Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1330 i The Week

What happened “Cash for curtains” Questions about the revamp of his Downing Street flat continued to dog Boris Johnson this week, as political parties prepared for Thursday’s local, mayoral, Welsh and Scottish elections. Labour put allegations of Tory sleaze at the centre of its campaign, accusing the Prime Minister of “trying to hide his attempts to fund his lifestyle through secret payments”. Three separate investigations are looking into the funding of the renovations, which are rumoured to have cost as much as £200,000. Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said the PM should “of course” resign if he is found to have broken the ministerial code of conduct. Johnson accused opposition parties of focusing on “trivia”, rather than “the things that matter” to voters. He has insisted that he…

Berlin Lockdowns easing: Germany has become the first country in Europe to vaccinate more than one million people against Covid-19 in a single day, marking a further acceleration in its initially slow vaccine roll-out. Last Wednesday, it gave 1,088,952 jabs, breaking the record of 874,000 set by the UK on 20 March. More than a quarter of Germans have now had at least one vaccine, and the authorities hope to have vaccinated everyone over 60 by the end of May. This week, Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved a “jab to freedom” bill that could lift social distancing rules, curfews and testing requirements for people who have been fully vaccinated, from this weekend. Several countries across Europe have begun easing coronavirus restrictions as the continent’s third wave, which peaked at the end…

“I don’t see the big deal with Edwin Poots, the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist MP, being a creationist. You still have to believe in God to get elected as leader of a Western democracy in 2021, so how much sillier is it to believe he made the world in six days? Is there a scale of what is considered reasonable to believe about God and what is absurd? Like, ‘Sure, we believe he sent his son to save us and that we all go to heaven when we die, but this Poots guy thinks he brought forth the land from the waters! What a nutter!’ I’m sorry, but I see nothing dafter there than the faith professed by Theresa May, Tony Blair or Joe Biden.” Giles Coren in The Times…

A nation of animal lovers? Dream on Editorial The Times “Britain prides itself on being a nation of animal lovers,” says The Times. But while we lavish attention on our pets, we allow far too much cruelty to be inflicted on farm animals. Last week’s horrific footage of a farmworker hammering pigs to death is but one of many reported incidents of animal cruelty in farms and abattoirs. And it’s nearly always activists who uncover these cases, rather than the bodies supposed to monitor standards. Unlike Sweden and Germany, we still allow farrowing crates, which prevent pregnant sows moving or turning around for weeks on end. And unlike other EU countries, we have not voted to ban the “enriched cages” for chickens that are little better than standard battery cages.…

Did tyrannosaurs hunt in packs? We tend to think of tyrannosaurs stalking the primeval jungles alone; but the giant predators may, in fact, have hunted in packs like wolves. The theory is based on research at a site in Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, where dozens of fossilised tyrannosaur bones were discovered in 2014. It had been assumed that these bones had washed in from other locations. But having carried out physical and chemical analysis of the bones and surrounding rocks, researchers are now convinced that the dinosaurs were all members of one family in the genus Teratophoneus – and that they died together, most likely during a catastrophic flood. “There it is,” said Alan Titus, of the US Bureau of Land Management, who discovered the site. “A very sad…

Matt Hancock has promised a “great British summer”, and the outlook for Britain is looking sunny, said The Times. Some 34.7 million people have had one vaccine dose, 15.6 million have had two – and in the UK, just one Covid death was recorded on Monday. Bank holiday figures can be anomalous, but that is down from 1,300 in January – and the BBC has found that in 44% of local authority areas in England, there were no Covid fatalities in April. The Government is on track to allow indoor hospitality to resume on 17 May, when the ban on overseas travel is also due to be lifted. A cross-party group of MPs has urged caution, citing the risk of travellers from high- and low-incidence countries mingling in airports. Even…

“What is going on with male politicians and their hair,” asked Vanessa Friedman in The New York Times. For decades, they all had the same boring, short cuts, but all of a sudden they’ve started generating controversy with their exotic barnets. Donald Trump led the way with his “incredibly complicated cream puff of a construction”. Then came Boris Johnson, with his artfully mussed platinum locks. And now Tony Blair has outdone them both by appearing on television with a luxuriant mullet. The former prime minister was discussing Scottish independence in his ITV interview last week, but few paid attention to his words. All anybody wanted to talk about was his silver mane. Comparisons on social media ranged from Gandalf to Doctor Who to David Icke, to an unspecified member of…

For every great entertainer in snooker – a Ronnie O’Sullivan, say – there is an opposite, said Aaron Bower in The Guardian: a “relentless, meticulous machine of the baize”. And on Monday night, one such figure – 37-year-old Mark Selby – underlined his claim to that status by capturing his fourth world title. Selby’s 18-15 victory over fellow Englishman Shaun Murphy was played out in front of a packed house at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre – making it the first sporting event in over a year to have a capacity crowd. Those present were clearly in a mood to enjoy themselves, said Hector Nunns in The Times: so “raucous” were their cheers that referee Paul Collier frequently had to urge calm. The match was a contest of opposites: the free-flowing style…

To The Times To answer David Aaronovitch’s query as to whether a French military coup could happen here, those of us who slaved in the recesses of the Ministry of Defence know that it could never happen, for the very good reason that UK service and security chiefs would never be able to agree among themselves as to who should be Il Duce. Andrew Brookes, former CEO, The Air League, London To The Times David Aaronovitch says that a military coup in this country is unimaginable. One reason for this is that there is not really any such thing as the British Army, only a collection of regiments and corps with no common allegiance below the Queen. One defence of our democracy is that it is impossible to imagine the…

Dinosaur Jr.: Sweep It Into Space Jagjaguwar £9.99 Formed in the 1980s, Dinosaur Jr. combined the “slacker rock” of Neil Young with punk rebellion, a few years before Nirvana came up with a similar template. The band split before they could get massive due to tensions between the members, which left just one original member by 1993, said The Sunday Times. But since 2005, they’ve been back together and making “a great noise”. On this latest laid-back but intense album, Garden is a pretty guitar gem; I Met The Stones is a heavy rock epic; and the whole thing is refreshingly ageless. “Melding blissful memories with dynamite rock”, the American trio’s 12th album sees them “wisely sticking to their signature script”, agreed Damien Morris in The Observer. These are great…

“After six series, 645 (or so) red herrings, multiple knifings, shootings, tortures, one defenestration and a catchphrase or two, Line of Duty’s supervillain ‘H’ was finally unmasked” on Sunday night, said Ben Dowell in The Times. Was it worth the wait? “Definately.” The big reveal was “plausible”, if a little anti-climactic, and the final episode gave us an exciting “greatest hits” compilation: a prison-van ambush, a long interview scene, a tirade about corruption from Adrian Dunbar’s Ted Hastings. Like its creator Jed Mercurio’s previous hit, Bodyguard, this possibly final series of Line of Duty has “caught fire”, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. Around 12.8 million viewers watched the finale – a record for a recent drama. Superficially at least, series six has “delivered”. But the show has lost something…

In the Arena by Richard Nixon, 1990 (out of print). Books which explain why people should get involved in politics and what it’s like are rare, but Richard Nixon’s memoir is a searing account of one man’s rise and fall. Nixon is a brilliant and underrated writer. Diaries, Volume 8: Rise and Fall of the Olympic Spirit 2010-2015 by Alastair Campbell, 2021 (Biteback £25). Political diaries offer a raw version of contemporary history, and there are few better than Campbell’s. I’ve read all eight volumes. Campbell is brutally honest about his own emotions and failings and about his mental health, and utterly inspirational. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Jonny Oates, 2020 (Biteback £20). Oates was Nick Clegg’s chief of staff, but this book is so much more…

Programmes The Pursuit of Love Emily Mortimer’s eagerly anticipated three-part adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s much-loved, semi-autobiographical novel, set between the Wars. Lily James, Dominic West and Andrew Scott are among the stars. Sun 9 May, BBC1 21:00 (60mins). Gods of Snooker Episode one of this three-parter looks at how the advent of colour TV, and the temperamental genius of Alex “Hurricane” Higgins, made snooker into a national obsession. Sun 9 May, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Fargo In series four, a death threatens the uneasy peace between two Kansas crime syndicates. With Chris Rock, and Ben Whishaw. Sun 9 May, C4 22:00 (80mins); then available to stream on All4. Jabbed! Inside Britain’s Vaccine Triumph The inside story of how the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce took a huge gamble on securing then-unapproved vaccines in…

They do a lot of pan-roasting of vegetables in restaurant kitchens, and it’s a good technique to use at home too, says Anna Jones. You build up colour and texture in the pan, then blast the vegetables in the oven to cook them through. In this recipe, inspired by the brilliant Suffolk-based cook Lola DeMille, the vinegar is balanced by the sweetness of the cauliflower, saffron and pine nuts. Serves 4 For the yoghurt: a small bunch of mint and/or parsley, finely chopped 6 tbsp of thick Greek yoghurt or a yoghurt of your choice salt and pepper a drizzle of good olive oil for the cauliflower: olive oil 1 large cauliflower (about 800g), florets separated and stalks finely sliced 50ml of white wine vinegar a good pinch of saffron…

FR Skates FR1 80 Inline Skates Especially good for city skaters tackling uneven surfaces, the wheels of these compact skates offer a great “bounce”. Best for those with some experience, they are highly precise (£250; slickwillies.co.uk). Roces PIC TIF Inline Skates For fast skating as exercise, these unisex skates from the Italian brand Roces are a reliable option, with a light aluminium frame and multiple supportive ankle straps (£170; skatepro.uk). Play 5 Kids’ Skates If you’re looking for inline skates for children, these from Decathlon are both affordable and clever. They are adjustable to three sizes, so will continue to fit your child as they grow, and come in three colours (£30; decathlon.co.uk). Rio Roller Rose Quad Roller Skates While Rio’s quad skates come in plenty of colours, these cream…

A raft of data suggested that the UK economy is continuing to gather momentum as it fights back from the lockdowns. Almost 137,000 companies were created in the first quarter – a 14% rise on a year earlier – marking the strongest start to a year since the Office for National Statistics began collecting figures in 2017. The Bank of England reported that housebuyers borrowed a record £11.8bn in mortgages in March. Britain’s apparent economic vibrancy contrasted sharply with that of the eurozone, which was confirmed to have slumped into a double-dip recession. The UK fishing industry reacted angrily to the Government’s failure to reach an annual reciprocal access agreement with Norway, describing it as another blow to fleets after Brexit. JPMorgan Chase reported that stockholdings among US households increased…

We must keep an eye on the punchbowl... David Smith The Times The “post-pandemic recovery party” looks well under way in Britain, says David Smith. The Bank of England has upgraded its economic growth forecasts to about 7% this year, while lowering its prediction for the peak in unemployment. For the time being at least, “negative interest rates are back in the monetary toolbox”. That brings a new challenge. Inflation is currently, in the jargon, “well anchored”. But history suggests that without careful management it may not stay that way. When the economy last grew at a similar pace, in 1960 and 1973, higher inflation was the outcome; in the mid-1970s, it reached a ruinous 27%. True, neither of those booms was preceded by the 9.8% slump in GDP wrought…

Who’s tipping what The week’s best shares Alstom The Times The world’s second-biggest train-maker develops equipment and services for the UK’s key rail groups. Well-placed to benefit from the shift away from air travel as governments focus on cutting emissions. Buy. s47.21. Crossword Cybersecurity The Mail on Sunday This fast-growing, well-run cybersecurity specialist advises organisations from schools to food manufacturers, and government bodies. Currently working with authorities to develop authentic digital Covid certificates. Buy. 342p. Focusrite Investors Chronicle Cancelled concerts have hit revenues, but the recording-equipment firm has returned to profit thanks to soaring demand for home-recording kit. Set to benefit from live-streamed concerts and events. Buy. £12.29. NatWest Group The Times Still 60% state-owned, NatWest’s retail and private banking units are now the core of the business. Customer deposits…

Controversy of the week A showbiz show trial? It was, or at least should have been, the pinnacle of Noel Clarke’s career. But when the prolific actor, director, screenwriter and producer collected his prestigious Bafta award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema last month, the normally self-assured 45-year-old looked “a little on edge”, said Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne in The Guardian. He already knew that 13 days earlier, Bafta had been informed of anonymous allegations of “verbal abuse, bullying and sexual harassment” against him. Bafta continued with the televised award on 10 April nonetheless, but it proved his downfall: the sight of Clarke appearing as “one of British film and television’s most lauded stars” prompted 20 women who had worked with him to “break their silence” in The Guardian.…

Washington DC Big spender: President Joe Biden has set out plans for $4trn of government investment in jobs, education and social care. Speaking to a joint session of Congress, on the eve of his 100th day in office, Biden described the mammoth spending plans – which are certain to be the subject of intense Congressional battles – as a “once in a generation investment in America itself” (see page 17). He said they’d be paid for by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest households. The first part of the programme, styled the American Jobs Plan, was first announced a month ago, and involves investment in infrastructure including public transport, high-speed broadband and roads. Last week, Biden added to this details of a $1.8trn American Families Plan, to include free…

Gareth Wild describes it as his “Magnum Opus”. It has taken him six years, but he has now parked in every single one of the 211 parking bays in his local Sainsbury’s in Bromley, southeast London. Using a map and spreadsheets, he has ensured that each time he did the family shop, he parked in a different space, and then recorded his impressions. B8, for instance, he described as “a lovely space to drive into, it feels risqué but also like a familiar old shoe”. Wild added: “I find enjoyment in the little, banal things in life.” During a trip to Georgia last week, President Biden and his wife Jill visited their Democrat predecessors in the White House, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. The official picture of the visit, though, caused…

MYANMAR The generals have tortured the truth Asia Times (Hong Kong) Myanmar’s military rulers have long had “a tortured relationship with the truth”, says David Scott Mathieson. But their latest attempt to justify their bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters reveals how shockingly “deluded” they are. A 118-page document, presented by the junta’s leader Min Aung Hlaing at last week’s summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), entirely fails to substantiate their “implausible” claims of mass election fraud, the excuse for the February coup. “Absurdly”, it instead reproduces doubts expressed by the UN and foreign media sources about the election, which are actually complaints about the military’s own attempt to rig the ballot. The “crude and unnerving” booklet itemises the damage caused by protesters: 11 police and soldiers dead…

Almost all the world’s glaciers are losing mass – and at an accelerating rate, a new study has found. A team used high-resolution images taken from Nasa’s Terra satellite between 2000 and 2019 to analyse the state of 220,000 glaciers around the world, excluding the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. They found that during that period, the glaciers had lost a total of 267 billion tonnes of ice a year on average. (To put that in perspective, the report in Nature notes that just one billion tonnes of ice would fill the 843 acres of New York’s Central Park standing 1,119ft high.) However, the loss was not uniform across the period. Between 2000 and 2004, they were losing 227 billion tonnes of ice a year, rising to 298 billion…

The actor Adrian Edmondson had to be rescued by fire crews after shutting himself out of his first-floor window last weekend. “Just trapped myself on a window ledge whilst cleaning the windows,” he wrote on social media. “Had to ask passer-by to fetch help. Fire Brigade came. Small crowd gathered – thoroughly enjoying themselves. Fire Brigade very kind and didn’t snigger too much as they rescued me.” After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates are divorcing. They revealed in a joint statement posted to Twitter that they “no longer believe they can grow together... in this next phase of their lives”. The relationship nearly foundered much earlier on, however. Melinda thought that Bill lacked spontaneity; he wasn’t sure he could be married and run his company. “She had…

“One of the greatest dangers to democracy is the growing gap between those who can win elections and those who can run the state.” Henry Kissinger, quoted on LRT online “They sicken of the calm, who know the storm.” Dorothy Parker, quoted on The Browser “Prolonged crisis is both an indication that the ideas that have guided the society are flawed and a stimulus to rethink them.” Paul Collier, quoted in the New Statesman “To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.” Philosopher Lao Tzu, quoted in The Economist “Conversations, like hammocks, are much easier to get into than out of.” Sophia Benoit, quoted in GQ “I can easily imagine myself asking to die in the hope that others reply, ‘Oh no, no. Please…

F1 Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen to second place. The British driver now has an eight-point lead over the Dutchman in the championship. Football Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League. One further win in their four remaining matches will be enough to secure them the title. Rugby union La Rochelle beat Leinster 32-23 in the semifinal of the Champions Cup. They face another French side – Toulouse – in the final on 22 May.…

No city is more picturesque, idiosyncratic and steeped in atmosphere than Venice. Costume dramas, horror films, comedies and tragedies alike have revelled in its decaying grandeur and baffling geography. Here are five outstanding examples: Death in Venice This 1971 adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella stars Dirk Bogarde as a famous composer dissuaded from fleeing the cholera-ridden city by his infatuation with a beautiful teenage boy. Luchino Visconti fuses glorious photography with Mahler’s Fifth Symphony to create an almost perfect combination of sight and sound. Don’t Look Now Based on a Daphne du Maurier short story, Nicolas Roeg’s haunting and erotic 1973 movie stars Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as a couple travelling in search of solace after the death of their child. Venice has never looked spookier. Everyone Says I…

Tips of the week... how to grow wisteria ● When buying a wisteria plant, it’s best to buy one in bud or even in flower, so you can rely on it flowering again. Most are now grafted from reliably flowering stock onto a strong rootstock. It is possible to grow from seed, but it can take many years to flower. ● Wisterias can cope with some shade, but they do best in plenty of sun. They are not fussy in terms of soil if it’s well drained, but some extra compost before planting helps. ● They twine rather than cling, so need a wire framework or a strong trellis to start. ● Pruning is the key to a good shape and to direct energy to buds, not long shoots. ●…

The “forgotten man” of the Moon landings Michael Collins 1930-2021 Michael Collins, who has died aged 90, was one of the three astronauts who took part in the Apollo 11 mission. He travelled the 240,000 miles to the Moon in July 1969, but when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended onto its surface, he remained 60 miles above them, inside the craft Columbia. For the next 21 hours, he orbited the Moon alone – spending 47 minutes in each orbit out of radio contact, and unable even to see Earth. In Houston, someone described him as the loneliest man “since Adam”. Later, he said that loneliness had “never come into the equation”, but admitted that he had found the experience of solo command stressful. In particular, he had been haunted…

It is three years since Martin Sorrell left the advertising group he founded, amid “a contentious investigation into allegations of personal misconduct”, said The Drum. But Sorrell’s war with WPP continues. The latest front? Share awards. WPP is withholding awards worth hundreds of thousands of pounds from Sorrell, on the grounds that he leaked “confidential information” on his departure. Nonsense, cries Sorrell: it’s all down to “peanut envy” – an allusion to his new venture, S4 Capital, which he dubbed a “peanut” at launch, but has enjoyed rapid growth. Sorrell has set his lawyers on WPP but cannot resist baiting his opponents. “It seems like blind rage is driving them,” he said.…

Hull Fish talks collapse: Britain and Norway have failed to strike a new fishing deal for this year, threatening hundreds of jobs. With the UK no longer bound by the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, the two countries agreed last year to hold annual talks on quotas and access to each other’s waters. But a Whitehall spokesman said that negotiations broke down when Norway, also outside the EU, refused a “reasonable and balanced” offer after weeks of talks. As a result, British trawlers will no longer be allowed to fish in Norway’s sub-Arctic waters, a key source of cod. Jane Sandell, CEO of Hull-based UK Fisheries, which owns the country’s largest freezer trawler, Kirkella, said the breakdown in talks was a “very black day for Britain” and a “national embarrassment”. The…

Jagger won’t look back Mick Jagger must have more than a few stories to tell – but don’t expect him to write them down. In the early 1980s, the Rolling Stones frontman was reported to have been offered a £1m advance for his memoir by the publisher Lord Weidenfeld. He started work on a 75,000-word manuscript, but alas for those who’d hoped to learn more about, for instance, his decision to buy a mansion in Hampshire while high on LSD, Jagger found it all rather more wearing than he had imagined. “It takes a lot of you,” he told BBC Radio 6 Music. “It takes a lot of reliving, emotions reliving, friendships reliving, ups and downs and all this, and I must say it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience. It…

The Global Challenges Foundation in Stockholm compiles an annual list of catastrophes “that would cause the death of over 10% of humanity, or cause damage on a similar scale”. It regards weapons of mass destruction, catastrophic climate change, ecological collapse and pandemics as the prime contenders. Further down the list comes the threat of a large asteroid impact, such as the six-mile-wide rock which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Fortunately, asteroids this size only strike Earth every 100 million years or so. A more imminent threat could come in the shape of a supervolcanic eruption – one in which at least 400 cubic km of bulk material is expelled, subsuming swathes of land and spewing ash across the planet, with devastating climatic effects. Such eruptions happen every…

A sure way to turn the US into Haiti Mitch Albom Detroit Free Press What would society look like if we defunded the police? Asked that question last summer, the Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) answered: “a suburb”. There speaks someone who has never known the true reality of lawlessness, says Mitch Albom. Having worked in Haiti for the past decade, I know what it’s like to live in a place with a weak, underfunded police force that you can’t rely on. And, take it from me, it’s no “suburban paradise”. With gangs controlling the streets, abductions, murders and rapes are rife – and the constant lament you hear from citizens is that “the police can’t do anything”. Obviously, America is not Haiti, but “the triangular relationship between criminals, citizens…

An electric car that vacuums up pollutants from other vehicles as it drives is being designed by the London-based Heatherwick Studio. Named Airo, the car will be fitted with a high-efficiency particulate air (Hepa) filtering system, to clean the air around it. Inside, Airo is described as a “multi-functional room” with a “changing view”. With both driver-controlled and autonomous modes, it has four seats which can either be arranged conventionally, in two rows, or turned to face each other. A table can then be unfolded to create a dining or meeting space, and a screen can also be extended. Alternatively, the front seats can be fully reclined, to create a double bed. In this setting, the car’s windows and glass roof can be turned opaque, for maximum privacy. The car…

“Imagine, for a moment, that an open letter to the British people has just been published in Country Life,” said David Aaronovitch in The Times. In it, an array of retired generals, admirals and police officers “warn of an imminent race war”. Unless Boris Johnson takes action against Black Lives Matter protesters and Muslim immigration, they say, the military will have to intervene to save the country from a civil and racial war. “Unimaginable”, isn’t it? Yet this is what has just happened in France: 20 retired generals and scores of former officers wrote to the right-wing magazine Valeurs actuelles and warned, in a “frenzied tone”, of the coming disintegration of France owing to “Islamism and the hordes of the banlieue” – the impoverished suburbs. This letter, effectively threatening a…

Football: the revolt at Manchester United “The righteous indignation of the English football fan is quite the cocktail once stirred,” said Oliver Brown in The Daily Telegraph. Last month, it led to the collapse of the European Super League. And now it has forced the postponement of one of the biggest fixtures in the global game. Ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Liverpool on Sunday, thousands of fans gathered outside Old Trafford to “express their hatred” of the club’s billionaire owners, the Florida-based Glazer family. At least a hundred fans entered the stadium through an unguarded door and streamed onto the pitch, where they let off flares, climbed the goal posts and made off with corner flags and match balls. One group even made it into the players’ dressing room.…

The Church’s statistics... To The Daily Telegraph As the vicar in a Surrey village, I was called to my vocation to love and serve everyone equally. I deplore the sin of racism and have no qualms with legal initiatives to remove it. However, is that what the important report From Lament to Action by the Archbishop’s Anti-Racism Taskforce is aiming to do? A key point of action is that 15% of appointments to the Bishop’s Council, the central decision-making body in each diocese, should be from a UK minority ethnic or global majority heritage background. Where does this percentage come from? The 2011 census concluded that 13% of the national population are UK minority ethnic. No doubt that has increased over the last ten years. However, around half of this…

The world’s most valuable stamp “At first glance, it could be an old scrap of paper that has had blackcurrant juice knocked over it,” says Mark Brown in The Guardian. In reality, “it is, in terms of size, weight and material, arguably the most valuable object in the world”. The item in question is the British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, a makeshift stamp that is now known as “the Mona Lisa of philately” – and it is coming up for auction with an estimated price range of $10m-$15m. Created by the postal service of what is now Guyana in 1856, when the then-British colony’s supply of stamps dried up, the One-Cent Magenta is the only surviving example of its issue known to exist. It was printed mostly to distribute newspapers, most…

Ben and Ruairi bury the time capsule. Ben tells Ruth and David he wants to quit uni and train as a nurse. Justin is furious that Lilian put an embarrassing childhood photo in the capsule. He goes to retrieve it but has no luck. After talking to Vince, Elizabeth questions her decision to say no to Rex and his pigs. With Lee’s help, Kirsty is emptying the Beechwood house and notices Joy has taken a shine to Lee. Later, Lee agrees to help Freddie by stepping in as a model for the life drawing class; Joy signs up immediately. Ed gives Mia a pep-talk on chatting to teenage boys. Justin borrows Eddie’s metal detector to find the time capsule. He and a disgruntled Lilian dig it up and remove the…

Stanley’s 151 Sydney Street, Chelsea, London SW3 (020-7352 7664) I’m very pleased that I alighted at Stanley’s for my “first chomp back in the saddle”, says William Sitwell in The Daily Telegraph. The restaurant, which opened last year, is situated next to a flower stall on Chelsea’s Sydney Street. Its large terrace is a “tranquil haven” – and the food is “beautifully conceived”. The head chef is 25-year-old Olivia Burt, a former chef at Claridge’s and a contestant on Masterchef: The Professionals in 2019. As revealed by her stunning starters, she is someone who has “turned the practice of whisking into an art form”: chicken livers were whipped to the “lightness of a fluffy cloud”; taramasalata was so light and fragrant that it would have shamed the “greatest Greek…

Auto Express Škoda hasn’t tried to “reinvent the wheel” with its first bespoke electric car. Instead, sticking to its reputation as a “brand for the people”, it has made a “practical, high-quality, usable” large SUV that is also relatively affordable. The car claims an impressive range of up to 333 miles – though our testers struggled to reach that – and drives well. As a bonus, the interior feels surprisingly “luxurious”. The Daily Telegraph While the electric platform here is the same as the one used by Škoda’s parent company, VW, in the ID.4, the Enyaq’s design is substantially different. The cutaways around the lights are a pleasingly modern touch, though the light-up grille bars “look like the teeth on a Halloween skeleton costume”. The boot is a generous 585…

BT Sport: early bath Nearly a decade after launching a multibillion-pound mission “to take out rival Sky”, BT looks to be throwing in the towel on sports broadcasting, said Angharad Carrick in City AM. The telecoms group has hired investment bank Lazard to find “a strategic partner” to take a large stake in the business – a move seen by some as the prelude to a complete exit. Potential partners include Amazon, Disney and DAZN (a sports streaming venture funded by Len Blavatnik). “ITV is also reportedly in the running, meaning top-tier football could return to terrestrial television.” Investors will probably thank BT “for stepping back from the beautiful game” to focus on upgrading the nation’s telecoms networks, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. The aim for BT…

Dame Emma Walmsley There are currently just a handful of women running FTSE 100 companies. If the activist hedge fund Elliott Management gets its way, there may soon be one less, said Matt Oliver in the Daily Mail. GlaxoSmithKline boss Emma Walmsley is fighting to head off a raid by Elliott, which has taken a big stake and is “notorious for using aggressive tactics to agitate for change”. Oxford-educated Walmsley, 51, has plans of her own: she wants to separate GSK’s consumer goods and drugs arms. But its shares have fallen nearly 20% on her watch, leaving her vulnerable to Wall Street’s “vulture lord”. Time is running out for Walmsley, said The Sunday Times. Some of Glaxo’s biggest investors are deserting. According to one, there is “no desire to protect…