Architect of New Labour expresses concern over pace of progress in development of a coherent party ideology Ed Miliband needs to be more courageous so that he cannot be seen as a leader of factions inside the party, Peter Mandelson, the former cabinet minister and architect of New Labour has warned. He also called on him to take more risks and for the party to produce a coherent policy review that addressed the big issues facing the country, including public services in an era of austerity. Speaking to a seminar at the Labour pressure group Progress, Mandelson reflected some of the frustration at the pace of the party’s attempts to find a voice since the general election, and appeared to admit that Miliband has yet to prove himself. He said “Our leader is a leader of the country, not of the party’s sections and factions, and it is to the country he needs to be given the space to prove himself. The leadership election is over. We support Ed. No ifs and buts. He is our leader, period”. He warned that infighting in any party is deeply corrosive, saying it “all but killed Labour in the eighties”. He also appeared to express a concern at the perception of the party’s wider leadership, saying: “We have to sound and look like a genuinely national party drawn from every region and social background, and not just ex-political assistants, researchers and trade union apparatchiks recruited from inside the London beltway”. He expressed concern at the pace of progress, saying the party currently appears “too tactical, too afraid to answer questions that would trigger difficulty in the party or how the media will report it.” He added: “We need to spend less time talking to ourselves about Ed and more time talking to the country with smart ideas that are realistic and sufficiently innovative to command media and public attention”. He urged Miliband to take a few risks, talk directly to the country and innovate on policy challenges. There is also concern that the party’s policy review may prove to be fragmented without a coherent overall ideology. Mandelson said “the party needed to realign our instincts and outlook with those of the British people”. He argued that “the lesson from the 80s and the pre-1997 is this renewal has to be done as a coherent whole if we are to be sure that policies fit with the aspirations and outlook of the British people. He said that in a whole swath of areas Labour need to be clearer about the need for responsibility and the overlap between the state and the individual. “Rights coming with responsibility is an eternal verity of our party,” Mandelson said, arguing this principle could be applied to issues such as antisocial behaviour, health, cultural integration and sexualisation of children. A key task for the party, he said, was how to continue to improve public services and lever up productivity. He said this was “a huge challenge now the economy is not growing. People will not support further tax and spend unless they can see clear value for money”. “Further enlarging public sector employment is not an option in the coming decade and we need to look to the real economy, to the private business sector, to deliver sufficient numbers of decently paid skilled jobs.” He said the party itself needed to go through radical reform. He said the party needed to revolutionise its funding sources, saying “we cannot let this situation persist.” Mandelson insisted this was not a coded attack on the unions, admitting the party could not exist without them, but added: “We have to develop smarter ways of raising money. We have to combine the latest solutions with community engagement to open up new sources of cash.” “We have to go where the public are, having allowed ourselves to drift away from them in the last few years of our government. People take their politics from the issues they care about – jobs and unemployment, immigration and asylum, health and the NHS, schools, cost of living, pensions and poverty. In these issues people find meaning to their policy”. Ed Miliband Peter Mandelson Labour Trade unions Party funding Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Four hundred naked bathers took to the water in Wales yesterday, attempting to set the record for world’s largest skinny dip, reports the Guardian . Organized to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity, each swimmer had to get into the water at least up to the waist and…
Continue reading …It’s a huge day for the Internet: The organization in charge of online addresses has OKed a giant boost in domain endings, giving the green light to nearly any word in any language, reports the New York Times . The Internet Corporation for the Assignment of Web Names and Numbers “has…
Continue reading …One in 13 American kids suffers from food allergies, a study finds: That’s 6 million children, double the number most recently estimated by the CDC. Some 40% of them have severe reactions to the foods in question, most commonly peanuts and milk, a figure researchers say emphasizes the fact that…
Continue reading …Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s trial begins today, making the former Tunisian president the first deposed Middle East leader to face trial in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. Ben Ali, who will be tried in absentia, faces charges including abusing state funds, drug trafficking, and illegal arms possession….
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Outcry from Tory right and tabloid press leads to scrapping of plan despite support from Lib Dems David Cameron has forced Kenneth Clarke to abandon all plans for 50% sentence discounts for early guilty pleas after an outcry on the Tory right and in the tabloids. Cameron will announce the change at a Downing Street press conference on Tuesday, when the Ministry of Justice publishes its justice bill containing proposals for tougher community sentences and the introduction of a payment-by-results system to reduce prisoner reoffending. After an outcry, Cameron forced Clarke to withdraw plans for the discount for rapists. There had been speculation that Clarke would manage to keep 50% discounts for some lesser offences, but the justice secretary has lost that battle. Cameron has decided that any reduction in sentences in return for early guilty pleas would undermine his broader commitment to bring sense to sentencing. The current discount is a third, and an extension to 50% would have meant a big drop in the prison population. The decision will mean the Ministry of Justice has to find as much as £100m in extra savings over four years from elsewhere in its budget. Most of the savings will come from a further squeeze on probation. The Treasury has said it is willing to see the justice ministry change the speed at which it finds savings. No official confirmation was available from Downing Street before a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday and Cameron’s press conference. Number 10 argues that trust in the criminal justice system is so low that it would be unable to sell a cut in sentences in return for early guilty pleas. Cameron’s advisers have told him his party is losing its grip on the law and order agenda. The Liberal Democrat leadership, which had promised to side with Clarke, appeared to have accepted defeat. A Lib Dem source said the 50% discount was not a party policy: “We never said we would want to bring it in. We are not totally wedded to it and it is not a big loss.” Clarke’s original green paper proposal was expected to produce savings of £210m a year by reducing the demand for prison places by 6,000. Ministry of Justice officials estimated that this would cut the record 85,000 prison population in England and Wales by 3,000 by the time of the next general election. Other proposals expected on Tuesday include removing the courts’ option of remanding in custody defendants who are unlikely to receive a prison sentence. This would save 1,300 prison places a year. Other proposals include deporting more foreign prisoners (500 places), a new release test for those serving indeterminate sentences for public protection (300 to 600 places), and diverting mentally ill prisoners into community health treatment services (650 prison places). Helen Goodman, the shadow justice minister, said: “Ken Clarke’s plan is to send fewer people to prison and to put more people on community sentences. This cannot work when probation trusts are taking the lion’s share of the Ministry of Justice’s cuts. These cuts will mean that there will be fewer probation officers monitoring fewer offenders less often.” The justice minister, Crispin Blunt, gave a broad hint last week that any need to find further savings in the Ministry of Justice budget as a result of changes to the sentencing package were likely to come from the courts and probation services. Blunt told MPs that probation had so far been “quite significantly protected” from his department’s 23% budget cuts. The plans have provoked fierce opposition, particularly from the solicitors’ organisation, the Law Society. One initial recommendation was to withdraw legal aid in family cases except those involving allegations of domestic violence. Critics warned that this would provide a perverse incentive to exaggerate grievances. Des Hudson, the Law Society chief executive, said he feared that cuts to legal aid could be even deeper than the proposed £350m because less money may be saved by keeping people out of prison. He said: “This means they will come to the budget with sharpened pencils. We will not stand by and see the most vulnerable left with no access to justice.” UK criminal justice Prisons and probation Kenneth Clarke David Cameron Patrick Wintour Allegra Stratton Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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Exclusive : Royal College of Psychiatrists warns society will be overwhelmed if ministers fail to fill gap Overcrowded and understaffed psychiatric wards are leaving patients fearful for their safety and unable to make proper recoveries, according to a damning assessment of Britain’s mental health service by its lead professional body. Professor Dinesh Bhugra, the outgoing president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told the Guardian that widespread failures in inpatient care for mentally ill people meant many hospital wards did not meet acceptable standards and discharged back into society sick people who remained a risk to themselves and others. Bhugra blamed the problem partly on a “dangerous vacuum” created because British doctors are not training as psychiatrists, while visa restrictions mean doctors from abroad can no longer fill the gap. “Society will be overwhelmed by the demand of those in need if government doesn’t act now,” he said in an interview. A survey by the royal college found that 544 consultants’ posts in the UK – 14% of the total – are either unfilled or filled by a locum. In addition, 209 consultants intend to retire or resign soon, a situation exacerbated by the government’s cap on immigration from outside the EU. “This is a huge, a massive problem,” said Bhugra. “We will be left with a dangerous vacuum of help for people with mental health disorders or will be forced to get special dispensation from the government to recruit heavily from countries who can ill afford to lose their mental health professionals.” His warnings are supported by a study to be published next week in which the royal college describes how about half of patients – mostly women – report feeling unsafe in many of worst-performing hospital trusts. The report also says: • Average bed occupancy rates in English inpatient units are much higher than the 85% standard, with some wards running at 120% occupancy. • Access to psychological therapies falls far short of acceptable standards recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and other health bodies. • Daily one-to-one contact with nursing staff is less than that accepted as being conducive to recovery. • Outreach links into the community are insufficient in two-thirds of the wards inspected by the royal college’s centre for quality improvement. Bhugra said the failure of wards on the 85% bed occupancy rate was particularly troubling. The report reveals that more than half of all adult general wards run at more than 100% occupancy, with 16% meeting the required target. Just 21% of acute wards meet the 85% target. “Very high bed occupancy militates against quality and safety of inpatient care,” Bhugra said. “It is a main driver of inpatient care standards. [High bed occupancy] can result in patients becoming more distressed and unwell, and likely to need more longterm care. “Given the continued reduction in bed numbers and increased community care over the past decade, inpatient units have become places for crisis stabilisation and are likely to admit only those individuals who are the most disturbed, distressed or unwell. For such people especially, as they are unable to make the choice to leave, the ward is their home.” The report also reveals that wards are failing to provide separate sleeping and toilet facilities for men and women, despite gender-segregated accommodation having been government policy for a decade. Just 85% of wards have segregated sleeping accommodation and less than 60% have separate lounges. “This remains an intractable problem,” said Bhugra. Several dozen psychiatric patients take their own lives while in NHS care every year. Mental health charities such as Rethink claim this shows that care needs to be improved and staffing levels boosted. Rethink spokeswoman Rachel Whitehead said: “Psychiatric wards are not a therapeutic environment. Many people tell us they don’t feel safe there and they are not getting access to the support and therapy they need. Supervision is also a problem, largely due to overstretched staff and wards which are over their occupancy levels.” Another research paper by the college, to be published next month, shows that the number of medical graduates who accepted an offer of psychiatry training posts in England and Wales fell from 184 in 2009 to 158 in 2010. Bhugra said “dangerously few” doctors train as psychiatrists because the specialism suffers from a poor reputation compared with other medical disciplines. “It is wrongly seen as less scientific,” he said. Professor Peter Jones, head of the neuroscience department at Cambridge University, admitted the lack of psychiatry applications was a “terrible state of affairs”. He said the formation of specialist mental health trusts had made psychiatry “seem more remote from mainstream medicine”. He also said stigma “is a huge problem for people with mental health disorders and trickles into professional lives.” Wards are also failing to provide structured therapeutic activities, the royal college report finds, with 35% of patients complaining of too little to do during weekdays, rising to 54% in the evenings and at weekends. Bhugra said: “The value [of this] cannot be overestimated. A lack of regular activities can lead to boredom, frustration and inactivity, which not only impede recovery but also can instigate unsafe, violent and erratic behaviour. Inpatients may be experiencing paranoia, be easily over-stimulated and sometimes frightened and disorientated.” Bhugra criticised wards for falling short in standards of security, risk management, violence prevention and management, medicines and confidentiality. The report highlights evidence revealing that in the worst-performing 20% of trusts, only 50-60% of patients said they felt safe. Overall, less than 45% said they “always” felt safe. “The Care Quality Commission has found that unnecessary and excessive restrictions, and security measures are sometimes imposed on detained patients,” said Bhugra. “Undue restrictions on a patient’s autonomy compromise their personal dignity and rights as an individual. Such excessive restrictions are upsetting for the patient and can delay recovery. “Safety and risk policies are in place to aid patient recovery. Unnecessary bureaucracy and rules can not only hamper a patient’s recovery but possibly exacerbate their mental illness. Whether a person is detained or voluntarily admitted to hospital, general ethical standards that are adhered to in the community should, wherever possible, apply on the ward.” The report found just 52% of patients claimed to have “supportive”, one-to-one meetings with staff for at least 15 minutes every day. In 20% of the worst-performing trusts, as few as 50% of patients felt they were given enough time with a psychiatrist and even fewer said they were given enough time with a nurse. Bhugra said every patient should have a one-to-one session with a relevant staff member once a day. Bhugra also admitted deep worries about the drop in British medical graduates going on to train as psychiatrists. He said that government’s cap on immigration from outside the European Union will make the problem much worse. The Royal College’s survey reported that 544 consultants posts in the UK are either unfilled or filled by a locum: 14% of all posts. In addtion, there are 209 consultants who intend to retire or resign in a short time. “This is a huge, a massive problem,” he said. “We will be left with a dangerous vacuum of help for people with mental health disorders or will be forced to get special dispensation from the government to recruit heavily from countries who can ill-affod to lose their mental health professionals.” A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Mental health is a cross-government priority. We published No Health Without Mental Health, our cross-government mental health outcomes strategy, to drive up standards in services and improve the nation’s mental health. The strategy makes clear that mental health services should be just as important as physical health services such as those for cancer and heart disease. “We have supported the Royal Colleges of GPs and Psychiatrists to develop advice and support for commissioning consortia to commission effective mental health services. The strategy emphasises the importance of improving quality and productivity across the system, while making efficiency savings that can be reinvested in the service to deliver quality improvements. “In addition, we will invest around £400m over four years in psychological therapies for those who need them in all parts of England, expanding provision for the entire population.” Mental health Health NHS Health policy Public services policy Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Miss California Alyssa Campanella, a self-described “huge history geek,” was named Miss USA at the Las Vegas pageant last night. The 21-year-old formerly represented New Jersey in the Miss Teen USA contest in 2007, but moved to Los Angeles a year and a half ago and plans to stay. She…
Continue reading …Remember when bills had simple names like the Civil Rights Act or the Highway Beautification Act? Not any more. Lawmakers are increasingly using these titles as a political tool, saddling bills with cumbersome and partisan names like the Reducing Barack Obama’s Unsustainable Deficit Act or the Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete…
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Andy Murray lost the first set before absolutely steamrollering Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the first round at Wimbledon Got some time to fill before we get under way? Here’s Kevin Mitchell’s preview … Andy Murray, speaking for the first time about the inner turmoil he suffered when forced to sack two coaches during the most wretched period of his career, says he has had to learn to be “more selfish” in pursuing his quest to win Wimbledon and other major honours in tennis. The world No4, still without a slam title to his name, is scheduled to start his campaign here in the teatime match on Centre Court on Monday against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, and the unseeded Spaniard is likely to feel the full force of the reinvigorated Murray game. It is difficult to imagine but, so low were his spirits, only a few months ago the Scot might not have fancied his chances of winning even a set against Gimeno-Traver, who is ranked 56 in the world. Murray has come a long way, mentally and in the strength of his tennis, since he parted company with Miles Maclagan, after losing in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, then Alex Corretja, about the time of the gloom-laden hard-court American nightmare that followed his defeat in the final of the Australian Open. He has had what Rafael Nadal described yesterday as “a fantastic clay court season”, and victory at Queen’s last Monday has further brightened his mood, reminding him to trust his talent. But Murray will never allow himself to forget the darkest time of his career, because it is from such experiences that he draws strength in difficult times. “It’s something I needed to get better at, [being] more responsible and more selfish in terms of letting people know my feeling about things, things I want changed,” he said of his relationship with Maclagan and Corretja. Continue reading here … Afternoon world! With the pesky rain and Jelena Dokic’s belief that it’s 2001 again combining to keep Andy Murray tapping his toes in the changing rooms, we’ve got some time to fill. You can occupy literally seconds with this print-out-n-keep guide to the plucky Brit’s doomed opponent: • Daniel Gimeno-Traver is 25, and is the world No59 • His father is a chemist, his mother a nurse • His best shots are his serve and his forehand • He has won five of his 16 Grand Slam matches. He has reached the third round of a Grand Slam once – last year’s US Open, where he ground his way past the world No58 and the world No64, before being pummelled by David Ferrer • He lost in the first round in both Australia and France this year, without winning a set • Since first breaking into the world’s top 60 last July he has never been ranked higher than 52 or lower than 61 • The last time he saw a world top-five ranked player, he lost 6-1, 6-1 (to Rafael Nadal in April) • That’s pretty much all I can find out about him. He doesn’t even Tweet! If you can find out anything more interesting, I’d love to hear it. Failing that, just make some stuff up. 6.27pm: Bonanza news update – Schiavone has beaten Dokic , so Murray will be on shortly. 6.39pm: And he is indeed on. Warming up now. 6.42pm: Murray will serve. Game on. First set: Murray 1-0 Gimeno-Traver* A bog standard, bread-and-butter opening game, which involved one rally, an ace and a couple of service winners. First set: Murray* 1-1 Gimeno-Traver “You can sense that Traver doesn’t know what to do already,” says John McEnroe, one point into the second game. He’s not totally clueless, though – he wins one point with a massive second serve, shows his foot-speed by successfully chasing down a Murray drop shot, and wins the last two points with enormous forehand winners. First set: Murray 2-1 Gimeno-Traver* This is the Spaniard’s 10th match on grass, ever. Anyway, another easy service game for Murray, let down only by a massively wild unforced forehand error at 40-0, the only point he’s so far lost/given away on his serve. First set: Murray* 2-2 Gimeno-Traver Murray’s feeling his way into this one, still making the occasional wild error, but he brings up break point with a perfectly-managed rally. It’s the first of the match, and is saved thanks to a big serve down the middle. Incidentally, if you’re wondering whether play will end tonight at any particular time, it won’t – they should play this to the finish, whenever that may be. First set: Murray 3-2 Gimeno-Traver* Murray’s got in trouble before for over-reliance on drop shots, but he produces a beauty from the baseline on his way to another game held emphatically to love. First set: Murray* 3-3 Gimeno-Traver So six games in, G-T (as I’ll call him, as it might save literally hundreds of keystrokes over the next couple of hours) is playing very much to his ranking. He’s got a mean forehand, though it takes time to crank up and disappears under pressure, and a strong first serve, but this isn’t a match Murray should be losing. He held to 15 that time – the first two both went at least to deuce. First set: Murray 4-3 Gimeno-Traver* Murray is absolutely breezing through his service games. That one did at least include a couple of rallies, but was held to 15. “How do they decide which among the line judges gets which lines to watch?” wonders David Wall. “The guy on the centre service line seems to have it easy compared to the others: he’s only got to concentrate for one shot per point, and for half of the match when the player at his end is receiving. After the serve has landed he can just put his hands in his pockets and make himself look good on TV. Do they draw lots, is it a seniority thing, and does the rate of pay very accordingly?” Some form of rotation should appear in order. First set: Murray* 4-4 Gimeno-Traver G-T proves he’s not afraid to come to the net, cutting off Murray’s attempted cross-court pass with an accomplished volley. His own service games appear to be becoming more emphatic – Murray wants to focus on his backhand, which G-T tends to slice or run round entirely, and give him fewer easy forehands. First set: Murray 4-5 Gimeno-Traver* Murray is broken! From nowhere, wobbles – G-T converted his third break point, and the first to feature a second serve. Murray was perhaps disconcerted by what was the rally of the match so far, on the second point of the game, which he won with a neat drop volley despite some idiot in the crowd shouting “COME ON MURRAY!” right in the middle of it, and then everyone else in the crowd loudly going “SSSSHHHHHHHHH!” at her. At the end of the game, the BBC treat their audience to a very impressive close-up of the Guardian’s photographic mastermind, Tom Jenkins. First set: Gimeno-Traver wins the first set 6-4 G-T will absolutely slam away any short forehands with the utmost force, that much is clear. What else is clear is that Murray is not quite on top of his game tonight – he was 5-2 up on unforced errors, before that game. Second set: Murray 4-6, 1-0 Gimeno-Traver* A very serious expression covers Murray’s face, as well it might, but it’s back to business as usual here – four strong first serves, one of them an ace and a further two unreturnable, and a game won easily to love. Second set: Murray* 4-6, 1-1 Gimeno-Traver Murray earns himself a break point, getting away with a weak-ass volley because G-T attempts an underhit lob, but he can’t convert either that one or another a few moments later, and G-T salvages the game. Second set: Murray 4-6, 2-1 Gimeno-Traver* “You’ve got to hand it to him – he’s really showed up and played great so far,” says McEnroe. Not, obviously, of Murray. But this is another easyish hold for the Scot, who is getting some proper evils off his mum in the players’ box. Second set: Murray* 4-6, 2-2 Gimeno-Traver G-T is serving really well at key moments. After a couple of service winners saved break points in his previous game, another digs him out at 30-30. Murray takes it to deuce, only to provoke probably the Spaniard’s point of the match and the game is lost. Second set: Murray 4-6, 3-2 Gimeno-Traver* An easy enough hold for Murray, though his second serve is too predictable for G-T. Just as well he’s serving pretty well, his first serve percentage running at 68%, of which points 84% have been won. Second set: Murray* 4-6, 3-3 Gimeno-Traver For the second time in the match, G-T loses his footing and falls over. This one is at the end of a 24-stroke rally, the longest of the match, but sadly for Murray’s many followers no damage is done. Second set: Murray 4-6, 4-3 Gimeno-Traver* G-T has got McEnroe absolutely singing. He is loving this. And in the first point of the game the Spaniard chases down another weak volley – Murray should have ended it right there – and produces a perfect lob. Brilliant stuff – and he damn nearly does it again two points later. “Is it wrong to want Murray to go out here?” asks Dan Lucas. ” Not because of some anti-Scottish/anti-petulant teenager sentiment, nor some self-loathing anti-Britishness, but rather as a kind of mercy killing: saving the rest of us from Sue Barker going on like a slightly mad WI leader at a royal wedding party until Murray gets knocked out by someone half-competent in the quarter/semi-finals? I understand Barker is there to appeal to the Daily Mail-reading Radio 2 listener from the home counties, but she really is the worst substitute imaginable for Mike Atherton now the test series is over.” The thing is, Barker’s still going to be there, even if Murray isn’t. She’ll just find something else to get excited about. Murray being knocked out wouldn’t help at all, not on that count. Second set: Murray* 4-6, 5-3 Gimeno-Traver Murray breaks! Eventually! For the first time he gets two consecutive break points. The first is saved by G-T after a good serve sends Murray too wide; the second is wasted by Murray, who sends an attempted passing shot into the net. But a missed half-volley brings a third, and this time there’s no mistake. Murray wins the second set 6-3 It’s one set all, three awesome aces helping Murray hold to 15. Third set: Murray* 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 Gimeno-Traver Murray’s arse barely brushes his chair after the second set – he’s pacing up and down the court long before the umpire calls time – and he duly gets his reward. Not without a fight, mind – he finally converts his third break point. Highlights include a brilliant smash retrieval and two lovely on-the-run passes, one down each side. “Murray is finally gettin’ it going,” trills McEnroe. How quickly things change. Third set: Murray 4-6, 6-3, 2-0 Gimeno-Traver* He might get through this match, but Murray’s second serve won’t really do. David Lloyd brought it up before the match, and his over-reliance on the kick is too frequently giving G-T an easy chance for a thunderous forehand return. Here he tries a bit of slice, which proves enough to flummox G-T, and lands every other first serve. Third set: Murray* 4-6, 6-3, 3-0 Gimeno-Traver OK, we’re looking at a full-scale collapse now. Murray’s ramped up the aggression, and G-T is wilting fast. Murray gets the double break and doesn’t have to work very hard to earn it – G-T gives it away with a double fault. Third set: Murray 4-6, 6-3, 4-0 Gimeno-Traver* “What always strikes me about Murray is that he is wonderfully unreconstructed, that he’s basically himself and ‘sod the rest of ‘em’, which I find refreshing,” writes Elliot Wilson, “in this age of constructed soundbites and – AC Grayling is correct on this – an era where morality is at its apogee and civility its nadir. Moreover, there was a moment a couple of years ago where some dreadful PR people were interviewed outside Wimbledon sagely advising Andy to get ‘better PR’. He’s a tennis player. And he’s a hugely interesting player, a brainy player in an age of beef and brawn, probably his best quality. We need more of that quality. Along, God knows Bill Hicks was right, with less PR and marketing in our world.” Er, “morality is at its apogee and civility it’s nadir”? This is the sports section, dammit. Anyway, Murray holds to love. G-T has just asked, we think, to see a physio. Third set: Murray* 4-6, 6-3, 5-0 Gimeno-Traver Nothing’s going right for G-T now. He slams a gilt-edged, this-is-a-free-point volley into the net – “a horror volley,” shudders David Lloyd – screws a fairly straightforward forehand off his racket frame and into the crowd, double faults and then, after easily chasing down Murray’s drop shot, scoops an underhand half-volley into the net. Random stoppage: It’s all going on now. By which I mean, the physio’s looking at Gimeno-Traver, and Murray’s off to the toilet. Murray wins the third set 6-0 The stoppage didn’t curtail his momentum, and everything’s looking pretty rosy for the British No1. Though, to be fair, G-T gave up the set after about two games. Fourth set: Murray* 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 1-0 Gimeno-Traver The question was: could G-T recover his focus after that miserable third set. The answer was: no. And then: actually, maybe. Then: no. Murray raced into a 0-30 lead – we even had a foot fault – G-T fought back to 30-30, and then the wheels fell off again. Fourth set: Murray 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 2-0 Gimeno-Traver* Murray is playing loose and free now. Suddenly he’s got all the answers. Beautiful lobs, inch-perfect drop-shots, blistering passing shots. The lot. Fourth set: Murray* 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 3-0 Gimeno-Traver One of the great things about tennis (and many solo sports) is the effect pressure can have on a player; the delicious, sadistic joy of watching a perfectly capable sportsman simply lose it. Murray has been on the wrong side of that net – just look at his first-serve percentage (just 53%) at this year’s Australian Open final – but he’ll be loving this one. Anyway, another break. Fourth set: Murray 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 4-0 Gimeno-Traver* A volley struck a foot from the baseline has the commentators chuckling, but Murray can’t get too into his showboating. Every now and then, G-T offers a reminder of that hammer forehand which was a key feature of the first set-and-a-bit. But it would take something for Murray to lose this match from here, even if he tries to wrap it up on a unicycle. Fourth set: Murray* 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 5-0 Gimeno-Traver A brace of absolutely stunning return winners put Murray 0-30 up. The third was a little bit less good – but just a little bit. He verily races into the fourth, which flies back past G-T before he’s finished his follow-through. Murray breaks to love. Murray wins 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 The crowd oohs and coos its way through a few more easy points. A lovely ankle-high volley winner finally destroys G-T’s spirit, and the match is rapidly over. The final point, to be fair, should have been won by the Spaniard, who spurns a couple of chances to put it away and is duly punished. Held to love, match over. A perfect opening match , the commentators agree. For a while Murray didn’t seem to have any answers, but then it came flooding back. Once he clicked into gear, he just disappeared into the distance. As McEnroe pointed out, there can’t have been many players who drop the first set of a match only to win the last two 6-0, 6-0. Post-match interview highlight: “Is it fair to say you took him a bit lightly,” asks Garry Richardson. “No, not at all,” snaps Murray, looking genuinely narked. And with that, quicker than you could say “8.56pm is an extremely convenient time for this match to end, schedule-wise,” the BBC’s coverage is over. And so, too, is ours. Until next time, byee! Wimbledon 2011 Wimbledon Andy Murray Tennis Simon Burnton guardian.co.uk
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