The sun is shining on the white cliffs along the south coast of England, and a sailing club is launching boats into the sea. The wind picks up and one or two dinghies capsize, but the club is well organised. It is safe at sea here because the club’s motor boats patrol the area to help sailors who get into difficulty.
The English Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and safety is a top priority. There is a lifeboat station less than a kilometre away, and at weekends Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crews train in the sea, roaring up and down the coast, practising their drills and life-saving rescues.
In Scotland this week they rescued a kayaker who had fallen and broken her hip. The Shoreham crew saved a fisherman whose boat sank. And the most wonderful part is that RNLI crews are not paid. They are volunteers, risking their lives to save others. The RNLI is a charity founded in 1824, a life-saving service entirely dependent on goodwill and donations. How uncontroversial, you might think, to celebrate this, the best of British traditions.
But now the RNLI is mired in a political row started by a veteran right wing politician, Nigel Farage, formerly a Member of the European parliament for some 20 years. Mr Farage’s big political success was to push Britain into leaving the EU through his UK Independence Party and later the Brexit party.
He is an ultra-nationalist, draped in the British flag, at times dressing in Union Jack ties, socks and even flag-bearing shoes, and filmed singing supposedly patriotic songs, while embroiling himself in various anti-immigrant stunts. Now Mr Farage has attacked the RNLI for acting as what he calls a “migrant taxi service”. Record numbers of migrants have set out in small boats from France this summer, landing on the Kent coast to claim asylum. Migrants typically pay around €3000 each to people-traffickers and are crammed into small unseaworthy vessels as they cross 50 kilometres from the French port of Calais.
Inevitably some boats leak and start to sink. RNLI volunteers pick up those in distress and bring them to safety. They do not ask for passports, money or anything else. They do not ask if those in trouble are British or from some other part of the world and they do not care about the colour of a person’s skin. These are risky humanitarian encounters, not a “taxi service”. But Mr Farage now has a TV show on an obscure and ailing channel. Stirring controversy to seek publicity might be his most significant talent. Why else would anyone wear the UK’s national flag on their shoes?
Mr Farage’s attack on the RNLI certainly earned him news headlines but it has backfired. Donations to our brave lifeboat crews have skyrocketed – £200,000 in just one day or about 30 times the average normal donation.
Even so, the Farage brand of toxic nationalism has been echoed on radio talk shows by angry callers who seem to think watching other human beings drown at sea is a price worth paying to keep migrants from landing in England.
Yet there is something fundamentally irrational about all this pseudo-patriotic posturing. Nigel Farage and his tribe of followers constantly lecture the world about how they love Britain, yet they clearly hate the reality of the country they claim to adore.
Modern Britain is multi-cultural, mostly tolerant, charitable and welcoming. Yet Mr Farage and his friends see only enemies. Some attack the racially diverse England football team for “taking the knee”. They routinely loathe truly great British institutions beyond the RNLI. They despise the BBC and even attack that other great British invention, the National Trust. The Trust – which has more than five million members – preserves England’s heritage and stately homes, and is now re-evaluating its buildings to check for historic connections to the slave trade. In hating our finest institutions, therefore, Mr Farage is in love only with a non-existent imagined Britain rooted in the 1950s. That is not patriotism. It is a nostalgic delusion.
The RNLI row has shown how the best of Britain can win the cultural struggle against the worst. RNLI volunteers will still be saving lives when Mr Farage and his culture warriors are consigned to history. And here I should declare a bias. A local hardware store accepts book donations and sells the used books for £1 each. All the money they raise is given to Kent lifeboat volunteers. My children buy books from this store. Their pounds support the RNLI. I support the RNLI. Britain supports the RNLI.
Perhaps one day we will discover a lifeboat capable of rescuing some of our fellow citizens from drowning in their own narrow-minded nastiness. After all, for some people, a man wearing Union Jack shoes and singing "Rule, Britannia" is considered to be a sage. And given that, rescuing these befuddled patriots from their sea of nostalgia will not be easy.
ATP WORLD No 1
2004 Roger Federer
2005 Roger Federer
2006 Roger Federer
2007 Roger Federer
2008 Rafael Nadal
2009 Roger Federer
2010 Rafael Nadal
2011 Novak Djokovic
2012 Novak Djokovic
2013 Rafael Nadal
2014 Novak Djokovic
2015 Novak Djokovic
2016 Andy Murray
2017 Rafael Nadal
2018 Novak Djokovic
2019 Rafael Nadal
MATCH INFO
Tottenham 4 (Alli 51', Kane 50', 77'. Aurier 73')
Olympiakos 2 (El-Arabi 06', Semedo')
MATCH INFO
Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)
Euro 2020
Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Wales, Turkey
Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland
Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria,
Georgia/Kosovo/Belarus/North Macedonia
Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Scotland/Israel/Norway/Serbia
Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden,
N.Ireland/Bosnia/Slovakia/Ireland
Group F: Germany, France, Portugal,
Iceland/Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
Feeding the thousands for iftar
Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth
Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people
The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box
350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley
Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Superliminal%20
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20One%20%26amp%3B%20X%2FS%2C%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PC%20and%20Mac%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULTS
Dubai Kahayla Classic – Group 1 (PA) $750,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
Winner: Deryan, Ioritz Mendizabal (jockey), Didier Guillemin (trainer).
Godolphin Mile – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
Dubai Gold Cup – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (Turf) 3,200m
Winner: Subjectivist, Joe Fanning, Mark Johnston
Al Quoz Sprint – Group 1 (TB) $1million (T) 1,200m
Winner: Extravagant Kid, Ryan Moore, Brendan Walsh
UAE Derby – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Rebel’s Romance, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Dubai Golden Shaheen – Group 1 (TB) $1.5million (D) 1,200m
Winner: Zenden, Antonio Fresu, Carlos David
Dubai Turf – Group 1 (TB) $4million (T) 1,800m
Winner: Lord North, Frankie Dettori, John Gosden
Dubai Sheema Classic – Group 1 (TB) $5million (T) 2,410m
Winner: Mishriff, John Egan, John Gosden
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)
RESULT
Arsenal 2
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 45 4'
Eddie Ntkeiah 51'
Portsmouth 0
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
UAE finals day
Friday, April 13
Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
