Southgate's comeback kings get a shot at redemption

OLLIE WATKINS scored the biggest goal of his career in the dying seconds of the semi final against Netherlands to give England the chance to make amends for their painful home defeat in the Euro 2020+1 Final three years ago.

The Three Lions produced a much-improved performance against the Dutch and staged yet another comeback to make it all the way to the showpiece event for a second successive European Championship.

Once again then, Gareth Southgate stands potentially just 90 minutes away from becoming only the second boss of the England men's senior team to win a trophy after Sir Alf Ramsey's home World Cup triumph in 1966.

Yet, for much of Euro 2024, it has not looked like getting anywhere near to coming home.

England were unbeaten and topped Group C but that said as much about the failings of their opponents Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia than anything else.

Indeed, right up until the last kick of the third group game, a Danish goal against Serbia would have sent England to Dortmund for a meeting with Germany in the Last 16 - but it never came.

Nevertheless, Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen seemed tricky enough and the Slovakians took a deserved lead after 25 minutes when Ivan Schranz took advantage of a wide-open defence to score his third goal of the tournament.

Southgate had been criticised during the opening matches for being slow to make attack-minded substitutions - although the Three Lions at least were never behind at any stage of any of the group games.

Now, England were chasing - and yet, infuriatingly, Southgate continued to stand idly on the sidelines deeper and deeper into the second half.

It took until 66 minutes for Cole Palmer to make it off the bench - while Eberechi Eze had to wait until the 84th minute to be introduced.

That left Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon kicking his heels - and, even now, the 23-year-old has had just a handful minutes of action across the whole competition.

Still, nothing changed - and, as the game moved into stoppage time, an inglorious conclusion to the eight-year Southgate era awaited.

But, if you cannot be good, be lucky - and, after a Kyle Walker throw-in was nodded on by Marc Guehi, the ball fell behind where Jude Bellingham was positioned.

No matter - the Real Madrid man produced a truly spectacular overhead kick to score a brilliant equaliser; England were level and the whole complexion of the tie had changed in the blink of an eye.

With the wind in their sails, the Three Lions went straight on the attack at the start of extra time.

This time, a Palmer free-kick on the right was only half-cleared to Eze whose ball was headed on by another late substitute Ivan Toney to Harry Kane unmarked in the six-yard box.

Now with the lead, England bemusingly reverted to a defensive approach despite the increased attacking talent which they had on the pitch.

That almost proved costly and the relief at the full time whistle was palpable as the team marched on to a quarter finals against Switzerland.

This was a handy Swiss team who had easily accounted for holders Italy in their own Last 16 tie - but, in classic knockout tournament style, the encounter against England resembled a chess match.

Again, the Three Lions had plenty of the ball without any cutting edge - and it took until midway through the second half for either of the teams to take control.

Frustratingly, that team was Switzerland - and, from a ball across by Dan Ndoye via a mis-step by John Stones, Breet Embolo was left with a simple tap-in to give a lead to the Swiss with just 15 minutes remaining.

Reactive rather than proactive as ever, Southgate predictably only rang the changes while trailing - although this time the substitutes had little to do with the rapid-fire equaliser.

Instead, it was another piece of individual inspiration as Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka struck a peach of a shot in-off the post cutting in the right on the edge of the box.

Remarkably, it was England's first shot on target of the match and it meant Southgate's men had scored with each of their previous three efforts on goal across two matches. It was a frankly unsustainable approach.

After the excitement of two goals in five minutes, both teams settled the match down in the remainder of normal time and throughout extra time to the extent that penalties felt inevitable.

At least, one thing that can be said under Southgate is that England's record at penalties has improved - even if the big failure in the Euro 2020+1 Final still sticks in the throat.

In Palmer, Bellingham, Saka, Toney, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, England fielded probably their most promising line-up of takers since Alan Shearer, David Platt, Stuart Pearce, Paul Gascoigne and Teddy Sheringham stepped up at Euro 1996. 

That certainly looked the case as the current vintage all kept their cool while Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji's weak opening effort for Switzerland - and so England progressed again with a perfect set of spot-kicks.

Fast improvement was needed, though, against a Netherlands side which had scored nine goals across the tournament in making it through to the last four.

Just seven minutes into the semi final, that became 10 as Xavi Simons unleashed a wonderful shot from just outside the box and England fell behind for a third successive match.

Perhaps it was because the Dutch had scored so soon - but, whatever the reason and without any changes being required from Southgate, England responded with their most convincing half of the the tournament.

On 11 minutes, Saka made a good run towards the heart of the Oranje defence and, after his blocked shot fell to Kane, the Bayern Munich blazed over.

However, the video assistant officials deemed Kane to have been impeded on the shot by Denzel Dumfries's trailing leg - and on-field referee awarded a penalty which Kane happily despatched into the bottom corner.

For once, England did not simply stop and admire their good work - and, through the previously completely anonymous Phil Foden, threatened a second goal.

First, Foden had his shot from a narrow angle cleared off the line by Dumfries then the Manchester City man smacked a thumping shot off the face of the post from 25 yards.

Nevertheless, the Dutch themselves remained a threat - and, between Foden's efforts, the all-action Dumfries clipped the bar with his header from a corner.

The pace of the tie slowed somewhat in the second half - but still there were chances as Pickford saved well from Virgil Van Dijk before Saka had a goal chalked off for a needless offside by Walker who had delivered the pull-back.

As the match headed into stoppage time, yet another bout of extra time looked to be on the cards - but England again played right to the very end as Southgate's subs made another critical intervention.

Palmer, operating on the right, played a useful ball into Aston Villa striker Watkins on the half turn.

Showing strength to hold off his marker Stefan de Vrij and simultaneously great dexterity to retain control of the ball on the turn, Watkins was able to unleash a fierce shot across the goal - and into the bottom corner of the net.

England were ahead - and, with hardly any time for the Dutch to launch a response of their own, the Three Lions are in the Final again. 

Now, Spain stand in the way - and, having scored the most goals in Euro 2024 with 13 in six wins out of six, they have been undoubtedly the best team in the competition to watch.

Indeed, if titles were decided on artistic merit, the Spanish would be walking away with the trophy already with Lamine Yamal at the forefront.

In the semi final against France, Barcelona teenager Yamal added another record to his ever-growing list of accomplishments by becoming the youngest scorer in European Championship history at the age of 16 years and 362 days.

Not only that - Yamal's equaliser was an absolute beauty, a curling shot in-off the post from 25 yards as French goalkeeper Mike Maignan conceded from a non-penalty goal for the first time in the tournament.

Four minutes later, Maignan was picking the ball out of his net again as Dani Olmo took down a loose ball and made a yard of space before a low strike on the half-volley.

It was Olmo's third goal of the tournament - all three of them coming in separate knockout stage games - as

Spain had responded brilliantly to an early French blow. For, after just nine minutes of play, Les Bleus scored their first goal from open play at Euro 2024 through Kolo Muani who headed in Kylian Mbappe's pinpoint cross.

Despite that, though, the Spanish were much the better side for most of the first hour of play, deservedly got level then ahead, and really should have extended their lead before the inevitable late French push.

But, beyond a couple of mis-timed headers by Aurelien Tchouameni and Dayot Upamecano, and a wayward shot by Theo Hernandez from the edge of the box, Spain were able to keep Les Bleus at arm's length.

Mbappe, playing without a face mask for the first time since breaking his nose at the start of the tournament, only once got down his favoured inside-left channel - but he finished his run by blazing high over the bar.

It was an effort which summed up the tournament for Mbappe and France as a whole, as Spain deservedly sealed a fifth appearance in a European Championship Final with a fair degree of comfort.

Certainly, La Roja have enjoyed a really rich vein of form throughout, from their 3-0 beating of Croatia in their opening match via further group stage victories against Italy and Albania.

In the Last 16, the Spanish ended Georgia's journey with a 4-1 win - but, while that was a favourable draw against the lowest ranked team at the tournament, Luis de la Fuente's outfit next had to take on hosts Germany in the quarter finals.

Following a cautious first half from both teams, Spain lit the touchpaper early in the second half after Olmo stroked Yamal's perfectly-timed pass across the box into the bottom corner.

Germany responded well, forcing Unai Simon into a good save from Robert Andrich while Niclas Fullkrug slid the ball against the face of the post and Kai Havertz chipped just over.

Eventually, in the 89th minute, the pressure told, as a good header down by Joshua Kimmich from a deep cross by Maximilian Mittlestadt found Florian Wirtz to supply the finish.

The action did not stop there and, in an entertaining extra time period, Mikel Oyarzabal and Wirtz sent efforts agonisingly wide as both teams went for it ahead of one final Spanish attack.

Crossing from the left, Olmo found former on-loan Newcastle midfielder Mikel Merino - and, having drifted off his marker, the Real Sociedad player made no mistake with his planted header from eight yards.

Even then, the Germans had one final chance to force penalties as Fullkrug placed his header inches wide of the post - and defeat for the Mannschaft still means no host nation has won a Euros since France triumphed back in 1984.

Now, despite an unblemished record in the group stage, Spain are not without their vulnerabilities at the back.

La Roja will welcome back Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand from suspension into the starting line-up for the Final - but the fact that both were suspended in the first place suggests this Spanish team can be stretched.

Germany, in the quarter final, and France, in the semi final, got more joy in periods when they took the game to Spain, rather than sitting back and attempting to play solely on the break.

After all, while Southgate favours cautious tactics, this Spain team is simply to good on the ball and playing too well to be allowed to dictate the pace of the match.

Instead, to stand any chance of not having to chase yet another game, the Three Lions must show the same intensity as they displayed in the semi final against Netherlands.

Ultimately, at least it can be said that England have given themselves a chance of redemption - and, at this stage, that is all you can ask. 

🟥 EURO 2024 KNOCKOUT STAGE 🟥

■ LAST 16

29-June	17:00	SWITZERLAND	2-0	ITALY	Berlin
BBC		Freuler 37, Vargas 46
29-June	20:00	GERMANY	2-0	DENMARK	Dortmund
ITV		Havertz 53pen, Musiala 68
30-June	17:00	ENGLAND	2-1	SLOVAKIA	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Bellingham 90+5, Kane 91	aet	Schranz 25
30-June	20:00	SPAIN	4-1	GEORGIA	Cologne
ITV		Rodri 39, Fabian Ruiz 51 Williams 75, Olmo 83		Le Normand 18og
01-July	17:00	FRANCE	1-0	BELGIUM	Dusseldorf
ITV		Vertonghen 85og
01-July	20:00	PORTUGAL	0-0	SLOVENIA	Frankfurt
BBC		Portugal won 3-0 on penalties	aet
02-July	17:00	ROMANIA	0-3	NETHERLANDS	Munich
BBC				Gakpo 20, Malen 83, 90+3
02-July	20:00	AUSTRIA	1-2	TURKEY	Leipzig
ITV		Gregoritsch 66		Demiral 1, 59

■ QUARTER FINALS

05-July	17:00	SPAIN	2-1	GERMANY	Stuttgart
ITV		Olmo 51, Merino 119	aet	Wirtz 89
05-July	20:00	PORTUGAL	0-0	FRANCE	Hamburg
BBC			aet	France won 5-3 on penalties
06-July	17:00	ENGLAND	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Dusseldorf
BBC		Saka 80 England won 5-3 on penalties	aet	Embolo 75
06-July	20:00	NETHERLANDS	2-1	TURKEY	Berlin
ITV		De Vrij 70, Muldur 76og		Akaydin 35

■ SEMI FINALS

09-July	20:00	SPAIN	2-1	FRANCE
BBC		Yamal 21, Olmo 25		Kolo Muani 9

Spain Unai Simon; Jesus Navas (Vivian 58), Nacho, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Yamal (Torres 90+3), Olmo (Merino 76), Williams (Zubimendi 90+4); Morata (Oyarzabal 76) Booked Jesus Navas, Yamal
France Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez T; Kante (Griezmann 62), Tchoumeni, Rabiot (Camavinga 62); Dembele (Giroud 79), Koli Muani (Barcola 63), Mbappe Booked Tchoumeni
Attendance 62,042 at the Allianz Arena in Munich Referee Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

05-July	17:00	NETHERLANDS	1-2	ENGLAND
ITV		Simons 7		Kane 18pen, Watkins 90

Netherlands Verbruggen; Dumfries (Zirkzee 90+3), De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen (Weghorst 46), Simons (Brobbey 90+3), Gakpo; Depay (Veerman 35) Booked Dumfries, Van Dijk, Simons
England Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi; Saka (Konsa 90+3), Mainoo (Gallagher 90+3), Rice, Trippier (Shaw 46); Foden (Palmer 80), Bellingham; Kane (Watkins 81) Booked Bellingham, Saka
Attendance 60,926 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund Referee Felix Zwayer (Germany)

■ GOALSCORERS 114 goals in 50 matches (2.28 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Dani Olmo (Spain), Harry Kane (England)
2 Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Razvan Marin (Romania), Kai Havertz (Germany), Jude Bellingham (England), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Donyell Malen (Netherlands), Merih Demiral (Turkey), Florian Wirtz (Germany), Breel Embolo (Switzerland)
1 Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey), Remo Freuler (Switzerland), Ruben Vargas (Switzerland), Rodri (Spain), Nico Williams (Spain), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Mikel Merino (Spain), Bukayo Saka (England), Samet Akaydin (Turkey), Stefan De Vrij (Netherlands), Kolo Muani (France), Lamine Yamal (Spain), Xavi Simons (Netherlands), Ollie Watkins (England) 
10 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria, Robin Le Normand (Spain) for Georgia, Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) for France, Mert Muldur (Turkey) for Netherlands

■ RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland) v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Dani Carvajal (Spain) v Germany
Bertug Yildirim (Turkey) v Netherlands

General Election 2024 results: Labour wins a "Loveless Landslide"

LABOUR returned to power for the first time in 14 years after winning a mathematically mind-boggling majority at the 2024 General Election.

Sir Keir Starmer's party took 411 seats, a gain of 209, in a massive victory which almost matched the majority won by Tony Blair in 1997.

But, in a result which has already been termed a "Loveless Landslide", Labour received less than 10 million votes and took just a 33.8% share overall.

That was only modestly up on the 32.1% share received by Labour in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn - who actually received more votes due to the higher turnout four-and-a-half years ago.

Back then, Mr Corbyn led Labour to its worst result in terms of seats since 1935 by piling up thousands of unnecessary additional votes in already rock-solid safe seats.

This time, though, Mr Starmer's broader appeal has resulted in the Labour vote being far more evenly spread across the United Kingdom with such a level of efficiency that any attempt to analyse the outcome using a traditional swingometer was rendered completely useless.

Overall, there was a 10.8% swing from the Conservatives to Labour at this election, something which would have resulted in a hung parliament if the movement of votes had been the same across all of the constituencies.

However, that did not happen because, whereas previously the swing change has been pretty evenly matched between Labour gain and Conservative loss (or vice-versa), the swing this time could be almost solely attributed to the collapse in the Tories' vote share.

Indeed, any sort of analysis must begin with the obvious conclusion that this was the most visceral repudiation of the Conservative Party since its formation in 1834.

Frankly, the results of this General Election made the 1997 collapse look like a grand day out, as they received a record-low share of the vote (23.7%) and finished with 121 seats, another record low.

No fewer than 11 Cabinet ministers lost their seats - another record - including Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Transport Secretary Mark Harper, and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

Perhaps none of these was quite on par with the Portillo moment in 1997, though.

Instead, that belonged to Jacob Rees-Mogg who was roundly defeated who was defeated in North East Somerset and Hanham by Dan Norris of Labour.

Or, more likely still, it was the unceremonious deposing of former Prime Minister Liz Truss whose reluctance to go on stage for her result led to a round of slow handclaps.

Ms Truss - who had a record-short tenure of 49 days as Prime Minister and infamously failed to outlast a lettuce - was defeated in the South West Norfolk constituency by Terry Jermy of Labour on a 26.2% swing. 

Meanwhile, the seats of three other former Conservative Prime Ministers, David Cameron, Boris Johnson, and Theresa May - in Witney, Henley and Thame, and Maidenhead respectively - all returned a Liberal Democrat MP.

For the record, none of those former PMs was standing - but the turnover symbolised another big theme of the results of this election: the return of the Lib Dems.

In taking 72 seats, the Lib Dems will hold their biggest representation at the House of Commons since the party was founded in 1988, and the highest number by any Liberal party since 1923.

Yet, they also saw only a modest increase in their vote share - up by 0.6% on 2019 when the party comprised of just 11 MPs and then-leader Jo Swinson lost her seat.

Undoubtedly, the sharp increase can be attributed to two main factors, in addition to the Conservative collapse.

The first is a ruthless targeting of potential seats and the intentional disproportionate pouring of funds and resources in those constituencies.

Secondly, the Lib Dems benefited from tactical voting as primarily Labour voters lended their vote in order to see a Conservative opponent beaten.

In fairness to the Lib Dems, the extent of tactical voting is often overstated - and, even in their south west heartland where they made many of their gains, Labour also did historically well and won all sorts of seats which it has never held before.

Now, it is not particularly remarkable that the Conservatives hold no seats in the north east or Cumbria, or that they have been wiped out altogether in Wales.

However, the fact that the Tories have just four MPs in Devon and none at all in Cornwall is noteworthy.

Indeed, it has had the effect of reducing the Conservative representation to suburbs of London and Birmingham, and some remaining true blue constituencies in rural parts of Yorkshire and the south.

Meanwhile, across the country, the Conservatives faced a further wholly different type of opponent in a significant change to the 2019 election.

In 2019, Nigel Farage - then as leader of the Brexit Party - was satisfied by the offer made by Conservative leader Mr Johnson to "get Brexit done", and stood down candidates in seats which the Tories were defending to prevent a split in the right-wing vote.

This time, there was no such deal between Mr Farage and the Tory leader Mr Sunak - and the Reform Party responded by biting huge chunks out of the Conservative vote all around the country.

Lee Anderson retained Ashfield, having originally won it for the Conservatives in 2019, former leader Richard Tice took Boston and Skegness, former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe gained Great Yarmouth, and the far less heralded James McMurdock won South Basildon and East Thurrock.

The big news, though, was the entry into Parliament for the first time by Mr Farage - who, at the eighth attempt to gain a seat at Westminster, finally won in Clacton.

Beyond those constituencies, Reform finished second in 98 seats, wreaking havoc primarily upon the Conservative vote and allowing Labour to achieve a whole slew of narrow victories.

As such, the 2024 General Election result exposed the truly perverse nature of the First Past The Post system.

For, while Labour, on average, picked up one seat for around every 23,000 votes, Reform took 823,000 votes for each MP.

Now, pure proportional representation (PR) has its own inherent weakness in that it encourages individual parties to take an approach in thinking which is far too narrow merely so that they can secure votes from their base.

Meanwhile, studies into the Alternative Vote (AV) - already rejected thoroughly in a referendum in 2011 - showed that it had the potential to produce outcomes which were even less proportionate than First Past The Post (FPTP).

Perhaps then, the solution lies in the Additional-Member System (AMS) which is familiar to voters in Scotland and Wales as it is used to elect the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.

AMS - like the current FPTP system - has a constituency vote first of all so that there is still a clear link between the public and its local representative.

In contrast to FPTP, though, AMS has a second set of votes - these are divided by the number of constituencies won on the first ballot, therefore parties with fewer seats in that first ballot benefit in the second set by taking more top-up seats.

There are, of course, still more seats available on the first ballot conducted under FPTP; however the second ballot has the effect of making a legislature far more representative of the overall votes than a FPTP-only election.

Undoubtedly, Labour will argue - with good reason - that there are far more pressing issues surrounding the state of public services after 14 years of Tory rule.

But the democratic deficit in the British system is a major issue in itself in that it feeds bitterness and cynicism which then naturally extends to perceptions about government action, or a lack of it, on matters like immigration.

Yet it is not just Reform on the right wing from which Labour will come under pressure, based on these election results.

Former leader Mr Corbyn - suspended by Labour after asserting that the scale of antisemitism in the party had been overstated for political reasons - stood instead as an independent and, with a huge personal vote of 24,120, retained the Islington North seat which he has held since 1983.

Elsewhere, the Green Party may only have taken four seats - but that is still quadruple of the previous representation based upon on a slither of the media interest afforded to Reform.

Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay were elected in Bristol Central and Waveney Valley - and it is hoped by Green supporters that, through their dual presence, they can increase the profile of the party while also moving on from the Caroline Lucas era.

Meanwhile, Mr Starmer's predictably cautious approach to the Israel-Gaza conflict undoubtedly cost him several seats as four independent Muslim candidates - Shockat Adam, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed, and Ayoub Khan - won in Leicester South, Blackburn, Dewsbury and Batley, and Birmingham Perry Barr.

Normally, a huge majority would leave a leader with little concern over fringe issues - and at least there should be little noise from the Scottish National Party in the next term after it was reduced from 48 seats into single figures on nine.

But, while Mr Starmer has hundreds of seats in the House of Commons, he also has a low personal popularity ratings and a lack of mandate outside of the Westminster bubble.

As such, the new government will need to make a significant early impact to avoid coming under pressure from an impatient and an increasingly electorally volatile British public.

GENERAL ELECTION 2024

Labour majority of 172

	SCOREBOARD	Seats	Diff	Votes%	Diff%
•	Labour	411	(+209)	33.8%	(+1.7%)
•	Conservatives	121	(-244)	23.7%	(-19.9%)
•	Lib Dems	72	(+61)	12.2%	(+0.6%)
•	Scottish Nationals	9	(-39)	2.5%	(-1.3%)
•	Green Party	4	(+3)	6.8%	(+4.1%)
•	Reform Party	5	(+5)	14.3%	(+12.3%)
•	Plaid Cymru	4	(-)	0.7%	(+0.2%)
•	Others	24	(+5)	5.4%

Turnout 59.9% (-7.4%)

EXIT POLL • CON 131 • LAB 410 • LD 61 • RFM 13 • SNP 10 • OTH 25

EAST MIDLANDS
Amber Valley - Ashfield - Bassetlaw - Bolsover - Boston and Skegness - Broxtowe - Chesterfield - Corby and East Northamptonshire - Daventry - Derby North - Derby South - Derbyshire Dales - Erewash - Gainsborough - Gedling - Grantham and Bourne - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston - High Peak - Hinckley and Bosworth - Kettering - Leicester East - Leicester South - Leicester West - Lincoln - Loughborough - Louth and Horncastle - Mansfield - Melton and Syston - Mid Derbyshire - Mid Leicestershire - Newark - North East Derbyshire - North West Leicestershire - Northampton North - Northampton South - Nottingham East - Nottingham North and Kimberley - Nottingham South - Rushcliffe - Rutland and Stamford - Sherwood Forest - Sleaford and North Hykeham - South Derbyshire - South Holland and The Deepings - South Leicestershire - South Northamptonshire - Wellingborough and Rushden

EAST
Basildon and Billericay - Bedford - Braintree - Brentwood and Ongar - Broadland and Fakenham - Broxbourne - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket - Cambridge - Castle Point - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich - Chelmsford - Clacton - Colchester - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard - Ely and East Cambridgeshire - Epping Forest - Great Yarmouth - Harlow - Harpenden and Berkhamsted - Harwick and North Essex - Hemel Hempstead - Hertford and Stortford - Hertsmere - Hitchin - Huntingdon - Ipswich - Lowestoft - Luton North - Luton South and South Bedfordshire - Maldon - Mid Bedfordshire - Mid Norfolk - North Bedfordshire - North East Cambridgeshire - North East Hertfordshire - North Norfolk - North West Cambridgeshire - North West Essex - North West Norfolk - Norwich North - Norwich South - Peterborough - Rayleigh and Wickford - South Basildon and East Thurrock - South Cambridgeshire - South Norfolk - South Suffolk - South West Hertfordshire - South West Norfolk - Southend East and Rochford - Southend West and Leigh - St Albans - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire - Stevenage - Suffolk Coastal - Thurrock - Watford - Waveney Valley - Welwyn Hatfield - West Suffolk - Witham

LONDON
Barking - Battersea - Beckenham and Penge - Bermondsey and Old Southwark - Bethnal Green and Stepney - Bexleyheath and Crayford - Brent East - Brent West - Brentford and Isleworth - Bromley and Biggin Hill - Carshalton and Wallington - Chelsea and Fulham - Chingford and Woodford Green - Chipping Barnet - Cities of London and Westminster - Clapham and Brixton Hill - Croydon East - Croydon South - Croydon West - Dagenham and Rainham - Dulwich and West Norwood - Ealing Central and Acton - Ealing North - Ealing Southall - East Ham - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill - Eltham and Chislehurst - Enfield North - Erith and Thamesmead - Feltham and Heston - Finchley and Golders Green - Greenwich and Woolwich - Hackney North and Stoke Newington - Hackney South and Shoreditch - Hammersmith and Chiswick - Hampstead and Highgate - Harrow East - Harrow West - Hayes and Harlington - Hendon - Holborn and St Pancras - Hornchurch and Upminster - Hornsey and Friern Barnet - Ilford North - Ilford South - Islington North - Islington South and Finsbury - Kensington and Bayswater -  Kingston and Surbiton - Lewisham East - Lewisham North - Lewisham West and East Dulwich - Leyton and Wanstead - Mitcham and Morden - Old Bexley and Sidcup - Orpington - Peckham - Poplar and Limehouse - Putney - Queen's Park and Maida Vale - Richmond Park - Romford - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner - Southgate and Wood Green - Stratford and Bow - Streatham and Croydon North - Sutton and Cheam - Tooting - Tottenham - Twickenham - Uxbridge and South Ruislip - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green - Walthamstow - West Ham and Beckton - Wimbledon

NORTH EAST
Bishop Auckland - Blaydon and Consett - Blyth and Ashington - City of Durham - Cramlington and Killingworth - Darlington - Easington - Gateshead Central and Whickham - Hartlepool - Hexham - Houghton and Sunderland South - Jarrow and Gateshead East - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend - Newcastle upon Tyne North - Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor - North Durham - North Northumberland - Redcar - South Shields - Stockton North - Stockton West - Sunderland Central - Tynemouth - Washington and Gateshead South

NORTH WEST
Altrincham and Sale West - Ashton-under-Lyne - Barrow and Furness - Birkenhead - Blackburn - Blackley and Middleton South - Blackpool North and Fleetwood - Blackpool South - Bolton North East - Bolton South and Walkden - Bolton West - Bootle - Burnley - Bury North - Bury South - Carlisle - Cheadle - Chester North and Neston - Chester South and Eddisbury - Chorley - Congleton - Crewe and Nantwich - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough - Fylde - Gorton and Denton - Hazel Grove - Heywood and Middleton North - Hyndburn - Knowsley - Lancaster and Wyre - Leigh and Atherton - Liverpool Garston - Liverpool Riverside - Liverpool Walton - Liverpool Wavertree - Liverpool West Derby - Macclesfield - Makerfield - Manchester Central - Manchester Rusholme - Manchester Withington - Mid Cheshire - Morecambe and Lunesdale - Oldham East and Saddleworth - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton - Pendle and Clitheroe - Penrith and Solway - Preston - Ribble Valley - Rochdale - Rossendale and Darwen - Runcorn and Helsby - Salford - Sefton Central - South Ribble - Southport - St Helens North - St Helens South and Whiston - Stalybridge and Hyde - Stockport - Stretford and Urmston - Tatton - Wallasey - Warrington North - Warrington South - West Lancashire - Westmorland and Lonsdale - Whitehaven and Workington - Widnes and Halewood - Wigan - Wirral West - Worsley and Eccles - Wythenshawe and Sale East

SOUTH AND SOUTH EAST
Aldershot - Arundel and South Downs - Ashford - Aylesbury - Banbury - Basingstoke - Beaconsfield - Bexhill and Battle -  Bicester and Woodstock - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton - Bracknell - Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven - Brighton Pavilion - Buckingham and Bletchley - Canterbury - Chatham and Aylesford - Chesham and Amersham - Chichester - Crawley - Dartford - Didcot and Wantage - Dorking and Horley - Dover and Deal - Earley and Woodley - East Grinstead and Uckfield - East Hampshire - East Surrey - East Thanet - East Worthing and Shoreham - Eastbourne - Eastleigh - Epsom and Ewell - Esher and Walton - Fareham and Waterlooville - Farnham and Bordon - Faversham and Mid Kent - Folkstone and Hythe - Gillingham and Rainham - Godalming and Ash - Gosport - Gravesham - Guildford - Hamble Valley - Hastings and Rye - Havant - Henley and Thame - Herne Bay and Sandwich - Horsham - Hove and Portslade - Isle of Wight East - Isle of Wight West - Lewes - Maidenhead - Maidstone and Malling - Mid Buckinghamshire - Mid Sussex - Milton Keynes Central - Milton Keynes North - New Forest East - New Forest West - Newbury - North East Hampshire - North West Hampshire - Oxford East - Oxford West and Abingdon - Portsmouth North - Portsmouth South - Reading Central - Reading West and Mid Berkshire - Reigate - Rochester and Strood - Romsey and Southampton North - Runnymede and Weybridge - Sevenoaks - Sittingbourne and Sheppey - Slough - Southampton Itchen - Southampton Test - Spelthorne - Surrey Heath - Sussex Weald - Tonbridge - Tunbridge Wells - Weald of Kent - Winchester - Windsor - Witney - Woking - Wokingham - Worthing West - Wycombe

SOUTH WEST
Bath - Bournemouth East - Bournemouth West - Bridgwater - Bristol Central - Bristol East - Bristol North East - Bristol North West - Bristol South - Camborne and Redruth - Central Devon - Cheltenham - Chippenham - Christchurch - East Wiltshire - Exeter - Exmouth and Exeter East - Filton and Bradley Stoke - Forest of Dean - Frome and East Somerset - Glastonbury and Somerton - Gloucester - Honiton and Sidmouth - Melksham and Devizes - Mid Dorset and North Poole - Newton Abbot - North Cornwall - North Cotswolds - North Devon - North Dorset - North East Somerset and Hanham - North Somerset - Plymouth Moor View - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport - Poole - Salisbury - South Cotswolds - South Devon - South Dorset - South East Cornwall - South West Devon - South West Wiltshire - St Austell and Newquay - St Ives - Stroud - Swindon North - Swindon South - Taunton and Wellington - Tewkesbury - Thornbury and Yate - Tiverton and Minehead - Torbay - Torridge and Tavistock - Truro and Falmouth - Wells and Mendip Hills - West Dorset - Weston-super-Mare - Yeovil

WEST MIDLANDS
Aldridge-Brownhills - Birmingham Edgbaston - Birmingham Erdington - Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North - Birmingham Ladywood - Birmingham Northfield - Birmingham Perry Barr - Birmingham Selly Oak - Birmingham Yardley - Bromsgrove - Burton and Uttoxeter - Cannock Chase - Coventry East - Coventry North West - Coventry South - Droitwich and Evesham - Dudley - Halesowen - Hereford and South Herefordshire - Kenilworth and Southam - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire - Lichfield - Meriden and Solihull East - Newcastle-under-Lyme - North Herefordshire - North Shropshire - North Warwickshire and Bedworth - Nuneaton - Redditch - Rugby - Shrewsbury - Smethwick - Solihull West and Shirley - South Shropshire - Stafford - Staffordshire Moorlands - Stoke-on-Trent Central - Stoke-on-Trent North - Stoke-on-Trent South - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge - Stourbridge - Stratford-on-Avon - Sutton Coldfield - Tamworth - Telford - The Wrekin - Tipton and Wednesbury - Walsall and Bloxwich - Warwick and Leamington - West Bromwich - West Worcestershire - Wolverhampton North East - Wolverhampton South East - Wolverhampton West - Worcester - Wyre Forest

YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER
Barnsley North - Barnsley South - Beverley and Holderness - Bradford East - Bradford South - Bradford West - Bridlington and The Wolds - Brigg and Immingham - Calder Valley - Colne Valley - Dewsbury and Batley - Doncaster Central - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme - Doncaster North - Goole and Pocklington - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes - Halifax - Harrogate and Knaresborough - Huddersfield - Keighley and Ilkley - Kingston upon Hull East - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham - Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice - Leeds Central and Headingley - Leeds East - Leeds North East - Leeds North West - Leeds South - Leeds South West and Morley - Leeds West and Pudsey - Normanton and Hemsworth - Ossett and Denby Dale - Penistone and Stocksbridge - Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough - Richmond and Northallerton - Rother Valley - Rotherham - Scarborough and Whitby - Scunthorpe - Selby - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough - Sheffield Central - Sheffield Hallam - Sheffield Heeley - Sheffield South East - Shipley - Skipton and Ripon - Spen Valley - Thirsk and Malton - Wakefield and Rothwell - Wetherby and Easingwold - York Central - York Outer

SCOTLAND

Aberdeen North - Aberdeen South - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East - Airdrie and Shotts - Alloa and Grangemouth - Angus and Perthshire Glens - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock - Bathgate and Linlithgow - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross - Central Ayrshire - Coatbridge and Bellshill - Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy - Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch - Dumfries and Galloway - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale - Dundee Central - Dunfermline and Dollar - East Kilbride and Strathaven - East Renfrewshire - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh - Edinburgh North and Leith - Edinburgh South - Edinburgh South West - Edinburgh West - Falkirk - Glasgow East - Glasgow North - Glasgow North East - Glasgow South - Glasgow South West - Glasgow West - Glenrothes and Mid Fife - Gordon and Buchan - Hamilton and Clyde Valley - Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire - Kilmarnock and Loudoun - Livingston - Lothian East - Mid Dunbartonshire - Midlothian - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey - Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke - Na h-Eileanan an Iar - North Ayrshire and Arran - North East Fife - Orkney and Shetland - Paisley and Renfrewshire North - Paisley and Renfrewshire South - Perth and Kinross-shire - Rutherglen - Stirling and Strathallan - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine - West Dunbartonshire

WALES
Aberafan Maesteg - Alyn and Deeside - Bangor Aberconwy - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe - Bridgend - Caerfyrddin - Caerphilly - Cardiff East - Cardiff North - Cardiff South and Penarth - Cardiff West - Ceredigion Preseli - Clwyd East - Clwyd North - Dwyfor Meirionnydd - Gower - Llanelli - Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare - Mid and South Pembrokeshire - Monmouthshire - Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr - Neath and Swansea East - Newport East - Newport West and Islwyn - Pontypridd - Rhondda and Ogmore - Swansea West - Torfaen - Vale of Glamorgan - Wrexham - Ynys Mon

General Election 2024: A re-alignment in waiting

TIME is almost up. It has been 43 days since Rishi Sunak stood out in the pissing rain in Downing Street and announced his decision to call a General Election.

Frankly the optics that day were terrible for Mr Sunak and the campaign has got little better for the Conservatives since then.

It is thought that the decision to go to the polls was made on the back of the announcement by the Office of National Statistics that inflation had finally almost dropped to the all-important 2% target.

But, after 14 years of often chaotic Conservative-led government, the opinion polls suggest the public is no longer in the mood to accept such tiny morsels. 

Instead, most polling companies continue to show the same sort of significant Labour leads which began at the tail-end of the scandal-ridden Boris Johnson era in which Mr Sunak was Chancellor. 

Moreover, for the first time since 2005, The Sun newspaper - known for wanting to back the winner - has endorsed Labour. 

It is a far cry from December 2019 when Mr Johnson won a comfortable 80-seat majority on the back of his promise to get Brexit done.

Even, as recently as May 2021, Mr Johnson eyed "a decade in power", according to the Times, as the Conservatives basked in the success of roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine.

But then came Partygate. And the sale of contracts for personal protection equipment to Tory donors. And the Chris Pincher groping scandal - and so much more. 

In the meantime, Labour had installed a leader in Sir Keir Starmer who was more palatable to Middle England than left-winger Jeremy Corbyn. 

Next came the financial upheaval caused by the mini-Budget announced by Liz Truss's Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng during her 49-day tenure, the shortest on record for a Prime Minister. 

Yet nothing which Mr Sunak has done since his own elevation on 25 October 2022 - which appears to have been very little - has even as much as threatened to turn the tide.

Indeed, the only noticeable shift in the polls during the election period has gone against the Conservatives following the re-entry of former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage.

Mr Farage entered the election in typically dramatic style, taking over the leadership of the insurgent Reform Party from Richard Tice on 3 June and announcing his candidacy in the Clacton constituency.

Remarkably, it is the eighth time that Mr Farage has stood for election to the House of Commons - and he has failed to win on the previous seven occasions in 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2015.

But this time feels different - long-standing political pundits are struggling to remember a government quite as unpopular as the Sunak administration, and there is a likelihood that Reform will take a select few seats.

Ultimately, any greater impact by Reform will be stymied by the First Past The Post system - which a referendum held on 5 May 2011 agreed to keep in place over the Alternative Vote.

Instead, if the Labour vote is as efficient as suggested by some forecasts, a largely evenly-spread Reform vote across England and Wales would be likely to cause change in all sorts of Conservative seats which would not be considered, in all normality, to be marginal.

For sure, Mr Sunak appears to be running scared of this scenario and given up the fight, even going as far as to appeal to his followers on X/Twitter on the eve of the election to "stop the [Labour] supermajority".

It really was an astounding message for an incumbent Prime Minister to send out. 

Of course, it is not just Labour and Reform which the Conservatives need to worry about, though.

The Liberal Democrats were massively hit by their association with the Tories in the austerity-driven coalition between 2010 and 2015. 

But recent big-swing by-election and council election victories have shown Ed Davey's party has begun to recover ground in their traditional heartlands in the South West of England and the outskirts of London.

Some forecasts have even suggested that a particularly efficient spread of the Lib Dem vote in the south would turn Ed Davey's party into the Official Opposition and reduce the Conservatives to double figures in terms of seats.

That still seems fanciful - but what is not in doubt is the fact that the Tories are in big trouble.

Already it seems to have been generally accepted that the Conservatives are facing a 1997-style defeat when Labour under Tony Blair began three full terms of government with a stonking majority of 179.

Nevertheless, the prospect of the Conservative cohort being reduced to fewer than 100 MPs cannot be ruled out altogether.

In turn, that might signal the beginning of the end of its current guise as a political behemoth which has dominated British politics for huge stretches of time since its formation in 1834.

Certainly, Reform will be hoping to win enough seats to present itself as a legitimate offering on the political right - and, while fully-fledged political collapses are pretty rare, they are also not unprecedented. 

In the 1993 federal election in Canada, the centre-right Progressive Conservatives had their outright majority reduced to two seats. 

More recently, in the Presidential and legislative elections in France in 2017, it was the turn of the centre-left Parti Socialiste to fall away into insignificance. 

Even in the UK itself, it is not a complete unknown - although it is 114 years since a badly-divided Liberal Party collapsed from power in 1910.

Neither that party nor any of its successors have ever come close to holding a majority again, though.

GENERAL ELECTION 2024 THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR

▪️ The exit poll

For people who are not complete political nerds intent on pulling an all-nighters, just staying up until 10pm - when the polls officially close - may well suffice given its improving accuracy. That will signal the release of the exit poll - a pooled effort by BBC, ITV and Sky in around 150 key constituencies - where voters are asked which candidate they voted for. The exit poll accurately assessed in 2017 that Theresa May had lost her majority and also that the Conservatives remained the largest party - while, in 2019, it pointed towards a Conservative majority of 86 under Boris Johnson which ended up being 80. In 2010, the exit poll was actually almost spot-on in predicting the number of seats won by each of the main parties as David Cameron fell short of a majority. And, even though in 2015 it failed to pick the Conservatives majority under Mr Cameron, it still correctly showed the Tories had won far more seats than the polls during the campaign had suggested.

▪️ Overall turnout

Turnout at General Elections hovvered between 70-80% for most of the 20th Century but, since the turn of the Millennium, it has dropped to 60-70%. In 2001, in an election dubbed Labour's "quiet landslide", turnout fell as low as 59.4% - although it has been at a rather heathlier 68.8% and 67.3% in the two most recent General Elections in 2017 and 2019. A lower turnout than usual this time could spell more trouble for the Conservatives if it is their disenchanted supporters who have declined the invitation to attend the ballot box. 

▪️ New boundaries and notional majorities

The outgoing Parliament finally voted on the recommendations made by the Boundary Commission, meaning this General Election will be the first to be contested under the new boundaries. To the casual observer, it will mean for many voters that they will be voting in a constituency which has changed its name. More than that, though, the geography of the new seat will be, in some cases, significantly different to its predecessor - and that leads us onto notional majorities. A notional majority is a calculation made to determine what an election result would have been in a previous election if the newly-created boundaries had been in place then. Originally, the boundary changes were expected to benefit the Conservatives slightly more than the other parties as the Commission's findings account for population movement which is generally from the north to the south, where more Conservative support is based. Such has been the steepness of the decline in the popularity of the Tories, though, that - beyond a new set of seat names - the changes will have a negligible effect. 

▪️ Big fish

It is something of a mark of the chaos of the previous Parliament that, between the elections of 2019 and 2024, there have been three Prime Ministers, five Chancellors of the Exchequer, four Home Secretaries, and four Foreign Secretaries in the four Great Offices of State, as shown below. Several of these figures are not standing for re-election while current Foreign Secretary David Cameron sits in the House of Lords. But might Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt, Priti Patel, Suella Braverman, Grant Shapps, James Cleverly or even Rishi Sunak produce a moment to rival that of the deposition of Michael Portillo in 1997?

Prime Minister	Chancellor	Home Secretary	Foreign Secretary
Boris Johnson (2019 to 06-Sep-2022)	Sajid Javid (2019 to 13-Feb-2020) Rishi Sunak (13-Feb-2020 to 05-Jul-2022) Nadhim Zahawi (05-Jul-2022 to 06-Sep-2022)	Priti Patel (2019 to 06-Sep-2022)	Dominic Raab (2019 to 15-Sep-2021) Liz Truss (15-Sep-2021 to 06-Sep-2022)
Liz Truss (06-Sep-2022 to 25-Oct-2022)	Kwasi Kwarteng (06-Sep-2022 to 14-Oct-2022)  Jeremy Hunt (since 14-Oct-2022)	Suella Braverman (06-Sep-2022 to 19-Oct-2022) Grant Shapps (19-Oct-2022 to 25-Oct-2022)	James Cleverly (06-Sep-2022 to 13-Nov-2023)
Rishi Sunak (since 25-Oct-2022)		Suella Braverman (25-Oct-2022 to 13-Nov-2023) James Cleverly (since 13-Nov-2023)	Baron (David) Cameron (since 13-Nov-2023)

▪️ Number of Conservative seats, size of Labour majority

Labour won 418 seats under Tony Blair at the 1997 General Election for a majority of 179 - while the Conservatives under John Major were reduced to 165. The Tories had fared worse only in 1906, when they took only 131 seats - yet there is speculation, even among dyed-in-the-wool Conservatives, that one or more of these records could be broken. 

▪️ Number of seats won by Liberal Democrats, Reform, and Green Party

The First Past The Post system encourages dominance by two parties by its very nature and makes it difficult for smaller parties to make much impact at a General Election. Over the years, the Lib Dems often punched above the weight of their overall vote by pouring their resources into select target seats - and the Green Party and Reform appear to be following suit. Mainly appealing to those on the left-wing who are disaffected by the centrist shift of the Labour leadership, the Greens have set their sights on Bristol Central, North Herefordshire and Waveney Valley, as well as holding Brighton Pavilion despite the retirement of four-term MP Caroline Lucas. Meanwhile, Reform will look to have attracted people disenchanted with politics generally - and, as well as holding Ashfield which the party gained in March 2024 as a result of the defection of Lee Anderson, leader Nigel Farage is aiming to make it into Parliament at the eighth time of asking as MP for Clacton. Other targets for Reform include Boston and Skegness, Basildon and Billericay and Great Yarmouth. 

▪️ Number of seats won by the Scottish Nationalist Party

Up to this point, this preview has focused on seats in England and Wales - but the situation in Scotland is slightly different. There, Labour again appears to be benefiting from a collapse in support of a scandal-hit ruling party, except in this case that party is the Scottish Nationalists, and not the Conservatives. The SNP has been in power in the Scottish Parliament since 2007, and has won the most seats north of the border in the last three General Elections - but it faces the outcome of an ongoing investigation by Police Scotland into possible fundraising fraud. Prior to SNP surge, during the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown era, Scotland was a bedrock of Labour support - and polling suggests Sir Keir Starmer has begun to recover much of the lost ground in Central Belt. Still, in contrast to the so-called Red Wall in England and large parts of Wales which are expected to return fully to the Labour fold, the political outlook in Scotland looks set to be finely balanced - and the SNP will aim to limit their losses after a rough few years. 

Soulless England frustrate as Scotland fail again

🟥 EURO 2024 GROUP STAGE 🟥

■ GROUP A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) GERMANY	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7
(Q) SWITZERLAND	1	2	0	5	3	+2	5
HUNGARY	1	0	2	2	5	-3	3
SCOTLAND	0	1	2	2	7	-5	1

14-June	20:00	GERMANY	5-1	SCOTLAND	Munich
ITV		Wirtz 10, Musiala 19 Havertz 45+1pen Fullkrug 68, Can 90+3		Rudiger 87og
15-June	14:00	HUNGARY	1-3	SWITZERLAND	Cologne
ITV		Varga 66		Duah 12, Aebischer 45 Embolo 90+3
19-June	17:00	GERMANY	2-0	HUNGARY	Stuttgart
BBC		Musiala 22, Gundogan 67
19-June	20:00	SCOTLAND	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Cologne
BBC		McTominay 13		Shaqiri 26
23-June	20:00	SWITZERLAND	1-1	GERMANY	Frankfurt
BBC		Ndoye 29		Fullkrug 90+2
23-June	20:00	SCOTLAND	0-1	HUNGARY	Stuttgart
BBC				Csoboth 90+10

Scotland failed to get out of the group at a major tournament for a record-extending 12th time after a last-gasp defeat to Hungary consigned Steve Clarke's men to yet another bottom-placed finish in Group A. 

Germany, as expected, topped the section - though only after Niclas Fullkrug scored a late goal to equalise against Switzerland - and it was the Germans, of course, who started off this latest Scottish nightmare.

Julian Nagelsmann's Mannschaft were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and 3-0 up at half time on their way to a 5-1 hammering of the Scots on the opening night of the tournament as Ryan Porteous received a red card for a nasty foul on Ilkay Gundogan.

Scotland consoled themselves that they could not have faced a tougher start against the revved-up hosts - but their failure to get anywhere near Germany at any point during the game was a definite cause for concern.

The Germans even seemed to take pity on their opponents as a late Antonio Rudiger own goal put the Scots on the scoresheet - and own goals, along with timidity from the two British teams, have been notable themes of Euro 2024 so far.

At least Scotland started better in their second match against Switzerland - and their early pressure was rewarded when Scott McTominay smashed a shot from the edge of the box into the net off Fabian Schar.

It could have easily gone down as another own goal - but the original effort was deemed to have been on target so the Manchester United midfielder was credited.

Nevertheless, the Swiss rarely roll over nowadays and the Nati were back level before the break through a cracking strike by Xherdan Shaqiri following a terribly loose back-pass by Scotland right-back Anthony Ralston.

Both teams had chances late on to take the three points as Grant Hanley headed against the post from a McTominay free-kick - but a draw was probably a fair result.

In the meantime, Germany eased their way past Hungary to reach the Last 16 with a game to spare with a straightforward 2-0 win in Stuttgart which left the Magyars without a point.

That was enough for Scotland to feel confident heading into the third group game against the Hungarians of breaching the first phase of a major tournament for the first time in history.

But, despite dominating the ball, Scotland failed to get a single shot on target - and their lack of ambition seemed to stem throughout the competition from the coaching staff.

Head coach Clarke declared beforehand that he would be happy to scrape through with four points - and, while it obviously meant Clarke could not be accused of delusion, it hardly reeked of Braveheart and arguably belied a lack of confidence in the ability of his squad.

Of course, there was the usual dose of bad luck as neither Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini or the video assistant referee (VAR) determined Stuart Armstrong had not been fouled even though the replays suggested otherwise.

Then, as the clock ticked into stoppage time, the Scots' biggest chance fell to centre-back Hanley - before, moments later, a neat passing move on the break from the clearance of a Scotland corner reached its crescendo when Kevin Csoboth struck the ball past goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

In that moment, any remaining Scottish hopes were shattered. However, the fact is that Scotland had just 17 shots in the Euro 2024 finals overall, with no team having had fewer efforts in a group stage since groups were introduced at Euro 1980.

Now, frustratingly for the long-suffering Tartan Army, this was nothing new - in 21 matches in World Cup and European Championship finals since 1986, the Scots have won just three, and the last of those came back in 1996.

Moreover, in that time, Scotland have scored a pitiful 12 goals in total. So much indeed for Scotland the Brave...

■ GROUP B	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) SPAIN	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
(Q) ITALY	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
CROATIA	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2
ALBANIA	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

15-June	17:00	SPAIN	3-0	CROATIA	Berlin
ITV		Morata 29, Fabian Ruiz 32 Carvajal 45+2
15-June	20:00	ITALY	2-1	ALBANIA	Dortmund
BBC		Bastoni 11, Barella 16		Bajrami 1
19-June	14:00	CROATIA	2-2	ALBANIA	Hamburg
ITV		Kramaric 74, Gjasula 76og		Laci 11, Gjasula 90+5
20-June	20:00	SPAIN	1-0	ITALY	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Calafiori 55og
24-June	20:00	ALBANIA	0-1	SPAIN	Dusseldorf
BBC				Ferran Torres 13
24-June	20:00	CROATIA	1-1	ITALY	Leipzig
BBC		Modric 55		Zaccagni 90+8

Spain made light work of Group B as the only team in the competition to take maximum points by progressing with an unbreached defence against Croatia (3-0), Italy (1-0) and Albania (1-0). 

La Roja enjoyed an ideal start to their campaign, leading 3-0 against the Croatians at half time - before following it up with a far narrower success against the Italians in a tight affair settled by an unfortunate own goal off the knee of Riccardo Calafiori.

That was enough to seal top spot for Luis de la Fuente's side with a game to spare - and the head coach indulged in this freedom by making 10 changes to his starting line-up.

Ferran Torres hit an early goal to justify the shaken-up selection - but the Barcelona forward then missed a hatful of chances as Albania noticeably struggled for the first time in the tournament.

Until that point, the Red and Blacks had competed well - and, in fact, Nedim Bajrami now holds the record for the fastest goal in European Championship finals history.

Timed at 23 seconds, Bajrami intercepted a loose throw-in by Federico Dimarco before slamming a shot past the stunned Gianluigi Donnarumma.

However, the Albanians had a major weakness - they gave up a lead then fell behind in double-quick time against Italy and did exactly the same against Croatia.

At least in a chaotic encounter against Hrvatska, Albania were able to pick up only their fourth point in major tournament football as Klaus Gjasula kept his cool for a stoppage-time equaliser.

It was a case of redemption for Gjasula who had inadvertently scored in his own net less than 20 minutes earlier.

Nevertheless, Croatia v Italy always looked like the key tie in this section - and so it proved, although the first half was almost completely devoid of action.

Croatia - aware that a draw would be no good - showed their hand first and, following a series of attacks, the Azzurri eventually cracked as a clear handball by Davide Frattesi resulted in a penalty.

Up stepped 38-year-old Luka Modric - but Donnarumma made a fine save to his left and then made an even better stop from Ante Budimir in the very next attack.

Modric snaffled the rebound, however, to round off a crazy 33 seconds of football - and Croatia remained in control with the lead.

By contrast, Italy had to make-do with fleeting attacks and were not helped by the poverty of their set-plays - although, towards the end of the match, Alessandro Bastoni really should have done better with his header from a corner.

No matter. Winners always find a way - and, while Croatia maintained their remarkable all-time unbeaten record against Italy, Mattia Zaccagni's curling shot in the eighth minute of stoppage time ensured this one would be a draw.

It was virtually the last kick of the game - and a draw really was no good for Croatia.

Modric, standing helplessly on the sidelines having been substituted, cut a dejected figure as the final curtain fell on this special Croatian generation.

Holders Italy, though, march on - and, while Luciano Spalletti's charges have been far from convincing in any of their first three games, they will start their Last 16 tie against Switzerland as favourites.

■ GROUP C	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ENGLAND	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
(Q) DENMARK	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
(Q) SLOVENIA	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
SERBIA	0	2	1	1	2	-1	2

16-June	17:00	SLOVENIA	1-1	DENMARK	Stuttgart
ITV		Janza 77		Eriksen 17
16-June	20:00	SERBIA	0-1	ENGLAND	Gelsenkirchen
BBC				Bellingham 13
20-June	14:00	SLOVENIA	1-1	SERBIA	Munich
ITV		Karnicnik 69		Jovic 90+6
20-June	17:00	DENMARK	1-1	ENGLAND	Frankfurt
BBC		Hjulmand 34		Kane 18
25-June	20:00	ENGLAND	0-0	SLOVENIA	Cologne
ITV
25-June	20:00	DENMARK	0-0	SERBIA	Munich
ITV

England prevailed at the top of possibly the worst group ever played out at a major tournament with five of the six matches finishing as dull draws. 

In fairness, the Three Lions were the only team actually to win a match in a truly desperate section which featured three 1-1 results, two 0-0 stalemates, and only seven goals overall.

Jude Bellingham gave Gareth Southgate's men an ideal start to the campaign against Serbia, heading in a deflected cross from Bukayo Saka after just 13 minutes.

England quickly fashioned another chance down the right as Kyle Walker sent a teasing ball across the six-yard box - but, until Harry Kane clipped the bar with a late header, a much-vaunted attack showed little in the way of threat.

It was felt perhaps that England were just feeling their way into the competition - and any major criticism of the Three Lions was tempered by the three points on the board.

In the second match against Denmark, England took another relatively early lead as Kane stabbed home from close range following a couple of deflections on Walker's pull-back.

But the Danes are an all-round better team than Serbia and, by half time, were back level after Morten Hjulmand struck a long-range effort.

The results in the other matches - Slovenia v Denmark and Slovenia v Serbia, both 1-1 draws - made it possible for England to win Group C with a match to spare with a second victory.

If that was the ambition, though, the Three Lions showed little sign of fulfilling it, especially after the equaliser.

Remarkably, it was the 14th time in matches at major tournaments held since 2000 that England had taken the lead yet failed to win the match with most of the giveaways down to the adoption of the ultra-cautious approach bizarrely favoured by Southgate.

Ahead of the third match against Slovenia, results in other groups ensured England had qualified for the Last 16 - but the identity of the group winners remained unclear.

The runners-up knew they would face hosts Germany in the first knockout round, though, so there was still theoretically some level of pressure.

In practice, England infuriatingly produced yet more of the same slow, safety first football which has come to epitomise their campaign.

The balance of the team remained poor with Kieran Trippier and Phil Foden looking particularly uncomfortable down the left - although at least the experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield was thankfully ditched.

Still, though, there was no room in the starting line-up for either Cole Palmer or Anthony Gordon despite both players boasting double figures for both goals and assists in the 2023-24 Premier League season.

Palmer was eventually introduced in the 71st minute - while Gordon ridiculously kicked his heels until 88 minutes were on the clock.

Gordon, indeed, has spent many more minutes at Euro 2024 responding to questions from the media in interviews and press conferences than he has actually playing football.

Nevertheless, both made a positive impression against the Slovenians with a raking pass by Gordon finding fellow substitute Kobbie Mainoo whose flick to Kane set up Palmer in one of the very few moments of excitement across the 90 minutes.

All that was needed was a stoppage time Denmark winner in Munich to consign England to second place and a meeting with the Germans.

But the fact that it did not come - and the fact that Denmark and Slovenia were able to make it through without winning any of their games - rather summed up Group C quite neatly.

■ GROUP D	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) AUSTRIA	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
(Q) FRANCE	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
(Q) NETHERLANDS	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
POLAND	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

16-June	14:00	POLAND	1-2	NETHERLANDS	Hamburg
BBC		Buksa 16		Gakpo 29, Weghorst 83
17-June	20:00	AUSTRIA	0-1	FRANCE	Dusseldorf
ITV				Wober 38og
21-June	17:00	POLAND	1-3	AUSTRIA	Berlin
ITV		Piatek 30		Trauner 9, Baumgartner 66 Arnautovic 78pen
21-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	0-0	FRANCE	Leipzig
BBC
25-June	17:00	NETHERLANDS	2-3	AUSTRIA	Berlin
BBC		Gakpo 47, Depay 75		Malen 6og, Schmid 59 Sabitzer 80
25-June	17:00	FRANCE	1-1	POLAND	Dortmund
BBC		Mbappe 56pen		Lewandowski 79pen

Austria caused a huge shock in Group D after beating Netherlands to finish ahead of France and the Dutch at the top of the section. 

Coming into the third set of group games, there appeared to be little scope for drama with Netherlands and France already through, and Poland already eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Austrians merely had to get a point or, at worst, ensure their goal difference did not suffer too much damage.

Straightaway, though, Ralf Rangnick's men showed greater ambition than that - picking up where they left off in their fine 3-1 win against Poland by taking an early lead as Donyell Malen slid the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Ronald Koeman's Netherlands hit back immediately after half time as a quick break concluded with Cody Gakpo curling in his second goal of the tournament.

But Austria were not disturbed out of their rhythm by the equaliser - and, just as Kylian Mbappe was putting France in front against Poland in the other game in Dortmund, Romano Schmid restored the Austrian lead in Berlin with a diving header.

The Dutch - who had started the day top on goals scored from France - dropped to third place, but then briefly went back top as Memphis Depay found a second equaliser and, concurrently, Robert Lewandowski was levelling for Poland against the French.

It was all too brief for the Oranje though, as Marcel Sabitzer finished a lovely passing move to send Austria in front for a third time and back to the top of the group with the Dutch demoted back to third again.

France - aware that, by scoring, the Dutch would need two goals to topple them - tried in vain to get a winner, as Poland completed another underwhelming campaign having at least avoided losing all three group games for the first time ever. 

Les Bleus - while never in danger of falling to progress - have also disappointed and head into the knockout stages via an own goal and an Mbappe penalty.

By contrast, an enterprising Austrian outfit found the net six times in their last two matches. 

Now, the impact of the unexpected finishing order in Group D was immediately apparent with France taking on Belgium in the Last 16 and unexpectedly falling into the side of the knockout stage bracket which also features Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Netherlands will face Romania in the Last 16 - while Austria will look to continue their excellent form against Turkey.

■ GROUP E	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ROMANIA	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
(Q) BELGIUM	1	1	1	2	1	+1	4
(Q) SLOVAKIA	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
UKRAINE	1	1	1	2	4	-2	4

17-June	14:00	ROMANIA	3-0	UKRAINE	Munich
BBC		Stanciu 29, R Marin 53 Dragus 57
17-June	17:00	BELGIUM	0-1	SLOVAKIA	Frankfurt
ITV				Schranz 7
21-June	14:00	SLOVAKIA	1-2	UKRAINE	Dusseldorf
BBC		Schranz 17		Shaparenko 54, Yaremchuk 80
22-June	20:00	BELGIUM	2-0	ROMANIA	Cologne
ITV		Tielemans 2, De Bruyne 80
26-June	17:00	SLOVAKIA	1-1	ROMANIA	Frankfurt
BBC		Duda 24		R Marin 37pen
26-June	17:00	UKRAINE	0-0	BELGIUM	Stuttgart
BBC

None of the four teams in Group E could be easily separated as Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine all finished on four points. 

Ultimately though, Ukraine lost out on goal difference following their heavy defeat to Romania in the first round of group games.

The Romanians won their first match at a major tournament since Phil Neville injudiciously brought down Viorel Moldovan and Ionel Ganea dispatched the resultant penalty as goals from Razvan Marin, Nicolae Stanciu and Denis Dragus earned a stylish victory.

On the same afternoon, there was something of a shock as Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka kept a clean sheet despite a typically nervy performance.

Better still for the Slovakians, an early goal by Ivan Schranz gave them a wholly unexpected three points, albeit against an unsurprisingly underwhelming Belgium outfit.

Schranz scored again against Ukraine in the second round of group games - but, facing an early elimination, Serhiy Rebrov's men fought their way back through goals by Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk.

Yaremchuk's effort was outstanding as he took the ball down over his shoulder to finish, although he was helped by uncertain goalkeeping from Dubravka.

Meanwhile, Belgium recovered their form with goals from Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne at the start and end of the match enough to bring Romania back down to earth.

Those results left all four teams on three points with one win and one loss - and really should have set up a classic third round of matches.

Instead, the afternoon turned into something of a damp squib with both matches finishing in draws.

Slovakia and Romania traded first half goals through Ondrej Duda and Marin respectively - but thereafter seemed satisfied with the 1-1 score which guaranteed both teams went through.

And so, it was left to Ukraine to try to provide any drama - a win would have sent the Ukrainians through at the expense of the Belgians.

But a breakthrough by the Blue and Yellow never looked too likely - Belgium had the better chances - as yet another promising set of circumstances dissipated into a non-event.

Consequently Romania retained top spot while Belgium's less than serene progress has landed them a tie against tournament favourites France.

■ GROUP F	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) PORTUGAL	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
(Q) TURKEY	2	0	1	5	5	0	6
(Q) GEORGIA	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
CZECH REPUBLIC	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

18-June	17:00	TURKEY	3-1	GEORGIA	Dortmund
BBC		Muldur 25, Guler 65 Akturkoglu 90+7		Mikautadze 32
18-June	20:00	PORTUGAL	2-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Leipzig
BBC		Hranac 69og, Conceicao 90+2		Provod 62
22-June	14:00	GEORGIA	1-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Hamburg
BBC		Mikautadze 45+4pen		Schick 59
22-June	17:00	TURKEY	0-3	PORTUGAL	Dortmund
ITV				Bernardo Silva 21, Akaydin 28og Bruno Fernandes 55
26-June	20:00	GEORGIA	2-0	PORTUGAL	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Kvaratskhelia 2 Mikautadze 57pen
26-June	20:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	TURKEY	Hamburg
ITV		Soucek 66		Calhanoglu 51, Tosun 90+4

Georgia will continue their wondrous adventure at Euro 2024 on their major tournament debut after sealing a landmark win over 2016 winners Portugal in Group F. 

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the Crusaders ahead inside two minutes with a good low finish before, in the second half, Luka Lochoshvili had his tapped ankle tapped by Antonio Silva, and was awarded a penalty.

Metz striker Georges Mikautadze made no mistake from the spot to become the first, and so far only, player to hit three goals in the group stages.

Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was the Georgians' other big star and he protected the lead with an important save from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Overall, though, Georgia must be commended most of all for their team spirit which has been clear from the start of the competition.

Defeat against Turkey in their first game was tough take for Willy Sagnol's men given that they were right in the game at 2-1 down and pushing for an equaliser.

But, having brought Mamardashvili up for a corner deep in stoppage time, a rapid Turkish break concluded with Kerem Akturkoglu rolling the ball into an empty net for 3-1.

It was a great start for Turkey but the Crescent Stars were unable to build on it in their second match against Portugal who moved into a higher gear in an extremely comfortable 3-0 win which could have been at least a couple more.

Of course, Roberto Martinez's men were helped along the way by an embarrassing own goal by Samet Akaydin after he blindly rolled a backpass into his own net having failed to check the position of his goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

The heavy defeat left Turkey vulnerable to being caught by Czech Republic - but another late Turkish goal on the break through former Everton and Crystal Palace striker Cenk Tosun meant it was the Czechs who bowed out early.

Ivan Hasek's Czechs finished with an extremely disappointing record of one point from nine - not that the Czechs could have really done much more to help themselves in that third game.

Reduced to 10 men after referee Istvan Kovacs made a rod for his back by booking Antonin Barak twice for a couple of fairly innocuous early fouls, large portions of the match denigrated into a nonsense.

Indeed, it finished in utter farce as the Romanian man in the middle ended up brandashing a European Championship record of 19 cards.

No doubt the Czechs will console themselves that the referee was a disaster and this may be merely a tough start for a squad with the youngest average in the tournament.

There is no place for them in the Last 16, though - and nor should there be for Kovacs. 

■ THIRD-PLACED TEAMS	Group	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) NETHERLANDS	[D]	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
(Q) GEORGIA	[F]	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
(Q) SLOVAKIA	[E]	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
(Q) SLOVENIA	[C]	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
HUNGARY	[A]	1	0	2	2	5	-3	3
CROATIA	[B]	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2

■ GOALSCORERS 81 goals in 36 matches (2.25 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia)
2 Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Razvan Marin (Romania)
1 Florian Wirtz (Germany), Kai Havertz (Germany), Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Jude Bellingham (England), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Harry Kane (England), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey)
7 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria

■ RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland) v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey