The NHS and social care were barely mentioned in the chancellor's Autumn Statement, and health groups and think tanks lined up to condemn Philip Hammond within minutes of him sitting down in the Commons.

So was there a failure to resolve a looming crisis? Or did Philip Hammond simply feel that in a difficult financial climate, there were other more pressing priorities?
Warnings about cuts in social-care spending in England and the impact on the health service have become more intense in recent weeks.
There has been a steep rise in the number of patients fit to leave hospitals, but who continue to occupy beds because of problems arranging social care.
That has concentrated minds, and NHS leaders indicated they were prepared to accept there would be no new money for health as long as social care, run by local authorities, received a financial boost.
But that did not materialise. The pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
"Missed opportunity" was a verdict on the statement much repeated by health think tanks and medical profession leaders.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine even warned government inaction would put lives at risk.
Social-care chiefs warned the chancellor's failure to act would mean more care homes closing and growing gaps in the market.
In response to Labour claims in the Commons that there was "looming chaos" for health and social care services in England, Mr Hammond said there was a programme of investment in the NHS being delivered.
He repeated the government line that an extra £10bn annually was being allocated to the NHS budget by the year 2020-21.
He said the government would work with service leaders to ensure the money was spent effectively, underlining his view that it was not so much about the volume of investment as how it was deployed.
The new clashes over money for the NHS came as the UK Statistics Authority called for more clarity by the government in its references to the extra investment.
The stats watchdog observed that the £10bn increase for "NHS funding" in England was over a six year period from 2014-15.
However, total health spending, including public health, which has seen cuts, has not grown as fast.
The Statistics Authority noted that, according to Treasury figures, over a four-year period up to 2019-20 it would increase by £2.9bn.
Ed Humpherson of the UK Statistics Authority, said he would ask the Treasury to present estimates for NHS England and total health spending separately.
He has urged officials to "ensure clarity around sources, time periods and what is being measured".
The stresses and strains on NHS finances have been well documented, and the debate about how much money the government is investing to help tackle the problems is rising up the political agenda.
A report from the National Audit Office highlighted again the financial pressures and argued that the problems were "endemic and not sustainable".
The NAO report, unusually, confirmed the view there were tensions at the highest levels of Whitehall.
It talked of perceived differences between the government line that funding had been adequate and in line with what health service leaders asked for and NHS England itself.
There was an eye-catching conclusion:  "Confronted as NHS England is by the pressures of rising demand for services, these signs of differences do not help build a confident feel about the future of the NHS."
Those "differences" seem unlikely to fade away.
The NHS England leadership that had called for more funding for social care only to be disappointed will hardly be thrilled by the Autumn Statement.
The chancellor may find he has a lot more explaining to do.
You stay in your own home while getting help with everyday tasks such as washing, dressing and eating.
average amount of care provided per week, by your council
average paid per hour by your council, 2014-15
average paid per hour in your region if you pay for your own care, 2016
You live in a care home that provides round-the-clock support with everyday tasks.
TBC pay for their own care
You live in a care home which provides round-the-clock support for everyday tasks and nursing care. Depending on your medical needs, the NHS may contribute to your costs.
TBC pay for their own care
Savings, investments and income are assessed, along with the value of your home - unless you or a close relative live there.
How the care system works across the UK


The death of US actor and comedian Robin Williams has prompted a debate about the way suicide is reported in the media.

Following Williams' death on Monday, Samaritans emailed media organisations "strongly advising them" to follow the charity's guidelines on the reporting of suicide.
In particular, the charity urged editors to "be mindful that celebrity suicides have a higher risk of encouraging copycat behaviour".
In 2008, the World Health Organization concluded: "Vulnerable individuals may be influenced to engage in imitative behaviours by reports of suicide, particularly if the coverage is extensive, prominent, sensationalist and/or explicitly describes the method of suicide."
But it also observed that "responsible reporting may serve to educate the public about suicide and may encourage those at risk of suicide to seek help".
Guidelines from Samaritans, the Press Complaints Commission's editors' code of practice, the Ofcom broadcasting code and the BBC's editorial guidelines all also advise against going into detail about the methods used.
Now Samaritans has complained about "excessive detail" in some of Wednesday's national newspapers about how Robin Williams took his own life.
"The media has come a long way over the past few years in terms of sensitively reporting suicide, which is why we are concerned to see that there have been a large number of articles detailing unnecessary information about the nature of Robin Williams' death," it said in a statement.
"We are taking steps to address our concerns," it added.
Despite this, Samaritans' Sal Lalji told the BBC News website: "I'm pleased to say that, generally, we don't see too many articles that we consider to have excessive detail.
"But often we'll see lots of stories with simplistic reasons for why a person might take their own lives."
Samaritans says over-simplification of the causes of suicide can be misleading and is unlikely to reflect accurately the complexity of suicide.
"Our advice would be talk about the wider issues, like mental health issues or the complex nature of suicide," adds Ms Lalji.
The Samaritans guidelines, first published in 1994, also suggest care over language, advising, for example, against the term "commit suicide" because it could imply a criminal action.
Mental health charity Mind says it is "disappointed by reporting and headlines in many of today's newspapers which contravene good practice set out by Samaritans guidance and Mind's own advice".
But the charity's chief executive Paul Farmer also said "some media coverage has been sensitive", adding this could "prompt people to seek the support they need as well as help to reduce the stigma around mental health problems".
The way some papers reported that Williams took his own life and speculation about the reasons for doing so have prompted a strong reaction on Twitter:
Journalist and media commentator Mary Hamilton, who has blogged about Wednesday's newspaper coverage, says some papers "don't care about the guidelines".
She says she has read "a lot of detail reporting on exactly how Robin Williams killed himself and what method he used".
"It's obviously a real problem when you are essentially giving people the information they need to act on suicidal ideations." [Suicidal ideation is a term sometimes used to mean being preoccupied with suicide.]
She adds: "You've also at the same time got these big front pages very strongly implying that he killed himself because he had money problems.
"And there are quite a lot of people in the UK with mental health issues and money problems right now.
"What that kind of reporting does, in a very insidious way, is imply that there is a solution to money problems - and it's killing yourself."
Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, meanwhile, says suicide is "always a difficult issue" to report.
He says holding back precise details to avoid "copycat" suicides is key, adding: "All journalists understand that.
"Secondly, there is the intrusion into grief.
"We've worked very closely over the years with the Samaritans and other organisations about reporting suicide and looked at it very, very carefully.
"Obviously, there's been huge coverage of this case because he was a famous actor and a funny man and he made people laugh.
"I think most of the reporting I've seen has been very responsible and careful, bearing in mind that there's a huge amount of interest from the public.
"That's why the papers have devoted a lot of space to it - as have broadcasters."
He adds: "I've not personally seen anything which made me concerned about it.
"In fact, I think there's a lot of sympathy."


Russia has accused Ukraine of trying to carry out armed incursions into Crimea - the territory annexed by Russia in 2014 after an unrecognised referendum.

The FSB intelligence agency said two attempted incursions had taken place over the weekend and a Russian soldier and an FSB employee had been killed.
President Vladimir Putin vowed "further security measures" in response to Ukraine's "stupid and criminal" acts.
Ukraine's president described the accusations as "preposterous".
"Russian accusations against Ukraine of terrorism in occupied Crimea sound as preposterous and cynical as the statements of the Russian leadership about the absence of Russian troops in the Donbass [region of rebel-held eastern Ukraine]," Petro Poroshenko said.
"These fantasies are only a pretext for making more military threats against Ukraine," he added.
Russian intelligence also said it had smashed a Ukraine military intelligence network in Crimea and detained a number of people. They included a Ukrainian national named as Yevhen Panov, who is described by Russian sources as a Ukrainian military intelligence officer.
Russian state TV has been running pictures from the FSB, showing rucksacks packed with explosives. Ukrainian "saboteurs", sent by the defence ministry, were supposedly intending to use them in Crimea.
The claims of Ukrainian "terrorism" on the peninsula have sparked concern here that Moscow could respond with some kind of military action. The possibility has been discussed actively on social media, especially after President Putin's comment that he will not just "pass over" the death of two Russians.
Others suggest that the incident will be used - or was engineered, depending on your viewpoint - to scupper the complex peace process in Ukraine.
Straightaway, Mr Putin said more internationally-backed talks, due in the next few weeks, had been proved  "pointless".  So Russia has a reason to stall again on the Minsk peace process, maintain the unstable status quo in Ukraine and to blame Kiev for all of it.
Russia says one of those detained is Yevhen Panov. Initial reports suggest he was a former military volunteer fighting for Ukraine in the east of the country. However he has apparently more recently been associated with a charitable organisation.
Ukraine has managed to contain the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and, in purely military terms, it is hard to see what Ukraine has to gain by provoking its larger, much more powerful neighbour. For all the talk about rapprochements and peace in eastern Ukraine, there has been very little concrete progress. Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainians goes on every day.
Just two weeks before Ukraine celebrates 25 years of independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, relations between Moscow and Kiev have taken another turn for the worse.
Kiev is preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ukrainian independence on 24 August, and officials have suggested Moscow may try to disrupt the celebrations.
Russia is preparing for a parliamentary election on 18 September.
The FSB said Ukrainian forces had intended to sabotage key infrastructure in Crimea.
"The aim of this subversive activity and terrorist acts was to destabilise the socio-political situation in the region ahead of preparations and the holding of elections," the spy agency said.
It said the attempted incursions had been accompanied by "heavy fire" from Ukrainian territory, resulting in the death of the Russian soldier. The FSB employee died while trying to detain infiltrators, it said.
Bombs, ammunition and mines had been found in the area where "terrorist attacks" had been foiled, it said.
Mr Putin said there was no point in further negotiations with Ukraine and called on the US and European countries to put pressure on Kiev to change its behaviour.
About 9,000 people are reported to have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine that followed the Russian annexation of Crimea.
The annexation, which was itself largely bloodless, followed a vote to secede at a referendum on self-determination on 16 March 2014 - a ballot which was not recognised internationally.
The US and European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to its seizure of the territory.


Energy company SSE has said it will cut its domestic gas prices by 4.1% from 30 April, a move which will save the average customer household £28 a year.

SSE is now the fifth of the "big six" energy firms to have reduced gas prices, following cuts from E.On, British Gas, Scottish Power and Npower.
EDF is the only one of the big six yet to announce price cuts.
Wholesale gas prices have fallen sharply in recent months following the recent  big drop in oil prices.
SSE also said it would extend by at least six months its previous guarantee not to increase its gas and electricity prices, until July 2016.
Steve Forbes, SSE's director of GB Domestic, said: "We were the only supplier to freeze prices and we promised we would cut them if we could; now we're delivering on that promise with an average £28 reduction in gas bills."
As well as SSE, the company trades under brands such as Scottish Hydro, Southern Electric and Swalec.
The company, which has 8.7 million electricity and gas customers, said its cut would benefit about three million customers who currently pay on variable dual-fuel and gas-only tariffs.
Explaining why the forthcoming price reduction would not be larger, the firm said that wholesale energy costs now made up "less than half of the typical household energy bill".
"There are significant other costs within energy bills, including those relating to government-sponsored environmental and social policies and the roll-out of smart meters."
In common with other big suppliers, SSE is not cutting its electricity prices.
In the past, all the UK's energy suppliers have argued when putting up electricity prices that they were intimately linked to rising wholesale gas prices.
But on Monday, SSE said: "They are very different with different underlying costs."
Explaining why the impending cut in gas prices was being delayed until the end of April, the firm said this reflected the fact that it had bought gas in the wholesale markets as much as two years ago, in order to make good on last year's promise to freeze its gas and electricity prices.
"It takes longer for wholesale costs to filter through than other products like petrol as we buy much further in advance to smooth out the rise and falls in wholesale prices," SSE said.
However, James Padmore of price comparison service Comparethemarket.com said: "If customers of British Gas and Scottish Power thought that delaying price cuts until February was unfair, I suspect those households with SSE will be pretty unimpressed by this announcement."
The UK's energy suppliers have been under intense pressure from politicians and consumer groups to respond more quickly to the recent large fall in oil prices and wholesale gas prices.
The industry is widely perceived as being quick to put prices up when costs rise, but very slow to reduce them when costs fall.
For that reason, the energy industry is undergoing a full scale inquiry from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the way it operates.
The CMA inquiry is expected to report its provisional findings in May or June.


Johnny Sexton is in contention to return to Ireland duty in Saturday's Six Nations game against Italy after missing the opening defeat by Scotland.

Ireland team manager Paul Dean said on Monday that the British & Irish Lions fly-half was "back running and will be monitored this week".
Sexton missed the Murrayfield game because of a calf injury.
The Irish do not appear to have picked up any major new injuries in Saturday's surprise 27-22 defeat.
Dean said that prop Tadhg Furlong sustained a bruised shoulder in the Murrayfield contest but will still be able to train fully this week.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said last Thursday that Sexton had an "outside chance" of playing in Rome while he was more hopeful that Donnacha Ryan (knee) and Andrew Trimble (groin) might be available for the Stadio Olimpico game.
Schmidt also indicated last week that Munster flanker Peter O'Mahony was "highly unlikely" to play in Rome after a hamstring injury ruled him out of the Murrayfield game.
Munster lock Ryan's absence saw Ulster's Iain Henderson partnering Devin Toner in the second row.
Sexton's replacement Paddy Jackson scored a second-half try in Ireland's weekend defeat and was rated as one of the team's better performers in Edinburgh.
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Referring to Schmidt's post-match revelation that Ireland had been 10 minutes late arriving at Murrayfield, Dean said that Scottish police had diverted the team coach away from its intended route.
"We took a different route, enforced by the police. The circumstances were out of our control but we don't feel it contributed to the performance on the day," said the Ireland team manager.
Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw said the delay "wasn't the norm" but refused to use the issue as an excuse for the team's poor first-half performance.
"When we first got to the dressing room, we had 25 minutes to the warm-up - usually it is 45 minutes in the Aviva," said the Leinster player.
"That would have been a change for some of the lads. It was a change in set-up.
"We're not making excuses - we were primed and ready to perform from three trainings during the week.
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"We knew what was going to come at us. There are no excuses for the slow start."
Despite Ireland's defeat, Henshaw believes the team's championship hopes remain very much alive.
"There is confidence we can still win the championship based on what we did in November. This is an incredible group and we know we can still win it."
Henshaw added that the Ireland squad had had a group review of the game on Sunday night before individual sessions on Monday morning.
"It was very frustrating and we're looking forward to putting it right this weekend," added the former Connacht player.
"It comes down to how we started. We felt flat as a group in the game. We gave them time and space on the ball and they punished us in the wider channels.
"Our spacing was narrow and when we got it spot on. They didn't get a chance after we fixed it."


Asylum seekers held on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are no longer being held in detention, reports say.

Around 900 men are now allowed to leave the Manus Island detention centre during the day.
Australia sends asylum seekers who arrive by boat to the centre under its tough immigration policies.
But PNG's Supreme Court ruled in April that restricting the movements of asylum seekers was unlawful under the country's constitution.
The Australian and PNG governments are now negotiating about what will happen to the men.
What next for Manus Island asylum seekers?
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) reported that the men could now take one of three buses into the main town each day.
According to the report, the men are not able to simply walk out of the camp because it is a PNG naval base. They must also sign a form taking responsibility for their own safety.
They are allowed to stay at a transit centre in the town, run by PNG's immigration department.
The ABC said those ruled considered genuine refugees could leave Manus Island, but only if they signed an agreement to be resettled in PNG.
Only eight refugees have chosen to accept the offer so far, the report said.
Australia sends all asylum seekers who arrive in the country by boat to offshore processing centres under the so-called Pacific solution.
The tough policy has almost eliminated the people smuggling trade to Australia from Indonesia, but is fiercely criticised by human rights advocates.


A UN agency has admitted that its first attempt to air-drop humanitarian aid to Syrians from high altitude largely failed but it promised to keep trying.

Of 21 pallets dropped over the eastern city of Deir al-Zour on Wednesday, 10 were unaccounted for, seven landed in no-man's land and four were damaged.
Some 200,000 civilians are trapped in a government-held area of the city, besieged by Islamic State militants.
The air-drop is part of a larger effort to deliver desperately-needed aid.
Initially, the UN said reports from Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) teams on the ground in Deir al-Zour suggested that the first cargo of 21 tonnes of aid dropped over the city had landed in the target area as planned.
However, the World Food Programme later issued a statement saying the operation "faced technical difficulties and we are debriefing crew and partners in Deir al-Zour to make necessary adjustments".
"High-altitude drops are extremely challenging to carry out and take more than one trial to develop full accuracy," it added.
On Thursday, a WFP spokesman confirmed that all the 21 palettes dropped by parachute were damaged, went off-target or were unaccounted for.
Last month, UN humanitarian agencies warned that the civilians living in the besieged western side of Deir al-Zour, most of whom are women and children, were facing sharply deteriorating conditions.
Residents needed immediate and urgent humanitarian assistance, particularly food, nutrition and health supplies, and there were reports of severe cases of malnutrition and deaths due to starvation, they said.
While the Syrian government's stocks continue to provide bread, there are very limited supplies as there has been limited humanitarian or commercial access to the eastern city.
UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council on Wednesday that since 17 February, the UN and its partners had reached 110,000 people in besieged areas, and had approval to reach a further 230,000 people, including through the air drops in Deir al-Zour. They are still waiting for approval an additional 170,000.
He also welcomed the plan announced by the US and Russia for a nationwide cessation of hostilities scheduled to come into effect at 22:00 GMT on Friday.
Syria's main opposition umbrella group said late on Wednesday that it was ready for a two-week truce to test the government's commitment to the plan.
But the High Negotiations Committee objected to Russia being a guarantor because of the air campaign it has conducted in support of President Bashar al-Assad since September.
The HNC also expressed concern that Moscow and Damascus would continue targeting rebels allied to the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group that along with IS will be excluded from the cessation of hostilities.
The Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG), a militia that controls territory in northern Syria near the Turkish border, said on Thursday that it would respect the truce, but reserve the right to retaliate if attacked.
The UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, meanwhile said he would be announcing the date for the next round of peace talks in Geneva on Friday.


Jeremy Corbyn asked David Cameron questions emailed to him from the public as he tried what he called "a different" style for his debut PMQs.

Labour's new leader said he wanted the weekly sessions to be less "theatrical" and Mr Cameron agreed there should be more focus on "substantial issues".
Mr Corbyn asked about housing, tax credits and mental health service cuts.
The BBC's Norman Smith said it was much calmer than normal but the PM had not been put under any real pressure.
Speaking to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg later on Wednesday, Mr Corbyn insisted he would not campaign for the UK to leave the European Union, while vowing to fight any moves towards a more free-market relationship.
Mr Corbyn was cheered by Labour MPs as he got to his feet at his first PMQs, before launching into a lengthy pre-amble in which he thanked supporters for his Labour leadership victory, vowed to make PMQs less "theatrical" and explained his decision to crowd source his questions.
He said: "I thought at my first PMQs, I would do it in a slightly different way... So I sent out an email to thousands of people and asked them what questions they would like to put to the prime minister and I received 40,000 replies."
The prime minster congratulated Mr Corbyn on his "resounding victory" in the Labour leadership contest and welcomed him to the frontbench.
Mr Cameron, who began his own career as opposition leader in 2005 promising to end "Punch and Judy" politics, then said "no one would be more delighted than me" if PMQs could become a "genuine exercise in asking questions and answering questions".
Mr Corbyn's first question "from a woman called Marie" was on the "chronic lack of affordable housing" and "the extortionate rents charged by some private sector landlords" - something the new Labour leader has said will be his top priority.
Mr Cameron said the government had delivered more affordable homes but recognised "much more needs to be done".
Before Mr Corbyn began his second question, on job losses at housing associations, he thanked the prime minister "for his commitment that we are going to do Prime Minister's Questions in a more adult way than it's been done in the past".
He then asked about "absolutely shameful" cuts to tax credits voted through by MPs on Tuesday, on behalf of  "Paul," and about cuts to mental health services, prompted by a question from "Gail".
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg's verdict
As promised, it was different. A parliamentary revolution in beige, Jeremy Corbyn's new leader's navy suit, no where to be seen.  It wasn't so much Jeremy Corbyn's questions to the prime minister but Gail, Marie, Steven, and Angela's questions.
What's also different? Camp Corbyn and David Cameron's team are both happy with the outcome of the crucial half hour of PMQs, the new Labour leader's first ever outing at the despatch box.
Read Laura's full analysis
Mr Cameron struck a consensual tone in his replies, agreeing that more needed to be done to improve mental health services, and paused to scold Labour MPs who were jeering him over his claim that the lowest paid would be Â£20 a week better off next year thanks to an increase in the minimum wage.
"I thought this was the new Question Time. I'm not sure the message has fully got home," he told them.
The prime minister took a couple of swipes at the new Labour leader when answering questions from backbenchers, as noise levels in the chamber returned to normal levels, although Tory MPs still appeared to be following instructions to avoid triumphalism.
In response to a question on Northern Ireland from DUP MP Nigel Dodds, Mr Cameron paid tribute to former Conservative MPs Airey Neave and Ian Gow, who were murdered by Republican terrorists.
He did not directly refer to controversy over Mr Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell's previous comments on Northern Ireland, but said: "I have a simple view, which is the terrorism we faced was wrong, it was unjustifiable, the death and the killing was wrong. It was never justified and people who seek to justify it should be ashamed of themselves."
He held back from attacking Mr Corbyn over his much-criticised decision not to sing the national anthem at a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, saying in response to a question from a Tory MP that the St Paul's Cathedral event had been "a reminder of how proud we should be of our armed forces, then, today and always."
Minutes before the session began Labour sources confirmed that their leader, who believes in the abolition of the monarchy, would join in with the anthem at future official engagements.
Labour denied that Mr Corbyn's new approach - asking six different questions rather than pushing the prime minister on a single point - gave Mr Cameron an easy ride.
"The questions were very direct and they demanded clear answers," a Labour source said.
Asked about policy differences that appear to have emerged between Mr Corbyn and his front bench, on welfare cuts and Europe, a Labour source said "lots of listening" would be done and some policies would be reviewed under the new leadership.


Bournemouth have accepted a Football Association charge relating to a breach of anti-doping rules.

Clubs are required to provide accurate details of training sessions and player whereabouts so they are available for testing at all times.
The Cherries were deemed to have failed to ensure its information was accurate on three occasions.
Manchester City were fined £35,000 and given a warning, after admitting a similar breach earlier this month.
Bournemouth have yet to learn their punishment from the FA, but are expecting similar sanctions.
It is understood part of the charge concerns a player not informing the club of his new home address, while another part relates to members of the Under-21 squad training with the first-team at short notice.


Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, who won an Oscar for his 2001 animated film Spirited Away, is set to retire.

The 72-year-old's animation studio announced the news at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday.
Koju Hoshino, president of Studio Ghibli, said Miyazaki's latest project, The Wind Rises, would be his last film.
The director is also known for his movies Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo.
Mr Hoshino declined to take questions on Miyazaki's decision to retire, but said more details would be given next week at another press conference in Tokyo.
"He wants to say goodbye to all of you," he said.
Miyazaki was not in Venice for the international premiere of The Wind Rises, which is showing in competition.
The director's 11th feature film tells the story about the engineer who designed Japan's World War II fighter planes.
Miyazaki - who is one of the most respected directors in animation - first came to prominence in the 1970s with his work in anime for TV.
He previously retired after the release of 1997 film Princess Mononoke, but returned to direct Spirited Away to great acclaim.
Howl's Moving Castle followed in 2004, and was nominated for a best animated feature Oscar.
In recognition of his five-decade career, he was awarded the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2005.


Harzand won the Irish Derby at the Curragh to seal a Derby double after his triumph at Epsom earlier in June.

The 4-6 favourite, ridden by Pat Smullen for trainer Dermot Weld, held off the challenge of Idaho, with outsider Stellar Mass third.
Harzand, owned by the Aga Khan, is the 18th horse to complete the Epsom-Curragh double.
A son of 2009 Epsom champion Sea The Stars, Harzand won by half a length from the Aidan O'Brien-trained Idaho.
The winner is now likely to be aimed at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a race won by his father, in October.
Stablemate Ebediyin set the pace before Smullen guided his mount to the front.
Idaho, under Ryan Moore, laid down a stern challenge at about two furlongs out but Harzand battled to victory after a stirring duel.
Smullen said: "He's such a great horse, he's got such courage and determination.
"Ryan (came with one good determined run, I needed this horse to dig deep for me and he did - how good is he?
"This matches Epsom, in front of our home crowd. The pressure was on and we pulled it off."
Analysis - Correspondent Cornelius Lysaght
"Another outstanding performance from Harzand to do the Derby double.
"As at Epsom, another runner put it up to the son of champion racehorse-turned top stallion Sea The Stars, but, also like June 4, this colt was having none of it, demonstrating he was truly a chip off the old block.
"And though the winning margin of Harzand over Idaho - who got level - was a half-length, it was a little more comfortable than the bare facts suggest. He goes to the 'Arc' in October, which his Dad won in 2009, with a definite chance."


Andy Murray was "proud" of his effort after losing in five sets to Stan Wawrinka at the French Open - and hoped it would boost his Wimbledon challenge.

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Swiss third seed Wawrinka won their semi-final 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 in four hours and 34 minutes.
The Briton began the tournament short of matches after illness and injury.
"I was close to reaching another Slam final when I was not playing well and feeling really, really bad before the event," Murray told BBC Sport.
"I'm not happy - I'm disappointed, frustrated and tired after a long couple of weeks - but I'm proud I put myself into that position, when there were a lot of doubts coming into the event and I didn't feel great at the beginning of the tournament.
"I worked through it, accepted the position I was in, and gave a reasonable account of myself considering those things."
Wawrinka hit 87 winners in a gripping contest that pitted the 2015 champion's attacking prowess against the defensive skills of Murray.
The Swiss, 32, ultimately proved too strong as he made amends for losing to Murray at the same stage last year in Paris.
"He played too well in the end," said the 30-year-old world number one.
"Physically I didn't feel my best at the end. It is more like I didn't have enough weight on my shot at the end of the match to put him under any real pressure."
Murray struggled with shingles, two heavy colds and an elbow injury in the first half of 2017, and arrived at Roland Garros with just 16 wins to his name.
Over the course of six matches in Paris, he spent 18 hours and 17 minutes on court.
Victories over Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori gave particular encouragement as he looks ahead to the grass-court season.
"I do feel like having an event like this can give me a boost," said Murray, who will play his first match on grass at the Aegon Championships on 20 June.
"On the grass I'll hopefully move well, that's an important part of my game and something I struggled with at a few points during this clay season.
"And the serve. That's something I struggled with the last couple of months.
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
"I served fairly well at this event but on the grass it's obviously a huge part of the game - if you serve well it can make a huge difference."
The Scot will retain the number one ranking heading into the grass-court season, but has plenty of points to defend as reigning champion at Queen's Club and Wimbledon.
Asked how far he feels from his best level, Murray said: "I played pretty well these last few matches.
"Even when you're playing well, you're not going to win every match you play, but I put myself in a position to reach a Slam final, so I'm obviously playing pretty good."


Labour and Plaid Cymru have struck a deal to pass the Welsh budget, Plaid leader Leanne Wood has told BBC Wales.

The Â£15bn spending plans - to be unveiled by Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford on Tuesday - need the backing of some opposition AMs to pass.
The two parties have held budget talks under the post-election deal by which Plaid Cymru supported Carwyn Jones's return as first minister.
Ms Wood said Plaid "sought to be constructive" as official opposition.
She said the deal was a sign of how the party was cooperating with Labour, following criticism by Lord Elis-Thomas over Plaid's stance.
The Dwyfor Meirionnydd AM quit the party on Friday night, claiming Plaid was not "serious" about working with Labour.
"The talks have been productive and I'm very pleased with the deal that we've agreed with the Labour government," Ms Wood said.
"I'm not able to furnish you with details at this point, but there's plenty there that will demonstrate that Plaid Cymru's priorities will have been met."
The Plaid leader called for a by-election in Lord Elis-Thomas's constituency, saying party members there would be "very disappointed indeed" by his decision to sit as an independent AM, so soon after May's assembly election.
Ms Wood said she felt an "element of relief that I don't have to deal with that difficulty now, but I still think there is an element of disappointment and sadness that it has had to come to this."
A Welsh Conservative spokesman dismissed the budget deal, saying: "There's little reason to believe that this budget will be any different from those that preceded it - all of which have categorically failed to deliver the necessary levels of education, prosperity and health for communities across Wales."


A stoppage-time free-kick from Andy Taylor snatched a point for Blackpool in a draw against Cambridge at Bloomfield Road.

The visitors took the lead after 17 minutes thanks to a brilliant 20-yard free-kick from Luke Berry, curling the ball past Dean Lyness and into the top right-hand corner.
Blackpool passed up a golden opportunity to equalise after 33 minutes when Danny Philliskirk's cross hit the hand of Harrison Dunk in the area.
Philliskirk took the penalty and placed it down the middle but goalkeeper Will Norris saved with his legs.
In first-half stoppage-time, Kyle Vassell's thunderous strike from 12 yards was met by a superb reflex save from Norris.
When Blackpool did finally get the better of Norris the woodwork denied them as a thumping 20-yard volley from Kelvin Mellor cannoned back off the crossbar after 73 minutes.
But in the first of seven minutes of injury-time, Taylor curled home from 20 yards to snatch a point and end Cambridge's run of three successive League Two wins.
Reports supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Blackpool 1, Cambridge United 1.
Second Half ends, Blackpool 1, Cambridge United 1.
Tom Aldred (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Uche Ikpeazu (Cambridge United).
Attempt blocked. Bright Samuel (Blackpool) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner,  Cambridge United. Conceded by Jack Payne.
Foul by Kyle Vassell (Blackpool).
Mark Roberts (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kyle Vassell (Blackpool).
Max Clark (Cambridge United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Goal!  Blackpool 1, Cambridge United 1. Andy Taylor (Blackpool) from a free kick with a left footed shot to the top left corner.
Tom Aldred (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Greg Taylor (Cambridge United).
Corner,  Blackpool. Conceded by Sean Long.
Substitution, Cambridge United. Max Clark replaces Adam McGurk.
Kelvin Mellor (Blackpool) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Uche Ikpeazu (Cambridge United).
Kyle Vassell (Blackpool) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Kyle Vassell (Blackpool).
Adam McGurk (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Mark Cullen (Blackpool) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Tom Aldred (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Uche Ikpeazu (Cambridge United).
Foul by Mark Cullen (Blackpool).
Adam McGurk (Cambridge United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Corner,  Blackpool. Conceded by Piero Mingoia.
Bright Samuel (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by James Dunne (Cambridge United).
Corner,  Cambridge United. Conceded by Kelvin Mellor.
Attempt blocked. Harrison Dunk (Cambridge United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Foul by Bright Samuel (Blackpool).
Piero Mingoia (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Kelvin Mellor (Blackpool) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box.
Substitution, Blackpool. Myles Boney replaces Dean Lyness because of an injury.
Foul by Kyle Vassell (Blackpool).
Harrison Dunk (Cambridge United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Dean Lyness (Blackpool) because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Uche Ikpeazu (Cambridge United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Substitution, Blackpool. Bright Samuel replaces Danny Philliskirk.


Police Scotland has been told to take "remedial action" over the presence of asbestos in some of its buildings.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served the force with an improvement notice following inspections at four sites in Glasgow earlier this year.
The issue was discussed at a Scottish Police Authority meeting on Wednesday.
Police Scotland said it was taking the appropriate action to resolve the issue and was working closely with the HSE, staff organisations and unions.
The force confirmed that it had received an improvement notice in relation to the management of asbestos following an inspection of some local divisional offices.
A spokeswoman said: "Immediate action has been taken to address any site specific issues, and the service is also working closely with staff associations and trade unions to take forward the necessary action."
John Gillies, director of People and Development with Police Scotland, added: "We take the health and safety of our staff very seriously, and are working with unions, staff associations and the HSE to develop and deploy the appropriate action plans in relation to the management of asbestos.
"We are committed to providing a safe working environment for our officers, staff and members of the public and are fully co-operating with the HSE to ensure the appropriate action is taken to achieve this."
A spokeswoman for the HSE confirmed that its officers had identified issues with asbestos at Police Scotland premises.
She said: "During inspections of Police Scotland premises, HSE found inadequate arrangements in relation to the management of asbestos and an Improvement Notice was served requiring remedial action to be taken.
"Further visits will be paid to assess compliance."
The issue was the subject of a report on Thursday to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the body which oversees Police Scotland.
The report stated: "In early February 2016, the Health and Safety Executive undertook visits to four Police Scotland premises.
"During these visits, the HSE identified areas of improvement that were required across a number of Health and Safety and Estate related matters.
"Police Scotland requires to provide an appropriate response to the HSE by 11 April 2016."
The report stated that Police Scotland held a meeting with HSE on 2 March to further discuss the issue after which a steering group, chaired by Asst Chief Constable Bernard Higgins, was set up to work towards a solution.
The report said that "further inspection work" had been carried out by Police Scotland and SPA health and safety teams.
Any improvement work identified will be "taken in hand", the report said.
Asbestos is heat and flame resistant material that was once widely used in construction.
Its was progressively prohibited in the UK from the mid-1980s onwards on health grounds after evidence emerged linking it to cancers and lung disease.


After a year which included so much change and so many firsts for us as a team, it felt strangely appropriate that our final international outing of 2016 ended with another first for us all - a one-day international spread over two days in Colombo because of rain, which we won to secure a 4-0 series victory against Sri Lanka.

With England's 2016 fixtures completed, captain Heather Knight is heading to Australia, and another season leading Hobart Hurricanes in the Women's Big Bash League.
A lot has happened in the past 12 months, and it's been a bit of a crazy year to be honest! Having taken over as England captain in June, the past five months have been some of my most enjoyable and rewarding in an England shirt.
There's no doubt that it's been challenging along the way, but I'm really enjoying leading this team. As a group we feel like we've come a long way in the past year and a lot of credit has to go to our head coach Mark Robinson and assistant coach Ali Maiden for that.
Alongside the England captaincy, I've also led Hobart Hurricanes, Western Storm and Berkshire in the past 12 months, so I've certainly had to manage a broad range of different people - from county players who have never played in front of a decent crowd before, to established overseas international players, and England team-mates who have won more than 100 caps.
That is sometimes one of the hardest things to get right as a captain - knowing what to say and when to say it, to try to get the best out of those different characters on the pitch. It's not an exact science, but I feel like I'm learning and growing as a leader all of the time.
I know that as soon as I stop trying to do that, I'll be in trouble, so I'll always be looking at ways I can get better. That's an attitude I've always had with my cricket, so I don't see why captaincy should be any different.
During the second ODI against Sri Lanka earlier this month, I had a bit of a slip when I was batting and aggravated an old hamstring tendon injury, which unfortunately forced me to sit on the sidelines for the third match.
Although I'm generally dreadful at watching, and always want to be involved, the girls did a brilliant job and, in my absence, they were skippered to a comfortable win by Danielle Hazell.
The old hamstring injury was actually the reason I started bowling off-spin in 2014, as I was no longer able to send down my (very average) 'dibbly dobbly' seamers in the nets. So something good came out of four months on the sidelines at least!
I was quite surprised to be told that, at the conclusion of the ICC Women's Championship last week, I had finished as the second highest wicket-taker in the competition. I think a lot of those wickets have probably come down to the bowlers at the other end, but I'm proud of a good couple of years with the ball all the same.
I think I'll always see myself as a batter who bowls a few tweakers, but it's nice to be able to contribute to the team in another way. I'm definitely glad I decided to go down the spinner's route following my injury and with a bit of encouragement from our former spin coach Carl Crowe.
After about 10 days at home, I'll be heading off to Australia for the Women's Big Bash League - along with a number of my England team-mates - and rejoining the Hobart Hurricanes.
After a good season with the 'Canes last year, I'm massively excited to meet up with the team again and see what the second edition of the WBBL holds.
Also, as an England team, we can now start looking forward to next summer's ICC Women's World Cup. As a player I don't think there is anything more exciting than getting the chance to play in a World Cup on home soil.
I keep saying it, but it is so true, we have the best women's cricket supporters in the world, so hopefully we will get to play in front of some passionate home fans throughout the tournament next year.
As a West Country girl, it's great that two of the group-stage venues - Taunton and Bristol - are in this part of the country. We are also looking forward to playing at Derby and Leicester, and with a bit of luck and some good performances, at Lord's in the final on 23 July!
You can read more BBC columns from Heather during the winter.


Egypt's former top auditor, who was sacked after alleging government corruption, has been given a prison sentence for spreading "false news".

Hisham Geneina was fired in March by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi after estimating corruption had cost Egypt $67.6bn (Â£51.3bn) over four years.
He was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,200 but told he could avoid prison if he paid an additional $1,100, judicial sources said.
His lawyer said he would appeal.
Lawyer Ali Taha said prosecutors had failed to prove their accusations and said the case for the defence had not been examined. Reporters were not allowed to attend the sentencing at a Cairo court.
Geneina, a former judge, denied the charges and said they were politically motivated.
After firing Geneina, President Sisi appointed a fact-finding commission that concluded the auditor had over-estimated the scale of corruption. and thus misled the public.
The case was based on comments Geneina made to two Egyptian newspapers last December when he was still head of the Accountability State Authority (ASA).
The daily al-Youm al-Sabea quoted him as saying in an interview that endemic corruption had cost Egypt some 600bn Egyptian pounds ($67.6bn) in 2015 alone, mostly in corrupt land deals.
Geneina later said that he had been misquoted and that the figure covered four years, a claim supported by a separate interview with another newspaper.
He also noted that it was based on a study commissioned by the Egyptian planning ministry and carried out with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
President Sisi has made fighting corruption a top priority since coming to power after leading the military's overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.


This has been an accident-prone year for primary school tests - and the amount of attention given to this latest leak is a reflection of a cumulative build-up of mistakes and controversy.

The day before hundreds of thousands of pupils were due to take part of their English Sats paper, it was mistakenly uploaded on to a website for test markers.
These markers, mostly teachers, could see the test for about four hours - and it is claimed one of these tried to leak it further.
It is not often that primary school tests are associated with sabotage, but the Department for Education linked this to a campaign to undermine the tests and warned of a "rogue marker".
Ministers might feel it is unfair to blame them - because the tests were being administered by Pearson.
But what will make the Department for Education feel more besieged is this is not the first such problem this year.
An English test for seven-year-olds had to be scrapped at short notice because the questions had been published online.
The baseline tests, for five-year-olds, also had to be ditched because the way they were structured made the results unreliable.
Bad luck is a dangerous quality for ministers.
And to compound their difficulties, it follows Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's high-profile U-turn over forced academies.
She might feel she was dealt an unlucky set of cards on this too.
Having stuck loyally to the party line - getting heckled by heads and criticised by MPs on her own backbenches and saying there was "no reverse gear" - she then had to announce a hasty retreat.
The teachers' unions must be pinching themselves to see if all this has really happened.
At Easter, the conferences went through some rather ritual motions condemning compulsory academies and attacking Sats tests.
And then, within weeks, these policies have imploded before their eyes.
Labour must also be relishing the sight of education ministers suddenly beset by such unexpected storms.
For parents, this might all seem like an unappealing outbreak of party politics in a primary school playground.
For ministers, their challenge is to convince the public that school tests are not about political careers, but about improving the future chances of children.


Two badgers have died after being mauled by dogs in Motherwell, according to the Scottish SPCA.

The animal welfare charity fears there is a "distinct possibility" someone may be targeting the animals.
The body of the first badger was found at the Ravenscraig Steelworks site in April.
A member of the public discovered the second animal four miles away in the Riccard Johnston woodland on Thursday 7 July.
A Scottish SPCA undercover inspector said a post-mortem examination "conclusively" proved that it had been killed by dogs.
He said: "We are beginning to suspect that there is a distinct possibility someone is actually targeting these animals.
"The previous incident is still under investigation and we are working with local wildlife crime police and Scottish Badgers.
"We are still looking into names that were highlighted as a result of our last appeal for information and we are very keen to speak to anyone with information about individuals who have potentially been involved in either of these cases."


Scotland's new education secretary has asked for "a bit of space and time" to start tackling challenges in the sector, four days into the job.

John Swinney's comments on BBC Scotland came in response to a threat of industrial action by Scotland's largest teaching union.
The EIS is worried that new school qualifications will lead to a big increase in teacher workloads.
Mr Swinney said he was willing to listen to all concerns.
The Scottish government has made education its top priority - specifically, closing the attainment gap which exists between pupils from the least and most deprived backgrounds.
The EIS has said it planned to ballot its members on action which could see teachers boycotting additional work and assessment related to the new qualifications.
Asked on the BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland programme if Mr Swinney had been able to head off the dispute, he responded: "I've only been in office for four days, so I've not managed to get there yet."
'Great mission'
The education secretary added: "I want to have meaningful discussions with a whole range of stakeholders and I simply say to the trade unions - I say to everybody frankly in this debate - you've got a willing pair of ears here who's prepared to listen to the issues and the challenges.
"My mission is clear. My mission is to close the attainment gap in Scottish education.
"I can't frankly think of a greater mission to have today in Scotland, I'm immensely privileged to have that, and I just ask people to give me a bit of space and time to try to address these issues and deliver on my top priority."
Mr Swinney was also asked if planned standardised tests in Scotland's primary schools and in S3 would be marked externally.
He responded: "It will vary from age to age."
"When we're looking at some of the standardised assessments that will be under taken in Primary 1 classes within Scotland, I don't see the need for those to be independently certified."
Clarity call
Asked about Primary 7 or S3, the minister said: "Give me a little bit of time to work out specifically the detail of how we will take that forward.
"You're asking me to go to a very precise point and I'm not prepared to go there, four days into the job of being the education secretary."
Mr Swinney also said he had no intention of interfering with the independence of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, which deals with the qualifications framework.
Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith said clarity was needed on the issue.
"I have today written to the cabinet secretary to seek clarification about whether or not the new tests within primary schools will be externally marked," she said, adding: "Parents and teachers want a straight answer about this as quickly as possible."


A 17th Century painting inspired by Leonardo da Vinci is back on display after a 12-year-old Taiwanese boy accidentally punched a hole in it at an exhibition on Sunday.

The BBC's Tessa Wong takes a look at the incident and other notable and costly art mishaps.
The unnamed boy was walking around the Taipei gallery when he put his fist through a $1.5m (Â£960,000) painting by Italian artist Paolo Porpora.
Closed-circuit television footage  showed him tripping over a low barrier and veering into the painting as he attempted to steady himself.
Taiwanese restorer Leo Tsai managed to patch it up within two days.
He told reporters that as the painting is very fragile "the priority is to strengthen its structure, not to retouch the paint on the damaged area".
The exhibition organisers have said they do not plan to seek compensation from the boy and his family.
In 2006, US casino magnate Steve Wynn famously punctured one of Pablo Picasso's most famous paintings, Le Reve.
Mr Wynn, who owned the painting at that time, was about to sell it to a friend.
He was showing the painting to a group of friends on the eve of the sale when he backed up and put his elbow through it, prompting some in the US media to dub it 'the $40m elbow'. The deal was called off.
But Mr Wynn managed to recoup his losses. In 2013 he sold the restored painting to the same friend at a higher price of $155m.
Also in 2006, a man smashed three Qing dynasty porcelain vases on a windowsill at Cambridge University's Fitzwilliam Museum when he tumbled down the stairs.
The vases were produced in the late 17th or early 18th Century in China, and were part of a set valued up to Â£300,000 at the time.
The museum spent six months restoring the vases, which are now housed in a specially designed case.
The widely publicised incident later inspired a German artist to replicate the scene of the smash in an artwork called Landing., and Fitzwilliam now sells a mini-jigsaw postcard of the vases. The man who tumbled down the stairs was not charged.
Another smashing incident that had a less fortuitous ending took place last year when Florida artist Maximo Caminero deliberately broke a vase by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Mr Caminero had walked into Miami's Perez Art Museum, picked up one of several urns by Ai, and threw it to the ground.
He was promptly arrested and later found guilty of criminal mischief. Caminero had to pay $10,000 for the damage, which was the appraised value of the urn.
He said he did it to protest against the museum's alleged preference to showcase international artists, and also because he saw the artwork as a "provocation" to join Ai in "an act of performance protest".
The pots were arranged in front of another artwork by Ai called Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, which are three giant photographs showing the Chinese artist smashing a vase.
He also said later he did not realise that the pot was so old and claimed he thought it was a "common clay pot from [US retailer] Home Depot".
The incident however provoked a discussion on what constituted contemporary art, not least because Ai himself has been criticised for destroying artworks by buying ancient urns, splashing them with paint, and smashing them.
Ai however told the South China Morning Post: "I smashed my own belongings whereas he broke others'. Behavioural art can go to extremes, like you can hurt yourself for instance, but you cannot hurt others for the sake of art, can you?"


High-ranking Fifa official Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has resigned a day after denying claims linking him to a fraud case.

Following the release of court documents, Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmad was linked in media reports to Richard Lai, the Fifa audit and compliance committee member who was banned for bribery.
Lai admitted taking $950,000 (£735,000) in bribes in a US Court on Thursday.
In a statement, Ahmad said he "vigorously" denies any wrongdoing.
The 53-year-old, a member of both Fifa's ruling council and president of the Olympic Council of Asia, had admitted on Saturday to being aware of the media speculation but said he was "very surprised" by the allegations.
Court documents in Lai's case did not directly name Sheikh Ahmad but referred to someone who "at various times" was a "high-ranking official of Fifa, the Kuwait Football Association (KFA), and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)".
And in a second statement announcing his resignation, Ahmad said it was in Fifa's "best interests" for him to go.
"With regards to alleged illegal payments to Richard Lai, I can only refer to my previous statement and vigorously deny any wrongdoing," it read.
"I intend to work with all relevant authorities to disprove these, for me, totally surprising allegations.
"However, I do not want these allegations to create divisions or distract attention from the upcoming AFC (Asian Football Confederation) and Fifa congresses.
"Therefore, after careful consideration, I have decided it is in the best interests of Fifa and the AFC for me to withdraw my candidacy for the Fifa council and resign from my current football positions.
"I have been honoured to serve on the Fifa council, Fifa reform committee and AFC for the last two years and I will continue to support the family of football once these allegations have been disproved."
Lai, president of the Guam Football Association and a US citizen, admitted two counts of wire fraud conspiracy - relating to accepting and paying bribes - and one count of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.
He agreed to pay more than $1.1m (£850,000) in forfeiture and penalties.
Following Ahmad's resignation, Fifa president Gianni Infantino stated: "I have taken note of the decision of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
"I want to thank him for taking this decision which certainly was not easy to take but is in the best interest for Fifa."
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent Richard Conway
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah is one of the most powerful sports officials in the world. And chances are you've probably never heard of him.
That's the way he likes it. He is a man who operates in the shadows.
The Kuwaiti was a powerbroker in Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation. As it stands he still holds sway within the Olympic movement.
He helped Thomas Bach get elected as IOC president in 2013, leveraging his position as president of the Olympic Council of Asia to deliver key votes for the German.
There was intriguingly no mention in his statement about his Olympic jobs though, showing he may want to cling on there.
However, his resignation from football will help Fifa and the AFC limit the damage these allegations have caused.
Ahmad was identified in a US court case as allegedly giving bribes to another football official in return for votes and support. He denies any wrongdoing but his resignation from all of his football positions may now stop altogether, or at least delay, a lengthy and embarrassing ethics investigation from taking place.
Football's world governing body, trying to reassert its moral authority after years of financial and political scandal, will be thankful one of its top officials has gone relatively quietly.
However, there may be more pain to still to come. The US court case which prompted Ahmad to walk away marked a potentially significant move into alleged wrongdoing by Asian football officials for the first time.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has already declared that the crisis for his organisation is over - Sheikh Ahmad's resignation shows there is quite clearly still some way to go before that rings true.


Police say they are treating a car fire in a layby on the A76 in Dumfries and Galloway as "suspicious".

Emergency services were called out to the incident at about 21:15 on Friday at an area near Enterkinfoot known as Hell's Cauldron.
A silver Audi A3 car which had been broken down and parked for "several weeks" at the location was on fire.
Police have asked anybody who saw anyone or any vehicles in the area around that time to contact them.


Nato has formally ended its 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan - heralding the start of a new phase of support for local Afghan troops.

Commanders lowered the flag during a ceremony in Kabul - raising the flag of the new mission named Resolute Support.
"We have lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of  despair and given them hope for the future," mission commander Gen John  Campbell said.
Nato's Afghan deployment began after the 9/11 attacks against the US.
From 1 January the alliance's role will shift to a mainly training and support mission for the Afghan army.
Sunday's ceremony was low-key - held inside a gymnasium at the alliance headquarters away from the public.
A military band played as the flag of the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) was lowered in the presence of senior military personnel from both sides.
Unfurling the new flag, Gen Campbell said the mission "will serve as the bedrock of an enduring partnership" between Nato and Afghanistan.
"We honour coalition and Afghan fallen in this mighty struggle, those who paid the price for Afghanistan's freedom," he said, adding: "The road before us remains challenging but we will triumph."
At its peak, the US-led Isaf deployment involved more than 130,000 personnel from 50 countries.
But from 1 January, it will bring together around 12,000 men and women from Nato allies and 14 partner nations.
"The security of Afghanistan will be fully in the hands of the country's 350,000 Afghan soldiers and police. But Nato allies, together with many partner nations, will remain to train, advise and assist them," said Nato Secretary General  Jens Stoltenberg in a statement.
More than a decade after this long and expensive mission began, the Taliban are still active and gaining in strength, launching a number of attacks in recent months, says the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kabul.
This year has been the bloodiest in Afghanistan since 2001, with at least 4,600 members of the Afghan security forces dying in the fight against the Taliban.
It underscores the challenges that lie ahead of the Afghan security forces, our correspondent says.
Nearly 3,500 foreign troops have been killed since the beginning of the Nato mission.


Mae'r Ceidwadwyr wedi addo creu cronfa newydd i gymryd lle cymorth ariannol gan yr UE, os ydyn nhw'n ennill yr etholiad cyffredinol.

Mae Gorllewin Cymru a'r Cymoedd yn gymwys i dderbyn mwy na £2bn o gymorth gan yr UE rhwng 2014 a 2020, o ganlyniad i lefelau isel o gyfoeth.
Ond bydd y cronfeydd - sydd wedi cael eu dosbarthu ers 2000 - yn dod i ben unwaith y bydd y DU yn gadael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd.
Dywedodd y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol mai cynlluniau Theresa May ar gyfer Brexit oedd wedi achosi'r ansicrwydd am ddyfodol y cyllid hwnnw i Gymru yn y lle cyntaf.
Mae maniffesto Ceidwadwyr y DU yn dweud y bydd y blaid yn gobeithio creu "Cronfa Rhannu Llewyrch", ac y byddan nhw'n ymgynghori â Llywodraeth Cymru ar y manylion.
Dywedodd y maniffesto y bydd y gronfa "wedi'i ddylunio'n arbennig i leihau anghydraddoldebau rhwng cymunedau ar draws ein pedair cenedl".
Mae'r maniffesto yn beirniadu'r system bresennol, gan ei alw'n gynllun "drud i'w weinyddu a gwael yn targedu".
Ond doedd dim sôn yn y ddogfen am bynciau eraill gan gynnwys morlyn Bae Abertawe, a thrydaneiddio'r rheilffordd i Abertawe.
Wrth ymateb i gyhoeddiad y Ceidwadwyr dywedodd arweinydd y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol yng Nghymru, Mark Williams, fod cymorth ariannol yr UE "wedi bod yn hanfodol i Gymru wrth greu a diogelu swyddi".
"Mae penderfyniad Theresa May i lusgo Cymru allan o'r farchnad sengl yn peryglu ein busnesau, ein diwydiannau, a thanseilio addewid y Ceidwadwyr i greu economi gryfach," meddai.
Wrth lansio'u maniffesto hwythau yn gynharach yn yr wythnos dywedodd Plaid Cymru y bydden nhw'n mynnu fod Cymru yn parhau i dderbyn "pob ceiniog" o'r arian mae'n ei dderbyn gan yr UE ar hyn o bryd, unwaith y bydd y DU wedi gadael.
Mae BBC Cymru wedi holi'r pleidiau eraill am ymateb.


Celtic have unveiled plans for a hotel and museum complex next to their stadium.

The club released images of the proposed development, which could also include a ticket office and retail store.
It announced plans to make a proposal of application notice to Glasgow City Council.
The hotel would be based on London Road, outside the main stand of Celtic Park and close to the Emirates Arena.
A club statement said: "The application is part of Celtic's long-standing masterplan for the area, a vision which aims to deliver benefits to the club and our supporters and allow further regeneration of the east end of the city, something to which we are totally committed.
"This application represents only the first stage in this process. It is important to emphasise that considerable work and investment over a number of years would be required to bring this project to fruition. There would be a number of challenges to overcome to complete a development of this scale.
"Celtic aims to be a world-class football club in everything it does. We are pleased to have made significant investment in recent years to develop the stadium and public realm area for the benefit of our supporters.
"Any further development of this kind would be a hugely positive step for the club, for our supporters and for the local community."
The area outside the stadium was redeveloped ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games when the former London Road Primary School building was knocked down and a new 'Celtic Way' walkway was built.
The latest plans were first mooted ahead of the 2014 building work.


Moves in France to stop performances by the controversial comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala have been accompanied by a surge of interest in him on social media platforms.

Over the past two weeks, the number of the comic's followers on Twitter has more than doubled to over 75,000 and his Facebook "likes" have gone up by more than 100,000 to exceed half a million.
However, there are mixed feelings about Dieudonne - who has a string of convictions for hate speech - in the burgeoning French Twitter conversation.
On 27 December, Interior Minister Manuel Valls condemned recent "racist and anti-Semitic remarks" by Dieudonne about the broadcast journalist Patrick Cohen and announced moves to ban the comic's shows.
The minister encouraged local officials to bar the comic from performing, on public order grounds.
Dieudonne had a strong online presence even before the authorities decided to act: a website, dieudosphere.com, which is currently inaccessible after reportedly being hacked in mid-December, as well as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts and a network of supportive blogs and Facebook pages.
This "Dieudosphere", as it has been dubbed in France, has grown in size significantly since 27 December.
Dieudonne videos posted on two YouTube channels have attracted a total of nearly 50m views.
The "iamdieudo" channel was set up in March 2011 and has since accumulated more than 230,000 subscribers and a total of more than 41m views.
Only three videos have been put up on a second "iamdieudo2" channel. Posted over the last two weeks, they have already had more than 5m views.
Meanwhile, the "likes" on the comic's Facebook page have seen a gradual rise from about 250,000 six months ago to about 400,000 by the end of December. They have since shot up to more than half a million.
Almost three-quarters of the page's fans (73%) are based in France, followed by Belgium (5%) and Algeria (3%), according to socialbakers.com.
On Twitter, Dieudonne's current @MbalaDieudo handle only became active on 22 March last year. By the time of Mr Valls's intervention at the end of December, the number of his followers had surpassed 30,000. In the two weeks since, it has ballooned to more than 75,000.
The background image on the comic's Twitter page shows him making his trademark controversial "quenelle" gesture. Described by critics as an inverted Nazi salute, many photos of fans performing it have been posted on the web.
"Thank you for your support!!! We are standing firm!!" said a tweet posted on Dieudonne's account on 10 January, after a court upheld a ban on the opening show of his planned tour. It was retweeted hundreds of times within half an hour.
Observers believe that Dieudonne's online fans have diverse backgrounds, ranging from far-right supporters to fundamentalist Muslims. According to political scientist Jean-Yves Camus, quoted in the daily Le Figaro, they also include "confused young people who have lost any sense of human values".
But it is not all plain sailing for Dieudonne on social media.
Another French comedian, Stephane Guillon, has a much broader Twitter support base than the controversial comic.
In an opinion piece for the daily Liberation, he writes that Dieudonne "has been trying to pass off his anti-Semitism as humour for the last 20 years". The tweet in which he publicised his article to his more than 500,000 followers on 6 January has been retweeted more than 6,000 times.
More generally, French tweets between 6 and 8 January containing the word "Dieudonne" convey mainly negative views about the comic. At the same time, many express opposition to a ban on his shows, according to Crimson Hexagon's ForSight social media analysis tool.
Many tweets also suggest that the authorities are paying too much attention to the comic. "The government seems to be working harder to bring down the number of Dieudonne's shows than to bring down unemployment," reads a widely shared tweet.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


South Africa's Branden Grace has pulled out of this summer's Olympics in Rio because of fears around the Zika virus.

Grace, 28, who won the RBC Heritage in April, said: "I am getting married in November and hoping to start a family. I must put their health first.
"I really hope to be able to qualify again in four years' time."
Northern Ireland duo Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell have already pulled out while Australia's world number one Jason Day is considering his options.
World number four McIlroy said on Wednesday that it was "a risk I am unwilling to take" despite the World Health Organisation stating that there is a "very low risk" for participants.
Fiji's Vijay Singh and Marc Leishman of Australia have already said they will not play because of the virus and the absence of the top players is a blow as the sport returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1904.
Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, has been linked to brain defects in newborn babies.
We've launched a new BBC Sport newsletter ahead of the Euros and Olympics, bringing all the best stories, features and video right to your inbox. You can sign up here.


Long-lost minutes of a meeting in which a football club became a professional side have been unearthed.

Colchester United had no record of the 1937 meeting until the notes were found in a box of memorabilia dropped off at the club.
The "one of a kind" document records the appointment of the team's first manager and players, as well as a decision about kit colours.
Club spokesman Matt Hudson said the discovery was "hugely important".
"This will help us fill the gaps and tell the story of how the club came about, the foundations of what we are now," he said.
"Without this book, and the decisions made by people who wrote this book, we wouldn't be where we are today."
Mr Hudson said the identity of the book's previous owner was unclear, but he was thought to be a relative of Hal Mason, who wrote a book about the club's history.
When it was officially formed, Colchester United replaced Colchester Town Football Club, which had been running since 1873.
The new club took over the ground at Layer Road, where the side played until 2008 when it relocated to Colchester Community Stadium.
"I think over the last couple of years we've tried to put a bit of Layer Road history back into the new stadium, and the minutes book is another piece of that - potentially the centrepiece," Mr Hudson said.
A typed transcript of the minutes has been prepared so the original item can go on display at a later date.
Mr Hudson said the club was considering holding an "archive day" to showcase the notes and encourage fans to bring in more photos and other memorabilia.


A key commander in the Pakistan-based militant Haqqani network has been killed in a US drone strike, according to a family member and local sources.

Badruddin Haqqani died last Tuesday in North Waziristan, a relative said.
The death has not been confirmed by US or Pakistani officials.
The Haqqani network has carried out high-profile attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan. If confirmed, the death would be a major victory for US forces, correspondents say.
In a separate development, Nato air strikes killed a regional commander of the Pakistani Taliban on Friday inside Afghanistan, officials said.
Mullah Dadullah was killed along with a dozen of his fighters in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. He had taken over as leader of the Taliban in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal area earlier this year.
Badruddin Haqqani has been described as a senior operational commander with the Haqqani network - masterminding and directing ambitious attacks on high-profile targets.
He was also responsible for training camps, and for extorting funds from contractors, the BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad says.
Tribesmen in North Waziristan and sources in the local administration told the BBC he is now dead and buried.
Local sources also told the BBC that his replacement had already been named. But experts think the death would affect operations by the Haqqani network, our correspondent says.
North Waziristan - where the group is based - is seen as a haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.


A road has been reopened in a Fife town after a "suspicious" package was deemed to be safe.

The incident, in Newburgh's High Street, was reported to police at about 09:00.
A cordon had been set up near the town's post office, but was removed at about midday.
Police said the package had contained "a non-suspicious item".


The UK lost 179 servicemen and women during the campaign that followed the invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003.

Many of those who died were killed by roadside bombs or in clashes with insurgents while on patrol. Others died as a result of accidents, so-called "friendly fire" strikes, suicide or natural causes.
The six-year British military mission came to an end in April 2009.
The names and details of all the servicemen and women who died are included in the page below.
Tap here for the interactive facewall
Causes of death classed as "Other" include servicemen who died from natural causes, heatstroke, as a result of an accident and a soldier killed while clearing cluster bombs.
Photos courtesy of the Ministry of Defence


Scotland's Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said that her party would work "every single day" to win over people ahead of the local elections on 4 May.

19 April 2017 Last updated at 16:41 BST
On the day Scottish Labour published its manifesto, she told the BBC: "There is no doubt the polls are challenging, but we are going to work every single day to win over people who have yet to make up their minds.
"Why? Because Labour councillors are the last thing between the people and the cuts.
"With Labour you can vote against an independence referendum, but you can also vote for high quality public services."


Axing Volleyball from the 2021 Island Games could see a generation of young players leave the sport in Guernsey.

Volleyball will miss out on 2021 if Guernsey's bid to host is successful, as well as the 2019 Games in Gibraltar.
"We've got quite a few good juniors coming through the ranks," Jennifer Lindfield from the Guernsey Volleyball Association (GVA) told BBC Sport.
"They won't be able to play Island Games for four years which will mean we might struggle to keep them engaged."
Football, golf and cycling have all been reinstated for 2021 after also missing out in 2019, but Guernsey's organising committee felt that they did not have enough space on the island to house another team sport.
"I'm quite upset that I won't be able to play my sport at a home games in front of my friends and family," added Lindfield, who plays for Guernsey as well as acting as the GVA's secretary.
"But after hearing the reasons I totally understand it was a very hard decision and that volleyball just missed out.
"It's very frustrating, we'd love to have volleyball back in at home games."
And Lindfield says she has not ruled out the possibility of several islands coming together and holding their own event to replace their Island Games experience.
She continued: "It could be possible to make up a mini tournament, but we would have to speak to the other islands and come up with a plan of where we could play it.
"Hopefully the other islands are feeling the same as us and really wanting whoever gets 2023 to be able to put on a really good volleyball tournament so that those that have missed out for four years are able to go back and experience the great tournament that the Island Games is."


Prince Charles has spoken out about the danger of religious persecution, warning against a repeat of "the horrors of the past".

Delivering BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, the Prince of Wales said the rise of populist groups "aggressive" to minority faiths had "deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days" of the 1930s.
In the Christmas message, he urged respect for those of different faiths.
He said religious freedom was a "choice between life and death" for some.
It is the third time he has given the address on the Today programme.
The prince said he had recently met a Jesuit priest from Syria who described the plight of Christians he was forced to leave behind in the country.
He said: "He told me of mass kidnappings in parts of Syria and Iraq and how he feared that Christians will be driven en masse out of lands described in the Bible.
"He thought it quite possible there will be no Christians in Iraq within five years.
"Clearly, for such people, religious freedom is a daily, stark choice between life and death."
The prince said the scale of religious persecution around the world was "not widely appreciated" and was not limited to Christians, but included many other minority faiths.
He told listeners he was was born just after the end of World War Two in which his parents' generation had fought against an attempt to "exterminate the Jewish population of Europe."
He went on: "That, nearly seventy years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief.
"We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past."
Prince Charles urged people to remember the story of the Nativity this Christmas, which was about "the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution".
He asked listeners to remember that the Prophet Mohammed migrated from Mecca to Medina because he was "seeking the freedom for himself and his followers to worship".
The Prince said: "Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same - to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God."


There has been a major cliff fall at the coast made famous by ITV's Broadchurch series.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 tonnes of rock collapsed at Dorset's West Bay overnight.
It forced the closure of the cliff-top path between Freshwater and East Beach.
Police do not believe anyone is trapped under the rocks but officers are making inquiries to establish whether anyone was in the area at the time.
It is the second collapse in less than a week at the iconic cliffs.
Read more on this and other stories from across the south of England
Simon Miles of Lyme Bay RIB charter, who photographed the aftermath from his boat, said: "These cliffs are prone to crumbling and falling but this is of significant size.
"Thankfully, due to the time of the fall the beach is likely to have empty."
Dorset Police warned people to stay away from the cliffs amid fears of another collapse.
Ch Insp Steve White said: "We would like to remind people that the cliffs remain unstable and it is possible further rock falls could occur.
"We urge the public to obey warning signs, not to stand near the edge of cliff faces or stand directly underneath them.
"Landslides and rock falls can happen at any time and without warning."
Dorset County Council coast manager Phil Sterling said: "Following police advice, we have closed the coast path between West Bay and Freshwater.
"The path link has been severed and we will negotiate with the landowner and others to agree a diversion as soon as we are able to."
The coastguard also warned the area was "very unsafe" and said signs were being put up to warn people to stay away.
In 2012, tourist Charlotte Blackman died at nearby Hive Beach when she was buried under a rockfall.


Even when he's halfway around the world, Gerard Pique just cannot let it lie.

The Barcelona defender's running verbal battle with most of the Real Madrid squad continued in Japan on Wednesday as he refused to back down after igniting yet another row, this time with Bernabeu duo Alvaro Arbeloa and Sergio Ramos.
We all know there's little love lost between Barca and Madrid, but no figure on the pitch seems to embody the rivalry more closely than Pique.
Right now, he's almost 6,500 miles away in Yokohama, where Barca enter the Club World Cup at the semi-final stage on Thursday, but Real are seemingly very much on his mind.
He has been booed by Spain supporters angry at his anti-Madrid stance, he's been told to grow up and to show more respect. But will Pique change his ways? Here's the story so far.
Picture the scene. You're celebrating winning the league title, an occasion to savour. But for Pique, this is an opportunity to score points against your bitter rivals.
"We are the best team in the world! Thanks to all and thanks to Kevin Roldan... everything started with you," he told the club's buoyant fans.
Don't get the reference? Back in February, Colombian pop star Roldan performed at Cristiano Ronaldo's 30th birthday party - and posted some pictures on social media.
So far, so normal perhaps. But the big problems started when the press pointed out Real had been beaten 4-0 by city rivals Atletico just hours before...
Over the months that followed, there was meltdown in the Spanish capital - and Barcelona went on to win the league, Copa del Rey and Champions League.
The Roldan comments didn't exactly endear Pique to the Madrid fans around Spain. And there are quite a lot of them.
So many in fact that when Pique next turned out for the national team in a friendly against Costa Rica in June, sections of the home crowd jeered and whistled him.
After Spain supporters repeated the trick in September, Pique was sticking to his guns. "I don't regret anything that I have said and I would repeat it a thousand times and more," he said.
"I am like that. I feel very good, on both a personal and sporting level. Yesterday I went mushroom picking. I am a happy man."
Football, eh? Sometimes you just have no idea what to expect. Who could have said Real Madrid would be thrown out of this season's Spanish cup for fielding an ineligible player?
Rafael Benitez's side picked the suspended Denis Cheryshev for the first leg of their last-32 tie with Cadiz and - despite appeals - they are out of a competition they have won 19 times.
You can probably guess who saw the funny side.
Pique's tweet in reaction - shown above - didn't have a single word. Instead, he let the emojis do the talking.
For Arbeloa, this was the final straw. The Madrid full-back hit back at Pique, claiming he was "obsessed" with the club from the capital.
Pique's reaction? Raising the stakes to word play.
"Arbeloa insulting me? He said he is my friend, but he's not, he's just someone I know," Pique replied.
And so to the latest episode in this bubbling saga. Speaking in a news conference on Wednesday, Pique had more questions to answer.
Two more Real Madrid figures had added their voices to those calling on the 28-year-old to show more respect.
"Forget about your complexes and respect your elders," former Real and QPR midfielder Esteban Granero, now at Real Sociedad, told Pique.
Real captain Ramos also jumped to Arbeloa's defence with this pearl of wisdom: "Lack of respect for one's peers is an enemy which works against good atmosphere. Pique should have a bit of respect for Real Madrid."
The reply? Pique seemed to hold his tongue and go on a bit of a charm offensive.
"The role of Sergio Ramos is normal for a captain. He is the Real Madrid captain and a great captain. He came out to defend his team-mate and I honestly admire him for that," he said.
Maybe, then, there are signs of this row being put to bed. Until the next time that is.
Real and Barca meet again on 3 April at the Nou Camp. So there's lots of time for there to be plenty more fireworks before then.


Newport Gwent Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones says they would be interested in talking to versatile Wales back Matthew Morgan.

The 23-year-old former Osprey is leaving English second-tier club Bristol to return to Wales before the start of the 2016-17 season.
Dragons' local rivals Cardiff Blues have been tipped to sign Morgan.
But Jones said: "If he's interested in the Dragons, we're certainly interested in talking to him."
Former Sale, Gloucester and Russia coach Jones says Dragons were disappointed Morgan moved to Bristol instead of them for the 2014-15 season.
But Bristol failed to win promotion to the Aviva Premiership during his stint there.
Despite that, Morgan played at the 2015 World Cup for Wales to take his cap tally to five and Jones believes Morgan's international hopes can only be enhanced with a return to Welsh rugby.
"To be honest, of all the moves over the bridge et cetera, that was the one I was most disappointed with from a Welsh fan point of view," Jones added.
"He's a good young player and to go to the Championship in England, even though they [Bristol] are a well-coached side, I'm not sure it was the right move for him personally.
"I think he should be in a [Welsh] region, he needs to be playing.
"There's no doubt that [Wales coaches] Warren Gatland, Rob Howley, Neil Jenkins rate him, so if he's in a Welsh region, he will be pushing for international honours. He's got that X-factor."
Dragons host Cardiff Blues on Sunday, 27 December in the Pro12.


Belfast City Council has backed a plan to open a new Lidl store at Connswater retail park in east Belfast.

Last month, planners recommended the council should reject the proposal.
The units which Lidl pursued only have planning permission for the sale of bulky goods, like furniture.
The planners said changing the use would conflict with policies which favour the use of existing suitable sites.
Last year, the future viability of the shopping centre was called into question when both Tesco and Dunnes Stores pulled out of it.
Alliance councillor David Armitage, who abstained from voting so that he could speak in favour of approving the plan, said the right decision was reached.
"I'm absolutely delighted the initial decision to decline Lidl has been overturned," he said.
"While some still saw fit to argue against the application, hopefully the years of struggling for Connswater are now over and the local community can look forward a revived period for the centre."
However, the Green Party's Ross Brown said the approval leaves the council open to a potential legal challenge that could prove costly.
"I'm not at all against Lidl and in fact I think it would be a good addition to the area, but this opens the door for a judicial review by Tesco and ultimately it's the ratepayers who have to shoulder the cost if that happens," he said.


Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has confirmed Andy Murray will not compete for Great Britain in this weekend's tie against Canada.

Smith left the door open for the world number one who had intimated he needed time to recuperate.
"It's the right thing for him to do what he's doing, stay at home, get some rest," said Smith.
Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot make up Britain's team for their first-round tie in Ottawa.
BBC coverage: Davis Cup TV and online times
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
Smith added: "We've got so much confidence in what they can do.
"We all miss Andy because he is such a great influence on the team both on and off the court. Like we saw last year [in the match against Serbia when he watched as a spectator], he puts a lot of interest and care into this team."
In theory, Andy Murray could have been added to the squad up until the draw on Thursday.
World number three Milos Raonic pulled out of the Canadian team with an injury, meaning the hosts are without a top-100 singles player.


Double Paralympic medallist Zoe Newson retained her women's up-to-62kg title at the British Weightlifting and Para-Powerlifting Championships in Coventry.

Newson, who won bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016, beat five-time Paralympian Natalie Blake into second, with 16-year-old Olivia Broome third.
Invictus Games gold medallist Micky Yule was men's 72kg+ champion and Alfie Wright won the women's +62kg event.
Jo Calvino took her 21st British Weightlifting women's 48kg title.
There were also golds for London 2012 athlete Jack Oliver (men's 77kg) and Guy Michel Thuissi (men's 85kg)
Rio Olympian Rebekah Tiler missed the event in protest over funding cuts.


Ancient Iraq is famous for many global "firsts" - Mesopotamia gave us the first writing, the first city, the first written law code, and arguably the first empire.

The people of Iraq are justifiably proud of this ancient heritage and its innovations and impact on the world.
The reported destruction by Islamic State militants at Nimrud, following similar destruction at the site of Nineveh and the Mosul Museum, is an attack on the people of Iraq as well as a tragedy for the world's cultural heritage.
Nimrud was the capital of what many scholars consider the world's first empire, the Neo-Assyrian Empire of the 1st millennium BC.
Lying 35km (22 miles) south of the modern city of Mosul in north Iraq, Nimrud covers some 3.5 sq km (1.35 sq miles), with a prominent "citadel" mound within the city walls, on which are clustered the main administrative and religious buildings.
These buildings include the enormous palaces of several Assyrian kings and the temples of Ninurta, the god of war, and of Nabu, the god of writing.
The site was first established by the 6th millennium BC but was expanded and developed into the ancient imperial city of Kalhu by King Ashurnasirpal II from about 880 BC.
It remained the Assyrian imperial capital until about 700 BC and continued to be an important city until 612 BC and the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
The Palace of Ashurnasirpal, also known as the North-West Palace, was first excavated by the British explorer Austen Henry Layard in the 1840s. His excavations are the source of the winged bull gatekeeper statues currently displayed in the British Museum.
Layard also recovered large numbers of stone panels that lined the walls of rooms and courtyards within the palace. These panels are of a local limestone, carved in low relief with beautifully detailed scenes of the king seated at state banquets, hunting lions, or engaged in warfare and religious ritual.
Extended excavations at Nimrud were next carried out in the 1950s-60s by Max Mallowan, the husband of crime writer Agatha Christie.
Mallowan and his team reconstructed the complex plans of the palace, temples and citadel, and his excavations recovered rich finds of carved ivory furniture, stone jars and metalwork, as well as hundreds of additional wall reliefs and wall paintings.
Near the entrance to the palace's throne room, Mallowan also discovered a free-standing stone slab, which depicted the king in a pose of worship and included a long text in Assyrian cuneiform that described the construction of the palace and its surrounding gardens.
The text's details of precious metal door fittings, cedar roof beams, and hundreds of artisans at work hint at the unique reach and power of the Assyrian empire.
This text also described a luxurious banquet for almost 70,000 guests that took place at the palace's dedication, involving hundreds of animals and birds, fruit, and flowing beer and wine.
Other rooms of the palaces and temples contained archives of the imperial administration.
Large parts of Ashurnasirpal's palace were reconstructed by Iraq's antiquities board during the 1970s and 1980s, including the restoration and re-installation of carved stone reliefs lining the walls of many rooms.
The winged bull statues that guard the entrances to the most important rooms and courtyards were re-erected.
These winged bulls are among the most dramatic and easily recognised symbols of the Assyrian world.
They combine the most highly valued attributes of figures from nature into a complex hybrid form: a human head for wisdom, the body of a wild bull for physical power, and the wings of an eagle for the ability to soar high and far and to see and prevent evil.
The Iraqi restoration project also led to the dramatic discovery of several tombs of the queens of the Assyrian empire. These tombs contained astonishingly rich finds of delicate gold jewellery and crowns, enamel ornaments, bronze and gold bowls, and ivory vessels.
The technical skill and aesthetic sense of the artisans responsible are unrivalled in the ancient world.
Nimrud was for a long time a popular site for family picnics and local school group visits, and the reconstruction of the palace provided a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the buildings' scale and beauty in a way that is impossible to find in a museum context.
Nimrud is unique and its buildings and artworks are irreplaceable.
This destruction is a huge loss for archaeologists, for Iraqis, and for the world.


Ed Wright secured Finn silver for Great Britain at the European Championships in Marseille.

Compatriot Ben Cornish took bronze with France's Jonathan Lobert winning gold.
"A medal is really exciting because it's my first event back," said Wright. "I'm sailing probably better than I ever have. The winter paid off."
Britain;s Henry Wetherell took the Under-23 crown as well as sixth place overall at his first Europeans in the men's Olympic heavyweight class.
At the RS:X Windsurfing European Championships, held at the same Marseille venue, Tom Squires was fifth and Izzy Hamilton 10th overall.
Meanwhile in Monaco, a windless final day at the 470 European Championships ended Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter's hopes of breaking into the medal positions.
They were fourth place going in to the final 10-boat race, but conditions proved impossible and they were denied the chance to upgrade.