The Telegraph for Monday 21 November 2022

By Danny Boyle England begin their bid for World Cup 2022 glory today – and face potential Fifa punishments for their on-pitch activism. We have the latest from Doha ahead of the team’s first game against Iran.

Kane faces instant yellow card for One Love armband

As England prepare for their first Qatar World Cup match today, the team are putting protests and inclusivity at the heart of their campaign. Players will take the knee before their game against Iran, as manager Gareth Southgate said his players wanted to send a “strong statement to go around the world” at the tournament, which is overshadowed by Qatar‘s human rights record, particularly its treatment of LGBT people. England captain Harry Kane will also wear a rainbow-coloured One Love armband in defiance of Fifa, who warned the move would breach the rules. FA chiefs are urgently inquiring whether Kane would be punished by an instant yellow card, as Bill Gardner and Sam Wallace report from Doha. Gareth Bale is due to wear the same armband as he leads Wales v USA at 7pm. A TV audience of around 11m is expected to watch England’s first game, which kicks off at 1pm UK time. Read how Southgate is preparing to send his team out on the attack – and the slogan that he had stitched into the back of one of his trainers. The tournament kicked off with Qatar v Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium. Was it the worst ever opening match at a World Cup finals? It was certainly a contender. The 11 shots in the game were the fewest of any World Cup game since records began in 1966. Jim White has a dispatch from the opening ceremony, which he described as a perfect example of sportswashing. At home, the BBC is under fire for airing a monologue that was critical of Qatar instead of the opening ceremony. PS: Watch video of comedian Joe Lycett appearing to shred £10,000 after he presented David Beckham with a World Cup ultimatum.

Cancer death toll surges in wake of the pandemic More than two and a half years on, experts fear the cost of the pandemic for cancer sufferers is emerging. New figures show hundreds more people than expected are dying each month in England from the disease. Charities and health experts are calling on the Government to take action, warning that missed diagnoses during lockdown may be a factor and that the problem is being compounded by the NHS crisis. Since the start of September, there have been nearly 900 more deaths in people with cancer than would be expected at this time of year. Science editor Sarah Knapton explains how the issue is set to dominate the political agenda as winter pressures mount. Meanwhile, half of NHS England staff face the sack under plans to give local hospitals more power.

Here is a selection of articles we think you’ll be interested in today.

People will be urged to turn down thermostats by two degrees as energy campaign revived The public will be urged to turn down their thermostats by two degrees this winter as a Government energy campaign is revived. Ministers hope to save British households £400 per year with the new messaging drive, which intends to cut energy usage by 15 per cent. The proposals are scheduled to be unveiled before Christmas by Grant Shapps, the Business Secretary, ahead of changes to the energy price guarantee. Current state support with bills will only extend to all households until April, at which point typical household bills are on course to rise to £3,000 per year. Tory backbenchers prepare to channel grassroots anger at Autumn Statement Conservative MPs have faced a mixture of “anger and disbelief” from local members over the Autumn Statement as backbenchers prepare to speak out in the Commons. Senior Tory figures warned of a growing grassroots backlash in response to the £55 billion of tax rises and spending cuts announced by Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, last week. MPs now will spend Monday and Tuesday debating the package of measures, with several planning to take the opportunity to relay concerns from constituents and disgruntled party activists. Rishi Sunak: My fears for the safety of women Rishi Sunak has spoken of his concerns about the safety of women walking the country’s streets. Discussing his approach to crime for the first time since he entered Number 10, the Prime Minister told reporters he was influenced by “emotional” factors such as the safety of his wife and daughters, Krishna, 11, and Anoushka, 10. He said: “Events of the last year showed us that so many women and girls, actually for a while, have not felt as safe as they should.” Queen to have been ‘unavailable’ if Boris Johnson had tried to call snap election, sources claim The Queen would have been “unavailable” if Boris Johnson tried to call an election to cling to power during his final days in office, sources have claimed. A snap poll was among scenarios that were ‘wargamed’ by Downing Street during the collapse of Mr Johnson’s administration in the wake of the Chris Pincher affair in July. But monarchs can block prime ministers from going to the polls in line with the Lascelles Principles, which guard against unnecessary and aggravating election requests. Rishi Sunak engulfed in new Brexit row as he insists Swiss-style EU deal is off the table Rishi Sunak has insisted that a Swiss-style Brexit deal with the EU is off the table, as he moved to quell a backlash among Tory MPs. Number 10 sources rejected as “categorically untrue” a suggestion by senior government figures that bespoke Swiss-style trade deals with the EU could be sought, potentially forcing Britain to align with the bloc’s rules and regulations. The claims sparked a backlash at the weekend from leading Brexiteer MPs who warned it would be a betrayal of the freedoms won in the 2016 referendum. At least one contacted Number Ten to seek reassurances.

The Zeebrugge Disaster remains a warning to companies who want to put profit over safety Britain’s worst peacetime shipping disaster since the Titanic occurred on March 6, 1987, claiming the lives of 193 people. Why Ships Sink: The Zeebrugge Disaster (Channel 5) revisited it in detail. I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Second eviction, review: Matt Hancock survives again as Scarlette Douglas voted off A Message from Ukraine by Volodymyr Zelensky, review: witty, with not a whiff of windbaggery a new book of speeches by Volodymyr Zelensky, the Churchill-in-a-teeshirt whose finest hour seems never-ending. Strictly Come Dancing 2022: Blackpool Special results: Shirley Ballas breaks the judges’ deadlock

Shamima Begum to begin appeal over removal of UK citizenship National Trust under fire over plans to demolish Britain’s oldest beach caf The National Trust has come under fire over plans to demolish Britain’s oldest beach cafe. For 114 years the popular and successful café has overlooked Middle Beach in Studland, Dorset, where Enid Blyton used to regularly go on holiday. But it is now facing closure as part of the National Trust’s controversial ‘managed retreat’ policy on coastal erosion. Despite the building currently standing about 60ft back (about 20 metres) and 20 feet above the shoreline, the conservation body insists it will be vulnerable. Because the Trust’s policy is to “live with” erosion rather than try to defend against it, the café is set to be bulldozed, leading to ten job losses. Your favourite song lyrics determine whether you are one of four relationship types, say scientists True impact of Covid on cancer patients revealed as excess deaths soar The cost of the pandemic for cancer sufferers is starting to emerge, experts fear, as new figures show that hundreds more people than expected are dying each month in England from the disease. Charities and health experts are calling for the Government to act, warning that missed diagnoses during lockdown may be a factor – and that the problem is being compounded by the current NHS crisis. Half of NHS England staff facing the sack under plans to give hospitals more power Ministers want to slash the budget for NHS England’s 6,500 bureaucrats by as much as half and to cut central targets to free up hospitals to decide how they meet the needs of patients in their areas. They favour a system modelled on the Tories’ school reforms where freedom for headteachers was backed by Ofsted inspections and exam league tables to hold them to account, leading to the UK rising nine places up the international education ratings. The shake-up is expected to be spelled out in an NHS review commissioned by Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, and Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, to find ways of giving hospitals greater autonomy, reducing “Stalinist” national targets and making them more accountable for how they perform and what they spend.

Around the world: Nightclub gun killer tackled

Two clubbers overpowered a US gunman who killed five people and injured 25 others at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. A police chief said the pair, one believed to be a military veteran, saved lives by subduing the gunman within minutes of the first shots. The suspect, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, entered Club Q armed with an AR-15 rifle and body armour. US correspondent David Millward reports how witnesses described scenes of panic as a salvo of shots rang out.

Jace Khosla places flowers at the police tape surrounding Club Q in Colorado. Credit: AP

Comment and analysis

Nick Timothy | There is still time to make Britain prosper again Gradual and relative decline can occur imperceptibly. But Britain has become poorer than many countries we consider our peers. In 2005, our median disposable income, adjusted for purchasing power, was higher than in France and Germany. By 2010, it had fallen below those in several European countries: not just France and Germany, but the likes of Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands. Roger Bootle | Government too weak to fix growth problem The most striking feature of last week’s Autumn Statement was its prevailing gloom. Not only is the immediate economic outlook grim, but the tax burden is set to reach a post-war high. Even after a forecast economic recovery, growth drops away again. How on earth did we get to this pretty pass? Zoe Strimpel | There’s nothing nice about being woke, Meghan Woke is not a good word anymore: it’s overtired. It’s had to do long shifts all over the shop. Unfortunately, however, there isn’t another word that quickly captures the constellation of bad ideas that has spread from the fixation with identity politics, and which has unleashed even worse terms, such as intersectionality, social justice and critical race theory. Telegraph View | The Tories must grasp the nettle of reform Reader letters | Goodbye to the Tories, party that killed aspiration

Editor’s choice

	Check it out | The routine midlife health tests you should never miss
	Money Makeover | ‘Can I send three children to private school and retire at 57?’
	Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool Special | Shirley Ballas breaks judges’ deadlock The head judge used her deciding vote for the first time this series after Molly Rainford and Tyler West landed in the dance-off

Business briefing: British Steel’s buyer breaks promise The Chinese owners of British Steel have injected only a fraction of the £1.2bn they promised to invest despite begging British taxpayers for a bailout worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Jingye, the largely unknown Chinese company that acquired British Steel in March 2020, has put in just £156m since acquiring the business in a government-supported takeover. Meanwhile, former Walt Disney Co chief executive Bob Iger is returning to the company less than a year after he retired.

Further:

• Saudi Arabia | Beheadings by sword in new wave of executions
  Saudi Arabia has executed 12 people in 10 days for drug offences after a two-year hiatus, according to a human rights organisation.The spate of executions – most of which are beheadings with a sword – is part of a wider trend that suggests the country is on track for a record year of executions despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously vowing to reduce the use of such punishments.
• Royals | Princes may face block to standing in for the King
  The House of Lords will debate a change in legislation that would effectively ban Prince Harry and Prince Andrew from being Counsellors of State.The amendment to the Counsellors of State bill, which will be debated on Monday, would look to exclude royals who have “not in the immediately preceding 2 years undertaken royal duties on a regular basis”.
• Death knell for diesel | Price gap with petrol never been wider
  Diesel cars are now less cost effective to run than petrol, analysis has suggested as drivers are paying a record 24.5p more per litre.The widening price gap means the average petrol car is now more cost-effective despite not running as far per gallon, Telegraph analysis of government figures suggests.
• Leadership skills | ‘Act like a woman’ to climb career ladder
  Don’t man up but “act like a woman” to get ahead at work, the president of the Girls’ School Association has said.Heather Hanbury has argued that being an empathetic “team player” is better for business than the traditional “alpha male” model of leadership, and this approach comes more naturally to girls.
• Cornwall | Head of county’s tourism board in foul rant at visitors
  Malcolm Bell criticised the “bloody tourists” who descend on Cornwall only to compare it to other destinations.Mr Bell, the outgoing chief executive of Visit Cornwall, is under fire for bemoaning “f***ing emmets” – an antiquated term meaning ‘ants’ – during an interview offering his thoughts on the future of the county’s tourism industry.

  “In my mind, visitors fall into five unofficial categories,” Mr Bell said. “At one level you have friends, then you have guests, then you have tourists, then you have bloody tourists, then you have f***ing emmets. You can quote me on that.

Also popular on The Telegraph today

Letters: Goodbye to the Conservatives – the party of pessimism and profligacy

Disney reappoints Bob Iger as chief executive as shares head for worst slump since 1970s

Rishi Sunak engulfed in new Brexit row as he insists Swiss-style EU deal is off the table

Fifa ban threat for Harry Kane and England over ‘OneLove’ armband

Squeeze, Eventim Apollo, review: the Lennon and McCartney of Deptford have never been more vital