I have visited Russia and China, but there is a limit to where will go

We can’t avoid imperfect regimes, nor should we. Many places I’ve visited had bad human rights records

- Rob Rinder

IT’S a few weeks from the World Cup. In other circumstances I’d be getting pretty excited; buying the sticker book and getting a mini England kit for my dog (and carefully calculating the players who are most likely to get their tops off at full time). But this year, I don’t think I’ll be watching and I definitely won’t be going.

Why? Because Qatar is a human rights dead-zone. It’s a place where your gender and sexuality determine how free the state will allow you to be. Put simply, they’re brutal to the LGBTQ+ community, and girls aged over 12 wishing to continue their education need permission from a male relative. Add to that the barbaric treatment of the workers who built their stadiums and, as a cherry on top, the fact of them winning the right to host in the first place. I just can’t accept that.