Police officials in Wales and England have promised to send an officer to each and every house that has been burglarized.
The pledge commits forces to send an officer to investigate every report of home burglary, regardless of location and what has been stolen.
All 43 forces agreed to the commitment at last week’s meeting of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Its chairman Martin Hewitt said the move was aimed at giving people “peace of mind”.
The pledge follows a report from the police watchdog in August which found most victims of burglary, theft, and robbery in England and Wales were not being given the justice they deserve.
In the year to March, Home Office figures showed just 6.3% of robbery offences and 4.1% of thefts in England and Wales resulted in charges, while recent figures found police attendance at burglaries in London had fallen to 50%.
Mr Hewitt said some forces had struggled to attend all burglaries because of “limited resources”.
“We want to give people the peace of mind of knowing if you experience that invasion, the police will come, find all possible evidence and make every effort to catch those responsible,” Mr Hewitt wrote.
“That’s a critical part of the contract between the police and public.”
Mr Hewitt added that burglary was “invasive” and could be “deeply traumatic” for victims.
The plan is to prioritise incidents where a home has been burgled, as opposed to outbuildings and garden sheds.
Sara Thornton, previous head of the NPCC, told the BBC in 2015 that budget cuts and the changing nature of criminality meant the public should not expect to see an officer after crimes such as burglary.
The latest agreement, signed up to by all forces in England and Wales, follows similar commitments from several services across the country, including the Metropolitan Police Service.
The Met’s recently-appointed commissioner, Mark Rowley, last month said his officers would “get back” to attending all reports of a burglary in London.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Sir Mark Rowley said the Met’s low attendance record for burglary was “unacceptable”
Sir Mark told the BBC a crime as severe as burglary needed a “proper policing response” and described the Met’s low attendance record as “unacceptable”.
“We’re never going to turn up to every single crime, and the public understands that, but something as severe as burglary needs a proper policing response,” he said.
“It’s too serious an intrusion not to have somebody turn up”.
Greater Manchester Police committed to attend to every report of a burglary in July last year and said it had since seen “a number of positive results”, including a 95.8% increase in arrests between August 2021 and July 2022.
Supt Chris Foster, the force’s lead for tackling burglary, said: “It is therefore only right that we use all of our policing powers to deal with those individuals who invade the homes of others and steal their property.
James Maddison not going to the World Cup with England would be “a shame for the country”, said Brendan Rodgers after the Leicester City midfielder scored another two goals on Monday.
The 25-year-old has earned only a single England cap, in November 2019, and appears to face an uphill battle to gain favour with Southgate before Qatar 2022 kicks off next month.
Yet Maddison has started the Premier League season in outstanding form. After scoring two and assisting another in Leicester’s 4-0 win over fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, he has seven goal involvements in seven appearances.
Going back to the start of the previous campaign, Southgate‘s captain Harry Kane is the only English player with more Premier League goals (24) or goal involvements (34) than Maddison (17 goals, 10 assists).
“It’s such a shame for the country and for James himself,” manager Rodgers told Sky Sports. “You see his talent, and his performance level for the last 18 months I think everybody is clear on.
“I think it’s only Harry Kane who has created and scored more goals than him, so to not even be in the squad…
“Even if he’s not going to start, to have a player of that quality and not only in that, in international football, to have the personality to take the ball, be creative, take the ball and change the game, James is all of that. He’s an absolutely brilliant player.
“I really hope over these next few months he can continue the form he’s shown for 18 months and somehow get into the team, because if you’re wanting creativity, you’re wanting personality – he’s improved his defensive side of his game, and he can play in a couple of positions.
“For me, he’s an absolutely outstanding player, and he’s up there.
“I love Phil Foden, Mason Mount, those boys who play there – Jack Grealish is different, Jack plays from the side – but Madders can play in a number of positions to a high level, and he showed that tonight.”
Maddison, who said suggestions he would not be a good character within the group if not starting were “insulting”, added: “It’s been a weird position for me.
“We [Leicester] have been bottom of the league, and results have not been going our way, but I’ve almost been as confident as I’ve ever been in my career.
“I don’t remember over the last 12 months playing better than I have and feeling as well as I have.
“It’s obviously hard to answer this question [on his England hopes], because you want to say the right thing, you don’t want to say the wrong thing, but that’s an ambition of mine, a goal of mine.
“I’m a football man, I watch all the games, I watch international football, and an opportunity at that level would be something I desire. I almost know I’d have an impact.
A 20-year-old man from Cambridge, England, has become famous both in his hometown and on social media, because of his decision to shun footwear completely.
Up until a year or so ago, George Woodville wore shoes pretty much all the time, even indoors. But one day in October of last year, while on a walking holiday in Plymouth with his mother and grandfather, he began questioning the necessity of wearing footwear. He got to the hotel, started researching the ‘barefoot movement’, and decided he was done with shoes for good. More than one year later, not only is George sticking to his decision, but he has found a way to turn his dirty feet into an income generation machine.
“I got back to the hotel, and I started looking up the benefits of going barefoot and found this amazing community. I decided at that moment that I wouldn’t ever wear shoes again,” George told Cambridge News. “My first experience was going to a restaurant with my mum and grandfather – and it felt really different. And then I walked on grass, and on any surface I could find to feel the difference. I spent 20 years wearing shoes, but it felt right.”
As soon as he returned home from his vacation, the 20-year-old threw away all of his 20 pairs of shoes – including three pairs of trainers, two pairs of leather shoes, suede shoes and flip flops – and committed to going barefoot full-time. He hasn’t looked back since and claims that the change has made him more comfortable in his own skin and helped him express himself better.
Still, the young English man admits that the complete lack of footwear doesn’t impress everyone. Some supermarket managers will ask him to leave if they spot him in their stores, and he has heard some people say that what he’s doing is disgusting, but he has never felt embarrassed about it.
“Sometimes I’ll find glass stuck in my foot, but within a few days it usually just falls out,” George said. “I have stepped on dog poo before. If my feet get really dirty, I’ll ask someone to get me a bucket of water before I go inside, but I will try to find a puddle to clean my feet.”
“In winter, it was a bit difficult at first because it was very cold and I had only started walking barefoot, and when it got cold and wet you really felt it. But as with anything, after a while you just become used to it,” the young man added.
Apart from making him feel liberated and empowered, barefoot walking has also opened up an enrichment opportunity he would have never imagined. Ever since he started documenting his barefoot adventure on social media platforms like Tik Tok, George Woodville started getting requests for “barefoot pics” from his online fans. That’s when he decided to start an OnlyFans for his feet…
“It’s pretty amazing to think that my feet could be what pays my bills. I hope I can become a millionaire and I would be surprised if I didn’t make that kind of money in the next five or so years,” George said.
He has only made £100 ($110) in his first month on OnlyFans, but he is confident that it is only a matter of time until he makes it big on the platform.
Jurgen Kloppwould pick “exceptional” Trent Alexander-Arnold in any team after the full-back was overlooked by England manager Gareth Southgate.
The Liverpool defender, 23, did not figure against Italy and was dropped from the squad thatdrew with Germany.
Reds boss Klopp says there is “space for improvement” in Alexander-Arnold’s defensive game, but his offensive ability is “so extreme”.
“I’d decide obviously differently, but I’m not in charge,” said Klopp.
“My point of view, it’s an easy pick. Whichever team I would coach in the moment, I would sign him because he is exceptional.”
Southgate has said he feels Alexander-Arnold’s “all-round game” is behind that of right-back rival Kieran Trippier.
Alexander-Arnold, who missed last year’s European Championship through injury, has made just one international appearance this year.
He has been a key player for a Liverpool side that has won the Premier League and Champions League in recent years, but he has struggled to transfer that form to international football and has won just 17 caps since his 2018 debut.
“You really want to open this box?” said Klopp.
“We are fine here because it’s completely different because I see him differently. It’s obvious.
“There are stories out there all the time that talk about him and say he’s not a good defender, but that’s not true.
“He is a good defender. He doesn’t always defend good, that is true as well, but that is what we’re working on – he is a young player, he is 23.
“There is space for improvement, definitely, but we only discuss it on the level we discuss it because his offensive impact is so extreme for us. It could be for each team in the world.”
‘Alexander-Arnold was not in party mood on return’
Southgate prefers to start with Chelsea’s Reece James, who can also play as part of a back three, with Trippier as back-up, making Alexander-Arnold’s chances of being in England’s World Cup squad increasingly slim.
But Klopp believes Alexander-Arnold could still find a way to prosper in the current squad, and has no concerns about his player’s response to his latest England setback.
He added: “Trent came back and was not in a party mood, but he just accepts the decision of the manager as well because he understands football pretty well.
“He is an extremely smart boy and in football you cannot offer more than you can offer.
“For me he is a world-class player, and not playing for your country is difficult, but it is only because there are other world-class players as well.
“England is obviously blessed with a lot of really talented players in a similar position and it’s difficult to line them all up together.
“In this case, it could work. Reece James can play in a three in the back, and that would be interesting to see how they could interchange positions.”
Debutant Aamir Jamal helped Pakistan to a six-run victory over England in an absorbing contest as the hosts opened up a 3-2 lead in the seven-match T20I series.
Pakistan were all out for 145 in 19 overs in Lahore, with Mark Wood (3-20) leading the way for England, who fell just short despite Moeen Ali’s half-century off 35 balls.
Jamal claimed his maiden international wicket on just the second ball of his career and, under immense pressure, the youngster held his nerve to steer Pakistan to a tense win.
Wood’s fierce pace had put England in command as he removed half of Pakistan’s top six, with Babar Azam (9), Haider Ali (4) and Asif Ali (5) failing to reach double figures.
Mohammad Rizwan top-scored for Pakistan with 63 from 46 – his fourth half-century this series – but David Willey (2-23) and Sam Curran (2-23) restricted the home side’s total.
Chris Woakes, making his first appearance since March, wrapped things up thanks to a swipe from Haris Rauf (8) as England were set a more-than-gettable target of 146.
However, opener Alex Hales went inside five balls for just a single run and fellow opener Phil Salt (3) pulled a short ball straight into the hands of Rauf soon after.
The tourists struggled for momentum, with Harry Brook (4) and Dawid Malan (36) trapped lbw after Ben Duckett (10) spooned Mohammad Wasim’s short ball to Shan Masood.
Curran (17) sliced Jamal’s second ball to Wasim as England chased boundaries, with Woakes (10) close behind, but Moeen kept his side ticking along.
England required 15 from the final six balls and would have forced a super over had David Willey cleared the boundary off the last ball, but it was not to be as Jamal held his nerve.
Maiden international wicket on just the second ball of his career! 👏
England would have fancied their chances of chasing just 146 for the win in what was a low-scoring contest, but they struggled in the power play and did not recover from 31-3 after five overs.
Unbeaten Moeen – the only England player to have taken over 30 wickets and scored over 500 runs for England in this format – kept his side in the hunt with 51 off 37 balls, though it was ultimately not enough.
England fall short
Jamal was thrown in somewhat at the deep end on his Pakistan bow but did superbly to restrict England to just seven runs in the final over when requiring 15 for victory.
The 26-year-old’s death bowling ensured the home side avoided back-to-back losses at the Gaddafi Stadium for the first time since October 2019.
Ghana target Callum Hudson-Odoi says it was the right time to move from England to join Bayer Leverkusen ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
The 21-year-old joined the Bundesliga side on a season long loan in the recent summer in order to get game-time under his belt after falling out of favour under Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.
The move was sanctioned by owner Todd Boehly in the summer with both parties agreeing that first team football was necessary in order to help Hudson-Odoi reach his full-potential.
“Coming out here my aim was to get as many games as possible and build on the fitness that I haven’t really had in the last couple of seasons for Chelsea,” he said as quoted by astamfordbridgetoofar.com.
“Game wise I have been playing a lot here and I’m really enjoying it and every moment here, trying to help the team as much as possible, scoring goals and assisting goals, just doing whatever even it’s not scoring or assisting, just being influential in the team.”
Hudson-Odoi has made five appearances for Bayer Leverkusen across all competitions and provided one assist.
LeicesterTigers’ Freddie Steward, George Martin and Jack van Poortvliet have signed new deals to stay with the Premiership champions.
Full-back Steward, 21, was named England men’s player of the year and young player of the year at the Rugby Players’ Association awards in May.
Scrum-half van Poortvliet and lock Martin, both 21, made their Test debuts for England in the past 18 months.
“This is an exciting day for the club,” said Tigers boss Steve Borthwick.
“All three of these young men – George, Freddie and Jack – are proud Leicester Tigers players, who have been a part of the club since they were kids and grown up, together, at the club.
“There is so much growth in all of their games; the steps they have taken so far in their young careers has been brilliant to witness and a privilege to be a part of at Leicester Tigers.”
Steward started for Tigers in their Premiership final win against Saracens last season, while Martin came off the bench.
Van Poortvliet helped Leicester reach the Twickenham showdown, coming off the bench in the semi-final win against Northampton.
That is the year England – favourites to win the World Cup that starts in New Zealand on 8 October – have been named as hosts for the next edition of the tournament.
England have played at Twickenham before, but have previously combined their match with a men’s fixture at the stadium.
They beat France, their closest Six Nations rivals in recent years, to win the title for a fourth consecutive title in April 2022.
Earlier in the tournament, England set an attendance record of 15,836 at Leicester’s Welford Road.
England head coach Simon Middleton said the fixture at Twickenham, which will be broadcast on BBC Two along with all of England’s games, is “a real marker of where the game is at”.
He added: “We know there are some big targets to sell out the stadium at the 2025 World Cup and it’s great we have the opportunity to draw a big crowd two years out.”
Pakistan took a 3-2 lead in their Twenty20 series against England with a six-run victory in a low-scoring match in Lahore.
Chasing just 146 for the win, England never recovered from a poor start in the powerplay that saw them reduced to 31-3 inside five overs.
A defiant knock from captain Moeen Ali, who ended unbeaten on 51, left England needing 15 runs off the last over, but some superb death bowling from debutant Aamir Jamal saw them fall just short on 139-7.
Earlier, England fast bowlerMark Wood took 3-20 as Pakistan were bowled out for 145 after 19 overs, Mohammad Rizwan the only batter to offer resistance with 63 from 46 deliveries.
The penultimate game of the seven-match series takes place on Friday, again in Lahore.
England’s batting lets them down again
After failing to chase down 167 in Sunday’s fourth T20, a poor start with the bat cost England again in a match they looked in control of at the halfway stage.
Alex Hales sliced Mohammad Nawaz straight to backward point from the fifth ball of the innings, fellow opener Phil Salt heaved Haris Rauf to deep square leg two overs later and Ben Duckett was also caught on the boundary off Mohammad Wasim.
Pakistan’s spinners – Nawaz, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed – were superb in restricting England’s scoring in the middle overs and ensuring they never got a grip of the run rate.
There was no boundary off the bat for 28 deliveries at one stage and, when Jamal removed Sam Curran with just his second ball in international cricket, England were 85-6.
Moeen’s gritty knock, featuring two fours and four sixes, gave England hope, but he was left with too much to do.
The major plus point on an otherwise poor evening was the performance of Wood, who has taken 6-44 across his two matches as he continues his return from six months out with an elbow injury.
There was also a first international appearance since March for Warwickshire all-rounder Woakes, as England’s injury problems continue to ease ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Rizwan & bowlers see Pakistan to victory
Like England, Pakistan’s innings was littered with poor shots and muddled decision-making, with only three players reaching double figures.
They made a slow start too, going 23 balls without a boundary in the powerplay and limping to 63-3 at the halfway stage.
Yet Rizwan again stood out as he has done all series, reaching a half-century for the fourth time in five matches, though he was dropped on nine by Alex Hales.
And even he was ultimately guilty of a misjudged shot when he hit a leg-side full toss from Curran straight to Adil Rashid on the fine leg boundary.
The heavy dew in Lahore made bowling second difficult, but Babar Azam’s side were able to defend a low total thanks to an all-round performance that saw all six bowlers pick up a wicket.
Iftikhar was the pick of the spinners, taking 1-16 from his four overs. Debutant Jamal only bowled two overs, but he took a wicket in one and showed great composure in the other to end on 1-13 and ensure England did not snatch victory.
‘We are a better team than that’ – reaction
England captain Moeen Ali: “A very, very, good game. We’re obviously disappointed we didn’t chase the runs. We feel we are a better team than that. We got stranded with their spinners and couldn’t get going.
“Mark Wood was amazing. On a slow wicket he bowled fast. He is massive for our team. He gets the big wickets. Someone with bit of pace can make batters do silly things.”
Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan: “I am proud of my team for a complete team effort. We’re honoured to welcome Aamir Jamal to international cricket.
“It is always tough to play against quality teams like England but we always believe in our ability. This win is for all the fans.”
Hansi Flick warned his Germanyside individual errors will be “deadly” at the World Cup after an entertaining back-and-forth Nations League encounter against England at Wembley.
The visitors led by two goals after Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty and Kai Havertz’s expert long-range finish punished the Three Lions.
However, three goals in the space of 12 minutes from Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Harry Kane had already-relegated Englandin front with seven minutes to play.
An error from goalkeeper Nick Pope allowed Havertz to make it 3-3 late on, but head coach Flick acknowledged Germany must be better at protecting a lead in Qatar.
“The result is very disappointing. I think we were very stable after 2-0 and we made individual mistakes, and you have to say that England brought in two fresh players who then also played a part in making England more effective offensively,” Flick said.
“We made individual mistakes and that’s why it’s disappointing.
“You have to look at the whole game and I think we did many things well, really well. In a phase where we got the three goals, that shouldn’t happen to us, because especially at a World Cup, things like that are of course deadly and you’re eliminated faster than you think.
“Therefore, if you look at it positively, you simply have to say that we know what we can work on.
“We’ll analyse the game properly again because, of course, at first glance, I’ve seen the goals conceded, just once or twice now, and that’s partly individual, where we sometimes made the mistakes. And everyone has to do their job over 90 minutes and we have to work on that.”
💬 Hansi Flick: “There are a lot of positives we can take from the game, but some negatives too that we will have to address. It was positive that we came back again at the end. It was a good test.”#ENGGERpic.twitter.com/0tpnLfyVDR
Flick, though, was effusive in his praise of Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala, who was a constant thorn in England’s side and drew the foul from Harry Maguire for Germany’s opener from the spot.
“Jamal just showed why he is an exceptional talent. He got us the second goal from in his own half and he’s both defensive and offensive, I think he’s a player that’s good for us,” Flick added.
“And simply by his dribbling ability, he can pull out situations like penalties, but of course also he can move opponents around, one or two players are out of position and then it’s a different situation.
“Then we have more room, more space and those are the things that are good for us.”
Kai Havertz’s late equaliser denied England a stunning comeback victory as Germany concluded their Nations League campaign with an entertaining 3-3 draw at Wembley.
After a goalless first half, Ilkay Gundogan broke the deadlock from the penalty spot, before Havertz doubled the lead with a stunning 25-yard effort.
But the Three Lions turned the contest on its head with three goals in the space of 12 minutes. Luke Shaw and substitute Mason Mount dragged the hosts level, before Harry Kane’s penalty completed the turnaround.
However, Germanyensured a share of the spoils with three minutes remaining when Havertz tucked home from close range following a goalkeeping error from Nick Pope.
The best opportunity of the first half came following a swift counter in the 24th minute with Shaw’s delicious through-ball picking out Raheem Sterling, who was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen after cleverly escaping his marker.
The visitors took the lead seven minutes after the restart; Gundogan calmly slotting past Nick Pope from the penalty spot after Harry Maguire clumsily felled Jamal Musiala.
Havertz doubled the advantage 15 minutes later as he rounded off a quickfire counter by brilliantly bending a curling 25-yard effort in off the post.
But England hit back with two goals in the space of five minutes. Shaw halved the deficit from Reece James’ cross, before Mount wonderfully swept past Ter Stegen following a jinking run from Bukayo Saka.
The Three Lions edged their noses ahead when Kane slammed home his penalty after Nico Schlotterbeck’s rash challenge on Jude Bellingham, but Havertz had the final say after Pope fumbled Serge Gnabry’s initial strike.
What does it mean? Winless streaks continue despite Wembley thriller
England demonstrated character to overturn the 2-0 deficit with their first goals from open play of this Nations League campaign, a goalless run spanning 520 minutes, but the Three Lions have now gone six games without victory for the first time since 1993.
Meanwhile, despite stretching their unbeaten run to nine away matches, Germany have now drawn four in a row on the road for the first time.
6 – England are winless in their last six games in all competitions (D3 L3), their longest run since April-June 1993 (also six). It’s their longest ever winless run going into a major tournament. Countdown. pic.twitter.com/cVvIHeUIwn
Kane completed the turnaround with an emphatic penalty – his 51st international goal – and is now just two shy of equalling Wayne Rooney’s all-time England record.
That came on the day the striker became the fifth player to start 50 games as captain of the Three Lions after Bobby Moore (90), Billy Wright (90), Bryan Robson (64) and David Beckham (59).
Havertz hits a stunner
The pick of the six goals came courtesy of Havertz, who made it 2-0 when he bent a wonderful 25-yard strike beyond the helpless Pope.
Havertz also grabbed the equaliser with his third shot of the match – a tally only matched by Jude Bellingham throughout the contest – in what was a lively outing for the Chelsea forward.
Key Opta Facts
– Having kept six clean sheets and conceded just twice in their first eight games under Hansi Flick, Germany have conceded in each of their past seven games in all competitions (10 goals conceded).
– England have conceded at least three goals in consecutive home games for the first time since June 1995 (v Sweden and Brazil). Meanwhile, this was their highest scoring game that was goalless at half-time since October 2008 (5-1 v Kazakhstan).
– The Three Lions have failed to score in the first half of six consecutive games for the first time in their history, while Shaw’s second-half strike ended the Three Lions’ run of 520 minutes without a non-penalty goal in all competitions.
– There were just 186 seconds between Luke Shaw pulling one back and Mason Mount equalising for England (2-2), with the latter ending a run of 16 games without a goal for England.
– Germany’s Havertz became the first player to score twice against England in a match at Wembley since Alexis Sanchez for Chile in November 2013.
What’s next?
Germany complete their World Cup preparations with a friendly against Oman on November 15, before playing Japan in their Group E opener eight days later. England launch their tournament on November 21 against Iran in Group B.
Jamal Musiala has no regrets and is “very happy” with his decision to represent Germany over England ahead of Monday’s Nations League clash at Wembley.
Born in Stuttgart, Musiala spent a significant part of his childhood in England and was with Chelsea from 2011 until 2019, while he also captained the Three Lions at youth level.
However, he returned to Germany in 2019 to join Bayern Munich and elected to represent Hansi Flick’s side last year.
Musiala will now face off against the side he could have represented on Monday and made it clear he has no regrets about the decision on his international allegiance.
“I feel good to be here in England. I am very motivated. England are a very strong team and my past makes me want to play even more,” he said.
“I don’t know exactly how many times I’ve played at Wembley. I’ve been to school tournaments here before and made it to a final there twice. The atmosphere at Wembley is always great.
“It wasn’t an easy decision and I thought about it for a long time. In the end it was a decision I made with my family and I’m very happy with. Some England fans are definitely not happy with my decision but that shows that I play well.”
Flick has confirmed Musiala will start for Germany in their Nations League dead rubber at Wembley and heaped praise upon the 19-year-old.
“When he trained for the first time, you immediately noticed what a talent he is. His development is fantastic,” he declared.
“He can hold his own well in a small space and has a strong feeling for the space. He is also very strong at dribbling, which is why he can solve situations for us.
“In addition, he is very skilled defensively and has many ball wins. I’m glad he’s playing for Germany.”
Gareth Southgate says the negativity aimed his way “is not healthy” for England’s players as he urged supporters to get behind their side in Monday’s clash with Germany.
England are winless in five matches – their worst such run since June 2014 – ahead of taking on historic rivals Germany at a sold-out Wembley in their final Nations League tie.
The Three Lions were relegated from Group A3 after Friday’s 1-0 loss to Italy, which followed a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Hungary in their most recent home game.
Southgate was booed after both of those defeats, with fans also heard chanting “You don’t know what you’re doing” during the contest against Italy at San Siro.
But ahead of England’s first game at Wembley since March, in what is their last outing before the World Cup, Southgate hopes his players are backed by those inside the ground.
“We’ve got 90,000 people – the stadium is sold out – so people want to come and see this team play,” he said at Sunday’s pre-match press conference.
“That’s because the players have done an unbelievable job for six years.
“We were on the back of a difficult time in terms of the relationship with the fans at the start of that journey and slowly we’ve built with the finishes that we’ve already discussed.
“It is not healthy for the team to be having this noise around them. I fully understand that. But it is for me to take responsibility, it is for me to allow them to go and play.
“I want them to feel freedom. They know we always talk about that around the training ground, on the training pitch, and I would urge the supporters to get behind the team.
“How they deal with me at the end or whenever, on the phone-ins or wherever else is completely different.
“But this is their last chance to see the boys before they go to a World Cup and we are all in it together. We can only succeed if we’re all pushing in the same direction.
“What happens to me is irrelevant, frankly. It is about the team. The most important thing is the team and the success of the team.”
Across his six years in charge, Southgate has guided England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and Euro 2020 final, as well as reaching the Nations League Finals in 2019.
England have won just two of their seven matches this year, however, with both of those coming in friendlies, and have failed to score from open play in more than eight hours.
Indeed, the Three Lions are one of only two nations yet to score a single non-penalty goal in the 2022-23 Nations League alongside minnows San Marino.
Asked how he is coping with the recent criticism, Southgate said: “You’re not going to have six years as we’ve had without a spell where you are going to have some tough results.
“You’ve got to show resilience to come through those moments. I’m not the first coach to go through a difficult time in terms of results and criticism.
“This is part of the territory – for me, it’s a great challenge to lead the team through a moment like this.
“The results haven’t been at the level we want or require. So, no matter what job you have in football, that would be the case.
“Of course, with the national team, that noise is going to be louder and more widespread, I understand that.”
24-year-old Bailey Ennis has birthed a bouncing baby boy in September 2021 with the help of a sperm donor.
But what’s shocking about it is that she did it by purchasing an artificial insemination kit costing only £25.
The young woman from England seems to have been “desperate to be a mum” and “didn’t have a desire to be in a relationship”. Following the artificial insemination, she became pregnant in October 2021 and welcomed her son, named Lorenzo, on 2nd July 2022.
Bailey is currently a single parent and says that she “couldn’t be happier”.
“Having a baby by myself is the best thing I have ever done. Being a mum is wonderful and I am so happy I decided to go it alone.
“I’ve wanted to be a mum since I was a teenager and as a lesbian, I always knew it would need to be via artificial insemination. I didn’t have a desire to be in a relationship. I just wanted to have a baby.
Lorenzo is amazing and looks just like me,” she expresses.
The 24-year-old shares that she wasn’t looking for any particular features, while searching for a donor. ” I just wanted someone trustworthy and as healthy as possible,” she said.
“I found someone who had a healthy medical record and had been a donor for two others before for two LGBTQ couples.
“I found my donor and we WhatsApped and met up for a coffee before both agreeing he would be my donor. He has agreed to be my donor for as many children as I would like.
“I wanted to have blood-related siblings,” she adds.
The cost of a single artificial insemination cycle or (IUI) intrauterine insemination with a partner’s sperm is high. While legal, it can burn a hole in a person’s pocket. Although private transactions are discouraged due to safety measures, Bailey seems to have taken the risk and is now a single mum.
Englandmanager Gareth Southgate is adamant he is the right man to lead the team into the World Cup despite a woeful run of form.
Defeat to Italy on Friday condemned the Three Lions to relegation in the Nations League, extending the winless streak to five matches in the process.
Southgate was jeered by England’s travelling supporters at San Siro but, despite being under the most pressure he has been in his six-year stint in charge, believes he remains the best choice to take the team to Qatar.
“Without a doubt. We’re playing and have been playing some top-level sides and we will be better for that,” he said.
“And the younger players, in particular, that have been in these games will have learned a lot from them.
“In the past we’ve had runs of friendlies or whatever the matches are and then we’ve gone into tournaments and that’s the first time we’ve hit high-level opposition and it’s hit us in the face quite often.
“Now we know the level, now we know what we’ve got to improve and we’ll be better placed for that by having had the quality of matches that we’ve had.”
5 – England have gone five matches without a win for the first time since 2014, and have gone five competitive matches without winning for the first time since 1992. Slump. pic.twitter.com/vKmGzZAmmi
“I believe we are going to be judged on how we perform out in Qatar. We’re just in one of those moments where it’s not quite going our way. We’re confident we can turn that around,” he stated.
“We have one more game on Monday to try to get some good feelings back. Ultimately, once we get to the World Cup, we will be ready for that first game and be fully focused on that.
“I don’t think our confidence has been dented, but you want to win games. We are all experienced enough, with our clubs especially we have been through those moments when things haven’t been going so well. It’s about bouncing back.”
Englandmanager Gareth Southgate insisted there were “a lot of positives” in the Three Lions’ 1-0 defeat to Italy on Friday.
Giacomo Raspadori struck the only goal of the game to condemn England to equal their worst winless streak since 2014, and also resulted in relegation to League B of the Nations League.
It marked another game without a goal for England, who are now 495 minutes without scoring from open play, and have just 90 minutes of football against Germany on Monday before the World Cup.
However, despite receiving boos from the travelling supporters at San Siro, Southgate remains positive and suggested England were the better team.
“It’s difficult for me to be too critical of the performance. We had more possession, more shots, more shots on target,” he said.
“For large parts of the game we played very well. We didn’t deal with the decisive moment defensively. We had moments where we had the chance to be decisive in their final third, [but] our quality wasn’t quite right.
“It’s a spell where ultimately results are going to be the thing that everyone reacts to, but I thought there were a lot of positives for us as a team tonight.
“Lots of good individual performances. I personally thought the performance is a step in the right direction. I completely understand because of the result that is not going to be the reaction.
“It’s really difficult to pinpoint why we are not scoring. I think we are getting into the right areas. We had the moments where we would have the pass but we just didn’t deliver that final piece of quality tonight.
“I understand the reaction at the end because that’s the results we have had in this competition. It’s an understandable emotional reaction.”
Englandsuffered relegation to Nations League B after a 1-0 defeat to Italy at the San Siro — a result which also equalled their worst run of form in eight years.
Giacomo Raspadori curled home the only meaningful attempt of the game for the hosts, capitalising on sloppy defending from Kyle Walker.
Italy’s win was only their third in 10 matches, though the performance did little to ease concerns around Roberto Mancini’s side.
It is England who face more immediate problems with just 90 minutes of football left before the World Cup begins — and Gareth Southgate’s men looked far from ready here.
Italy took the lead with their first meaningful chance early in the second half as Leonardo Bonucci pumped the ball forward and Raspadori was given time to curl into the far corner beyond Nick Pope.
Despite making changes to try and change the flow of the game, England could not break the Italian resistance and slumped to defeat.
0 – England are one of only two nations yet to score a single non-penalty goal in the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League. The other nation is San Marino. Gulp. pic.twitter.com/UqYk9u66eM
The mid-season fall of the World Cup in Qatar means no pre-tournament friendlies for the teams competing, giving England just 90 minutes of football before the opening group game against Iran, who beat Uruguay 1-0 earlier on Friday in a friendly.
Now five games without a win and 495 minutes without a goal from open play, Southgate is under intense scrutiny and his team selection continues to baffle — particularly Bukayo Saka starting at left wing-back.
While a lack of goals will always be concerning, the inability to even create opportunities despite an array of attacking options is a problem without an easy fix.
Raspadori’s return
Raspadori’s winner against England was his fourth in an Italy shirt since making his debut in June 2021 — level with Nicolo Barella and with no player within Roberto Mancini’s squad having scored more.
Italy’s absence from the World Cup remains a bitter pill to swallow but Raspadori is already showing he can be a key player in the defence of the European Championship title in 2024.
Southgate’s sorrows compounded
The Three Lions have failed to score from open play in five games in the Nations League having only nertted from the penalty spot — an unwanted record they share with minnows San Marino.
With just 56 days before the World Cup, Southgate received boos from the travelling contingent at the San Siro and requires a massive upturn in form if England are to equal their exploits in last year’s European Championship.
What’s next?
England’s Nations League campaign comes to a close against Germany at Wembley on Monday, while Italy will face Hungary to decide the group winner.
Flying England’s women in economy class to the World Cup in New Zealand has been described as a “challenging decision” by the Rugby Football Union.
The Red Roses are favourites to win the title and begin their journey, which will take almost 30 hours, on Friday.
England’s men travelled business class to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The RFU said that because the women’s side is loss making, “we have to make challenging decisions around what we can invest in”.
England arrive in New Zealand on Sunday lunchtime, with light training currently planned two days later before full training on Thursday.
The Red Roses are the number one side in the world, set a record of 25 consecutive Test wins earlier in September and play their opening World Cup match against Fiji on 8 October.
England were the first women’s XVs side to be offered full-time contracts in 2019.
The RFU said it was “proud of the progress we’ve made”, adding that team management decided to invest in “additional physios, performance coaches, a nutritionist and a full-time psychologist… rather than flying in business”.
The decision comes after England captain Sarah Hunter defended the halving of the side’s match fees for World Cup warm-up games.
In 2018, airline British Airways announced that it would fly the England men’s and women’s teams to their respective World Cups as part of its partnership with the RFU.
However, that was before New Zealand was named as the host of the women’s tournament and the RFU said it had chosen to use “an alternative carrier” because British Airways “does not currently fly directly” to the country.
It is understood that Red Roses players have been asked not to post about their flight on social media, with the reason given that the chosen airline is not an official partner of England Rugby.
In July, England’s men flew business class to Australia with British Airways for their summer tour.
England’s men flew to Japan on an England Rugby-branded plane for the 2019 Rugby World Cup
Ten European football teams – the Netherlands, England, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales – will participate in a season-long “OneLove” campaign promoting inclusion and opposing discrimination.
Every country except Sweden and Norway has qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and each captain of these eight nations will wear a distinctive OneLove armband – which features a heart containing colors from all backgrounds – during the tournament.
The Netherlands FA, which is spearheading the campaign, chose the colors to represent all heritages, backgrounds, genders and sexual identities; the armband will be worn in Qatar where same-sex relationships are a criminal offense.
Sweden and Norway will participate in the initiative during the upcoming Nations League matches, while England will also wear black armbands during both its UEFA Nations League matches to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
“This is an important message which suits the game of football: on the field everybody is equal and this should be the case in every place in society. With the OneLove band we express this message,” said Virgil van Dijk, the Netherlands captain.
“On behalf of the Dutch team I have been wearing this band for quite a while now. It is good to see that other countries are joining this initiative.”
Criticism of England manager Gareth Southgate this summer was “very harsh”, Jack Grealish has said.
England failed to win any of their four Nations League games in June, including 1-0 and 4-0 defeats by Hungary.
However, Southgate led England to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and a first European Championship final in 2021.
“I thought it was harsh but sometimes that’s what you get if you’re English. I’ve had my fair share,” Manchester City winger Grealish said.
“We reached the [Euro 2020] final last year – then [there was] the [loss to] Hungary at the start of the last camp, but before that the last time we’d lost a game over 90 minutes was Belgium in November 2020.”
England drew with Italy and Germany either side of the defeats by Hungary in internationals at the end of the last league season.
After the four games, Football Association chairwoman Debbie Hewitt insisted English football’s governing body has confidence in Southgate.
Grealish was speaking prior to England’s Nations League games against Italy on Friday and Germany three days later, which are the team’s last fixtures before the 2022 World Cup.
The attacking midfielder, who was signed for £100m by City from Aston Villa, also responded to remarks from club team-mate Kevin de Bruyne who suggested that English players are treated more harshly in the media.
“I can obviously see where he’s coming from a little bit,” said Grealish.
“But I think that’s just the way it is in this country, especially if you’re myself, playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, who are winning trophies every single year.
“Obviously when I have the price tag on my head that I have, people are going to want to talk. It’s just something that I need to [get on with].
“I keep going back to it, saying embrace it and it’s just part and parcel, but I do see where he’s coming from a little bit.”
King Charles IIIÂ made his first address as monarch to the people of England following the demise of Queen Elizabeth II, his mother, who died aged 96 on September 8, 2022.
He paid tribute to his mother Queen Elizabeth II, saying her commitment to service and the people never wavered and “defined her whole life.”
“That was more than a promise. It was a profound personal commitment which defined her whole life,” he said.
He said the Queen made sacrifices and her dedication remained strong “through times of change and progress, but times of joy and celebration, and through times of sadness and loss.”
The King said during her life of service, her love of tradition, but also her embrace of progress, made her great.
“The affection, admiration and respect she inspired became the hallmark of her reign,” he said. “And as every member of my family can testify, she combined these qualities with warmth, humor, and an unerring ability always to see the best in people.”
Prior to this, he greeted crowds outside Buckingham Palace on his return to London with Camilla, the new Queen Consort.
Some of the citizens he encountered shouted “God save the King”.
Charles will be officially proclaimed King at the Accession Council at 10:00 on Saturday in a ceremony televised for the first time.
The Accession Council on Saturday will be attended by his son the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge on Saturday.
It is also attended by invited Privy Councillors and current serving government ministers – but that could also include former ministers, prime ministers, and senior clergy.
After the meeting, the Principal Proclamation, announcing Charles as sovereign, will be read at 11:00 from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St James’s Palace, central London.
All English, Welsh and Northern Irish football and professional Scottish football has been postponed this weekend as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Ten Premier League and six Scottish Premiership fixtures were scheduled.
EFL games were due to take place on Friday and Saturday, with six Women’s Super League fixtures – the first of the season – on Saturday and Sunday.
England’s National League, FA Trophy and grassroots football is also off.
Friday’s play at golf’s PGA Championship was called off, along with all British horse racing and cricket’s Test between England and South Africa.
British horse racing will return on Sunday, with rugby union’s Premiership season beginning on Saturday after two fixtures on Friday were postponed.
British Boxing Board of Control tournaments have been postponed on Friday, with a decision yet to be made on the world boxing title fight between Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields.
Sunday’s Great North Run will go ahead as planned, with organisers saying it is “an opportunity to come together and express our condolences while celebrating the life of our extraordinary Queen”, and that the event would be “more subdued out of respect”.
Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died on Thursday aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.
The government’s national mourning guidance advised that cancelling fixtures was not obligatory, leaving the decision to individual sports.
Government guidance for the day of the funeral also advised that cancellation was not obligatory, but suggested events could be rescheduled so that they do not clash with the timings of the service.
Cricket yet to decide
It is unclear whether England’s cricket Test against South Africa will resume and whether Saturday’s play at golf’s PGA Championship will go ahead.
The rugby union Premiership match between Bristol and Bath has been moved from Friday evening to 17:30 BST on Saturday, while Sale v Northampton will not take place on Friday and is yet to be rearranged.
All other Premiership matches on Saturday and Sunday will go ahead as scheduled.
Formula 1 held a minute’s silence with all teams prior to practice on Friday for the Italian Grand Prix, with the race weekend to proceed as planned.
At the tennis US Open in New York, there was a moment of silence before the first women’s semi-final match on Thursday with the first men’s semi-final on Friday.
In rugby league, the Super League play-off between Catalans Dragons and Leeds is on Friday, with Huddersfield and Salford due to play on Sunday. The Championship fixture between Sheffield Eagles and Dewsbury Rams has been postponed.
The British Elite Ice Hockey League said the weekend’s season-opening games would go ahead as planned.
Football pays respect to Queen’s ‘indelible legacy’
The Football Association said fixtures between 9 and 11 September are postponed, adding that as a “long-standing patron” of the FA the Queen “has left a lasting and indelible legacy on our national game”.
The Premier League and EFL have confirmed that all fixtures will be rescheduled.
While policing was not a factor in postponing this weekend’s Premier League games, it is understood it could be a consideration in next weekend’s games depending on state funeral arrangements.
There is confidence fixture congestion can be solved in the second half of the season and a meeting will be held next week to discuss the calendar with relevant bodies.
The Premier League took the decision to honour the Queen’s “extraordinary life and contribution to the nation” and said updates on future fixtures during the period of mourning “will be provided in due course”.
The league’s chief executive Richard Masters said: “We and our clubs would like to pay tribute to Her Majesty’s long and unwavering service to our country.
“This is a tremendously sad time for not just the nation but also for the millions of people around the world who admired her, and we join together with all those in mourning her passing.”
In Scotland, the postponements include the Scottish Professional Football League, Scottish Women’s Premier League and Scottish Highland and Lowland Football Leagues, as well as Women’s Scottish Cup fixtures.
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said it was appropriate to “mark the event with all possible solemnity” and added that there would be a further update “when we have clarity over official arrangements for Her Majesty’s funeral”.
WSL’s record-breaking start on hold
The Women’s Super League was preparing to kick off the 2022-23 season this weekend with clubs enjoying record ticket sales following England’s summer success at Euro 2022.
Tottenham were scheduled to host Manchester United in the larger main stadium used by their male counterparts, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while Chelsea were set to welcome West Ham to Stamford Bridge.
Tickets had sold out for Manchester City’s fixture against Arsenal at the 7,000-capacity Academy Stadium on Sunday.
Reading have five times the amount of season ticket holders compared to last year, while reigning champions Chelsea sold out their 1,500 season tickets for the second season in a row.
Queen’s ‘enduring and unique’ relationship with racing honoured
British racing has been cancelled on Saturday but will resume on Sunday, with the exception of Musselburgh in Scotland.
The world’s oldest Classic race, the St Leger, has been put back 24 hours and will feature in an extended nine-race card at Doncaster.
While Chepstow is also set to go ahead on Sunday, Musselburgh’s meeting has been called off due to the Queen lying in state in Edinburgh.
British Horseracing Authority chief executive BHA chief executive Julie Harrington said the Queen had “an enduring and unique” relationship with the sport.
“The return of racing on Sunday will see the running of the St Leger, one of Britain’s five Classic races and a race which the Queen won with her filly Dunfermline in 1977,” she said.
“This will also provide an opportunity for the sport and its supporters to pay its respects to Her Majesty, for the contribution which she has made to the sport to be marked.”
The Women’s Super League season is once again upon us and with more eyes than ever before set to be tuning into the new campaign, a run-down of where to find all the England players who made themselves household names over the Euros seemed like a logical approach for interested fans
You can expect to see Manchester City mentioned multiple times — the third-place finishers in 2021-22 had 10 representatives in the England squad at the Euros — although at the time of writing, two players have left for Europe and two have retired. The bulk of the home-based England squad comes from the top four teams (by last season’s standings) in WSL, with just two (Hannah Hampton and Rachel Daly) coming from Aston Villa.
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The two oldest members of the Euros winning squad, Jill Scott (35) and Ellen White (33) are the two former Citizens who’ve hung their boots up over the summer in what has been a window of considerable upheaval for City, but that’s a discussion for another day. So, where can you find the individual European champions this season as they ramp up preparations for the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
After the Lionesses won the Euro 2022 trophy this summer, they return to their clubs where a new fight for spots on England’s World Cup team next year starts. Lynne Cameron – The FA/The FA via Getty ImagesMary Earps | Manchester United
Age: 29
Position: Goalkeeper
Euros minutes: 600
A regular starter for each of the WSL teams she’s played for over the years, Mary Earps has been candid in admitting that she thought she’d missed the boat for staking a claim on the no.1 role for England. Yet with many placing Manchester City’s Ellie Roebuck ahead of her in the pecking order, it was Earps who caught the eye of her national team manager and was entrusted to the role of England’s starting shot-stopper.
A near-perfect summer had kept Earps’ wearing the #1 shirt for her country and providing she can stay fit over the course of the season with Manchester United, the 29-year-old seems undroppable.
This is where I blow your mind by telling you that Leah Williamson, centre-back and England captain, was ever-present for Sarina Wiegman at the Euros and that she is one of the least likely to be dropped by her coach. In fact, Williamson was the only outfielder to play every second of the Euros for England, which of course, included two doses of extra-time in the knockouts.
An assured and comfortable defender who spreads confidence with her calm demeanour at the back, there were plenty of rumblings around Wiegman’s decision to move her to centre-back from the double pivot midfield role she’d been occupying with Keira Walsh. Yet it was the Arsenal woman herself who admitted that the heart of the defence was a more comfortable role for her, despite having represented her country from midfield.
Moving forward, it’s unlikely that her club coach, Jonas Eidevall, will push her into what is already a congested Arsenal midfield, instead opting to keep her at the back for the Gunners, which firms up the notion that Williamson is a defender for England. With Arsenal playing in Europe again this season, as well as battling for the WSL crown and both domestic cups, Williamson will be another player who will have to be mindful of any cumulative fatigue going into a World Cup at which she’s expected to feature heavily.
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In the English talent pool, there is a back-up for every starter in the women’s national team who can do a comparable job should the first choice be unavailable. This is true of every first-choice player — with the exception of Keira Walsh.
It’s true that one could push Williamson into the defensive midfield role and she would do a fair job, but the defender has admitted she is less comfortable in midfield. There are other defenders you could advance to act as a shield for the backline, but none have the vision and natural range of passing as Walsh, with the midfielder’s line-breaking passes a key component in the England side.
So, it’s safe to say, Walsh will never be drifting far from the starting XI while she’s healthy enough to start. Heavily linked with a move to Barcelona that didn’t materialise over the summer, another season in Manchester allows the 25-year-old to continue on as she has been, untroubled by a new league/surroundings. Her continuity a benefit for Wiegman heading into a World Cup.
Lucy Bronze | FC Barcelona
Age: 30
Position: Right-back
Euros minutes: 584
Lucy Bronze was rumoured to be headed for the NWSL stateside in the offseason, but instead she left Manchester City from Barcelona. Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
At 30 years old, there’s a suggestion that Bronze has lost a touch of her pace when getting up and down the right flank for club and country, yet having secured a summer move to Champions League runners-up, Barcelona, it’s clear the defender still has plenty in her locker.
A mainstay of the England team who has already cut her teeth outside of the WSL having spent two seasons with French juggernauts, Olympique Lyonnais. The biggest challenge for Bronze will once again be about making sure she stays sharp in defence playing for a team that’s used to dominating and dictating games.
Millie Bright | Chelsea
Age: 29
Position: Centre-back
Euros minutes: 556
A lynchpin for Emma Hayes at Chelsea since her move to the Blues in 2015, Bright is expected to keep her staring spot for both club and country over the coming season, despite the league champions adding Kadeisha Buchanan, the accomplished Canadian international, this summer.
Though she has endured dips of form in her career, the consistent reliable performances from Bright over the past year, make her one of the most likely Lionesses to make the cut for Sarina Wiegman’s World Cup squad.
Lauren Hemp | Manchester City
Age: 22
Position: Left-wing
Euros minutes: 547
Predicted to be the breakout player of the tournament, Lauren Hemp, arguably disappointed over the Euros — though the bar was set perilously high for the speedy winger — Hemp is poised to have another strong season as one of the shining stars of the Man City team.
Having had to deal with multiple defenders tying her up at the tournament this summer, the upcoming campaign will give Hemp a chance to work on wriggling free of the defenders who try to limit her, with WSL teams likely to try and employ the same tactics as the opposition England faced over July. Regardless, Hemp is clearly rated highly by Wiegman who prizes her speed in transition highly and the 22-year-old, certainly doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon.
Georgia Stanway, front, left Manchester City in the offseason and she has joined Bayern Munich for the 2022-23 season. Lynne Cameron/Getty Images
It’s still a rarity in women’s football to hear of a transfer and say, “Well that just makes sense, doesn’t it?” as was the case when Georgia Stanway’s move to Bayern Munich was announced earlier in the summer. Having only played in Bayern’s preseason friendlies so far, the Barrow-in-Furness native looks set to hit the ground running with the former Frauen-Bundesliga champions, seamlessly slotting into their midfield.
The only possible worry for Stanway is just how fresh she looked on her Bayern debut, as the England player with only a finite amount of time between the end of the Euros and start of life in Southern Germany. Just like her England teammates who featured heavily over the Euros and are regular starters for their country, there is a wider concern about excessive work-load and minute management as the German season is as physically demanding as the WSL.
Another of the handful of Lionesses to have moved clubs this summer, no one has moved as far as Rachel Daly with the Yorkshire native upping sticks after 10 years stateside. Drafted by the Houston Dash after completing her degree at John’s Hopkins, Daly is returning to the English league a different player, having departed when she was still playing a left-back.
Although familiar to England fans as a defender, it’s further up the pitch where Daly has made a name for herself in the NWSL and is also where she is expected to line-up for Aston Villa over the course of the season. The tireless 30-year-old at her best when she can run at defences rather than make a home for herself in one. Yet with high competition in the wider attacking areas for England, it’s unlikely her exploits over the coming season will shift her from the role of defender in Wiegman’s eyes.
There will always be a footnote in Beth Mead’s England career that mentions she was left out of Hege Riise’s first squad. The Norwegian coach was brought in to bridge the gap between Phil Neville’s exit and Wiegman’s start, that included managing Team GB through the delayed 2020 Olympics. Riise simply explained that the report on Mead hadn’t been the best. How much this initial exclusion impacted the attacker’s game is something only she knows, but there is no question: her form did improve and improve — and it improved some more.
A starter for Jonas Eidevall’s physically dominant Arsenal side, Mead looks as at home at Borehamwood, where Arsenal play their home games, as she does in an England shirt and doesn’t look likely to relinquish her place for either club or country any time soon.
Fran Kirby, center, has played for Chelsea since 2015, and that’s where she will play this season. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
An inspirational midfielder whose senior career has been blighted by injury and illness, Fran Kirby was somewhat of a surprise addition in the squad of 23 for the Euros, the Chelsea star having once more been side-lined at the end of last season. Yet with careful minute-managing in the build up to the tournament, the Reading native saw plenty of the pitch over the summer.
Heading into a new season with Chelsea, another in which the Blues will be fighting for four different pieces of silverware, it’s the minute-managing from both Emma Hayes and Sarina Wiegman that will be vital to keep Kirby, not just playing but healthy enough for her day-to-day life.
Alessia Russo | Manchester United
Age: 23
Position: Striker
Euros minutes: 262
With Sarina Wiegman known for liking a set starting XI, Alessia Russo was one of the players who started the Euros on the bench much to the clamour of fans and journalists alike who were desperate to see her get the nod to start.
A player who always managed to add something when she was introduced off of the bench over the summer, Russo could not have done more over the tournament to justify a start. Now, with Wiegman’s hand forced following the retirement of Ellen White, all Russo has to do is remain healthy and keep putting in the eye-catching performances for the Red Devils as they try to push for Champions League football.
A fan-favourite at Manchester United, it’s easy to see why, when Ella Toone is on the pitch, the attack-minded midfielder is the one who likes to hound and harass the opposition.
Reduced to impactful cameo appearances at the Euros, Toone is likely to spend the next season trying to justify a starting spot in Wiegman’s team although from league performances, it’s clear she is very much in the conversation.
Having torn her ACL right at the end of a blistering 2020-21 season, Chloe Kelly spent the majority of last season battling to regain fitness to claim a spot in the group of 23 for the Euros. Prior to her injury, Kelly had balanced the three-ponged City attack, counter-balancing Hemp on the left and after such a memorable Euros, the 24-year-old looks set to fall back into step for the new season.
A predicted starter before her ACL tear, Kelly will have to produce something special throughout the coming season to have any chance of displacing Beth Mead on the right side of England’s attack.
Coming into the Euros off of a strong season with Manchester City, the defender having regained some of her better form when pushed back to a centre-back position she had not occupied for some years, Alex Greenwood was arguably the biggest casualty to Williamson being pushed into the back line.
Comfortable at centre-back, Greenwood found herself struggling to get minutes at full-back with Rachel Daly preferred ahead of her. Despite this, Greenwood remains a strong option at both left-back and centre-back, and is adept at switching between the two no matter where City boss, Gareth Taylor opts to play her. And following such a strong season last term, its unlikely the defender will ever be far from Taylor’s starting XI.
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A promising young defender at Birmingham City, Jess Carter struggled to make her mark with Chelsea when she first moved down to London in 2018. Dealing with injuries and a loaded squad the versatile defender didn’t tap back into her better form until several weeks into the 2021-22 season but once she found her rhythm, she was immovable from the Blues’ backline. Yet despite the rich vein of form she worked herself into, the Warwick native struggled for minutes during the Euros and will need to put in some meaningful performances for England when she gets the chance over the next year, even with her club form speaking for itself.
Nikita Parris is another of the small number of Lionesses who moved clubs this summer, after a season of failing to make an impact at Arsenal with question of right club/wrong time asked, the former Evertonian has headed back north, this time to join up with Manchester City.
On paper, the move makes sense for Parris and there is a hope that she will be able to regain some of her better form — like the type fans will remember from her time with United’s cross-town rivals, City. Having already amassed more minutes for England in one post-Euros match vs. Austria than at the entire Euros combined, the speedy attacker looks set to grab the new season with both hands.
Bethany England | Chelsea
Age: 28
Position: Striker
Euros minutes: 0
Bethany England remains one of England’s biggest “right player, wrong time” players. Whenever the striker is in form, she usually finds herself pushed to the back of the queue, vying for minutes off of the bench, yet when given a start, she has often found it hard to stake a firm case — a phenomena she suffers for both club and country. A player who has had to battle for her starts amongst long stretches of bench-warming, there is a strong argument that England needs to move to a club that can afford her regular starts, not least if she is to be a reliable option for England.
Hannah Hampton | Aston Villa
Age: 21
Position: Goalkeeper
Euros minutes: 0
As a third-choice goalkeeper, there is little Hannah Hampton can do beyond putting in the hard yards over the course of the season but at an Aston Villa team that has finished 10th and ninth over the first two seasons in the WSL, the young goalkeeper is likely to remain an understudy to an understudy.
Ellie Roebuck | Manchester City
Age: 22
Position: Goalkeeper
Euros minutes: 0
Manchester City’s number one since 2018, Ellie Roebuck somewhat fell off of the pace thanks to an injury that kept her out of the squad at the start of last season, yet City’s uptick in form when she returned was palpable. The starting goalkeeper for Team GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 22-year-old can already boast a wealth of experience for club and country, yet for the time being, is very much the second choice behind Mary Earps.
Demi Stokes | Manchester City
Age: 30
Position: Left-back
Euros minutes: 0
A reliable left-back when fit, Demi Stokes is entering her eighth season with Manchester City and is likely to see out another solid season at the CFA, yet Stokes has found herself somewhat out of favour with Wiegman. Despite playing for England seven times in the build-up to the Euros, the defender failed to get onto the pitch this summer with both Daly and Greenwood preferred ahead of her and faces the simple problem of having fallen down one too many rungs in the pecking order.
Likely to continue to feature for England over the course of the next year, Stokes’ involvement at the next World Cup seems far more balanced on the fitness of those ahead of her rather than the strength of her 2022-23 season.
Lotte Wubben-Moy | Arsenal
Age: 23
Position: Centre-back
Euros minutes: 0
The final Lioness on this list also happens to be the last of the five who didn’t manage to get onto the pitch for England this summer, raising the question of what can Lotte Wubben-Moy do to change that. But, indeed like an Ellie Roebuck or Demi Stokes, Wubben-Moy finds herself down the pecking order not necessarily because of her own ability but of the fierce competition she faces ahead of her. Worse still for the defender, she finds herself at an Arsenal team who have added depth in her favoured position at the back, leaving her as an option off of the bench for Jonas Eidevall, more than as a starter which could see her far further down the ranks for England.
Everyone in England will be able to affordably travel to work, school, the store, and doctor’s appointments thanks to the £60 million project, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
To help people cope with the growing cost of living, bus fares in England will be set at £2 between January and March of the following year.
According to the Department of Transportation, some travellers may save more than £3 on a single bus ticket thanks to the proposal.
The average fare for a three-mile journey is around £2.80, the DfT said, adding that this means passengers will save 30% each time they travel.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who announced the scheme, said: “This £60m boost will mean everyone can affordably get to work, education, the shops, and doctors’ appointments.
Bus operators representing 90% of the market have expressed support for the plan, the DfT said.
Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “This will be very welcome news for the millions of people who rely on the bus to get to work, to the shops, to medical appointments, and to connect with friends and family.
“Buses have great potential to cut traffic and carbon emissions, connect communities, and ease loneliness.
Alison Edwards, policy director at the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said the idea was “eye-catching” – adding that she is looking forward to “understanding in detail how the proposed fare cap will work in practice to ensure it supports the long-term sustainability of bus networks”.
In August, the government announced £130m in funding to keep England’s bus services running in the face of severe cuts.
Labour said the fare cap plan was an inadequate “half measure”, with shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh adding: “This weekend Labour mayors will be lowering bus fares for millions of people for the long-term.
“The government’s temporary 90-day reprieve after years of soaring fares fails to match the scale of the crisis.
In the first year of The Hundred in 2021, teenagers Alice Capsey and Will Smeed rose to prominence with their eye-catching performances on the big stage.
Both continued to shine in 2022, with Capsey making her England debut before the competition began and Smeed making history as the first player to hit a century in The Hundred.
But what about the otheryoungsters who enjoyed the spotlight this year?
We have chosen six players, three male and three female, aged 25 or under, who made their mark on this year’s Hundred.
  Men’s competition
 Jordan Thompson – London Spirit
Jordan Thompson has taken 14 wickets at an average of 15.85 in this year’s Hundred
Yorkshireman Jordan Thompson, 25, has flourished at London Spirit under former England captain Eoin Morgan, having made the move south from Northern Superchargers.
The all-rounder finished the group stages as the joint-highest wicket taker in the competition with 14, alongside Birmingham Phoenix’s Tom Helm.
Morgan called Thompson a ‘big-match player’ and praised his desire to step up for his team in the crunch moments of games, with either bat or ball.
He bowls in the powerplay and at the end of the innings, and provides quick, useful runs with the bat in the lower order.
Will Jacks – Oval Invincibles
Will Jacks has a strike rate of 171.71 in the 2022 competition
Just a few days after Smeed hit the competition’s first century, Will Jacks followed suit as he smashed 108 from just 48 balls, including eight sixes, in a breath-taking display of power-hitting against Southern Brave.
But while Smeed struggled for consistency around his century, Jacks finished the group stages as the fourth-highest run scorer, with 261 runs at an average of 43.50.
Jacks, 23, is no stranger to county cricket fans, having made his Surrey debut at 19 and been a regular in all three formats since, also bowling handy off-spin.
His form has been rewarded with a call up to England’s T20 squad for the seven-match tour of Pakistan later this month.
And with Jason Roy dropped for both that tour and the subsequent World Cup, Jacks could well have the chance to state his case as his Surrey and Invincibles team-mate’s long-term replacement as England T20 opener.
Josh Little – Manchester Originals
Josh Little has played 46 T20 internationals for Ireland since making his debut as a 16-year-old
Ireland’s Josh Little has only played three games in The Hundred so far, but has certainly made them count.
The 22-year-old has the best figures in the competition, taking 5-13 to set up Manchester Originals’ victory over Oval Invincibles that secured their place in the eliminator.
He gets in just ahead of team-mate Tom Hartley. The spinner played a crucial role in taking nine wickets in the group stage, but Little matched that tally in just three matches.
Having received a call-up to the Originals side via a message from Phil Salt on social media, Little will be a key player in Friday’s eliminator against London Spirit.
Women’s competition
Sophia Smale – Oval Invincibles
Slow left-armer Sophia Smale also plays for Western Storm
At just 17, Welsh spinner Sophia Smale has been the surprise package of The Hundred and the breakout star of the women’s competition – she could be described as this year’s Alice Capsey.
Smale was a last-minute pick for defending champions Invincibles as an injury replacement for Emma Jones, but was trusted to bowl in the powerplay of their opening game against Northern Superchargers and picked up the wicket of Australia star Alyssa Healy with just her second ball.
Dismissing big names has become a very useful knack of Smale’s. Her first six wickets were all huge scalps: Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Danni Wyatt, Bryony Smith, Sophie Devine and Emma Lamb.
With an Under-19 World Cup on the horizon, it would not be a surprise if Smale’s name was one of the first on England’s team sheet.
Emily Arlott – Birmingham Phoenix
Emily Arlott averages 11.11 with the ball in this year’s Hundred
Fast bowler Arlott has been named in England squads, most recently the Test squad to face South Africa in June, but is yet to make her international debut – though her performances for Birmingham Phoenix this summer suggest a first cap is not far away.
Despite Phoenix crashing out in disappointing fashion, 23-year-old Arlott shone throughout and finished as the third-highest wicket-taker in the group stages, with nine in six games, and the only non-international in the top five.
Arlott is quick and tall, with her height allowing her to extract some awkward bounce for batters to contend with.
With the retirement of Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt reaching the end of her career, Arlott joins an exciting crop of young England fast bowlers ready to step up.
Lauren Bell – Southern Brave
Lauren Bell took 2-73 on her Test debut against South Africa in June
Another tall fast bowler, Lauren Bell has already made her England debuts in Test and one-day internationals.
But her performances for Southern Brave this summer have reaffirmed her status as one of the most exciting young talents in the country, with a bright international future.
Bell took 10 wickets in the group stages, second to only team-mate Amanda-Jade Wellington’s 14, including 4-10 against Trent Rockets – the best figures in the women’s Hundred this year.
With pace, canny slower balls and natural in-swing, Bell possesses all the attributes – and is just 21 years of age.
Opener Jason Roy has been dropped from England’s squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia but bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are fit to return.
England Test captain Ben Stokes is included despite missing all of England‘s T20s since March 2021.
White-ball captain Jos Buttler will miss the start of the tour of Pakistan, with Moeen Ali deputising as skipper.
England play seven T20s in Pakistan from 20 September before the World Cup starts on 16 October.
Roy, 32, has been an integral part of England’s white-ball success in recent years, but has endured a poor summer.
His highest score in his past 11 international innings is 43 and he managed only 51 runs in six innings for Oval Invincibles in The Hundred, including three ducks.
“He’s a hit a bad patch of form at the worst time,” said England managing director Rob Key, who confirmed Jonny Bairstow will be promoted to open with Buttler.
“I don’t see that this is Jason’s T20 career over. We still see the 50-over format as his strongest suit, so still see him as very much a part of that set-up.”
England have included five uncapped players in a squad of 19 for the series in Pakistan, while the squad for the World Cup is trimmed to 15, with three travelling reserves.
Buttler’s side play three matches against hosts and defending champions Australia before the tournament. England’s campaign begins against Afghanistan in Perth on 22 October.
England, the 50-over world champions, were beaten semi-finalists in the last T20 World Cup in 2021 and reached the final in the previous edition in 2016.
This will be their first global white-ball tournament since 2014 without the leadership of Eoin Morgan, the former captain who retired in June.
Both Wood, 32, and Woakes, 33, last played for England on the Test tour of West Indies in March. They return from elbow and knee surgery respectively and boost an injury hit pace-bowling department that remains without Jofra Archer.
“They are back in with fingers crossed,” added Key. “The likelihood for Wood and Woakes is they will start getting fit at the back end of the Pakistan trip.”
Stokes, who continues to be available for T20s despite retiring from one-day internationals, is rested for the tour of Pakistan, which begins little more than a week after England’s final Test against South Africa at The Oval concludes. Bairstow is also rested for the Pakistan tour but he too will join up with the World Cup squad.
Liam Livingstone is another missing the Pakistan leg as he continues to recover from an ankle injury, while World Cup reserve Tymal Mills (toe) will also go straight to Australia.
Buttler has a calf injury, but is expected to be fit for the latter stages of the Pakistan series. His absence means Moeen, whose family originates from Pakistan, will have the honour of leading England on their first tour of the country in 17 years.
Key confirmed England’s intention to tour Pakistan despite the floods that have devastated large parts of the country. England pulled out of a trip to Pakistan last year citing “increasing concerns about travelling to the region”.
“It’s a trip we’re desperate to go on,” said Key. “It’s going to take a lot for us not to get out there.
“Hopefully us going out there and playing will be a positive story in what has been a pretty harrowing time for the people of that country.”
Warwickshire quick bowler Olly Stone, who has played three Tests and four ODIs for England, makes his return to international cricket from a back injury as part of the quintet of uncapped T20 players for the Pakistan tour.
He is joined by Middlesex pacer Tom Helm, Lancashire left-arm fast bowler Luke Wood and batters Jordan Cox and Will Jacks of Kent and Surrey respectively.
England squad for the Men’s T20 World Cup: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Travelling reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills.
England squad for T20 series in Pakistan: Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Luke Wood.
Toronto FC strengthened its squad on Thursday, agreeing to a deal to bring back fullback Richie Laryea.
The 27-year-old defender played three seasons for TFC before being sold to Nottingham Forest in January. He saw limited game time in England‘s second division, though, as he was unable to break into a Forest lineup that was on a winning streak under manager Steve Cooper, who led the team to promotion.
The contract to bring back Laryea, according to Toronto coach Bob Bradley, who also serves as the team’s sporting director, is going well.
“It’s not quite finished but I think we’re all optimistic that the main parts are done,” he said after training Thursday.
Laryea appeared in 83 games for Toronto, scoring nine goals and assisting on 12 others.
Laryea did not make his debut for Forest until April 18, when he came off the bench in the 79th minute of a 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
Englandhave won their first major women’s tournament after beating Germany at the Euro 2022 final.
The eight-time champions Germany lost at Wembley on Sunday.
Substitute Chloe Kelly poked home a loose ball from a corner to send the raucous record crowd of 87,192 into a frenzy with ten minutes of extra time remaining.
She waited for confirmation of the goal before taking off her shirt and waving it around her head, while being lifted by her team-mates in a moment of pure elation.
On a monumental day in English football history, Sarina Wiegman’s side showed they were equal to anything a strong and physical Germany team threw at them.
Ella Toone had earlier come off the bench to score the opener in normal time before Germany’s Lina Magull set up a nervous ending when she equalised in the 79th minute.
There were scenes of jubilation in the stands and an outpouring of emotion by players on the pitch at full-time as the magnitude of their achievement sank in.
The final was advertised as a battle between the competition’s two best-performing sides, and for large parts they cancelled each other out – but the biggest crowd in the history of a men’s or women’s Euros was given their money’s worth.
Striker Ellen White missed a few chances in the first half, Lucy Bronze was denied with a header, Germany’s Magull struck wide and England defender Leah Williamson had to scramble a corner off the line before Toone was introduced to break the deadlock.
She had given England fans the winning taste before Magull stunned the home crowd, though it would only delay the celebrations that Kelly, who only returned to football in April after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, gave them.
England did what no other nation had done before – beat serial winners Germany in a European Women’s Championship final, and the feeling was sweet.
It comes 56 years after England’s men beat West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, the only previous major trophy won by a men’s or women’s England senior team.
The players fell to the ground at full-time in tears of joy, in scenes which will be remembered and replayed for years to come on one of the greatest nights in English sport.
Perfect ending for hosts England
It was a final like no other in every sense – the build-up was on a scale above anything seen in women’s football in Great Britain, and it provided the perfect ending.
Male fans were sporting England shirts with their female icons’ names on the back on the London Underground on the way to the match, while fan parks around the country were filled with supporters watching the final on big screens.
Wembley Way was already packed on Sunday morning and there were boos when Germany were announced on the stadium tannoy before kick-off.
And it looked like things were going England’s way when Germany’s lethal striker Alexandra Popp, joint-top scorer in the tournament going into the final, picked up an injury and dropped out of the starting XI just before kick-off.
The feistiness off the pitch translated on to it too – referee Kateryna Monzul awarded two early yellow cards for innocuous fouls by England, and the crowd were frustrated for much of the first half when decisions didn’t go their way.
Last week’s record-breaking heatwave in the UK was made at least 10 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study.
Hundreds of people are expected to have died during the scorching weather, though official figures are yet to emerge, the rapid analysis by the World Weather Attribution group (WWA)said.
There have been estimates of more than 840 extra deaths in England and Wales on 18 and 19 July.
The extreme weather caused widespread disruption to transport networks and hundreds of fires, including devastating blazes that destroyed homes.
A new UK record temperature of 40.3C was set in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on 19 July – 1.6C hotter than the previous mark set just three years ago.
The impacts of heatwaves are often “very unequally distributed across demographics”, with poorer neighborhoods frequently lacking green space, shade, and water, said Emmanuel Raju, from the Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research.
The heatwave swept across much of Europe this month.
But the group chose the UK for their latest analysis because the country is “particularly unaccustomed to very high temperatures as the ones that we have seen last week,” added Friederike Otto, senior climate science lecturer at Imperial College London.
Of the places the group analyzed, temperatures recorded at two of them would have been “statistically impossible” if the world hadn’t warmed by about 1.2C since the late 1800s, the paper said.
The international network is at the forefront of the science of quickly quantifying the role of climate change in recent extreme weather events.
The 21 researchers involved in this study compared the global climate as it is today, after 1.2C of warming, with an analysis of historical weather records.
While the computer simulations suggest climate change had increased temperatures in the heatwave by 2C, analysis of historical records indicated it would be around 4C cooler in pre-industrial times before global warming started to drive up temperatures.
The 10-fold increase in the chances of such extreme heat hitting the UK due to climate change is a “conservative estimate”, because “extreme temperatures” have climbed more than climate models estimate, the authors said.
This also suggests the consequences of the climate crisis for heatwaves could be even worse than previously thought.
“There must be something in the climate system that has a stronger influence here… that is just not captured in the models” for Western Europe yet, Dr. Otto explained.
Two years ago, Met Office scientists found the chance of seeing 40C in the UK was one in 100 in any given year, up from one in 1,000 in an unchanged climate.
“It’s been sobering to see such an event happen so soon after that study, to see the raw data coming back from our weather stations,” said Fraser Lott, attribution scientist at the Met Office Hadley Centre, who also worked on the paper.
Professor Tim Palmer, Royal Society Research Professor at Oxford University, said the group should have included error margins on their estimates, given the challenges of current climate models.
Trailing Spain 1-0 with six minutes of regular time left, England seemed to be exiting its home Women’s Euro until Ella Toone knocked home an equalizer that lifted a raucous, record crowd of 28,994 spectators inside the Brighton and Hove Community Stadium to their feet and dragged the quarterfinal to extra time.
Then, six minutes into the first extra period, Georgia Stanway was given an inch of space by the Spanish defense and fired the Lionesses into the semifinals with a sensational strike that sealed a 2-1 victory.
“That’s the shift from group mentality to knockouts. We’ve proved we’re resilient and can overcome tests,” England’s captain Leah Williamson told the BBC.
“Sorry to Mum and Dad that you have work tomorrow and I’ve delayed you returning home. I’m sorry to the whole nation, but I hope you’re buzzing like me.”
Leah Williamson celebrates her side’s victory.
England’s Euro campaign had been flawless, topping its group without conceding a goal and achieving a record victory against Norway.
But Spain’s trademark tiki-taka passing ensured that it dominated the first half, starving the Lionesses of possession and any chance to unleash their free-flowing attack.
On 17 minutes, La Roja engineered its first shot on target as Mariona Caldentey curled in a shot from outside the penalty box which was scooped up by England goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Twenty minutes later, it looked as if Ellen White had scored for England against the run of play, prodding in a goal from a Lauren Hemp free kick, but her effort was ruled offside.
That sparked a late flurry of English attacks, but Spain’s defense held out and the first half ended goalless.
Spain began the second half brightly and took the lead when substitute Athenea del Castillo foiled Rachel Daly, zig-zagged into the box and set up Esther González who fired a goal into the corner of the net.
Spain celebrates Esther González’s goal.
In response, England’s tactics shifted, and head coach Sarina Wiegman brought on Alessia Russo and Toone to stem Spain’s advance.
Earps’ outstretched fingertips deflected a powerful shot from Del Castillo to keep the Lionesses’ hopes alive before Russo and Toone combined on 86 minutes to equalize and push the match to extra time.
“We used Plan B,” Wiegman told the BBC. “We scored quickly after doing that so we could go back into our normal shape. I’m so proud of the team. The fans behind us, you could feel it. This is home advantage.”
After Stanway’s early goal in extra time, Spain continued to threaten but England held on to take a memorable win.
“It’s a disappointing defeat and disappointing to go out of the competition, but if there’s a good way to lose, it’s by playing as we did tonight. We gave everything, but it wasn’t to be. We’ve performed really well and there’s a bright future ahead, but it’s a difficult day for us,” Spain coach Jorge Vilda said, according to UEFA.com.
The Lionesses will now face either Belgium or Sweden for a place in the final.
England will face Spain at the Amex Stadium in the Women’s Euro 2022 quarter-finals; kick-off 8pm; it is unclear if Sarina Wiegman will be in the dugout after missing the final England group game due to Covid; Spain have been knocked out in the quarter-finals in their last two Euros.
England face their toughest test yet as they take on Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro 2022 on Wednesday, although neither side have had the smoothest of preparations.
The UK has been hit by an unprecedented heatwave that has seen temperatures reach over 40 degrees, while head coach Sarina Wiegman has not been around the squad after testing positive for Covid-19.
While temperatures are set to drop significantly by the time the two teams walk out at the Amex Stadium at 8pm on Wednesday evening, it has seen England alter their training times and implement additional cooling measures to keep the players in good shape.
While Spain will be used to the heat and humidity, they have also not had the ideal tournament so far. Just days before their opening match against Finland, Alexia Putellas was sidelined with an ACL injury, adding to the already absent Jennifer Hermoso.
The omission of their top two goalscorers has shown at times for Spain in the group stages, who are looking to progress to the semi-finals after being knocked out in the quarters at the last two tournaments.
More than a dozen protesters have been arrested for driving too slowly during demonstrations on motorways in England, Wales and Scotland over fuel prices.
The go-slow action is mainly targeting three-lane motorways with convoys of vehicles crawling along two lanes – leaving the “fast” outside lane free.
Twelve people were arrested after a protest on the M4, which led to the Prince of Wales Bridge, between England and Wales, being closed.
Another man was arrested near the A38.
Protesters, organised under the social media banner Fuel Price Stand Against Tax, have driven in a series of convoys at 30mph (48.3km/h) to cause gridlock on major roads and motorways across Great Britain.
Chief Superintendent Tom Harding from Gwent Police said people had been arrested for driving under 30mph for a “prolonged amount of time”.
Among the roads affected by disruption have been:
the M4 and Prince of Wales Bridge
the M5 in Devon
the M32
the A38
the M180 in Lincolnshire
the A12 in Essex
the A92 in Scotland
the A64 near York
Gwent Police said organisers of the protest had been given a legal notice to prevent them from blocking the bridge over the River Severn and from driving under 30mph.
Ch Supt Harding said restrictions had been placed on the protest as otherwise “emergency and critical services” would have been restricted, posing a risk to the local community.
He added the force was aware of other driving offences not connected to the protests and these would be dealt with appropriately.
Two convoys of slow-moving vehicles had brought parts of the M4 to a standstill with vehicles travelling towards the crossing from both directions.
IMAGE SOURCE,TARIQ AKRAM Image caption, Tariq Akram said other cars joined the convoy as it went by
Tariq Akram said his was one of 50 vehicles making the 60-mile journey through Scunthorpe and Doncaster at 20mph.
The Scunthorpe truck driver told the BBC his company had added £4,000 to its fuel bill in the past four months because of rising prices.
“The turnout was absolutely fantastic.
“There were 35 vehicles from our yard alone who took part,” he said.
“At one point, I thought some cars wanted to overtake so I tried to let them by, then I realised they were joining in.”
BBC Radio Humberside’s Amanda White said when the convoy u-turned the queues were extraordinary with “hundreds if not thousands of vehicles nose to tail crawling along”.
She said while some motorists were angry others supported the protest and some even joined the convoy in their own vehicles.
Image caption, A convoy of vehicles on the M180 in Lincolnshire
Avon and Somerset Police said all protests in its area had finished and thanked the public for their patience in a tweet at about 15:20 BST.
On Monday, the force said there had been slow-moving roadblocks on the M4, M5 and M32 and predicted protesters to take a break before returning along the route.
Earlier, Devon and Cornwall Police said it was aware of a go-slow protest heading northbound from Exeter services of the M5.
The force also said a further protest began on the A38 heading north from Ivybridge, where a man in his 50s was arrested after ignoring a warning about unsafe driving.
“Unfortunately we have had unsafe driving on the A38 including vehicles travelling at a dangerously low speed,” a force spokesman said.
Police Scotland said it was aware of protests on motorways and trunk roads and urged motorists to drive at an appropriate speed for the road conditions.
But the force warned journey times could be longer than normal.
In Lincolnshire, police blocked junction one between the M180 and M18 forcing protesters to remain on the former.
West Yorkshire Police said officers had deployed a “single tyre deflation device” – also known as a “stinger” – at the Ferrybridge services in the early stages of the protest.
The force said the device had not been used, no damage had been done to vehicles and it had since been withdrawn.
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Police said no vehicles had been damaged when a “single tyre deflation device” was deployed in West Yorkshire
West Mercia Police said some of the tactics used during a protest on the M54, which had ended by about 08:30 BST, had “compromised the safety of other road users” and said officers would take action against those who committed traffic offences.
A Facebook event called Stand Up to Fuel Prices, with more than 57,000 responses, called for people to take their cars, lorries and tractors to cause roadblocks all over the country “until there is change”.
The organisers wrote that fuel costs were driving up other costs of living and said they hoped the more people that joined the protest, the sooner livings costs would drop.
Fuel prices have risen to record highs in recent weeks with figures from data firm Experian showing the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts had hit 191.5p and 199.0p for diesel on Sunday.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said there did not appear to be any sign of retailers reducing forecourt prices despite weekly wholesale costs having fallen for five weeks.
Gordon Balmer, executive director of the Petrol Retailers’ Association, which represents independent forecourts, said rising wholesale prices were related to international events and the weakness of the pound against the US dollar.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he will carefully consider calls for a “more substantial” fuel duty cut after the 5p per litre reduction implemented in March failed to halt price rises.
Rising fuel prices have been pushed even higher by the war in Ukraine, with Russia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, facing sanctions.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA Image caption, Police escort vehicles across the Prince of Wales Bridge, which runs between England and Wales
The government has said while it understands people are struggling with rising prices and have a right to protest, “people’s day-to-day lives should not be disrupted” and warned traffic delays “will only add to fuel use”.
Howard Cox, founder of campaign group FairFuelUK, said other countries had cut fuel duty more than the UK and called for a reduction of at least 20p.
While he said his organisation was not involved in the protests he said there was an appetite for them and if the government did not deliver on the issue there could be “some serious escalation of protests”.
England manager Gareth Southgate has called up uncapped West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen for the Nations League games with Hungary, Germany and Italy.
Bowen has scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists for the Hammers this season.
The 25-year-old was in contention for the previous England squad in March but was ruled out by a fractured foot bone.
Leicester City right-back James Justin is named for the first time and Fikayo Tomori is recalled for June’s matches after helping AC Milan win Serie A.
Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips and Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier also return after injury.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is not named among the midfielders after a heavy workload in a season that will only end on Saturday in the Champions League final, with Southgate saying “I don’t need to know any more about him”.
The England boss suggested that was also his reason for leaving out Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier, saying the 28-year-old was “definitely in our thinking”.
There is also no place for Henderson’s Liverpool team-mate Joe Gomez, so Trent Alexander-Arnold is the only representative of a Reds squad looking to complete a treble of cups this season when they face Real Madrid in Paris.
As Southgate indicated would be the case, Manchester City’s Kyle Walker returns to the squad despite not having played in the Premier League since mid-April because of an ankle problem.
Southgate said he has selected 11 defenders in his squad because of doubts over the fitness of some.
“It is a bit of a minefield, in terms of players who have missed football and are coming back from injuries,” he said. “Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell haven’t played at all. Marc Guehi is a doubt.
“Fikayo has had a very good season with AC Milan and I talked in March about wanting to have a look at some of the young centre-backs coming through and some of these guys are slightly ahead of Tyrone [Mings], who has always played well for us.
“At the same time we have to make opportunities for good young players to have a look at them.”
England’s Nations League fixtures
Date
Opponent
Venue
Saturday, 4 June
Hungary
Puskas Arena, Budapest
Tuesday, 7 June
Germany
Allianz Arena, Munich
Saturday, 11 June
Italy
Molineux, Wolverhampton
Tuesday, 14 June
Hungary
Molineux, Wolverhampton
Another Italy-based player, Tammy Abraham, is included after a stellar season under Jose Mourinho at Roma, for whom he has scored 27 goals.
The former Chelsea striker is preferred to Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin in a group of forwards that also includes Manchester City title-winning trio Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling.
Southgate has resisted a plea from Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta not to include 20-year-old forward Bukayo Saka, who has played a part in every league game for the Gunners in 2021-22.
“I think Mikel Arteta knows we look after players well,” said the England boss. “We’ve given all the players a week off this week, which not everyone has done, but we feel that has worked well for us.
“We’ve had a good discussion around Bukayo Saka and all the players from Arsenal. All the players are carrying niggles after a long season, but they all want to be here.”
Jadon Sancho, who did not feature for Manchester United in the last month of the season because of tonsillitis, also misses out, as does his club-mate Marcus Rashford, who has struggled for form throughout this campaign.
Another notable absentee is Leicester’s James Maddison, who won the Foxes player of the season award after 17 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. The 25-year-old’s last cap was almost three years ago.
“He has finished the season very well,” added Southgate. “He is obviously scoring goals but we just feel we are very happy with the players that have been with us.
“He is competing with Mason Mount and Phil Foden and these types of players in the role where he is at his best. It’s one of the positions where there is a lot of strength in depth and you may have to leave players out who may be equally as deserving.”
Other players omitted from the previous squad include defenders Tyrick Mitchell and Kyle Walker-Peters as well as forwards Emile Smith Rowe and Ollie Watkins.
West Ham forward Bowen began his career with Hereford before moving to Hull, where he excelled in the Championship before making the move to West Ham in January 2020.
Southgate says he “thoroughly deserves” his first senior call-up following “constantly strong performances”.
“We were certainly thinking about involving him in March before he got injured,” said the England boss.
“He’s a goal threat and his direct journey is an interesting reminder that you don’t have to be at an elite academy – experience is a great route to go.
“He works incredibly hard for the team, which we want all our players to do.”
He was equally complimentary about Leicester defender Justin, who has made 19 appearances in all competitions since recovering from an anterior cruciate injury sustained in February 2021.
“He is a player we’ve followed for a long time and he obviously had a very serious injury,” added Southgate. “We feel he’s now played the number of matches needed.
“He’s comfortable at right or left back – he’s very comfortable with the ball and a super athlete. He’s a very good person from the feedback I’ve had and we’re really looking forward to working closely with him.”
England squad in full
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Wolves), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), James Justin (Leicester), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace, on loan from Chelsea), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Man City)
England have appointed former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum as men’s Test coach on a four-year deal.
McCullum, 40, will be in place for England’s first Test against world champions New Zealand at Lord’s on 2 June.
He succeeds Chris Silverwood, who left his position in February following the heavy Ashes defeat in Australia.
McCullum said he is aiming to “move the team forward into a more successful era” alongside new captain Ben Stokes.
He added: “In taking this role on, I am acutely aware of the significant challenges the team faces at present, and I strongly believe in my ability to help the team emerge as a stronger force once we’ve confronted them head-on.”
England are winless in nine Tests and have only one won of their past 17 matches.
McCullum’s appointment continues England’s post-Ashes overhaul, with Rob Key having taken over as managing director last month, replacing Andrew Strauss, who had stepped in on an interim basis following the sacking of Ashley Giles in February.
Root stood down as captain following March’s 1-0 series defeat in the West Indies and was replaced by Stokes.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) selection panel of Key, strategic adviser Strauss, chief executive Tom Harrison and performance director Mo Bobat said McCullum was the “outstanding candidate” for the role.
“I’ve enjoyed several robust conversations with Rob Key about the direction of travel for the team and have found his enthusiasm contagious,” added McCullum.
“I’m no stranger to bringing about change within a team environment, and I can’t wait to get started.
“Ben Stokes is the perfect character to inspire change around him, and I look forward to working closely with him to build a successful unit around us.”
McCullum, who retired from playing in 2019, has never coached in first-class cricket, but played 101 Tests for New Zealand from 2004 to 2016.
He is currently head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and previously coached Trinbago Knight Riders to the 2020 Caribbean Premier League title.
Kolkata are likely to go out of the IPL next Wednesday after their two remaining group games and McCullum is set to arrive in the UK later this month.
The squad for the first Test against New Zealand is set to be chosen next week.
In looking for Silverwood’s successor, Key split the England head coach position into Test and white-ball roles.
McCullum, a close friend of England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, was initially approached over the white-ball post but has secured the Test job ahead of former South Africa and India coach Gary Kirsten, who was thought to be favourite for the position.
“It has been a real privilege to get to know Brendon and understand his views and vision for the game,” said Key.
“He has a recent history of changing cricket culture and environments for the better, and I believe he is the person to do that for England’s red-ball cricket.
“I believe in Brendon and Ben Stokes – a formidable coach and captain partnership. Time for us all to buckle up and get ready for the ride.”
After three Tests against New Zealand, England face India in the rescheduled fifth Test in July before three Tests against South Africa in August and September.
McCullum captained New Zealand in 31 Tests, 62 one-day internationals and 28 Twenty20 internationals, leading them to the 2015 50-over World Cup final, where they were beaten by Australia.
His spell as Black Caps Test captain started a resurgence that eventually saw them win the World Test Championship last year under his successor Kane Williamson.
The wicketkeeper-batter scored 6,453 runs at an average of 38.64, with 12 hundreds – including the fastest Test century of all time, off just 54 balls against Australia in 2016.
England are not as close to naming the new white-ball coach, with candidates likely to be spoken to again next week before the first engagement of the summer, a three-match one-day series in the Netherlands, begins on 17 June.
Millions of pupils in England are returning to school today after almost six months away.
Schools are expected to look different, with one-way systems, screens keeping pupils apart and staggered start times.
Many pupils will be given inductions so they understand the new rules, such as staying in their “bubble” groups and where to use social distancing. Teachers will be assessing what and how much their pupils need to catch up.
Ministers are urging parents to send their children back but it’s unclear how many will do so, although attendance is compulsory in England.
Some recent polls suggest families are keen to see children back in class but others have not been so positive.
In Scotland, where pupils returned several weeks ago, official statistics show one in 10 pupils is absent. Pupils in Northern Ireland have already returned, and those in Wales are returning later this week.
A government scheme offering £50 bike repair vouchers will launch in England on Tuesday as part of plans to boost cycling and walking.
An initial 50,000 vouchers will be made available online later in the day on a first-come, first-served basis.
The prime minister also announced that access to bikes will be available on the NHS as part of the strategy.
But Labour said many of the government’s proposals were taking too long to come into effect.
It comes after the government launched its obesity strategy on Monday.
GPs in areas of England with poor health will be encouraged to prescribe cycling, with patients able to access bikes through their local surgery.
Recent Public Health England research found that being overweight or obese puts people at greater risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
Government statistics showed nearly 8% of critically ill patients in intensive care units with the virus have been morbidly obese, compared with 2.9% of the general population.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said cycling and walking have “a huge role to play” in tackling health and environmental challenges.
“But to build a healthier, more active nation, we need the right infrastructure, training and support in place to give people the confidence to travel on two wheels,” he said.
“That’s why now is the time to shift gears and press ahead with our biggest and boldest plans yet to boost active travel – so that everyone can feel the transformative benefits of cycling.”
Former Olympic gold medal cyclist Chris Boardman, now a policy adviser to British Cycling, welcomed the plans.
“There’s a quarter of households in Britain who don’t have access to a car at all and we’ve got public transport operating at 30%, so 70% of people have got to find another way to travel or not go to work,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“This can be not only provision for people who don’t have a car now, it’s a consultation for the future.”
‘Fix Your Bike’ vouchers
The government’s “Fix Your Bike” vouchers are being released in batches “to help manage capacity” and so that the scheme can be monitored before being rolled out more widely, the government said.
They will typically cover the bill for a standard service and the replacement of a basic component such as an inner tube or cable.
During a Downing Street briefing in May, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the initiative would be “available from next month”.
But the Department for Transport (DfT) said in July that it would only begin when maintenance shops could handle the expected spike in demand.
Halfords says it has thousands of slots available each day for customers to bring their bikes into stores to identify potential faults which could be rectified under the scheme.
“We think the government’s ‘Fix Your Bike’ voucher scheme will not only help individuals become more confident about keeping their bikes maintained, but will help speed up the cycling revolution,” said chief executive Graham Stapleton.
The retailer previously reported that bike sales had risen by 57.1% in the 13 weeks to 3 July, as people sought to avoid public transport during lockdown.
Thousands of miles of new protected cycle lanes, cycle training for children and adults, and the creation of the UK’s first zero-emission transport city are also part of the plans to promote cycling and walking.
The initiative has been welcomed by cycling groups and environmentalists.
They have long argued that Active Travel – the new phrase for walking and cycling – fulfills twin objectives of improving health and well-being, while also reducing emissions that harm people’s health and fuel climate change.
But they point out that the investment is less than a 10th of the £27bn that the government previously announced would be spent on new roads.
There’s now increasing pressure for that road budget to be reduced.
AA head Edmund King told BBC News in April that some of the cash might be better spent on improving broadband.
And environmentalists have brought a legal challenge against the plans because the construction and use of the roads will increase carbon emissions when ministers are committed to reducing emissions.
A recent study suggested that big carbon savings can be made by constructing cycle lanes in suburbs, to be used by e-bikes.
‘Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’
Other measures to improve the well-being of pedestrians and cyclists include strengthening the Highway Code, improving legal protections, increasing lorry safety standards and working with the police and retailers to tackle bike thefts.
The plans will be funded by a £2bn investment announced in February.
Mr. Shapps said it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a shift in attitudes” to make cycling or walking part of daily routines.
Matt Mallinder, director of the charity Cycling UK, said the plan “places cycling at the heart of our towns and cities”, but he called for even more funding “to truly shift gears”.
Kerry McCarthy, Labour shadow cycling minister also said that the Conservative party had “failed to seize the opportunity this crisis has posed”.
“Although funding is welcome, cyclists will be rightly concerned about how long it is going to take to actually put these plans into practice.”
In the first five weeks of England’s Test and Trace system, 144,501 people were asked to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus, new figures show.
This was 85% out of a total of 169,863 identified close contacts.
The remaining 15% – some 25,362 people – were identified as close contacts, but were not reached by contact tracers.
Some of these people could not be reached because no communication details had been provided for them.
People from ethnic minorities are at a higher risk of dying from coronavirus, a report by Public Health England says.
It shows age remains the biggest risk factor, while being male is another.
The impact of Covid-19 is also “disproportionate” for other Asian, Caribbean and black ethnicities. But it remains unclear why.
The health secretary said the “troubling” report was “timely” because “right across the world people are angry about racial injustice”.
On Monday night, the Department of Health and Social Care denied reports the delay was down to official concerns of potential civil unrest linked to global anger over the death of African-American George Floyd.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons the public was “understandably angry about injustices” and that he felt a “deep responsibility because this pandemic has exposed huge disparities in the health of our nation”.
“Black lives matter, as do those of the poorest areas of our country which have worse health outcomes and we need to make sure all of these considerations are taken into account, and action is taken to level-up the health outcomes of people across this country,” he said.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, Mr Hancock said “much more work” needed to be done to understand “what’s driving these disparities”.
“We are absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this and find ways of closing this gap,” he said, adding that he has asked equalities minister Kemi Badenoch to continue working on the issue alongside Public Health England (PHE).
‘I can’t change my colour’ The BBC’s Rianna Croxford pressed Mr Hancock on whether there were any specific recommendations for people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
He said everyone in “the different high risk categories” highlighted in the report should follow social distancing guidelines “very stringently”.
Prof John Newton said although the virus was having a worse impact on black and minority ethnic people, “that is not necessarily because of their ethnicity” and could instead be related to their job, for example.
He said the report’s findings needed to be “widely discussed before deciding exactly what needs to be done”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said “lives depend on” finding out why the virus disproportionately impacts black and minority ethnic people, and what actions the government was taking to stop it.
Davida Wilkins, a 38-year-old district nurse in the West Midlands, told the BBC she felt “even more anxious” about doing her job following the report’s publication.
She said she felt “obligated” to continue her front-line role but added she cannot minimise the risks posed to her by the virus because “it’s the colour that I am and I can’t change it”.
Call for public inquiry into virus BAME death risk
Why are more BAME people dying from coronavirus?
Black Britons face ‘twice the risk’ of virus death The rapid review was launched when it became clear that some people were getting more sick with coronavirus than others.
PHE reviewed thousands of existing health records and other virus data to look at disparities by:
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A test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by health officials in England.
Public Health England said the antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was a “very positive development”.
The blood test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity.
Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough.
The government previously spent a reported £16m buying antibody tests which later proved to be ineffective.
Sources told the BBC the Roche test was the first one to offer serious potential.
Antibodies are made by our immune system as it learns to fight an infection.
Finding antibodies that attack the coronavirus show that person has been infected in the past, but they do not prove they are protected against it in the future.
Experts at the government’s Porton Down facility evaluated the Roche test last week, Public Health England said.
They found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time.
Roche said if someone had not caught coronavirus then it gave the correct result more than 99.8% of the time.
It means fewer than two in 1,000 healthy people would be incorrectly told they had previously caught the coronavirus.
Health minister Edward Argar said the tests would mainly be used on those in the NHS and social care settings to begin with.
He could not give an exact date for when the testing could start.
Prof John Newton, national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, said: “This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection.
“This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection, although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear.”
Roche is understood to be in talks with the Department of Health and Social Care about possible use by the NHS in England, though other testing products are also being assessed.
Health officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make their own decisions, but are likely to follow suit if England does adopt it.
The test already has approval from medical regulators in the EU and the United States.
A test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by health officials in England.
Public Health England said the antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was a “very positive development”.
The blood test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity.
Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough.
The government previously spent a reported £16m buying antibody tests which later proved to be ineffective.
Sources told the BBC the Roche test was the first one to offer serious potential.
Antibodies are made by our immune system as it learns to fight an infection.
Finding antibodies that attack the coronavirus show that person has been infected in the past, but they do not prove they are protected against it in the future.
Experts at the government’s Porton Down facility evaluated the Roche test last week, Public Health England said.
They found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time.
Roche said if someone had not caught coronavirus then it gave the correct result more than 99.8% of the time.
It means fewer than two in 1,000 healthy people would be incorrectly told they had previously caught the coronavirus.
Health minister Edward Argar said the tests would mainly be used on those in the NHS and social care settings to begin with.
He could not give an exact date for when the testing could start.
Prof John Newton, national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, said: “This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection.
“This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection, although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear.”
Roche is understood to be in talks with the Department of Health and Social Care about possible use by the NHS in England, though other testing products are also being assessed.
Health officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make their own decisions, but are likely to follow suit if England does adopt it.
The test already has approval from medical regulators in the EU and the United States.
The main use of an antibody test is to find out how many people have been infected.
The official figures are only a fraction of the total number – not everybody is getting tested and some people are being infected without developing symptoms.
Antibody tests will help answer questions such as how far and how easily the virus has spread and, crucially, how deadly it really is.
The second use – helping to lift lockdown – is highly controversial.
The idea is if you have antibodies, then you can go back to work. This could be particularly helpful in hospitals and care homes full of vulnerable people, if you could guarantee the staff were immune.
But having antibodies does not automatically mean you cannot get sick or harbour the virus and pass it on to others.
World Health Organization scientists advise against using so called “immunity passports” because of the lack of evidence.
The swab tests currently being carried out in the UK determine whether someone has the virus at the time of the test.
These will remain the core part of the government’s test, track and trace strategy for containing the spread of the virus.
This year’s summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge in southern England have been cancelled because of the ban on mass gatherings prompted by the Coronavirus.
Traditionally about 10,000 people gather at the Neolithic monument in Wiltshire, on or around 21 June, to mark midsummer.
English Heritage said it was cancelling the event “for the safety and wellbeing of attendees, volunteers and staff”.
The occasion will instead be live-streamed on the charity’s social media accounts.
The Bank of England has warned that the coronavirus pandemic will push the UK economy towards its deepest recession on record.
It said the economy was on course to shrink 14% this year, based on the lockdown being relaxed in June.
Scenarios drawn up by the Bank to illustrate the economic impact said Covid-19 was “dramatically reducing jobs and incomes in the UK”.
Policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.1%.
However, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that sets interest rates was split on whether to inject more stimulus into the economy.
Two of its nine members voted to increase the latest round of quantitative easing by £100bn to £300bn.
The Bank’s analysis was based on social distancing measures being gradually phased out between June and September.
Its latest Monetary Policy Report showed the UK economy plunging into its first recession in more than a decade. The economy shrinks by 3% in the first quarter of 2020, followed by an unprecedented 25% decline in the three months to June.
This would push the UK into a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline.
The Bank said the housing market had come to a standstill, while consumer spending had dropped by 30% in recent weeks.
For the year as a whole, the economy is expected to contract by 14%. This would be the biggest annual decline on record, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data dating back to 1949.
It would also be the sharpest annual contraction since 1706, according to reconstructed Bank of England data stretching back to the 18th Century.
While UK growth is expected to rebound in 2021 to 15%, the size of the economy is not expected to get back to its pre-virus peak until the middle of next year.
‘Bold action’
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, said he expected any permanent damage from the pandemic to be “relatively small”. The economy was likely to recover “much more rapidly than the pull back from the global financial crisis,” he said.
Mr Bailey also praised the action by the government to support workers and businesses through wage subsidies, loans and grants. He said the success of these schemes and the Bank’s own stimulus meant there would be “limited scarring to the economy”.
James Smith, research director at the Resolution Foundation, said the hit to the economy this year was equivalent to £9,000 for every family in Britain.
He said: “Faced with this huge economic hit, both the Bank and the Government have made the right call in taking bold action to protect firms and families as much as possible.”
The UK government is expected to start easing lockdown restrictions next week.
The Bank stressed that the outlook for the economy was “unusually uncertain” at present and would depend on how households and businesses responded to the pandemic.
It assumes job losses and shrinking pay packets will continue to weigh on the recovery, with British families remaining cautious about shopping and socialising for at least another year.
The government’s jobs retention scheme covering 80% of wages is phased out with the lockdown.
Companies stop or scale back their operations for some time.
Cautious consumers voluntarily maintain social distancing until mid-2021.
Average weekly earnings are expected to shrink by 2% this year, reflecting the fall in wages for furloughed workers.
The Bank said sharp increases in benefit claims are “consistent with a pronounced rise in the unemployment rate”, which is expected to climb above 9% this year, from the current rate of 4%.
Under the Bank’s scenario, inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI) falls to zero at the start of next year amid the sharp drop in energy prices. It is also expected to remain well below the Bank’s 2% target for the next two years.
Cautious consumers
The Bank’s latest Financial Stability Report said the Bank’s scenario was consistent with a 16% drop in house prices. The latest figures published by UK finance show one in seven mortgage holders have taken a payment holiday due to the coronavirus.
The Bank said the number of new mortgage deals on offer had halved in just over a month as banks focused on the deluge of payment holiday requests. This includes a huge contraction in deals for buyers with a deposit of less than 40% of the purchase price.
The MPC also highlighted the stark drop in consumer spending. It said spending on flights, hotels, restaurants and entertainment has dropped to a fifth of their previous levels.
Shopping at high street retailers had dropped by 80%, while business confidence was described as “severely depressed”.
The Bank warns that this is not a typical forecast and that “many other scenarios are plausible”. But these numbers provide the sharpest analysis yet of the economic challenge of the virus and its pandemic.
Nonetheless the Bank has chosen to continue with levels of economic stimulus announced last month. The Monetary Policy Committee chose to keep base rates at their record low of 0.1% and its bond-buying quantitative easing programme at £645bn.
Two members of the nine-member MPC voted to further increase the funds pumped into the government borrowing market by £100bn, suggesting the Bank may yet do more.
The Bank of England anticipates the UK economy is already in a sharp recession, having contracted by a significant 3% in the first three months of the year and then an unprecedented 25% in the current quarter ending in June, in its scenario published on Thursday.
In its Monetary Policy Report, the most significant and thorough look at the economy since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the unemployment rate is expected to double to around 9%. The economic scenario is built on assumptions that the lockdown in the UK and the rest of the world is gradually lifted from early next month over a period of four months.
While there should be a bounce back in growth later this year, the Bank’s “illustrative scenario” anticipates that this will largely come next year, with the economy this year suffering a record fall of 14%, and then growing by 15% next year.
The Bank warns that this is not a typical forecast and that “many other scenarios are plausible”. But these numbers provide the sharpest analysis yet of the economic challenge of the virus and its pandemic.
Nearly 9,000 people have received fines for flouting lockdown restrictions in England and Wales, new figures show.
Police have had powers to issue fixed penalty notices (rather than on-the-spot fines) for alleged breaches since 26 March.
Figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) show that in the month to 27 April, police issued 8,877 fixed-penalty notices in England, and a further 299 in Wales.
Nearly 400 were for repeat offenders – with one individual given six.
Police can issue an initial £60 fixed penalty, which is lowered to £30 if paid within two weeks, before issuing £120 fixed penalties for second-time offenders – a fee which is doubled on each further repeat offence.
Guidelines have been issued to police over imposing lockdown, including a list of ‘reasonable excuses’ for people to leave their homes.
Families in parts of rural England say they have become totally dependent on volunteers delivering food to them during the coronavirus crisis.
About 1.5 million households are at least a half-hour round trip from a food store on foot or by public transport, government data suggest.
In urban areas, the average is less than 15 minutes, excluding time in the shop.
The Countryside Alliance said local food volunteers were “plugging gaps” in rural communities.
Under lockdown restrictions, shopping for food is one of only four reasons why people are allowed to leave their home.
In rural England, many households face long distances to go food shopping, which becomes more difficult if a family has to self-isolate because of COVID-19.
“Without these deliveries from volunteers my children would starve,” said Catherine Boyes, a mother of six who lives on a farm on the edge of the North York Moors National Park.
She said she had struggled to get a regular delivery from a supermarket due to surging demand and is reliant on the Pickering Help Network to deliver supplies.
“My eldest son has cystic fibrosis so we can’t go to the shops and risk coming into contact with this hideous disease,” she said.
“This crisis really has brought out how isolated we are.”
Families across the country are facing difficulties receiving regular home deliveries from the big supermarkets.
Tesco has said it will not be able to meet all requests for home deliveries.
Sainsbury’s has said it will prioritise vulnerable people for delivery slots while Asda has said if people can shop safely in stores they should do so to free up deliveries for those who need them.
Four Bulgarian football fans suspected of subjecting black England players to racist abuse have been detained following police raids.
England’s 6-0 Euro 2020 qualifier win over Bulgaria in Sofia was stopped twice in the first half following racist chanting by home supporters.
“Work is still ongoing to identify others,” a statement from Bulgaria’s Ministry of the Interior said.
Bulgaria’s football chief Borislav Mikhailov resigned on Tuesday.
Bulgaria manager Krasimir Balakov said after the game he “didn’t hear” any chanting, having previously accused England of having a bigger racism problem.
But Balakov has since posted a statement on Facebook, acknowledging the incidents on Monday and apologising to “English footballers and to all those who felt offended”.
“I condemn all forms of racism as an unacceptable behaviour that contradicts normal human relations,” he added.
“I think that this form of prejudice should be buried deep in our past, and no-one should ever be subjected to it.”
Meanwhile, the English FA and Uefa have condemned the actions of the ‘ultras’ section of Bulgaria fans, with Aleksander Ceferin, president of the sport’s European governing body, calling for “football family and governments” to “wage war on the racists”.
Players condemn abuse
England midfielder Jordan Henderson called the behaviour of Bulgaria fans “disgusting”, after they were warned for making Nazi salutes and monkey noises.
“I obviously wasn’t happy with the situation that we were in – it wasn’t nice to be involved in and it shouldn’t be happening in 2019,” he said.
Team-mate Tyrone Mings, who was making his international debut on Monday, said he heard racist chanting “clear as day” during the pre-match warm-up in Sofia.
A number of players posted on social media following the game, thanking travelling fans for their support and expressing their pride in the performance despite the abuse.
“Not an easy situation to play in and not one which should be happening in 2019,” said striker Marcus Rashford. “Proud we rose above it to take three points but this needs stamping out.
