Vesper

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-paradox-of-tolerance-why-free-speech-is-essential-to-combat-extremism-in-britain https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/689b54edeb300a86d83d0c46/CE01_Peter_DLima_Claire_McGuiggan.pdf

Ardmore Espresso Martini recipe By The Bank Café & Restaurant, Huntly https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/ardmore-espresso-martini-recipe-2vkxrd7bs This indulgent espresso martini from the Bank restaurant in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, is made using Duncan Taylor’s Ardmore Octave single malt whisky. It uses Duncan Taylor’s Ardmore Octave whisky, which is matured in a one-eighth-size ex-sherry cask to expand the single malt’s rich hue and flavour profile. Ingredients 25ml Ardmore Octave by Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky 25ml Mr Black coffee liqueur 1 espresso shot 25ml sugar syrup ice 1 coffee bean, to garnish (optional) Method 1 Add the whisky, coffee liqueur, espresso, sugar syrup and ice to a cocktail shaker and shake well for 15 seconds. 2 Double strain into a martini glass and place the coffee bean on top.

one to keep an eye on Jean-Mattéo Bahoya turned 20yo in May 3 goals already in 129 minutes thsi season clocked 37.16km/h to set a new Bundesliga all-time speed record U21s Big 5 league games last season

15 best rosés for the bank holiday weekend Our wine critic picks her favourite pink wines and fizz — from just £5.49 https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/best-rose-wine-august-bank-holiday-3l662mkhx It’s been a tricky year for pink wine, too hot in some places, too cold in others, but the 15 rosés here are all tip-top. Take your pick from the cheapest place I’ve found for the uber-popular pink “chicken wine”, 2024 La Vieille Ferme Rose, down to £7.50 at Morrisons until September 2, right up to one of the poshest pinks on the planet, the gorgeous, part barrel-fermented and aged 2024 Rock Angel, Whispering Angel’s way more sophisticated, mineral and mandarine-scented elder brother. Not everyone wants a bone dry rosé and if that’s you and yours, Waitrose’s fruity, fizzy 2024 Recato Vinho Verde Rosé with lashings of sweet, pomegranate is what you should have in your glass. Sparkling pinks make the celebratory perfect bank holiday sip and there are four to choose from here, with two lovely, crisp, summery, champagne-method crémants from the Loire to whet your whistle for under a tenner. 2024 Costellore Italian Primitivo Rosé 12.5 per cent, Aldi, £5.49 Even cheaper than it was in the spring, this pale pink rosé is made exclusively from hot, arid Puglia’s primitivo grape, hence its off-dry, bold, zesty, crystallised lemon peel fruit. 2024 La Vieille Ferme Rosé, France 12.5 per cent, Morrisons, £7.50 down from £8.50, until Sep 2 Morrisons is the cheapest stockist of the “chicken wine” this bank holiday and, frankly, I’d buy long to see you through the winter of this uber-popular, light, herby, citrus-fruited mouthful. 2024 Finest Côtes de Gascogne Rosé, France 11 per cent, Tesco, £7.50 If it’s a less alcoholic but still assertive, pink grapefruit-sparky sip you want, this night-harvested cabernet-merlot Gascon blend, from the wonderful Plaimont co-op, has your name on it. 2024 Ramón Bilbao Rioja Rosado, Spain 12.5 per cent, Co-op, £7.90 down from £8.75 Ignore the daft new etched bottle, thankfully this intense, oaky-smoky, tangerine and tobacco leaf, salmon pink garnacha rosado, topped up with viura, is as good as ever. 2024 Etna Rosato, Sicily, Italy 12.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £14 Etna’s prized volcanic soil slopes and characterful nerello mascalese grape make for a fuller-flavoured, steely, radicchio and fennel big food-friendly pink that loves punchy picnic food. 2024 Miraval, Côtes de Provence, France 12.5 per cent, Booths, £16; Tesco, £17 down from £19 Brad Pitt and the talented Perrin family make a great team and this mouthwatering Provençal pink is as good as ever, overflowing with refreshing yet smoky, savoury, orange peel pizzazz. 2024 Artesano de Argento Organic Fairtrade Malbec Rosé, Argentina12.5 per cent, Sainsbury’s, £10.25 Unusual, easy to quaff yet gutsy, food-friendly red plum and sage-scented rosé, mostly hand-harvested malbec but zhuzhed up with a handy 15 per cent dollop of spicy syrah. 2024 Recato Vinho Verde Rosé, Portugal10.5 per cent, Waitrose, £9 Not everyone wants bone-dry rosé and if that’s you and yours this fruity, fizzy pink, from Casa Santos Lima, with less alcohol but lashings of sweet pomegranate oomph is the bottle to buy. 2024 Domaine Pieretti, Coteaux du Cap Corse, France 12.5 per cent, yapp.co.uk, £22.25 Corsican rosé is having a moment and Lina Pieretti’s unusual sangiovese, grenache and alicante grape pink, from a tiny plot, is all lively raspberry fruit and tea leaf-smoky charm. 2024 Rock Angel, Caves d’Esclans, Côtes de Provence, France 13.5 per cent, Majestic, six for £25.50 each, or £32 a bottle; Waitrose, £27.50 Whispering Angel’s delicious and way more sophisticated, part barrel-fermented and aged, older brother is a gorgeous, mineral, mandarin and softly lapsang souchong-scented star. 2024 Château Vignelaure, Coteaux d’Aix en Provence Rosé, France 13 per cent, thewinesociety.com, £16 Château Vignelaure is best known for its red wines, but this historic estate has made a humdinger of a pink peppercorn and lemon zest-licked syrah and cabernet sauvignon-led rosé. Fizz Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé, France 12 per cent, Lidl, £8.99 A keen price for a bank holiday, champagne-method pink party fizz, with just enough light, zesty cranberry fruit to pop up here. Part of Lidl’s core range, so it should be on theshelf. Extra Special Crémant de Loire Rosé Brut, France 12.5 per cent, Asda, £9.98 Summer parties fuelled by this rose petal and redcurrant-floral, ballet slipper pink bubbly, mostly cabernet franc, topped up with grolleau noir, are guaranteed to go with a swing. 2021 1872 Codorniu Organic Rosé Cava Brut, Spain 11 per cent, Waitrose, £11 Spain’s answer to champagne is cava and while not every Codorniu sparkler works, this superior, ripe, fruity, strawberry-scented organic edition certainly does. 2024 Allini Prosecco Rosé, Italy 11 per cent, Lidl, £7.99 If pink prosecco floats your boat, this jolly, sweet, floral, grapey pop has your name on it. Best served ice-cold it also works well sploshed over summer berries.

yes she grew up in Belsize Park but her father and brothers were/are huge QPR fans she long ago (due to me, lol) became a Chels fan as well, but she still has hopes that QPR someday gets back into the EPL (good luck with that atm!)

happy to see Dortmund blow a 1 3 lead with 4 minutes to go versus St Pauli

wifey is in mourning

5 nil FT

5 nil Gyökeres with a brace

my type of tents https://www.westgate-farm.co.uk/

4 nil Timber on a hat trick (both from corners)

Noni has been the best player on the pitch

Saka off injured

3 nil

Nigel Farage: This is a massive crisis. We need mass deportations exclusive The Reform UK leader believes he will have one shot at No 10 — and next week will make his biggest move yet https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/nigel-farage-interview-reform-uk-v3lcnkbm9 Nigel Farage has had little time off this summer. Where most other politicians have been keen to head off for a much-needed break, he has spent most of it working — although not of his own volition. “It has been a total catastrophic disaster,” he says, speaking in his constituency office in Clacton-on-Sea. “I tried to have a couple of weeks off. I was called away four times. I was having a week on the coast in Kent, I was having a week in Cornwall. “Cornwall was important to me because all four of my adult children and grandchildren were there. Then there was a massive fire in Clacton. So I had to come back for that. “And there were two other big donor visits and going to see JD [Vance, the US vice-president], which wasn’t a bad thing. I’m busy as hell.” The Reform UK leader believes this is his “do or die” moment — his one shot at No 10. Britain, he says, is “going downhill very, very quickly” and there needs to be a “massive turnaround”. He argues he is the man to do it. Two years ago such a statement would have been deemed fantasy. Now, with Reform having consistently led in the polls since April, it is no longer an unrealistic prospect. Sir Keir Starmer has even decided to treat him as the real leader of the opposition, all of which has served to give Farage an even bigger platform. Next week, Farage will make his biggest move yet. On Tuesday he will publish his proposal for the mass deportation of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. To describe the plans as aggressive is an understatement. Farage’s plan begins with leaving the European Convention on Human Rights TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE They include the arrest of asylum seekers on arrival, automatic detention and forced deportation, with no right of appeal, to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea. There are plans for deals with third countries such as Rwanda, a “fallback” option of sending people to British overseas territories such as Ascension Island and new criminal offences for people who return to the UK or destroy their identity documents. The NHS, HM Revenue & Customs and the DVLA will be required to share data automatically so illegal immigrants can be tracked down and arrested. Every element of the plan is contentious and it is likely to encounter huge practical, political and legal obstacles. Farage appears to embrace the controversy. “The aim of this legislation is mass deportations,” Farage says. “We have a massive crisis in Britain. It is not only posing a national security threat but it’s leading to public anger that frankly is not very far away from disorder. There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.” Farage’s plan begins with leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and scrapping the Human Rights Act. This, he says, is relatively straightforward. “It’s not a very difficult thing to do,” he says. “There isn’t any renegotiation agreement that needs to be done or anything like that. This can be done reasonably quickly.” Migrants run to board a smuggler’s boat on the beach of Gravelines, northern France, last week SAMEER AL DOUMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES The second part of Farage’s plan is to introduce a British Bill of Rights. Gone will be any mention of human rights from the statute books. In its place will be terms such as liberty and freedom of expression. “The freedom to do everything, unless there’s a law that says you can’t,” he says. “The opposite to that is the concept of human rights, which are state-given.” Britain would also derogate from the Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture and the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking convention. Farage argues that doing so is necessary because the UK is facing a “state of emergency”. The next step is even more controversial. For months Reform has been working on the Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill, which will make it illegal for people to come to the UK illegally. They would be detained on “surplus” RAF bases, then deported. Farage says that on coming to the UK in small boats people would face immediate arrest. As part of the plan, which is called Operation Restoring Justice, Farage’s government would build detention centres capable of detaining 24,000 people. TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE His vision is for prefabricated buildings with canteens and medical facilities on site. People would not be allowed to leave and Farage believes they can be deported within 30 days. “They have no right to claim asylum,” he says. “They would be arrested and detained. They’d be put into disused military bases. We would potentially need some prefab buildings put up, something like that. “Don’t tell me we can’t put together facilities for people to stay because we can. They would be treated with a degree of civility, of course. They’re going to be fed and watered and looked after, given medical care if they need it.” He contrasts the plans with how he views the present situation. “You have these young men from different cultures, Afghans being perhaps the worst example, who are literally free at licence to go out, work in the criminal economy and commit crimes,” he says. “And I think it’s the area of sexual crime that perhaps is the one that has upset the public the most. They should not be free to walk our streets, period.” The legislative package would include powers giving the government the right to detain people without any recourse to bail. The home secretary would be put under a statutory duty to remove people from the UK. Where would they be sent? This is perhaps the most contentious part of Farage’s plan. He wants to sign deals with countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea, despotic regimes with dire human rights records. Afghanistan under the Taliban has a dire human rights record SAMIULLAH POPAL/EPA “We have enormous muscle on these things,” he says. “We can be nice to people, we can be nice to other countries, or we can be very tough to other countries. “But all the diplomatic levers that we have, if we have to use them, on visas, on trade, sanctions … I mean, Trump has proved this point quite comprehensively.” But what of the risk of people being killed or tortured if they are sent back to their country of origin? The Taliban are unlikely to look kindly on people who have fled. “I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” he says. “Who is our priority? Is it the safety and security of this country and its people? Or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts? That’s what it comes down to. Whose side are you on?” So how would he respond as prime minister if people were tortured because of his deportation policy? “There is no particular reason why they should be tortured because they have gone back,” he says. “But, look, I can’t be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets.” Farage will also send people to third countries. He is open to reviving the Conservative Party’s Rwanda plan, which he says would work under his overhaul of the asylum system. Albania is another potential destination. Suella Braverman, the home secretary at the time, inspects accommodation for deported asylum seekers in Kigali, Rwanda CYRIL NDEGEYA/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES There is another plank to the plan — a “fallback” of sending people to British overseas territories. “It’s there as a backstop. The message that if you come, you won’t stay is so important. “Now, ideally, they’re going back to Iraq, they’re going back to Iran, they’re going back to wherever, Eritrea, Afghanistan. But if we have some problematic ones, then that’s the backstop. You will not be staying in this country if you pay a trafficker to cross the English Channel.” Farage suggests asylum seekers could be sent to Ascension Island, 4,000 miles away in the South Atlantic. The island is notoriously difficult to get to and landing is said to be a treacherous experience. “It’s a long, long way and it would be expensive,” Farage says. “It can manage military craft. But again, it’s symbolism.” But even if it proves to be viable, what if the overseas territories don’t want to accommodate thousands of asylum seekers? “Of course they won’t want them,” Farage says. “But that’s just part of the deal.” Farage’s plan envisages that five deportation flights would be chartered every day. An RAF Voyager would be on reserve if needed. An RAF Voyager at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA The government, he says, would take a “carrot and stick” approach with a six-month voluntary returns scheme. People would be able to “deport themselves” using an app and be given £2,500 to leave the country. Their flights would be paid for. “The carrot is very, very clear,” he says. “If you’re here illegally, we’re coming for you. We will remove you. But what we can do is help you go back to where you came from, put two and a half thousand quid in your pocket, not charge you an airfare to go. And I think quite a few might take that option.” Farage claims the policy will cost £10 billion over five years. But can those figures be right? Is there not a risk that building additional migration detention centres alone could swallow up the bulk of that money, never mind deals with other countries, the cost of charter flights and building accommodation in overseas territories? Reform insists the plan is fully costed. It says the policy will save £7 billion over five years compared with the existing cost of the asylum system. He suggests the plan will stop the boats in as little as two weeks, highlighting the impact of a hardline policy introduced by the former prime minister Tony Abbott in Australia. “He towed them back to Indonesia,” Farage says. “If people coming know they’ll be detained, if they know they’ll be deported, they’ll stop coming very very quickly.” In the US, President Trump declared a national emergency and deployed troops en masse to the Mexican border. Thousands of people had their settled status rescinded and police detained others. The policy led to the number of illegal crossings from Mexico collapsing. Troops at the Mexican border during President Trump’s second week of office in February ZUMA/THE MEGA AGENCY “A lot of this [the costings] is difficult to tell because you don’t know what the effect of doing it in the first place is going to be,” he admits. “The Tories thought Rwanda would be dramatic [as a deterrent], and it would have been if they’d been allowed to do it under ECHR and British judges. So estimating some of this is difficult, isn’t it? “We’ve got guesstimates of what it would cost for each individual to be rounded up and deported, which is why the voluntary option would be a lot cheaper for everybody.” Farage adds: “The illegal migrant crisis is costing £7 billion a year. But the truth is that doesn’t even get close to what it’s really costing us, what it’s costing the NHS. “The fact they have to provide free healthcare. The fact that NHS dentists have to be on hand. The police time for those that commit wrongs. “You know, we are talking here about a massive, massive financial problem, far bigger than we’re saying in this document, far bigger than we’re saying. And our hope would be that it would actually suit the NHS to co-operate with us on this.” Reform will also mount a crackdown on the black economy. It says it will require the NHS and other public bodies to provide information so illegal immigrants can be tracked down and detained. The timing of Farage’s announcement is deliberate. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, is expected to set out her plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights at the Conservative Party conference. Farage is dismissive. Kemi Badenoch in Essex this month STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA “Who? No one knows who she is,” he says. “No one. I mean, where’s the credibility? Do you think they’ll go as far as these? It’ll be the usual Tory fudge. They’re a broad church with no religion.” The government’s asylum policy, in the meantime, is in turmoil. Last week a judge granted an injunction that will lead to the closure of a hotel in Epping housing asylum seekers that has been the site of repeated protests. Dozens of protests are expected outside asylum hotels across the country this weekend as other local authorities consider applying for similar injunctions. Farage warns there will be social unrest unless they close. “I know the argument is that they’ll move them into HMOs or they’ll do whatever they’ll do. But I do think the migrant hotels are a symbol of all that is wrong, all that is unfair. And, increasingly, it’s a big security risk.” Farage samples the wares in a craft ale sale in his constituency TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE With that Farage is off for a visit to a craft ale and beer festival nearby, where he lives up to his cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking caricature. “There are some mornings I wake up and think I must be completely, completely off my head. But that never lasts more than an hour or two because the buzz and the excitement of building something, of moving forwards. So no, I mean, basically, basically I’m still pretty energised.”

2 nil

At John Lewis ‘we don’t mind if we’re cool or not’ Just over a year into her tenure at John Lewis, the retailer’s director of fashion is making some big changes — but there’s still something for everyone https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/fashion/article/john-lewis-rachel-morgans-interview-style-trends-z8hrhsdjb Rachel Morgans: “Our customer knows what she wants. She doesn’t need to be there first with the next big thing” VICTORIA ADAMSON FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES John Lewis has long been the no-brainer destination we head to when in need of a new dishwasher or a garden cushion with a reassuring amount of squish appeal. But where clothes are concerned the department store is perhaps a less obvious choice. Its director of fashion, Rachel Morgans, is quietly changing that. Since arriving at the department store chain last summer, the designer turned buyer turned high street retail veteran has focused on reinvigorating its role as a fashion destination. Morgans, 52, who cut her design teeth in fashion houses in Milan and has a shrewd eye for clothes that speak to the zeitgeist — she was on Jane Shepherdson’s team when she led Topshop in its heyday — brings decades of experience to the retailer, which has been through something of an identity crisis. “John Lewis has very trusting and loyal customers, but I do think we can inspire them a bit more,” she says. “I want them to walk into the store and feel excited.” Coat, £399, Rejina Pyo x John Lewis, available from October 9; an outfit from the new-season collection We are sitting down together (on a John Lewis sofa, of course) in a quiet spot amid the retailer’s autumn/winter press day, an industry event in which fashion and shopping editors such as yours truly get the first sneak peak of what John Lewis has in store for next season, and undoubtedly there is excitement in the air. Not just for the autumn collections — no self-proclaimed fashion fan with a pulse could fail to stroke the rails of cashmere knits and oversized wool coats that form the John Lewis collection next season and not feel a frisson of excitement for long autumn walks and Sunday lunches in pubs with open fires — but for the carefully chosen edit of brands the retailer will host in its stores this winter. Certainly it seems that some of the frump that has been JL’s Achilles’ heel in recent years has been replaced with fabulousness — and a host of new brands to boot. Across men’s and womenswear the teams have added more than fifty new labels to the store’s offering, with everything from Theory to Norse Projects now available alongside existing success stories such as Carhartt and Ralph Lauren. • Read more fashion advice and style inspiration from our experts It’s an approach that seems to be paying off. After a rocky few years, in March the chain announced that it was making “solid progress”, with sales up 3 per cent year on year and profits on the rise. “It’s not about alienating the customers we have already,” Morgans says, “but about unlocking our creativity. There’s an opportunity to offer something a little bit different to those who want it, while still catering to the customers we have. It’s a democratic approach.” A soon-to-launch collaboration with the London Fashion Week designer Rejina Pyo is a tangible embodiment of this intention. Think brilliantly cut jackets with a kooky twist and catwalk-worthy shoes at an incredible price point (a pair of court shoes from her main line will set you back in the region of £300; the John Lewis version are £130). The range, which lands in October, follows a pairing with the cult brand Awake Mode, which launched last year, and, perhaps more interestingly, the store’s decision to carry the mainline collection of the fashion darling and former LVMH prizewinner SS Daley (usually found at the luxury fashion destinations ssense.com and Harrods) in a number of its stores. John Lewis’s London flagship “Of course, there’s kudos to be gained from supporting these designers,” Morgans says, “but our design teams get so much from working with them. It’s really important that we give something back: we’ve got the best designers in the world.” Morgans is intent on spicing up John Lewis’s own-brand offerings too. She doesn’t deal in flash-in-the-pan fashion trends — “We do nod to them, but our customer knows what she wants, she doesn’t need to be there first with the next big thing” — but instead in what Morgans hopes is grown-up, well-made fashion motivated by longevity. • Can John Lewis rival the star power of M&S? Morgans has impeccable personal style and a wardrobe that includes everything from luxury classics by Dries Van Noten and Prada to “vintage” Topshop — she brings a keen eye for great design to John Lewis. “I operate a strict one-in, one-out policy when it comes to my own clothes. I suppose we are operating a similar approach at John Lewis. Everything included is intentional and thought through.” As she is at pains to remind me, her objective isn’t to give the John Lewis fashion floors a superiority complex and certainly not to alienate any of the retailer’s loyal customer demographics. “We don’t mind if we’re cool or not,” she says, “it’s about confidence.” Two more outfits from the new collection Born in Alton, Hampshire, Morgans studied fashion at the University of Westminster before accepting her first job at Alberta Ferretti. “Arriving in Italy was a huge culture shock but I learnt so much. Especially about fabrication. I fell hard for beautiful fabrics,” she says. John Lewis customers can see the evidence of this early love affair in a new line of men’s heritage pieces, which includes sports jackets and excellently cut trousers made from Italian wool and Korean denim. The commercial experience Morgans received while working for Topshop when it was the star of British retail is also what makes her such a plum hire for John Lewis. “I took so much from that time. It was hard and fast all the time,” she says. “There was no one to help. We were all at capacity. You just got things done and learnt so much along the way.” Fast forward two decades or so and Morgans, who went on to head up buying at Asos and then to help to launch Finery London, is enjoying sharing her passion for fashion that hits a cultural sweet spot with her teams at John Lewis. “Of course it is high pressure, but there is such joy to be found in these jobs.” Does the fact that the whole country seems to care what happens to its sales figures and who the new person in charge is add to the pressure of working for John Lewis? “I think it adds to the excitement,” she says. “Everyone cares, everyone is so emotional about it and what it means to them.” Better than that, a job at John Lewis means Morgans’s mum finally understands what she does. “I told her I’d got the job and suddenly what I’d been doing for the last 30 years made sense to her,” she says.

1 nil Arse

no news that I have seen, sorry

The reason Chelsea are unlikely to sign a new CB or GK https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/the-reason-Chelsea-are-unlikely-to As I’ve been reporting for some time now, Chelsea have always been looking at the goalkeeper market and the centre back market this summer, it’s just never been the main priority. And this is because Enzo Maresca asked the club to prioritise improving the attack first. For goalkeeper, as I’ve explained a few times now, it’s very complex and there are many reasons as to why so far they haven’t signed a new keeper or gone back in for Mike Maignan. I’m not fully ruling it out, but it would need one of Robert Sanchez or Filip Jorgensen to be sold, and that’s now hugely unlikely unless a late surprise. For centre back, I’m a tiny bit more hopeful on because Enzo Maresca has asked for one, but I still see it as unlikely this late in the window now. Chelsea would need to sell Axel Disasi, Renato Veiga, and maybe even Trevoh Chalobah to be able to bring in a new centre back now. I say Chalobah and not Benoit Badiashile because the latter is injured until September. There is nothing to suggest right now that Chelsea will sell Chalobah, but he’s always been one on the list that they would certainly listen to offers for. The reasons Chelsea are not buying a new goalkeeper and a new centre back is varied, but one of them is FIFA. Chelsea need to make sure their transfer balance stays ‘positive’ otherwise the fine they’ve got is going to increase even more but not only that. Kieran Gill of The Daily Mail reports: ‘Chelsea’s complex agreement with UEFA included a record fine worth £26.8m rising to £78.5m, but the key sporting sanction warned how the club ‘may not register any new player on List A to UEFA club competitions unless the List A Transfer Balance is positive’. ‘Chelsea have less than two weeks to prove to UEFA that they have balanced their books enough to be permitted to add their abundance of summer signings to Enzo Maresca’s Champions League squad for this season. ‘UEFA have now confirmed that their auditors will only be accounting for the money made on those who were named in the squad submitted by Chelsea for last season’s Conference League knockout stages. ‘Crucially, that means the sales of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Everton, Noni Madueke to Arsenal and Mathis Amougou to Strasbourg will work towards satisfying UEFA, but the exits of Felix et al will not.’ And that is why we are seemingly stuck without addressing the goalkeeper and centre back positions. But it begs the question, why are we prioritising Alejandro Garnacho so highly when there are more pressing concerns? But as reported, Chelsea ARE in the centre back market looking at the options so anything can still happen. On centre backs at Chelsea, Kieran Gill continued: “While Chelsea are constantly monitoring the market in case opportunities crop up, it would likely require someone leaving the Blues in order for them to bring anyone in.” So there you have it folks. There’s still some very slight hope, but the likelihood is now that Chelsea aren’t going to sign a new goalkeeper or a new centre back. But don’t believe reports that claim they are ‘happy’ with what they’ve got. Enzo Maresca certainly isn’t. It is true that Robert Sanchez has impressed them a lot more lately. But they literally tried to sign Mike Maignan this summer, as well as Dean Huijsen. So they absolutely wanted to improve BOTH positions this summer. FIFA and our own odd priorities are now making that unlikely.

Quarter of Labour members set to back Jeremy Corbyn’s new party Survey finds 28 per cent considering voting for the former Labour leader’s new left-wing, pro-Gaza movement at next election https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/labour-jeremy-corbyn-party-br96q7hk2 One in four Labour members could back Jeremy Corbyn’s party at the next general election. Twenty-eight per cent of those surveyed said they were considering supporting the former Labour leader’s new left-wing, pro-Gaza movement, which is set to be launched formally in the autumn. Corbyn announced the venture along with fellow MP Zarah Sultana in July, aiming to win over disaffected Labour voters. The pair will be heartened by polling from Survation, which shows the majority of Labour members want Sir Keir Starmer’s party to change direction. Some 59 per cent said Starmer should pursue more left-wing policies, 2 per cent said he should move to the right, and 35 per cent thought he should move faster to deliver his current agenda. While 28 per cent of members said they would potentially back Corbyn’s movement, a majority (51 per cent) thought a new party could split the left and boost the chances of a Conservative or Reform-led government. About 14 per cent thought the new party would not have any impact on Labour’s chances, while 12 per cent said the only real risk was to the Green Party. Labour Party members tend to hold stronger political views than the parliamentary party, and so are more likely to be left-wing than MPs. Corbyn welcomed the findings of the poll, which was conducted among 1,021 Labour members this month and commissioned by the LabourList website. He said: “For too long, people have been denied a real political choice. Not any more: 700,000 people have already signed up to build a real alternative to inequality, poverty and war. One based on public ownership, wealth redistribution, housing justice and peace. This is just the beginning. We are an unstoppable movement and we are never going away.” A Labour source defended the party’s performance and said Starmer was focused on creating “a fairer Britain for working people”. Planning is under way for the official launch of Corbyn’s movement, which remains without a name but has been referred to by organisers as “Your Party”. A location and date for the launch conference to formally establish the party along with leadership elections are still not confirmed. However, the founding process is being stewarded by Corbyn, Sultana and four other MPs elected last July who stood as independents on an explicitly pro-Gaza platform. Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington, said on Thursday that she advised Corbyn not to launch a new political party because she felt that it would struggle to succeed under the first-past-the-post system. She told the Edinburgh International Book Festival: “There were people around Jeremy encouraging him to set up a new party and I told him not to. It’s very difficult under the first-past-the-post system for a new party to absolutely win. If it wasn’t first past the post then you can see how a new party could come through, but I understand why he did it.” Abbott, who said last month that she would not be joining Corbyn’s party, despite the pair being longtime friends, describe Sultana as a lovely person who is full of energy. She added that the party could get votes from people who were not necessarily left-wing but were disappointed by Labour’s actions over the past year. It emerged on Thursday that Labour has lost almost 200,000 members in the past five years. Figures published in the party’s annual accounts showed that it shed another 37,215 members last year, or about 10 per cent. It means Labour’s membership was 333,235 at the end of last year, well down from its peak under Corbyn’s leadership of 532,046 at the end of 2019. However, Reform UK’s accounts also showed a surge in party members, generating fees of £4.3 million. Donations to the party also rose from £1.3 million in 2023 to £5.8 million last year. Some Labour figures have spoken out over the summer about the party’s first year in office. Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said the party needed to “really pick things up” after a “tough” 12 months. Ian Byrne, the MP for Liverpool West Derby, this week criticised planned cuts to disability benefits and the winter fuel allowance that the government U-turned on. He also urged the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap, telling The Big Issue magazine: “We just need to stop making political decisions which are suicidal on the doorstep.” Sultana has compared the founding of the new left-wing political party to the creation of the NHS and extension of the right to vote to women. She said there had been “a lot of unofficial local groups” formed organically since the new party was promised, but that a “unitary” party structure was necessary. “Otherwise it won’t be a cohesive project that unites the existing spectrum of movements and struggles,” she said in an interview with the New Left Review. Sultana said the new party should not be led only by the six MPs, adding that, given five of them are male, it would risk being a “boys’ club”.

Alejandro Garnacho saga: United invite Spurs to join Chelsea in the race https://sports.yahoo.com/article/alejandro-garnacho-saga-united-invite-220500156.html Manchester United have been trying to move on Alejandro Garnacho since the summer window opened. So far, an exit has not materialised. It is not because of a lack of interest with Saudi Arabian sides, and plenty of European clubs chasing his signature. But the Argentine seems hellbent on moving to Chelsea, who have, until now, only offered lowball proposals or swap deals. In fact, the Stamford Bridge outfit only want to spend £30 million on the 21-year-old. INEOS value him at least £50 million, which makes a lot of sense given the prices Anthony Elanga, and Noni Madueke have fetched. Garnacho only has eyes for Chelsea The Blues want to take advantage of the fact that the Carrington graduate only has eyes for them. So desperate is the Argentina international to move to London that he is ready to watch from the stands if he does not get his desired switch. That is why the Red Devils have an ace up their sleeve. As per Givemesport, they have given the green light to Tottenham Hotspur to approach them regarding a deal for the United No.17. The 20-time English league champions are aware that the only way for them to get Chelsea to up their offer is if they encounter competition for the winger’s signature. Spurs, who missed out on Eberechi Eze, could potentially try and land the ex-Atletico Madrid academy ace as a replacement. Spurs invited to join the fray They had been credited with interest in the versatile forward in the recent past. INEOS would welcome the prospect of a bidding war. “Manchester United are hoping that Tottenham Hotspur will choose to re-enter the race to land Alejandro Garnacho as influential figures at Old Trafford have accepted that Chelsea will only come close to meeting their demands if they are facing competition for an agreement, GIVEMESPORT sources have revealed. “Manchester United have given Tottenham the green light to come back into the frame to sign Garnacho, according to GMS sources, as there are fears that they will be forced to allow him to join Chelsea for a cut-price fee if no other suitors are prepared to put cash on the table ahead of the summer transfer window slamming shut on September 1. Hoping for a bidding war “Tottenham used intermediaries to gauge what would be needed to recruit Garnacho and also made checks on his desire to leave Manchester United earlier in the transfer window, GMS sources have learned, resulting in his current employers being keen for the north Londoners to return to the market for his signature. “Manchester United are resigned to the fact that Garnacho already has his heart set on being confirmed as Chelsea’s next arrival, GMS sources understand, but key decision-makers are desperate for Tottenham to provide him with an alternative destination as it would increase the possibility of a bidding war taking place.” It will be interesting to see if Spurs’ entry can spur Chelsea to improve their offer. Hopefully, this saga can come to an end soon. Amorim needs help in midfield and in goal, and with Garnacho not part of his plans, his sale could be key in unlocking further reinforcements.

I listed Diouf in the past as a LB option, but we bought Hato

he is a RWer, where we are loaded he often struggles at LW plus he turns 30yo next season