Boris Johnson and his Culture Secretary have accused the England and Wales Cricket Board of going “over the top” after it suspended the England cricketer Ollie Robinson for historical sexist and racist tweets.
Oliver Dowden said that while the bowler’s tweets were “offensive and wrong,” they had been “written by a teenager”.
Mr Robinson was suspended from international cricket on Sunday and taken off the team for England’s next Test match against New Zealand over tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson is “supportive of the comments from Oliver Dowden that he made via tweet this morning”.
Scyld Berry analyses why punishing and shaming Robinson smacks of the ECB having its own interests in mind.
Political controversy in sport has not been limited to cricket, with the Football Association accused of having “abdicated its responsibilities” to Gareth Southgate and his players over England taking the knee at the European Championship.
The toxic stand-off between Southgate’s squad and some England supporters intensified on Sunday when some again loudly booed the gesture before the team’s final Euro 2020 warm-up game against Romania.
Meanwhile, click here to read why a new kit for Ukraine’s national football team has sparked fury in Russia.
There is more on the build up to the Euros in the Sport section below.
Over 25s in England called up for Covid vaccination
Young people aged between 25 and 29 will be called up for coronavirus vaccines in England this week as the Government warns the race between jabs and variants is growing “tighter”. The Government has also formally asked its vaccine advisory board, the JCVI, to produce clinical advice on vaccinating 12- to 17-year-olds after the Pfizer jab was approved for this age group. As Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons that scientists think the Indian/Delta variant is 40pc more transmissable than the Alpha/Kent variant of Covid-19, Telegraph readers have had their say about whether England should open up on June 21.
The real reason behind the Sussexes’ royal baby name
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s newborn daughter, Lilibet Diana, has a name that honours the Queen’s childhood moniker and Harry’s late mother. Yet with relations between the Sussexes and the royals still on a delicate footing, Camilla Tominey analyses if the naming will bring the family closer together or attract further accusations that Harry and Meghan are cashing in on their connections. Robert Taylor says it will take more than a good baby name to rebuild the House of Sussex.
At a glance: Coronavirus evening briefing
Also in the news: Today’s other headlines
Alzheimer’s drug | US regulators have approved the first treatment to address an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease despite controversy over mixed clinical trial results for the drug. Read how the approval could reinvigorate a failure-laden field abandoned by many drug firms.
Around the world: Inside Ukraine’s torture prison
Survivors of a torture chamber housed in a crumbling Donetsk factory are seeking justice at the European Court of Human Rights. Nataliya Vasilyeva has spoken to victims who have revealed details about the Russian separatists’ clandestine prison, telling how men were placed on hanging racks and inmates were forced to fight each other.
Monday interview
‘Covid delays have left women with cancer that will never be cured’
TV presenter Victoria Derbyshire, who has made a podcast about breast cancer, tells Rosamund Dean the effect of the pandemic on sufferers of the disease has been profound
Comment and analysis
Editor’s choice
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Marriage Diaries | My wife boasts so much about our life on social media, it’s embarrassing
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Midlife strength training | ‘I look better at 59 than I did at 30’
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Money Makeover | ‘How do I spend my £520k pension without paying any tax?’
Business and money briefing
Rising estimates | The cost of a key HS2 station in Birmingham has ballooned by £100m before builders have even submitted bids to win the lucrative tender. Read on for details of the project described by engineers as one of the world’s most sustainable railway stations.
Sport briefing
Euro 2021 | In the first of our five-part feature, The Telegraph ranks the best players to play at this summer’s European Championships, starting from numbers 50 to 41. Meanwhile, Jason Burt analyses why Jack Grealish might be the odd man out at the tournamnet as England manager Gareth Southgate ponders how to solve his puzzle up front.
Three things for tonight
And finally… for this evening’s downtime
Des Walker exclusive interview | He was a Rolls-Royce defender who starred at Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday before turning to lorry driving as an unlikely second career. Des Walker tells John Percy about how it really felt to play for Brian Clough.