How much england won world cup

Good morning. This is it, the last day of the campaign, the end is in sight, but not before one final flurry of campaigning effort from all the parties. Herein we bring you the election news and the best of the rest – and of course you should follow the day’s live political news here. What’s going on? Labour and the Conservatives are in a frantic scramble for votes as the last day of campaigning begins. Both parties have labelled Thursday’s vote the “most important in a generation” . The Guardian’s election editorial shares this view, saying “Britain has not faced a more critical election in decades than the one it faces on Thursday”. It urges people to back Labour and “candidates who can defeat the Tories in constituencies where Labour is an also-ran” – asking them to “think of the electrifying impact of relieving Mr Johnson of high office”. Neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn is wasting a moment … [Read more...] about Wednesday briefing: Scramble to finish line in final day of campaign

The triennial results from the Programme for International Assessment (Pisa), due on Tuesday but trailed in the Sunday press, have become education's equivalent of the football World Cup. And the performance of the British teams is just as mediocre, giving more leverage to politicians determined to get a few easy cheers from slagging off teachers. In the 2009 tests the UK was around average, with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland roughly on a par, and Wales doing even worse. The English and Scots did better than Peruvians, as you'd expect, but they were not up there with the Chinese, Singaporeans, Koreans, Japanese or Estonians and Poles. Little change this time, apparently. So much for Tony Blair's "education, education, education", for it was under his regime that the 15-year-olds who took the latest tests in maths, science and reading in 2012 got most of their schooling. Michael Gove will take that as vindication of his policies, which involve transforming everything from … [Read more...] about Don’t let dubious Pisa league tables dictate how we educate our children

It's the calm before the storm as this weekend's fare is rather lower key in comparison to what takes place on the Epsom Downs next week. But there are still good betting opportunities and Royal Ascot clues at Haydock where the Sandy Lane Stakes at 3:45pm takes centre stage. Gifted Master is 6/4 favourite with StanJames.com and Hugo Palmer's charge is bidding for his sixth win in a row. Partnered by Pat Smullen, the son of Kodiac (horse, not jockey!) is currently 6/1 second favourite behind Acapulco (7/2) for the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot next month-a price that will shrink if winning easily here. Buratino steps back down to 6f in the same race which will definitely suit and we're top price 5/1 last season's Coventry winner can bring home the bacon. Speaking of top price, from 10am this morning, Stanjames.com will be paying best odds on all runners in the 2:50pm at Chester, a wide open race that currently sees Godolphin’s Best Of Times heading the market. Don’t … [Read more...] about Stanjames share the best odds for the horse racing and Grand Prix over the Bank Holiday weekend

The president of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, has denied responsibility for the corruption scandal engulfing football’s world governing body and has promised to clean up the organisation by pressing ahead with his bid for a fifth term. Blatter told the Fifa congress in Zurich on Thursday afternoon that he could “not monitor everyone all the time” and emphasised that the allegations and arrests focused on “a minority of individuals”. Blatter promised, not for the first time, to rebuild trust. “These are unprecedented and difficult times for Fifa,” he said. “The events of yesterday have cast a long shadow over football and over this week’s congress. Actions of individuals, if proven, bring shame and humiliation on football and demand action and change from us all. We cannot allow the reputation of Fifa to be dragged through the mud any longer.” Blatter earlier confirmed that he will seek a fifth term as the head of Fifa, rebuffing a … [Read more...] about Fifa crisis: Blatter denies responsibility and rebuffs Platini plea to resign

Fifa has become embroiled in the biggest corruption case in its history as its 2015 annual meeting was torpedoed by an early-morning raid on the host hotel, a separate raid on its headquarters and the arrest of a string of officials and sports industry representatives. Nine officials were arrested in connection with a years-long investigation by US federal authorities, with seven detained at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss federal officials also said they wanted to question 10 Fifa executive committee members over the awards of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar. Fifa officials arrested Jack Warner The former president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) was one of the Fifa officials arrested on Wednesday. He resigned from all of his positions in international football in June 2011, shortly after being implicated in numerous corruption allegations dating back to the 1980s. Warner, 72, … [Read more...] about Fifa corruption crisis: the key figures in the controversy