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Hegseth right to mock Royal Navy, says ex-army chief as he backs claims over military underfunding – UK politics live | Politics
Hegseth right to mock Royal Navy, says ex-army chief as he backs claims over military underfunding
Good morning. When Keir Starmer gave evidence to the Commons liaison committee before the Easter recess, and when he made a statement to MPs yesterday on the first day after it was over, he was repeatedly asked when the government will publish its defence investment plan (DIP). On both occasions, he could not give a timetable and would just say it would be published as soon as it was ready.
His critics are furious because the DIP, a 10-year plan explaining how the government will fund its commitment to get defence spending up to 3% of GDP by the end of the next parliament, with total national security spending reaching 5% of GDP by 2035, was due to be published last autumn.
In particular, the DIP will explain how the government will be able to fulfil the goals set out in the strategic defence review it published last year. The review was led by the Labour peer George Robertson, a former defence secretary and former secretary general of Nato. And he seems to have finally lost patience with the government.
He is giving a speech in Salisbury tonight, but Lucy Fisher from the Financial Times has already written up some extracts and in them Robertson is withering about the Treasury. According to Fisher’s report, Robertson will accuse “non-military experts in the Treasury” of “vandalism”, adding: “We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget.”
He will criticise Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, for devoting just 40 words to defence in her budget speech last year, and saying nothing about the topic at all in her spring statement last month. He will say:
There is a corrosive complacency today in Britain’s political leadership. Lip service is paid to the risks, the threats, the bright red signals of danger — but even a promised national conversation about defence can’t be started.
He will also say Britain is not safe.
We are underprepared. We are underinsured. We are under attack. We are not safe . . . Britain’s national security and safety is in peril.
Robertson is not a defence loudmouth. He is a quintessential establishment figure who for most of his career has avoided being provocative, or rocking the boat. If he feels minded to speak out like this, it must be serious.
Olivia Lee has a full write-up here.
This morning General Sir Richard Barrons, who along with Robertson was one of the three experts who wrote the defence review (the other was the former White House adviser and Russia expert Fiona Hill), gave an interview to the Today programme. Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, fully supported what Robertson will be saying in his speech. And he said that Britain’s armed forces are so diminished that he had to accept that Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, was right when he mocked the Royal Navy last month.
“Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like [clear the strait of Hormuz] as well,” Hegseth said.
Asked how he felt hearing that, Barrons said:
Like many others I hung my head in sorrow. But I couldn’t argue with him because although the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force and the army are, in their bones, outstanding institutions, they are simply too small and too undernourished to deal with the world that we we now live in. And the review says this.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet. There will be a political session, as well as the usual government meeting.
10am: South East Water executives give evidence to the environment, food and rural affairs committee, followed by Ofwat chief executive Chris Walters at 11am.
10am: Education experts give evidence to the Commons education committee about the proposed changes to Send (special educational needs and disabilities) provision.
10.30am: Executives from TikTok, Meta, Sky TV and Paramount TV executives give evidence to the culture committee about children’s TV and video content.
Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in south London.
11am: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, holds a press conference focusing on health.
11.30am: Wes Streeting, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Afternoon: Starmer meets his Dutch counterpart, Rob Jetten, in Downing Street.
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Key events
Reeves condemns Trump’s decision to launch war against Iran as ‘folly’
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has described Donald Trump’s decision to go to war against Iran as “folly”.
She used the comment in an interview with the Daily Mirror, ahead of her trip to Washington for IMF meetings where she will discuss the global impact of the war with her counterparts.
Reeves has already said publicly that she is “angry” about the war, but she was blunter speaking to the Mirror. She said:
This is a war that we did not start. It was a war that we did not want. I feel very frustrated and angry that the US went into this war without a clear exit plan, without a clear idea of what they were trying to achieve. And as a result the strait of Hormuz is now blocked.
Asked why she was so angry, she explained:
Because of the impact it’s having on families and businesses in our country. When I presented the spring statement at the beginning of March, it showed that inflation was coming down, interest rates were projected to fall further after having been cut six times since I became chancellor of the exchequer.
Borrowing and debt were falling and the economy was set to grow. It was already the fastest growing G7 economy in Europe last year, and that was projected to continue
Obviously no sensible person is a supporter of the Iranian regime, but to start a conflict without being clear what the objectives are and not being clear about how you are going to get out of it, I do think that is a folly and it is one that is affecting families here in the UK but also families in the US and around the world.
Sometimes politicians make the news when they say things that are unusual or controversial. This is an example of the opposite sort of news; a politician making a statement of the bleeding obvious, but one that is still unexpected because, for reasons of tact or diplomacy, most of her colleagues would never say it in public.
In private, “folly” may be one of the milder things being said by government ministers about Trump’s war. But Reeves’s comment is still stronger than anything anyone else in the government has said openly.
Keir Starmer and his team have spent much of their time in office trying to avoid saying anything at all critical of Trump, for fear of offending him. But increasingly Trump’s conduct, and domestic political considerations too, are making that policy impossible to sustain.
Core compensation paid to victims of infected blood scandal to be increased, MPs told
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, has told MPs that the government will increase the amount of “core compensation” available to victims of the infected blood scandal.
In a statement to the Commons giving the government’s response to a consultation on the compensation scheme, he said:
The community were clear that the scheme must do more to recognise people’s individual experiences and compensate them fairly in a way that minimises the administrative burden placed upon those who have been harmed, minimises the demand for evidence and maintains the delivery of tariff based compensation, and those requirements underpin the changes.
For infected people, the changes will increase the amount of core compensation available and increase the options available for supplementary compensation awards.
For affected people, additional core compensation will be available to those eligible.
Thomas-Symonds said the government would be making “substantive changes” in seven areas. He also said that as of April 7, 3,273 people have received an offer and more than £2 billion has been paid out.
The Cabinet Office has published full details of the changes here.
Sarwar accuses Swinney of encouraging ‘conspiracy theory’ about decision to block Chinese wind investment in Scotland
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has accused John Swinney, Scotland’s SNP first minister, of encouraging a “conspiracy theory” about the UK government’s decision to ban a Chinese firm from building a wind turbine factory.
Last month the government announced that it would not allow MingYang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, to supply wind turbines for use in the North Sea. MingYang had been planning to build a factory to make them in the Highlands, creating up to 1,500 jobs.
At the time ministers said the investment was being blocked for reasons of national security. There are fears that the Chinese could somehow retain the capacity to switch off vital infrastracture in a crisis, but the government has not made this argument, or elaborated on what the national security concerns involved in this case were.
In a BBC election debate on Sunday night, Swinney suggested the move was motivated by anti-Scottish bias. He said:
My concern is that Scotland’s renewable industry is being undermined by the actions of a Labour government that’s just turned its back on £1.5 billion worth of investment.
It is welcoming Chinese investment into Hinkley power station south of the border. If that’s not an anti-Scottish move by a Labour government, I don’t know what is.
This morning, speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, Sarwar accused the first minister of peddling a “pretty strange conspiracy theory”. He said:
I can give you a cast-iron guarantee, I will not do crankery or conspiracy theory as first minister.
I will always accept national security advice, because our first duty as a government would be to protect the great citizens of this country.
Asked if it was strange that Chinese investment was allowed in other UK projects, Sarwar said:
All these projects will have national security briefings. A national security briefing was received that said there was a national security risk for investment.
Are we honestly saying that a first minister would reject national security advice? I can tell you quite categorically, if a national security briefing comes to me, I will not ignore it, because I will put the national interest before political interest.
He said the suggestion that the intelligence services would have taken a “deliberate do Scotland down approach” was the “height of conspiracy theory”.
But Swinney has defended his comment, saying he has not had an explanation from the UK government as to why the MingYang bid was blocked. He told the Press Assocation.
I have no more detailed understanding [of the decision] than that simple statement from the UK government.
And I think that is unacceptable because there is Chinese investment, Chinese development being embraced and welcomed in other parts of the United Kingdom – there’s a Chinese super embassy going to be built in the heart of the city of London.
Nandy clears takeover of Telegraph by German media group
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has cleared Axel Springer’s £575m takeover of the Telegraph, paving the way for the end of almost three years of uncertainty over the ownership of the titles. Mark Sweney has the story.
Nandy made the announcement in a Commons written statement.
The Labour MP Samantha Niblett has said she wants to make 2026 the “summer of sex”. While this sounds like the most enticing of the election offers we’ve heard during the campaign so far, she used the phrase in an interview with PoliticsHome talking about her campaign for better, lifelong sex education. You can read the full interview, which includes Niblett saying she is negotiating with the parliamentary authorities about bringing sex toys into the Commons for an event she is planning to publicise her campaign, here.
Reform activist suspended over racist and antisemitic comments remains election agent
A Reform UK activist in the Gorton and Denton byelection who was suspended over racist and antisemitic comments has been named as the election agent for three of the party’s candidates in Manchester ahead of polls on 7 May, Ben Quinn and Rob Davies report.
Q: Do you understand why some people in your party are frustrated because they think you as a party should be doing much better?
Nationally, the Lib Dems are now polling well behind not just Reform UK, Labour, the Tories and the Greens.
Davey said oppostion was difficult. But he said “the fact that we keep winning is somethiing that should reassure people”. He said he thought the party would win “many more seats” at the next general election.
And the party was on course to become the second biggest party in local government because it “keeps winning”, he said. That would happen again in May, he said.
Lib Dems call for housing developers to be required to fund extra GP provision for people buying their homes
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, was holding his press conference this morning to announce a proposal for housing developers to be required to fund new or expanded GP surgeries for the people who buy their new homes.
Explaining the plan in a news release, the Lib Dems say:
The party would require developers to fund or build new, or expand existing, GP surgeries in time for the arrival of new residents, with developer levies used to pay for them to be staffed while new residents are still moving in. This is part of the Liberal Democrats’ infrastructure-first approach to development, and supports their campaign to rescue General Practice and ensure everyone can get an appointment within 7 days, or 24 hours if urgent.
Developers would be required not only to fund new facilities but also to guarantee the GP surgery contract (or the cost of salaried GPs) while new residents are still moving in. This would ensure new residents don’t have to turn to over-stretched existing GPs, and new practices can be viable from the outset.
Delivery of health services has been found to be integral for public trust, with recent LSE research finding that where GP provision has declined and more surgeries have closed, support for the extreme right has risen.
At the press conference Davey was asked about claims by rival parties that, although the Lib Dems nationally back new housing, at a local level their councillors are adept at blocking developments.
Davey said “the reverse” was true. He claimed Lib Dem councils have a very good record building homes.
We’re the ones who actually build homes. I could take you to Eastleigh, who’ve been building homes over a number of years and have got a very good record. I could take you Cambridgeshire. I can take you to my own area, Kingston, where I have to declare a vested interest; my wife is the housing portfolio holder. She’s overseeing the largest council house building programme for 40 years. I could take you the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire. I could take you to South Lakeland. Across the country, actually the Liberal Democrats have a very, very proud record of building homes.
Davey renews call for South East Water CEO to resign after company tells MPs it failed in its duty to customers
Q: Do you think the chief executive of South East Water should resign? This morning he and colleagues told a committee that some of the problems that let to a water shortage in Tunbridge Wells last year were foreseeable?
Davey said that he has already called for the resignation of David Hinton, the South East Water CEO. He did so at the time of the Tunbridge Wells shortage, he said. He went on:
If he’s now admitting it was foreseeable and predictable, I’m surprised he is not offering his resignation already.
Here is the Press Association report of the evidence given by Hinton and others to the Commons environment committeee this morning.
The chairman of South East Water has admitted the company failed in its primary duty to supply customers with water after recent outages left thousands without drinking water.
Bosses of the company were grilled by the Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee this morning about their response to the multiple supply interruptions in Kent and Sussex.
Tunbridge Wells suffered a sustained outage in November and December, with around 24,000 properties in and around the Kent town left without drinkable water for almost two weeks.
Then thousands of properties in Kent and Sussex saw their supply disrupted for days in January, with South East Water (SEW) blaming the outage on Storm Goretti causing burst pipes and power cuts.
Customers were left with no tap water, unable to shower or bathe and could not flush their toilets, while a number of schools were forced to close.
Chairman Chris Train told MPs that the company “failed on the basic objective of delivering water to customers and therefore that is a failure and we recognise that failure”.
“We failed our customers,” he continued. “We worked very hard to rectify that situation, and since the events and independent review, we have undertaken a lot of actions to improve the resilience of the operations.”
Committee chairman Alistair Carmichael asked Train to score his team’s performance out of 10, arguing that customers deserve that degree of accountability from a non-executive director.
The chairman refused to do so, saying the situation is “complex” but added: “That degree of accountability is that we accept that we failed in our primary duty and we could have done better with all of the factors.”
Chief executive David Hinton was also asked to give a score out of 10 for the company’s response to the January outages after he previously marked it as eight out of 10 for the November incident.
Hinton also refused to do so but admitted that the performance was “disappointing” after many vulnerable customers were left without an alternative supply of water.
“My expectation is that we deliver to all priority service customers and that the bottled water stations are completely resourced the whole time, and customers can get access to alternative water at all times.
“So whenever we do not meet that particular yardstick, then I’m disappointed.”
Q: Do you think the Treasury should be looking for savings in other departments to fund higher defence spending?
Davey said of course the Treasury should be trying to find savings. But he claimed that his plan for defence bonds (see 11.36am) was the best idea put forward by any party to find the money for defence.
Davey claims Lib Dems will be ‘one of two biggest parties in local government’ by time of next general election
Q: Are you concerned that the Liberal Democrats are losing support given the rising popularity of the Green party?
Davey did not accept that. He replied:
We got, the best result for over a hundred years at the general election. But we’ve kept on winning since.
At the last May elections a year ago we beat the Conservatives and Labour for the first time ever. And it was our seventh year in a row of wins.
If you look at council by elections across the country, which party won the most in 2025? It was the Liberal Democrats.
And I make this prediction as we look at the council elections between now and the next election … By the time the next election will be one of the two biggest parties in local government. And with politics changing, that will be a massive change across our country.
According to Open Council Data UK, the Lib Dems are currently in third place, in total councillor numbers, in the UK.
Davey seems to be saying the Lib Dems will overtake the Tories, who are on course to lose around 1,000 seat in the local elections, according to at least one forecast. Labour are expected to lose even more, but they are starting from a higher base.
Mikel Arteta will go all out for victory in Sunday’s Premier League title showdown at Manchester City and has not thought for “one second” about setting up for a draw.
Arsenal are six points clear of City, albeit they have played an extra game, and a stalemate could move them decisively towards the trophy they crave. According to Opta’s projections, Arsenal would have an 89% probability of winning the title if it finished all square at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal have struggled for attacking cohesion in recent weeks, starting in the 2-0 Carabao Cup final defeat against City on 22 March, and their season has been defined by defensive excellence. When they advanced to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday, where they will face Atlético Madrid, they did so with a 0-0 home draw against Sporting for a 1-0 aggregate quarter-final win. It has raised the prospect of Arteta prioritising a clean sheet at City, but he has a loftier target.
Pep Guardiola repeated his belief on Friday that “if we lose, it’s over”. Arteta intends to test the theory and he was categoric in his response when asked whether he would sign in advance for a point. “No,” he said. “We want to win the game. We are there to win the game. We haven’t talked about that [the draw]. We need to win the game. And we are preparing to win the game. There’s no difference to any stadium we have been to in the last five years.
“I’m not going to spend one second talking about that. We prepare every game to win. That’s why we are where we are and we’re going to continue to do the same. We see it as a big opportunity for us.”
Arsenal were accused of parking the bus when they drew 0-0 at the Etihad Stadium in 2024. Back then, with nine more games to go, it felt like a good point as it kept them one ahead of City, albeit two behind Liverpool. Arsenal went on to win eight of their final nine, losing against Aston Villa, but, as Liverpool fell apart, City won all nine remaining games to take the title.
When it was all over, Rodri criticised Arsenal for their mentality. “The difference was in the head,” said the City midfielder. “When they faced us at the Etihad, I saw these guys do not want to beat us. They just want to draw. We would not do that the same.”
Arteta was reminded of that 0-0 and how the season played out. “You have to make it [the point] good, as well, in the next games,” he said. “Or, we should have made it even better in that game [against City] when we had the opportunity to do it. We’re going to play the game in the circumstances and the context in the best possible way to win it, and the outcome? We don’t know.
“We’re not going to propose a game like this [parking the bus] because we never do that. Sometimes, the opponent is that good that forces you to be there, and in City’s case you’re going to have moments that you do the same – deep in your box for periods of time. That’s the reality.”
Arsenal have scored only three goals in their past five matches as the physical and mental strain of the season has started to show. Declan Rice said after the second leg against Sporting that the team had to do the basics better, especially simple, short passes. The midfielder called for greater composure.
“It’s part of football,” Arteta said. “Part of the moment. Part of, as well, when you are missing certain players that the relationship, the cohesion, is a bit different. To work on that means sometimes don’t talk too much about it and take more honesty, more responsibility and do it again.”
Arteta said that Bukayo Saka was still out with an achilles problem. He was unclear as to whether Jurriën Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Ødegaard would return from their respective injuries. Arteta intimated that Noni Madueke should be available after limping off against Sporting.
“I’ve said it many times – get all the players available in April, May … your best players on the pitch as much as possible and the probability to win it increases dramatically,” Arteta said. “It’s as simple and as difficult as that.”
Ex-players are back to commemorate when sponsors were added to shirts.
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Coventry City chase promotion to Premier League against Blackburn Rovers – live | Championship
Key events
Half-time: Blackburn 0-0 Coventry
Job half-done but not done at all well by Coventry. Rovers really should be leading and there’s work to do to claim the point that Cov need.
45+2 min: Wow, Rovers go so close, and it takes Latibeaudiere’s backside to block what is a goalbound shot from Morishita. Alebiosu has been excellent down the Rovers’ right flank. That’s the last of the half.
45 min: The aforementioned Rudoni’s free-kick, an attempt to get a cross in, is awful. Dear me. This has been nervy.
44 min: A rare Coventry sortie, DaSilva and Mason-Clark involved, the latter knocking wide when the ball drops low for him from a decent cross. They could have done with that Rudoni shot being far better. That’s as good as it’s got.
43 min: Rancour as Ribeiro is fouled, and the ball is called dead when Rovers were in a decent position. Then Morishita wants a throw-in, and is right to ask for it.
Dominic Booth
42 min: More from Dom Booth at Ewood: “The game has drifted into a bit of a lull, perhaps with Coventry safe in the knowledge a draw is good enough to seal promotion and Blackburn content with a point to aid their survival campaign. It has actually been the hosts who have been better in the middle portion of this first half; I’ve been particularly impressed with Ryoya Morishita, who is playing in the right No 10 position in O’Neill’s 3-4-3. Blackburn need to get the ball right to him and Ryan Alebiosu, whose crosses have asked questions of Coventry’s defence. All it takes is one Blackburn goal to wreak worry within the visiting ranks.”
40 min: Long ball out wide aimed for DaSilva, and jeers from the home crowd when the ball runs out.
38 min: Perhaps eyeing a Lampard pep talk, Coventry are passing the ball round in defence. But then they try to hurry it up, and are again offside. Frank Lampard is muttering away to his assistant, Joe Edwards, another Chelsea alumnus.
36 min: Were Blackburn to have a bit more quality in the final third, then they could be out of sight. Coventry are struggling here.
34 min: Blackburn continue to impress. Considering their injuries it’s amazing they are in such trouble. Morishita causes sincere trouble down the inside left position, and it takes Van Ewijk’s fine tackle to stop him meeting a loose ball.
32 min: Mason-Clark offside now. Coventry are a little hurried, anxious.
31 min: Coventry are 30 minutes in, and it’s not been at all easy. They haven’t managed to sustain the pressure they’d like to keep up. Simms gets to the byline, and Mason-Clark is the target. Atcheson, who has been excellent so far, makes another intervention.
28 min: Ohashi’s header hits the bar, Latibeaudiere failing to climb with the striker. Another fine cross from Alebiosu, though the Japanese striker is penalised for a push. That looked soft.
26 min: Coventry get a big chance, 36 passes completed and Rudoni has the chance to shoot. He hits the side-netting. That was poor, considering.
25 min: Matt Grimes, the playmaker, is dropping deep to try and force the issue, though Rovers’ Gardner-Hickman is following him everywhere.
22 min: Van Ewijk tries to set up a Cov attack from wing-back but Blackburn so go on the counter with Atcheson firing in a cross. Rushworth has been the busier keeper by far.
20 min: Coventry have been a little nervy here. Rovers are looking solid and full of adventure. They are playing for their lives. Coventry only need a point and that may not suit them. Lampard is a coach who likes his teams to attack.
18 min: More Cov nostalgia, from John Brennan: “My friend for reasons unknown to himself even had a Coventry City gear bag in college that he used to carry his clothes for the weekend. Every time I saw it, it was incongruous to me. Anyway, Coventry being back in the Premier League is great. My parents got Sky into the house for Christmas in 1999 and one of the first games I watched at home was Coventry beating Arsenal 3-2 with Robbie Keane scoring a delightful goal with the outside of his boot. That team with Keane & Cedric Roussel upfront and the two Moroccans of Chippo and Hadji in midfield were a fun watch back then.”
16 min: Neil Lavery gets in touch: “Hello John, 7,000 away fans at Ewood for a game that could decide promotion for them? How odd. Back in 2023 when Burnley were going for the title there that stand only held 2,000-ish…”
They must have built a bigger stand or something.
Dominic Booth
15 min: Dom Booth is at Ewood. “You wouldn’t have to be a football expert to sit in Ewood Park tonight and decipher which team were top of the table and which were battling relegation. And that’s based on the start both teams have made as well as the difference in supporter numbers. The vast swathes of empty seats in the home sections tell their own story just as the packed Coventry away end reflects a club on the rise. “Where we you when you were sh*t?” is the latest jibe from the Rovers fans – not that the Sky Blues supporters probably heard it, such is the din they are making. And their team are responding on the pitch with a confident start.”
14 min: There’s a delay as Onyeka, the Brentford loanee, goes down with a head injury.
13 min: Real let-off for Coventry as Ohashi gets a free header on goal. Nobody was marking him from the cross. Rovers are playing the better team. Ryan Alebiosu played a fine cross.
11 min: More Ohashi involvement, and he’s clear on goal, only for offside to haul him back. Carl Rushworth makes the save in any case.
10 min: Worrying moment for Ohashi when he is called back for a high kick. It was nothing more than a foul so no worries there. He’s walking on eggshells a bit, though.
9 min: Good historic info from Sky: it was at Ewood Park that Coventry, under Jimmy Hill, achieved promotion in April 1967. There’s a statue of Jim outside the Coventry Building Society Arena.
8 min: A long ball is aimed for Ellis Simms, but Atcheson clears from the Rovers defence. An early booking, for Rovers’ Ohashi when he loses the ball and then smashes into Grimes.
6 min: Great noise, and it’s coming from both sets of fans. Remember: Blackburn have plenty to play for. They can get to 51 points. That could be enough.
4 min: It’s all Coventry, with Matt Grimes’s cross causing havoc in the Rovers defence. They’re pinning back their opponents, and their back three are dominating possession.
3 min: First attack of the game from Coventry, Mason-Clarke seizing on a loose ball and then shooting. The shot is blocked.
Away we go at Ewood
1 min: There’s over 7,000 Cov fans here. A word from the club’s saviour, Mark Robins, now managing Stoke. Very nice about Doug King, the owner who removed him.
“They’re going up. I’m really pleased for them. Frank has done a fantastic job. He took over from me in difficult circumstances and he’s taken it to a different level. They will go up and they’ve got the stadium now and it looks certainly a lot more stable. Not only that, they’ve got a really good team, a top manager and they’ve done fantastically well.
“The owner has been incredible there, to be fair, and what he’s done for the club, the city and what plans they have when they eventually get up, I’m sure they’ll spend money and try to stay in there.”
The teams take to the field at Ewood Park. It’s all Coventry, the Jolly Boating song ringing out. It’s a bit more sparse in the home end, despite efforts from those in Warwickshire to get hold of tickets. The hill behind the Darwen End may well be full of Sky Blue, too.
Frank Lampard’s advice to his players: “Stay calm in your heads but not in your legs.”
Snappy.
Phil Rebbeck gets in touch: “In the early 1990s I was a university student living in Coventry and used to go to Highfield Road every now and then. The Sky Blues were away to local rivals Aston Villa on the last day of the season, still needing something out of the game. They contrived to concede a goal in the first minute and lost the game 2-0.
“However, results elsewhere went their way with Luton losing to already relegated Notts County. So Coventry managed another great escape on the last day and the three relegated teams were the aforementioned Luton and Notts County joined by a particularly hapless West Ham United.
“Still have a soft spot for them and will welcome them back in the Premier League being a Fulham fan!”
For Rovers, Eiran Cashin returns, replacing Harry the benched Pickering. Ryoya Morishita comes in for Nathan Redmond, also a substitute. Yuki Ohashi replaces Mathias Jorgensen as striker.
For Cov, two changes from Frank Lampard: Bobby Thomas into a back three while Ellis Simms is in for Haji Wright in the forward line. Brandon Thomas-Asante drops to the bench.
The teams
Blackburn: Toth, Atcheson, McLoughlin (c), Cashin, Alebiosu, Gardner-Hickman, Baradji, Montgomery, Ribeiro, Morishita, Ohashi. Subs: Pears, Pickering, De Neve, Hedges, Afolayan, O’Riordan, Redmond, Forshaw, Jorgensen
Coventry: Rushworth; Latibeaudiere, Thomas, Kitching; Van Ewijk, Onyeka, Grimes, Dasilva; Rudoni, Simms, Mason-Clark. Subs: Wilson, Woolfenden, Bidwell, Kesler-Hayden, Eccles, Thomas-|Asante, Torp, Haji Wright, Esse.
Coventry need just a draw, remember. The away tickets for this game are the hottest tickets in town since 1987 or The Specials reunion.
Blackburn are not out of the woods, of course. The picture at the bottom is made cloudier by the potential/probable points deduction headed West Brom’s way. Michael O’Neill, also the Northern Ireland manager, of course, has a fight on his hands. Tuesday’s defeat to Southampton, and no win since Good Friday has made things uncomfortable.
The excellent Nick Ames on the Championship promotion race and beyond.
In 2001, Cov’s run of being in the top division since 1967 came to an end after a defeat to Aston Villa. The Sky Blues had stayed up on the final day 10 times over that time though this was the penultimate games of the season. They closed out by being relegated alongside Bradford in a 0-0 draw.
Teams that day:
Aston Villa: James, Delaney, Wright, Southgate, Barry, Boateng, Taylor, Merson, Staunton, Dublin, Vassell. Subs: Angel, Ginola, Hendrie, Stone, Enckelman.
Coventry: Kirkland, Williams, Breen, Quinn, Telfer, Eustace, Carsley, Hadji, Hall, Bellamy, Hartson. Subs: Hedman, Edworthy, Zuniga, Strachan, Bothroyd.
Preamble
It was in 2001 that Coventry last played Premier League football. It’s been an odyssey since, taking in a new stadium, exile from that new stadium, relegation to the fourth tier and financial brinkmanship. Now, after a couple of near misses, they are on the way back. It may already be all but done but winning (or even drawing) at Blackburn would confirm it for Frank Lampard’s team.
Kick-off at Ewood Park is at 8pm BST. Join me.
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