With impeccable timing, Sir Lindsay has just emailed MPs to warn of the real threat posed by Iran to England. While the Lions are currently hammering Iran in Qatar, the Supreme Leader’s intelligence services have been booked by the Commons speaker, who warns parliamentarians that they should remain vigilant as Iran sanctions a number of their ranks. He also warns MPs to shore up mobile phone and email security:

“Dear colleagues,

You will be aware from the recent speech by the head of MI5, and press reporting over the weekend, that the Iranian state is becoming increasingly aggressive to those it sees as its enemies – including in the UK. This includes ambitions to pressure or even kidnap or kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime, notably a number of journalists reporting on Iranian issues living in the UK. You may also be aware that the Iranian state has imposed sanctions on a number of people and organisations, including UK-based Persian language media, British intelligence and military figures. The police are speaking to some of those individuals, as well as others who have expressed criticism of the Iranian regime.

Iran has also sanctioned a number of Parliamentarians and the Security Department is in touch with them individually. We should stress that the police and intelligence agencies are not seeing any hostile Iranian activity specifically focused on Parliamentarians. However, this is a good opportunity to remind you all to remain vigilant to this and any other threat. Please report any concerns about your safety or suspicious approaches (online or in person) to your local Bridger SPOC and the Met’s Parliament Liaison and Investigations Team”

‘Remain vigilant against Iran’. If only this ref would heed that advice…