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Police say someone threw a chemical bomb fashioned from a Gatorade bottle at Occupy Maine protesters in Maine on Sunday morning. Protesters told Maine Today that they think a group of people who shouted “Get a job” and “Communist” at them from a car earlier that day were the culprits. No one was hurt.

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Some 25 million bees swarmed a highway in southern Utah after a truck carrying 460 hives from South Dakota to California toppled over on a sharp bend. The driver and his wife were stung around a dozen times each after first responders pulled them out of the vehicle. More than…

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Vincent Tabak could have walked away from Joanna Yeates attack, court told

Accused held neighbour by the throat long enough to ‘squeeze the life out of her’, prosecutor says in closing speech Vincent Tabak could have released his grip on Joanna Yeates’s throat at any time during his “protracted and insistent attack”, a jury has heard. He could have walked away but chose not to, Nigel Lickley QC said in his closing speech at Bristol crown court. Lickley, prosecuting, said Tabak had been in control of his actions. Yeates, who was smaller and weaker, had fought back but Tabak carried on, he said. The prosecutor said there could be no doubt about Tabak’s intention. He had held Yeates by the throat long enough to “squeeze the life out of her”. Tabak had intended to kill Yeates or cause her serious harm, the jury was told. During the trial the court heard that Tabak had his hand around Yeates’s throat for about 20 seconds. “It’s a long time when you have your hand around the throat of another person,” said Lickley. “He could have at any point released his grip and walked away. He chose not to.” Tabak, a 33-year-old Dutch engineer, has admitted manslaughter but denies murdering his 25-year-old neighbour. He says he put one hand on Yeates’s throat and the other on her mouth when the landscape architect screamed after he made a romantic pass at her. Tabak has denied that Yeates struggled and said he cannot recall how she came by injuries to her neck, face, ribs and back. Lickley claimed that Tabak had said more than 80 times in the witness box that he could not remember parts of the incident at Yeates’s flat in Bristol on 17 December last year. But Lickley put to the jury that Tabak was a “cunning” and “shrewd” man who had carefully constructed a case to try to avoid being convicted of murder. The barrister made it clear that the prosecution alleged there was a sexual element to the case. “It is a killing linked to sex,” he said. The central point the jury had to consider, Lickley said, was what Tabak had intended. He asked them to reflect on how long 20 seconds was if a person was being strangled. It was not an instantaneous action like a thrust from a knife. “It is protracted and insistent,” Lickley told the jury. Tabak’s barrister, William Clegg QC, is giving his closing speech on Tuesday afternoon. The trial continues. Joanna Yeates Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk

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EU referendum vote reaction – live coverage

David Cameron suffered the largest postwar rebellion on Europe as 81 Conservative MPs supported a referendum on UK membership of the EU. Follow the latest developments. 1.41pm: Kenneth Clarke is always good for trade. He was giving evidence for less than an hour, but the stories just kept pouring out. I’ll post a summary shortly. 1.33pm: Julian Huppert asks about social media. Q: David Cameron talked about turning off social media during riots. What do you think of that? Clarke says companies have agreed to be cooperative. They will remove illegal material from their sites. The government is not proposing to close these sites. But they do cause trouble for the police, he says. Q: In November Britain will take over the presidency of the Council of Europe. What are your ambitions? Clarke says he had a meeting on this this morning. The Foreign Office are in the lead on this. Britain wants to get reform. There is a lot of support amongst other member states for reform, he says. He wants the European court of human rights to stop taking up “trivial” cases. Q: Would you agree with what Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, said last night about the desirability of Britain having the right to challenge court judgments ? Clarke says he has not studied Grieve’s comments in detail. 1.29pm: James Clappison asks about work in prisons. Q: What are you doing to promote work in prisons? Clarke says this is a priority for him. More and more prisons are turning to a more demanding working day. Q: Do you agree on the need for alcohol tests for offenders? Clarke says Boris Johnson is keen on this. He has had a brief chat with Johnson about this. But he does not know who would administer the tests. The temperance movement has always wanted to take people off drink. With offenders, it would be helpful. But who will carry out these tests? 1.26pm: Mark Reckless asks about the court. Q: Courts sat through the night after the riots. Can they do this normally? Clarke says the court response was very effective. There has been no general criticism of the courts. And there has been no general criticism of the sentencing, he says. But he wants to learn lessons from the speed of the process. Clarke says he does not think he needs night sitting. If they sat through the night, the courts would run out of things to do. But evening sittings have their attractions. They are convenient for witnesses who are at work during the day. But they are costly too, because you have to pay overtime. Clarke says the government is looking at extending evening sittings. 1.23pm: Alun Michael returns to sentencing. Q: Some 24% of rioters did not have a previous conviction. But in 2010 23% of people convicted for an indictable offence did not have a previous conviction. What conclusions can you draw from that? Clarke says the riot figures are consistent with the norm. But the norm is wrong, he says. In some places the rioting was “straight theft”. In other places it was organised. And in some places it was “rage with the police”. 1.21pm: David Winnick asks about the policing. Clarke says the scale of the rioting was “totally unexpected”. Q: Will the government look again at the reduction in police numbers? Clarke says this is for the home secretary, but he does not think the cuts should be reconsidered. Police numbers have “exploded” in recent years. Many officers are on sick leave. And officers patrol in pairs where they used to patrol individually. Winnick says at least on this issue Clarke is sticking to the government line. 1.14pm: Labour’s Alun Michael is asking the questions now. Q: How do the figures for previous convictions relate to a control sample. Clarke says one in four adults has a previous conviction. So 76% is higher than you would expect, he says. Mark Reckless takes over the questioning. Q: What do you think caused the rioting? Clarke says it was an “irresponsible feckless reaction from people casually turning to crime because the opportunity presented itself”. Clarke says that, as a product of the 1960s, he does tend to do moralising. But he was “slightly shocked” by how easily some people “casually took to thieving”. Public perception is a problem. People have been persuaded that serious criminals will walk out of court. But that’s not true, he says. 1.08pm: Keith Vaz turns to the riots. He says that Clarke blamed the rioting on a “feral underclass”. Q: Have you met any rioters? No, says Clarke. Q: So where did you get the idea that a feral underclass was involved? Vaz says the committee met some rioters at Feltham Young Offenders institution, and some of them seemed to be people who went riot shopping. Clarke says 76% of people who were cautioned or convicted over rioting had previous convictions. Some 40% of them had more than five previous convictions. He suggests that some of the offenders at Feltham were not telling the committee the truth. Q: What evidence is there that gangs were involved? Clarke says it varied from place to place. An official sitting with Clarke says 13% of those arrested for rioting were gang members. In London, the figure was 19%. 1.06pm: Another question on sentencing. Q: Why can’t you put a parliamentary committee in charge of drawing up sentencing guidelines? Clarke says every case is different. It is difficult for parliament to take that on board. Sentences are tougher than they used to be, he says. People who complain about sentences think there was a “golden age” when sentences were longer. That’s not true. Q: Would people respect sentences more if parliament were involved in setting them? No, says Clarke. 1.03pm: Labour’s Alun Michael asks about sentencing. Q: Is there always a tension between parliament and the courts over this? Clarke says parliament is less inclined to trust the judges than it used to be. Parliament now mounts a “running commentary” on sentencing, usually based on the way cases have been reported in the papers. There are more sentencing guidelines, he says. You do need guidelines to ensure consistency. But off-the-cuff comments from MPs on a single case, “based on what it says in a popular newspaper”, are not helpful, he says. 1.00pm: Clarke is still talking about mandatory sentences. He says the “three strikes and you’re out” legislation for burglary is still on the statute book. But it has no effect, he says, because the judges always find some way of ignoring the rule if they think a custodial sentence would be disproportionate. 12.53pm: They turn to knife crime. Q: Why are you opposing proposals for manadatory sentences for juveniles involved in knife crime ? Clarke says the talks about this are still going on. But there are claims that 40% of cases involving knife crime involve juveniles. That’s not true, he says. He also says that mandatory sentences are an American innovation. In the UK judges normally have discretion. He would have concerns about mandatory jail sentences for 13-year-olds. Clarke says he is still considering this. But he thinks the government should not legislate for mandatory sentences for juveniles without careful consideration. He says the only crimes that carries a mandatory sentence for a juveniles are firearms offences. 12.51pm: Kenneth Clarke , the justice secretary, is giving evidence to the home affairs committee. It’s mostly about the riots, but Keith Vaz, the chairman, starts by asking about Clarke’s dispute with Theresa May about the human rights act. Q: Have you settled your dispute with May? Clarke said the case cited by May did not have anything to do with the Human Rights Act. And the cat was not relevant, he says. He says the dispute was one of those that blows up at party conference. 12.24pm: Here’s a lunchtime summary. • Labour have claimed that the government is badly split after senior cabinet ministers delivered seperate messages about the importance of repatriating powers from the EU. On the Today programme this morning Michael Gove, the Conservative education secretary, said that he wanted to see a renegotiation leading to the repatriation of some powers this parliament. But Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem deputy prime minister, has played down this idea, suggesting that some Eurosceptics were “tilting at windmills”. Labour’s Douglas Alexander said there was showed there was “weakness, division and infighting” over Europe at the heart of the government. But Lib Dem sources have dismissed a claim on Twitter (see 10.52am) saying that Clegg was ruling out any repatriation of powers. The quote was taken out of context, an aide said, because Clegg was talking about the prospect of Brussels unilaterally deciding to hand powers back to Britain, not about a wide-ranging re-organisation. Intriguingly, the aide said Clegg broadly support a call from Lord Ashdown in the Times today (see 11.43am) for a “rebalancing” of the EU. • David Cameron has sought to make peace with the Tory Eurosceptics who rebelled against the government yesterday. “There is, on my part, no bad blood, no rancour, no bitterness,” he said. “These are valued Conservative colleagues.” (See 12.04pm.) • But one leading Eurosceptic has said that Cameron will have to concede a referendum on the EU before 2015. Mark Pritchard said: “If the government’s policy has changed to offering a referendum only when there is a possible future Conservative majority government as opposed to when there are transfers of powers to Brussels or treaty changes in this Parliament, then that policy will be overtaken by events, become politically unsustainable, and will not be acceptable to the majority of the Conservative backbenchers.” • Clegg has announced a reform of business regulation designed to ease the burden on firms . Changing the mindset within central government is one thing. But we make the rules – we don’t enforce them. There are a range of bodies responsible for inspection: HMRC, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, to name a few. And they need to undergo this culture change too. They need to understand that their job is to make your life easier, not harder. So there will be a major shake up of business inspection – going through the regulators, asking ‘are they still necessary?’; ‘Should they still exist?’; making sure that, yes, they intervene when necessary, they offer advice and support, but otherwise they let you get on with it. They will need to respect the Regulators’ Compliance Code, which says regulators must think about and encourage economic growth. And they will have to make sure they aren’t breathing down your necks. Why, for example, should regulators be able to turn up at your door whenever they want and as often as they want? Why can’t we limit the number of inspections to, say, two a year, ensuring these bodies coordinate amongst themselves to stick within that limit? Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, criticised the plan. “This is another example of the government putting the right to make a fast buck before our health and safety and our lives – although at least the deputy prime minister acknowledges the dangers of the ‘scrap it all’ line peddled by the Tory die-hards,” Barber said. • The Ministry of Defence has announced a £1bn upgrade to the Army’s Warrior armoured vehicles to make them fit for use through to 2040 and beyond. • Unions representing public sector staff have launched a legal action against the government’s decision to change the way their pensions are calculated . 12.04pm: David Cameron has delivered a statement to Sky News about last night’s vote. He was asked if he had any regrets about imposing a three-line whip. Here’s his reply. No, I don’t. In politics you have to confront the big issues rather than sweep them under the carpet and that’s what we did yesterday. This has always been a difficult issue for my party. It always will be. But the important thing is to do the right thing for the country. And it wouldn’t be right for the country right now to have a great big vote on in/out referendum and the rest of it. There is no, on my part, no bad blood, no rancour, no bitterness. These are valued Conservative colleagues. I understand why people feel strongly. And we will go forward together and tackle the difficult decisions that the country faces. But you have to do the right thing and give a lead in politics and that’s what yesterday was about. 11.43am: You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here. And all the Guardian politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today’s paper, are here. As for the rest of the papers, here are the most interesting articles I’ve found in print and on the web on yesterday’s debate and vote. • Lord Ashdown in the Times (paywall) says that he partly agrees with the Conservatives on the need for Britain to repatriate some powers from the Brussels. In an age when all our democracies are under pressure, [EU institutions] have consistently failed to tackle the yawning democratic and accountability deficits that still infect the heart of the EU machine, while at the same time failing to show the unity or vision to make a real difference where we could, for instance in the Balkans. The result is not something we “pro-Europeans” find it comfortable to admit; Europe’s institutions in their present form have comprehensively lost the confidence of the people they serve … So do I agree with the Tory party in its quest to “repatriate powers” from Brussels? Only up to a point, Lord Copper. I can agree that it would be better if the EU adopted the principle that in matters such as agriculture and fishing, it would set the targets and leave it more to member nations to decide how to achieve them. I agree, too, that it should accept more variation in social norms and intervene much less in those matters that touch on the services of citizens within their own countries. I do not take the view that the single market requires us to be as rigid on these matters as we currently are. But this is only part of the story. If on the one hand the EU gets out of things it doesn’t have to be in, on the other hand, in an increasingly turbulent, even hostile world, it should get deeper into those areas where it benefits all of us to speak with a more powerful voice together than we ever would alone. The Tory party wants to “repatriate” powers as a prelude to weakening the EU and our voice in it. In this climate, that seems to me to be folly of a grand order. Far better to rebalance the powers of the EU so that in those areas where it is in our interest to speak with a louder voice in an inhospitable world, we have the ability to do so. • Steve Richards in the Independent says Europe has become a proxy for other issues in British politics. Up until the early 1990s parties clung to great and real ideological divides for definition. But with the rise of New Labour the divisions over the state, tax, public spending and markets blurred. On both sides, “Europe” filled the vacuum. This version was a multifarious illusion capable of arousing indiscriminate enthusiasm and hostility. From the mid-1990s the Blairite wing of New Labour became passionately in favour of “Europe”. I recall a conversation with a so-called Brownite towards the end of Tony Blair’s first term. He argued perceptively that “Europe” had replaced any other mission for some in New Labour. He suggested that the likes of Blair and Peter Mandelson did not believe any more in other centre-left objectives and so sought purpose by a commitment to “Europe”, a passion that reached its irrational peak when Blair contemplated a referendum in favour of the euro after the war in Iraq. Eurosceptics have an alternative view of “Europe”. They, too, lack a clear view on economic policy after the Thatcherite crusade came to a halt with the financial crisis in 2008. But “Europe” is always there to kick around and to blame for all that is wrong with Britain. • Gideon Rachman on his FT blog says the Eurosceptics rebels are living in the past and ahead of their time. Is it possible for politicians to be both living in the past and ahead of their time? That is how I feel about the Tory Eurosceptics, who have just given David Cameron a nasty shock, by defying the government in large numbers to demand a referendum on British membership of the European Union … In some respects, these sceptics seem to me to be fighting the battles of twenty years ago. Many of them entered politics in the early 1990s when the EU’s drive for “ever closer union” -led by Jacques Delors and opposed by Margaret Thatcher – was at its height … On the other hand, I think the sceptics may also be ahead of their time, in certain respects. Their demands for a fundamental re-think of the powers of the Union – and the repatriation of some powers to Britain – seemed Quixotic at a time when the EU was confidently expanding in powers and size. But, it now seems clear that, however the euro-crisis is resolved, the EU that emerges at the other side is going to be very different from the Union of a few years ago. • Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart on their Ballots & Bullets blog list 10 key points about last night’s rebellion. Of the 81 Conservative rebels, a massive 48 were new MPs, elected in 2010. Another of the normal rules of rebellions is that newly elected MPs can more easily be kept onside. Not this lot. •Tristran Garel-Jones, the Conservative former Europe minister, says in the Financial Times (subscription) that “Conservative pragmatists” are winning the argument on Europe. All proper Conservatives should be sceptical about the EU. The problem is that the word “sceptical” has been taken over by those who, in their hearts, are opposed to the whole project. So let’s settle for “pragmatic”. I believe that Conservative pragmatists – from Lady Thatcher to Sir John to Mr Cameron – are winning the debate. The principal British interest now is to support our eurozone partners in reaching a treaty-based set of enforceable rules to bring an end to the crisis with the euro. In the longer term, as we all struggle to find the right balance between national and shared sovereignty on a whole range of issues, Britain should continue to play her traditional role as the “awkward squad” in the EU. • Sam Coates in the Times (paywall) says last night’s vote has revealed weaknesses with Cameron’s political operation. Questions have been growing for weeks. First there has been a slew of departures. Mr Cameron’s two most senior political advisers, Andrew Cooper and Steve Hilton, have not bonded. Relations between Craig Oliver, the director of communications, and Gabby Bertin, Mr Cameron’s longstanding political spokeswoman, worsened during the Tory party conference. Friends of the Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin, complain that he is being bypassed. This gap has been brought into sharp relief by events of the past week, which friends of Downing Street believe could have been conducted out of the spotlight, if not avoided altogether. • Bagehot on his Economist blog says David Cameron has been making bold promises about Britain’s future relations with Europe. [David Cameron] and Mr [William] Hague between them said there should have been referendums on previous treaties including Maastricht, Nice, Amsterdam and Lisbon, with both of them directly attacking the previous Labour government for failing to hold a referendum on Lisbon. That is a much more radical statement that it may first seem. I think (just about) that a straight in-out referendum could be won in Britain. But any British vote on an individual treaty would be lost. If Britain had held a vote on Lisbon and lost it, that would have been that. It is not conceivable that Britain could have been pressured to vote a second time (as Ireland was over Lisbon) until it gave the right answer. What then? Well, if the other countries in the EU had wanted to press ahead with Lisbon, as certainly the majority did, there would have been the most astonishing, profound crisis in British relations, which could easily have led to Britain falling out of the club. • Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome says that Cameron should ask Oliver Letwin to conduct an immediate review of Conservative policy towards Europe. Most Conservative MPs don’t want Britain to withdraw from the EU. They do, however, want powers repatriated from Brussels. And when the Prime Minister says that he agrees, I’m afraid that, rightly or wrongly, many of them simply don’t believe him. So if he is to make a start in convincing them that they’ve misjudged him, the minimum he should do now is as follows … 11.35am: Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, is on Sky. He said that Nick Clegg’s decision to rule out repatriating powers from the EU (see 10.52am) only hours after Michael Gove called for powers to be repatriated (see 9.15am) showed there were was “weakness, division and infighting” over Europe at the heart of the government. 11.22am: According to the Press Association, Nick Clegg claimed the Eurosceptics who were demanding a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU were proposing a “smash-and-grab dawn raid on Brussels”. Here’s the key quote. You don’t change Europe by launching some smash-and-grab dawn raid on Brussels. You do it by setting out the case for changes and then arguing the case with other countries. We can’t do this on our own, we have to build alliances, we have to convince and persuade other countries and that is what we look to do all the time. Clegg also said that he was in favour of a referendum in certain circumstances. I have always advocated a vote on Europe if there is a proposal on the table to transfer significant chunks of sovereignty and policy from our country to Brussels, but it’s not on the table. We should stop tilting at windmills about threats and challenges which simply aren’t there right now. Let’s get on with the difficult job of working with our eurozone partners to fix the eurozone, because, let’s face it, unless you’ve got a strong, prosperous eurozone you can’t have a strong, prosperous United Kingdom. We’ve got to ask ourselves in Government, what is our priority? We look at the big picture. Our number one priority is to fix the damage done to the British economy and to lead in Europe, not leave Europe. 11.02am: Mark Pritchard (left), a Conservative rebel and secretary of the 1922 committee, has now said that the government must hold a referendum on the EU before the general election. The government now needs to deliver substance, not just rhetoric, when it comes to its European policy. If the Government’s policy has changed to offering a referendum only when there is a possible future Conservative majority government as opposed to when there are transfers of powers to Brussels or treaty changes in this Parliament, then that policy will be overtaken by events, become politically unsustainable, and will not be acceptable to the majority of the Conservative backbenchers. 10.52am: Michael Gove was evasive when John Humphrys asked him on the Today programme if the Lib Dems would support a move to repatriate powers from Brussels. But, according to Paul Waugh on Twitter, Nick Clegg has just provided an answer. Perfect Day 2 Euro story. Clegg just asked if Govt will seek to repatriate powers from Brussels:”it’s not going to happen”. 10.34am: Michael Gove played down the significance of the Tory split over an EU referendum this morning. (See 9.15am.) But the Eurosceptics (or impatient Eurosceptics – everyone in the Conservative party seems to be Eurosceptic now) are not being so emollient. This is what some of the Tory MPs who vote for the referendum motion have been saying. Mark Pritchard , the secretary of the 1922 committee, said the issue was going to become more important. I think the Conservative party will move on from the vote last night, but I don’t think Europe as an issue is going to move on from this Parliament and as I mentioned yesterday, I think it’s going to be more, rather than less, of an issue, not because the Conservative Parliamentary Party want to supposedly bang on about Europe, but because European leaders are making Europe an issue more and more. He also said there needed to be more clarity about the coalition’s position. I think the important thing from last night is there needs to be clear definition of what the coalition policy on Europe is … I think that we need to have some beef on the policy, we need to have clarity. Is it the case now, for example, a fiscal union will not trigger a referendum under the European Union Act 2011, despite the fact that it will be a significant and fundamental change in our relationship with the European Union and with the eurozone? Sheryll Murray said the vote sent a message to the EU. Well I think what the vote last night did was send a very clear message to Europe, and let’s not forget there are going to be opportunities with the crisis in Europe for perhaps a treaty change, and it sends a very clear message that the United Kingdom is not going to be a walkover. Richard Drax said the issue was crucial. The future of our relationship with the EU is absolutely critical to the future of our country. In our view, if we continue blundering on, sleepwalking on into this disaster, in the longer term it will cost billions of pounds which will go straight down a black hole, in this case Greece’s, so other countries will perhaps end up in the same situation and I suspect they will. 10.33am: Here’s some Guardian video from the EU referendum debate. It shows the moment the result was announced. 10.07am: On the Today programme Michael Gove , the education secretary, was not asked about the IFS report saying education spending is being slashed by more than 14% – the largest cut since the 1950s. But he was asked about it on BBC Breakfast. According to PoliticsHome, here’s his reply. The headline of the report has been reported in a particular way, but if you look at the report it will say, and it confirms, that spending on schools is staying the same, and poorer schools in poorer areas are receiving more money, we’re giving them more cash to spend on the poorest students. It is the case in higher education, that instead of the government providing the funding that it used to in the past. Students have been asked to pay more; we all know that – there was a big debate about tuition fees, and that’s at the heart of what’s assumed to be a reduction in spending. It’s a shift in the burden from other taxpayers to students who will benefit from their degree. 9.57am: Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, is giving evidence to the Commons Treasury committee now about quantitative easing. My colleagues Jill Treanor and Katie Allen are covering it in full on a live blog. 9.15am: The best line in Michael Gove ‘s interview on the Today programme came right at the end. He said the Conservative party was “united as never before” on Europe. And that’s after 81 Tory MPs rebelled. What chutzpah! How did Gove work that one out? Here are the key points. • Gove claimed that the Conservative party was “united as never before” on the need to repatriate powers from the EU to Britain. We are already winning powers back. We need to win more. That process will require careful negotiation. But what we’re fortunate in having is a Conservative party that is united as never before behind that renegotiation. Gove said that while the number of those appeared in the rebellion seemed significant, “the difference in policy between the government’s position and the rebels’ position isn’t that significant and can be exaggerated”. There was a “disagreement on tactics”, he said. But rebels and ministers wanted the same eventual goal. “You have on the Conservative backbenches and in the cabinet colleagues and friends who want to change our relationship with the European Union.” • He said the Tories wanted to repatriate powers affecting the economy. Asked to specify what powers the Tories wanted to repatriate, he said powers over employment law and powers “which affect our capacity to grow”. He went on: “I think there are some specific regulations which govern whom we can hire, how we can hire and how long they work for which actually hold us back.” (In their election manifesto the Conservatives said they wanted to “bring back key powers over legal rights, criminal justice and social and employment legislation to the UK”. In After the Coalition, a recently published “manifesto” for the next Conservative government, five well-regarded backbenchers say Britain should “seek to regain control over its criminal and social law, its financial regulation, farming and fishing policy.”) • He claimed that the Lib Dems were committed to a review of Britain’s relationship with the EU. The coalition agreement called for a review of the “balance of competencies” between Britain and the EU, he said. “That basically means that both parties are agreed that the relationship needs to be reviewed,” he went on. (The key passage in the agreement actually says: “We will examine the balance of the EU’s existing competences and will, in particular, work to limit the application of the working time directive in the United Kingdom.” • He said he wanted to see a renegotiation this parliament. “I would like to see that change in this parliament,” he said. • But he refused to set a timetable for renegotiation. “It is wrong unnecessarily to explain what your tactics are in advance of a negotiation,” he said. “The question of what you ask for and when is a tactical consideration. What’s the strategic goal? Bringing powers back.” He pointed out that the situation in Europe was changing rapidly. And he also said that stablising the eurozone was the priority. • He claimed that the rebellion was a good-natured one. He said that he had spoken to some of the MPs voting against the government and the discussions were “cordial”. He went on: “There was a cordiality between both sides which I think marks a difference from previous discussions in the Conservative party over Europe.” 8.47am: For the record, here is the Press Association’s full list of MPs who voted for the motion calling for a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU. Conservatives • 79 Conservatives voted for the motion. They were: Stuart Andrew (Pudsey), Steven Baker (Wycombe), John Baron (Basildon & Billericay), Andrew Bingham (High Peak), Brian Binley (Northampton South), Bob Blackman (Harrow East), Graham Brady (Altrincham & Sale West), Andrew Bridgen (Leicestershire North West), Steve Brine (Winchester), Fiona Bruce (Congleton), Dan Byles (Warwickshire North), Douglas Carswell (Clacton), Bill Cash (Stone), Christopher Chope (Christchurch), James Clappison (Hertsmere), Tracey Crouch (Chatham & Aylesford), David Davies (Monmouth), Philip Davies (Shipley), David Davis (Haltemprice & Howden), Nick de Bois (Enfield North), Caroline Dinenage (Gosport), Nadine Dorries (Bedfordshire Mid), Richard Drax (Dorset South), Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster), Lorraine Fullbrook (South Ribble), Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park), James Gray (Wiltshire North), Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry), Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne & Sheppey), George Hollingbery (Meon Valley), Adam Holloway (Gravesham), Stewart Jackson (Peterborough), Bernard Jenkin (Harwich & Essex North), Marcus Jones (Nuneaton), Chris Kelly (Dudley South), Andrea Leadsom (Northamptonshire South), Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford), Edward Leigh (Gainsborough), Julian Lewis (New Forest East), Karen Lumley (Redditch), Jason McCartney (Colne Valley), Karl McCartney (Lincoln), Stephen McPartland (Stevenage), Anne Main (St Albans), Patrick Mercer (Newark), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley), Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbot), James Morris (Halesowen & Rowley Regis), Stephen Mosley (Chester, City of), Sheryll Murray (Cornwall South East), Caroline Nokes (Romsey & Southampton North), David Nuttall (Bury North), Matthew Offord (Hendon), Neil Parish (Tiverton & Honiton), Priti Patel (Witham), Andrew Percy (Brigg & Goole), Mark Pritchard (Wrekin, The), Mark Reckless (Rochester & Strood), John Redwood (Wokingham), Jacob Rees-Mogg (Somerset North East), Simon Reevell (Dewsbury), Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills), Henry Smith (Crawley), John Stevenson (Carlisle), Bob Stewart (Beckenham), Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South), Gary Streeter (Devon South West), Julian Sturdy (York Outer), Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth & Horncastle), Justin Tomlinson (Swindon North), Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight), Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes), Charles Walker (Broxbourne), Robin Walker (Worcester), Heather Wheeler (Derbyshire South), Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley), John Whittingdale (Maldon), Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes). • Two Tory MPs voted in both the Aye and Noe lobbies, the traditional way of registering an abstention. They were: Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) and Mike Weatherley (Hove). • A further two Tory MPs, Peter Bone (Wellingborough) and Philip Hollobone (Kettering) acted as tellers for the motion. Labour • 19 Labour MPs defied the party leadership to support the motion: Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley), Rosie Cooper (Lancashire West), Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), Jon Cruddas (Dagenham & Rainham), John Cryer (Leyton & Wanstead), Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West), Natascha Engel (Derbyshire North East), Frank Field (Birkenhead), Roger Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North), Steve McCabe (Birmingham Selly Oak), John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington), Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby), Dennis Skinner (Bolsover), Andrew Smith (Oxford East), Graham Stringer (Blackley & Broughton), Gisela Stuart (Birmingham Edgbaston), Mike Wood (Batley & Spen). Lib Dems • One Liberal Democrat, Adrian Sanders (Torbay) voted for the motion. Others • Green leader Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion) voted for the motion. • Eight Democratic Unionist Party MPs voted for the motion: Gregory Campbell (Londonderry East), Nigel Dodds (Belfast North), Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley), Rev William McCrea (Antrim South), Ian Paisley Junior (Antrim North), Jim Shannon (Strangford), David Simpson (Upper Bann), Sammy Wilson (Antrim East). • Independent MP Lady Sylvia Hermon (Down North) voted for the motion. 8.41am: Reverberations from last night’s vote on the EU referendum will be bouncing around Westminster all day. David Cameron told his MPs yesterday afternoon: “I share the yearning for fundamental reform, and I am determined to deliver it.” But when? Michael Gove, the education secretary, was on the Today programme a few minutes ago, doing his best to play down the significance of the rebellion against the prime minister – but even he struggled to explain when Cameron’s long-promised renegotiation is going to take place. I’ll post a full summary of his interview soon, as well as bringing you all the best reaction, comment and analysis relating to the referendum debate. Otherwise, it’s a fairly routine day, although Kenneth Clarke, at the home affairs committee at lunchtime, could make good copy. Here’s a full list of what’s coming up. 9am: The cabinet meets. 10am: Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about quantitative easing. 10am: Unions are launcing a legal challenge to the government’s plans increase pensions in line with the CPI measure of inflation rather than the RPI measure of inflation. 10.30am: Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, gives evidence to the Commons justice committee on joint enterprise prosecutions. 10.45am: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs publishes a report on legal highs. 12.45pm: Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about the riots. 2.20pm: Maria Miller, the minister for the disabled, the health minister, Paul Burstow, and Grant Shapps, the housing minister, give evidence to the joint committee on human rights on the right of disabled people to independent living. As usual, I’ll also be covering the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I’ll post a lunchtime summary at around 12.30pm, before Clarke speaks, and another one at about 4pm. David Cameron Conservatives Liberal-Conservative coalition Foreign policy European Union Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk

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Discovery was made close to where off-duty garda Ciaran Jones was swept away while trying to divert people to safety Search teams in the Irish Republic have found a body close to where a member of the Garda Síochána went missing on Monday night during heavy flooding of the river Liffey. Ciaran Jones was swept away while trying to divert people away from Ballyward Bridge, in Co Wicklow, during driving rain and flooding. The discovery was made on Tuesday morning by a local search unit. The garda’s sub-aqua team was sent to the scene to help retrieve the body. The river Liffey was dangerously high at Ballysmuttan, near Manor Kilbride on Monday evening. Jones was off-duty at the time, but it is thought he stopped to warn motorists of the danger. He had been in the force for about four years. The bridge, which was recently reconstructed, had previously been damaged in heavy floods. In Dublin, gardai said the body of woman was discovered in the flooded basement of a house in the Crumlin area. Dublin was badly affected by the torrential rain, with rail lines closed and a shopping centre in the west of the city evacuated after 10cm of water poured into it. The rain caused traffic chaos on major arterial routes around Dublin and hearings at the Republic’s courts of criminal justice were suspended for a day. According to the Irish weather service Met Éireann, 67mm of rain was recorded as having fallen at Dublin airport between 7pm on Sunday evening and 7pm on Monday. Ireland Europe Flooding Natural disasters and extreme weather Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk

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Discovery was made close to where off-duty garda Ciaran Jones was swept away while trying to divert people to safety Search teams in the Irish Republic have found a body close to where a member of the Garda Síochána went missing on Monday night during heavy flooding of the river Liffey. Ciaran Jones was swept away while trying to divert people away from Ballyward Bridge, in Co Wicklow, during driving rain and flooding. The discovery was made on Tuesday morning by a local search unit. The garda’s sub-aqua team was sent to the scene to help retrieve the body. The river Liffey was dangerously high at Ballysmuttan, near Manor Kilbride on Monday evening. Jones was off-duty at the time, but it is thought he stopped to warn motorists of the danger. He had been in the force for about four years. The bridge, which was recently reconstructed, had previously been damaged in heavy floods. In Dublin, gardai said the body of woman was discovered in the flooded basement of a house in the Crumlin area. Dublin was badly affected by the torrential rain, with rail lines closed and a shopping centre in the west of the city evacuated after 10cm of water poured into it. The rain caused traffic chaos on major arterial routes around Dublin and hearings at the Republic’s courts of criminal justice were suspended for a day. According to the Irish weather service Met Éireann, 67mm of rain was recorded as having fallen at Dublin airport between 7pm on Sunday evening and 7pm on Monday. Ireland Europe Flooding Natural disasters and extreme weather Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk

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‘Legal highs’ should be automatically banned, says government drugs adviser

Call for tougher US-style system to control designer drugs that mimic effects of established illegal substances All “legal highs” or designer drugs, such as mephedrone (or miaow, miaow) that mimic the effects of established illegal drugs should be automatically banned, according to the government’s official advisers on illicit substances. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) says the government needs to adopt a much tougher US-style system of controls. The recommendation comes after claims that new designer drugs have played a role in 42 deaths in the last two years. Professor Les Iversen, the ACMD chair, said tougher controls were needed to prevent suppliers from simply tweaking the chemistry of newly banned substances to get around the law. More than 40 new legal highs have been identified in the last two years, often emerging from laboratories in south-east Asia where chemists design new compounds that replicate the effects of already banned substances such as cannabis, amphetamine or ecstasy. Many are marketed through online sites offering them as “plant food” or “not fit for human consumption”, but their purpose is often transparent. Iversen said the Polish government had recently taken “bold action” in closing down hundreds of “head shops” similar to those found in Camden market in north London, as well as automatically banning new legal highs. The British government has responded by introducing a system of temporary bans on each new substance as soon as it emerges with parliamentary approval needed for each banning order before detailed tests are made to determine how harmful it is. But the ACMD says it necessary to go further and adopt a system similar to the American “Analogue Act” under which substances bearing a chemical similarity to existing controlled substances, such as amphetamines or the active ingredient in cannabis, are banned. “The system of temporary bans is not a winning strategy because new substances will always continue to emerge,” said Iversen. “Just because it is advertised as a legal high does not mean it is safe. Users are playing a game of russian roulette when they buy something described as research drugs. They are researching the effects on themselves. It is a totally unregulated market. We are not seeing just seeing a nice party drug but something that can kill.” The government’s drug advisers also want to see existing legislation used more effectively to prevent legal highs being falsely advertised as “bath salts” or plant food, and to shift the burden of proof onto suppliers that their product is safe for human consumption. Iversen said figures from the national programme on substance abuse deaths based at St George’s hospital, south London, had logged 127 suspected cases of deaths in Britain which had links with mephedrone over the past two years. Forty-two cases were confirmed as having a link with mephedrone, although none had given the drug as the direct cause of death. So far 29 out of the 127 suspected cases had been shown to have no connection with mephedrone. The ACMD report says a different type of drug dealer has emerged with entrepreneurs seizing on the business opportunities. “Many people importing these new substances appear to have had no previous involvement in the illicit drug trade and are just in it to make a quick buck. They have included students who have set up websites to supply nationally and who also supply the local student population.” These new dealers ensure that the market is quickly saturated with the new drug, the report adds. But Roger Howard of the UK Drug Policy Commission thinktank warned that the tough approach was unlikely to work: “Analogue controls would save politicians from the pressure to do something’ when the new drugs appear on the market. But they wouldn’t solve the real problem.” He said it was increasingly difficult for the police to identify the rapidly growing numbers of psychoactive drugs on the market: “Controlling even more drugs through the drug laws doesn’t do anything to help that nor to prevent the harms that might emerge. We need to think differently about the using other controls to bring some discipline to an unregulated market.” Drugs Health Drugs policy Drugs trade Mephedrone Alan Travis guardian.co.uk

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‘Legal highs’ should be automatically banned, says government drugs adviser

Call for tougher US-style system to control designer drugs that mimic effects of established illegal substances All “legal highs” or designer drugs, such as mephedrone (or miaow, miaow) that mimic the effects of established illegal drugs should be automatically banned, according to the government’s official advisers on illicit substances. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) says the government needs to adopt a much tougher US-style system of controls. The recommendation comes after claims that new designer drugs have played a role in 42 deaths in the last two years. Professor Les Iversen, the ACMD chair, said tougher controls were needed to prevent suppliers from simply tweaking the chemistry of newly banned substances to get around the law. More than 40 new legal highs have been identified in the last two years, often emerging from laboratories in south-east Asia where chemists design new compounds that replicate the effects of already banned substances such as cannabis, amphetamine or ecstasy. Many are marketed through online sites offering them as “plant food” or “not fit for human consumption”, but their purpose is often transparent. Iversen said the Polish government had recently taken “bold action” in closing down hundreds of “head shops” similar to those found in Camden market in north London, as well as automatically banning new legal highs. The British government has responded by introducing a system of temporary bans on each new substance as soon as it emerges with parliamentary approval needed for each banning order before detailed tests are made to determine how harmful it is. But the ACMD says it necessary to go further and adopt a system similar to the American “Analogue Act” under which substances bearing a chemical similarity to existing controlled substances, such as amphetamines or the active ingredient in cannabis, are banned. “The system of temporary bans is not a winning strategy because new substances will always continue to emerge,” said Iversen. “Just because it is advertised as a legal high does not mean it is safe. Users are playing a game of russian roulette when they buy something described as research drugs. They are researching the effects on themselves. It is a totally unregulated market. We are not seeing just seeing a nice party drug but something that can kill.” The government’s drug advisers also want to see existing legislation used more effectively to prevent legal highs being falsely advertised as “bath salts” or plant food, and to shift the burden of proof onto suppliers that their product is safe for human consumption. Iversen said figures from the national programme on substance abuse deaths based at St George’s hospital, south London, had logged 127 suspected cases of deaths in Britain which had links with mephedrone over the past two years. Forty-two cases were confirmed as having a link with mephedrone, although none had given the drug as the direct cause of death. So far 29 out of the 127 suspected cases had been shown to have no connection with mephedrone. The ACMD report says a different type of drug dealer has emerged with entrepreneurs seizing on the business opportunities. “Many people importing these new substances appear to have had no previous involvement in the illicit drug trade and are just in it to make a quick buck. They have included students who have set up websites to supply nationally and who also supply the local student population.” These new dealers ensure that the market is quickly saturated with the new drug, the report adds. But Roger Howard of the UK Drug Policy Commission thinktank warned that the tough approach was unlikely to work: “Analogue controls would save politicians from the pressure to do something’ when the new drugs appear on the market. But they wouldn’t solve the real problem.” He said it was increasingly difficult for the police to identify the rapidly growing numbers of psychoactive drugs on the market: “Controlling even more drugs through the drug laws doesn’t do anything to help that nor to prevent the harms that might emerge. We need to think differently about the using other controls to bring some discipline to an unregulated market.” Drugs Health Drugs policy Drugs trade Mephedrone Alan Travis guardian.co.uk

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India v England – live! | Rob Smyth and Andy Bull

• Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Press the button below for automatic updates •  Read Rob’s first Retro MBM (if you like that other game) WICKET! India 80-3 (Rahane c Kieswetter b Bresnan 42) A wonderful catch from Craig Kieswetter! Rahane threw a big drive at Bresnan, with the ball flying off the edge to the right of Kieswetter. He dived full length to take a superb low, one-handed catch. India have lost three wickets for no runs. 18th over: India 80-2 (Rahane 42, Tiwary 0) A double-wicket maiden for Finn. ” Speaking of The Judge …” says Piers Barclay, inexplicably missing an opportunity to link to Judge John Deed. “Around 3.53 is just lovely.” WICKET! India 80-2 (Kohli b Finn 0) This is majestic bowling from Steven Finn. He pinned Kohli down right from the start with a series of accurate deliveries, and then the last ball of the over jagged back sharply to hit the top of off stump as Kohli offered no stroke. This may have been a dog of a series for England, but the development of Finn is seriously exciting. WICKET! India 80-1 (Gambhir b Finn 38) Finn replaces Swann and strikes with his first ball when Gambhir drags an attempted glide back onto the stumps. It was a good delivery from Finn that came back off the seam and cramped him for room. 17th over: India 80-0 (Rahane 42, Gambhir 38) England’s Powerplay expert Tim Bresnan comes back in place of Meaker (3-0-14-0), and his last ball is a good one that beats Rahane’s attempted glide to third man. 16th over: India 77-0 (Rahane 41, Gambhir 36) England take their Powerplay, and Graeme Swann is coming on to bowl. That’s unusual; he usually likes the comfort zone of non-Powerplay overs. His fourth ball is poor, short and wide, and Rahane lifts it easily over the covers for four. “During the heyday of England whitewashes in the 80′s I worked alongside a gang of West Indian cleaners and labourers,” says Ian Burch. “Their joy & laughter at England’s pitiful attempts to make a game of any Test match was only matched by misery. Many fond memories of us listening to TMS while they smashed dominoes thru the mess room tables. Happy whitewash days indeed.” Only an England cricket fan could use the phrase “heyday of whitewashes”. Brilliant. 15th over: India 71-0 (Rahane 36, Gambhir 35) Rahane charges down the track to swipe a Patel full toss back over his head for four. “I completely forgot that this game was on, mostly because the ECB app on my phone claims there aren’t any matches this week,” says Kat Petersen. “That’s active sticking-head-in-sand effort.” It’s been one of the more depressing series, and not just because England are being stuffed. Hopefully it will become memorable, as the first series to make the administrators realise what their indefensible greed is doing to the game. 14th over: India 65-0 (Rahane 29, Gambhir 34) Rahane clips Meaker through midwicket for two. England aren’t bowling badly, but there’s a crushing inevitability to all this. You know at least one and possible all three of Kohli, Raina and Dhoni are going to come off, and you know that England are probably going to be chasing something near 300. “By far the best cricket game ever devised was on the original Nintendo games system,” says Paul Claxton. “Bowling consisted of using your directional buttons for swing and length. Batting was similar but you had the option of either button ‘A’ and button ‘B’; ‘A’ for shots along the ground and ‘B’ for shots in the air. Very quickly my brother and I realised that basically ‘right’ and ‘B’ was the only shot worth playing. Unfortunately for me whilst the majority his shots sailed over the head of either my fine leg or deep square I managed to dolly everything to short leg. He’d get 2-90 off 5 overs and I’d be bowled out for 10. Simple yet brilliant game. Only bettered by Nintendo’s Australian Rules Football game.” 13th over: India 60-0 (Rahane 27, Gambhir 33) A defensive push from Patel lands just short of the bowler Patel. Three from the over. “Why do you think this team has been so tetchy in the series?” says William Hardy. “Is it because they’re losing? Are there particular Indian players that wind them up? Absence of Strauss?” A bit of all three I suppose. I haven’t seen much of the series, but Raina and Kohli seem to wind them up. Mainly by hitting sixes at will. The extent to which England have been outplayed must have come as a bit of a shock to them, too. 12th over: India 57-0 (Rahane 27, Gambhir 30) What a horrible piece of wicketkeeping from Craig Kieswetter. Gambhir edged a cut at Meaker to the left of Kieswetter, who actually dived past the ball and missed it by a fair way. It went between his hands and head for four. That looked awful. “Brian Lara Cricket 99 was the pinnacle of cricketing games, despite being entirely dependent on the commentators to judge your runs for you, due to the ball not showing up on the grass,” says Andrew Jobson. “But every now and then they’d trick you; Aggers’ voice saying ‘there’s runs here… there’s a mix up with the batsmen… suicidal run out’ still haunts my dreams.” 11th over: India 50-0 (Rahane 25, Gambhir 25) Samit Patel comes on for the first non-Powerplay over, and Gambhir opens the face to guide him expertly for four. He plays mediocre spin bowling in his sleep. Nine from the over. “The daddy of cricket video games is this one, but I can only find this picture rather than YouTube footage,” says Alan White. “The Judge’s leg spin was as good as his batting. Quite right too.” The Judge tormenting everyone with leg spin? Now that’s funny. 10th over: India 41-0 (Rahane 23, Gambhir 18) “Ach!” screams Finn as he sends down a half-volley to Rahane, who tucks it splendidly through midwicket for four. Finn slips back into his mezzanine length after that, and Rahane is beaten by a good one outside off stump. Then he survives a biggish shout for LBW. It appeared to be going down leg, and looked a bit high as well. At least England haven’t conceded any extras yet. Give everyone a lollipop. “I’m a little unsure of what to do with myself,” says Michael Hunt, who can never quite remember those pesky White Stripes song titles. “The way this game goes is that you put up a grainy YouTube clip, I think ‘Ha! As if they used to play cricket in the 20th century, look he’s got mixed up and used the name of a commentator as if he was a cricketer!’ and then we crack on with the cricket. This nostalgia for a time I remember, it just doesn’t sit right. Can you dig a little deeper please? Pre-SA tour of England 2003 will do me. Ta.” Howzis ? 9th over: India 37-0 (Rahane 19, Gambhir 18) Stuart Meaker replaces Tim Bresnan (4-0-19-0). He finds a full length straight away, and there are two singles from another low-key over. 8th over: India 35-0 (Rahane 18, Gambhir 17) Another good over Finn costs three. India aren’t really in a hurry; they seem content with the score, safe in the knowledge that MS Dhoni will be in later to score 90 not out from about 15 balls. 7th over: India 32-0 (Rahane 17, Gambhir 15) Three from Bresnan’s over. India are progressing serenely enough, and England’s collective temper is again starting to fray a touch. Bresnan has just had a go at Rahane, and apparently Kieswetter had words with his teammate Patel. 6th over: India 29-0 (Rahane 16, Gambhir 13) Another gorgeous stroke from Rahane, who pushes Finn through extra cover for four with superb timing. It wasn’t a bad ball at all; in fact Finn is bowling pretty well. “Park has always reminded me of a Kick Off 2 player,” says Daniel Harris. “Unable to change direction, so running the ball straight into touch unless it’s in between his feet.” 5th over: India 23-0 (Rahane 10, Gambhir 13) Gambhir cuts Bresnan towards third man, where a shoddy misfield from Meaker turns one into four. The camera cuts to Andy Flower, who was a helluva face on. You would not want to cross Andy Flower. “What about another cricket simulation game – Brian Lara 2008 from EA…” says Romee. “I used to score 500 in 20 overs for the loss of one or two wickets. A very Happy Diwali to all the Guardian readers….” Oh I just meant older games. I gave up on hope technology at the turn of the century. 4th over: India 17-0 (Rahane 10, Gambhir 7) Finn’s pace is around 145kph, or 90mph. Gambhir, a supreme and slightly underrated one-day player, steals a single into the off side. That’s the only run from a good over. “That Cricinfo Stats From The Past is brilliant,” says Neil Withers. “One of the best analyses of different eras I’ve seen. Majestic. And it’s interesting, if predictable and depressing, that the only England batsman to feature is Allan Lamb. Thinking about it though, I am marginally surprised that KP doesn’t feature in the current players section…” Really? KP’s record has faded over the years. Lamb, Fairbrother, Trescothick, Knight, Gower and Morgan have probably been our best ODI batsmen. Five left-handers. I don’t know what the moral of that story is. Bring back Paul Nixon? 3rd over: India 16-0 (Rahane 10, Gambhir 6) Rahane times Bresnan down the ground for four, a delightful stroke. This boy has got something. A first-class average of 69.11, for a start . “When I have had a bad day at work, I like to treat myself to a nugget of that 2005 series on YouTube,” says William Hardy. “In particular Harmison’s slower ball to Clarke, which still gives me shivers. Still one of my top five sporting moments….” 2nd over: India 12-0 (Rahane 6, Gambhir 6) It’ll be Steven Finn to share the new ball. He’s been bowling at 94mph in this series. It’s the most eye-catching transformation since Plain Jane Superbrain took off her glasses , a plot twist that in no way obliterated whatever lingering hope hundreds of glasses-wearing teenagers had of ultimately finding true love. Mind you, these days she’d probably put on glasses to effect the transformation. Why is it that glasses became chic but other 1980s fashion crimes – braces, dungarees, string vests – didn’t? Seems a bit unfair. Anyway, Gambhir steers Finn’s second ball along the ground and between the two slips for four, prompting a teapot or two. Two balls later Finn beats Rahane with a storming delivery that lifts and seams past the outside edge. “On the Graham Gooch game, Athey was the bowler,” says Bob O’Hara. “He & Gooch bowled a couple of wicked off-cutters on middle & leg though.” 1st over: India 6-0 (Rahane 5, Gambhir 1) Tim Bresnan opens the bowling in front of another sparse but lively crowd. Rahane survives a muted LBW appeal from the cordon (but not the bowler Bresnan) and then eases a lovely boundary through the covers. It was going down leg. “In my excitement at seeing Ian Ronald in the team, I have placed £2 on him being top run scorer today,” says Piers Barclay. “I shall share the winnings with the other OBO readers at a to-be-confirmed pub later today. Clear your diaries!” If you make it Tooting Wetherspoons you could probably get a round in. It’s just not cricket Does anyone want to take part in the Kick Off 2 World Cup? The organisers are looking for a few more players. It’s in Birmingham on November 12-13, and you can find out more here . Kick Off 2 is, of course, the greatest football simulation of them all. Don’t believe me? Have a look at this . The cricket simulations were never quite as good, although I have inexplicably fond memories of Graham Gooch Cricket. Look at Bill Athey playing his strokes here . Not sure who the bowler called Marsh is, though. Geoff? Rodney? Jodie? Hackney? Feel Good Inc department I watched this DVD last night, for the first time in a few years. I recommend you do the same, quicksmart. I slept with a big dumb grin plastered all over my big dumb face. How did we cope with it all? Social-networking fiascos like Twitter would explode if it happened now. England have won the toss and will bowl first . If it’s broke, fix it. MS Dhoni says he would also have bowled. England are without Kevin Pietersen, who has a broken thumb. Ian Ronald Bell comes into the team, and Graeme Swann is back for Scott Borthwick. India also make one change, with Manoj Tiwary replacing Parthiv Patel. That means Gautam Gambhir will open. India Rahane, Gambhir, Tiwary, Kohli, Raina, Superman (c/wk), Jadeja, Ashwin, V Kumar, P Kumar, Aaron. England Cook (c), Kieswetter (wk), Trott, Bell, Bopara, Bairstow, Patel, Bresnan, Swann, Meaker, Finn. Preamble There’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever English cricket. For some, that corner is on the subcontinent, where England’s capacity to lose by whopping margins is both enduring and perversely endearing. It’s easy for a certain generation of English cricket fans to treat Kipling’s two impostors the same; if anything, they have swapped them over. Triumph is treated with suspicion, as if there’s a catch, or England winning repeatedly is somehow against the spirit of cricket. Disaster is welcomed warmly into our freshly waxed bosom like an old friend or a memory box. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but there is something dangerously weird strange about the psyche of many English cricket fans – a sort of gentle, grinning masochism. They were pioneers of self-loathing comedy, long before Curb Your Enthusiasm, Peep Show and the rest. And it’s authentic, too; none of that phony self-loathing that is so ubiquitous these days. English cricket has always been such a beautifully strange world. Not even Pakistan could pull off what England have managed this week. They are officially the best team in the world in two formats, and they are about to suffer a 5-0 whitewash in the third. To avoid that whitewash, which would be a second consecutive 5-0 defeat in India, England must win at Eden Gardens today. To do that, they must first find a way to erase the asterisk against the name of the remarkable MS Dhoni – not the one that tells you he’s captain, but the one that tells you he’s not out, yet again. In his last five innings Dhoni has made 265 runs from 216 balls without being dismissed. He has a case for being the greatest finisher in one-day history, better even than Michael Bevan. Indeed, this fascinating and statgasmic Cricinfo study suggests he is the second greatest best one-day batsman of the lot, behind only Viv Richards. Like Viv, he is a rare and awesome combination of poker-faced serenity and soul-crushing brutality. England in India 2011 England cricket team India cricket team Cricket Over by over reports Rob Smyth Andy Bull guardian.co.uk

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India v England – live! | Rob Smyth and Andy Bull

• Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Press the button below for automatic updates •  Read Rob’s first Retro MBM (if you like that other game) 24th over: India 107-3 (Tiwary 15, Raina 11) Finn is back on the field but comes out of the attack, with Meaker replacing him. As Sanjay Manjrekar says, they need to keep Finn’s two overs so that he can attack MS Dhoni when he comes to the crease. Meaker strays onto the pads of Tiwary, who touches him fine for four. Two balls later he reaches outside off to skim a push past point for another boundary. Since that dropped catch, India have scored 26 from 17 balls. Before it they had scored 1 from 25. “I fondly remember this game from the BBC during the 2001 Ashes – I think I only completed the hardest scenario once!” says Neil Withers. “But try as I might I can’t find the safari-themed cartoon cricket game (starring a lion called Steve Roar and maybe a hyena called Shyand Afraidi among the more memorable ‘comedy’ names) that I was addicted to during the 2003 World Cup. If anyone OBOers with superior Google skillz can help me out, I’d be much obliged.” 23rd over: India 98-3 (Tiwary 7, Raina 11) Raina muscles Bopara off the pads and over midwicket for four. He is such a dangerous player. You really don’t want to be dropping him on 1. “Just read the retro MBM you linked to ,” says Chris Drew. “Remember the night well, having lugged a portable TV into the nightschool where I was working. Only one thing missing – comments from Gary Naylor! Surely we can’t have an OBO/MBM without a Naylorsian interjection?” We did think about adding Naylor emails. You could email on the ZX81, right? 22nd over: India 91-3 (Tiwary 5, Raina 6) That should have been another wicket for Finn, but Swann dropped a sitter at second slip. Raina edged a good one from around the wicket, and the crouching Swann put down the sort of chance he would take approximately 37 times out of 38. Raina is not the kind of man you want to drop, and he responds by slapping the next ball in the air and past the diving point for four. This is a fascinating contest between two feisty blokes who probably aren’t friends on Facebook. When Raina gets off strike later in the over, Tiwary skims a drive past backward point for four more. That drop has changed the mood of the innings. Finn punches the air and boots the ground at the end of the over before leaving the field for a break. He has the face on all right. 21th over: India 81-3 (Tiwary 0, Raina 1) With India gasping for air, Cook brings on Ravi Bopara in place of Tim Bresnan. You can understand why – he needs Bresnan’s last four overs for the death – but equally, you suspect Australia would have gone for one more wicket. Still, it’s a good first over from Bopara, a maiden to Tiwary. In the last four overs India have scored one run for the loss of three wickets. They’re an England tribute band. “I’ve come to this rather late this morning due to my work getting in the way of my OBO-ing, and realise the conversation has likely moved on, but Kick Off 2 World Cup! ?” says Glenn Cawston. “Genius. Why didn’t I already know about this? There are certain criteria that need to met, however, namely: 1 This must be the Amiga version, not the abhorrent ST attempt B It must also include the Amiga 1MB upgrade, to allow the utterly pointless (and massively buggy) ref and linesmen If either of these conditions aren’t met, I’m taking my Quickshot II turbo and going home…” 20th over: India 81-3 (Tiwary 0, Raina 1) England have used this bowling Powerplay as they usually use their batting Powerplay: to produce a clatter of wickets for not many runs. Finn starts the last over of the Powerplay to his old chum Raina, who fiddles dangerously at a wide one and misses. Another maiden from the excellent Finn, who has figures of 2-2-0-2 in this spell. “Are India trying to make a match of this?” says Anand. 19th over: India 81-3 (Tiwary 0, Raina 1) “Morning Rob, morning everybody,” says Guy Hornsby. “All this nostalgia for one-day players of the golden age segues nicely into my film choice last night. I saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was a wonderful evocation of cold-war era espionage with its washed-out colours and slow-burning plot. Like watching a Test match from the same decade: all 1.9 run-rates, thick-set men with moustaches, mutual dislike twinned with grudging respect. I actually expected Fred Trueman to wander through the shot in the flashbacks. This series, even devoid of excitement, seems a little brash in comparison.” WICKET! India 80-3 (Rahane c Kieswetter b Bresnan 42) A wonderful catch from Craig Kieswetter! Rahane threw a big drive at Bresnan, with the ball flying off the edge to the right of Kieswetter. He dived full length to take a superb one-handed catch. India have lost three wickets for no runs in 10 balls. 18th over: India 80-2 (Rahane 42, Tiwary 0) A double-wicket maiden for Finn. ” Speaking of The Judge …” says Piers Barclay, inexplicably missing an opportunity to link to Judge John Deed. “Around 3.53 is just lovely.” WICKET! India 80-2 (Kohli b Finn 0) This is majestic bowling from Steven Finn. He pinned Kohli down right from the start with a series of accurate deliveries, and then the last ball of the over jagged back sharply to hit the top of off stump as Kohli offered no stroke. This may have been a dog of a series for England, but the development of Finn is seriously exciting. WICKET! India 80-1 (Gambhir b Finn 38) Finn replaces Swann and strikes with his first ball when Gambhir drags an attempted glide back onto the stumps. It was a good delivery from Finn that came back off the seam and cramped him for room. 17th over: India 80-0 (Rahane 42, Gambhir 38) England’s Powerplay expert Tim Bresnan comes back in place of Meaker (3-0-14-0), and his last ball is a good one that beats Rahane’s attempted glide to third man. 16th over: India 77-0 (Rahane 41, Gambhir 36) England take their Powerplay, and Graeme Swann is coming on to bowl. That’s unusual; he usually likes the comfort zone of non-Powerplay overs. His fourth ball is poor, short and wide, and Rahane lifts it easily over the covers for four. “During the heyday of England whitewashes in the 80′s I worked alongside a gang of West Indian cleaners and labourers,” says Ian Burch. “Their joy & laughter at England’s pitiful attempts to make a game of any Test match was only matched by misery. Many fond memories of us listening to TMS while they smashed dominoes thru the mess room tables. Happy whitewash days indeed.” Only an England cricket fan could use the phrase “heyday of whitewashes”. Brilliant. 15th over: India 71-0 (Rahane 36, Gambhir 35) Rahane charges down the track to swipe a Patel full toss back over his head for four. “I completely forgot that this game was on, mostly because the ECB app on my phone claims there aren’t any matches this week,” says Kat Petersen. “That’s active sticking-head-in-sand effort.” It’s been one of the more depressing series, and not just because England are being stuffed. Hopefully it will become memorable, as the first series to make the administrators realise what their indefensible greed is doing to the game. 14th over: India 65-0 (Rahane 29, Gambhir 34) Rahane clips Meaker through midwicket for two. England aren’t bowling badly, but there’s a crushing inevitability to all this. You know at least one and possible all three of Kohli, Raina and Dhoni are going to come off, and you know that England are probably going to be chasing something near 300. “By far the best cricket game ever devised was on the original Nintendo games system,” says Paul Claxton. “Bowling consisted of using your directional buttons for swing and length. Batting was similar but you had the option of either button ‘A’ and button ‘B’; ‘A’ for shots along the ground and ‘B’ for shots in the air. Very quickly my brother and I realised that basically ‘right’ and ‘B’ was the only shot worth playing. Unfortunately for me whilst the majority his shots sailed over the head of either my fine leg or deep square I managed to dolly everything to short leg. He’d get 2-90 off 5 overs and I’d be bowled out for 10. Simple yet brilliant game. Only bettered by Nintendo’s Australian Rules Football game.” 13th over: India 60-0 (Rahane 27, Gambhir 33) A defensive push from Patel lands just short of the bowler Patel. Three from the over. “Why do you think this team has been so tetchy in the series?” says William Hardy. “Is it because they’re losing? Are there particular Indian players that wind them up? Absence of Strauss?” A bit of all three I suppose. I haven’t seen much of the series, but Raina and Kohli seem to wind them up. Mainly by hitting sixes at will. The extent to which England have been outplayed must have come as a bit of a shock to them, too. 12th over: India 57-0 (Rahane 27, Gambhir 30) What a horrible piece of wicketkeeping from Craig Kieswetter. Gambhir edged a cut at Meaker to the left of Kieswetter, who actually dived past the ball and missed it by a fair way. It went between his hands and head for four. That looked awful. “Brian Lara Cricket 99 was the pinnacle of cricketing games, despite being entirely dependent on the commentators to judge your runs for you, due to the ball not showing up on the grass,” says Andrew Jobson. “But every now and then they’d trick you; Aggers’ voice saying ‘there’s runs here… there’s a mix up with the batsmen… suicidal run out’ still haunts my dreams.” 11th over: India 50-0 (Rahane 25, Gambhir 25) Samit Patel comes on for the first non-Powerplay over, and Gambhir opens the face to guide him expertly for four. He plays mediocre spin bowling in his sleep. Nine from the over. “The daddy of cricket video games is this one, but I can only find this picture rather than YouTube footage,” says Alan White. “The Judge’s leg spin was as good as his batting. Quite right too.” The Judge tormenting everyone with leg spin? Now that’s funny. 10th over: India 41-0 (Rahane 23, Gambhir 18) “Ach!” screams Finn as he sends down a half-volley to Rahane, who tucks it splendidly through midwicket for four. Finn slips back into his mezzanine length after that, and Rahane is beaten by a good one outside off stump. Then he survives a biggish shout for LBW. It appeared to be going down leg, and looked a bit high as well. At least England haven’t conceded any extras yet. Give everyone a lollipop. “I’m a little unsure of what to do with myself,” says Michael Hunt, who can never quite remember those pesky White Stripes song titles. “The way this game goes is that you put up a grainy YouTube clip, I think ‘Ha! As if they used to play cricket in the 20th century, look he’s got mixed up and used the name of a commentator as if he was a cricketer!’ and then we crack on with the cricket. This nostalgia for a time I remember, it just doesn’t sit right. Can you dig a little deeper please? Pre-SA tour of England 2003 will do me. Ta.” Howzis ? 9th over: India 37-0 (Rahane 19, Gambhir 18) Stuart Meaker replaces Tim Bresnan (4-0-19-0). He finds a full length straight away, and there are two singles from another low-key over. 8th over: India 35-0 (Rahane 18, Gambhir 17) Another good over Finn costs three. India aren’t really in a hurry; they seem content with the score, safe in the knowledge that MS Dhoni will be in later to score 90 not out from about 15 balls. 7th over: India 32-0 (Rahane 17, Gambhir 15) Three from Bresnan’s over. India are progressing serenely enough, and England’s collective temper is again starting to fray a touch. Bresnan has just had a go at Rahane, and apparently Kieswetter had words with his teammate Patel. 6th over: India 29-0 (Rahane 16, Gambhir 13) Another gorgeous stroke from Rahane, who pushes Finn through extra cover for four with superb timing. It wasn’t a bad ball at all; in fact Finn is bowling pretty well. “Park has always reminded me of a Kick Off 2 player,” says Daniel Harris. “Unable to change direction, so running the ball straight into touch unless it’s in between his feet.” 5th over: India 23-0 (Rahane 10, Gambhir 13) Gambhir cuts Bresnan towards third man, where a shoddy misfield from Meaker turns one into four. The camera cuts to Andy Flower, who was a helluva face on. You would not want to cross Andy Flower. “What about another cricket simulation game – Brian Lara 2008 from EA…” says Romee. “I used to score 500 in 20 overs for the loss of one or two wickets. A very Happy Diwali to all the Guardian readers….” Oh I just meant older games. I gave up on hope technology at the turn of the century. 4th over: India 17-0 (Rahane 10, Gambhir 7) Finn’s pace is around 145kph, or 90mph. Gambhir, a supreme and slightly underrated one-day player, steals a single into the off side. That’s the only run from a good over. “That Cricinfo Stats From The Past is brilliant,” says Neil Withers. “One of the best analyses of different eras I’ve seen. Majestic. And it’s interesting, if predictable and depressing, that the only England batsman to feature is Allan Lamb. Thinking about it though, I am marginally surprised that KP doesn’t feature in the current players section…” Really? KP’s record has faded over the years. Lamb, Fairbrother, Trescothick, Knight, Gower and Morgan have probably been our best ODI batsmen. Five left-handers. I don’t know what the moral of that story is. Bring back Paul Nixon? 3rd over: India 16-0 (Rahane 10, Gambhir 6) Rahane times Bresnan down the ground for four, a delightful stroke. This boy has got something. A first-class average of 69.11, for a start . “When I have had a bad day at work, I like to treat myself to a nugget of that 2005 series on YouTube,” says William Hardy. “In particular Harmison’s slower ball to Clarke, which still gives me shivers. Still one of my top five sporting moments….” 2nd over: India 12-0 (Rahane 6, Gambhir 6) It’ll be Steven Finn to share the new ball. He’s been bowling at 94mph in this series. It’s the most eye-catching transformation since Plain Jane Superbrain took off her glasses , a plot twist that in no way obliterated whatever lingering hope hundreds of glasses-wearing teenagers had of ultimately finding true love. Mind you, these days she’d probably put on glasses to effect the transformation. Why is it that glasses became chic but other 1980s fashion crimes – braces, dungarees, string vests – didn’t? Seems a bit unfair. Anyway, Gambhir steers Finn’s second ball along the ground and between the two slips for four, prompting a teapot or two. Two balls later Finn beats Rahane with a storming delivery that lifts and seams past the outside edge. “On the Graham Gooch game, Athey was the bowler,” says Bob O’Hara. “He & Gooch bowled a couple of wicked off-cutters on middle & leg though.” 1st over: India 6-0 (Rahane 5, Gambhir 1) Tim Bresnan opens the bowling in front of another sparse but lively crowd. Rahane survives a muted LBW appeal from the cordon (but not the bowler Bresnan) and then eases a lovely boundary through the covers. It was going down leg. “In my excitement at seeing Ian Ronald in the team, I have placed £2 on him being top run scorer today,” says Piers Barclay. “I shall share the winnings with the other OBO readers at a to-be-confirmed pub later today. Clear your diaries!” If you make it Tooting Wetherspoons you could probably get a round in. It’s just not cricket Does anyone want to take part in the Kick Off 2 World Cup? The organisers are looking for a few more players. It’s in Birmingham on November 12-13, and you can find out more here . Kick Off 2 is, of course, the greatest football simulation of them all. Don’t believe me? Have a look at this . The cricket simulations were never quite as good, although I have inexplicably fond memories of Graham Gooch Cricket. Look at Bill Athey playing his strokes here . Not sure who the bowler called Marsh is, though. Geoff? Rodney? Jodie? Hackney? Feel Good Inc department I watched this DVD last night, for the first time in a few years. I recommend you do the same, quicksmart. I slept with a big dumb grin plastered all over my big dumb face. How did we cope with it all? Social-networking fiascos like Twitter would explode if it happened now. England have won the toss and will bowl first . If it’s broke, fix it. MS Dhoni says he would also have bowled. England are without Kevin Pietersen, who has a broken thumb. Ian Ronald Bell comes into the team, and Graeme Swann is back for Scott Borthwick. India also make one change, with Manoj Tiwary replacing Parthiv Patel. That means Gautam Gambhir will open. India Rahane, Gambhir, Tiwary, Kohli, Raina, Superman (c/wk), Jadeja, Ashwin, V Kumar, P Kumar, Aaron. England Cook (c), Kieswetter (wk), Trott, Bell, Bopara, Bairstow, Patel, Bresnan, Swann, Meaker, Finn. Preamble There’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever English cricket. For some, that corner is on the subcontinent, where England’s capacity to lose by whopping margins is both enduring and perversely endearing. It’s easy for a certain generation of English cricket fans to treat Kipling’s two impostors the same; if anything, they have swapped them over. Triumph is treated with suspicion, as if there’s a catch, or England winning repeatedly is somehow against the spirit of cricket. Disaster is welcomed warmly into our freshly waxed bosom like an old friend or a memory box. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but there is something dangerously weird strange about the psyche of many English cricket fans – a sort of gentle, grinning masochism. They were pioneers of self-loathing comedy, long before Curb Your Enthusiasm, Peep Show and the rest. And it’s authentic, too; none of that phony self-loathing that is so ubiquitous these days. English cricket has always been such a beautifully strange world. Not even Pakistan could pull off what England have managed this week. They are officially the best team in the world in two formats, and they are about to suffer a 5-0 whitewash in the third. To avoid that whitewash, which would be a second consecutive 5-0 defeat in India, England must win at Eden Gardens today. To do that, they must first find a way to erase the asterisk against the name of the remarkable MS Dhoni – not the one that tells you he’s captain, but the one that tells you he’s not out, yet again. In his last five innings Dhoni has made 265 runs from 216 balls without being dismissed. He has a case for being the greatest finisher in one-day history, better even than Michael Bevan. Indeed, this fascinating and statgasmic Cricinfo study suggests he is the second greatest best one-day batsman of the lot, behind only Viv Richards. Like Viv, he is a rare and awesome combination of poker-faced serenity and soul-crushing brutality. England in India 2011 England cricket team India cricket team Cricket Over by over reports Rob Smyth Andy Bull guardian.co.uk

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