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A Scottish amateur football club is urging Elon Musk to join the squad after jokingly accusing the billionaire of “stealing” the team’s logo.

Haddington Town AFC has pointed the similarities between the football club’s crest and a logo for SpaceX, which is owned by the businessman.

Both feature the white outline of a goat within a circle on a darker background.

Pic:Haddington Town/@SpaceX
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The football team’s crest compared to the SpaceX logo. Pic: Haddington Town AFC/@SpaceX

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter and also owned by Musk, Haddington Town AFC joked that he had “stole” the badge, adding: “Give it back!”

A follow-up message read: “Our DMs are open Elon Musk. Come fund our new tracksuits.”

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. Sky News has contacted the company for a comment.

Haddington Town AFC, based in East Lothian, was founded in 2019 and adopted the goat as its logo as the animal is synonymous with the town and has featured on its coat of arms for centuries.

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Ryan Leishman, who coaches at the club and is in charge of its social media, logged on to X last week and was surprised to see around 20 notifications from mostly Americans highlighting the similarities between the two logos.

Mr Leishman said the team found it “hilarious” and have been having fun by mocking up a graphic naming the Tesla chief as the club’s new owner.

In a post, the team joked: “The club are delighted to have Elon on board, the big man can’t wait to get started. #MonTheGoats”.

Mr Leishman told Sky News: “You’re only going to get an opportunity to do something like this once or twice at an amateur club where things go a little bit viral.”

Mr Leishman said someone slid into the club’s DMs to say the SpaceX logo had been doing the rounds since early summer.

He added: “Yeah, well we’ve had this logo since 2019.”

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Musk asked if his ‘ego cost lives’

Haddington Town AFC play in the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur Football Association (LEAFA) Sunday Morning Premier Division.

Mr Leishman said the squad would happily welcome Musk on the pitch.

He said: “Elon Musk seems like he would be interested in anything when he gets going.

“He’s about 230lbs to 240lbs and he’s 6ft-plus. If you get him coached, he would be a very good striker.”

Mr Leishman said the club is always on the lookout for investment and highlighted the team’s good work on and off the pitch in regards to its charity fundraising and allegiance with Show Racism the Red Card.

He added: “Even though all the attention is fun and we’re having a good time with it, investment from Elon Musk doesn’t matter as long as this club keeps its morals on and off the pitch.”

Mr Leishman joked that the club are “not planning” to sue Musk.

He added: “We’ve got his back. If he wants to fight [Mark] Zuckerberg, we’re in his corner.”

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Met Police chief calls for more legal protections as army on standby to replace firearms officers

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Met Police chief calls for more legal protections as army on standby to replace firearms officers

The head of the Metropolitan Police has demanded increased legal protections for officers after a revolt by armed police left the army poised to fill in.

Soldiers are on standby for armed police after scores of Metropolitan Police officers stood down from firearms duties following a murder charge against one of their colleagues.

The force’s commissioner Sir Mark Rowley welcomed a review into the situation by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

And in an open letter he told her to “let the police police”.

Read more:
‘Let the police police’: Met chief’s letter to home secretary in full
Will armed officer’s murder charge force change in how police shootings are reported?

“It is essential that we have a system which commands the confidence of officers and the communities they serve,” he wrote.

“Of course, where wrongdoing takes place, the public expect us to be held to the highest standards.

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“I have been clear on this in all areas of policing, and the use of force must be no exception.

“The system that judges officers’ actions should be rooted in integrity and decisions should be reached swiftly, competently and without fear or favour.

“A review is needed to address accountability mechanisms, including the policies and practices of the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), ideally with a focus on the threshold for investigating police use of force and involvement in pursuits.”

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Met Police: Army on standby

He added: “The review announced today is therefore a very welcome development.

“I have spoken publicly in recent weeks about the need to let the police police.

“Our commitment to delivering change in the Met is unflinching and we are making positive progress, but that progress is undermined by a system not set up to help officers succeed.”

More than 100 officers have reportedly handed in permits allowing them to carry weapons, prompting Scotland Yard to turn to the military for assistance.

The crisis has emerged after an unnamed officer was charged with murder over the shooting of unarmed Chris Kaba, 24, who was killed in September last year in Streatham Hill, south London.

CHRIS KABA
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Chris Kaba

The officer accused of his murder is named only as NX121 after a district judge granted an anonymity order.

Ms Braverman said: “We depend on our brave firearms officers to protect us from the most dangerous and violent in society.

“In the interest of public safety, they have to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures.

“They mustn’t fear ending up in the dock for carrying out their duties. Officers risking their lives to keep us safe have my full backing and I will do everything in my power to support them.

“That’s why I have launched a review to ensure they have the confidence to do their jobs while protecting us all.”

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‘Let the police police’: Met commissioner’s letter to home secretary in full

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'Let the police police': Met commissioner's letter to home secretary in full

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has written and open letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, urging her to “let the police police”.

Below is the letter in full:

Dear Home Secretary,

I welcome your announcement earlier today that you will be launching a review into how police officers are held to account when force is used.

You will know from our previous discussions that it is an area that I believe is long overdue for reform to address a number of imbalances.

In the UK we proudly police by consent, embracing the principles of accountability, transparency and independent scrutiny. It is essential that we have a system which commands the confidence of officers and the communities they serve.

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Of course, where wrongdoing takes place the public expect us to be held to the highest standards. I have been clear on this in all areas of policing, and the use of force must be no exception.

The system that judges officers’ actions should be rooted in integrity and decisions should be reached swiftly, competently and without fear or favour.

A review is needed to address accountability mechanisms, including the policies and practices of the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the Crown Prosecution Service, ideally with a focus on the threshold for investigating police use of force and involvement in pursuits.

The review announced today is therefore a very welcome development.

Metropolitan Police firearms officers stand outside the Houses of Parliament in London, as the number of armed officers in Britain's biggest police force will rise by more than a quarter after the Paris terror attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday January 14, 2016. Currently the Metropolitan Police have around 2,200 trained marksmen and this is set to rise by 600. See PA story POLICE Firearms. Photo credit should read: John Stillwell/PA Wire
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(File pic)

I have spoken publicly in recent weeks about the need to let the police police. Our commitment to delivering change in the Met is unflinching and we are making positive progress, but that progress is undermined by a system not set up to help officers succeed. I have identified pursuits and use of force as areas where we see the most glaring unfairness.

I make no comment on any ongoing matters that are sub judice but the issues raised in this letter go back further.

Accountability matters, but we should not have allowed ourselves to develop a system where police officers get investigated for safely pursuing suspects, just because the suspect acts recklessly and as a result injures themselves or someone else.

This is unfair on our officers and discourages them from chasing down criminals.

Armed officers know they need to justify their actions, especially when lethal force is used. They are extremely well trained and an intrinsic part of their training reinforces that shots can only be fired if absolutely necessary to save life.

Officers are individually responsible and accountable for their actions. Consequently, we have one of the safest models of armed policing in the world.

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Will armed officer’s murder charge force change in how police shootings are reported?

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Will armed officer's murder charge force change in how police shootings are reported?

Britain’s streets without the specialist firearms officers and armed response vehicles that are dotted around major cities will be more dangerous places.

The army is being called in as back-up to the officers withdrawing their service but they do not have the experience to deal with the split-second decisions that are made every day by the police.

As then head of specialist operations, Sir Mark Rowley was the man responsible for the expansion in the number of firearms officers in London.

It was designed to deal with the threat that emerged from the marauding firearms attacks in Mumbai in 2008 and Paris in 2015.

Thankfully, that threat has never materialised, although the officers were called in to deal with the terrorist knife attacks in Woolwich in 2013, London Bridge in 2017 and Fishmongers’ Hall in 2019.

However, the same officers deal with 4,000 incidents involving firearms or suspected firearms every year.

They discharge their weapons on fewer than two of those but when they do the results can have a devastating effect on the officers themselves and on community relations.

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Azelle Rodney was shot dead in April 2005
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Azelle Rodney

There have been a small number of controversial shootings, most notably that of Azelle Rodney in 2005 and Mark Duggan in 2011, that led to the London riots that summer.

In the case of Azelle Rodney, following an inquiry finding that his killing was “not justified”, PC Anthony Long was eventually charged with murder, nine years after the shooting, and acquitted at trial.

In Mark Duggan’s case, an inquest jury found that he was lawfully killed, three years after the shooting, and no officer faced charges.

Mark Duggan
Image:
Mark Duggan

The process of charging officers with murder or manslaughter is a fraught one, but in the case of Chris Kaba, it has proceeded more quickly than usual, as the Independent Office for Police Conduct collected body-worn footage, CCTV, witness statements and forensics before passing their file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The CPS decided to charge the officer NX121, with murder, for shooting Mr Kaba through the windscreen of the Audi he was driving in Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham.

The vehicle was being followed, having been identified as used in a firearms incident the previous day, but Mr Kaba was unarmed.

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Kaba: Officer charged with murder

The investigation and charge process took a little over a year but it has given rise to fears among firearms officers across the country that they are being judged for doing their jobs.

The details of the case cannot be discussed because of laws in Britain that mean the case against the officer could be prejudiced by reporting.

That is one of the things Sir Mark, now the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, would like to change but he would also like the CPS to strengthen the legal protection for officers who use force.

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Offering his support to his officers, Sir Mark wrote to the Home Secretary on Sunday, voicing their concern “that even if they stick to the tactics and training they have been given, they will face years of protracted legal proceedings”.

However, there is another dimension to the debate.

Riot police look on as smoke rises from burning buildings in Tottenham, north London
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Riot police look on as smoke rises from burning buildings in Tottenham, north London, in 2011

In the case of Mark Duggan, the issue that provoked the London riots, was the belief in Tottenham that a criminal of Duggan’s experience would not have pointed a firearm at an armed police officer – and that he had, in effect, been executed.

Policing in Britain is performed by consent, and the police in London, and elsewhere, continue to face a challenge in the narrative that arose in Tottenham.

They are trained to believe that criminals will attempt to shoot them, but the reality, some believe, is very different.

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