Issa to.
Windfarm noise |There’s no evi-
Good afternoon. Russia has lost its ini- dence windfarms disturb sleep any
tial bid to hold onto its new embassy more than road traffic, according to a
site in Canberra, with the high court five-year study by Flinders University.
saying Moscow’s legal challenge was Researchers also found that very low-
“weak” and “hard to understand”. frequency windfarm noise is not aud-
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Andrey
An hour after the ruling, a Russian ible to the human ear, either while Rudenko and China’s foreign minister Qin
official who had been squatting on the awake or asleep. Gang after meeting in Beijing. Photograph:
Yarralumla site left in a diplomatic ve- Wet weather for eastern Australia | Ministry of foreign affairs/AFP/Getty Images
hicle. A large cloud band is poised to bring
The ruling came as the prime minis- unseasonable wet weather to parts of unit and captured a large amount of
ter, Anthony Albanese, announced a Australia as it moves eastwards across military equipment.
further $110m in new support to the country this week. The Bureau of In pictures
Ukraine, including military vehicles, Russian president Vladimir Putin is seen on monitors as he addresses the nation after the Meteorology’s forecasts suggest a rain China’s north is baking in a record
ammunition and humanitarian fund- Wagner group uprising. Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP band developing over northern West- heatwave. For the first time, temper-
ing. It brings Australia’s total support ern Australia on Sunday into Monday atures hit above 40C in Beijing for three
given to Ukraine since the war began Read the Guardian’s view. Swift’s upcoming Eras tour went on sale will move towards the eastern states consecutive days. See how residents are
to $790m, including $610m in military Daryl Maguire charged |The former this morning, signalling huge demand over the first half of the week. trying to keep cool.
assistance. Wagga Wagga MP – and ex-boyfriend to for the Australian shows. The Amex site Free bus rides for women |The What they said …
And eastern Australians, keep those the former New South Wales premier was back up and running shortly after. Indian state of Karnataka in the coun- ***
umbrellas handy as more wet weather Gladys Berejiklian – has been charged Presale tickets for Frontier members try’s south has launched free bus travel “I was just reading over [Simon
heads your way. with giving false and misleading evi- will go on sale for the five shows across for women and transgender people Crean’s] texts this morning and the
Top news dence in relation to a corruption watch- Melbourne and Sydney from Wednes- in an attempt to boost employment, warmth and enjoyment he got out of
China downplays Russia turmoil | dog inquiry involving Canterbury coun- day, with general ticket sales due to go and the change has been heartily wel- the things that I achieved in politics,
Chinese officials have described an ab- cil. The announcement of the charges live on Friday. comed. In the first nine days of the it will stay with me forever. He was a
orted rebellion by the Wagner group of comes just days before the Inde- Unspent Qantas credits |There’s scheme, more than 40 million women friend and a mentor.” – Clare O’Neil
mercenaries as Moscow’s “internal af- pendent Commission Against Corrup- $400m in unspent Covid-related climbed aboard. Tributes have been flowing
fairs”. Albanese took a different view, tion hands down its report relating to Qantas credits that are due to expire Sudan fighting |Sudan’s paramilitary throughout the day for the former
saying it was a “disaster” for Vladimir Berejiklian. in December. The airline has launched Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has report- Labor leader Simon Crean, who died
Putin. “You can’t have events like that Taylor Swift presale hiccup |Amer- a new Find My Credit online tool to edly made gains in the capital, Khar- suddenly on Sunday after his morning
and just wipe them out, pretend that ican Express’s ticket site crashed half an search for bookings up to three years toum. The RSF says it has seized the
you will go back to stability,” he said. hour before some presale packages for old, to make it easier for passengers to main base of a heavily armed police Continued on page 7
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

News 7

Continued from page 6 system”. ing up 23m miles (37m km) and visiting Today’s starter word is: GAS. You every weekday, sign up here. And start
Before bed read more than 100 countries. have five goes to get the longest word your day with a curated breakdown of
exercise while in Germany. How about this for a nifty invest- In 2019 alone, Stuker flew 1.46m including the starter word. Play Wor- the key stories you need to know. Sign
In numbers ment? The US man Tom Stuker paid miles, which would have cost him diply. up for our Morning Mail newsletter
The teenager has an intellectual $290,000 way back in 1990 for a lifetime $2.44m had he not used his lifetime Sign up here.
disability, with the situation described pass from United Airlines. Since then, pass. If you would like to receive this
to a court as a “major failure in our he says he has “lived like a sultan”, rack- Daily word game Afternoon Update to your email inbox

Major Commonwealth Bank outage prevents

some customers from accessing accounts
when it would be rectified.
Josh Taylor At 4pm CBA said the issue had
been resolved, but did not say what had
Commonwealth Bank suffered a major caused the lengthy outage.
outage on Monday, with customers “We can confirm we have identified
unable to access their accounts, in- the cause of the issue and services are
cluding transfers and payments, for being restored. We are very sorry for
several hours. the inconvenience this has caused. We
Customers reported not being able know how much customers depend on
to check their account balances or us and sincerely apologise to those who
transfer funds in the Netbank app and have been impacted today,” the com-
some said they were unable to make pany said on Twitter.
purchases. Credit cards appeared unaf- It also noted “there may be delays in
fected at the time of reporting. some payments as we continue to bring
One user said they were unable to services back online”.
transfer money into or out of CBA ac- The bank said its call centre was
counts. “The end of the tax year is experiencing a high volume of calls,
looming. It’s frustrating to encounter and while branches were open, staff
such issues at this time.” would not have more information on
Several others reported that the the ongoing outage.
bank’s app was reporting account their A spokesperson for the bank said
account balances as zero. earlier on Monday the incident was
“Main account says $0, last update under investigation.
10:33, but of course there’s tech issues. Commonwealth Bank customers reported access to their CommBank accounts was down, with Netbank app suffering an outage. Photo- “We’re aware some customers
Just need to pretty urgently know if a graph: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock are experiencing difficulties accessing
$0 balance is showing for others as part some our services and we are urgently
of the glitch.” free morning and afternoonemail new- CBA first acknowledged the issue at it was aware of the issue. But the com- investigating. We apologise and thank
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s sletters for your daily news roundup 10.44am AEST, posting on Twitter that pany did not say what the issue was, or customers for their patience.”

Taylor Swift ticket website hit by ‘technical

difficulties’ as first Australian presale
packages sell out
culties were the result of high demand.
Jordyn Beazley The company would not comment on
how many packages were offered on
The first pre-sale offering of “VIP Monday.
packages” for the Australian leg of Presale tickets for Frontier mem-
Taylor Swift’s Eras tour – available only bers will go on sale for the five shows
to American Express cardholders and across Melbourne and Sydney from
worth more than $1,000 in some cases – Wednesday, with general ticket sales
have sold out, hours after they went on due to go live on Friday.
sale on Monday. The packages available on Monday
The Amex ticket site crashed half were being sold for $1,249.60 or
an hour before some presale packages $899.90.
for the Sydney shows of the February Regular tickets for the Australian
2024 tour went live for cardholders at shows start at $79.90, but a spot in A
10am on Monday. Melbourne packages Reserve will set fans back $379.90.
were available later in the day and pre- Swifties had already prepared
sale and general sale tickets are due to themselves that the chance to get a
become available later in the week. ticket was going to be a battle.
Amex began responding to fans on Last year, Ticketmaster’s site
Twitter, who had complained the site crashed in the US for Swift’s first tour
had crashed, to direct them to pur- in five years. Fans reported waiting for
chase tickets on Ticketek sites which up to eight hours in online queues with
appeared to be managing the web traf- Ticketmaster tweeting there had been
fic and remained online. Tickets for the Australian leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour go on sale this week. Photograph: John Shearer/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights “historically unprecedented demand”.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Management
free morning and afternoonemail new-
sletters for your daily news roundup The Amex site was back up and run- ning later on Monday morning, with the company confirming the technical diffi-
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

8 News

Australia pledges $100m in new military

support for Ukraine, including vehicles and
ammunition
nian armed forces.
Daniel Hurst and Josh Butler Labor had been under increas-
ing domestic political pressure to ap-
The Australian government has an- prove the next package of support for
nounced a new $110m assistance pack- Ukraine, with the Coalition recently
age as the next round of support for urging it not to delay aid until Albanese
Ukraine, including military vehicles, attends the Nato summit in Lithuania.
ammunition and humanitarian fund- In February, the government an-
ing. nounced it would will send drones
The government also said the to Ukraine and expand sanctions
upheaval in Russia over the weekend against Russian government, military
– in which the head of the Wagner and media figures.
mercenary group attempted an armed That package was announced on
revolt – was a sign of division and called the first anniversary of Russia’s large-
into question the invasion of Ukraine. scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then
The package of support for Ukraine Ukraine has mounted a public cam-
unveiled on Monday includes $100m paign for further assistance, including
in military assistance and $10m for Hawkei vehicles.
humanitarian aid. But Albanese said the government
“This package responds to Ukraine’s had received ADF advice that offering
requests for vehicles and ammunition, Hawkei vehicles “would not be the best
and will make a tangible difference on way to provide assistance to Ukraine”.
the battlefield,” the prime minister, An- In the most recent round of Senate
thony Albanese, said. Prime minister Anthony Albanese said Australia supported international efforts to ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity estimates hearings, Defence officials
The government has committed 70 prevails. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP said the Australian government was
military vehicles, including 28 M113 “still working through the rectification
armoured vehicles, 14 special opera- integrity prevails.” Prigozhin later agreed to leave to be “protracted” but Australia would of an ABS braking issue” and supply
tions vehicles, 28 MAN 40M medium Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Russia for Belarus as part of a deal to stand with Kyiv “for as long as it takes chain issues.
trucks and 14 trailers; a new supply free morning and afternoonemail new- end his armed revolt. for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on “The [Hawkei] capability is at quite
of 105mm artillery ammunition; and sletters for your daily news roundup Responding to a question about their terms”. a critical stage right now,” the head of
$10m to the UN Office for the Coordi- The government said the latest the implications for Putin, Wong said: “What is at issue in Ukraine today land systems, Maj Gen Andrew Bottrell,
nation of Humanitarian Affairs – for the commitment took Australia’s total “This does demonstrate the divisions in is the sanctity of the global rules-based told the hearing.
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund – to assist contribution to Ukraine to $790m, in- Russia.” order, and it is very important that Aus- “We can’t even roll it out to Defence,
in the provision of shelter, health ser- cluding $610m in military assistance. “It does call into question the deci- tralians understand that this engages given those other factors, let alone sus-
vices, water and sanitation. Albanese was joined by the defence sion which we have all criticised and our national interest,” he said. tain it on operations. So it’s been my
“Ukrainian families, the elderly and minister, Richard Marles, and the for- which we are standing here to oppose Defence is expected to fund the advice into Defence that we could not
children have borne a terrible cost eign minister, Penny Wong, to make the today, which was the decision to ille- new package from within existing re- sustain this vehicle overseas and we
from Russia’s invasion. Australia’s $10m announcement in Canberra. gally, immorally invade Ukraine,” she sources. Guardian Australia has been certainly couldn’t sustain it if we were
contribution to the Ukraine Humani- The prime minister said the cabinet said. told some of the stocks are surplus also trying to roll it out to the Aus-
tarian Fund will support their needs,” signed off on the support package on Wong said the Australian govern- to current Australian defence force tralian Defence Force.”
Albanese said. Monday morning, and the timing was ment would continue to monitor devel- requirements while some were capabil- The federal opposition leader, Peter
“We support international efforts unaffected by the weekend events in opments but urged any Australians ities that were due to be replaced. Dutton, said the support package
to ensure [Russian president Vla- which the Wagner chief, Yevgeny Pri- who remained in Russia to leave if it A source said the 105mm ammu- “should have been bigger”. “This has
dimir] Putin’s aggression fails and that gozhin, vowed to lead his troops to- was safe to do so. nition was no longer used by Australia taken too long and it’s too little,” Dutton
Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial wards Moscow. Marles said he expected the war but was highly suitable for use by Ukrai- said on Monday.

No evidence windfarm noise disturbs sleep

any more than road traffic, study finds
pressure levels to compare their res- effects were quite small,” he said.
Australian Associated Press ponses. “We also found no evidence to sug-
On a separate night, the study gest that windfarm noise is any more
Noise from windfarms is no more tested if longer three-minute noise disruptive to sleep than road traffic
disruptive to sleep than traffic sounds, samples, including very low-frequency noise.
new Australian research has found. windfarm sounds resulted in sleep “At the highest exposure level, road
A study by sleep researchers at disturbance. traffic noise was a little more sleep
Flinders University has also revealed The researchers found that short disruptive than windfarm noise.”
that very low-frequency windfarm exposure to windfarm and road traf- Catcheside said that while the study
noise is not audible to the human ear, fic noise triggered a small increase provided strong evidence that wind-
either while awake or asleep. in people waking that could fragment farms were not more disruptive, it did
In a project that took five years, their sleep patterns. not rule out that people particularly
more than 460 sleep study nights in- But it also showed that windfarm noise sensitive might find it more dif-
volving 68 participants were looked at. noise was no more disruptive than road ficult to get to sleep when noise levels
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s traffic. were noticeable.
free morning and afternoon email new- The study found the effects of windfarm noise on sleep was small. Photograph: Mick The study’s chief investigator, Prof The findings were presented at an
sletters for your daily news roundup Tsikas/AAP Peter Catcheside, said the findings international conference on windfarm
Each person spent seven consec- showed both windfarm noise and road noise in Dublin last week but are still to
utive nights in the sleep laboratory. windfarm, those living near a busy sub- Each were played 20-second wind- traffic noise disrupted sleep, depending be peer reviewed.
They were recruited from four urban road and people living in quiet farm and road traffic noise samples mainly on how loud they were.
groups, including those living near a rural areas. repeatedly using three different sound “However, at realistic levels, these
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

10 News

Australia faces another record flu season –

and children’s vaccination rates are alarming
parents, grandparents and younger sibl-
Asha Bowen and Christopher ings. Some will be at higher risk of
Blyth for the Conversation getting unwell and being hospitalised,
such as the elderly, the very young, First
The 2023 flu season may be one of Aus- Nations people and those with under-
tralia’s largest flu seasons on record and lying medical issues including heart,
doctors are concerned about its impact lung, kidney and immune problems.
on children. Primary school-age children are the
You may have seen headlines warn- group who most frequently transmit flu
ing parents about “kindy flu”. These can in the community. In 2023 we expect
be misleading. This year’s flu virus does the largest number of cases in the com-
not “target” children. But children are munity to be in five- to nine-year-olds.
particularly vulnerable for one impor- When to seek medical attention
tant reason – low vaccination rates. Flu in children commonly causes
We are concerned that fewer child- high temperatures, sore throats, miser-
ren have received their annual flu vac- able kids and non-stop runny noses and
cine in 2023, compared with previous coughing. Most cases can be safely ma-
years. And it leaves them, and the wider naged at home.
community, at risk of flu and its compli- But if you’re worried about your
cations. child, seek medical advice, particularly
How bad is this year’s flu season? if your child:
In 2023 we are on track for a similar has difficulty breathing (breathing
influenza season to 2019 – the largest on rapidly or drawing in chest or neck
record in Australia. That’s when there The single thing different to pre-pandemic years is the number of younger Australians not getting an influenza vaccine. Photograph: muscles)
were more than 300,000 recorded in- kwanchaichaiudom/Getty Images/iStockphoto is vomiting and refusing to drink
fluenza cases. is more sleepy than normal
At the time of writing, we’ve had be any more severe than in other years, What’s different in 2023? ous and immune system – are most has pain that doesn’t get better with
107,941 recorded flu cases and the flu according to a number of measures. The single thing different to pre- susceptible, more than half of child- simple pain relief medication
season still has months to go. Of these, In hospitals, the number of those pandemic years is the number of ren admitted to hospital each year with And right now, before they get sick,
48,873 have been in children under 15 admitted directly to intensive care younger Australians not getting an in- flu are otherwise healthy. While rare, book in your children for their annual
and 22,365 in those aged five to nine (now 7%) is similar to previous seasons. fluenza vaccine. flu deaths occur in previously healthy flu vaccine. It prevents more than half
years. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s In 2020, at this stage of the season, children. of infections. And, even if infected,
Since the flu season started in late free morning and afternoonemail new- nearly 40% of children aged from six We are also worried about influenza vaccinated children are less likely to be
April, children have made up almost sletters for your daily news roundup months to under five years were vacci- making children more vulnerable to hospitalised with it.
80% of those admitted to hospital at In the community, the number of nated, compared with just 20% now. In secondary bacterial infections. These • This article was first published
sentinel surveillance sites. Many child- those with flu-like illnesses needing to those five to under 15, 25% were vacci- include invasive group A streptococcus by the Conversation. Asha Bowen
ren’s hospitals are reporting high num- take time off regular duties is also sim- nated in 2020 compared with just 12% and pneumococccal disease. is program head at the Telethon
bers of children hospitalised with flu. ilar. now. Another reason to get vaccinated Kids Institute; Christopher Blyth is a
Sadly, one child has died of in- There is also no evidence the strains This makes us worried. Children have large volumes of paediatrician, infectious diseases phy-
fluenza, a three-year-old in Perth. circulating are more likely to infect Young children, particularly those virus in their nasal secretions and, after sician and clinical microbiologist at the
These large case numbers come children, or for them to infect others, under five, are the group most likely infection, shed this for days. They also University of Western Australia
after low influenza case numbers seen compared with strains circulating in to be hospitalised with flu. have poorer hygiene practices, often
earlier in the pandemic. previous years. Although children with underlying coughing and spluttering over those
Why is this happening? So something else must be going medical conditions – including chron- closest to them.
The 2023 flu strains do not seem to on. ic disorders of the heart, lungs, nerv- So children will quickly infect their

Five hundred days in solitary: Queensland

teenager’s case ‘a major failure of our system’
person restrained and alone for reasons
Ben Smee of organisational failure, effectively.
“There are always pressures on
An Aboriginal teenager with an intel- government organisations, but this
lectual disability was likely locked in youth detention centre is charged with
solitary confinement for more than 500 the custody of young people, many of
days at Queensland’s troubled Cleve- whom, like [Michael], are vulnerable,
land youth detention centre, in a situ- and in this represents a major failure
ation described to a court as a “major of our system in the way this young
failure in our system”. person has been – I won’t use the word
Michael*, now 19, spent more than ‘cared’ for – but provided for.”
two years on remand at the Townsville A report tabled in court shows Mi-
centre while the children’s court dealt chael was recorded as being in 24 hours
with charges related to a violent sexual of unbroken “separation” – a term the
attack on a 16-year-old girl. department says means being locked in
On Friday, the court heard that a room alone – on 515 days out of the
during 744 days in the youth prison, Mi- 744 he spent in custody.
chael was subject to a regime of “fairly However, Andrew Morris, the acting
routine” solitary confinement – where deputy director of the Cleveland youth
he was regularly locked in his cell for detention centre, told the court that the
more than 20 hours a day – and that separation report was not an accurate
this was overwhelmingly due to staffing representation of the actual time Mi-
issues at the centre. chael was kept locked in his room.
The crown prosecutor, Tom Han- A Guardian Australia investigation into Cleveland found that lockdowns of young people were so common this year that some children Morris said sometimes young
cock, accepted that the report on spent months in solitary confinement. Photograph: Scott Radford-Chisholm/The Guardian people might attend appointments or
Michael’s period in detention was take part in activities while recorded as
“quite concerning and particularly Sign up for Guardian Australia’s sletters for your daily news roundup court the evidence provided “a truly
problematic”. free morning and afternoonemail new- His barrister, Laura Reece, told the concerning pattern of keeping a young Continued on page 11
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

News 11

Continued from page 10 of his cell for more than three hours on ma-related mental health issues. taken more than two years to come to criminal history, in Queensland and the
only one occasion during that period. A Guardian Australia investigation court. Northern Territory. He said the teen
being subject to “separation”, and that Morris conceded, under ques- into Cleveland – one of three Queen- Michael pleaded guilty to the of- had a problematic family background
further information provided to the tioning, that about 70% of the times Mi- sland youth prisons – found that fending earlier this year and was sen- and environment, “including exposure
court was a more accurate reflection chael was recorded as “separated” were cell-block lockdowns of young people tenced on Friday to a total of four years to harm and associated trauma, [a]
of the time Michael had been locked up. due to staffing shortages at Cleveland, became so common and widespread and six months in custody. history of unstable and inconsistent
Supplementary reports supplied by when employee ratios at the detention earlier this year that some children Judge Nathan Jarro ordered that Mi- care arrangements [and] exposure to
youth justice only covered a portion of centre fell below requirements. Other spent months in solitary confinement chael be released after serving only 50% domestic violence behaviour”.
Michael’s 744 days in detention. occasions were due to “incidents” at the and attended almost no classes or of his overall sentence, to take into ac- “You were exposed to and the sub-
The most comprehensive report – centre, only one of which was related to rehabilitation programs. count the “special circumstances” of his ject of domestic violence, parental sub-
covering a total of 175 days across the Michael’s behaviour. Staffing numbers at the centre had treatment in youth detention. He will stance abuse, not properly looked after
two-year period – showed Michael was Reece told the court that during dropped dramatically until a recent be taken to an adult prison for about 10 by either of your parents,” Jarro said.
in solitary confinement for more than two years at Cleveland, Michael was recruitment campaign. In July 2022, weeks to complete the sentence. * not his real name
20 hours a day on 125 days, or about 71% enrolled in school but that his record almost 20% of the employee roles at Jarro said Michael’s offending had Written Off seeks to detail the expe-
of the time. indicated he had received “no educa- Cleveland were vacant. been “very serious” and “degrading”. riences of young people in Queen-
If taken as reflective of his entire tional or other interventions”. Michael’s periods in confinement He detailed that Michael had at- sland’s justice system, where record
two-year period in youth detention, Mi- Michael has intellectual disabilities are substantially longer than any pre- tacked a girl, 16, who was walking home numbers of children are being arrested
chael would have spent about 530 days and was referred to the adolescent vious case that has been made public. from a service station one afternoon. and imprisoned. Know more? Contact
in solitary confinement for more than forensic mental health service upon He has been held in the youth He sexually assaulted and raped her. ben.smee@theguardian.com
20 hours. arriving at Cleveland in 2021. But the detention system since he was 17, in “I agree with the crown that your
A secondary report, detailing 73 court heard he received no treatment June 2021. The charges against him – offending in those circumstances was
consecutive days earlier this year, because the service did not have the four counts of rape, one count of sexual persistent and brazen,” Jarro said.
showed that Michael was allowed out capacity to see young people with trau- assault, and one count of robbery – have Jarro said Michael had a significant

Melbourne airport runway proposal causing

stress among communities, critics say
A Melbourne airport spokesperson
Adeshola Ore said it remained hopeful the federal
infrastructure minister, Catherine King,
Communities in Melbourne’s west are would greenlight the project later this
facing stress and financial uncertainty year.
around the development of a third “The planned parallel north-south
runway at Melbourne airport, critics runway is essential to ensure the air-
say, with the decision expected to take port has sufficient capacity to cater
up to another six months. for Melbourne’s continued growth and
The aviation sector had been antic- forecast demand,” the spokesperson
ipating a decision by the common- said.
wealth on the $1.9bn project would be “Given the critical importance of air
handed down by mid-June, but indus- transport to Australia, it is vital that
try sources have told Guardian Aus- Melbourne airport does not become a
tralia it is now expected towards the constraint on the national aviation net-
end of the year. work or the Victorian economy.”
John Hedditch, former mayor of A spokesperson for King said
Brimbank in Melbourne’s outer west, her department was assessing the
said alongside the Melbourne Airport draft major development plan for the
Rail project being delayed, uncertainty runway against the requirements of the
over the runway was also having an Airports Act. The spokesperson said
impact on communities. the assessment would determine if the
“The people in the west are being airport had given “due regard” to the
kept in the dark due to what’s hap- Planes at Melbourne airport, where a 3km-long third runway is planned. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP 3,000 submissions it received during
pening,” he said. the consultation process.
“The uncertainty is just stressing ment process may take time, point- assessment concluded that for loca- double to 83 million a year by 2046. It is The federal environment depart-
people more because they need clar- ing to the “serious health and environ- tions within 15km from the airport, the designed to ease pressure on a system ment is also assessing the project’s
ity in their lives on this one. It’s a big- mental impact” the council has raised severity of potential health effects on that was frequently plagued by delays environmental impacts against the
ticket health and life matter.” during the consultation period. schools and childcare centres would be at peak times before Covid. Environment Protection and Biodi-
He said some families in the west An independent health report “moderate”. Melbourne airport had planned to versity Conservation Act to assist King
would not be able to afford to sell their commissioned by the council last year Brimbank council, which includes build a third runway running east-west, in making her final decision. After this
home and repurchase property. found the runway could impact sleep- suburbs directly south of the airport, but in 2019 it switched to a north-south is completed, King has 50 business days
“Who would want to put their kids ing patterns – potentially leading to in- has also flagged the importance of plan due to wind interference. to make a final decision on the pro-
through schools that are impacted by creased rates of cardiovascular disease a possible compensation scheme to Under the proposal, it will run paral- posed third runway. There is no dead-
the noise?” – and may affect children’s cognitive reduce the impact of aircraft noise for lel to an existing north-south runway. line for when the environment depart-
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s development in surrounding areas. communities near the airport. Residents in areas to the north and ment hands over its advice.
free morning and afternoonemail new- The airport maintained it has been The airport is planning for the 3km south of the airport, including Keilor, A federal environment department
sletters for your daily news roundup upfront about the benefits and impacts runway to be operating by the end St Albans, Bulla and Tottenham, will be spokesperson said its advice would
The Brimbank mayor, Bruce Lanca- associated with the runway. An airport- of the decade to help meet demand, most affected by the additional aircraft consider all environmental impacts and
shire, said he understood the assess- commissioned peer-reviewed health with passenger numbers anticipated to noise. be provided in due course.
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

12 News

Rex Patrick to challenge denial of FoI

requests based on ministerial portfolio
changes
nary Australians need lasting access
Christopher Knaus to information to hold governments to
account for the decisions they make,”
The practice of using ministerial port- Lewin said.
folio changes to keep large swathes of Greens senator David Shoebridge
government documents secret is se- raised the case with the OAIC in Senate
verely undermining transparency and estimates last month, asking infor-
accountability, the federal court will mation commissioner Angelene Falk
hear on Monday. about the delays in her office reviewing
Rex Patrick, who marked himself as the FoI decision.
a transparency campaigner during his “It comes back to this continual
time in the Senate, is mounting a legal issue with your office – the inordinate
challenge against a common method delay in decision-making. In this case,
of denying freedom of information re- the delay in decision-making in your
quests for documents held by govern- office created this whole mess,” Shoe-
ment ministers. bridge said. “If you’d made a decision
When a minister leaves a portfolio, promptly – within a month or two
any document held by them during months of having the review brought
their time in office is deemed to be – none of this would have happened,
impervious to FoI requests, because it would it?”
is no longer considered to be in the Falk acknowledged that the “ef-
possession of their successor. fluxion of time is an issue” in reviewing
The rule keeps large swathes of FoI decisions, but said suggestions that
government documents held in minis- Former senator Rex Patrick is mounting a legal challenge against denial of FoI requests. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP it should have been reviewed within a
terial offices out of reach of the number of weeks or months were “not
public. Its impact is compounded by documents and sought a review from ments were no longer in the possession Patrick is being represented by realistic in any FoI processing regime”.
vast delays at various stages of the the FoI watchdog, the office of the Aus- of the attorney general and therefore Maurice Blackburn, and the case is The Grata Fund executive director
FoI process, which create windows for tralian information commissioner. The could not be released. being supported by the Grata Fund, Isabelle Reinecke said the laws were
ministerial changes to take place. OAIC’s review took so long that the Patrick told Guardian Australia that which finances public interest liti- untenable in a healthy democracy.
Patrick is challenging a single FoI holder of the attorney general portfolio the inordinate delays in the FoI regime gation. “This loophole is a major roadblock
decision relating to a request for docu- changed twice, first to Michaelia Cash were exacerbating the problem. “I’m in Jacinta Lewin, principal lawyer with to a functional FoI system and has
ments on the sports rorts affair. In 2020, and then to Mark Dreyfus. this situation because the information Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, said the created a significant gap in the accoun-
he sought access to the advice given Sign up for Guardian Australia’s commissioner took so long to conduct case was designed to ensure that a tability of government and the public
by the then attorney general, Chris- free morning and afternoon email new- the review that the office of the attor- change of job could not be used to deny service,” she said.
tian Porter, to Scott Morrison about the sletters for your daily news roundup ney general changed twice, first to Mi- access to information. The case will be heard on Monday in
grants program. This year, the OAIC ruled that the chaelia Cash and [then] Mark Dreyfus,” “Robust FoI laws are integral to a the federal court in Adelaide.
Patrick was refused access to the portfolio changes meant the docu- said. strong democracy. Journalists and ordi-

Indigenous voice yes campaign to ‘take the

high ground’ with funding for thousands of
local events
sletters for your daily news roundup
Lorena Allam and Josh Butler Perkins said they wanted to offer
an antidote to the “fear and misinfor-
The yes campaign for the referendum mation” circulating in the community,
will offer grants of up to $15,000 for driven to an extent by parliamen-
a blitz of community functions sup- tarians.
porting the Indigenous voice to parlia- “I think if there was anything that
ment, in a bid to support thousands of proved how important the voice is, it’s
events nationwide backing the change. been the last week in Canberra. Abori-
Other big headline events and an ginal people have been used as a polit-
advertising campaign are in the works ical football and kicked around the
for the yes campaigners, who will begin Senate, and before that the house of
ramping up their public messaging reps, in a way that actually has very
from next week in the long run-up to little to do with Aboriginal people and
the vote on an Indigenous voice to is much more about political point-
parliament, widely anticipated to be scoring,” Perkins said.
held in October this year. AICR has been established as a char-
It comes as the prime minister, ity with deductible gift status to allow
Anthony Albanese, says he is seeking it to receive donations to help drive and
consensus with the Coalition oppo- administer the yes campaign, and has a
sition about the details of the voice, war chest worth more than $35m.
in the event of a successful refe- The AICR’s Yes23 campaign hopes
rendum, including agreement with to enlist 10,000 volunteers in over 100
Peter Dutton over the body’s compo- ‘Staying positive, staying respectful’: Rachel Perkins, co-chair of Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, and Dean Parkin, active community supporter groups
sition and membership. director of the AICR’s Yes23 campaign. Photograph: Sia Duff/The Guardian nationwide, with a new funding pro-
Rachel Perkins, an Arrernte Kal- gram to encourage grassroots groups
kadoon film-maker and the co-chair tutional Recognition (AICR), said the positive messaging and the benefits of Sign up for Guardian Australia’s
of Australians for Indigenous Consti- focus of the yes campaign would be on the voice. free morning and afternoon email new- Continued on page 13
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

News / World News 13

Continued from page 12 forums nationwide, and the yes cam- munity campaign begins. Albanese said he had “faith in the about the question being posed and
paign is encouraging ongoing events “We are trying to run a respectful Australian people” that the referendum sharing information. That’s something
to hold public events and forums as in smaller centres through grants deli- campaign,” Perkins said. “We don’t would succeed, saying many people that you don’t see in the newspapers,
the referendum campaign kicks into its vered by its Yes Alliance Capacity Fund. engage in argument because we have a would only properly tune into the cam- but it is happening every day of the
next gear. Offering grants of between $1,000- more important task, which is to give paign once voting day was officially week, thousands of conversations and
“It is about ensuring people, no $15,000, the yes campaign says some the facts to Australians in a manner called. that will gain momentum,” she said.
matter where they live, can get in- smaller communities and Indigenous that respects everybody’s democratic “Then people will really focus here,” Perkins said the success of the
formed about how a voice will give organisations might need more help to right to make this decision. he told Sky News on Sunday. vote will depend on Australians getting
Indigenous people a real say on how to organise their own supporter events. “It’s very much like the equal mar- Perkins dismissed criticism that the active and involved.
fix unique challenges across areas such “We want to encourage even more riage campaign: staying positive, stay- campaign was lacking visibility and “We hope that they make a decision
as health, housing and education,” said community conversations with eve- ing respectful, and taking the high cohesion. to support us and stand beside Abori-
Yes23 director Dean Parkin. ryday Australians about why a suc- ground rather than getting into the “People may not be able to see it, ginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The campaign will host a series of cessful referendum will help deliver gutter with our opponents.” but already there is a lot of subter- Obviously, that’s up to them. But we do
“Come together for yes” events across practical outcomes on the ground and Both the yes and no campaigns ranean activity going on. There are ask that they get informed rather than
major cities this weekend. move Australia forward,” Parkin said. are expected to begin other activities kitchen table conversations happening say, “if you don’t know vote no”, which is
Large community gatherings will be Leaders of the yes campaign believe such as door-knocking and leaflets in right across the country, where average a complete cop-out.”
held will be held in capital and regional a recent slip in public support for the coming weeks, as well as boosting TV Australians are having chats with their
cities, in addition to hundreds of other voice will be reversed once the com- and online advertising. families and their community groups

Obama remarks on India’s treatment of

Muslims ‘hypocritical’ – minister
state visit to the US last week, Obama The Indian finance minister, Nir- “Why would anyone listen to any alle- with Modi during their talks in the
Reuters in Delhi told CNN that the issue of the “protec- mala Sitharaman, said she was shocked gations from such people?“ White House.
tion of the Muslim minority in a major- Obama had made such remarks when The US state department has raised Modi, at a press conference with
India’s finance minister has derided ity-Hindu India” would be worth rais- Modi was visiting the US aiming to concerns over treatment of Muslims Biden last week, denied any discrim-
comments by the former US president ing in Modi’s meeting with the US pres- deepen relations. and other religious minorities in India ination against minorities under his
Barack Obama that Narendra Modi’s ident, Joe Biden. “He was commenting on Indian under Modi’s Hindu-nationalist party. government.
government should protect the rights Obama said that without such Muslims … having bombed Muslim- The Indian government says it treats
of minority Muslims, accusing Obama protection there was “a strong possi- majority countries from Syria to Yemen all citizens equally.
of being hypocritical. bility that India at some point starts … during his presidency,” Sitharaman Biden said he discussed human
During the Indian prime minister’s pulling apart“. told a press conference on Sunday. rights and other democratic values

New Greek PM vows to press ahead with

ambitious reforms
tans is particularly alarming … showing
Helena Smith in Athens a significant degree of sympathy for far
right, ultra-nationalist views.”
Greece’s new prime minister, Kyriakos Rahman said of Mitsotakis’s com-
Mitsotakis, vowed to immediately press fortable majority: “He is now likely to
ahead with his ambitious reform pro- move quickly to implement far-reach-
gramme after winning a decisive vic- ing reforms to the public sector and the
tory in the general elections on Sunday. judiciary, health and education sectors.
The New Democracy leader said New Democracy’s victory follows a sim-
his commanding 24-point lead over the ilar path of other southern European
leftist main opposition Syriza party had countries, which have now returned to
given him a “strong mandate” to mod- the right, having tacked left after the
ernise a country long seen as resistant eurozone’s financial crisis.”
to reform. The win, he said, could be attri-
“The people have given us a secure buted in part to Mitsotakis “reaching
majority,” the centre-right politician out to centrist moderates” despite his
said in a televised address as jubi- uncompromising record on issues such
lant scenes unfolded outside his party’s as migration.
headquarters. “Major reforms will go The Harvard-educated former fin-
ahead with speed.” ancier, the scion of a political dynasty,
With more than 96% of ballots whose father, Constantine, was a prime
counted, New Democracy had 40.5% of minister in the early 1990s, hails from
the vote, a result that will allow Mitso- the liberal strand of a party whose
takis to control 158 seats in Athens’s The leader of Greece’s New Democracy party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, celebrates with his wife and children at the New Democracy HQ on views range from the ultra-nationalist
300-seat parliament. Sunday. Photograph: Louiza Vradi/Reuters to centre right.
Syriza, led by his main opponent, Though viewed as a foregone
Alexis Tsipras, clinched 17.8%, a rout ranging reforms. The pro-Russian, ultra-nationalist fakis, failed to make it into the house. conclusion, the election result comes
even worse than the 20% it achieved in In an unexpected development this Greek Solution party won 4.5, % while “The non-entry of MeRA 25 into days after a shipwreck off the country’s
elections last month. time, three hard-right parties and a Niki, a social conservative, religious parliament is the least of it,” Varou- coast left hundreds of migrants dead,
The social democrat Pasok came in populist leftist party, Course of Free- force set up to contest the May poll, fakis told reporters, saying what the prompting criticism of the response of
third with 11.9 %, followed by the com- dom, also succeeded in surpassing the squeezed through with 3.7%. left should be mourning was its failure a coastguard trained under his watch,
munist KKE party, which garnered 7.6 % 3% threshold to get into parliament, Tsipras, in power at the height to turn a 10-year battle of resistance and brought the leader’s tough stand on
– in both cases improved performances ensuring that it will be highly frag- of Greece’s debt crisis, when it nar- against austerity “into a progressive migration into sharp relief.
on their showings in May. mented. rowly averted bankruptcy and euro- front [that could] prevent the transfor- But neither that, nor a devastating
Mitsotakis, 55, had also triumphed The previously-unheard of Spar- zone ejection, described the unprec- mation of rage into a far-right current”. train crash that left 57 mostly young
in those elections, but failed to win an tans, established barely three weeks edented presence of the far-right bloc Referring to the fringe parties, Greeks dead in February, or the wire-
outright majority because of the elec- ago and backed by the jailed former as “especially dangerous to democracy Mujtaba Rahman, managing director tapping of political rivals and jour-
toral system of proportional represen- spokesman of the now defunct neo- and society” in a concession speech for Europe at political analysts Eu- nalists, ultimately dented Mitsotakis’s
tation. The pro-business leader called a Nazi Golden Dawn, won 4.7%. Its leader, acknowledging the need for a top-to- rasia, said: “This will make it the appeal.
second election with the aim of form- Vassillis Tsingas, said it would inject a bottom shake up of Syriza. most conservative parliament since the Analysts said the scale of New
ing a stable government that would “new style and ethos” into Greek polit- MeRA 25, led by the maverick restoration of Greece’s democracy in
allow him to push ahead with wide- ical life. former finance minister Yanis Varou- 1974. The significant support for Spar- Continued on page 14
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
14 World News

Continued from page 13 office and the desire of voters to see brought down unemployment, reduced In his second he has promised infrastructure nationwide.
Greece continue on a path of “nor- taxes, attracted foreign investors, and to raise salaries, increase the min-
Democracy’s victory over Syriza was mality” after the nation’s rollercoaster digitalised an outdated bureaucracy imum monthly wage to €950 (£815),
testimony to the economic growth wit- financial crisis. that had become synonymous with lower taxes further, restructure the
nessed during Mitsotakis’s first term in In his first term in office, Mitsotakis Greece’s resistance to modernisation. public health system and improve

‘We can’t rest or relent’: Pence reiterates

support of staunch abortion restrictions
midterms.
Ramon Antonio Vargas Pence on Sunday also evaded ans-
wering whether he would consider par-
Despite their unpopularity with the doning Trump if he won the 2024 presi-
American public, former Republican dency and his ex-boss was convicted of
vice-president and 2024 White House criminal charges pending against him.
hopeful Mike Pence doubled down “I don’t know why the other people
Sunday on his hard-line support of running for president in the Republican
staunch abortion restrictions, saying: primary assume that the president will
“We just can’t rest or relent until we be found guilty,” Pence said when asked
restore the sanctity of life.” if he would pardon Trump.
Pence – in an interview on Fox News Trump is facing federal charges that
Sunday – made clear that he viewed he improperly stored government se-
bringing the elimination of abortion “to crets at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida
the center of American law” as both after he and Pence were defeated by the
essential and “a winning issue” for the Biden-Kamala Harris ticket in 2020.
Republican party trying to wrest back Separately, he is also facing state
control of the Oval Office. charges in New York over hush
“I’m pro-life, and I don’t apologize money payments made to adult film
for it,” Pence boasted to host Shan- star Stormy Daniels after a sexual
non Bream, even though polling shows encounter that she has described
most Americans favor keeping the having with Trump. Presidential par-
termination of pregnancies legal in dons would not apply to state charges.
most cases. Republican presidential candidate and former vice=president Mike Pence speaks during a Celebrate Life Day rally outside the Lincoln The ex-president has pleaded not
The Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Memorial, on Saturday, in Washington. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images guilty to all charges against him.
Health Organization ruling that the US Trump’s presidency ended with his
supreme court handed down one year ash heap of history”. But he also sug- with North Korea, China and Iran. “I positions on abortion. supporters attacking the US Capitol on
ago Saturday in effect left it up to states gested it didn’t go far enough and reite- fully support that,” said Pence, a pro- Notably, Florida governor Ron 6 January 2021 and demanding – among
to decide whether abortion should be rated a call he had publicly made days fessed evangelical. DeSantis – the closest challenger to the other things – Pence’s execution by
legal within their boundaries. Many earlier for his fellow Republicans to Pence’s beliefs on abortion put him frontrunner Trump – signed a six-week hanging. At the time of the attack, the
states have taken steps to severely limit rally behind setting “a minimum stan- at stark odds with Trump, who has sig- ban in his state, which pundits predict pro-mob Trump incorrectly maintained
access to abortion, setting off a seismic dard” and implementing a nationwide naled that he regards a national abor- could be a problem for him in a general that Pence could have used his cere-
shift in how doctors are training to pro- ban on abortions beyond 15 weeks. tion ban as a vote-loser which he is un- showdown with Biden. monial role at a joint session of Con-
vide reproductive care to how far pa- The former US congressman, In- likely to support. Biden’s administration has taken gress certifying the results of the 2020
tients in need of attention must travel. diana governor, and vice-president to Many of the other declared candi- steps to widen access to abortion, and election to single-handedly undermine
Pence on Sunday hailed the Dobbs Donald Trump argued that failing to do dates for the Republican nomination promises to defend such procedures Biden’s victory.
decision as “a historic victory” which so would leave the nation more close- to challenge Democratic presidential helped Democrats keep a majority in
sent the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling estab- ly aligned with “western countries in incumbent Joe Biden’s re-election cam- the Senate as well as lose fewer House
lishing federal abortion rights “to the Europe” on the topic of abortion than paign have been less frank about their seats than projected during last year’s

Sudan paramilitary force reportedly makes

gains in Khartoum as fighting surges
demonstrating against a coup in 2021. It
Reuters was sanctioned last year by the United
States, accused of using excessive force
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support against protesters.
Forces (RSF) says it has seized the main Since late on Saturday, fighting has
base of a heavily armed police unit surged in the three cities that make up
and captured a large amount of mili- the wider capital – Khartoum, Bahri and
tary equipment, during heavy fighting Omdurman – as the conflict between
against the army in the capital Khar- the army and the RSF entered its 11th
toum. week.
In a statement on Sunday, the RSF Witnesses also reported a sharp in-
said it had taken full control of the large crease in violence in recent days in
base belonging to the Central Reserve Nyala, the largest city in the west-
Police southern Khartoum and posted ern Darfur region. The UN raised the
footage of its fighters celebrating inside alarm on Saturday over ethnic targeting
the facility, some removing boxes of and the killing of people from the Ma-
ammunition from a warehouse. salit community in El Geneina in West
It later said it had captured 160 Darfur.
pickup trucks, 75 armoured personnel Fighting has intensified since a
carriers, and 27 tanks. The Reuters news series of ceasefire deals agreed at talks
agency was not immediately able to led by the United States and Saudi
verify the footage or the RSF state- Arabia failed to stick. The talks were
ments. There was no immediate com- adjourned last week.
ment from the army or the police. Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan. The Rapid Support Forces claims to have captured a key policebase in Khartoum Photograph: AP The army, led by Abdel Fattah
The Central Reserve Police has been
deployed by the army in ground fight- ing in recent weeks. It had previously been used as a combat force in sev- eral regions and to confront protesters Continued on page 15
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

World News 15

Continued from page 14 earlier conflict that spread in Darfur army and the RSF last week around El sands fleeing over the border to Chad. Of those uprooted by the conflict in
after 2003, witnesses reported a marked Fashir, capital of North Darfur, which UN Human Rights spokesperson Sudan, nearly 2 million have been dis-
al-Burhan, has been using airstrikes deterioration in the security situation the UN says is inaccessible to humani- Ravina Shamdasani on Saturday called placed internally and almost 600,000
and heavy artillery to try to dislodge over the past few days, with violent tarian workers. for safe passage for people fleeing El have fled to neighbouring countries,
the RSF led by Mohamed Hamdan clashes in residential neighbourhoods. In El Geneina, which has been Geneina and access for aid workers according to the International Organi-
Dagalo, known as Hemedti, from neigh- A human rights monitor said at least 25 almost entirely cut off from communi- after reports of summary executions zation for Migration.
bourhoods across the capital. civilians had been killed in Nyala since cations networks and aid supplies in between the city and the border and
In Nyala, a city that grew rapidly Tuesday. recent weeks, attacks by Arab militias “persistent hate speech” including calls
as people were displaced during the There was also fighting between the and the RSF have sent tens of thou- to kill the Masalit or expel them.

Shipping emissions could be halved without

damaging trade, research finds
meetings, which will take place in
Fiona Harvey Environment London from Monday 26 June to 7 July,
editor research published on Monday by the
consultancy CE Delft found that CO2
Greenhouse gas emissions from ship- from shipping could be cut by between
ping could be halved by 2030 with- a third and a half this decade by using
out damaging trade, new research has already available techniques and em-
found, as countries prepare to meet to barking on innovative technology such
discuss a potential new tax on carbon as hydrogen.
produced by ships. There are ways of using oil-powered
Emissions from maritime transpor- ships more efficiently, including better
tation amount to about 3% of global maintenance of engines, cutting speeds
greenhouse gas emissions, and there slightly or optimising speeds to the sea
are few alternatives to the cheap, heavy conditions. Ships can be fitted with
and dirty diesel oil used by ships. modern forms of sails or “wind-assist”
But the sector has been slow to take technologies that take some of the
up emissions-cutting technologies, and strain from engines when the wind is
an increasing number of countries strong.
want to see a tax on shipping to en- If these were used, and another
courage shipowners to invest in emis- 5-10% of shipping were to begin to use
sions reduction and fund the rescue of experimental fuels such as hydrogen,
countries stricken by climate disaster. biofuels or forms of electrification with
The International Maritime Organi- solar batteries, then emissions from
zation, the UN division that governs A diesel-fuelled container ship sails through the Suez canal in Egypt. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/NASA/AFP/Getty Images fuel use could be cut by between 36%
global shipping, will meet in London and 47% within the next decade, com-
today for a fortnight of talks on decar- Japan, the world’s second largest proaches. I think it is a very construc- balanced. “It’s 50:50, it’s not certain that pared with 2008 levels.
bonising and the potential for a new ship-owning nation, has called for a tive suggestion and would agree with it will be agreed,” he said. Starting to use these methods now
levy of up to $100 (£78) a tonne of carbon tax of $56 a tonne of carbon President Macron’s description of the He urged all countries at the 175- will save money in the longer term.
carbon produced by ships. from 2025. logic of why it would be appropriate, member IMO to take the first steps University College London has esti-
A shipping levy was discussed by But the US is in a difficult position, and it’s something that the US will look towards a tax. “We need to show real mated that every year of delay in decar-
nearly 40 world leaders and the heads as president Joe Biden could face stiff at.” commitment on addressing the climate bonising this decade will cost the ship-
of global financial institutions last week resistance to any plans from a Repub- Kerry said: “I support some kind crisis, and these mechanisms would ping industry an additional $100bn to
in Paris. The summit for a new global lican-controlled Congress. Janet Yellen, of revenue raising on a broad basis, give the developing world confidence reach net zero by mid-century.
financing pact, hosted by French pres- the treasury secretary, signalled a cau- but this is not administration policy. that it’s no longer just time for talking, Campaigners said it was important
ident Emmanuel Macron, heard argu- tious welcome to the proposal at the I personally have supported pricing it’s time to act.” that the research had found cutting
ments from developed and developing Paris conference, and John Kerry said carbon, but I’m not advocating a tax Ryan would also like to see aviation emissions would not have an impact on
countries in favour of a tax, the reve- he was personally open to such ideas or a fee or anything at this point. Cer- taxed for the loss and damage fund. global trade, as previously countries in-
nues of which would flow to the “loss but this was not the official position of tainly the administration is not, but we “The great advantage there is on equity cluding Argentina, China, India, Brazil,
and damage” fund, to help countries the administration. have to find a way to find more conces- – it is the wealthier people who fly,” he Ecuador and Saudi Arabia had cited
suffering the ravages of extreme weath- Yellen said: “We’re very focused on sionary funding.” said. “One euro on a plane ticket would damage to trade as a reason for oppos-
er. the need to raise substantial resources Eamon Ryan, the environment give us €5bn a year. That’s not a small ing attempts to regulate carbon within
World Bank estimates show that a to address climate change and poverty minister of Ireland, who acts as the EU’s contribution to the effort we need to the IMO.
carbon tax on shipping could raise as reduction and other global challenges. lead negotiator on loss and damage, make.”
much as $50bn to $60bn a year. So we’re very open to innovative ap- said the IMO discussions were finely As countries prepare for the IMO

Met police name new suspect in Stephen

Lawrence murder
2012, but only as a witness. ness accounts of an unidentified fair- police officers lose their jobs can the
Jonathan Yerushalmy It took 19 years for Norris and haired attacker. public have confidence that failure and
Dobson to be convicted of Lawrence’s A statement given to the BBC from incompetence will not be tolerated and
The Metropolitan police have named murder and an inquiry into the police Scotland Yard said that “unfortunately, that change will happen,” said Lady
a major new suspect in the Stephen investigation said it had been “marred too many mistakes were made in the Lawrence.
Lawrence murder, admitting too many by a combination of professional initial investigation … the impact of The BBC investigation reportedly
mistakes were made in the initial inves- incompetence, institutional racism and them continues to be seen”. found that a relative of White tried to
tigation. a failure of leadership”. Dr Neville Lawrence, Stephen’s speak to the Met after the murder but
Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in
Matthew White, who died in 2021 a racist attack in south-east London in The BBC says it re-examined the father, said any further police inquiry the lead was not pursued. When the
aged 50, was named after a BBC inves- April 1993. Photograph: London Metro- case and found evidence that White should be conducted by another force. relative did speak to police, 20 years
tigation into the killing of the black tee- politan Police/EPA was central to the case. “They must be able to find a decent later, they said White had admitted
nager, who was murdered in a racist The BBC’s inquiry found that wit- police force who could investigate,” he being present during the attack.
attack in south-east London in April there were “five or six” attackers. nesses had said White told them he had told the BBC. Another witness reportedly told
1993. In 2011, White was named publicly been present during the attack on Law- Stephen’s mother, Doreen Law- police in 2000 that White had admit-
The BBC reported that five prime for the first time at the trial of David rence, evidence showed his alibi was rence, told the BBC that police officers ted being part of the attack.
suspects became widely known after Norris and Gary Dobson, who were false and police surveillance photos of who failed to investigate White should
the murder, but the public inquiry said given life sentences for the murder in White showed a resemblance to wit- face serious consequences. “Only when Continued on page 16
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

16 World News

Continued from page 15 significant and regrettable error”. to the Crown Prosecution Service in In 2020, the Metropolitan police de- case would be reviewed every two years
The force told the BBC that White 2005 and 2014. But on both occasions clared the murder investigation inac- and it would be reopened if new leads
The Met said the handling of the ap- was arrested twice over the murder, in prosecutors said there was no realistic tive and said there were no further lines were to emerge.
proach by White’s relative in 1993 was “a 2000 and 2013, and that files were sent prospect of conviction. of inquiry. At the time, the Met said the

Queen was asked to block Evgeny Lebedev’s

peerage, claims documentary
suade the PM to withdraw the nomi-
Pippa Crerar and Luke Harding nation.”
Lebedev has previously said he is
Government officials askedwhether the “not a security risk to this country,
late Queen would block Evgeny Le- which I love”, and recently issued a
bedev’s peerage because of concerns statement through one of the news-
that he could be a national security risk papers he owns, the Evening Standard,
due to his father’s links to the Putin in which he dismissed the “farcical”
regime, a documentary has claimed. speculation as Russophobia.
The aides contacted Buckingham Alexander Lebedev, a KGB spy
Palace in July 2020 to request that in London between 1988 and 1992,
the monarch intervene, which she was was sanctioned by Canada in May
constitutionally entitled to do, after 2022, together with 13 other Rus-
Boris Johnson decided to press ahead sian oligarchs, for allegedly facilitating
with the controversial peerage despite Vladimir Putin’s “senseless” full-scale
warnings from the intelligence agen- attack of Ukraine.
cies, according to the film-makers. The documentary claims that
The Palace is understood to have re- Canada’s decision to sanction Lebedev
fused, fearing that the irregular request was in part based on intelligence which,
would drag the Queen into contro- its makers understand, came from MI6,
versial political matters, and his ele- although the British government had
vation to the House of Lords as Baron not itself imposed sanctions on the
Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia went former KGB officer.
ahead that December. Boris Johnson insisted that Evgeny Lebedev be made a peer despite the concerns of the security service, according to Boris, the Lord & the Dennis Molinaro, a Canadian former
The Guardian first reported in Oc- Russian Spy, part of Channel 4’s Dispatches series. Photograph: Tim Rooke/Rex/Shutterstock national security analyst, told the film-
tober 2020 that the UK security ser- makers that he thought it likely Le-
vices had briefed the House of Lords “I’ve never heard of officials seeking a civil population a real say in the safety, low, because peers do not routinely see bedev “has some type of connection
Appointments Commission (Holac), meeting with Her Majesty to discuss their safety, of the country.” classified government documents. to the Kremlin and to Putin and is
which scrutinises the nomination of these issues,” he said. A spokesperson for Johnson told A letter from Lord Bew to Johnson worthy of being sanctioned in Canada
new peers, that Lebedev was viewed “We’ve got to remember these the Guardian: “Boris Johnson is fully the following month, which has been … It would be unusual for the Canadian
as a potential national security risk be- people [officials], they are aware of supportive of Lord Lebedev’s appoint- seen by film-makers, noted: “The secu- government to make a decision about
cause of his father, Alexander Lebedev, things which you and I, aren’t aware of. ment. As the government has pre- rity services have highlighted signif- sanctioning someone in the UK with-
a billionaire oligarch. Therefore they have knowledge. They viously confirmed, Holac and security icant potential risks in respect of the out having some information on that
Yet although they did not say that were really concerned about this. They advice was not overruled. The proper nominee’s familial links, and the poten- individual from the UK.
Evgeny himself was a risk, they did thought it was a major, major mistake.” process was followed. As this pro- tial vulnerability of any information ob- “It’s unclear why at the political
raise his father’s ongoing relationship Johnson has run into further gramme makes clear, there were no tained by the nominee from his asso- level [in the UK], nothing’s been done in
with the Kremlin, according to the trouble over Lords appointments since concerns about Lord Lebedev. ciation with UK officials or govern- terms of sanctioning him. My concern
Channel 4 documentary Boris, the being forced out from Downing Street “Lord Lebedev is a British citizen. ment.” would be based on Alexander’s history
Lords & the Russian Spy: Dispatches. last year, with just seven of the names He has invested in British journalism Dominic Cummings, the former No in the UK, that he has been engaged in a
Two intelligence officers were in- out of an original 16 on his controversial and has extensively criticised the Rus- 10 aide, said in March 2022 that he was level of influence operations in the UK.
vited into Downing Street to brief John- resignation honours list being awarded sian regime. It is not right to judge in the room when Johnson was told of “If you have politicians that can be
son in person about their security con- peerages. people on the basis of their country of “serious reservations” that “parts of the compromised by foreign states, it can
cerns in spring 2020, according to the Clark said of Lebedev’s peerage: birth or the sound of their surname. deep state” had about his plan to award lead to sharing of secrets. It could lead
documentary. Officials then took the “Every other prime minister by and This is a tiresome and xenophobic cam- Lebedev a peerage, and that Johnson to steering of policy in their interests.
unusual move of contacting the palace, large followed the conventions. Boris paign.” had reacted furiously. It could lead to a fracturing of an al-
it claimed. Johnson was quite determined that he However, Lord Bew, the chair of In a controversial break with liance that the west has depended on
Lord Clark, a Labour peer and was going to get his own way. Holac, confirmed last year that MI5 precedent, Johnson decided to press to maintain the current international
member of Holac who vetted Lebedev’s “And that threatened the whole raised security concerns when Lebedev, ahead with Lebedev’s proposed pee- order and system. If that goes, we don’t
nomination, said Johnson was “quite notion of conventions which make Brit- who has a minority stake in the Inde- rage regardless. He argued that, as there have much left.”
determined” to “get his own way”, that ish government work. And it was a real pendent and Evening Standard news- was no evidence linking Lord Lebedev Alexander Lebedev has been ap-
he “threatened” the usual conventions threat. He disregarded the constitution, papers but derives his wealth from his himself to the Putin regime or Russian proached for comment. Buckingham
and “tried to overrule – and did over- and that is a very dangerous position.” father, was proposed for a peerage in intelligence, it could go ahead. Palace declined to comment.
rule” security advisers and Holac. He added: “He tried to overrule – March 2020. A spokesperson for Lord Lebedev Boris, the Lord & the Russian Spy:
Speaking publicly for the first time and did overrule – the security advis- A further update that June then told the documentary makers: “He Dispatches will be broadcast on Tues-
about the nomination, he said that it ers and the House of Lords Appoint- concluded, according to the Sunday is familiar with the security advice day 27 June at 10pm on Channel 4 and
would have been unprecedented for No ments Commission. The whole point of Times, that any security risk associated and understands no such attempt was channel4.com
10 to ask for the Queen to intervene. [Holac] was actually to try and give the with the newspaper owner would be made by the security services to per-

Duchess of York recuperating after surgery

for breast cancer
“She was advised she needed to un- staff who have supported her in recent nage Cancer Trust and spoke at a Breast The duchess recorded an episode of
Nadeem Badshah dergo surgery which has taken place days.” Cancer Foundation gala in 2019. She vi- her new podcast, called Tea Talk, the
successfully,” her spokesperson said. He said she was also thankful to the sited a clinic in Poland in 2021 to ad- day before she went into hospital. The
The Duchess of York has had sur- “The duchess is receiving the best med- staff involved in the mammogram that dress the issue of women recovering episode, in which she talks about her
gery after being diagnosed with breast ical care and her doctors have told her identified her condition, which was oth- after receiving a mastectomy. diagnosis, will be broadcast on Monday.
cancer, her spokesperson has said. that the prognosis is good. She is now erwise symptom-free, “and believes her It is understood she was treated at NHS figures published in April show
Sarah Ferguson, 63, was given the recuperating with her family. experience underlines the importance the private King Edward VII’s hospital that three in every four people sur-
news at a recent routine mammogram “The duchess wants to express her of regular screening”. in London, which has treated members
screening. immense gratitude to all the medical The duchess is a patron for Tee- of the royal family for decades. Continued on page 17
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

World News 17

Continued from page 16 being diagnosed, but rates of breast survival index which looks at survival vival rate has risen 9% to 74.6%. The
cancer survival are much higher.NHS rates in 2020 compared with 2005. The one-year breast cancer survival index is
vive their cancer the first year after England published a one-year cancer index showed the overall first-year sur- about 97%.

Campaigners alarmed by rejection of

refugees using ‘safe and legal routes’
people are stranded in conflict zones
Diane Taylor like Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
A recent report from the inde-
Campaigners have raised concerns pendent chief inspector of borders
about the high proportion of refu- and immigration published in February
gees seeking to join family members 2023 was highly critical of the Home
in the UK who have their applications Office refugee family reunion process,
rejected by the government, despite finding that the “Home Office’s perfor-
using the “safe and legal routes” touted mance has actually deteriorated” since
by the home secretary. a previous inspection in 2019.
Data obtained via freedom of infor- The report said: “There was no evi-
mation request by the charity Ref- dence of any prioritisation of these
ugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and based on vulnerability. Applications sat
London (Ramfel) showed that 1,386 ref- in a pile and would only be expedited
ugee family reunion applications re- as a result of MP correspondence, the
jected by the Home Office were over- threat of litigation or sheer luck.” The
turned on appeal between 2019 and Home Office accepted the recommen-
2022. That represents 66% of the total dations of the inspection report.
of 2,106. A government spokesperson said:
Just 34% of Home Office decisions “The UK has a proud history of pro-
to reject family reunion visas – 720 – viding safe and legal routes for those
were upheld by judges. who need it. Our family reunion policy
Nick Beales, head of campaigning is just one of many, and has reunited
at Ramfel, said: “Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman both say safe and legal routes are available to refugees who want to come to the UK, but charity Ramfel many refugees with their family mem-
her colleagues insist people should use says such routes are barely available. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/AP bers.
‘safe routes’ to come to the UK, yet in “More than 46,200 family reunion
practice such routes barely exist. That and at risk of trafficking, exploitation, change during an evidence session at members such as a spouse and children visas have been granted since 2015,
the vast majority of these refusals are or kidnapping.” parliament’s home affairs committee under 18 to reunite with an adult who with over half issued to children. We
overturned on appeal, year on year, The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, last November, Braverman floundered has been granted refugee status in the consider every application very care-
raises serious concerns about the qual- and Braverman have repeatedly when questioned by her Conservative UK. fully; however, individuals do have the
ity of Home Office decision-making. pledged to stop asylum seekers travel- colleague Tim Loughton MP about how Government data shows that the right to appeal and often further evi-
“A further lengthy appeal process is ling across the Channel to the UK in few options were available to some ge- applications for refugee family reunion dence is submitted at appeal which
also not an adequate safeguard when dangerous small boats, insisting that nuine refugees. have reduced by 40% since 2019. wasn’t available at the initial decision.”
people applying to join family here alternative “safe and legal” routes are One of the few safe routes the Home Office refusal of genuine ref-
are often extremely vulnerable child- available to them. government makes available is refugee ugee family reunion applications can
ren, living in an unsafe environment But in a widely reported ex- family reunion. This allows close family be a matter of life and death when

After Roe’s overturn, Republicans target

trans rights using extremist rhetoric
tempt, the audience of hundreds seated
Chris Stein in Washington in its ballroom heard from several
major Republican presidential candi-
Americans are “frustrated and anxious”, dates, including, Florida governor Ron
lamented former vice-president Mike DeSantis, Senator Tim Scott, and ex-
Pence. The country is “in a precarious Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.
position” assessed North Carolina’s lieu- Their appearances came at an
tenant governor Mark Robinson. And inflection point for cultural conserv-
Glenn Jacobs, a former professional atives. A year ago, they had seen
wrestling star and current mayor of their long-held dream of overturning
Knox county, Tennessee, declared that Roe v Wade become reality when
“these are hard times”. the supreme court struck down the
What could be the cause of such precedent after 49 years, allowing
hardship? To the Republican presi- states to ban abortion. But in the realm
dential candidates who spoke in Wash- of LGBTQ+ rights, the movement re-
ington DC on Friday at a major ga- cently appeared to be on the back foot,
thering of the religious right, the cul- with congressional Republicans in 2022
prit was American society’s acceptance helping to pass a law that protected
of transgender people and the broader same-sex marriage nationwide, build-
LGBTQ+ community. ing on the supreme court’s creating of
The language and imagery is ex- the right in 2015.
treme and full of conspiracy theories. In response, groups opposed to
“We are facing the greatest chal- rights for the gay, lesbian and trans-
lenge this country has ever seen, cer- Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, speaks at the 2023 Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road gender communities have orchestrated
tainly in my lifetime,” Missouri senator to Majority Policy Conference in Washington, on Friday. Photograph: Shutterstock a well-funded backlash to the expan-
Josh Hawley said to the crowd of hun- sion of rights – one that is being fos-
dreds gathered for the Faith & Free- try”, one that tells Americans, among God made them is wrong.” race theory and open borders multicul- tered by extremists, has seen the ero-
dom Coalition’s annual Road to Major- other things: “That there’s no such “These new Marxists want to give turalism, and they are shoving it down sion of gay rights in many states across
ity Policy Conference. thing as male and female, that there are America a new religion. They want to our throats,” Hawley said. the US and includes a growing threat of
He described the challenge as “a not two genders. There’s 2,000 genders impose on us the religion of woke. It is Held in the hotel where Ronald
new Marxism that is rising in this coun- and it tells our children that the way the religion of transgenderism, critical Reagan survived an assassination at- Continued on page 19
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

World News 19

Continued from page 17 have seven bills allowing or required the Anti-Defamation League found that overseen a campaign against what he his speech, instead promising the Faith
the misgendering of transgender stu- at least 356 incidences of hate directed calls “woke ideology,” including a bill he & Freedom Coalition audience that
violence. dents, along with a handful of other at LGBTQ+ Americans occurred be- signed earlier this year that bans gender as president, he would implement his
“God hates pride. He hates pride measures targeting drag performances tween June 2022 and the past April, in- affirming care for minors, restricts its policies in Florida across the United
in January, February, March, April, May or school curriculum. All told, more cluding a mass shooting at a gay night- access for adults and allows the state States.
and in the month of June,” conservative anti-gay bills have been introduced in club in Colorado Springs that left five to temporarily remove trans children “We will fight the woke in the
preacher John Amanchukwu proc- state houses in 2023 than in the past people dead. from their parents. schools, we will fight the woke in the
laimed early in the event, in a reference five years, according to HRC. At the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Polls show DeSantis in a distant corporations, we will fight the woke in
to the LGBTQ+ Pride month that drew Earlier this month, pollster Gallup conference, speaker after speaker made second-place to Donald Trump, who the halls of government. We will never
laughs and cheers from the crowd in reported a drop in public support for clear their resolve to continue the cam- has maintained his lead in the Repub- ever surrender to the woke mob. We
Washington. same-sex relations, driven mostly by paign against trans Americans. lican primary field by offering voters a are going to leave woke ideology in the
The fallout has hit the trans com- Republicans. The issue’s approval now “We will end the gender ideology familiar mix of conspiracies, charisma dustbin of history where it belongs,”
munity in America particularly hard. stands at 64%, compared with 71% last that is running rampant in our schools, and promises to continue the policies DeSantis said.
This year so far, the Human Rights year, with only 41% of Republicans ap- and we will ban chemical and surgical he pursued during his first term as pres-
Campaign (HRC) says that 15 bans on proving – a decline of 15 percentage gender transition treatment for kids ident.
gender-affirming care for transgender points from last year. under the age of 18,” said Pence. DeSantis stayed away from at-
youth have been passed into law, as Last week, rights groups Glaad and As governor of Florida, DeSantis has tacking the Republican frontrunner in

New Jersey man flies 23m miles with lifetime

United pass ‘like a sultan’
miles.
Adam Gabbatt There have also been some less
enjoyable moments. He has witnessed
A US man who bought a lifetime pass four people die during his decades of
from United Airlines three decades ago flying, which Simple Flying calculated
has “lived like a sultan” ever since, ac- to be between “200 and 250 days a
cording to a report, flying multiples of year in the air” before the Covid-19 pan-
miles more than the Apollo 11 space- demic slowed worldwide travel.
craft in the process. “All heart attacks,” Stuker told the
Tom Stuker, from New Jersey, paid Post. “I’d met a couple of them, too. Just
$290,000 for the pass in 1990, according died right in their seats. The last guy
to the Washington Post, a decision he was up in business with me, Chicago to
said is the “best investment of my life”. Narita [Tokyo]. They covered him with
In the 33 years since then, Stuker, a blanket and put the seat belt back on.
69, has flown more than 23m miles “What else could they do? I guar-
(37m km) – Apollo 11, which carried Neil antee somebody in business was think-
Armstrong and his fellow astronauts ing: ‘Hey, if he’s not gonna eat his choc-
to the moon, clocked a mere 953,000 olate sundae, would you mind … ?’”
miles (1.5m km) – and visited more than Still, Stuker seems set on contin-
100 countries. uing flying. He and his wife have been
Stuker’s mileage in 2019 alone “cov- on “more than 120 honeymoons”, ac-
ered more than six trips to the moon”, cording to the Post. As for the environ-
the Post reported. That year Stuker mental impact, Stuker seemed unfazed
took 373 flights, covering 1.46m miles. in an interview with GQ in 2020.
Had he paid cash for the flights, it “I’m not adding to the footprint,”
would have cost $2.44m. Stuker said. “The plane is going to fly
In 2019 alone, Tom Stuker flew 1.46m miles, which would have cost him $2.44m had he not used his lifetime pass. Photograph: Eduardo
The real boon, however, appears to whether I’m on it or not. It would be
Muñoz/Reuters
have been the frequent flier miles that much more relevant if I was flying in
Stuker has accrued along the way. In tomer to do so, and the points have Crystal cruises, gourmet meals from his brother’s house”, the Post said, and a private jet. Those are the people who
2009 Stuker passed the 5m mile (8m opened all kinds of doors. Perth to Paris,” said the Post report, “once cashed $50,000 worth of Walmart can help the environment much more
km) mark, according to Simple Flying, “Stuker has lived like a sultan on written by famed US sportswriter Rick gift cards in a single day”. Stuker also than I can if they flew commercial.”
passing the 10m mile mark in 2019. United miles ever since – lavish hotel Reilly. won a charity auction to appear in a
He was the first United Airlines cus- suites all over the world, weeks-long He has also used the miles to “redo Seinfeld episode by bidding 451,000 air

UK aid should not fund private hospitals in

developing countries, says Oxfam
be halted by the UK government, the Oxfam said investments by these paid, in at least one case for over two care system in the world – be they
Phillip Inman charity said. agencies – known as development years,” the report said. public or private – have isolated inci-
Oxfam’s Sick Development report finance institutions (DFIs) – into private In India, private hospitals funded dences of shortfalls in care.
Private hospitals in India and Kenya is a critique of the millions of pounds healthcare providers in low and middle- by BII were accused of denying people “We take the Oxfam allegations ex-
accused of refusing people on low in- taken from the UK aid budget and income countries should be redirected treatment, “even though they had tremely seriously. We investigate all
comes vital healthcare, or holding them invested into foreign businesses and into strengthening public health sys- government health insurance cards en- such incidents whenever they come
hostage until bills have been paid, ben- programmes in poor countries via tems “to help those living in poverty titling them to free care”. to light and have an established com-
efit from UK government investment British International Investment (BII), to access healthcare”. It said many of Much of the report focuses on the plaints mechanism for anyone to raise
funds, according to a report by Oxfam. which is owned and managed by the the countries receiving development activities of BII, which is the UK’s DFI. It matters of concern.
Investments worth hundreds of Foreign, Commonwealth and Devel- money for healthcare had become “go- has a mission to invest in private sector “We continue to encourage Oxfam
millions of pounds by government- opment Office. to destinations for health tourists”. organisations in developing countries to share any evidence they hold of
backed agencies are used to facilitate The report found that the UK The report found “dozens of cases”, to boost growth and achieve the United these alleged cases so that we can acce-
the “impoverishment and even the government was one of several, in- from a BII-funded hospital chain in Nations development goals. lerate our investigations.”
imprisonment of the very people [the cluding those of France and Ger- Kenya, of patients being imprisoned The agency said all its activities The World Bank’s DFI, the Inter-
private hospitals] are supposed to be many, and international groups like the until they paid medical fees. are directed towards achieving these national Finance Corporation, said it
helping”, said the development charity. World Bank that backed investments This included a secondary school goals and supporting private healthcare was always concerned by “improper
A succession of incidents that in by wholly or part state-owned agencies student who was held hostage in hos- businesses to “strengthen the quality healthcare delivery” in hospitals where
some cases have left patients with large into private healthcare groups, them- pital for 11 months. “There have also and accessibility of healthcare in ways it invested, but “private sector-led inno-
debts shows the policy of investing in selves often owned by large US private been several cases of the hospital refus- which improve the lives of millions”.
private healthcare is flawed and should equity groups. ing to release dead bodies until fees are A spokesperson said: “Every health- Continued on page 20
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

20 World News

Continued from page 19 to people who were pushed into po-

verty by health fees of up to $36,000
vations such as digital health solutions (£29,000), the report said. “There were
can allow providers to help augment also cases of emergency patients, in-
health systems’ capacity and capabil- cluding a stab victim, not being treated
ities and reach people who are vulner- until relatives turned up with cash.”
able, poor or living in hard-to-reach The report said BII-funded private
rural areas”. hospitals were found charging “astro-
Oxfam said the evidence from its nomical fees for maternity care”. In
research in India, Kenya and Nigeria one hospital in Nigeria, the fee for an
was that private hospitals failed to “uncomplicated birth” was the equiv-
honour promises to accept accident alent of 12 years’ wages for the poor-
and emergency cases and the profit- est 10% of the population. A caesarean
motive meant cases of financial or med- section cost the equivalent of 24 years’
ical abuse were covered up. wages, the report said.
The charity’s senior health policy Marriott said: “Every second, 60
adviser, Anna Marriott, who inves- more people are pushed into poverty by
tigated many of the claims made catastrophic health costs, and instead
against individual hospitals, said more of helping to tackle the problem this
than 90% of BII’s health investments way of spending UK aid is fuelling it.
were “out-of-sight and unaccountable, “At a time of spiralling need and
made via fee-charging and profit- decimated aid budgets, it’s more crucial
hungry private equity funds mostly than ever that any development fund-
domiciled in tax havens”. Oxfam found that a British International Investment-funded hospital in Kenya had imprisoned patients until they paid medical fees. ing for health is spent as effectively as
An inquiry by the all-party inter- Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images possible to reach those without access
national development committeeinto to healthcare.”
the UK’s use of DFIs is due to be pub- “This is far more than just a case of a found cases of exclusion or exploitation tions,” said Marriott.
lished next month. few bad apples. Wherever we looked we and some appalling human rights viola- Oxfam’s local representatives spoke

Texas airport worker dies after being sucked

into Delta jet engine
worker’s death late on Friday. The NTSB
Ramon Antonio Vargas has since joined the investigation into
the worker’s death and could release a
A worker at San Antonio’s international preliminary report with more details in
airport died after being sucked into a the coming days.
jet’s engine late on Friday, officials said. While the full circumstances of
A source briefed directly on the case Friday’s case weren’t immediately
told the Guardian on Sunday that it ap- known, at least some aspects of it called
peared the worker had “intentionally to mind the 31 December 2022 death of
stepped in front of the live engine” Montgomery, Alabama, airport worker
on the jet and that police were inves- Courtney Edwards.
tigating that aspect. But the cause of Investigators who examined Ed-
the worker’s death hadn’t officially been wards’s death concluded that she and
determined on Sunday, and the source her colleagues had been warned repeat-
spoke on the condition of anonymity edly about the dangers of going near a
because the investigation into the case jet which had landed that night and was
was still pending. left running for a cooldown period. But
The worker’s death occurred at the mother of three walked in front of
about 10.25pm as a Delta Air Lines jet one of the engines and was killed.
which had just arrived from Los An- Meanwhile, the federal Occupa-
geles was taxiing to an arrival gate, US tional Health and Safety Adminis-
National Transportation Safety Board tration (Osha) later determined a safety
(NTSB) officials said in a statement. breach had led to Edwards’s death and
Officials added that the worker – Worker’s death occurred about 10.25pm as a Delta Air Lines jet which had just arrived from Los Angeles was taxiing to an arrival gate. issued a fine of more than $15,000 to
whose identity has not been publicly Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA the jet’s operator, an American Airlines
released – was ingested into the one subsidiary named Piedmont.
engine which the plane in question had Delta and other airlines, employed the shown the worker’s death was “unre- on supporting our employees on the It was too early to know on Sunday
on at the time. worker who was killed. In a statement lated to Unifi’s operational processes, ground and ensuring they are being what Osha may have concluded about
“The NTSB has been in contact with provided to the local news outlet KENS, safety procedures and policies”. The taken care of during this time,” Unifi’s Friday’s death at the San Antonio air-
Delta,” the federal agency’s statement Unifi described itself as “deeply sad- statement did not elaborate on whether statement added. “Out of respect for port.
added. “They are in the information ga- dened by the loss of [the] employee … officials suspect anything other than an the deceased, we will not be sharing any
thering process at this point.” during a tragic incident”. accident had happened. additional information” at this time.
Unifi Aviation, whose workers pro- The company also made it a point “Our hearts go out to the family of San Antonio firefighters and police
vide ground handling operations for to say that its initial investigation had the deceased, and we remain focused officers were the first to respond to the

Governments advised to cut public spending

or raise taxes to curb inflation
ments. Governments that embarked on in a press release alongside the annual saying higher taxes and lower spending
Anna Isaac Closing the gap between govern- spending cuts or tax rises would reduce report. This final drive would also be could “contain financial instability risks
ment income and expenditure would business and consumer demand and be the “hardest” however, in the fight to in several ways”.
Governments must raise taxes or cut “calm inflation”, according to the a critical part of the “last leg” in the cool the sharp rate of price growth. “It would reduce the need for mone-
public spending after central banks annual report from the Basel-based battle to tame inflation, which despite Amid concerns that the UK econ- tary policy to tighten further. It would
kept interest rates too low for too long organisation, which advises 63 central an intense run of interest rate rises omy is already heading into a reces- mitigate the risk that the sovereign
in the face of higher inflation, according banks covering 95% of global economic by central banks around the world is sion after a succession of sharp inter-
to the Bank of International Settle- output. far from over, the institution warned est rate rises, the BIS took a tough line, Continued on page 21
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

World News 21

Continued from page 20 head of the monetary and economic

department at the BIS in a press release.
itself becomes a source of financial The institution, informally called
instability,” it added, saying it would the central bank of central banks, often
also “create more headroom should speaks out about the role of fiscal
public resources be called upon for policy, which is set by governments,
crisis management in concert with cen- versus monetary policy, including key
tral banks”. interest rates, set by central banks.
Jeremy Hunt’s March budget “The role of fiscal policy will be crit-
loosened government purse strings ical. To do its part, fiscal policy needs
slightly despite freezing personal to consolidate. Consolidation would
income tax thresholds that will in- help tackle both the near-term and
crease the number of higher rate tax- the longer-term challenges. In the near
payers over the next five years. term, consolidation would calm infla-
Conservative MPs are unlikely to tion by reducing pressure on produc-
support higher taxes when millions tive capacity,” the BIS report said.
of working households already face It added that there must be a bal-
higher mortgage bills and rising prices ance that must be maintained by tax
in the shops. and spend, and interest rates in order to
The Taxpayers’ Alliance has called retain public faith in economic manage-
for further spending cuts, but in oppo- ment.
sition to the argument put forward “The privileged powers of fiscal and
by the BIS, said the funds generated monetary policy ultimately depend on
should be used for tax cuts. The Bank of England in London. UK inflation has remained stubbornly high despite a number of interest rate rises. Photograph: Pietro an implicit social contract underpinned
If efforts fail to drastically reduce Recchia/Sopa Images/Shutterstock by trust in the state. People consent
the rate of inflation in the short term to paying taxes because they trust the
the impact for economies could be costs of quenching it,” the BIS said. Recent calls for major government so-called macroeconomic policy such government to use the proceeds for the
devastating, the bank said, warning Both the government and the Bank interventions in areas such as finan- as decisions made by central govern- public good. Similarly, people accept
that although inflation had come down of England, as in other economies, have cial support for British mortgage hold- ment or central banks can determine the use of money as a means of pay-
from recent historic highs in many faced criticism for failing to tame infla- ers affected by higher monthly pay- long-term economic growth. ment because they trust the central
economies, there was still a serious risk tion effectively. ments came after “decades of reliance “Overcoming this ‘growth illusion’ bank to preserve its value,” the bank
posed by a prolonged crisis. Still, while they have a key role to on monetary and fiscal policy as de fallacy and finding a coherent policy said.
“The longer inflation is allowed to play in slowing price growth, there are facto engines of growth”, according to mix requires a change in mindsets,
persist, the greater the likelihood that it limits to their roles going forward, the the report. recognising the limitations of stabi-
becomes entrenched and the bigger the BIS said. This has created a false sense that lisation policies,” said Claudio Borio,

English Heritage said no to Dutch loan

request for ‘fragile’ Vermeer painting
scientists”.
Matthew Weaver It concluded with reference to the
history of The Guitar Player: “The tem-
English Heritage refused to lend one of porary homecoming of this exceptional
its most precious paintings to a block- painting for the first time in over 225
buster Vermeer exhibition, claiming it years would be of great significance to
was too fragile to travel, despite expert this exhibition.”
assurance that the risk of damage was But still English Heritage refused. In
“negligible”, documents reveal. an email last September it said: “Clear-
Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum tried to ly this exhibition is a landmark event
gather all of Johannes Vermeer’s 37 sur- and will be a marvellous opportunity
viving paintings in one place for the to study and appreciate so many works
largest ever exhibition of work by the by Vermeer in one place, with all your
Dutch master. scholarship supporting their presen-
The Guitar Player at London’s Ken- tations. In an ideal world we would
wood House was one of only nine love the The Guitar Player to be among
known Vermeer paintings not to appear them. However, we have to be guided
at the show, which ended earlier this by our basic duty of care of the painting
month. and our conservators, after very careful
Now correspondence released after and serious consideration, regard the
a freedom of information request re- risk of its fragile condition too great to
veals the lengths gone to by the justify lending it.”
Rijksmuseum’s curators to try persuade The novelist Tracy Chevalier, the
English Heritage, which runs Kenwood, The Guitar Player by Johannes Vermeer (c.1672) at Kenwood in London. Photograph: Jim Holden/English Heritage author of the international bestseller
to temporarily part with the painting. Girl with a Pearl Earring, based on a
At the start of the charm offen- cluded that “the risk of damage was involved scanning the painting first to cerned about vibration when it is han- Vermeer painting of that name, said: “It
sive last July senior figures from the negligible”. map its vulnerability. dled as well as during transport.” was a shame not to see as many Ver-
organisation, including its chief execu- She recommended specially From the start of the negotiations, The Dutch curators said they meers as possible in one place, but I
tive, Kate Mavor, were treated to break- adapted transport crates that hold the English Heritage was reluctant to agree understood these concerns but pleaded understand why some institutions said
fast at the exclusive Wolseley restau- painting using wire rope isolators to to the loan. In an email last June it ex- with the charity to reconsider. An email no.
rant in Mayfair by a Rijksmuseum dele- protect it against any bumps in transit. plained that its Vermeer was “unlined” last August said: “We would not have “I suspect they might have some re-
gation led by its director, Taco Dibbits, The Rijksmuseum said it had used and sat on an “original strainer”, which asked you to consider this if the occa- morse now because the Rijksmuseum
to discuss the potential loan. the same technique to safely move makes the canvas weak and brittle. It sion was not so exceptional.” exhibition was such a success. I think
The Rijksmuseum even commis- Rembrandt’s prized Night Watch paint- conceded that the painting was loaned It said that other reluctant Vermeer they missed a great party.”
sioned a report by “the world’s leading ing on a touring show of the Neth- to the National Gallery in 2013 during owners had allowed their fragile paint- Chevalier said that the Royal Collec-
expert [on] vibration mitigation” to try erlands. It also offered to commission refurbishment to Kenwood House, but ings to travel for the “first (and last) tion also refused to lend Vermeer’s The
to convince English Heritage that the Kracht to oversee the operation. other than this it has “always refused it Vermeer retrospective in the Rijksmu- Music Lesson because it was also too
painting could be safely transported to A video was sent to English Her- for loan because of its inherent vulne- seum”. fragile to travel.
Amsterdam using the latest technology. itage and its painting conservators rability”. It also said that as part of the loan She added: “The risk of damage may
In a “crate assessment for very fra- showing how art-moving specialists It added: “The rope isolators sound the Kenwood Vermeer would be ex- be negligible but a painting is always
gile paintings”, Prof Kerstin Kracht, of transported a fragile painting by Piet really interesting but this wouldn’t amined and scanned by a “interdis- safer on a wall not being moved.”
Berlin’s Technische Universität, con- Mondrian from The Hague to Paris. It affect our decision – we are also con- ciplinary research team of curators and
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

22 Opinion

Sometimes your therapist needs their own

therapist – and that’s a good thing
second-guess Dan’s need but rather

P
Gill Straker and Jacqui Winship wait until he could articulate it him-
self. By allowing Dan’s ambivalence,
sychotherapists often need and being clear that his choice to stay
to embark on their own or go was his own, Mia facilitated Dan
therapy to understand staying and continuing his journey to-
themselves more deeply wards intimacy.
and to unpack more specif- This frustrating push and pull dy-
ically how their own issues and rela- namic is common in significant rela-
tional patterns affect their work. tionships and can provoke partners
All forms of psychotherapy share into withdrawing or coming up too
in common a significant relationship close.
between patient and therapist, with So, a clinical supervision of her own
research strongly indicating that the helped Mia to take a broader view of
quality of this relationship is crucial to what was happening between her and
the treatment. Dan. This enabled Mia to let Dan know
Relational styles, attachment pat- that she thought it was her moving
terns and blind spots closer that had led him to move away.
The importance of clinical super- Dan in turn was freed to think about
vision for psychotherapists is illu- whether he did indeed wish to move
strated by Mia*, who walked into super- away or not and what was involved in
vision with us looking frustrated and both choices.
harassed. She was feeling irritated and While friendships and love rela-
frustrated with one of her patients, a ‘Therapists’ understanding of their own unconscious contribution to the therapeutic relationship is crucial to the treatment.’ Photograph: tionships are not therapy relationships,
young man called Dan who desperately PeopleImages/Getty Images/iStockphoto the patterns that emerge in therapy are
wanted a relationship that was close often the same as those that emerge
and intimate, but had been unable to shied away from the vulnerability that tives. need for him to come to therapy or his in other significant relationships. As
achieve one. intimacy requires. As he drew closer to Experiencing the phobia while own. In her desire for Dan to move for- relational dynamics are co-constructed,
Dan was charming and intelligent, someone, he became ambivalent and treating it ward, Mia had inadvertently co-created therapists’ understanding of their own
and there was no shortage of potential gave out confusing messages until his Naya* empathised with Mia’s fru- the very circumstances that led to Dan’s unconscious contribution to the thera-
partners. Yet with every partner to date, partners became progressively more stration. However, looking from the need to flee significant relationships in peutic relationship is crucial to the
as soon as things started to deepen Dan frustrated, fleeing the relationship, or outside, she was also able to notice that the first place. treatment. Supervision can play a vital
found fault with the relationship and prompting him to do so. Mia and Dan were now experiencing For Dan to progress, Mia would role in illuminating how these blind
doubted his choice. Until recently Mia Mia reported that Dan seemed intri- Dan’s commitment phobia in the ther- need to step back to make a space for spots may be affecting the therapeutic
had felt that she and Dan were making gued and interested in exploring his apy itself rather than just talking about Dan to discover his own wishes and process.
good progress. childhood history. He was keen to it. desires outside the muddle he always Prof Gill Straker and Dr Jacqui Win-
They had unpacked the attachment understand more, especially how it af- Mia agreed with Naya’s feedback unconsciously felt in significant rela- ship are co-authors of The Talking
style of his parents and how his mother fected his current relationships. In fact, and the fact that therapy is potentially tionships. Cure. Gill also appears on the pod-
was fragile and yet demanding. His dad he appeared so motivated that he fre- most effective when the problem out- Mia’s own relational patterns were cast Three Associating in which rela-
had a chronic illness and mum looked quently asked for extra sessions. Mia side the consulting room gets enacted such that she often automatically tional psychotherapists explore their
to Dan to both practically and emo- was usually able to oblige by fitting him in the room. However, she was con- adapted to the wishes of others. This blind spots
tionally fill in the gaps in her life. He into cancellations. After several consec- cerned that Dan was so triggered that had led her to offer Dan a regular extra
was what we call a “parentified child” in utive weeks of these requests, Mia of- he might flee before this opportunity session in line with his previous re- Patterns that emerge
that he often had to parent his mother fered Dan a regular extra session that to understand his relational difficulties quests. However, in doing so she was in therapy are often
had become available. To her surprise, could be processed. blinded to the fact that she had taken
rather than being able to lean on her.
If he did try to express his own needs Dan not only declined the offer but Mia acknowledged that she had the initiative away from Dan, leading to
the same as those that
and vulnerabilities, his mother became also indicated that perhaps he had got missed an important element in Dan’s confusion in Dan because of his partic- emerge in other
more unsettled or fragile and increased what he needed from the therapy, and dynamic, namely that he is prone to ular attachment history.
significant
her demands for support. Dan thus it might be time to wind down. Mia feeling as if he is at the service of Supervision with Naya allowed Mia
learned that it was best to keep his was understandably frustrated given others just as he was at the service of to understand her own dynamics in relationships
vulnerability to himself. her own commitment to the work and his mother. Mia’s offer of a regular ses- tandem with Dan’s.
It was no wonder then that in rela- her desire to find a way forward for Dan sion had inadvertently triggered in Dan This lessened her frustration, and
tionships with significant others he to achieve his own relationship objec- a confusion as to whether it was Mia’s she was able to hold back and not

It doesn’t matter if a girl identified as a cat

(she didn’t). The issue is how post-truth
politics exploits it
would be entirely forgiven for think- be true. Because before long, the leader first. At no point did anyone identify as recording sounded troubling, and the

I
Nesrine Malik ing it was real. “Catgirl: today’s cul- of the opposition, a minister of the a cat. A short exchange between school- wrong approach to such discussions.
ture of affirmation is failing children,” crown and our prime minister himself girls and a teacher was recorded by one But no one ever identified as a cat, or
apologise in advance, because wailed the Telegraph. Nick Ferrari on had, as per the customary terminology of the girls and then posted on TikTok, was criticised for doing so.
this column is about something LBC hosted a whole phone-in segment for such controversies, “waded in”. A after which it went viral, was picked up But it doesn’t matter. Because it’s
that didn’t happen. Too much is about the story. The Mail unveiled an spokesperson for Keir Starmer said: “I by Fox News and the rightwing press, too late. Once these accounts are re-
actually happening in the world “investigation” that revealed this was think children should be told to identify and then blessed into respectability by ported wrongly in the public domain
that deserves our attention, but not an isolated incident, but part of a as children.” Downing Street issued a mainstream media and politicians. It there is an entire ecosystem that is
in this instance, it’s worth pausing, and larger phenomenon where children are statement to the Telegraph. Kemi Bade- was a heated debate, during which one built to amplify them and in doing so,
then tracing, how fiction becomes fact. identifying as cats, dogs, dinosaurs and noch requested a snap Ofsted inspec- of the girls cited a conversation with keep whatever the moral panic of the
By now, you may have heard that a “furries”. tion, on the basis that a recording was another girl about identifying as some- day is in the headlines. They are usual-
girl in a school in Rye in East Sussex You may have a good nose for non- circulating of “a teacher acting inappro- thing other than a girl, such as a cat. ly on vexatious, complicated subjects,
said she was a cat, that she “identified” sense, and may have thought that this priately regarding her pupils’ beliefs “I said, how can you identify as a cat around which feelings run high. And so
as such, and that others who disagreed story sounded wildly implausible, but about sex, gender and a fellow pupil when you are a girl.” She is scolded by even if it turns out they are not entirely
with her were chastised by a teacher. If even that would not have saved you who claimed to identify as a cat”. the teacher, whose tone and language
you have come across this story, you from eventually having to consider it to Let’s get the facts out of the way definitely to my ears from the short Continued on page 23
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Opinion 23

Continued from page 22 are caught in the bandwagon spokes:

mangled and traduced.
true in their detail, people can dismiss Sarah Lyall, who once covered
that on the technicality that they are London for the New York Times, de-
true in their essence. scribed the Daily Mail’s unofficial motto
But how we report such matters as “What fresh hell is this?”, and that
is linked to how we respond to them. aptly describes how we are primed to
News as simply high-pitch bad vibes react with hostility to those who do not
will trigger high-pitch bad responses. conform to a strict identity and eco-
This time it was about transgenderism. nomic profile. You must not need, you
But it is, and has been for a long time, must not be different, you must not im-
about a number of other threats that we agine or demand new ways of being, all
are relentlessly sold. while being reassured that we are out
Cat child didn’t happen, just as of the woods, that Britain is in fact, an
Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and exceptionally tolerant and liberal place.
Glory were not axed from what was de- Which it is, when it is allowed and
scribed as the BBC’s “Black Lives Matter encouraged to be. When it’s not, that
Proms”. Nor was Cambridge University paradise of tolerance may, to some,
“forced to drop white authors”, or a seem to be all around, but to others it’s
Muslim bus driver allowed to throw constantly just out of reach. That state
his passengers out so he could pray, calls to mind the anguish of Mephis-
or an Iraqi caught “red-handed” with a topheles, Satan’s emissary to Doctor
bomb awarded thousands of pounds in Faustus, when he is asked how he can
compensation for being kept in custody ‘Kemi Badenoch requested a snap Ofsted inspection, on the basis of ‘a teacher acting inappropriately regarding her pupils’ beliefs about be damned when he is on Earth. “Why,
too long. sex, gender and a fellow pupil who claimed to identify as a cat’.’ Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA this is hell,” he says. “Nor am I out of
I could go on, but there simply isn’t it.” Nor are we. But we could be. Which
enough space. There was enough in all and away from more critical areas such It helps that these stories are cheap all that matters is how the situation is why it’s important to learn about the
these examples for them to withstand a as the political and economic deci- to produce. They are mostly recycled is used to advance an image, to reap things that never happened.
cursory look, for them to be regarded in sions relating to our standard of living, copy and skimming the froth from political advantage, to shape a national Nesrine Malik is a Guardian col-
the final fact count as perhaps not tech- and even the very education system social media. It helps that they sell well: mood. umnist
nically true, but true enough essen- that troubles the media because of a fear always has a hot market. But the costs of this are high. Not Do you have an opinion on the issues
tially. nonexistent cat child. That very same And all this diversion and drama just to our ability to negotiate inevit- raised in this article? If you would like to
The problem isn’t anything as trite system faces the crises of poor recruit- suits our politicians. Boris Johnson, as able changes and accommodations submit a response of up to 300 words by
as an epidemic of “fake news”. Half- ment and teachers quitting in high prime minister, jumping on a rightwing needed in a modern, compassionate so- email to be considered for publication in
truths and full lies are more concerned numbers due to low pay, high work- crowd-pleasing story about the BBC, ciety, but to the people at the heart our letters section, please click here.
with diverting political consciousness loads, and the fact that social care, spe- declared “we are not embarrassed to of these distortions and fabrications –
and consumption to the trenches of cial needs and mental healthcare re- sing Rule, Britannia!”. The facts are not immigrants, racial and sexual minor-
identity and lifestyle preoccupation, sources are all but vanishing. what matters as the bandwagon rolls: ities, disabled benefit claimants. They

The Guardian view on Prigozhin’s mutiny:

Putin’s problems aren’t over
given; others subsumed into the regular

Y
Editorial military, as planned. The disintegration
of Wagner forces could be helpful to
evgeny Prigozhin called Ukraine’s counteroffensive, as could the
off his march on Moscow Russian leadership’s distraction. More
on Saturday every bit as critical may be this episode’s impact on
abruptly as he had begun the morale of Russian troops and rela-
his rebellion the previous tions among its ruling clique. The deal,
day. But the Wagner group’s armed and Mr Prigozhin’s survival, symbolise
mutiny, however short-lived, has dimi- Mr Putin’s weakness.
nished Vladimir Putin in the eyes of On Saturday, the Russian leader
both the elite and ordinary Russians. drew parallels with wartime events in
The mercenaries had taken over the 1917 that led to “destruction of the army
Russian southern military command in and the state”. Others cited 1991: Mik-
Rostov-on-Don, a logistical hub for the hail Gorbachev saw off a coup, but nei-
Ukraine invasion, before racing towards ther he nor the Soviet Union lasted the
the capital. Mr Putin was forced to warn year. Few assume the same fate for Mr
of “a deadly threat to our state” and Putin. But his grip on his country has
Moscow’s mayor urged residents to stay never faced greater threat. In the last
at home. 18 months he has been dealt two great
While Mr Prigozhin’s uprising looks blows entirely of his own creation: his
like a desperate act to stop his private failed attempt to take Kyiv and bring
army being incorporated into regular Ukraine to heel, and now the rebel-
forces, some wonder if broader intra- ‘Yevgeny Prigozhin attacked not only the execution of the war in Ukraine but its very rationale.’ Prigozhin in Bakhmut, Ukraine, 25 May lion by his own protege, with forces
elite conflict lies in the background. 2023. Photograph: Press service of Prigozhin/UPI/Shutterstock he enabled. The uncertainty and humil-
The Wagner chief had become increa- iation may make him more dangerous.
singly brazen in his attacks on the de- tary leadership. A day later – after Mr countries. Mr Prigozhin set up troll fac- brows, given the atrocities of which While Mr Prigozhin’s uprising appears
fence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and com- Putin accused him of treason – he chal- tories, too, and was indicted in the Wagner forces have been accused in to be over, its consequences are only
mander in chief, Valery Gerasimov. In- lenged his master outright for the first US over interference in the 2016 US Ukraine, Syria, Central African Republic starting to unfold.
itially there were suggestions that he time. election. Wagner was judged to allow and other nations. He presumably rea- Do you have an opinion on the issues
might be acting with the approval of Mr Prigozhin’s hubris was already Russia “plausible deniability”, and its lised that he could not amass enough raised in this article? If you would like to
the Kremlin. But on Friday, Mr Pri- astounding. His unlikely rise saw him founder himself disclaimed the group, support. But he has not been punished submit a response of up to 300 words by
gozhin attacked not only the execution evolve from petty thug to a thug on suing media who had alleged connec- – yet – and was said to be going to Be- email to be considered for publication in
of the war but its very rationale, before a grand scale, via a hotdog stand and tions before acknowledging his role last larus, supposedly following the medi- our letters section, please click here.
claiming that Russian forces had killed military catering contracts. Wagner, a September. ation of its leader, Alexander Luka-
scores of his men in a rocket attack and network of companies, is believed to His claim that he stood down his shenko. The fighters who supported
demanding revenge on the “evil” mili- have sent mercenaries to about 30 men to prevent bloodshed raised eye- the uprising will reportedly be for-
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
24 Opinion

AI-powered personalised medicine could

revolutionise healthcare (and no, we’re not
putting ChatGPT in charge)
pretations or inappropriate recommen-

F
Mihaela van der Schaar dations. It could have disastrous impli-
cations if it was used in fields such as
rom the soaring costs of mental health.
US healthcare to the recur- If AI is used to diagnose some-
rent NHS crisis, it can one and gets it wrong, it needs to be
often seem that effective clear who is responsible: the AI devel-
and affordable healthcare is opers, or the healthcare professionals
impossible. This will only get worse as who use it? Ethical guidelines and regu-
chronic conditions grow in prevalence lations have yet to catch up with these
and we discover new ways to treat pre- technologies. We need to address the
viously fatal diseases. These new treat- safety issues around using large lan-
ments tend to be costly, while new ap- guage models with real patients, and
proaches can be hard to introduce into make sure that AI is developed and
healthcare systems that are either resis- deployed responsibly. To ensure this,
tant to change or fatigued by too much our lab is working closely with clini-
of it. Meanwhile, growing demand for cians to make sure that models are
social care is compounding funding trained on reliably accurate and un-
pressure and making the allocation of biased data. We’re developing new ways
resources even more complicated. to validate AI systems to ensure they’re
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often safe, reliable and effective, and tech-
glibly posed as the answer for services niques to make sure the predictions
that are already forced to do more with and recommendations generated by AI
less. Yet the idea that intelligent com- ‘AI technologies could support doctors, nurses and other health professionals to improve their knowledge and combine their expertise.’ can be explained to clinicians and pa-
puters could simply replace humans Illustration: Deena So’Oteh/The Guardian tients.
in medicine is a fantasy. AI tends not We must not lose sight of the
to work well in the real world. Com- be customised to reflect an individual’s could help to find those groups within prove their knowledge and combine transformative potential of this tech-
plexity proves an obstacle. So far, AI unique medical and lifestyle profile. the existing trial data. Creating data their expertise. It could also help with nology. We need to make sure that we
technologies have had little impact on Using AI-powered personalised models of individual patients, or “dig- conundrums such as patient privacy. design and build AI to help health-
the messy, inherently human world of medicine could allow for more effec- ital twins”, could allow researchers to The latest AI technologies create what care professionals be better at what
medicine. But what if AI tools were de- tive treatment of common conditions conduct preliminary trials before em- is called “synthetic data”, which reflects they do. This is part of what I call
signed specifically for real-world medi- such as heart disease and cancer, or rare barking on an expensive one involving the patterns within data, allowing clini- the human AI empowerment agenda
cine – with all its organisational, scien- diseases such as cystic fibrosis. It could real people. This would reduce the cians to draw insights from this, while – using AI to empower humans, not to
tific, and economic complexity? allow clinicians to optimise the timing time and investment it takes to create replacing all identifiable information. replace them. The aim should not be
This “reality-centric” approach to AI and dosage of medication for individual a drug, making more life-enhancing Clinicians and AI specialists are to construct autonomous agents that
is the focus of the lab I lead at Cam- patients, or screen patients using their interventions commercially viable and already considering the potential for can mimic and supplant humans, but to
bridge University. Working closely with individual health profiles, rather than allowing treatments to be targeted at healthcare of large language models develop machine learning that allows
clinicians and hospitals, we develop AI the current blanket criteria of age and those they will help the most. such as ChatGPT. These tools could humans to improve their cognitive and
tools for researchers, doctors, nurses sex. This personalised approach could In a complex organisation such as help with the paperwork burden, rec- introspective abilities, enabling them to
and patients. People often think the lead to earlier diagnosis, prevention the NHS, AI could help to allocate re- ommend drug-trial protocols or pro- become better learners and decision-
principal opportunities for AI in health- and better treatment, saving lives and sources efficiently. Our lab created a pose diagnoses. But although they makers.
care lie in analysing images, such as making better use of resources. tool during Covid to help clinicians have immense potential, the risks and Mihaela van der Schaar is the John
MRI scans, or finding new drug com- Many of these same techniques can predict the use of ventilators and ICU challenges are clear. We can’t rely Humphrey Plummer professor for ma-
pounds. But there are many oppor- be applied in clinical trials. Trials some- beds. This could be extended across the on a system that regularly fabricates chine learning, AI and medicine, and
tunities beyond. One of the things our times falter because the average re- health service to allocate healthcare information, or that is trained on director of the Cambridge Centre for AI
lab studies is personalised or precision sponse to a drug fails to meet the trial’s staff and equipment. AI technologies biased data. ChatGPT is not capable of in Medicine at the University of Cam-
medicine. Rather than one-size-fits-all, targets. If some people on the trial re- could also support doctors, nurses understanding complex conditions and bridge
we look to see how treatments can sponded well to treatment, though, AI and other health professionals to im- nuances, which could lead to misinter-

I found comfort in grisly true crime stories.

Giving them up brought me peace
turnal hermit. During the day I would gendered violence – and the true crime

I
Mollie Goodfellow sleep, and at night I would lie in bed genre has thrived on this.
and watch scary movies where horrible The more I processed some of the
vividly remember being a child, things happened to female actors, fake- things I’d been through, the more I
sitting on the edge of my par- slaughtered in buckets of corn syrup. took refuge, weirdly, in true crime con-
ents’ bed late in the even- It kind of made sense, then, that in tent. I found it oddly comforting to
ing, and watching Crimewatch. the big true crime boom of 2014 – when listen to some of the grimmer stories of
Reconstructions of violent crimes Serial, the podcast that reinvigorated murdered women. I’d spend afternoons
I didn’t understand, usually against the genre, was released – I climbed lying in bed catching up on my favou-
women, played out on screen. I remem- wholly on board. Documentaries, pod- rite crime podcasts as a twisted form
ber sombre presenters such as Nick casts, long reads, YouTubers – I couldn’t of self-care, with overly eager presen-
Ross and Kirsty Young pleading for stop consuming content about horrible, ters trying to toe the line of respect-
information as grainy CCTV footage grotesque crimes. fully sharing the tragic circumstances
showed victims being followed through I am loth to start a sentence with “as of someone’s untimely death while not
the streets at night, and dour police a woman”, but since puberty I, along seeming too playful.
detectives talking through timelines of Screengrab from HBO trailer of documentary The Case Against Adnan Syed. The murder with most of my peers, have expe- If Netflix had a new documentary
the hours before someone was killed. of Hae Min Lee was a case brought to global attention by the Serial podcast. Photograph: rienced quite a few unpleasant things out, I would be on it, bingeing episodes
This fascination with the morbid HBO, The Case Against Adnan Syed (2019) Official Trailer at the hands of other people. It’s highly in quick succession. My sick little mind
flowed easily into horror movies. After likely that most of us know at least would scroll endlessly through Reddit
finishing school, I had my first major pital stay. It took a while for me to the house apart from to go to ther- one woman who has been the victim of
depressive episode, involving a hos- get back to myself; I didn’t really leave apy, and I soon became a strange noc- sexual assault, domestic abuse or other Continued on page 25
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Opinion 25

Continued from page 24 It had the usual premise – two peppy kies. Like me. the ad had lifted a spell I’d been under sort of numbing cream, a buffer I could
American women covering the story I was disgusted. It’s slightly shame- for so many years. Suddenly, I no longer put between me and my experiences.
threads, unpicking the great mysteries of a murdered or missing woman for ful that this, of all things, was what found an uncomfortable comfort in di- Letting go of true crime allowed me to
of the true crime world, like the mur- about an hour. I enjoyed it for a while turned me off true crime, but my sto- gesting other people’s horror stories. let go of my own things – and finally
ders of JonBenét Ramsey and Meredith and then, part of the way through, mach was turned by the idea of these Many months later, the domino find some peace.
Kercher. True crime had become my when they would usually play an ad for two women monetising the content I effect of the highly publicised murders Mollie Goodfellow is a freelance
hobby. a completely unrelated item that they had been so hungry for. From then on, of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, journalist and comedy writer
For years, I used true crime as a would try to make relevant (“Does hear- I went pretty much cold turkey. Pod- Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa made Do you have an opinion on the issues
crutch to position some of the worst ing the topics covered in this podcast cast episodes that automatically down- me feel and think about things I’d gone raised in this article? If you would like to
things I’d been through in a wider con- keep you awake at night? You should loaded on to the app went unlistened through differently. I felt ashamed of submit a response of up to 300 words by
text. But it was never enough – I was try this new mattress, for a perfect to. I no longer wanted to hear it. I the way I’d been sucked in by the cult email to be considered for publication in
always searching for more: more pod- night’s sleep”, etc), they started glee- wish I could say I had taken a prin- of true crime, which uses painful events our letters section, please click here.
casts, more news, more documentaries. fully plugging their own merch. T-shirts cipled stance in no longer listening – such as these as fodder. I had relied on
A few years ago I tried a new podcast. and jumpers for their fellow crime jun- but it was more like a trigger word in the painful experiences of others as a

Young adults pay heaviest price for Britain’s

exploding mortgage timebomb
80s, when interest rates peaked as high

A
Richard Partington as 17%. But their mortgage costs were
still often more affordable than today.
void avocado toast. Homeowners then benefited from av-
Ditch the flat white. And erage house prices of below £60,000,
turn your back on the about three times annual income, as
lure of Instagrammable well as from tax breaks on home loan
holidays. Over the past payments through the government’s
decade, millennials have been ordered now defunct mortgage interest relief at
to scrimp, save and toil to get on the source policy.
property ladder. Cutting out small lux- With house prices averaging
uries won’t have helped much in the £285,000 today, or about eight times
pursuit of home ownership. But for the average income, smaller interest
those who managed to buy a home in rate hikes than in the past will have a
recent years, there is a fresh insult. more painful impact. In the past decade
In Britain’s exploding mortgage alone house prices have risen by more
timebomb, young adults are paying the than two-thirds, meaning more recent
heaviest price – exposing yet again Brit- buyers are likely to have larger debts,
ain’s widening generational gulf. As the leaving them severely squeezed.
Bank of England whacks up interest The good news this time around
rates to save the nation from the high- is that mass home repossessions and
est inflation rates since the early 1980s, the pain of negative equity for mil-
it is those who hadn’t even been born lions is unlikely, thanks in part to
then who carry the heaviest burden for Placards on houses in Stoke-on-Trent. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images tougher mortgage regulations intro-
bringing it down. duced since the 2008 financial crisis.
According to the Institute for Fiscal – believe the Tories deserve to lose the demographics – are owned outright. For a far more even impact across so- However, higher interest rates will add
Studies, the increase in monthly mort- next election. north Norfolk, east Devon, the Staf- ciety. Today, entrenched and worsening almost £16bn to mortgage payments in
gage payments awaiting 20- to 40-year- For all the headlines of the past fordshire Moorlands and Castle Point inequalities have blunted the power of aggregate, forcing borrowers to make
olds will be about twice as large as the fortnight about mortgage misery and in Essex, the exploding mortgage crisis monetary policy. vast cuts elsewhere to keep a roof over
rise for those over the age of 60. For financial pain, it’s worth remembering is nowhere near as acute. By compar- Back in 1989, almost 40% of house- their heads.
millions more who rent, the prospect that a sizeable chunk of society will see ison, less than a quarter of homes are holds owned a home with a mort- For the economy at large, the scale
of home ownership is drifting further little or no impact – having either al- owned outright in cities such as Liver- gage, and were therefore exposed to of belt tightening required will prob-
from reach, as their (typically older) ready paid off their mortgage, or had pool and Newcastle, with the smallest rising costs, according to the Reso- ably tip the country into recession. In
landlords either sell up, or inflate rents the wealth or good fortune never to proportions in London, where property lution Foundation. Today, as more older turn, should more businesses fail, job
at the fastest rate on record. have had one. prices are highest. people own outright, and more young- losses mount and wages stagnate, it
As with each of the last three big More households in England and This isn’t to say that older gener- er adults rent, the share of households will be the working-age population and
economic shocks to hit Britain – from Wales are in this position than have ations will escape entirely, nor that eve- with a mortgage is below 30%. those just entering the workforce for
the 2008 financial crash to the Covid a mortgage, with as many as 8.1m, or ryone born after 1982 is equally af- Millennials are half as likely to own the first time who face the most hard-
pandemic and cost of living crisis – the about a third of the total, being mort- fected. The bank of mum and dad a home at the age of 30 as baby ship.
nation’s younger generations have been gage free. Instead, the full force of has become a more important route boomers were, after a more than ten- There is a clear political oppor-
sold down the river, forced to endure the Bank’s toughest rate-hiking cycle in to home ownership than hard work fold increase in house prices since the tunity. After the parade of economic
stagnant wages, crumbling job oppor- decades is reserved for the 7.4m with a for many, while most under-30s living early 1980s – leaving the average first- shocks borne mostly by younger gener-
tunities, the rising cost of education, mortgage, alongside 5m private renters, away from their parents do so in pri- time buyer requiring a deposit 10 times ations, it is time for politicians of all
the dismantling of generous company and 4.2m social tenants. vate-rented homes. larger than four decades ago. parties to wake up and tackle the yawn-
pension schemes and housing penury. In some parts of the country more However, past episodes of the cen- Older generations might have faced ing divide. Britain’s worsening problem
It is hardly any wonder that millennials than half of homes – largely in weal- tral bank cranking up interest rates considerably higher interest rates with generational inequality will persist
– broadly defined as those aged 25 to 40 thier rural or suburban areas with older to crush inflation would have had during the inflation-prone 1970s and without action.

Australia’s mental health system transforms

people into ‘things’. It is causing harm
them. Many of us have experienced harm they cause. People can die on av- families, carers and supporters. Speak- selves. Many live, mourning lives lost.
Chris MacBean, Caroline Lam- harm in the mental health system, as erage up to 30 years younger, in part, ing to the Guardian, Lorna Downes, one That is why the recent launch of the

F
bert, Flick Grey and others either consumers or survivors, or as because of the medications they are of the co-authors of a report commis- Not Before Time: Lived Experience-Led
families, carers and supporters. forced to take. The harms are broad- sioned by the state’s health depart- Justice and Repairreport has resonated
or as long as mental health Victoria’s mental health laws, and er than this, though, with our mental ment, highlighted the impacts of being with so many Australians. In fact, we
systems have operated, Australia’s more broadly, remain incom- health institutions and policies – like all rendered invisible to the system. When have heard it is resonating with other
there has been an uncertain patible with our human rights obli- institutions and policies – being both a the system neglects or encroaches on country members at the UN.
boundary between “help- gations. Forced treatment, seclusion product and producer of colonisation. people’s lives, it is often families who
ing” people and “harming” and restraint remain lawful despite the Often lost in discussion of harm are bear witness to trauma or bear it them- Continued on page 26
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

26 Opinion

Continued from page 25 closure, as well as a commitment to a

better future.
There is unresolved harm that sits We are conscious of the different
at the heart of the mental health experiences and types of harm that
system. This harm doesn’t just stem consumers and survivors, and fami-
from underfunding, it grows out of sys- lies, carers and supporters experience.
tems that were not designed by the Therefore in both recommendations
people who use them. No wonder it we recommend that the restorative jus-
is harmful. Without being clear about tice process and apologies are dealt
these harms, we are bound to repeat with separately, starting with con-
them. sumers and survivors. People may iden-
In our full report we detail harms, tify as being in multiple of these
including how people stop being groups, and therefore could participate
people when they enter the mental in both.
health system. We draw on evidence In Victoria, we had a royal commis-
from one person who said: “I can sign sion into our mental health system. It
a contract. I can run a business. I articulated where we need to go. But
can have a family. But I am consi- we’re stuck. It’s because we don’t know
dered incapable of making decisions where we’ve come from and where
about my treatment, and I am strapped we are. Governments and the mental
to a bed.” Another co-author said in health sector committing to restorative
the report that the system transforms justice and apologising will help us find
people into “things”, and that “you can our way, together.
easily do things to things”. ‘Harm doesn’t just stem from underfunding, it grows out of systems that were not designed by the people who use them.’ Photograph: Chris MacBean, Caroline Lam-
Not Before Time isn’t about vili- Thianchai Sitthikongsak/Getty Images bert, Flick Grey, Simon Katterl, Lorna
fying governments or the mental health Downes, Kerry Hawkins, Tim Heffernan
sector. It is about coming together to the government and sector. Often experience. to lead, communities establish their and others all contributed to the Not
acknowledge harm, so that we can pro- policies, laws and problems become We recommend this process is own community-based processes, such Before Time report
vide opportunities for voice and where “owned” by professions or bureaucrats. undertaken by the forthcoming Mental as the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Crisis support services can be
possible repair. Restorative justice takes “the problem” Health and Wellbeing Commission. It Commission. reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11
We recommend that the Victorian and brings it back to the community, would eventually produce a report Our second recommendation is 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659
government establish a restorative jus- where it belongs. There, we can solve that is provided to parliament. But that following the restorative justice 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; Men-
tice process, where those harmed by the problem – in this case harm from other agencies or states and terri- process, the Victorian government, sLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond
the mental health system are able the mental health system – together, tories may take the lead; harm is not with an invitation to the mental health Blue 1300 22 4636
to safely share their experiences, and while centring the focus, decision-mak- contained to Victoria. As we note in sector, apologises to people with lived
where possible have responses from ing and expertise on those with lived our report, where governments fail experience. This will, for some, provide

In the face of mutiny, humiliated Putin didn’t

know what to do. We should worry about
what he’ll do next
within the regime that this rebellion

W
Samantha de Bendern revealed will have to be dealt with
through tighter repression and even
hen something more control of the media. A whipping
incomprehensible up of patriotic frenzy and a few – prefer-
happens, it can be ably foreign – scapegoats would wrap
reassuring to fall things up nicely. Prigozhin’s 25,000
back on old clich- men, who were prepared to march
es. Churchill’s famous description of against the regular army, will also need
Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mys- to be managed.
tery, inside an enigma,” summarises Add to these the approximately
what many Russia analysts feel after 32,000 demobilised ex-Wagner troops
the aborted armed rebellion led by who were put on standby through Pri-
Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin gozhin’s networks when the rebellion
this weekend. While answers remain began, and the Russian state now has
elusive, some elements seem impor- to deal with close to 60,000 angry
tant to help navigate through the fog. men with combat experience, some
There are powerful arguments that of whom are still armed and most
Vladimir Putin has been weakened by of whom have criminal backgrounds.
Prigozhin’s armed rebellion. For the first Some, particularly those who feel be-
time in 23 years, many Russians will trayed by Prigozhin, may be lured into
have woken up on Saturday morning the regular army. The others will pose
wondering whether their president was a threat to the social order unless they
still in control. Then, hours after a ‘For the first time in 23 years, many Russians will have woken up on Saturday morning wondering whether Vladimir Putin was still in are brought under control through fear
visibly shaken Putin announced that control.’ The Russian president addresses the nation. Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP or violence. The future looks bleak.
traitors would be punished, charges At the time of writing, Wagner post-
against Prigozhin were dropped, and which has stagnated on the Ukrainian gangs in which each mafia boss holds so gozhin’s gloves came off. This suggests ers are being torn down throughout
his armed men, who allegedly shot front for months, was unable – or unwil- much leverage over the other that the that until the last minute Prigozhin Russia. But the fact that Prigozhin is
down a transport plane and at least ling – to stop Wagner’s advance through balance of power can easily tip either was unsure who Putin would back and still alive suggests he still has a role to
two helicopters (the exact number is swathes of Russian territory. way. The fact that Prigozhin is still alive that he expected political support from play. In Belarus, he will be safely out of
still unconfirmed), killing a number of Putin’s unspoken contract with the indicates that whatever he holds over the top. This never materialised, either Putin’s way but close enough to be of
highly skilled military pilots, were given Russian people is that in exchange for Putin is so damaging, and so well pro- from politicians or top army brass. This use. It is unlikely that Alexander Luka-
security guarantees. democratic freedoms he gives them tected by unseen allies, that it is safer is a defeat for Prigozhin. Moreover, his shenko, the Belarusian dictator, played
This indicates that Putin had to stability and security. This contract has for Putin to allow him to live – for now. escapade smoked out any traitors in a significant role in the deal cut be-
make concessions to Prigozhin, and in been broken. In a democracy all of In the days leading to Wagner’s Putin’s entourage. In this sense, Putin tween Prigozhin and Putin. Russian
a country where a social media post the above would spell political death. rebellion, Prigozhin multiplied his comes out stronger in the short term. sources argue that Aleksey Dyumin,
criticising the army carries a potential But Russia is neither a democracy nor harangues against the defence estab- There are two factors Putin will the governor of Tula oblast where
prison sentence, the gap between the a functioning state. The only way to lishment, but was careful to spare have to contend with if he is to conso- Prigozhin’s army stopped, and Nikolai
rich and powerful and ordinary citi- make sense of what happened in the Putin. After the president’s address to lidate this small victory. Patrushev, the powerful head of the
zens has been unashamedly confirmed past few days is to view events through the nation, in which he firmly came In a dictatorship that likes to pre-
in full public view. The Russian army, the prism of a feud between criminal down on the side of the military, Pri- tend to be a democracy, the fractures Continued on page 28
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

28 Opinion / Finance

Continued from page 26 serving Putin and his protege from rusian convicts or otherwise coerce short term, it is now likely that a humi- more western support as Russia teeters
being tainted by association with Pri- Belarusian men into the war. The liated but rebooted Putin will renew at- on the brink between chaos and abso-
Russian security council, were the chief gozhin. If he really does end up in number of men may not be enough to tacks with more intensity. lute dictatorship.
negotiators. Dyumin is a former Putin Belarus, Prigozhin may be the cata- make serious incursions into Ukraine If round one of Prigozhin v the Rus- Samantha de Bendern is an asso-
bodyguard and viewed by many as a lyst to finally drag Belarusian men into but would force the Ukrainians to rein- sian establishment went to Prigozhin ciate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia
potential successor to Putin who incar- the war without Lukashenko having to force their northern border, thus taking on Saturday morning, Putin had made a Programme at Chatham House and
nates loyalty, youth and fresh blood. send his regular army, something he away men from the frontlines in the comeback by the afternoon. Dog eats a political commentator on LCI tele-
Lukashenko will have obediently has resisted in spite of pressure from east and south. dog but while they hold each other vision in France
done what his master ordered as the Putin. Imagine a Wagner group re-regis- While a successful rebellion would by the tail, neither has a clear advan-
frontman for the negotiations, thus pre- tered in Minsk, able to recruit Bela- have served Ukraine, at least in the tage. Either way, Ukraine will need even

Firm owned by Britishvolt buyer raided by

Australian authorities
discussed building a similar project in
Anna Isaac Australia, in Geelong.
Britishvolt was once valued at close
A company owned by the buyer of to £800m, but collapsed worth just a
Britishvolt has been raided by the tiny fraction of that sum, with one valu-
Australian authorities, throwing the ation by a bidder earlier this year plac-
future of UK battery-making further ing it at £32m.
into doubt. The raid by the Australian author-
Britishvolt, based in Blyth, ities may also raise questions for the
Northumberland, and which the UK major audit company EY, which is a
government lauded for its potential creditor for Britishvolt, but also acted
role in British battery production and as its administrator, after it chose Col-
UK-built electric vehicles before it fell lard’s Recharge company as the pre-
into administration, was bought by the ferred bidder for the battery-maker.
Australian entrepreneur David Collard The planned location for a revived
earlier this year. factory build, which is estimated to
On Friday, the Australian federal require £3bn to complete, in Blyth,
police attended the North Geelong of- Northumberland was considered an
fices of Scale Facilitation, a company important boost for jobs in the area. In
founded by Collard who is also its December 2020, when the British prime
chief executive, according to the Aus- minister, Rishi Sunak, was chancellor,
tralian, which first reported on the he tweeted support for Britishvolt’s site
raid. They wore blue gowns and gloves claiming it would bring 8,000 jobs to to
and focused on the seizure of IT and An artist’s impression showing a design for a £3bn electric vehicle battery plant planned for construction in Blyth, Northumberland, which region.
communications equipment. was resurrected after Collard made his bid. Photograph: Britishvolt/PA Scale Facilitation has been ap-
Staff at Scale Facilitation have also proached for comment by the Guar-
gone unpaid in recent weeks, according tation, which was founded by Collard Recharge Industries, a subsidiary tric cars at scale. It faces fierce compe- dian. A spokesperson for the company
to recent reports in the same news- and which now owns parts of Bri- of Scale Facilitation, bought Britishvolt tition and growing subsidies from the told other newspapers in a statement:
paper, causing concern about its cash- tishvolt. SaniteX also provides services after it fell into administration in Jan- far larger government resources and “We have and will continue to fully
flow. to Scale Facilitation and some of the uary this year, reviving hopes for UK- domestic markets of the US, EU and cooperate with the Australian Taxation
The police were acting on behalf entrepreneur’s other businesses. made batteries and future car produc- China. Office and now the AFP. We deny any
of the Australian tax office, which has A spokesperson for Scale Facili- tion in the country. The timing was also sensitive for wrongdoing and will continue working
been investigating another business tation said that it denied any wrong- The development risks coming as a Collard, who has been seeking fi- with our legal and other advisers to
owned by Collard, SaniteX. It shares doing, in a statement issued to news- blow to the UK’s efforts to find a foo- nancing to help revive the Britishvolt defend any matters arising from these
North Geelong offices with Scale Facili- papers. thold in the global race to build elec- endeavour in recent weeks. He had also discussions.”

Aston Martin agrees deal to make electric

vehicles with US firm Lucid
Aston Martin products, all the way from Lawrence Stroll, the executive chair of
Mark Sweney hypercars to sports cars and SUVs,” said Aston Martin, the fashion billionaire
Roberto Fedeli, Aston Martin’s chief who took over the troubled company
Aston Martin has struck a deal with the technology officer. in 2020. “Along with Mercedes-Benz, we
US firm Lucid to start making “ultra- Mercedes-Benz holds a 9.4% stake now have two world-class suppliers to
luxury high-performance electric ve- in Aston Martin as part of a long-term support the internal development and
hicles” from 2025. strategic deal that includes technology investments we are making to deliver
The British luxury carmaker, whose sharing and representation on the Brit- our electrification strategy.”
losses more than doubled last year to ish carmaker’s board. Last month, Geely, one of
almost £500m, has struck a cash and Industry analysts have for several China’s largest independent carmakers,
shares deal valued at £182m in which years queried how smaller carmakers doubled its stake in Aston Martin to
Lucid will take a 3.7% stake in London- such as Aston Martin would cope with 17%.
listed Aston Martin. the expensive move to electric-po- In February, Nissan announced it
The carmaker, which sold 6,400 wered vehicles and increasing demands was to take a stake of up to 15% in Re-
luxury vehicles last year and has spent for digital technology without being nault’s flagship electric vehicle unit as
heavily on new models, said it would An employee polishes the bodywork of an Aston Martin DB11 at the carmaker’s plant in owned by a larger car group, as is the part of a new long-term deal designed
select powertrain components from Gaydon, Warwickshire. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images case with VW-owned Bentley or BMW- to repair relations in the troubled 24-
Lucid for initial and certain future bat- owned Rolls-Royce. year alliance between the two global
tery electric vehicle (BEV) models. with Lucid, would help drive its plan to opment, this [deal with Lucid] will “The proposed agreement with automotive makers.
The company said the deal, which launch its first BEV in 2025. allow us to create a single bespoke Lucid is a gamechanger for the future Aston Martin shares rose nearly 9%
involves a minimum spend of £177m “Combined with our internal devel- BEV platform suitable for all future EV-led growth of Aston Martin,” said on Monday morning.
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Finance 29

Primark owner upgrades profit outlook as

inflation fuels jump in sales revenue
viously guided they would be “broadly
Mark Sweney in line” with the £1.4bn made in the pre-
vious year.
The owner of Primark and food brands ABF said its food business con-
including Twinings has upgraded its tinued to perform strongly with sales
profit forecast for this year as sales in its grocery business up by 13% to
revenue jumped thanks to inflation-fu- £1.05bn, while its ingredients operation
elled price increases and as shoppers rose by 10% to £547m.
bought summer clothes. “We have seen strong, constant cur-
Associated British Foods, which rency sales growth in grocery and ingre-
also owns brands including Ovaltine dients largely driven by the necessary
as well as a sugar business, said that pricing actions taken earlier in the year
group sales rose by 16% to £4.7bn in the to offset input cost increases,” the com-
three months to 27 May. Sales at Pri- pany said.
mark were up by 13% to nearly £2bn. Prices remain high and are still
The cut-price clothing retailer said rising fast, adding to pressure on strug-
that sales growth at Primark was “sup- gling households. Between April and
ported by higher average selling prices”, May, food and drink inflation slowed
as retailers continue to push through from 19% to 18.3%, still among the fast-
price rises amid rises in production and est rates in decades.
supply chain costs. ABF said its sugar business, which
“As well as seasonal clothing and reported a 51% year-on-year rise in
accessories, sales in health and beauty quarterly sales to £665m, is “pro-
products were particularly strong,” the Primark reported strong sales in seasonal clothing and accessories, with health and beauty products ‘particularly strong’. Photograph: gressing well” in the UK after it was
company said. “Sales in our flagship Luke MacGregor/Reuters forced to secure alternative sources of
city centre stores have continued to be supply due to a production shortfall.
good.” ABF said it expected full-year ad- justed operating profits to be “mod- erately ahead” of last year, having pre-

Jeremy Hunt to ask UK regulators to

investigate firms exploiting price rises
representing the sector, saying there
PA Media had been a “regular stream of price
cuts” by supermarkets despite “ex-
Jeremy Hunt will ask industry regu- tremely tight” profit margins.
lators what they are doing about any Official figures last week showed
companies exploiting rampant infla- consumer prices index inflation failed
tion by raising prices. to ease as hoped in May, remaining at
The chancellor will meet the 8.7%.
Competition and Markets Authority The Bank of England subsequently
(CMA), and the watchdogs for raised interest rates to a 15-year high in
energy, water and communications on a shock move designed to tame infla-
Wednesday. He will press them on tion.
whether there is a profiteering problem Sunak on Sunday urged cash-
in their sectors and what they are doing strapped Britons to “hold our nerve”
about it, according to a Treasury source. over high interest rates as he stressed
The meeting with the CMA, Ofgem, “there is no alternative” to stamping out
Ofwat and Ofcom comes after the Bank inflation.
of England suggested some retailers He said “inflation is the enemy”
were increasing prices or failing to pass as he defended the Bank of England’s
on lower costs to consumers as a way latest rate rise, even as it piled pressure
of increasing profit margins amid stub- on mortgage holders.
born inflation. The chancellor last week agreed
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, measures with banks aimed at cooling
has warned retailers about pricing “res- Criticism is growing that supermarkets and firms in other sectors are raising prices to boost profit margins under the cover of high the mortgage crisis, including allowing
ponsibly and fairly”, saying household inflation. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA borrowers to extend the term of their
weekly shopping bills had “gone up far mortgages or move to an interest-only
too much in the past few months”. were talking to the food industry about sure on consumers”. industry backlash, with the British plan temporarily.
Hunt also confirmed that ministers “potential measures to ease the pres- Their comments prompted an Retail Consortium, the trade body

HMRC fined 184,000 low earners for not filing

return despite no tax owing
ceived so little that they had no tax to year (the latest for which full figures are est. Some people were left facing fines cause she was employed full-time and
Rupert Neate Wealth corres- pay in the first place. available) for failing to complete a self- of thousands of pounds, which would paid tax automatically from her salary.
pondent HM Revenue and Customs handed assessment tax form on time. take them many years to pay. “I thought this was a mistake so I
out fines to 184,000 people paid less Many of these people, already One of the people, Diana Cabral, disregard the notice. I ended up paying
More than 180,000 people on low in- than £12,500 a year – the level under in severe financial difficulties, misun- 61, from Chichester, said she was fined more than £2,000,” she said. “I’ve ap-
comes were fined for not filing a tax which people were then not subject to derstood the initial fine and were then £100 for not filing the self-assessment
return last year, even though they re- income tax – in the 2020-21 financial subjected to further fines and inter- form, which she had disregarded be- Continued on page 30
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
30 Finance

Continued from page 29 Dan Neidle, a tax campaigner and

founder of TPA, said: “We believe the
pealed several times without success. law and HMRC practice should change.
I was poor before, I’m even more poor Nobody filing late should be required to
now. I don’t have any savings to pay the pay a penalty that exceeds the tax they
fine. I had to make an agreement to pay owe.”
£20 a month. It is going to take years.” “People are falling into debt and,
Most of the 32 million taxpayers in one case we’re aware of, becoming
in the UK are not required to submit homeless as a result of HMRC penal-
a tax return, because most people’s ties. Advisers working with low-income
only income (beyond modest savings) taxpayers see this kind of situation all
is from their employer (and the tax is the time, and filing appeals for late-pay-
taken at source). However, about 11 mil- ment penalties often makes up a signif-
lion people are required to submit a icant amount of their work.”
“self assessment” income tax return if An HMRC spokesperson said: “The
they have other sources of income or government has recognised that tax-
have done in the past. payers who occasionally miss the filing
Data released by HMRC after free- deadline should not face financial
dom of information requests by think- penalties, and has already announced
tank Tax Policy Associates (TPA) shows reform of the system.
that 92,000 people among the lowest- “Deadlines for returns are necessary
paid 10% of the population were fined for the efficient functioning of the tax
by HMRC for late filing of their tax system, though, and we strongly en-
return in 2020-21. By comparison, just A late-payment fine should not be more than the tax owed, says campaigner Dan Neidle. Photograph: Ascannio/Alamy courage anyone who does not need to
39,000 of the highest-paid 10% received file a return to tell HMRC.
fines in the same year. necessarily mean 660,000 people were submit a tax return, and they miss the penalty can be applied, and after 12 “Our aim is to support all taxpayers,
A total of more than 660,000 fines fined, as some people were likely to deadline (31 January), a £100 automatic months another £300. By that point, regardless of income, to get their tax
have been handed out to people on low have been fined in more than one tax late-filing penalty is applied. Three total penalties can be £1,600. right, and details of what to do if a
incomes between 2018-19 and 2021-22, year. About 180,000 people successfully months past the deadline, the penalty Until 2011, a late-filing penalty person no longer needs to file a return
according to TPA’s analysis of the data. appealed against the fines. can start increasing by £10 each day. would be cancelled if, once a tax return are included in reminder letters every
HMRC said the 660,000 fines do not If HMRC has required a taxpayer to After six months, a flat £300 additional was filed, there was no tax to pay. year.”

Greenhouse gas emissions from global

energy industry still rising – report
of 97.3m bpd for 2022, in part due to the
Jillian Ambrose return of global economic activity after
the Covid pandemic, according to the
Greenhouse gas emissions from the Energy Institute.
energy industry continued to rise to At the same time, demand for coal
new highs last year despite record climbed to highs not seen since 2014,
growth in wind and solar power, ac- rising 0.6% compared with 2021, driven
cording to a comprehensive review of by demand in India and China, the
global energy data. report said. The appetite for coal power
The report, undertaken by the increased in line with record high prices
Energy Institute, found that fossil fuels for gas in Europe and Asia following
continued to make up 82% of the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Gas made
world’s total energy consumption in up 24% of the world’s energy use last
2022, in line with the year before, caus- year, down from 25% the year before,
ing greenhouse gas emissions to climb but gas production remained relatively
by 0.8% as the world used more energy steady.
overall. The Energy Institute warned that
Global energy consumption is ex- stubbornly high energy-related emis-
pected to rise further in the year ahead, sions risk derailing the aims of the
potentially bringing higher greenhouse Paris climate agreement unless urgent
gas emissions, after China ended its action is taken by global governments,
strict Covid restrictions on travel this according to the report. Under the Paris
year that had previously kept a lid on accord emissions should fall by half
jet fuel consumption. Coal at the port of Gdansk, Poland, June 2023. Photograph: Mateusz Słodkowski/AFP/Getty Images by the end of the decade to avoid
Juliet Davenport, the Energy Insti- triggering catastrophic levels of global
tute’s president, said: “Despite further tancy Kearney, found that renew- compared with the year before. and natural resources at KPMG, said: heating.
strong growth in wind and solar in able energy sources – excluding hydro However, the renewable energy “Despite record growth in renewables, Richard Forrest, the head of global
the power sector, overall global energy- power – met just 7.5% of the boom was eclipsed by a modest rise in the share of world energy still coming sustainability at Kearney, said the rise
related greenhouse gas emissions in- world’s energy demand last year. This global energy consumption of 1.1% last from fossil fuels remains stubbornly in greenhouse gas emissions reinforced
creased again. We are still heading in represents an increase of nearly 1% year – compared to a 5.5% increase in stuck at 82%, which should act as a cla- the need for “urgent action to get the
the opposite direction to that required over the previous year, driven by record 2021 – which meant more oil and coal rion call for governments to inject more world on track to meet the Paris tar-
by the Paris agreement.” growth in wind and solar energy. Solar was burnt to meet demand, the report urgency into the energy transition.” gets”. He added that the need to deliver
The report, which is published in generation climbed by 25% in 2022 found. Global oil demand rose by 2.9m bar- clean, affordable and secure energy
partnership with KPMG and the consul- while wind power output grew by 13.5% Simon Virley, the head of energy rels a day last year to reach an average “has never been greater”.

UK drivers complain as car insurance

renewal costs rise up to 70%
motorists complaining that prices are inflation bulletin from the Office for Na- However, some drivers are reporting newal documents for this year.
Zoe Wood and Miles Brignall shooting up by as much as 70% when tional Statistics (ONS) showed a new an even worse situation than the offi- Angry Direct Line customers have
their policy comes up for renewal. source of financial pain, with the price cial data suggests, with customers of taken to posting on the Trustpilot web-
Car insurance is the latest household While fuel prices have dropped of car insurance up 43.1% in the last 12 Direct Line and Saga shocked by the
bill to go through the roof, with angry back from 2022’s record highs the latest months. magnitude of price increases in their re- Continued on page 31
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Finance / The Guardian View 31

Continued from page 30 with their renewal offer, with high re-
newal quotes highlighting the impor-
site to complain about increases rang- tance of shopping around. Indeed, that
ing from about 50% to more than 75%. is what many Direct Line customers
One reviewer said her renewal price posting on Trustpilot said they were
was up 75% on 2022 for no apparent doing.
reason, adding: “How can any company When asked about price increases,
justify that?” Direct Line blamed “higher costs”. It
One driver told the Guardian that added: “We always encourage our cus-
when the renewal quote for her Saga tomers to shop around for a range of
over-50s car insurance arrived, the cost quotes before renewing their insurance
of the policy had jumped 77% to £2,044 each year.”
even though “nothing has changed”. Saga said it was experiencing “high
She quit the insurer after finding a levels of claims inflation”, with spare
cheaper deal elsewhere. parts, such as microchips and semicon-
The big increases being reported ductors, more expensive than before.
by customers do not yet tally with “Not only that, but they also take longer
the industry’s own figures. The average to arrive, which extends the time cars
price paid for motor insurance in the are out of action after a claim, and
first three months of 2023 was £478, then extends the time claimants need
which is 16% higher than in 2022, ac- a courtesy car for.”
cording to the Association of British Insurance brokers have added that
Insurers (ABI) quarterly motor insur- the number of claims has increased
ance premium tracker. The trade body says insurers face extra costs that are becoming ‘increasingly challenging to absorb’. Photograph: Kenny Williamson/ this year, pushing costs above pre-
The next instalment is likely to Alamy mium income and forcing firms to in-
show a punchier rise, based on the ONS consumers cut costs by reducing add- in the quality of the insurance being of- are currently working with the ONS to crease prices.A sharp rise in the cost
data; however, the figures track dif- ons and how that was treated by the fered,” they said. explore this further.” of secondhand cars during the Covid
ferent things. The ONS collects quotes ABI. The ABI said it collected data “that It said insurers faced extra costs pandemic and vehicle parts and higher
while the ABI looks at the prices people “If a customer removes an add on looks at the price consumers pay for that were becoming “increasingly chal- wages across the car maintenance
actually pay. or changes the excess on their policy their cover for both new and renewed lenging to absorb”. sector have wiped out margins, ac-
An ONS spokesperson said the most the ABI treats this as a change in price, policies. We understand that other Customers can obviously find cording to a report by EY.
notable difference related to the way whereas the ONS treats this as a change collections look at prices quoted and another insurer if they are unhappy

The Guardian view on care workers:

undervalued and underpaid
bility or old age is set to keep rising.
Editorial As a society, we have to get over our
disdain for tasks such as feeding, toi-
Any week now, an NHS workforce plan leting and keeping other people com-
will be published. Already delayed sev- pany. Last year, eligibility for health and
eral times, it is expected to set out pro- care visas was widened due to gaps in
posals for training doctors, nurses and the workforce, and the number granted
other health service staff in England. rose to 76,938 (a 142% increase since
But the crisis of recruitment and reten- 2019). But migration is not a solution
tion in the care sector will not be ad- to the long-term, labour-market shift
dressed. If the plan encourages more necessitated by demographic changes.
care workers to seek jobs in the NHS – Low morale, low wages, rapid turnover
where pay and conditions are better – it and the use of temporary staff feed a
could make the position of social care rolling crisis that also affects the health
even more precarious than it already is. service.
This is an alarming prospect. In Feb- The care workforce is fragmented,
ruary, figures from the Office for Na- making strikes unlikely. But means
tional Statistics (ONS) showed that one must be found to improve pay and
in 10 of all vacancies in the UK are in conditions. Employers should be able
health or care roles – a total of almost to attract people who take an inter-
300,000. In December last year, there est and pride in their work. The crea-
were 31,870 support worker vacancies tion of a professional body and register
advertised nationally – more than any could play a part in a system change,
other job. A care worker on a home visit in 2020: care work has been undervalued because it is not regarded as productive or skilled. Photograph: as the Fabian Society and others have
Difficulties in finding and holding Karwai Tang/Getty Images argued. New Zealand and the Neth-
on to workers, both for care homes erlands are two countries where train-
and agencies that employ care work- singly being filled by workers from ing, the workforce is overwhelmingly care workers who love looking after ing and career structures have been
ers in the home, are part of a broad- India and elsewhere. female (the latest figures are 82% in people. She also interviewed a woman improved. Additional funding is despe-
er recruitment problem in the public But there is an additional prob- social care, and 88.6% for nurses and who said friends would fall silent in rately needed, as it has been for years.
sector, which is also damaging schools. lem in social care, and that is the low health visitors). Care, long viewed as embarrassment when she tried to talk Politicians, but also the public, must
This is the result of prolonged underin- status and meagre rewards attached to women’s work when unpaid, is also about her job. break the habit of seeing social care
vestment by successive Conservative it – as well as to unpaid care by rela- predominantly done by women, partic- This is an unsustainable, and at as low-skilled work and reform of the
governments, which has led to uncom- tives. Historically, care work has been ularly women of colour, when it is paid times inhumane, situation, particularly sector as a low priority.
petitive pay levels. Brexit also led to undervalued because it is not regarded work. While researching her book La- when we know that the number of
disruption, although gaps are increa- as productive or skilled. As in nurs- bours of Love, Madeleine Bunting met adults needing care either due to disa-
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
32 Environment / Science

‘Coastal squeeze’: the fight to save shoreline

habitats from rising tides
Claquin.
Charlie Metcalfe One of the biggest intertidal inter-
ventions to date is part of the
The rain has just stopped falling when US government’s Rebuild by Design
Nigel George walks down to the beach project, launched in 2013 after Hur-
in Sandown Bay on the Isle of Wight. He ricane Sandy killed 24 people on Staten
crosses the coastal road and descends a Island.
concrete stairway, a sheen of sand cov- Instead of building a traditional
ering its lowest steps. The place is quiet, breakwater to prevent future flooding,
with only a few walkers animating the the project allocated $60m (£49m) for Nigel George, director of Artecology, is
shoreline. a six-kilometre “living breakwater”, in- calling for a systemic change to how people
He’s here to inspect a wooden cluding 600 concrete rockpools. De- view the natural world. Photograph: Charlie
groyne – a kind of jetty, designed to pre- signed by a company called ECOncrete, Metcalfe
vent erosion – which stretches out into these rockpools are a lot larger than
the sea and towards France. The groyne Artecology’s, weighing about 1.4 tonnes coastal developments, and in the future
has been fitted with a series of small, each. for offshore areas, is still being worked
basin-like, rough concrete, structures. The company claims the incoming out – it’s still fairly new,” said Dr Kevin
George peers inside one: a congregation organisms that grow in the rockpools Linnane, an associate director at devel-
of limpets, barnacles, seaweed, and a help to protect the breakwater itself. opment consulting group RPS. He said
single sea snail peer back at him. An intertidal habitat for marine life constructed by the Australian company Living Sea- “They absorb wave and debris forces, that most developers supported the net
This is what George’s organisation, walls. Photograph: Living Seawalls so the actual concrete that’s contained gain policy.
Artecology, calls a “Vertipool – a vertical within them is maintained for a much Scientists are sceptical: one paper
rockpool. It’s an artificial environment on the wildlife that lives within these in different ways. A Sydney company longer time,” says Andrew Rella, the published in the journal Conser-
that provides safe shelter for sea life habitats, from barnacles and limpets to called Living Seawalls uses 3D prin- project’s director at ECOncrete, which vation Letters last year concluded that
in intertidal habitats, the spaces be- crabs, starfish and snails. ters to create reinforced concrete inter- is based in Israel. “Really, we’re creating enforcement and governance would
tween land and sea all around the world “Species that inhabit the intertidal locking panels that mimic the fea- a barrier between the concrete element prove difficult. “Reconciling infra-
that are alternately exposed and then zone have evolved to live in that envi- tures of rocky shorelines – some scored and the natural environment.” The firm structure expansion with biodiversity
swamped by tides. ronment,” said Pip Moore, a professor with deep crevices, others shaped like has deployed similar concrete objects conservation is deeply challenging,” the
Developers and scientists have in- of marine science at Newcastle Univer- honeycomb. Developers have attached in the Netherlands, Hong Kong and the authors wrote. “Even ambitious poli-
stalled about 1,000 of these fake rock- sity. These animals find the world’s these “fake shoreline” panels to hard UAE. cies are subject to huge uncertainties
pools on hard coastal structures around rising temperatures very stressful, she coastal structures in Australia, Sin- Pouring such vast amounts of con- that risk undermining their biodiversity
the UK, in the hopes of fending off says. “Lots of organisms use the nat- gapore, Gibraltar and the UK. crete has been criticised, given that benefits.”
a new, global threat – a geographical ural heterogeneity in the rocky shore to But effects can vary. An Australian cement contributes between 5-8% of George believes a systemic change
process called “coastal squeeze”. hide away from those stresses – [but] a paper in June showed some of the the world’s CO2 emissions. Rella argues to how people view the natural world
Coastal squeeze happens when, as seawall or even a “riprap” boulder don’t Living Seawalls panel designs work that ECOncrete only contributes to is the only long-term solution to inter-
global heating causes sea levels to rise, have that complexity of habitat.” better than others, with a rockpool-like structures that would have used con- tidal habitat loss. Artecology wants to
tidal low-water marks – the line where Exactly how badly coastal wildlife is design hosting more than 100 different crete anyway, and that the habitats help do that person by person, starting with
the tide stops and the mud and rocks affected by coastal squeeze is not en- species compared with a honeycomb offset emissions by hosting wildlife that the local community on the Isle of
are exposed – are forced farther inland. tirely clear, but scientists have found structure that proved only marginally sequesters carbon. Wight. To that end, his team have run
A World Meteorological Organisation that structures such as Artecology’s better than a flat panel used as a con- Whether or not that’s true, such free daylong craft sessions at a local
report published last year indicated this Vertipools show a “significantly greater” trol. interventions are likely to increase school for children with special needs,
is now happening twice as fast as it was species richness when compared with Meanwhile, another project, called as governments enact more ecological and a free two-day arts and science fes-
in 1993. a normal seawall after five years. One Marineff, dropped 12 “eco-engineered” legislation. One major effort is the UK’s tival for families October. George is now
Humans, meanwhile, are pushing Bournemouth University team found breakwater blocks into the intertidal “biodiversity net gain” requirement, in the early stages of creating an educa-
in the opposite direction, by building species of crab, fish and periwinkle zone of Cherbourg harbour in France. which will become mandatory late in tional Centre for Flexible Learning and
more hard coastal structures such as living in them that had been absent Instead of the flat surfaces of standard 2023, that would force building devel- Bio-Innovation at Artecology’s studio.
sea walls to protect themselves from before. breakwater blocks, Marineff’s were cov- opers to achieve a 10% overall biodi- “They need to understand what’s
rising water and worsening storms. “If you deploy these objects in the ered with crevices and holes to better versity gain for new projects. It would going on and why,” he said. “We’re
These structures prevent the tide’s intertidal zone they can support life support wildlife. They were formed require coastal developers to build not going to get the take-up we need
high-water mark from moving inland that you would expect to find on a hori- with a concrete mix that contained 20% structures that provide better habitats when we don’t have the support of our
– effectively “squeezing” or reducing the zontal plane,” George says. oyster shell, aiming to provide a ‘bio- for intertidal wildlife, or compensate for communities and people.
size of intertidal habitats. Other organisations around the mimetic’ surface for sea life to live on, damage elsewhere. “It’s as much about human beings as
The impact to date has been brutal world have approached the problem according to the project director Pascal “Exactly how this will play out for all it is wildlife.”

Nobel prize winner Giorgio Parisi: ‘There’s a

lack of trust in science – we need to show how
it’s done’
ular science book, Ina Flight of Starl- popular books on physics than mathe- ular science books, people write for- physics to understand the behaviour of
Killian Fox ings: The Wonderof Complex Systems, matics, which is so abstract that it’s dif- mulae. That would save a lot of time, systems composed of a large number
which charts some of the highlights of ficult to describe. but I would lose a lot of people be- of interacting components. In Rome
The multi-prize-winning theoretical his life’s work and makes a passionate What prompted you to write the cause a formula that seems easy for in the winter, every evening we see
physicist Giorgio Parisi was born in case for the value of science, is pub- book?The original idea was to describe me to read is harder for other people. So starlings flocking above the trees, form-
Rome in 1948. He studied physics at lished on 11 July. how science is done. There’s a grow- trying to describe some complex and ing these amazing patterns. One of the
the Sapienza University in the city, and How did you get interested in phys- ing lack of trust in science, with people sophisticated physics problem without problems was to understand the three-
is now a professor of quantum theo- ics?As a young child, I was interested denying Covid, or the need for vacci- formulae takes real effort. dimensional shape of the flock, which
ries there. A researcher of broad inter- in numbers – my mother told me I nations, or climate change. In order to You begin by writing about your is impossible to capture from a single
ests, Parisi is perhaps best known for learned to read numbers aged three. On address this, it is very important to study of starling murmurations, which viewpoint. It was clear to us that this
his work on “spin glasses” or disor- the street we’d be waiting for a tram show how scientists do their work. seems an unusual subject for a phy- had to be done by physicists, because of
dered magnetic states, contributing to and I’d say, here comes the number six. Your work can be fiendishly com- sicist to tackle. Why was it worth ex- the huge amount of data that had to be
the theory of complex systems. For this When it was time to go to university, plex. Was it a challenge to write about ploring?We wanted to see if there were analysed.
work, together with Klaus Hasselmann I pondered if I should do physics or it in an accessible way?Yes, it was. For rules of interaction between starlings The experiment sounds like a huge
and Syukuro Manabe, he won the Nobel maths, but in the end I went for phys- me, it’s very important to use meta- that account for their collective move-
prize in physics in 2021. His first pop- ics. Maybe because there were more phorical language. Sometimes, in pop- ments. This connected to attempts in Continued on page 33
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Science 33

Continued from page 32 amusing that everybody was saying

that Parisi was saying this. But maybe it
amount of work.It took a lot of time and works. I don’t expect there’s a big differ-
effort. To create a 3D image, we posi- ence [between this and more conven-
tioned two cameras 25 metres apart tional methods]. You’d have to do a
on the roof of the Palazzo Massimo in blind experiment to test it.
Rome, to track each individual as they How did it feel to win the Nobel
moved. There were thousands of birds prize?I was very happy but I didn’t have
and we had to reconstruct the 3D posi- time to feel too much. I was busy run-
tion of each one. When you have two ning the Accademia dei Lincei, I had my
simultaneous images of a flock seen work at the university, and the day after
from a different angle, it’s not easy to I had to do 20 interviews over Zoom
match the bird in the first image with and so on. So it took some time to be
the same bird in the second. This was acquainted with it.
one of the major difficulties. Has it changed your life or work in
What were some of your find- any way?Yes, a lot. Italy has a few Nobel
ings?When the flock was turning, the laureates, but all of them live outside
impression that one has is that they Italy apart from me. And therefore if for
are turning as a flock, but the reality any reason whatsoever someone needs
is that some birds start to turn in ad- a comment from a Nobel laureate, they
vance and the others follow. We were ask me.
able to get the acceleration of each bird • In a Flight of Starlings: The
and to see that some birds start to acce- Wonder of Complex Systems by Gior-
lerate or turn in one direction and other Giorgio Parisi: ‘Trying to describe some sophisticated physics problem without formulae takes real effort.’ Photograph: Cecilia Fabiano/ gio Parisi is published by Allen
birds follow and that this decision was LaPresse/PA Images Lane (£20). To support the Guar-
propagating inside the flock. We also dian and Observer order your copy
found that the flocks are flat like pan- on spin glasses. What are spin glasses, applications of this work?One direct ried about was weapons systems con- at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery
cakes [rather than spherical]. That’s one first of all?There are hundreds of mate- descendant is artificial intelligence, in trolled by AI. Our viewpoint was that if charges may apply
reason why they can change shape so rials called spin glasses, but the typical the sense that work on spin glasses has one decides to kill some human being,
quickly. The flatter the object, the more ones are an alloy of gold with a small been very important for a lot of devel- that decision should be taken by people
it gives you an impression of change amount of iron. For physicists, spin opments in studying neural networks and not machines.
when it changes orientation. means something magnetic, because in the 1980s and 90s, and neural net- You caused quite a stir in Italy re-
You also found that the flock magnetism is related to spin, to the fact works are the basis of modern artificial cently when you claimed to have found Images produced by
was denser at the edges than in that electrons turn around and work intelligence. a more energy efficient way to make AI should have some
the centre.This was completely unex-
pected. It’s a bit like what happens on
like small magnets. At high temper-
atures they behave like normal mag-
Do you have concerns about AI?
Well, clearly it needs regulation. For ex-
pasta, by turning the heat off and
putting the lid on two minutes after
kind of signature, to
crowded buses, where frequently the netic systems, but when the temper- ample, images produced by AI should adding the pasta to boiling water.That prevent us from
crush is greatest near the doors, where ature falls below a certain value, they have some kind of signature so that was a completely strange thing, be-
losing contact with
passengers who have just got on accu- appear to behave like glass in that the people can understand if they are real cause the idea was not mine. I saw a
mulate, together with those who are magnetic changes get slower and it or fake, to prevent us from losing con- post on Facebook and I just shared it, reality
about to get off and others still who seems as if the system never reaches tact with reality. We had a meeting of thinking it was an interesting idea, but
want to continue their journey. equilibrium. academics at the G7 in Paris in 2019, I never actually tried it. There were so
You are best known for your work What are some of the real-world and one thing that we were very wor- many discussions about it, and it was

Starwatch: Jupiter and Saturn shine in the

very early hours
visible in the pre-dawn sky. Saturn will be shining. Jupiter will be Aquarius, the water bearer. the coming months as Earth is cur-
Stuart Clark The chart shows the view looking the brighter of the two, shining its Because of their great distances rently travelling towards them. From
southeast at 04.00 BST on 30 June, al- white light off to the east. It is located from Earth, both planets move only the southern hemisphere, the planets
It is easy to forget the two giant planets though the view will not charge mar- in the constellation of Aries, the ram. slowly across the sky. As a result, are both visible in fully dark skies.
of the solar system at the moment. Nei- kedly throughout this week. As the Meanwhile, Saturn will be dimmer and they will now stay in these respective Around 04.00 local time, Saturn will be
ther Jupiter nor Saturn are favourably breaking dawn light fills the sky, few yellow in colour off to the south-south- constellations for the rest of the year. high in the north, and Jupiter low in the
placed, but for early risers they are both stars will be visible, but Jupiter and east. It is located in the constellation of Both planets will brighten slightly in east.

Ian McMillan obituary

nesburg for Soekor, South Africa’s na- nannofossil Truncatoscaphus macmil-
John McMillan tional oil exploration company, and re- lanii was named in his honour for this
mained with them from 1972 to 1992. work.
My brother, Ian McMillan, who has died Over those years he studied the micro- In retirement from 2008, Ian
aged 72, was a micropalaeontologist fossils of about 250 boreholes, most of worked as an honorary associate at the
who specialised in the study of forami- them thousands of metres deep, as well Iziko South African Museum in Cape
nifera – microfossils that provide evi- as 4,000 seafloor samples. Town on their foraminifera collection
dence of the age of rock layers, and From 1993 to 2003 he worked in and database. In 2014 he was awarded
which are therefore useful in providing the rock laboratory of De Beers Marine the Draper Memorial medal of the
data for the oil and diamond industries. in Cape Town, from where he laid the Geological Society of South Africa.
His expertise led him to work foundations of the lithostratigraphic Once he was diagnosed with Par-
mainly in South Africa, but he also framework which, to this day, under- kinson’s disease, Ian made it his priority
took part in projects in Sierra Leone, pins the geological model for diamonds to write down all he knew about Eocene
Angola, Namibia, Cameroon, Argentina offshore of southern Africa. foraminifera of the South Atlantic in
and Tanzania. He published about 50 After the closure of the rock labor- a monograph based on his work at
articles and papers, and made a major Ian McMillan’s work provided evidence of the age of rock layers, useful for the oil and atory, Ian worked at Cardiff Univer- De Beers Marine. He considered the
contribution to the understanding of diamond industries sity for several years, studying marine resulting publication to be one of
the geological history of the marine rocks in Tanzania and participating in his most important contributions to
sediments of southern Africa. cipal examiner at the Patent Office. to complete an MSc and PhD on Nami- several field seasons. In particular he science.
Ian was born in Kingston upon He attended Surbiton county gram- bian and South African foraminifera at supervised field operations at a drill He is survived by me.
Thames, Surrey, the son of Marjorie mar school and then Portsmouth University College of Wales, Aberyst- site in the Kilwa district, where the
(nee Drake), who, before her mar- Polytechnic (now Portsmouth Univer- wyth (now Aberystwyth University). Paleocene-Eocene transition was iden-
riage, had worked as a stenographer sity), where, studying geology, he first He then started work as a tified, which became hugely important
for the navy, and Eric McMillan, prin- encountered foraminifera. He went on foraminiferal biostratigrapher in Johan- for subsequent research. The Turonian
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
34 Science

Is it possible to spot a good liar – and why do

we all tell tales?
can’t penetrate the fog. Freud wrote of
Kate Mascarenhas disavowal: minimising a reality that we
can’t tolerate. Some truths are painful
When were you last lied to? To and we protect ourselves from them
your knowledge, obviously. Was the by proceeding in a conflicted state of
lie something that mattered? Was the knowing and not-knowing. Julia was
liar convincing? Did they confess, or deeply familiar to me. I loved her, and
did you find them out? And how did valued the nurturing persona she culti-
you react? Maybe with anger. Maybe vated. So, along with everyone else, I
with hurt bemusement. Or contempt smiled at her exaggerations, while I
– like my grandmother, who had a stock pushed to the back of my mind her
retort for anyone who tried to pull the more disturbing capacity for damage.
wool over her eyes: “I hate liars. They’re This is why, when I learned how she
worse than thieves.” had misrepresented me, I felt some-
Did you feel, afterwards, that you’d thing wordless I’d always known about
been easy to fool? If so, you’d be her was finally in full view.
in good company. It’s the norm to Being lied to can impair trust in sev-
assume communication is honest – and eral ways that outlast the original harm.
that’s something to be thankful for, be- First, and most obvious, is an ongoing
cause we’d live in a miserable, suspi- suspicion that other people don’t mean
cious world otherwise. Less helpfully, what they say. This is both unders-
it’s common to assume that body lan- tandable and a distortion. Several stu-
guage gives away dishonesty when it dies show that telling one or two white
does arise. Liars look shifty, in the pop- In search of the truth: ‘The flipside of heightened intimacy is lowered guards. It’s tempting to roll with a compelling story from a friend.’ lies a day is common, but the percen-
ular imagination. They cough before Illustration: Eva Bee/The Observer tage of people who lie prolifically is
they speak, fidget and don’t look you estimated in single figures. Second, and
in the eye. Unfortunately, none of these saying. Other times she’d persuade me moment of giving them. I have guesses, and Max Gluckman before him, have more subtly, there is the disturbing
cues are very reliable. I’d imagined things she’d said. She but I’m more interested in how the rest argued that gossip plays a part in forg- knowledge that people in general, good
People who convince themselves would advise me on a practical prob- of us responded to her growing implau- ing social bonds. Sharing an inside people, struggle at lie detection. In a
of their own truthfulness while being lem – emphatically, in detail and with sibility. As a rule, she was believed. scoop flatters the receiver because it conflict, they cannot be relied upon to
dishonest may act no differently to certainty, because she had a love of Anyone online these daysis likely implies trust, belonging or even, in back an honest person over a liar. Third,
normal. The weight of empirical re- organisation – and I’d follow her guid- to have encountered the idea of gas- whisper networks, the urge to protect. you may lose confidence in your own
search shows it’s hard to identify ance. Months later, she would express lighting, or denying a shared reality, to Such an exchange involves powerful judgment, and it has to be re-earned.
even very purposeful liars from their dismay at my choices and ask what manipulate someone into questioning feelings that serve a purpose when the The best course of action, it seems to
behaviour. A meta-analysis from 2006, had driven them. Over time my trust in their senses. The most effective gas- whispers are accurate; but can be rea- me, is to attend to any sense of being di-
“Accuracy of Deception Judgments”, by my judgment eroded. If I was so very lighters I’ve met also seemed more dily exploited by a liar. The flipside of vided against oneself. Confusing, word-
social psychologist Charles F Bond of forgetful, I couldn’t rely on my own likely to be believed when they told heightened intimacy is lowered guards. less unease at the back of one’s mind
Texas Christian University and others, perceptions; I could barely feel them common-or-garden lies, with one strat- Drama and mess can feel pleasurable, should be pulled into the light as a
looked at more than 200 studies to through a mental fog. She had the same egy supporting the other. After all, in a queasy way; it’s tempting to roll matter of course.
find that people’s accuracy when distin- effect on other people. a gaslighter can isolate victims more with a compelling story from a friend. A tricky balance must be struck be-
guishing truth from lies isn’t much Within this fog, Julia said extreme effectively if their more basic lies are While I was writing my latest novel tween the kind of dignity my grand-
better than chance. A more recent things about people I knew – Cathy was readily accepted by outsiders. Who – a supernatural horror set in a 1920s mother once showed – when telling a
review, 2019’s “Reading Lies: Non- mistreating a pet, Daniel was ripping off the liar is – rather than what they’re hotel – I kept coming back to why we liar to sling his hook – and faith in
verbal Communication and Deception”, his mother, Pamela kept taking Julia’s saying – factors into their success, be- believe some people even as they make humanity, because the desire not to
led by Aldert Vrij of the University belongings for use in a stalkerish shrine. cause humans are unfortunately prone extraordinary, unsupportable claims. be fooled again can go badly astray.
of Portsmouth, hammered home the I privileged Julia’s perception over my to cognitive bias. Perceived credibility (Gothic fiction in general is littered There’s a comforting simplicity to view-
point. People are mediocre judges of own, until I had distorted views of can be gendered and racialised. It’s with unreliable narrators, doubles and ing everyone sceptically: a liar won’t get
deception. This seems to be true gen- Cathy, Daniel and Pamela. also influenced by what psychologists people not being quite what they through and no one else will, either.
erally, but the question of who we One day, the leopard ate my face. I call halo errors; we expect people seem.) The characters in my novel in- What helps me is knowing how very
might find believable, and why, gets learned Julia had been discussing my to be truthful when we like them. clude a young woman who fakes clair- much better my life has been without
more complicated within certain rela- health with people. Under the pretext Good looks, hospitality and generosity voyant visions to express socially unac- Julia in it. Outside her influence, optim-
tionship dynamics. of concern, she’d claimed I had a range with compliments (at least to one’s ceptable feelings, and a psychoanalyst ism is easier, which includes realising
I once knew a woman, Julia, who by of illnesses, physical and mental, that face) are qualities that can buy unde- who is skilled at “paltering”, or the use most people are honest – and deserve
any measure was attractive and charm- I’ve never suffered from or matched served leeway, without consciously of factual statements to mislead. The to be met as such.
ing. She seemed a kind, sympathetic criteria for. They included stigmatised being weighed in the balance. ease with which the clairvoyant cons Some names have been changed.
listener. She was generous with cake, conditions that people usually have Normal desire for connection can her audience inspires a little jealousy in Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas is out
hugs and praise. I loved her for all these strong reactions to. What she said was also muddy the waters. Take a situ- the psychoanalyst, who bitterly com- now (Head of Zeus, £16.99). Buy it from
things, yet I often felt guarded in her untrue. I asked a few of Julia’s other ation such as friends sharing gossip. ments that the audience must want guardianbookshop.com for £14.95
company for reasons I could neither contacts if we could compare notes. For the purposes of psychological re- to be deceived. In context, the line is
put words to nor think about clearly. We discovered Julia had set us against search, gossip is often defined as meant to be an example of bad-faith
Her compliments were so warm one each other with a complicated web of unsubstantiated personal chat rather victim-blaming. It’s also a stance that
could feel dizzied. Within such a con- falsehoods. Several relationships had than as malicious activity per se. Ac- victims of deception can internalise;
text, if she made improbable claims broken down, extracting a painful toll cording to a recent review of evidence, they may feel gullible to a fault once
people tended to take them at face from those involved. “When and Why Does Gossip Increase the lie comes to light, or even fear they Studies show telling
value. I know I did. The moment Julia realised we were Prosocial Behavior?”, led by Annika S had a vested interest in the ruse. one or two white lies a
Her believability was filtered
through a troubling pattern of beha-
on to her, she severed ties. She never
explained her behaviour, nor could I
Nieper of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
gossip can benefit your wider social
But rather than wanting to be de-
ceived, there is a sadder explanation for
day is common
viour. Sometimes she’d persuade me tell whether she believed her own group – provided the content is true. extending the benefit of the doubt, at
I had said things I didn’t remember contradictory and false accounts in the Anthropologists such as Robin Dunbar least in situations where warning signs

Readers reply: what would a person be like if

nothing bad had ever happened to them?
What would a person be like if nothing tonq@theguardian.com. Bassist flawed, clumsy, erratic, eccentric and Nothing bad ever happens to my
bad had ever happened to them? Jane Readers reply What, those nice and clean and lovable collection of stumblebums who sister. She’s been married almost 45
Moraes, São Paulo Apprehensive. John Callcutt shiny people who only exist in adver- are my friends and relations anyday.
Send new questions Unable to sing the blues. JohnThe- tising? ’Orrible, impossible. Give me the bricklayersoption Continued on page 35
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Science / Sport 35

Continued from page 34 tives for my children. But I am full of

love and joy. The little, hurt girl inside
years, has two successful children and is re-parented each day, is safe, and is
had a job that satisfied her. However, encouraged to play, too. quietess
when a seagull stole her ice-cream, she “Trauma is not what happens to
screamed and burst into tears. Alison you; it is what happens inside you” –
I don’t feel like anything “bad” has Gabor Maté. PickledNoodle
happened to me. Yes, I’ve been sad and Such a person, in my opinion, would
had people I care for die, but com- lack resilience, empathy, emotional
pared with what some people have depth and authenticity and would be
been through, I don’t feel like I have somewhat shallow. Life is about suf-
really experienced anything truly bad. I fering and how we navigate the tough
feel like I know a lot of people in a sim- times. As times get harder (witness cli-
ilar position. Many of us don’t realise mate change), many will suffer more
how lucky we are just to live an average and more. How we deal with this as
life. Beaslie individuals within the context of a
I’m tempted to assume that a wider community is what will matter
person who has never had anything bad most. Someone who has never encoun-
happen to them would be awful and tered bad times will probably cope
unempathic, but I’ve met a tiny number quite poorly and need a lot of shoring
of people who seem to have a great up. Rebecca Abbott
family life and an uneventful life story I don’t think we are formed exclu-
but are still lovely grounded people, sively from our experiences. There are
and almost every horrible person I Photograph: Khosrork/Getty Images/iStockphoto other ingredients that go into the mix
know has a terrible back story. So I can’t of who we are. We are born with a
say that. she was ready to be done with them, events all culminating with being se- and judgmental. Compassion develops personality, physiological and neuro-
Whether or not trauma makes for ended painlessly on her terms, and she riously sexually assaulted by a stranger. from empathy, deep identification with logical dispositions. Because of this,
a horrible person seems to correlate had never hurt herself playing sports or I like to think that some of my nega- the bad luck and painful experience two people could have the exact same
more strongly with whether you ex- even put a finger on a hot surface. As tive experiences have made me into an of others. It would be difficult to feel experience and one of them be trau-
pected life to be easy – perhaps felt a result, she was incredibly naive, obli- empathic person who takes their time this without having experienced per- matised and the other not.
entitled to it because it looked that vious to physical danger (which could to offer to others some of the kindness sonal setbacks and emotional or phys- Also, humans are storytellers. One
way for other people. So I think if still hurt her crewmates, even if she and understanding that was often miss- ical pain. Rhondda Bosworth of the reasons for stories is to pass on
someone had nothing horrible happen would always come out unscathed), ing in my life. I worked in mental health Isolated. By running from the bad, experiences, warnings, guidelines for
to them and they’re surprised, grate- and emotionally immature. She’d never for many years and was always amazed you inevitably avoid the good. People life. Although hearing a story is dif-
ful to be that lucky, then they’d prob- learned that everyday, normal “bad” at just how much the human soul can included. Life is complicated. Do what ferent from having the experience di-
ably be quite chilled-out, patient and things can happen; she’d never learned survive, but equally how fragile it can you can to minimise the bad; learn. But rectly, the stories we hear become a part
sympathetic to the rest of us. However, the lessons humans learn from expe- be when relentlessly battered by harsh know that a life lived without anything of who we are. It has been shown, for
if they decided that bad things must riencing those things. events. So I guess someone who had bad happening has been a sheltered life example, that reading fiction increases
only happen to bad people, or they’re The interesting thing about Teela never had anything “bad” – How do we indeed. Day Dreamer empathy. So even if it were possible
somehow above everyone else’s prob- was that her luck made her very dif- define and measure what “bad” is? One My childhood was often terrifying, for a person to not have a bad expe-
lems, then they’d be an entitled little ficult for the author to write. In many person’s disaster is another person’s lonely and interminable. School was rience, they wouldn’t be a blank slate.
shit. Usually, if you’re a bit of a shit, ways, her life without any hardship, misfortune – would be somewhat half- a sanctuary and working hard led to CascadianCanadian
life has a way of correcting you anyway. or even mild inconvenience, was more formed. lilactime independence. Parenting classes and • Information and support for
trapdoor_spider alien than the actual aliens. Niven is They would be lucky to have surrounding myself with good influ- anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse
While in many ways Larry Niven’s one of those rare authors who can dodged the bullets in life – but very few ences helped me to be a loving, suppor- issues is available from the following
Ringworld hasn’t aged well, its explo- write aliens that are genuinely alien, people escape them. Adversity often tive mom. I’ve come full circle and organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis
ration of this concept in the cha- not just humans with funny ears or comes in childhood – no child has now am a court-appointed advocate offers support on 0808 500 2222 in
racter of Teela Brown is an interesting bumpy foreheads, and yet the Puppe- any control over that. We are going to for children from hard places. There’s England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in
thought experiment about what such teers and Kzinti managed to be more die eventually and we all have to live no child whose circumstances are too Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern
a person would be like. Teela was the relatable than Teela. Although their with that knowledge. Our identities are rough or whose behaviour is too dif- Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support
result of six generations of humans hardships were different, pain is recog- shaped by good fortune and bad – most ficult or whom I won’t listen to and on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support
born as a result of a lottery prize, and so nisable across species barriers. A lack of starkly by the difficulties and dysfunc- engage playfully with and help have a is available at 1800Respect (1800 737
genetically predisposed towards psych- pain is not. PaintedFrog tions of our individual lives. The few voice. I’m just the softest person, but 732). Other international helplines can
ic luck. She reached adulthood without I was diagnosed with complex PTSD who have experienced none of this with a backbone of steel. I’m a survivor. be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
experiencing any emotional or physical a few years ago, a consequence of quite could be functional, successful, happy, Of course, I regret and grieve the birth
pain: relationships broke down when a significant number of traumatic life but could also be oblivious, entitled family I never had and the lack of rela-

Alyssa Healy plays pivotal role to steer

Australia back on path to victory
making way seemed sensible enough,
Geoff Lemon at Trent Bridge especially after keeping wicket for 121
overs.
On the fourth morning of the Women’s In the end the demotion earned
Ashes Test in Nottingham, Australia her all of four deliveries of extra rest,
had the game in their hands. One as Mooney and Gardner fell. Perhaps
wicket down, 149 on the board, leading rushed, Healy nearly did complete her
by 159 in the third innings, with their Audi – four noughts in a row – when she
Ashleigh Gardner intervened every time
two most reliable hands Beth Mooney feathered a ball from Kate Cross with England appeared to be on top. Photograph:
and Ellyse Perry together at the crease. the wicketkeeper up to the stumps. It Stu Forster/Getty Images
Thirty-five overs later they were all out got through Amy Jones, perhaps the
for 257, the last nine down for 108. most important of six England drops Then there was the epochal effort
That session-and-a-bit of was like in the innings, and Healy was soon able of Sophie Ecclestone, the left-arm spin-
the breaking of a storm, after three to start playing her favoured cut shot in ner bowling 77.1 overs in the match to
and a half days of bowlers working typically a counterattacking mode. finish with five wickets in each innings.
thanklessly thanks to a batting pitch Alyssa Healy had a few scares but the Australia captain helped build Australia’s lead with Still, England were delighted when Nothing in Ecclestone’s career could
and a raft of missed chances from a valuable half-century. Photograph: Nigel Parker/Shutterstock they got through Australia just after have prepared her for such a workload,
both teams. The game’s trajectory had the second break. They had needed to yet she was still delivering with qual-
not suggested losing two wickets in with an even 50 that stopped the run previous Test in 2022. create 16 wicket-taking chances – and ity at the end as at the start. Jubilation
four Lauren Filer deliveries just before of wickets in the second session and Her move down to No 6 was had done so. Their young pace option in from the crowd spilled over as she took
lunch, three wickets in 12 balls in the held firm until the beginning of the more about getting the first-innings Filer had outbowled Australia’s young the final wicket, completing a 10-wicket
second session, or three in six balls just third. Commentators speculated about century-maker Annabel Sutherland up pace option Darcie Brown: both were match and becoming the first woman
after tea. whether Healy was hiding herself down the order, and not disrupting Ashleigh erratic at times, but Filer managed to to do so for England in 20 years.
Australia’s eventual lead of 267 at No 8 in the order, after a first-innings Gardner who had batted well at No find a more dangerous line much more
owed a lot to the captain, Alyssa Healy, duck that followed a pair of them in her 7. A captain with no runs behind her often. Continued on page 37
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Sport 37

Continued from page 35 ones. batting talent that can play in such a Their respective first innings were five Brunt’s sweep shot, dollied to the field
If we look at broadly possible chases positive way. Tammy Beaumont’s first- for 129 compared to four for 99, with off the top edge, completed a triple
That eventual target of 268 looked – say, targets between 140 and 300, innings double ton, the attacking fifties Gardner intervening every time Eng- strike that England couldn’t believe.
tall next to the record chase in women’s with more than 50 overs faced – there from Heather Knight and Nat Sciver- land looked on top. First she dislodged Three for 33 so far for Gardner,
Tests: 198, by Australia’s 2011 team, but have only been 37 of those in 89 years Brunt, the pitch that still looked nice Knight, later Sciver-Brunt, and finally with more to come, and the wickets of
as with some statistics, that one is not of the format. Six wins, 19 draws, a for batting when players timed their ended Beaumont’s epic, giving Aus- Emma Lamb and Sophia Dunkley fall-
very meaningful. Most women’s Tests dozen losses. The successful chases are shots, all of it was there. A start of 55 tralia a small lead. ing at the other end. England will start
have been played over the course of uncommon, but mostly that’s because for none in the first 10 overs confirmed In the second innings she struck the final day with five wickets down
three days, while others have lost time the format is too. The modern style of the inevitable. England would run this first ball, Beaumont again, a rare situ- and 152 more runs to get. Australia were
to rain. Out of the 145 matches played attacking batting has had few attempts down by lunch the following day. Free ation where a bowler was on a hat-trick up, they were down, they were out, and
to date, 53 of them didn’t even reach a at a total, and England nearly got the entry was announced. and both of the wickets were the same somehow they end the fourth day as
fourth innings. Another 45 had fourth record at their most recent attempt in But that crowd might be dam- player. That slip catch was followed by a they started it, with the match squarely
innings of less than 50 overs, with most Canberra in 2022. pened after all. Filer outbowled Brown, ball that turned sharply and stayed low, back in their hands.
of those teams chasing token targets or Chasing 268 then was eminently but Ecclestone has some competition the surface starting to play some tricks
batting out draws when facing unlikely gettable for an England team of this in the spin department from Gardner. at last, catching Knight in front. Sciver-

Misery mounts for West Coast after horror

171-point defeat by Sydney
bare,” he said.
Jonathan Horn This year offered a chance to reset.
They had a soft draw, a good draft
Chapter 12 of Stephen King’s Misery haul, a new game-plan and grounds
ends with the line: “Then the rain came for optimism. But the Western Derby
and things changed.” In King’s book, the against Fremantle in round three was
weather turned, Annie Wilkes’ mood the finish of them. They had a real
darkened, and Paul Sheldon forfeited crack but suffered injuries to more than
The job of Eagles coach Adam Simpson
his foot. When the rain came for the half a dozen players. Jeremy McGovern hangs by a thread after two 20-goal drub-
West Coast Eagles in 2019, they kept hurt his hamstring and hasn’t played bings on the trot. Photograph: Paul Kane/
their legs, but lost the double chance. since. Liam Ryan – the footballer you Getty Images
Since that day, pretty much nothing has could most picture hurtling over a
gone right. pommel horse – injured his hamstring Adam Simpson? There’s no levers to
It was round 22 – Richmond at the in a manner often sustained by Olym- pull. He’s answered every question 100
MCG. One of the great games of the pre- pic gymnasts. He too hasn’t been seen times. At the post match presser, Simp-
Covid era. In the first term, the Eagles West Coast captain Luke Shuey leads his men from the Sydney Cricket Ground after the since. Some have been the sort of soft son looked like he’d spent six months
played almost perfect football – the Eagles’ club-record defeat in round 15, a 171-point mauling by the Swans. Photograph: Mark tissue injuries that send coaches and in Annie Wilkes’ spare bedroom. His
clean, crisp, kick-and-catch brand that Metcalfe/AFL Photos/via Getty Images supporters spare. Others you couldn’t future at the club is now in the hands of
had won them a premiership a year ear- make up. Dom Sheed hurt his throat in a board of bankers, miners, politicians
lier. They were four goals the better of played sulky, resentful football, losing themselves to senior teammates an a warm-up drill. Jack Williams lacerated and former Test cricket openers.
the Tigers, and eying off at least two their first three games, including to hour before games. There were so many his spleen at training. Liam Duggan had “This will pass,” he said. And yes, this
finals at home. the previous year’s wooden spooners. factors at play - conditioning, holding a badly infected toe. is a club with a history of weathering
But a half-time deluge played right They recovered to finish fifth, but were onto senior players too long, a game- Saturday’s game, their second 20- the storm and contending again. The
into Richmond’s hands. They scunged, skittled by Mason Cox and the eighth- plan that was stuck in the previous goal loss on the trot, was a particularly club is groaning with money. The
soccered, scrubbed and scraped over placed Collingwood. Another wasted decade, the gaping hole on the list unedifying affair. The Eagles barely supporters keep turning up. But their
the line by a goal. Oh well, an honour- year. Another year where they were between the veterans and the kids. gave a yelp in the 31.19 (205) to 5.4 (34) current plight is unlike almost anything
able loss, right? But back in Perth the urged to take their medicine, and bol- There’d been so many distractions - defeat. The Swans were just strolling we’ve seen in football. For the other 17
following week, they were mugged by ster their list with young talent. Kane the Willie Rioli fiasco, the Jack Darl- out of stoppages. The home crowd at clubs, it’s the ultimate “there but for the
a pretty ordinary Hawthorn side and Cornes was one of the first to warn that ing vaccination saga, the decision of times could barely summon the inter- grace of God go I” fall. It’s a reminder
relegated to fifth. Some 24-hours after they were heading for a cliff. The CEO half a dozen young players to go night- est. It was the biggest losing margin in that at footy clubs, as in Stephen King
Willie Rioli was pinged for tampering called him a “shock jock”. The Eagles clubbing just as Covid was ravaging the West Coast’s history, and the fourth big- potboilers, when it rains it really does
with a urine test, they bowed out to could taste another flag. They refused state. But mostly it was rotten luck. gest in the history of the game. The pour.
a Geelong side that had finished 17 to bottom out. Coach Adam Simpson lost players in older players had either checked out or
percentage points clear on top of the But by the beginning of 2022, the every way imaginable – ACLs, collision were being asked to do too much. The
ladder. arse had completely fallen out of the injuries, innocuous training accidents, kids were lambs to the slaughter.
In the early days of Covid, they list. WAFL top ups were introducing infections, defections. “The cupboard is What do you do, or say, if you’re

Ilkay Gündogan joins Barcelona on free

transfer after leaving Manchester City
our club on a very special high having rienced so many unforgettable mo-
Reuters captained us to a historic treble,” said ments in my time here and to have
Begiristain. “He has played a huge part been captain for this extra-special
Manchester City’s director of football in the successes we have enjoyed in season has been the greatest expe-
Txiki Begiristain has paid tribute to the recent seasons and Ilkay’s intelligence, rience of my career,” said the former
“inspirational” Ilkay Gündogan after the leadership and commitment to the club Germany international. “First, I would
midfielder’s long-expected free transfer - both on and off the field – has been an like to thank Pep. To have been able to
to Barcelona was confirmed. inspiration to everyone. play under and learn from him for so
The treble-winning captain turned “Ilkay has truly cemented his place long has been something I will never
down the chance to stay at City and in the history of Manchester City and forget.
will join Barça, who have set his buyout we all wish him well in the next chapter “I would also like to thank all my
clause at €400m (£342m), until 2025 of his career.” teammates – past and present – who
following the expiration of his exist- During his seven years at City Gun- have all played such a special part in
ing contract. Gündogan, who was man- dogan won the Premier League five making my time here so amazing. Fi-
ager Pep Guardiola’s first signing in July times, in addition to two FA Cups – nally, I would like to thank the incred-
2016, signed off in style by lifting the Ilkay Gündogan’s buyout clause is £342m, Barcelona have announced. Photograph: FC this season scoring the quickest goal in ible City fans. They have supported me
Champions League earlier this month Barcelona final history at 12 seconds – four League from the moment I arrived, and I owe
after victory over Inter in his 304th and Cups and the Champions League.
final appearance. “Ilkay has been a wonderful ser- vant for Manchester City, and he leaves “I have been lucky to have expe- Continued on page 38
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023

38 Sport

Continued from page 37 them all so much for their support. This I will forever be thankful for this oppor-
club made me realise all my dreams and tunity.”

Baby Gronk, internet stardom and the Sports

Dad nightmare writ large
the kid on the other team, or even a
Lauren Mechling fellow parent. He can’t let his kid figure
his own life out for himself.
If early retirement is the ultimate flex If you happen to have attended a
in the age of late capitalism, then Baby youth game of late, or picnic-ed in a
Gronk had us all beat. The American grassy spot in the park near a soft-
football phenom, who has been light- ball game, you’ve seen him: the dad
ing up more than a corner of the inter- who is grasping for (somebody else’s)
net with his made-to-meme skills and greatness, uninhibited to the point of
antics, announced last week that he unhinged. Maybe you’ve witnessed the
was hanging up his helmet at the age of father who brawls with a 13-year-old
10. Baby Gronk shared that he would be umpire. Or the sideline guy who in-
focusing not on grade school or a paper spired this ref to come nose to nose
route but … his love for video games. To with the parents in the stands and issue
be fair, the purported “rizz king” of the a firm but gentle warning.
pre-pubescent sports world is probably The high stakes are not help-
not the one who actually said any of the ing matters. According to the Aspen
above. Project’s 2022 report on youth sports,
Baby Gronk, an unarguably skilled the average family spent $883 an-
athlete, whose real name is Madden nually on each of their children’s pri-
San Miguel and who lives in the mary sport. That is close to $1,000
Dallas area, is the son of Jake San per child – not for one child’s full
Miguel, a digital marketer who makes scope of athletic activities, mind you,
no secret of his thirst for internet fame. Baby Gronk has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. Photograph: Madden San Miguel/Instagram but a single pursuit. The pressure to
A modern-day Mama Rose of the foot- squeeze success out of kids is greater
ball field, San Miguel Sr – who manages football coach Ed Orgeron apparently guaranteed to develop into a titan of put the pressure on you I’m gonna put than ever. Elite US colleges, the likes
his son’s social media accounts, sche- told Baby Gronk “he was the best foot- the NFL. Most of the resistance, though, the weight on you, if you can’t come out of which often look kindly on appli-
dule and persona – has exhibited no ball player he’s ever seen”). was to Baby Gronk’s dad. It was one of the water then you really ain’t gonna cants’ athletic achievements, have been
qualms inserting himself into the Baby The kid who appeared in the thing to drive across the country and be nobody.” trumpeting their record low acceptance
Gronk narrative. A recent post on his accompanying video was more stiff and trot the kid out to college coaches. Former NFL player Chris Long was rates. Greatness on the field – regardless
son’s Instagram account opened with a laconic than one might expect of what Pushing him into the embrace of a sex one of many to express disgust. “I have of the player’s actual appetite, or inter-
video of the diamond-necklace sport- the article insisted was a “social media symbol such as Dunne, per the critics, no problem with profiting off the inter- est – is increasingly presenting itself
ing, preternaturally large boy staring sensation,” but charisma and celebrity was downright irresponsible. net, this is what we’re all doing,” he said as one of the only answers in the US
down the camera, superimposed with don’t always march in lockstep. Over Even if it weren’t for the “Baby” at on his podcast Green Light. “But the to establishing one’s post-high school
“BABY GRONK’S DAD TO BLAME.” San the next two years, Baby Gronk went the front of his name, the boy would difference is we’re not using a 10-year- success in the game of life. The scar-
Miguel Sr shared, in the next post on on to amass another half million social not come across as a day older than old kid to do it. You gotta be concerned city mentality embedded in an increa-
Baby Gronk’s Instagram account, that media followers. He became a hash- he is. Athletic skills aside, he is not about the toll this is gonna take on Baby singly competitive college admissions
his son was coming out of retirement. tag and something of a Zelig figure especially precocious, nor even conver- Gronk when he’s older.” (Long is worth process can go hand in hand with delu-
“NO LESS THAN 150,000.” (Whether he in the world of sports, rubbing elbows sational. His signature expression of listening to on this subject. He is no sion, desperation and exploitation, so
meant additional followers or dollars with everyone from Shaquille O’Neal befuddlement underscores his youth. stranger to childhood pressure himself: often exacerbated and engineered by a
was unspecified.) and Mark Wahlberg to LSU gymnast The photograph of him in a mouth- he grew up the son of Pro Football Hall monomaniacal dad. Tiger Woods had
Only two years ago, Baby Gronk, Livvy Dunne, whose signature “beach- guard accompanying a recent story in of Famer Howie Long.) one. So did the Williams sisters, and
nicknamed for former NFL star Rob nastics” videos and dream-girl looks The Athletic calls to mind a kid sucking In addition to egregious stage pa- Andre Agassi. Sometimes such high
Gronkowski, was a shockingly large have earned her a supersonic following a pacifier. renting and internet exploitation, Papa pressure domestic arrangements result
third grader and the subject of a on TikTok. During a recent father-son appear- Gronk is guilty of another crime: being in the cultivation of superstars. Some-
human interest story in Sports Illu- It was the last of these collabo- ance on the podcast Bring the Juice, the a Sports Dad as bad as they come. times though – or even simultaneously
strated, headlined: “Meet ‘Baby Gronk’: rations that stirred up the ire of the star guest appeared stiff, twisting his His orchestration of the Baby-Boom – they end in tragedy.
The 8-Year-Old Football Celebrity and commentators. Wearing a crop top, fingers and casting his gaze downwards is as sad as his online critics sug- Whether Baby Gronk stays in the
Cowboys Friend.” The piece called Dunne pulled the young athlete in for while his father did most of the talk- gest, but it also highlights the worst picture and goes on to pursue the col-
the then-4ft 9in, 88lbs aspiring NFL a hug. Baby Gronk looked awkward, ing. “If you can’t live with pressure then aspect of children’s sports, one that is lege sports career he supposedly wants
player’s shtick “wildly entertaining,” if not downright uncomfortable (coo- you ain’t gonna have a high ceiling,” San only tangentially related to children. is beside the point. He isn’t the one
and touched on his daily oatmeal ties!). Some said enough was enough, Miguel Sr said, doing little to disabuse San Miguel Sr is the viral, outsize ite- whose retirement everyone’s rooting
intake, belief that girls have cooties, and it was time to stop pretending that his critics of the idea that he is robbing ration of the parent on the sideline who for.
and impressive self-confidence (college a kid who wasn’t even in his teens was his son of a childhood. “Like I’m gonna screams at his kid, his kid’s teammate,

Australian basketballer Patty Mills honours

Indigenous cultures with Brooklyn mural
– called Indigenous Flow – to “honour well as the beauty of indigenous cul- said. “It’s also a symbol for connec-
Jo Khan Australian Indigenous culture but also tures. tivity and voyage. It was our ances-
wanted to recognise and celebrate the “The two women represent tors who had the courage to travel
A five-storey mural celebrating Indi- Indigenous people of New York, and the strength, honour, and unity among this planet through the vast ocean and
genous cultures has been unveiled in communities currently living in Sunset Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plant seeds that would take root which
New York after being commissioned Park, Brooklyn, New York,” Quiñonez peoples who have the same connection later became this incredibly diverse
by Australian basketballer Patty Mills’s said. to nature, humanity and this planet as human race that are all connected.
foundation and his team the Brooklyn “Team Mills [Foundation] and I the Ramapo Munsee Lunaape Nation.” The Indigenous Flow mural was
The mural Indigenous Flow by Victor
Nets. ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez in Sunset Park, Brook- collaborated with the Redhawk Native Quiñonez said one of the most officially unveiled over the weekend
The spectacular mural on the side lyn has been commissioned by NBA star American Art Council and its leaders important elements of the mural is the by Mills, Quiñonez and the Redhawk
of a school building in Brooklyn’s Patty Mills. Photograph: Dylan Coker to discuss what’s important in the mes- large circular motion of water. Native American Arts council at a block
Sunset Park was created by artist Victor sage we would like to convey. It was “The water represents the most pre- party in Sunset Park.
“Marka27” Quiñonez and depicts a First woman against a background of water. clear for everyone that representation cious thing nature has to offer all living
Nations woman and a Native American Mills and his team wanted the work of multiple cultures are important as things and an absolute necessity,” he Continued on page 39
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Sport 39

Continued from page 38 practice facility, it has been really heart- stand what the community of Brook- tant for “underserved communities for social justice, and in 2020 launched
warming and welcoming to me and my lyn is all about,” he told Murals for who don’t have resources to visit gal- Team Mills Foundation with the simple
Mills acknowledged how the multi- wife and a place where we’ve felt wel- the Movement, a public art initiative by leries and museums”. aim of helping people and commun-
cultural communities in the city had comed with open arms.” Street Theory, where Quiñonez is crea- “It’s also a global issue that Bipoc ities. In the same year, during the NBA’s
made him feel at home in Brooklyn. The Boomers captain has spoken tive director. cultures are not represented in mu- Covid hiatus, he created Indigenous
“This is a very special place I’ve never previously about being drawn to street “Very quickly I’ve felt drawn to that,” seums, and cultural institutions in the Basketball Australia to help Aboriginal
been anywhere like this before,” he said art in the city when he made the move Mills said. “The street art definitely same level and respect as European cul- and Torres Strait Islander people over-
at the event. there in 2021 from the San Antonio has meaning to it … there’s messaging tures. It’s our responsibility to empower come some of the challenges they face
“And as you can see from the tur- Spurs. behind it of being able to bring people our communities and show the world in the existing Australian basketball
nout today, and the diversity that there “The art, the street art, all that together.” our beauty and strength through art.” system – so they might succeed at
is, only a couple of blocks from our kind of stuff has helped me under- Quiñonez said street art is impor- Mills has always been an advocate higher levels like Mills has.

India v Pakistan is not a classic football

rivalry. But it could be
In short, they looked very much a
John Duerden team and this relative stability is what
Pakistan can aspire to. This country of
India’s 4-0 win against Pakistan on 240 million people with a proud and
Wednesday showed why this fixture passionate football history should not
is not currently one of football’s great be home to the 17th worst side in the
rivalries but also why it could be. They world. That they are in the bottom 10%
may not meet often, this being a first is mainly due to off-field issues. There
India’s relative stability is something
game since 2018, and one may have have long been problems and a Fifa ban Pakistan should aspire to achieve and climb
fallen far behind the other, but the in 2021 was a result of infighting and the world rankings. Photograph: AFP/Getty
potential is there if Pakistan can get political interference. Images
their act together off, and then on, the The ban may have been lifted last
pitch. summer but there is still a Fifa-ap- March 2015, Pakistan played only seven
Sparks can fly, as the opening game pointed normalisation committee in games. It means that there is next to no
of the South Asian Cup showed. India’s place to organise new elections. The international experience in this squad,
coach, Igor Stimac, caused a mass brawl Pakistan’s preparations for the match against India did not aid their cause after a 4-0 committee told the Guardian that the which for the first time has thrown to-
just before half-time when he stopped defeat in Bengaluru. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images process has started but that with legal gether players in Europe (Islamabad is
Pakistan’s Abdullah Iqbal from taking a issues and establishing voter lists, it will more open to taking advantage of the
quick throw-in. The Croat pushed the both the short and long term. Visas It may help explain an early goal- take some time. It will likely be next diaspora than New Delhi) and those
ball out of the defender’s hands, earn- were only received on Monday. With keeping error when Saqib Hanif had year. based at home. By the time the Falcons
ing a red card and causing tempers to Pakistan in Mauritius, where they lost possession just outside the area, tried All the while India are making have played Kuwait (an invitee to this
flare on a warm night in India’s tech all three games in a four-nation tour- to clear but missed his kick to gift the strides and showing how it can be regional South Asian competition) and
capital of Bengaluru. nament against Kenya, Djibouti and the ball to the man who has scored more done. There is a new Indian Super Nepal this coming week, there will have
With his team 2-0 up, Stimac did hosts, it meant a rush to get to southern goals than anyone else active in men’s League that has become an established been seven in this year alone.
not need to get involved and the head- India, with players arriving at different international football with the excep- part of the calendar, with the winners For most nations, this is normal but
lines should have been all about the times. tion of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel entering the Asian Champions League, for Pakistan this is progress. If more,
India legend Sunil Chhetri getting inter- “The problem about the travel was Messi. Then a handball after 16 mi- which brings possible clashes with Ro- much more, can be made in the years
national goals 88, 89 and 90 in a hugely we received the visas very late and a lot nutes resulted in a penalty and Chhe- naldo, Karim Benzema and more be- to come then a football game between
impressive career. It was the kind of of problems in Mumbai at the airport tri’s second and from then it was always sides. India have qualified for the 2023 India and Pakistan will really be one not
result you would expect from a team with the immigration,” said the assis- going to be tough against a well-drilled Asian Cup when they take on Australia, to miss.
ranked 101 playing in front of their own tant coach, Torben Witajewski. “So it team who did not have to get out of Syria and Uzbekistan. There have been
fans against opponents 195th in the was tough for the guys. The last group second gear. India, more fluid in posses- some good results with recent wins
world. arrived at half past one in the hotel sion, tactically flexible and solid, were over Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.
Preparations were far from ideal in today [Wednesday]. After 16 hours.” rarely in danger. In seven and a half years from

Women-only W Series shown red flag but its

legacy in motor sport is clear
in 2021 and 2022, when the W Series
Giles Richards gave her a second chance in a career
that had stalled due to lack of backing.
The all-female W Series had grand She was working with her father doing
plans to change the landscape of motor renovations and the day before the call
racing, all bold and ambitious, but just came through from the W Series she
over a week ago, when it was placed said she had been unblocking a urinal.
into administration, the championship She recounted the story at the time
Jamie Chadwick won the W Series cham-
was all but over. Out of money and out almost with disbelief at the unexpected pionship in each of its three seasons. Photo-
of time it foundered to a halt, an igno- lifeline the W Series presented. Its graph: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
minious end to worthy aspirations. Yet groundbreaking and innovative struc-
across the three short seasons it ran ture was crucial to Powell and indeed Powell, like so many others, just
the W Series left its mark on racing. It almost every driver. The series met needed a chance to prove herself. She
may be gone but it undoubtedly made a all the costs of competitors and put won races across all three seasons and
difference. up an enormous prize fund, starting has since become a commentator on
In 2019, at the Brands Hatch finale Winner Jamie Chadwick (centre) with Nerea Martí (left) and Alice Powell on the podium at $500,000 (£395,000) for the winner. Formula One, F2 and F3 for Five Live
of the inaugural season, it was imposs- after a W Series race in Miami in 2022. Photograph: Clive Mason/Formula 1/Getty Images Reflecting on it now, Powell is unequi- and Channel 4, and is a mentor and
ible not to notice the impact of the vocal at what it meant to be back in a driver coach to up-and-coming talent
nascent championship. The paddock the series’ chief executive, Catherine arguments that women should make it car after all the sport’s doors had shut such as Abbi Pulling and for the Alpine
thronged with families and crucially Bond Muir, who had put three years competing in the usual series against due to lack of funds. F1 team’s all-female Race(H)er acad-
hundreds of young girls, drawn to into building a project that was close to men. Yet at Brands that weekend the “It made a massive difference to emy.
watch and meet the role models that her heart. effect of the simple visibility of having me,” she says. “It revitalised my career, She was far from alone in getting
had previously been so few and far be- Not that it was straightforward. more women on track was palpable. I hadn’t lost interest in racing and it another shot, as drivers such as Emma
tween in racing. It was a moment of Having an all-female championship Britain’s Alice Powell was there for wasn’t by choice that I was not driving.
particular vindication and pleasure for had attracted criticism, with strong that season and the two that followed The W Series got it going again.” Continued on page 40
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
40 Sport

Continued from page 39 championship like it and it did a great else started that conversation. In 2022 the championship-leading Marta García soon in going global, and it cannot have
job,” Powell says. “It can and should be the sport announced it was creating its and Pulling, both raced in the W Series. helped having Jamie Chadwick win all
Kimiläinen, Sarah Moore and Jess Haw- considered a success at the end of the own all-female series, the F1 Academy, However F1’s model is different, re- three seasons at a canter. But these do
kins all found a chance to showcase day, it gave lots of drivers in that cham- which is under way this season and quiring drivers to meet half the costs, not diminish what it did achieve. It was
their abilities once more and benefit pionship, opportunities elsewhere that must have contributed to the demise of which Powell notes would have pre- bold, it was ambitious and it instigated
from it. might not have been created if it wasn’t the W Series. Whether F1 would even- vented her and many other fellow driv- change. For that alone it and Bond Muir
Because it closed out the 2022 for the W Series. tually have followed this route is moot ers from competing had the W Series deserve to be lauded.
season two races early due to a lack “People are quick to jump in and say but it is impossible to imagine it would imposed similar requirements. Yet that “Before W Series the only discus-
of investment and now has entered it has failed because it has come to an have been spurred on so quickly with- model was ultimately part of its down- sion was: ‘When do you think a female
administration, ending the goal of re- end. It has come to an end because of out the trailblazing lead the W Series fall, when expected investment and driver will get to F1 and can they race
turning a woman to F1 for the first money but that does not mean it failed, had provided. sponsors failed to materialise despite on equal terms with men?’” says Powell.
time since Lella Lombardi in 1976, crit- because it has done a world of good in “It’s more likely the F1 Academy major publicity. “Now it’s so much more and I’ve met
ics have deemed the experiment a fail- other areas. It has inspired and opened would not exist without W Series,” says Yet it was clearly reaching people. girls from four-year-olds and up want-
ure. Yet while that goal still remains doors for many people that weren’t just Powell. “It was a contributory factor. It The W Series race at the British GP in ing to take part in racing or to find out
a long way off to dismiss the series in the championship, young fans and opened up everybody’s eyes to the fact 2021 peaked at 1 million viewers, the more about racing or going into engi-
as such is simplistic and undeserved. young people aspiring to take part in there are quite a few female drivers out biggest live audience for motor sport neering. It’s not only increased interest
What it achieved can be better meas- every area of the sport.” there. It showed there are females who other than F1 since 2014. This high but it will have increased participation I
ured in how it has changed lives, the Among those it inspired must also are competitive and that seats can be point made it all the more surprising am sure. In terms of encouraging more
discourse and indeed the very percep- be considered F1 itself. The cham- filled. In F1 Academy now, all the seats that just over a year later the following girls into the sport, well, W Series has
tion of women in motor sport. pionship had shown little to no inter- are taken.” season ground to a halt prematurely. changed that for good.”
“It was bold, it was out of the ordi- est in promoting women in the sport Indeed drivers that are now flou- There were failings, such as a lack of
nary because there had never been a before the W Series, which if nothing rishing in the F1 Academy, such as track time and reaching too far too

‘Every single blow was one more nail in his

coffin’: the life and death of Stormin’ Norman
Hadley
happened to Norman Hadley, and there
Andy Bull never will be. But David believes he
knows. He is a doctor. He specia-
Stormin’ Norman Hadley was a bear of lises in trauma and emergency medi-
a man. “‘Big?’” says his best friend Eddie cine. He believes his brother was suf-
Evans. “‘Big’ is too small a word.” Hadley fering from chronic traumatic encepha-
was 6ft 7in, weighed around 280lb and lopathy caused by repeated head
could bench-press more again. He won trauma.
Harlequins’ Troy Coker lands a straight
15 caps for Canada as a lock forward in “The constellation of symptoms, right to the head of Norman Hadley. ‘He
the late 80s and early 90s and it ought the age it occurred, for his history of got hit more than others, because if people
to have been more, played four Tests head injuries, all fit the classic pattern.” wanted to make a mark there was no
for the Barbarians and spent the best David believes that by the end Norm point going after the littlest guy.’ Photograph:
years of his career at Wasps, where he had come to the same conclusion. The Colorsport/Shutterstock
was, his teammate Lawrence Dallaglio two of them never spoke about it, but
remembers, “the hardest man I’ve ever David knows that Norm saw the Will high, and pathology evaluation is a
had to lift in my life”. Dallaglio reckons Norm Hadley powers forward during Wasps’ 1995 Pilkington Cup final against Bath at Smith movie about the disease, Concus- simple positive or negative decision”.
Hadley “must have been one of the big- Twickenham. Photograph: Andrew Redington/Getty Images sion, and that he discussed it with a None of these things are true and
gest guys ever to play the game”. friend afterwards. the suggestion that they are means
And one of the brightest. “He was He was 51. He had left the emergency “sullen and angry”, and refused to speak Norman couldn’t have been sure “individuals with potentially treatable
scary intelligent,” says Evans. Hadley contacts page in his passport blank, but to the bride. It wasn’t just David. Over then, because CTE can only be fully conditions, such as depression or post-
had an honours degree in economics, the Canadian embassy tracked down a the last two years of his life, Norm diagnosed postmortem. And David traumatic stress disorder, might make
and a top-of-the-class MBA that he par- number for David and called him. The had cut off his entire family. Their can’t be sure now, because the test decisions on their future on the basis
layed into a multimillion-dollar career police did not know the cause of death parents, Michael and Anita, called and needs to be done within 72 hours of of a misplaced belief that their symp-
in banking. Evans always enjoyed it yet, but the story was already spread- wrote, but Norm never answered. “I death. He tried to arrange to have toms inevitably herald an untreatable,
when strangers made the mistake of ing among Norman’s circle that it was have a whole sheath of emails that I Norman’s body sent to Boston Univer- degenerative brain disease culminating
underestimating Norman. “They’d look a heart attack. That was what Evans sent before he died,” says Anita Hadley. sity for study at its specialist CTE in dementia”. Norman’s mental health
at him and think he was a typical jock, was telling people, it’s what was in the “‘Where are you?’ ‘Please let us know?’ Center, but Tokyo is a long way from symptoms might well have been treat-
like he was some kind of big dummy, first obituaries, and even now there are ‘At least let us know if you are well.’” Boston, and there were too many able. Experts I spoke to while writ-
and he’d come out with one of his lines.” friends, colleagues and teammates who Norm’s replies got briefer and brie- bureaucratic hurdles in the way. He ing this article were unequivocal that
He drops his voice an octave. “Like: think that’s what happened to him. fer until, eventually, they stopped alto- wonders if that was deliberate too. his symptoms were not the inevitable
‘Don’t get into a battle of wits with me, David never believed it. He always gether. Then he closed the account. “I think his plan at the end was result of CTE, whether he had it or not.
sunshine, because you’re woefully un- thought Norman had killed himself. “You always wonder: ‘What did I say, that he did not want an autopsy, be- So much of this remains contested.
armed.’” And he was right. A month later, the what did I do?’” asks Anita. “I don’t cause like he told me years earlier he The latest consensus statement by
Hadley was, and still is, a man autopsy report showed he had taken a know.” didn’t want people to know that he had the Concussion in Sport Group, which
people love to tell stories about, usually lethal overdose. They do know that he was in depression, that he had anxiety, and I shapes policy across world sport, was
the sort that make them start laugh- David believes Norman arranged his enormous pain, physically and men- think this CTE thing scared the crap out published at the start of the month.
ing all over again. “Did you hear the last days so that no one would know tally, and had been for a long time. They of him and he didn’t want people to It was widely criticised by campaign
one about him and Jason Leonard?” Or: how he died or why, that he had, in know that he was suffering badly with know that he had it.” groups on the grounds that it still re-
“What about the time he took on those fact, asked his closest friends to say depression, and that he had become There is no evidence to support fuses to acknowledge a causal link be-
two yobs on the train?” That one made it was a heart attack that killed him. paranoid, withdrawn and volatile. They any direct link between CTE and sui- tween head trauma, contact sport and
the papers. “Sneers Earn Lout A Clout.” Evans denies this. But David points to know that he had stopped working and cide. In fact, present research shows CTE, a position that puts it at odds with
But those aren’t the tales Norman’s a conversation he had with Norman 10 started wandering around the world that suicide rates among retired profes- the US National Institutes of Health, as
family want to tell. His older brother, years earlier, in which he laid out at looking for a cure. Over time he turned sional athletes are lower than they are well as the lived experience of families
David, would be happier if he never great length his plan to end his own away from western medicine. Anita among the general population, and that such as Norman Hadley’s.
heard any of them again. “They always life. “It was so surprising, the detail that says he spent the last two years of his suicide rates are lower among those The hard truth for the Hadley
glorify the violence,” he says. “Looking he had gone into, the great planning life travelling, to China, to Brazil, “and to diagnosed with CTE than those with family is that there is so much we still
back on it now, I see every single blow behind it, and the whole focus was on some very out-of-the-way places”, visit- other illnesses. In 2019, a group of don’t know about CTE, and so much we
as one more nail in his coffin.” avoiding detection.” ing “secular monasteries, experimental leading experts in the field were so still don’t know about what happened
David has his own story about Every untimely death leaves unans- medicines, weed shops”, because “he concerned about the way the media to Norman, even after months of re-
Norman, only, it isn’t one a lot of people wered questions, but Norman’s left was convinced that western medicine were reporting on the isolated cases of porting. There are uncertainties piled
in rugby want to discuss. Conversations more than most. was not up to the job”. sportspeople with CTE that they wrote on uncertainties and, faced with all that
dry up when it comes up, emails that By the end David and Norman Eventually his travels led him back an open letter about it to the Lancet. doubt, the people who knew and loved
mention it are left unanswered. weren’t talking. They hadn’t since to that Tokyo hotel room. They explained that “too often an inac- him have had to find their own answers.
Police found Norman’s body in a David’s wedding, when Norm, this Even now, seven years later, there curate impression is portrayed that CTE
Tokyo hotel room on 26 March, 2016. great, gregarious man, had arrived late, are no ready explanations about what is clinically defined, its prevalence is Continued on page 41
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Sport 41

Continued from page 40 rious at the time.” She remembers going a great talker, even did a little TV work. longer had the high-functioning busi- beat this thing, the pain will disappear,
to watch him play at university. “There “I like to think of myself as no ness acumen that he had before, and by you’ve just got to persevere through
Evans has his own. “We know he was something going on at the other slouch,” says David, “but Norm could the end he was this paranoid guy, angry this, you’ve done it before and you’ll
committed suicide,” he says, “but we end of the field and he was at the talk circles around me.” He describes his at the world, angry at his family, cut off do it again.’ But he was a mess.”
don’t know he committed suicide be- bottom of it, I remember someone pat- awe watching Norman barking orders from everybody.” David says Norm valued three
cause he got banged in the head.” Evans ting my arm and saying it will be all on the trading floor in Tokyo. Norman Norm fetched up in a little rental things: his wealth, his health and his
won 49 caps for Canada himself, he right. But of course I had no notion of and Eddie Evans had moved there house in Vancouver. These were the intelligence. By the end, he felt all three
played with and against Norman all the the tremendous pressure on his head.” together, to play for company rugby worst days. Michael and Anita went to were slipping away. “All his life he was
way through. He is protective of his Evans says: “Norm definitely had teams, Norm stayed on when he got a visit him there in 2013. “He had his bed- the biggest and the smartest, and I
friend and of the game that brought neck pain and back pain during his job at Deutsche Bank. room curtains drawn the whole time,” think that’s what made it so tough for
them together. “I would love it to be playing days and he had a lot of inju- It was there, on the far side of the Anita remembers. “They’d ask why and him when he began to realise that he
that black and white,” Evans says. “That ries, he missed a lot of playing time be- world, that things started to fall apart. he’d say that he ‘didn’t want people in wasn’t any more.”
Norm got his bell rung so many times, cause of his injuries.” But he can’t recall Norm quit Deutsche Bank in a the building opposite seeing in’.” If Norman did have CTE, he would
and his brain was all messed up, and he Norm ever suffering a major concus- hurry. David doesn’t know why, but David remembers that Norman was have been one of the earlier cases in
hated everybody, but I know that’s not sion. David remembers it differently. He Evans says it was because Norm was “afraid”, that he “thought that many rugby. In recent years, 80 former players
really the case.” says Norm got hit in the head a lot, and so spooked by the Fukushima melt- people were after him to get his have received diagnoses of early onset
He remembers a conversation he would always shake it off. “He’d say: ‘Oh down in 2011. “He just said: ‘I’m out, money”. He found out later that Norm dementia and probable CTE. They are
had with David after Norm’s funeral. boy, I got my bell rung in that game,’ I’m not spending another day in this lost a lot of it making bad trades from mostly from the generation after his.
“He said to me: ‘Eddie, it’s important or he’d make some joke about it. Even country with all this nuclear stuff going his bedroom. “He’d lost the ability to do They are among a group who are bring-
that you tell people that he had this with me he’d act tough.” on.’ It was freakish, and that epitomised it, he didn’t have the cognitive speed to ing legal action against rugby’s go-
post-concussion syndrome, we’re not Norman’s family remember him as a Norm, that he was so worried about get- handle it.” He says Norman complained verning bodies, whom they accuse of
going to be able to help people unless gentle giant, who loved poetry and play- ting radiation from this thing that he that the light gave him headaches. “I negligence in failing to take reasonable
you explain that.’ Well I’m not sure ing the trumpet. He didn’t go looking made this life-changing decision, and know by the end he would have people action to protect the players. Several
that’s what Norm had. I think it was for violence, but his size meant it had who knows what had happened in the go and do the grocery shopping for him, have spoken about how the diagnosis
a combination of things. Norm was a way of finding him. “Norm got hit a lead-up to this, maybe he was having he never ventured out at all.” has affected them. In my own inter-
always dark, he had been since he was lot, and so then he had to, as he ex- problems with his boss, maybe this, Anita says: “There was anger, tre- views with them, several described
a kid, and unfortunately he carried that plained it, make sure that he came back maybe that, but he made a decision lit- mendous anger. Every now and then he conversations with others among the
through life.” in force,” David says. erally in two or three days to get out.” would just explode for no reason at all, group who have experienced suicidal
*** “He told me he got hit more than David says Norman was a lifelong it happened on one of his visits to us, he ideation.
Norman never wanted to be a rugby others, because if people wanted to hypochondriac. He thought he had stormed out over absolutely nothing, There is help there for them now.
player. He dreamed of ice hockey, but make a mark there was no point going cancer. He thought he had meningitis. so I phoned his cell and said: ‘Please Help that Norman Hadley never had
he was too big and too slow. That didn’t after the littlest guy. It becomes a vi- He thought he had mercury poisoning. Norman come back, that made no access to, hard as he looked. The sport,
matter in rugby. His gym teacher took cious cycle. Because he was targeted “When he became very wealthy he sense, come on back and let’s talk about like society, has been racing to catch
one look and put him straight into the he had even more incentive to become would travel to clinics, where he would it,’ and he did, and always he showed up to the problem. But Norman’s family
team. They weren’t a sporty family, Mi- bigger, and tougher, and he would hit get all kinds of tests done.” He would such remorse. I remember when he worry that there is still a stigma about
chael and Anita were both academics, back more, and it fed into his own send David the results. “Some of us, was a little boy and he ran into the speaking out, just as there can be
but Norm took to it right away. He aggression and it led into, I think, the myself included, kind of dismissed it. house with a posy of dandelions be- around discussing mental health. No
played through the age grades and recurrent concussions, the illness, the And Norm would dismiss me too, he cause something bad had happened, I one wants to be seen to blame the game
went into club rugby, even had a stretch headaches, the depression, later on in thought I was a quack physician be- can’t remember what, and he was in dis- that’s given them a living, and which so
playing in New Zealand with Western life.” cause I didn’t recognise his suffering.” grace, but he was always so remorseful many people love so much, especially
Suburbs in Wellington. He made his It wasn’t just on the field. “I saw it Norman wound up living with afterwards. Only over time, he stopped when the precise extent of that blame
debut for the national team in 1987, an in pubs and bars, when he and I were Eddie Evans in Bangkok. “I told him: coming back.” remains unclear.
eight-point win against the USA. Rugby together, I’d think it would be a dumb ‘There’s a gym next door, we can work There was a final message. Norm “It would never really sit with us,
has been played in Canada since the move, but people would target the big- out together, we can eat good food,’ said he needed to go away and that he the terrible shame Norman had about
19th century, Norm’s side grew into the gest guy.” and that’s what he did, jumped on a hoped to be back again soon. “But he his illness,” says his father, Michael.
best they ever had. Everyone agrees Norm had always plane and came here.” They had a lot wasn’t.” They tried to get his friends to “Norman’s death doesn’t diminish him
In 1991, Canada went on a run to the struggled with depression. Anita re- of long conversations. “I could tell he help track him down. “But honestly we at all. He was an impressive guy. And
quarter-finals of the World Cup, where members the way his French grand- was getting depressed, that he needed were completely lost as to where he the fact that he suffered terribly at the
they lost 29-13 to the All Blacks. It was mother used to say he had a “devil a change, he was getting argumentative, was.” end doesn’t take away from what he
a hard match, much tighter than the in his tummy”. David says: “Norm had and then one day he just disappeared, Eddie Evans visited him in Van- did, not by any means, he achieved far
margin makes it sound. Hadley was in more gifts than most folks, and more literally, didn’t say bye or anything.” couver, too. “That’s when I noticed the too much, so there’s no shame, as far as
the thick of it, as always. Watch the demons than most folks. He was super- Evans continues: “When he got into physical changes, he said he had some- I am concerned, in his illness. My hope
quarter-final back now and you can see bright, super-funny, super-quick, but he these dark moods I’d just kind of leave thing wrong, some nerve stuff hap- is that other people in his situation
the team gather around him as they had a temper. He’d be quick to fight, and him alone. I knew he had his issues. pening, he was starting to get really would think: ‘I don’t have to hide,’ be-
square up to the All Black haka. quick to apologise and I think pretty A few times he’d asked me: ‘How can painful reactions across his whole body, cause there must be a lot of silent suf-
“Norm had that physicality, that early on rugby gave him an acceptable you always be so happy?’ And I’d say so essentially all our conversations fering going on by people who think it’s
hardness, that epitomised Canadian outlet for his anger.” to him: ‘Norm, that’s not the case, we would be him explaining to me the unmanly, or somehow un-rugby-like, to
rugby in the 90s,” says Evans, who Evans says: “He definitely had mood all have our days, but overall yeah, I level of pain he was going through.” say: ‘I have been badly hurt.’”
played that day. “Norm was a physical swings, he could get dark, but then like life,’ and he’d look at me and he’d He remembers watching Norm • International helplines can
anomaly, there wasn’t much you could there would be other times when he say: ‘I wish I could be as happy as using some kind of machine for treat- be found at www.befrienders.org.
do about it, it’s like a tsunami, he’s in was the life of the party, when everyone you are.’ It made me think he must ment, hooking himself up to electrodes. In the UK and Ireland, Sama-
there, boots are flying, shoulders are was surrounding him. ‘Holding court’, have been going through some serious “He looked like hell. He would tell me: ritans can be contacted on 116
flying, he’s flying into rucks and mauls, he’d call it. He was the centre of attrac- depression. But I just couldn’t figure it ‘I’m dark, Eddie, I’m dark, I’m not all 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or
he’s dragging guys all over the place, tion, and it was all there for him, his wit, out. How could a guy who has so much there all the time.’ It was like phys- jo@samaritans.ie.In the US, the Na-
you can’t really stop it.” his charm.” charisma, so much success, have these ical thing to me, when I think of the tional Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at
Did it damage him? Anita says: “I That’s the side of him Dallaglio re- moments when he felt he wasn’t good way Norman explained his depression, 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You
know when he was in high school he members. “As soon as the whistle went enough?” it was like waves of bad chemicals in his can also text HOME to 741741 to con-
would be in and out of hospital to the he was warm generous and friendly. David believes it was more than body.” nect with a crisis text line counselor.
point where it become sort of a joke, They talk about people filling a room, that. “I’m quite certain that it was He spoke to Eddie about killing In Australia, the crisis support service
and they would say: ‘Well you need a Norm could do it in two different ways, more than just depression. He’d lost himself. “I would say: ‘Norm, come on Lifeline is 13 11 14.
gold-plated health card you’re always physically, or he could do it with his his ability to control emotions, he was you’re going to get better, you’re going
in here.’ None of it seemed terribly se- personality.” He was a gifted mimic and becoming increasingly paranoid, he no to turn this around, you’re going to

Home runs and cricket greats mean happy

welcome for MLB in London
of in England, and in all more than ular season. Cricketers may be tempted armageddon’s-worth of cholesterol and seemed to consist of a good-natured
Andy Zaltzman at London Sta- 100,000 people attended a two-game by $350m (£275m) 12-year contracts. a stadium announcer with the kind cocktail of American tourists, base-
dium series between the Chicago Cubs and St The weekend offered everything of deeply sonorous and unquenchably ball-curious sports fans and British
Louis Cardinals at the London Stadium, sports watchers in Britain have come American voice that could imbue a vil- baseball enthusiasts, many of them a
Cricket and its long-lost rogue cousin, constituting a mere 0.08% of the Major to expect from visiting American lage-fete cake competition with a sense legacy of the days when MLB action
baseball, enjoyed an emotional reunion League Baseball regular season. Indian major-league events – a large crowd of fundamental sporting gravity. occupied the late-night hours of the
over the weekend. Jimmy Anderson Premier League franchise owners no with considerable enthusiasm for the From my admittedly unscientific Channel 5 schedule, hosted by Jonny
pitched in front of a crowd almost twice doubt cast envious eyes at baseball, sport, but understandably limited emo- research, sitting high in the stands
as big as any he has bowled in front dreaming wistfully of a 2,430-game reg- tional investment in the result, an over the left-field wall, the crowd Continued on page 42
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
42 Sport

Continued from page 41 dered by his impractical headgear, and

failed to mount even a ghost of a chal-
Gould, a much-loved production which lenge. The guardsman’s highly suspi-
achieved a rare televisual blend of in- cious win in the Sunday race smacked
sight, expertise, humour and enthu- of the kind of dubious fixing that has
siasm. undermined mascot sporting contests
They saw a dominant Chicago vic- for too long.
tory on Saturday, the Cubs establishing The game itself was introduced by
A Chicago Cubs fan with a beer bat before
a seven-run lead by the end of the MLB this season, which have led to a the second game in London. Photograph:
fourth of nine innings, driven by two significantly faster, more fluent spec- Simon Marper/PA
soaring Ian Happ home runs (it is, tacle. Cricket (not uniquely in sport)
admittedly, difficult for a home run to has yet to acknowledge that, what- The links between the two sports
do anything other than soar), and a dif- ever the quality of the action, daw- have included a 1932 meeting be-
ficult outing for the veteran Cardinals dling never adds to it. With its slumping tween baseball’s defining player, Babe
pitcher Adam Wainwright. The flicker over rates in men’s and women’s games, Ruth, and cricket’s statistical non-
of a St Louis revival came to nothing. The MLB London Series matches between the Cardinals and the Cubs were at the London endless interruptions, glacially moving pareil Don Bradman, to which we
The game on Sunday began in a Stadium. Photograph: Simon Marper/PA umpires, and four-hour T20 games, if can now add Anderson and Nathan
flurry of fielding errors (presumably cricket is not feverishly studying this Lyon, almost 1200 Test wickets be-
because of the teams’ lack of red-ball Twenty20 cricket has been, often sheer velocity of a well-whanged ball blueprint for product improvement it is tween them, side-by-side in the impres-
cricket in the buildup). The Cubs raced disparagingly, likened to baseball but are aesthetic treats for any sport lover. even more of an administrative buffoon sively metamorphosed former Olympic
to a four-run first-inning lead before the the latter is – in tone, pacing and struc- Beyond the novelty of seeing than its supporters had assumed. Stadium, throwing the ceremonial first
Cards, one of MLB’s worst-performing ture – much more akin to the rhythms high-level baseball in London, the spec- In the event of the much proph- pitch on Saturday.
teams this season, finally roused from and moods of Test cricket (assuming tator experience was, as spectator expe- esied DeathOfTestCricket™, if and The England maestro, who, after
their slumbers to take a 7-5 victory in the current Bazballistic version of Eng- riences tend to be at such events, large- when the five-day game finally suc- toiling on the Edgbaston stodgepot,
a game replete with hits but devoid land are not batting). Its fundamental ly indistinguishable from anything else. cumbs to the ravening myopic maw was perhaps enjoying the idea of a
of home runs, finished by the clos- state of existence is inaction with the Any gaps in play were filled with some- of the so-called “free” markets, baseball sport in which you do not have to make
ing pitcher Jordan Hicks in a flurry of constant possibility of drama, rather thing or other from the Anything to will offer a refuge for those who seek a the ball bounce, was in a Cubs shirt.
103mph rockets. than constant action with the occa- Avert The Remote Possibility of Crowd contest with a similar narrative nature. Australia’s premium-grade off-spinner
On both days, there seemed to be sional outbreak of actual tension. Spontaneity file. The unquestioned Post-season baseball in particular, represented the Cardinals. Regardless
a healthy contingent of cricket fans in As in cricket, each delivery shifts highlight was a half-lap mascot race in in which teams compete over a series of of St Louis’s revenge on Sunday, the
attendance. If you love one of these the story of the game, sometimes which a giant Winston Churchill and matches with lasting resonance within Cubs’ 9-1 first-game win with Ander-
two historic sports you can, with the imperceptibly, sometimes strikingly, an even-more-than-usually-oversized the history of the sport, in which the son in their corner has surely landed a
right induction, learn to love the other. and if the intricacies of the art and Henry VIII showed the value of top- impact of each significant play and tac- series-swinging psychological hammer-
(And if, as all correct-thinking humans deception of pitching are hard to dis- level leadership experience by streak- tical decision is magnified and scru- blow for England before the Lord’s Test.
do, you love cricket statistics, baseball cern from 150 metres or so away, the ing away from a showboating Freddie tinised, which fluctuates and evolves
offers more stats than the entire reader- eruption of timing and power in a home Mercury and a generic bearskin-hat- over days and weeks, is the closest (and
ship of the Guardian has had hot din- run, the smooth, high-speed precision ted Grenadier Guard, who seemed over- perhaps only) available alternative to
ners.) choreography of a double play, and the awed by the occasion as much as hin- Test matches.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney join

investors buying into Alpine F1 team
imum Effort Investments with Rey-
PA Media nolds, said on renaultgroup.com: “Max-
imum Effort Investments focuses on
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney unlocking value through the power of
have expanded their sporting portfolio storytelling, and we believe there is tre-
by investing in Formula One team mendous untapped potential in Alpine
Alpine Racing. Racing. We are eager to help shine
The Hollywood stars and co- a light on this incredible team. We’re
owners of Wrexham are part of a thankful to our partners at Otro Capital
$200m (approximately £157m) invest- and RedBird Capital Partners and look
ment, representing a 24% stake in the forward to diving in with them, as well
team, who sit fifth in the construc- as our co-investors Michael B Jordan
tors’ championship. Reynolds’ Max- and Rob McElhenney.”
imum Effort production company has Since the Renault team was re-
teamed up with Otro Capital and Red- branded as Alpine in 2021, they have
Bird Capital Partners, with fellow actor managed one victory and three podium
Michael B Jordan also among the inves- finishes, with Esteban Ocon coming
tors. third in Monaco this season.
Reynolds and McElhenney have fre- Ocon currently sits ninth in the driv-
quently attended games and promoted ers’ championship, with his teammate
the whole town as part of their ap- Pierre Gasly one place further back.
proach to Wrexham.
The news was announced by
Alpine’s parent company Renault. Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds after Wrexham won the National League last season. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA
James Toney, co-founder of Max-

Football transfer rumours: Liverpool to move

for Barella and Chiesa?
berto Di Matteo’s FA Cup rocket off through Alberto Aquilani to Patrick Cu- Italians on English shores. the move. Why play in the Champions
Michael Butler the bar, Fabrizio Ravanelli’s rigatoni trone all showing how it shouldn’t be Nicolò Barella and Federico Chiesa League when you can be Curtis Jones’
out and about for everyone to enjoy. done. But with Inter and Milan doing so are perhaps the most talented of the back up in the Europa?
England used to be a happy hunting Heady days. But with a couple of well in last season’s Champions League, current crop. The former is now being With just one year remaining on his
ground for Italians. Paolo Di Canio’s notable exceptions, it’s been a rough Serie A’s stock is high right now and linked with Liverpool, but won’t come contract, Chiesa has also been linked
scissor kick, Gianfranco Zola’s near- time for our Roman friends since Sandro Tonali’s impending arrival on cheap. Inter want €80m, roughly £68m,
post flick directly from a corner, Ro- the early-2000s, with Massimo Taibi Tyneside could usher in a new era of with the player apparently open to Continued on page 43
Tuesday 27 June 2023 The Guardian

Sport 43

Continued from page 42 free transfer for the imposing 28-year-

old sounds attractive, until you remem-
to Liverpool, with some suggesting that ber that Veronique Rabiot, Adrien’s not-
he wants a huge payday from Juven- to-be-messed-with mother, is the agent
tus to sign a new deal. However the in charge of his wage demands.
winger’s agent, Fali Ramadani, bit back Rom-com protagonist Brenden
over the weekend: “Chiesa has never Aaronson is set for a starring new role
requested €8m net salary per season near London’s West End, with Fulham
to sign a new deal. This is not true, keen to take the USA midfielder on
fake news.” Nevertheless, a frosty rela- loan. Leeds’ relegation makes him avail-
tionship with manager Massimiliano able on a temporary basis, although the
Allegri means Chiesa could well be Yorkshire club will hope to bring Aaron-
available this summer should the right son back in a year’s time if they achieve
offer arrive. promotion from the Championship this
It seems that the cost of living crisis coming season.
has spread to the transfer window. Out-of-contract Bobby Firmino is
And are you really living unless you the latest name to be linked with a
sign Scott McTominay for £40m? That move to Saudi Arabia, although the Bra-
is apparently the price for a mid- zilian also has interest from Barcelona.
dling Scotland international these days. Elsewhere, Wolves are in talks with
Imagine what Craig Burley’s teeth Lucas Ocampos over a €15m switch
could fetch in today’s market. Suddenly from Sevilla, while Celtic defender Ste-
Mason Mount doesn’t look so expen- phen Welsh has emerged as a target for
sive, huh. Manchester United’s midfield Could Federico Chiesa be on his way from Juve? Photograph: DeFodi Images/Getty Images Verona and Bologna.
clearout also includes Fred and Donny
van de Beek, who are both available for interested in the former. tioned Mount are candidates to replace field, as is Adrien Rabiot, whose con-
around £20m, with Fulham reportedly Moisés Caicedo and the aforemen- Fred and co in Erik ten Hag’s mid- tract runs out at the end of June. A

Here is a radical new philosophy: making

sport fun again
UK Coaching (the national coaching
Cath Bishop body) as the best, evidence-informed
way to prioritise the fundamental rights
Can it be true that there are new, rad- of all children and young people in
ical moves at play across all levels sport and activity. There are three key
of sport based on a fresh, innovative ingredients underpinned by the UN
philosophy: allowing sport to be fun Convention on the Rights of the Child:
again? In the buildup to the first Ashes for the child’s voice to be heard; for
Ben Stokes enjoys day three of the first
Test, Ben Stokes revealed the philos- them to choose how they play; and for Ashes Test with teammate Stuart Broad.
ophy and culture of the England cricket them to be supported to develop as the Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock
team’s turnaround has been to “make key ongoing objective (ie it is not just
it as fun as you can”. No mention about making the top team or talent around cones, in are tag games,
of sophisticated marginal gains or ad- pathway). street football games, scenario games,
vanced data analytics. And at the other Debbie Sayers, founder and coach child-led games and lots of free play.
end of sport, there are serious (and at Salisbury Rovers FC, is a member Coaches are encouraged to use ques-
long overdue) moves to boost children’s The former England women’s cricket captain Clare Connor plays cricket with school- of the CCC. She was determined to tions, not give direction, with the over-
activity levels through improving how children. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for Birmingham 2022 create a fundamentally different option riding warning: “If you intervene, you
youngsters experience sport. for her son to play football, having better be adding value!”
Sport England recently launched a too narrow with costs and financial mental health challenges and declared: been appalled by what was on offer – The CCC is quietly trying to bring
national campaign, Play Their Way, to barriers increasing. Many are turned “Gold medals won’t solve my problems.” children receiving instructions repeat- about a revolution in coaching in order
put “children’s enjoyment at the heart away or turned off by predominant Do we actually understand what edly shouted at them, stuck playing to change how young people expe-
of all sport and physical activity”. But talent-identification, trialling and selec- putting fun into activity for young in certain positions with touchline pa- rience being active and transform the
the fact we need a national campaign tion processes, and elite programmes at people involves any more? In one re- renting and coaching creating a toxic culture of sport. It’s simple, though not
to do this offers a damning indictment an ever-younger age. search study into the causes of fun environment with a myopic focus on easy, to implement and requires us to
of the state of youth sport and activity. Too often, youth sport has become in sport, the top answers were: trying winning. challenge accepted practice. It fits into
What has gone wrong, what have we about adult priorities and anxieties. hard, positive team dynamics and posi- Salisbury Rovers lives and breathes shifts at elite levels too, to reimagine
learned, and what is actually going to In a world where adults usually lead tive coaching. There’s no mention of a child-centred approach, basing activ- performance sport, as Stokes and his
make this work? sports sessions, an approach of treating winning, selection or talent here – for ities around the needs of the children, team are doing. Play Their Way opens
The Youth Sport Trust recently pub- children in sport like mini-adults has children, it’s all about the experience framed by the UN Convention on the up the opportunity to create not just
lished its annual report, hammering evolved over recent decades. and their development journey. Rights of the Child. “We believe that a healthier, more active nation, but
home the fact that our children are When I embarked on the path to But what will make this campaign any child who wants to get better at also to develop future citizens with a
unhealthier, unhappier and more dis- trialling for the Olympic team after more successful than past efforts to anything needs to love what they do voice, respect for others and the deter-
tracted than ever – and desperately leaving university, I remember national engage the next generation in activ- and be driven by their own self-moti- mination to make a contribution.
in need of regular activity to help coaches telling me: “Don’t expect to ity? There’s one really important prin- vation, not the desires of others.” Unin- Cath Bishop is a former Olympic
them with all aspects of their physical, have fun. This is serious now. You’ll ciple behind the work of the passio- hibited by the way children have been rower, leadership and culture coach, ad-
mental and emotional development. have fun when you reach the top step nate, forward-thinking coaches, edu- coached to play football over decades, viser to The True Athlete Project and
Less than half of young people in of the podium.” I naively thought that cators and advocates in the Children’s Sayers developed a child-led (rather author of The Long Win.
England are meeting minimum phys- this must be the route to high perfor- Coaching Collaborative (CCC) who sit at than coach-fed) play model that put • Do you have an opinion on the
ical activity levels and PE hours have mance. A gymnast parent told me her the heart of the Play Their Way cam- the motivation of children front and issues raised in this article? If you
fallen in the last decade (alongside daughter was told to get serious at the paign – they focus on putting the child’s centre. She is now rightly in demand would like to submit a response of up
the number of PE teachers). We need age of four. But this narrative has an voice first, respecting their decisions, to feed into future thinking at the high- to 300 words by email to be considered
to wake up to the consequences of increasingly hollow and sinister ring whatever “talent” level or age group, est levels of Fifa, the FA and Sport Eng- for publication in our letters section,
how children are experiencing sport, if to it, particularly with the reminder underpinned by a rights-based frame- land. At the club itself, demand to play please click here.
they are experiencing it at all. Access from double Olympic champion Adam work. is greater than they can accommodate.
and opportunities to get active are Peaty, who recently spoke out about his Child-first coaching is recognised by Gone are endless dribbling drills
 The Guardian Tuesday 27 June 2023
44 Sport

England Under-21s into quarter-finals after

Gordon goal helps see off Israel
better chance in stoppage time when
PA Media his direct free-kick from the edge of the
area was saved by James Trafford.
England Under-21s reached the quarter- England had an opportunity to
finals of Euro 2023 as Group C winners double their lead three minutes after
with a comfortable 2-0 victory against the break when Gibbs-White threaded
Israel in Georgia. Anthony Gordon’s a great ball through to Noni Madueke,
header put them in front after 16 mi- but his effort flew wide.
nutes in Georgia before Emile Smith Daniel Peretz made a fine punch
Rowe doubled the lead in the second to clear the danger from Gibbs-White’s
half. curling free-kick before a solid spell of
Lee Carsley’s side are now guar- pressure from Israel saw Karm Jaber’s
anteed top spot before they meet effort go wide.
Germany in the final group game England eventually earned their
on Wednesday. England defeated the second through Smith Rowe in the 68th
Czech Republic in their opening match, minute with an excellent finish from
but the Czechs bounced back to beat the Arsenal forward, drilled low into
Germany 2-1 on Sunday. the corner. They continued to push and
“The result was really important the substitute Cameron Archer nearly
for us, we spoke about it beforehand, made it three, but Peretz made a solid
making sure we performed and we save from a tight angle.
spoke about mentality and having that A great run from Liverpool’s Harvey
ability to find a way to win,” said Carsley. Elliott down the centre found Cole
“It was a good performance, but there is Emile Smith Rowe (left) celebrates making it 2-0 to England against Israel in Kutaisi, Georgia. Photograph: David Mdzinarishvili/EPA Palmer on the right, but his shot was
a lot more to come from this team.” easily blocked and cleared by the Israel
After starting brightly, England They continued to attack, with Gordon with quarter of an hour gone England were in charge but Israel defence before Yoav Hofmeister made
nearly took the lead in Kutaisi after firing a promising ball into the box and when a brilliant cross from Morgan sparked into life in the final 10 minutes an excellent challenge to prevent Jacob
some quick passing around the box was Curtis Jones’s shot was well defended Gibbs-White on the left found Gordon of the first half. Dor Turgeman had the Ramsey’s attempted shot in the final
finished by Smith Rowe, but his back- by Gil Cohen. in the box and the Newcastle forward first opportunity with his header going minutes of the contest.
heeled effort was ruled out for offside. * The dominant start was rewarded nodded the ball into the bottom corner. just wide and Ethane Azoulay had a