Reform accused of seeking to insert ‘toxic politics’ into English football
Reform UK has been accused of seeking to insert “toxic politics” into football after the party pressed the Football Association in England to scrap diversity and inclusion policies.Suella Braverman wrote to the FA on Tuesday to ask for a meeting to discuss the governing body’s diversity policies, which Reform’s equalities spokesperson described as “utter woke nonsense”.Under the FA’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2024–2028, the association wants 30% of the England men’s coaching staff to be from ethnically diverse backgrounds by 2028.In a letter to the FA chief executive, Mark Bullingham, Braverman described this as “fundamentally flawed, inherently racist and bad for the game”.Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, told the Guardian: “Reform should keep their toxic politics out of our national game.
“Sport belongs to everyone in our country.It unites us and brings us together, which is exactly why Reform has such a problem with it.”Braverman wrote in her letter: “The FA has led the fight to kick racism out of football, a mission I utterly support.There is no place for discrimination of any kind in our national game.Yet your DEI strategy does precisely that, it divides rather than unites.
”The former home secretary, who recently defected from the Conservatives to Reform, added in the letter: “White working-class boys are the most disadvantaged in the country, they are the lifeblood of our game, but they are absent from your strategy,Why?“These boys miss out on opportunities and are overlooked because of who they are,The policies within your document will increase resentment and should be abandoned,”The FA’s policies were also defended by Dame Tracey Crouch, a former Conservative sports minister who is also a qualified FA coach, who told the Guardian: “Sport has long been a vehicle to drive inclusion and community cohesion, often turned to by politicians of all parties as a way of supporting them in the challenges they face,“Football is the most played sport in the country, drawing participants from both genders and all ethnicities.
The FA has done an incredible job in identifying gaps in skilled areas and opening up pathways to those groups, and others, to make sure we continue to lead the world on and off the pitch.”The attack by Reform UK came on the same day as a backlash from Ipswich fans, who said they were “disgusted and ashamed” after the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, staged a photo opportunity at Portman Road.Some supporters criticised the club on social media, with one describing it as “PR suicide for a family club”.Another fan, Alex, told PA Media he was disgusted and ashamed at what had happened, adding: “It is a slap in the face to supporters and players, past and present.”Reform posted “Portman Road Awaits” on X on Monday evening and Farage followed up with a post on Tuesday morning, with club branding and sponsors clearly visible in the photos posted online.
“I’ve never been too bad on the right wing,” Farage wrote on his X account.It is understood that no official invitation was made by Ipswich to Farage.The club issued a statement saying that it “remains apolitical and does not support or endorse any individual or party”.The FA has been approached for comment.The diversity strategy which has now been targeted by Reform was launched after the association was told that it needed to make more of an effort to create a diverse pool of candidates for the England head coach position.
Data published in 2024 by the Black Footballers Partnership found that while 43% of Premier League players were black, a far lower number were in senior coaching positions.Bullingham said at the time of the launch of the diversity strategy that tackling discrimination was one of the FA’s “core ambitions”, adding: “We have seen how the power of football can bring communities together and celebrate diversity, and we want to continue to use our influence to deliver positive and lasting change that we can all be proud of.”Last year the FA launched its first strategy for supporting south Asian people in English football, as it seeks to confront the “overt racism, often in mainstream places” that keeps players away.
Royal Mail owner pushes back against criticisms that service has declined
Daniel Křetínský, the Czech billionaire who bought Royal Mail’s parent company for £3.6bn last year, has insisted that service has not declined under his ownership, despite heavy criticism of late deliveries and price rises.In a defensive and sometimes impassioned performance in front of MPs on the business select committee, Křetínský said he was “deeply sorry” for any letters that arrive late.Since his takeover, Royal Mail has battled trade unions over working conditions, raised first-class stamp prices from £1.70 to £1
Crispin Odey: I can’t remember telling female employee ‘I could attack you now’
Facing a litany of questions over sexual harassment allegations that have left his career in tatters, the hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey has told a court he does not remember cornering a female employee after a boozy lunch and saying to her “I could attack you now”.The 67-year-old made the comments during his first day in the witness box as part of a three-week court case that Odey hopes will overturn the City regulator’s decision to ban him from the UK’s financial services industry.Odey, who appeared in the London courtroom wearing a pink tie and braces, said that while he remembered the employee as an “attractive girl”, he did not recall the alleged incident, which lawyers for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said had been recorded in the employee’s diary.The entry referring to Odey, dated 24 January 2020, said: “Comes back from boozy lunch and corners me in the corridor. Him: I could attack you now
Baltimore sues Elon Musk’s AI company over Grok’s fake nude images
The mayor and city council of Baltimore, Maryland, filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI company on Tuesday, alleging that its Grok chatbot violated consumer protections by generating nonconsensual sexualized images.Baltimore’s lawsuit argues that xAI deceptively marketed Grok as a general-purpose AI assistant and X as a mainstream social media site, failing to disclose the risks, limitations and exposure to harm that come with using the platform and chatbot. The suit, filed in the circuit court for Baltimore city, argues that the court has jurisdiction over xAI given that the company advertises and operates in Baltimore.“Grok has flooded the feeds of Baltimore’s X users with NCII (non-consensual intimate imagery) and CSAM (child sexual abuse material),” the city’s complaint states. “Grok further exposed Baltimore residents to the risk that any photograph they uploaded – of themselves or of their children – could be ingested by Grok and transformed into sexually degrading deepfakes without their knowledge or consent”
Protect men and boys from manosphere influencers, Labour MPs tell Ofcom
Men and boys need as much protection as women and girls from harmful influencers and “the worst parts of the internet”, a group of MPs have told Ofcom as they called for the regulator to give specific guidance to online platforms.More than 60 Labour MPs have written to the Ofcom chief executive, Melanie Dawes, urging her to protect men and boys from “manosphere” influencers who may expose them to gambling, sextortion and violent pornography.The Online Safety Act forced Ofcom to give tech platforms guidance on how to tackle “harmful content and activity that disproportionately affects women and girls”, but MPs argued that men and boys are also targeted in specific ways.According to the Gambling Commission, 53% of 11- to 17-year-old boys see gambling adverts online each week, compared with 31% of their female peers, while 91% of sextortion victims are male, according to the Internet Watch Foundation.Alistair Strathern, the MP for Hitchin and a co-chair of the Labour group for men and boys, said the Louis Theroux documentary Inside the Manosphere was “another reminder of a particular way some of the worst of the internet can prey on young men and boys”
World Cup-winning captain Johnson urges England to think about summer break for players
England’s legendary World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson says the current management should consider resting key players this summer to boost the chances of history being repeated in Australia next year. Johnson was among several senior squad members who did not tour Argentina in the buildup to their 2003 global triumph and suggests a similar policy could assist England’s 2027 campaign.In 2002 England beat the Pumas 26‑18 in Buenos Aires with only eight of their subsequent World Cup-winning squad involved. Johnson is fully aware that post-game recovery and conditioning techniques have moved on significantly but believes the current captain, Maro Itoje, and others require careful handling if they are to prosper in 2027.“If it’s the right thing for a guy who’s just had a big Lions tour to have a summer off and not go on the trip, that’s just managing your player with the World Cup in mind,” said Johnson, who also led a British & Irish Lions squad to Australia in 2001
Ben Duckett pulls out of £200,000 IPL deal in bid to save England Test spot
Ben Duckett has pulled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League and now faces a three-year ban from the tournament after deciding he needs county cricket to shore up his place in England’s Test team.The opener was signed by Delhi Capitals at the IPL auction in December in a deal worth £200,000 and, with the competition starting on Saturday, he was due to miss the first two months of the English season.But a combination of a poor Ashes series – playing all five Tests in the 4-1 defeat for a highest score of 42 – and heavy travel after reserve duties at the recent T20 World Cup has convinced Duckett to turn out for the county champions Nottinghamshire instead.“It was a very difficult decision, and I want to apologise to everyone at Delhi that I won’t be coming,” Duckett told the Telegraph.“I’ve spent a lot of time away from home in different places, and it felt like the best thing for me to do to be ready to play for England is to be here right now, at home, refreshing my mind and body
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