thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-03--Covid Vaccine: How And When It Will Start Changing Life In The UK

On Tuesday the UK’s first patient received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, as the jab begins to be rolled out across the country.
But when will the world start to look different as a result? What will we notice first about the life-changing rollout of a vaccine again a disease that has itself changed our lives over the last nine months?
Advertisement
Here’s what the next couple of months could look like.
1. Actual vaccinations
An obvious point, but worth stating: some people will actually be invited to receive the vaccine, greatly reducing their risk of developing Covid-19.
The elderly, and those who live or work in care homes, will be among the first in line to receive the jab as early as next week.
“It will be at least a month before we start seeing the benefit from the first people to be vaccinated,” says Dr Kate Harrison, an immunology lecturer at the University of Chester.
“Everyone will need to be given two doses at three weeks apart and protection doesn’t start to rise for a week after the second dose.” In other words, by mid-January, people in our families could start to become immune, or at least protected (since the vaccine doesn’t have 100% efficacy).
Advertisement
She believes it could take “a significant period” for normality to return.
The rollout of the vaccine will be a huge logistical undertaking and it could take several months to get those priority groups fully vaccinated. “There’s no way we’re going to achieve that before spring,” says Professor Linda Bauld, a public health expert at the University of Edinburgh.
“I think the key groups that need to be vaccinated will have been by March or April – not just from the Pfizer vaccine but hopefully other vaccines as they get regulatory approval.”
“Some of these older and vulnerable people will be living in relatively remote villages and rural locations,” says Professor Sally Cutler, a medical microbiology lecturer at the University of East London. “It’s going to take a while to actually get the vaccination out to all of those individuals.”
Elderly people in care homes are among the first in line to receive the vaccine as early as next week. Hugh R Hastings via Getty Images
2. Seeing family and friends
“Once the people in the first priority groups have been vaccinated, then we can start thinking about what restrictions can be eased,” says Professor Rowland Kao, an epidemiologist also from the University of Edinburgh.
Advertisement
Small-scale restrictions such as family-level interactions could be the first to be lifted while making sure transmission rates stay low.
The Pfizer vaccine has been shown in studies to be 95% effective and, while its efficacy is significantly higher than the flu vaccine, it means 5% of people who are vaccinated could still get Covid-19.
A 95% efficacy is about as good as a vaccine can get; the Moderna and Oxford vaccines have also been shown to have high efficacy rates in trials.
Having said that, that remaining 5% means vaccinated care home residents shouldn’t be licking door handles or taking unnecessary risks.
“It’s not going to work for everyone in just the same way the flu jab doesn’t work for everyone,” says Bauld. “That’s why we need to continue to be cautious and follow appropriate behaviour.
Advertisement
“So if you’re over the age of 75 and you’ve been vaccinated but not everybody else has, then you should carry on physically distancing and wearing a face covering.”
3. More indoor venues could open up
Once the most vulnerable people have been vaccinated, it might make sense to bring more areas into lower tiers to reflect the reduced risk.
“People would still need to be wearing masks and maintain social distancing, but pubs and restaurants could maybe open a bit later,” says Kao.
Customers wearing face masks leave The Shakespeare pub in north London Simon Newman / Reuters
“Places like restaurants and gyms being able to open even when there are slightly higher levels of infections, and in general accepting slightly higher infection levels in the population before triggering higher tier levels.”
Advertisement
Back in July, the reopening of pubs and restaurants and easing of restrictions did not appear to have a huge impact on the rise of infections in England. “It’s only when they started allowing more gatherings in groups that the infection rate began to really rise,” says Kao.
4. Larger (but not large) groups could meet outdoors
“The small changes we are more likely to see will be along the lines of smaller groups of people being allowed to meet outdoors,” says Kao. “People could meet in larger groups than now – but not in huge groups.”
That’s because the Pfizer vaccine has not yet been shown to prevent transmission. (On the other hand, researchers behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have said they have seen signs of reduced transmission, as they tested participants in the trial for asymptomatic infection.)
“Initially vaccination is unlikely to have an impact on community infections,” Kao continued. “It’s really good news that people are being protected from getting symptoms or testing positive, but it doesn’t tell you whether or not these individuals are also prevented from being infectious and giving the virus to others.
“What might be happening is that people are not developing symptoms but some may be mildly infected.
Advertisement
“This is still a very good thing but does mean that the numbers of new infections may decline more slowly than if vaccinated people were not infected at all. It doesn’t guarantee that transmission might not go on for quite a long time even after a vaccine is deployed.”
That’s one reason mass testing will still be so important. Read more here about why testing is the new normal.
Mass testing needs to be faster and broadened. Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images
5. Mass testing needs to continue – and improve
As the NHS takes on the huge logistical undertaking of vaccinating millions of people, widespread testing is needed for experts to understand coronavirus better in order to tackle it.
“We’re learning new information because of the continual screening of the population in order to look at viral circulation, so we really must keep doing that at this point in time so that we can build up that database,” says Cutler.
Advertisement
“Testing should be permanent on the list of things we need to carry on doing, so we can generate the data to understand the efficacy of the vaccines and the virus itself.”
The problem is, mass testing in the UK has been extremely flawed. “It needs to be faster and it needs to be able to convince people to comply with things like self-isolation,” says Kao.
As Cutler puts it, the model of an infectious disease such as Covid-19 is like an iceberg. “You only get the peak sticking up above the water, and that’s just symptomatic individuals. The problem with earlier testing was that you could only get a test if you were symptomatic.
“The bulk of people under the surface feel fine and didn’t get tested, so a lot of people out there in the community carried on life as normal, potentially spreading infection with them. The way testing is being rolled out now and broadened to be more accessible is finally positive.”
6. Eventually, gatherings in large groups in- and outdoors
If the initial vaccine rollout goes smoothly and according to plan, Kao believes he would feel comfortable going to watch a play inside a theatre by Easter. “If people are doing things like wearing masks and trying to maintain some level of distancing, then I don’t see why not.
Advertisement
“If one would make a rough guesstimate, then Easter of 2021 for when we could return to something close to normal.”
Bauld is slightly more cautious. “I would be much more confident about the early summer. I’m pretty confident there will be people inside the stadium and in crowds to watch Scotland play at the UEFA Euro.” That’s on June 14.
Mass testing will also help with indoor and group gatherings. “It means people can get tested just before they attend indoor events,” says Bauld.
Commuters wear face masks in Taiwan, which has seen more than 200 days without a single recorded case of Covid-19. An Rong Xu via Getty Images
7. Reaching ‘herd immunity’... eventually
In order to reach herd immunity – where enough of the population becomes immune to the disease – Kao estimates the “bulk of the population” in the UK would need to receive the jab.
Advertisement
“Because the reproduction numbers of Covid-19 are so high, you’d probably have to vaccinate roughly 80% to 90% of the people.”
Dr Athar Aziz, a lecturer in biomedicine at the University of Salford, gives a similar number. “Having a vaccine is one thing. But to have normality in daily life about 75% to 90% of the population should be vaccinated.”
In the cases of the vaccines against smallpox and polio, “it can take time”. “Like for most infectious diseases, we need almost two years to control it,” he adds. “In other infections as well, like H1N5 [bird flu], viral infections are significantly reduced in about two years.”
In October, Taiwan celebrated 200 days without a single case of Covid-19. “They’ve basically eliminated the virus there,” says Bauld.
“People are going to sporting events and going to the cinema and to the theatre, but they’re wearing face coverings and washing their hands. So even if people start getting vaccinated in the UK, we still need to be doing that.”
Advertisement
One thing the vaccine will be unlikely to be able to do, however, is to eradicate Covid-19 entirely. “I don’t think it’s likely that we could ever achieve that,” says Kao.
“It’s really important to understand we’re not going to eliminate Covid-19,” agrees Bauld. “Even with mass vaccination this bug is going to be with us, it’s not going to go away.
“We’re going to have to live alongside this virus – but at least we will be mitigating the health effects of it.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-03--Martin Lewis Issues Warning Over 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Before Christmas

HuffPost is part of Verizon Media .
We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through @ @ @ @ @ similar technologies , to display personalised ads and content , for ad and content measurement @ @ @ @ @ development .
Your personal data that may be used • Information about your device and @ @ @ @ @ IP address • Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps Find @ @ @ @ @ use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy .
To enable Verizon Media @ @ @ @ @ your personal data select ' I agree ' , or select 'Manage settings ' for @ @ @ @ @ your choices .
You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy @ @

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Money Saving Expert’s founder Martin Lewis has said he is “very concerned” about the growth of ‘buy now pay later’ schemes in the UK.
The financial expert and TV presenter told his 1.1 million followers on Twitter: “It’s exploding like payday loans did. And like payday loans were, it’s a huge credit industry that’s unregulated – so few rules, and you can’t go to [an] ombudsman. That must change.”
Advertisement
Lewis has teamed up with Labour MP Stella Creasy to urge the government to take action on companies offering ‘buy now pay later’ by regulating them.
As it stands, such companies – which basically allow people to buy items online and pay at a later date, often in instalments – are unregulated in the UK.
They’re usually interest-free and, as such, are increasingly popular, with online shopping sites often advertising them as one of the first payment options.
At a time when incomes might be stretched – we’re in a pandemic and Christmas is just around the corner – there’s a huge appeal to use these services. They are also easy to sign up for: you simply fill in your details at the physical or online checkout and find out pretty much immediately whether you’ve been approved or rejected, after a quick credit check.
Advertisement
Kirsty O'Connor - PA Images via Getty Images
So what’s the problem, then?
Money Saving Expert’s banking editor, Helen Saxon, tells HuffPost UK: “These short-term two- or three-month ‘buy now pay later’ schemes are problematic because they’re so easy to apply for.
“Some people don’t even realise they’re taking out credit because there’s no interest. And while individual ‘buy now pay later’ providers will limit how much you borrow from them, you could easily end up owing £1,000+ across different providers.”
There is also a temptation to spend more than you normally would, she says, because the process is so easy and the “pain” of handing over money for something is deferred until next week or next month.
But the service can quickly become costly if you don’t make your repayments on time – and people can find themselves saddled with debt. According to Experian, if you don’t clear your debt before the delayed period is up, some providers will ask for a settlement fee or a lump sum of interest may be added to the debt. External debt collectors might also become involved.
Advertisement
How might this affect your credit score?
You could be charged late payment fees and any missed payments could be recorded on your credit report. “Many people don’t realise with some of these schemes that there are late fees if you don’t make payments on time,” Saxon adds, “and they don’t realise that missed payments could end up going on their credit report, affecting their ability to get other credit in future.”
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the UK regulatory body responsible for keeping financial firms in line and protecting consumers, but doesn’t regulate short term ‘buy-now-pay’ later lending isn’t regulated by the FCA, says Saxon, meaning providers don’t have to run the same checks you’d need to go through to get, say, a credit card, overdraft or loan.
If you need to complain about a ‘buy now pay later’ provider, you might also find it a struggle to get sufficient support. “Because they’re unregulated, you can’t appeal to the Financial Ombudsman if you complain to the ‘buy now pay later’ provider and it doesn’t help you or doesn’t deal with your complaint,” she adds. “With other regulated forms of credit, this is an automatic right.”
It’s clear these services are a useful one for those who only buy things they’ve budgeted for and can make payments on each due date. “Like any credit used well, ‘buy now pay later’ can be a valuable tool,” says Saxon.
“But not everyone is financially disciplined, and that’s why we need regulation of all ‘buy now pay later’ products – to ensure that those who are more vulnerable or more likely to get in to unmanageable debt are protected,” she adds.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-03--UK Covid-19 Death Toll Passes 60,000 Mark

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The number of people in the UK who have died after testing positive for Covid-19 has passed 60,000.
It comes after the deaths of 414 people were reported on Thursday, bringing the UK’s death toll to 60,113.
The grim milestone comes less than nine months after the first UK death from Covid-19 was reported, according to official figures.
Advertisement
Of the deaths added to the government’s coronavirus dashboard on Thursday, 328 were recorded in England, 51 in Scotland, 24 in Wales and 11 in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, another 14,879 coronavirus infections were also reported in the UK.
The news comes the day after it was announced that the UK’s medicine regulator had approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The government said the jab – which data has suggested has an efficacy rate of 95% – would be made available from next week.
The UK has already ordered 40m doses of the free jab – enough to vaccinate 20m people, or a third of the population.
Advertisement
Care home residents and staff will be among the first to be given the vaccine, along with people over the age of 80 and frontline health and social care workers.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-03--Labour Should Not Abstain In Brexit Deal Vote, Says Shadow Minister

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Labour should not abstain in a vote on any Brexit trade deal Boris Johnson strikes with the EU, a shadow minister has said.
Lucy Powell suggested on HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast that refusing to vote would amount to “putting two fingers up” to ex-Labour voters who back Brexit.
Advertisement
The shadow business minister said it was “better to be strong” and take a position.
Labour leader Keir Starmer is currently trying to contain a shadow cabinet row over whether the party should back any deal or abstain.
On Thursday, he acknowledged the “different opinions” in Labour but said “a deal is obviously in the national interest” and stressed the party would take a united position,
A UK-EU trade deal could be agreed with days as negotiations draw to a close.
Reports suggest that some shadow cabinet ministers may quit if Labour backs the deal.
The Times named shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds, shadow trade secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow justice secretary David Lammy as among those who have reservations about voting in favour.
Powell, who worked on a review of Labour’s crushing December 2019 election defeat, suggested her party would have sought a softer Brexit.
Advertisement
But she described Johnson’s proposed deal as something that can be “built on”, whereas no-deal would be a “catastrophe”.
Shadow business minister Lucy Powell has warned it would be a mistake for the party to abstain on the Brexit deal when it comes to a vote in parliament. Jack Taylor via Getty Images
Powell told Commons People: “I think having a skinny deal or whatever, a kind of basis of future negotiation and relationship-building is very important, even more so because of the economic crisis and the pandemic we’re in — businesses need that certainty.
“I think it’s quite hard for us to oppose that on that basis.”
Powell also warned that the vote would be highly significant for so-called red wall Leave voters who switched to the Tories last year.
“These long term trends in our voter coalition are not going to go away,” the Manchester Central MP said.
Advertisement
“It’s not just about Brexit, although Brexit was a big symbolic expression of Labour losing touch with its traditional voter base.
“And we can’t keep putting two fingers up to people if we want them to vote for us again and support us and be part of the agenda that we want for the future.”
She added: “It was unbelievable - I went round loads of red wall seats during the election campaign - how many people on how many doorsteps knew exactly how their Labour MP had voted on all of these issues.
“It didn’t matter... that they had actually rebelled the Labour whip a number of times, people knew all the other times that they’d voted to kind of block Brexit if you like, so to speak in their cases.
“So these votes do carry weight and people do watch them.
“That’s what I would urge colleagues to think about really.”
Put to her that abstaining was not an option on this vote, Powell replied: “I don’t think so, I think you’ve got to have a strong position on it, even if that’s difficult.
Advertisement
“But obviously whipping decisions and the decision on how we’ll vote on it hasn’t yet been taken and it’s above my pay grade. But yeah I think it’s better to be strong on these things.”
“If the choice is a deal or no-deal, then a deal is obviously in the national interest” - Labour leader Keir Starmer
Earlier, Starmer told reporters: “We’ll have a look at that deal as soon as we see it and make our decisions then, but I can’t emphasise enough how a deal is in the national interest.
“We don’t know that there will be a deal – I hope there will.
“As soon as there’s a deal we’ll look at it, but if the choice is a deal or no-deal, then a deal is obviously in the national interest.
“The Labour Party has pulled together hugely in the last few months, presenting a strong united front, and we will do the same on this issue.
Advertisement
“Of course there are different opinions, as you would expect, but we will pull together, discuss it as a team and be united.”
It came as Jacob Rees-Mogg confirmed the controversial Internal Market Bill would return to the Commons on Monday.
It remains to be seen whether the government will try to reinsert law-breaking clauses that would allow ministers to renege on the Withdrawal Agreement Johnson signed with the EU earlier this year.
Any such move would be highly provocative with negotiations on a trade deal drawing to a close.
And it is believed that a decision rests on whether the UK and EU reach a deal in the coming days on future trade arrangements.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-03--Should Labour Back A Tory Brexit Deal? With Lucy Powell MP

Should Labour Back A Tory Brexit Deal? With Lucy Powell MP
This week brought the welcome news that the first coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the UK. Has the announcement on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine come at a useful time for Boris Johnson as his backbenchers show their dismay at lockdown tiers being imposed across the country?Another potential pitfall for Johnson is the enduring Brexit negotiations that are going down to the wire - but the situation is also a problem for opposition leader Keir Starmer, who will almost certainly split his party however he decides to vote on any deal.Joining Arj Singh and Paul Waugh, Labour MP Lucy Powell discusses a momentous week for the government and the country.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-03--Avonmouth Explosion: Four Killed In Chemical Tank Incident Near Bristol

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Four people have been killed and one injured after a “large explosion” involving a chemical tank at a waste water treatment works near Bristol.
A major incident was declared at Wessex Water’s Bristol water recycling centre in Kings Weston Lane, Avonmouth, after reports of a blast at 11.22am on Thursday.
Advertisement
Avon and Somerset Police said they were trying to establish the exact cause of the blast.
Chief inspector Mark Runacres told a press conference at the scene that three employees of Wessex Water and one contractor had died in the incident.
“Emergency services were called at approximately 11.20am to reports of a large explosion involving one of the chemical tanks at the site off Kings Weston Lane,” he said.
“Specially trained officers have this afternoon made contact with each of the families of those individuals and informed them of the sad news.
“This is a tragic incident and our thoughts and sympathies go out to them.”
Runacres said authorities would not be speculating into the cause of the explosion – but he added it was not being treated as a terror-related incident.
Advertisement
A fifth person was also injured but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
The scene in Avomouth, Bristol, as fire crews, police and paramedics are responding to a large explosion at a warehouse where there have been multiple casualties. PA
Luke Gazzard, from Avon Fire and Rescue Service, said the incident had been “very challenging” but that crews had been able to get to it quickly.
“Luckily our local fire station is not too far from here so we had crews in attendance very, very quickly and they were able to gain an element of situational awareness,” he said.
Witness Jawad Burhan took a photo showing a tank that had exploded.
He told the PA news agency there was a “helicopter looking for missing people” and police had closed a nearby road leading up to the building, which he believed was a waste centre.
“I heard the sound, I’m working beside the building in another warehouse,” he said.
“After 10 minutes I saw the helicopter coming and the police.”
New photo for the exploded tank pic.twitter.com/YzTX4AWh4V — jawad burhan (@jawadburhan98) December 3, 2020
Advertisement
Runacres added that inquiries were under way into what caused the explosion.
He said: “Officers remain at the scene and are likely to be for some time as we work together with other agencies in dealing with this major incident.
The scene in Avomouth, Bristol, as fire crews, police and paramedics are responding to a large explosion at a warehouse where there have been multiple casualties. PA
“A cordon has been set up and we’d advise members of the public to avoid the area at this time where possible to allow the emergency services to carry out their work.
“Police inquiries into exactly what happened are at a very early stage and are continuing.”
Wessex Water chief executive Colin Skellett said the company were “absolutely devastated” by the incident, and said it would be working with the Health and Safety Executive “to understand what happened and why”.
Sean Nolan, who witnessed the aftermath of the explosion, said he had heard a “boom and echo” but thought it was a vehicle collision.
Advertisement
“I heard what I thought may have been two trucks colliding by the way it shook the ground… it was big,” he said.
“I continued doing what I was doing, but a couple of the lads came out to see if I was alright.
Nolan said there had been “a lot of commotion” in the minutes immediately after, but the incident itself had been “quite short-lived”.
“There were a lot of sirens coming in and some helicopter activity above as well,” he said.
“It (the helicopter) was circling for a good hour or so.
“It was quite short-lived, I’d say about two or three seconds. Sort of a boom and echo and then it just went quiet.
“That was it. There was no smoke, there was no after-effects of it.”
Prime minister Boris Johnson said “our hearts go out” to the victims and their families.
“Deeply saddened to learn that four people have lost their lives in the water works explosion in Avonmouth,” he said on Twitter.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--The Coronavirus R Rate Has Fallen Again. Here's What It Is In Your Area

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The reproduction number, or R rate, of coronavirus transmission across the UK has fallen again to between 0.8 and 1, according to the latest government figures.
It represents a drop from last week’s estimate of between 0.9 and 1.0, in further potential evidence that the four-week lockdown in England is helping to reduce infections.
Advertisement
R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
The latest estimate came during the week the national lockdown ended and nearly 99% of England was placed into tier 2 and 3 coronavirus restrictions.
Regional R numbers across England, as estimated by the government science office
East of England 0.9 - 1.0 (no change)
London 0.9 - 1.1 (down from 1.0 - 1.1)
Midlands 0.8 - 0.9 (down from 0.9 - 1.1)
North East and Yorkshire 0.7 - 0.9 (down from 0.8 - 1.0)
North West 0.7 - 0.9 (no change)
South East 0.9 - 1.1 (down from 1.0 - 1.2)
South West 0.7 - 1.0 (down from 0.9 - 1.1)
It came as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that there were an average of 25,700 new cases per day of Covid-19 in private households in England between November 22 and 28.
This is down from an estimated 38,900 new cases per day for the period November 8 to 14 and is the lowest estimate since the end of September.
Advertisement
The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.
An estimated 521,300 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between November 22 and 28, the ONS said.
This is the equivalent of around 0.96% of the population.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Good Morning Britain Attracts Ofcom Complaints After Ben Shephard And Rishi Sunak Clash

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Over 1,000 viewers contacted the TV watchdog after the chancellor of the exchequer appeared on the ITV breakfast show last Thursday to discuss his new budget plans.
Ofcom confirmed to The Sun that the complaints it received after the show related to the interview with Sunak, but the paper reported it did not detail specifically what viewers had objected to.
Advertisement
However, Ofcom later told the Manchester Evening News that the complaints “relate to inaccuracies by Rishi Sunak” during the interview.
As is standard procedure, the regulator will now assess all the complaints before deciding whether or not to investigate.
Ben Shephard and Susanna Reid spoke to Rishi Sunak on Good Morning Britain ITV/Shutterstock
During the interview, the Ben clashed with Sunak as he pressed him on people who had been unable to receive financial support from the government during the pandemic.
Advertisement
He said that some self-employed people had received “not a penny from the government”, and quoted a tweet from Sunak that read: “You have not been forgotten. We will not leave you behind. We are all in this together.”
Posing this to the chancellor, Ben said: “Unfortunately that’s not true, is it? There are 2.9million people, nearly nine per cent of the workforce, that are currently excluded or forgotten about from all of these schemes.
“For one reason or another they cannot get access to some of those schemes that you have put into place.”
The MP replied: “I don’t think that three million number is right and you’ve used it.
“It includes 1.5million people who do not qualify for the support scheme because they are not majority self-employed.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect Ofcom’s confirmation that complaints it received related to “inaccuracies by Rishi Sunak” during his interview on Good Morning Britain.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Brexit Negotiations At A 'Very Difficult Point', Downing Street Admits

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Downing Street has admitted Brexit talks are still in a “very difficult” place with less than a month before the end of the transition period.
It came after UK government sources claimed the EU had introduced new demands during the 11th hour of the negotiations, which in turn has been denied by sources in Brussels.
Advertisement
Both sides have to agree and ratify a deal by December 31, when the standstill transition period ends.
A failure to do so would mean defaulting to World Trade Organisation terms for trade with the EU, which is predicted to make Brexit even more economically damaging.
Negotiations in London went late into the night on Thursday, finishing after 11pm.
Boris Johnson was working in Downing Street on Friday but was expected to go to Chequers for the weekend where he will remain in constant touch with negotiators.
A No.10 spokesperson could not say whether talks would continue over the weekend.
“We are committed to working hard to try and reach an agreement with the EU and talks are ongoing,” they said.
Advertisement
“There are still some issues to overcome and time is in very short supply and we are in a very difficult point in the talks.
“What is certain is that we will not be able to agree a deal that doesn’t respect our fundamental principles on sovereignty and taking back control.”
The European Commission would not confirm chief negotiator Michel Barnier’s weekend travel plans and said only that a “full day of negotiations” was expected on Friday.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier walks to a conference centre in central London on Friday as talks continue on a trade deal between the EU and the UK TOLGA AKMEN via Getty Images
Business secretary Alok Sharma confirmed that gaps remained between the two sides.
Fishing and the so-called “level playing field” aimed at preventing unfair competition on state subsidies and standards remain the main issues to be resolved in the talks.
Advertisement
“We are committed to reaching an agreement with the EU on this particular discussion that we are having,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“But, of course, time is short and we are in a difficult phase. There’s no denying that. There are a number of tricky issues that still have to be resolved.”
Sharma said Lord Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, and his team were “working incredibly hard” and “in good faith” to get a deal over the line.
“Let’s see where we get to,” he added.
European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer, asked for an update on fishing rights, told reporters in Brussels: “Today is still a day for negotiations, they are ongoing, so we can’t make any comments on the contents of what is being discussed.”
The publicly-aired Brussels and Westminster tensions came after Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney said there was a “good chance” of a trade deal on Thursday.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the prime minister will press ahead with plans allowing ministers to tear up the Brexit divorce deal he has already agreed, despite the current round of UK-EU talks being at a critical stage.
The government will ask MPs to reinstate controversial legislation giving ministers the power to break international law by ignoring provisions in the withdrawal agreement relating to Northern Ireland.
The Commons will vote on the UK internal market bill on Monday, potentially throwing the talks on a UK-European Union trade deal into deep crisis unless an agreement can be reached by then.
MPs will be asked to reinsert the controversial Northern Ireland provisions into the UK Internal Market Bill after the Lords voted to remove them.
The EU has already taken the first steps towards legal action over the legislation.
The government will also introduce the Taxation (Post-Transition Period) Bill.
It is thought the legislation replaces the planned finance bill, in which there were also plans to include measures to override parts of the divorce deal struck by the PM and the EU in 2019.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--New Year's Eve: Scrap 11pm Curfew Or Risk Street Parties And Illegal Raves, Government Told

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Huge parties will erupt in the streets if people are forced out of pubs at 11pm on New Year’s Eve, the leading nightlife industry body has warned.
The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) also predicts a spike in illegal raves, as underground promoters take over the increasing number of empty buildings and factor the potential £10,000 fine into their costs.
Advertisement
The government’s relaxation of the rules for the Christmas bubbles ends on December 27. But it is being urged to make an exemption to the 11pm curfew to allow people to celebrate new year’s, or risk the night becoming a “car crash”.
“What you’re going to do is build people up, shut at 11pm, then they’ve got an hour to wait before they celebrate,” NTIA CEO Michael Kill told HuffPost UK. “You couldn’t make it up.
“It is like Yosemite Sam throwing a stick of dynamite into a rabbit hole. You’re just waiting for something to go wrong.”
Kill and his industry are urging the government to work with them in supplying safe, managed spaces which will in turn take the pressure off the emergency services on one of the busiest nights of the year.
Advertisement
He said: “What they are going to learn very quickly is that people are not going to allow the government to curtail their New Year’s Eve celebrations. They will take it in their own hands and they will do what they need to do to have those celebrations.
“Youth culture will not be curbed.”
Capturing the indoor/warehouse rave scene brithick via Getty Images
Kill says it is the same phenomenon which occurred in 1988 and 1989 during the so-called second summer of love, a hey-day of acid house which led to the UK’s Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 banning the illegal raves popularised during the period.
He said: “Without a doubt that is what we are going to see happen on New Year’s Eve. If alcohol stops at 10pm and people are allowed out at 11pm, they’re going to stockpile the alcohol pre-10pm, they’re going to drink through til 11pm, they’re going to go out onto the street and they’re going to celebrate.
“You’re probably going to see some of the biggest mass gatherings you’ve ever seen in some major cities to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Advertisement
“We’re going to see a massive amount of people hit the street at 11pm. On top of that, there will be the people already trying to celebrate at illegal events, which are going to happen right across the country, at a higher level than we can ever imagine. And it’s going to be a bit of a car crash sadly.”
There is weight to Kill’s prediction. Dance music magazine Mixmag published a study in October entitled Partying Through the Pandemic. In it, Professor John Ashton CBE, the former regional director of public health for the north-west of England, makes clear what happens when young people are deprived of nightlife.
“All the raves have been popping up because young people haven’t been able to go somewhere else,” he states. “The harm reduction approach would be to say: ‘We need somehow to find a way for young people to do the things they need to do’. But that means tight control, you need proper ticketing, you need enforcement, you need strict limits on numbers”.
Or as veteran drum n’ bass producer Jumpin Jack Frost puts it: “There has to be a roadmap back for people that work in this industry and people that want to party, otherwise, unfortunately, they’re gonna party anyway.”
Kill says the underground party scene is using the empty buildings left by businesses claimed by the pandemic and that quite simply, the police and emergency services will not be able to manage them.
Advertisement
He said: “They are going to be sprouting up as more and more businesses fail, they’ll keep flying under the radar and they are much more sophisticated than police realise. I’m pretty sure most of these organisers are factoring in the £10,000 coronavirus fine into their costs, and if they don’t get caught that’s a bonus.
“I do not think the government realises how tenacious and driven some of these organisers are and how important these events are to youth culture.”
Kill believes the night time economy seems to have been intentionally excluded from the government’s plans, at a critical time of year. Indeed, the nightclub sector and licensed sexual entertainment venues are the only two industries still awaiting permission to reopen since lockdowns were imposed in March.
Though the furlough scheme has now been extended until March, the challenge remaining for the industry is cash fluidity and commercial rent.
Advertisement
For example, Deltic Group, the UK’s biggest nightclub operator has 52 nightclubs, all of which have remained closed since March 20. The company is paying around £600,000 a month in static costs and £1m in commercial rent.
It is asking the government for a £1m a month bailout and has asked landlords for rent-free agreements after putting itself up for sale. A notice from CEO Peter Marks on its website reads: “If we are not allowed to open yet, we need financial support from government to survive.
“No other industry has received as little support, is closed by law and still has no opening date. Even if you don’t like clubbing or your clubbing days are over we hope you see this as unfair as we do.
“Our customers want to come back. We ARE a viable business, if we could open. We had a great business, we will do again, but we need to get through this and ask the government to support us in the way they have others.”
Hundreds of protesters hold a huge acid house party in Albert Square, Manchester in protest against police harassment of their gatherings, February 1990 Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Advertisement
In Scotland, an £11m Covid-19 contingency fund has been made available for soft play centres and nightclubs. And a £60m Economic Resilience Fund issued by the Welsh government is also awarding grants to businesses that have been unable to stay open during lockdown.
What’s more, data from Public Health England (PHE) revealed that hospitality venues made up just 4.1% of coronavirus exposure “common locations” for the first two weeks of November.
The rate of transmission is far below the likes of supermarkets, care homes and schools – all of which were allowed to remain open during the second England lockdown.
Kill said: “I think businesses have been pretty patient, they’ve toed the line and they’ve spent up to £30,000 making their environments Covid safe. Despite this, we are being disproportionately singled out as spaces with high levels of transmission.
“We are the most regulated of all the industries. We’re licensed. We’ve got police visiting every night. You don’t see the police at Primark – if you look at the pictures since they reopened, people are just cramming into the stores. It sticks in the throat.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Brexit Negotiations At A 'Very Difficult Point', Downing Street Says


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Photographer Gets Revenge On ‘Rude’ Philip Green By Making Him Look ‘Like A Prick’

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and for freelance photographer Jake Walters this was certainly the case when he decided to resurrect an extremely unflattering six-year-old snap of Sir Philip Green.
“My portrait of Sir Philip Greed, sorry Green, taken on his Arcadia office balcony on Oxford Street,” said Jake Walters in an Instagram post.
Advertisement
In it, the usually diminutive businessman stands tall with his arms folded, looking down against a backdrop of blue sky. At Sir Philip’s feet are two round, plump bushes. It is difficult to miss the visual similarity of Sir Philip’s erect form to a penis, framed by leafy green testicles.
Walters, who was on a shoot for The Guardian at the time, told HuffPost UK: “He was sweary, very abrupt and unnecessarily rude. He was objectionable to me and my assistant from the very start. So I decided right then, if I get a chance I’m going to do you.
“I went on his balcony and I saw a long row of those topiary balls and I had the idea. My assistant was saying: ‘Jake, I can’t believe you’re going to do this, they’re going to see,’ but I thought I’d risk it.”
Advertisement
Polaroids of Sir Philip, standing proud between his perfectly-manicured bushes, were handed to his press team for approval. There were complaints that the mogul’s suit was creased and requests for it to be smoothed, but apparently no one else noticed anything amiss.
Walters recalled: “My assistant had to walk away covering his face. We were both thinking, at any minute someone is going to say: ‘Hold on a minute, doesn’t he look like a cock?’ But no one did.
“I’m always very polite because I want the best results, even when I was making him look like a prick, I was still being very polite to him.”
Sadly, the picture was not used at the time, with Walters admitting: “The Guardian bottled it,” but happily it has now received an airing.
It is not the first time Sir Philip’s unique demeanour has been remarked upon. In 2018, after the Telegraph reported that staff were accusing an unnamed businessman, later identified in Parliament as Sir Philip, of sexual harassment and racial abuse.
Advertisement
Sir Philip’s lawyers said their client “categorically denies any unlawful racist or sexual behaviour.”
The newspaper said “dozens” more people who have alleged they were “subjected to verbal abuse, bullying and intimidation or witnessed similar incidents” contacted it after Green’s identity was revealed.
Lawyers representing Green told the Telegraph that he was a “passionate businessman, who can at times be over-exuberant and hot-headed”. They said he can be “perceived at times as aggressive with senior and trusted staff”.
They added: “It is further denied that any of Sir Philip’s conduct towards employees amounted to any type of crime, or anything that would amount to gross misconduct, or a serious risk to health and safety.”
Thousands of jobs are on the line after Sir Philip’s collapsed Topshop retail empire plunged into administration.
Advertisement
One of the country’s richest men, Sir Philip’s rough-around-the-edges, no-nonsense attitude had once won him many friends in the press, but after a series of scandals Sir Philip is now persona non grata.
Many of Arcadia’s staff found out the company was on the brink from the press before hearing from their own employer.
The firm’s response was to email employees the same dismissive statement about “media speculation” it had also sent to the press, despite the fact the “speculation” almost immediately turned out to be true.
“I think the worst thing is that it was on the news before we were told anything,” one worker told HuffPost UK. “It’s been all over the work WhatsApp all morning. Some staff members saw it before even management did. That email doesn’t really tell us much either. People are certainly panicking.”
They added: “It would be a nightmare [if thousands of people lost their jobs] there won’t be enough jobs to go round, a lot of the shops in this town have closed as well, I have already started looking and jobs in fashion retail just aren’t there. I think a lot of people will look at supermarkets instead.”
Advertisement
Walters, who has been taking photographs for 20 years, has snapped greats including Morgan Freeman and Dennis Hopper, rates Sir Philip – who once told this journalist to “fuck off” – as one of his top three most unpleasant clients to work with.
The others include the late Michael Winner, who suggested Walters might steal something from his Holland Park home, and self-appointed “special one” football coach Jose Mourinho.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Love Actually's Martine McCutcheon Speaks Out In Defence Of Film's Most Divisive Scene

Love Actually star Martine McCutcheon has defended the film’s divisive cue card scene.
The moment from the 2003 festive romcom sees Andrew Lincoln’s character Mark revealing his love to his best friend’s wife Juliet, played by Keira Knightley, using cue cards on her doorstep.
The scene has been much discussed in recent years, with many critics pointing out problematic aspects to it.
However, speaking to Digital Spy last year, Martine – who played Downing Street staff member Natalie in the film – revealed she “doesn’t think it’s creepy at all”.
Advertisement
Mark revealed his love to Juliet using cue cards Universal
“I think people do crazy things when they are in love with people,” she said.
“He had his moment where he thought ‘enough now, I’ve told her how I feel, I love my friend too but I had to get it off my chest in the right way’.
“She’d already seen the video, and I think it was his way of making things explained and comfortable.”
Her comments come after Martine revealed she feared killing on-screen love interest Hugh Grant on her first day of filming the festive classic.
Advertisement
Martine McCutcheon played Natalie in Love Actually Universal
Her first scene was the one in which the whole cast filmed their various reunions at Heathrow Airport, with Martine tasked with jumping into the arms of Hugh’s character, prime minister David.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Martine explained that jumping into Hugh’s arms hadn’t proved as easy as it looked on screen.
She said: “It was one of the only times that everybody was together, if not the only time, and you realise that all these people are actually connected in some way without realising necessarily.
“It was just so special to look around and see everyone around us, Oscar winners, the talent on that set that day was unbelievable.
Advertisement
“But I was really nervous because I had to run and jump on Hugh, that was my first scene, and I was thinking ‘Oh my God, I’m going to kill him!’
“He was like ‘Come on, go for it’, and I was so nervous because I had never had to jump on anybody in a scene in my life and now as I do it, it’s with the heartthrob that is Hugh Grant, in front of everybody, in front of all these amazing actors, and what if I knock him out? What if I do something wrong?”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Eamonn Holmes And Ruth Langsford 'Disappointed' Over This Morning Changes, Says Friend Gloria Hunnif

Eamonn Holmes And Ruth Langsford 'Disappointed' Over This Morning Changes, Says Friend Gloria Hunniford

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Last week, it was confirmed that Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary are to take over from the husband and wife team on Fridays, with the couple now only set to host the ITV daytime show during the school holidays.
Advertisement
Having spoken to her Eamonn, Gloria said he and Ruth are finding it “very difficult to understand” why bosses have made the change.
Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford ITV/Shutterstock
Speaking to The Mirror, the Loose Women panellist said: “That one was very hard to understand - I don’t fully understand the reasons behind it.
“I’ve talked to Eamonn since, and he’s clearly disappointed.
“I think they find it very difficult to understand why the change.”
However, Gloria, who appears on the Loose Women panel alongside Ruth, added: “There are a lot of lovely new young presenters coming in, which is good. They’re trying to cater for every age group.”
Advertisement
Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
The veteran broadcaster also insisted Andrea McLean’s upcoming Loose Women departure isn’t part of a wider ITV daytime shake up.
“She really has left of her own accord - she wasn’t asked to leave or anything like that, in fact quite the opposite,” she said.
Gloria Hunniford is good friends with Eamonn and Ruth Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Gloria’s comments come after Eamonn and Ruth publicly congratulated Alison and Dermot on their new Friday roles.
Advertisement
Posting a joint statement on their social media accounts, the pair said they hope This Morning viewers make them “as welcome as you made us over the years”.
They wrote: “It’s a changing of the guard on Fridays from January. We hope you make Alison and Dermot as welcome as you’ve made us over the years. Have a ball you two!
“It’s not goodbye from us, it’s simply au revoir until the next half term.”
It’s a changing of the guard on Fridays from January. We hope you make Alison and Dermot as welcome as you’ve made us over the years. Have a Ball you two !
It’s not Goodbye from us, it’s simply Au Revoir until the next half term. https://t.co/qxy1bufkPI — Ruth Langsford (@RuthieeL) November 30, 2020
Eamonn and Ruth will continue to present the show during school holidays when Monday to Thursday hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are on leave. Their roles remain unaffected by the changes.
Alison and Dermot, who proved to be a hit with viewers when they teamed up to present two shows together over the summer, will take the reins of Friday’s This Morning in January.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Strictly Come Dancing's Kevin Clifton Feels 'Protective' Of Maisie Smith After Negative Comments: 'S

Strictly Come Dancing's Kevin Clifton Feels 'Protective' Of Maisie Smith After Negative Comments: 'She's A Kid!'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Kevin Clifton has spoken up in defence of contestant Maisie Smith, following the trolling she has experienced on social media.
Despite being one of the strongest dancers in this year’s competition, the EastEnders star has had a difficult journey on the BBC ballroom show, ending up in the bottom two twice during the series.
Advertisement
Kevin, who partnered Maisie when she appeared on a one-off Children In Need special of Strictly last year, has now named her as one of the people he’d like to see win the show after she received negative comments online.
Maisie Smith and Kevin Clifton won last year's Children In Need special of Strictly Come Dancing BBC
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Kevin said: “I feel quite protective of Maisie because we did the Children In Need special together.
“I know that people are being mean to her on social media and stuff, and she’s a kid, she’s a 19-year-old girl, so I feel quite defensive of Maisie.”
Advertisement
Maisie, who is paired with pro Gorka Marquez on the series, previously addressed the negative comments she has faced, admitting she struggles with her confidence.
“People forget I am a 19-year-old girl,” she told The Mirror. “I’d ask people maybe not to judge my character on certain faces I pull when I’m dancing and maybe don’t be too quick to guess who someone is.
“I’m not confident in myself at all and I’m trying to be more confident, let’s not hate.”
Maisie is paired with Gorka Marquez on this year's series BBC
Kevin also said he had been impressed by Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing, who is partnered with his ex-wife Karen Hauer.
“Jamie has really surprised me,” Kevin said. “When I watched him on week one, I thought ‘he’s probably going to go out early’, but the improvement he’s made from week one to now is huge, he’s made such a massive leap that I just think he’s really deserving to do well, so there’s part of me that wants to see Jamie win as well.
Advertisement
“Like if Bill Bailey wins – no one is going to question it! He’s great! But if someone had said beforehand ‘Bill Bailey is going to win’, you’d have laughed at whoever said that. And now, if he wins, you’ll be like ‘fair play, he deserves it’.”
Karen Hauer and Jamie Laing BBC
Kevin was also full of praise for Anton Du Beke’s recent stint on the judging panel.
The pro dancer sat in for regular judge Motsi Mabuse for two weeks earlier in the series after she was forced to self isolate.
“I thought it was a really nice touch to put him on the panel,” he said.
“He reminded me of when Len Goodman was still on the panel. I thought he was wicked.”
Anton Du Beke made his judging debut earlier in the series BBC / Guy Levy
Kevin quit Strictly earlier this year after seven years as a professional dancer to tour with a production of Strictly Ballroom.
Advertisement
While it was subsequently cancelled, the tour has now been rescheduled for next year.
“Fingers crossed that 2021 is going to be a version of what 2020 was supposed to be – for everyone in the world!” Kevin said.
Now watching Strictly from home, Kevin has been outspoken about some of the judges’ scoring this year, in particular he criticised the panel for “slaughtering” Clara Amfo after her Samba with partner Aljaz Skorjanec.
Kevin called out the judges for "slaughtering" Clara Amfo's Samba BBC
Admitting he gets “annoyed” when he disagrees with the scoring, Kevin said: “On the whole, I think they do a good job. It’s just me as a fan basically going, ‘why did they hammer her, she was amazing?’, but it’s all a matter of taste, I suppose.
“But when they hammer someone that I think is really good, I get annoyed.”
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Original, Ethical & Sustainable - Five Alternative Gift Giving Ideas

Original, Ethical & Sustainable - Five Alternative Gift Giving Ideas
Before you stuff your stocking, buy your cards or put the presents under the tree, here are five alternative gift giving ideas you can use to show some love, save money, the environment and reduce waste.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--I’m A Celeb 2020 Ends & The Masked Singer’s New Faces | Good Vibes Only

8 Showbiz Moments That Put A Smile On Our Faces This Week | Good Vibes Only
I’m A Celeb 2020 comes to an end, a Bake Off star proposes on TV, Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary take over This Morning, The Masked singer reveal their new costumes for series two, Dua Lipa and Kylie unite for an amazing disco livestream and Courtneney Cox dons a Thanksgiving turkey once again.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Boris Johnson 'Falsely Representing' Impact Of Rapid Covid Tests, Expert Warns

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Boris Johnson is “falsely representing” the performance of “Moonshot” rapid coronavirus tests that he claims will help bring a return to normality by summer, an expert has said.
The prime minister has described lateral flow tests as one of two “boxing gloves” to beat Covid-19 alongside vaccines, saying on Thursday they could help the wedding and events industry be “in a different world” by summer.
Advertisement
The government is also advising care homes to use lateral flow tests to screen visitors for coronavirus before they see resident family members.
But Angela Raffle, a public health consultant who has advised the government on screening programmes, suggested the true performance of the tests has been “kept hidden”.
The tests, which can give results in 30 minutes, have been trialled in a mass screening programme in Liverpool.
The government is now planning to roll them out across areas in the toughest tier 3 restrictions to help them bring cases down and follow the city in moving down a level.
Advertisement
But Raffle said Johnson and health secretary Matt Hancock’s claims that the tests have helped bring cases down in Liverpool were “completely false” because the city’s infection rate “has come down no quicker than in many other places”.
Boris Johnson looks at samples at the lateral flow testing lab at PHE Porton Down WPA Pool via Getty Images
She also highlighted findings “buried” on the government’s website which showed that up to 30% of cases when people had more infectious higher viral loads were not picked up in Liverpool.
Because that data is from a field trial using non-research staff, it is a more accurate measure of the tests’ effectiveness than a Public Health England Porton Down and University of Oxford evaluation which showed that the tests detect 95% of cases with a high viral load, she said.
Raffle told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s very concerning to me that with these lateral flow tests the evidence about how they perform in the field has actually been kept hidden, has been falsely represented by the government.”
Advertisement
She went on: “We’re all used to the idea that for medicines or vaccines you would not roll them out to the general public until you’ve done really careful field scale evaluations to see how they perform in a true life setting.”
Raffle added: “We’ve had mass testing in Liverpool, the infection rate in Liverpool has come down no quicker than in many other places that haven’t got mass testing and we haven’t yet seen a proper evaluation report from Liverpool.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Coronavirus Vaccines Have Arrived In The UK And The First Jabs Are Booked For Tuesday

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The first coronavirus vaccines have arrived in the UK and inoculations are due to begin on Tuesday.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said it will be “a marathon, it’s not a sprint”, telling BBC Breakfast: “We’re looking forward to the race starting on Tuesday.”
The government has ordered 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, with the bulk of the rollout taking place in 2021. The Oxford/AstraZeneca version will boost supplies in the new year with an order of 100m already placed.
Advertisement
Business secretary Alok Sharma told BBC Breakfast: “Well, some are in the UK, but as we said the programme will start next week, and I think I’m confident that we will have all of those available from the start of the programme.
Coronavirus vaccine, file picture SIPA USA/PA Images
“People should feel confident about this vaccine. The MHRA is regarded as the gold standard of regulators around the world by scientists.”
Splitting batches
This week the MHRA said the batches could be split into smaller numbers of doses in “certain conditions.” The boxes contain 975 doses, which had meant some could be wasted if sent to individual residential homes, but they can now be safely divided.
Advertisement
Dr Ian Levy, technical director at the National Cyber Security Centre, said his organisation was working to ensure vaccine delivery was as “protected as can be” from cyber attacks.
Asked about reports of hackers targeting the international vaccine “cold chain”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In April we pivoted our work to better protect the health sector and so there is a massive community effort in protecting the health sector and the vaccine supply chain, all the way from research, through to delivery and distribution.
“That threat has changed during the course of the pandemic and the community has evolved its defences to try and make sure we are protected as we can be.
“We work alongside our allies, we’re committed to protecting the most sensitive and critical assets in the health sector and the crucial vaccine.”
He said the threat had “probably stayed about the same” but declined to say which states had been targeting vaccine efforts, with reports suggesting North Korea had been involved.
Advertisement
Dr Levy added: “Lots of people are interested in vaccines and I don’t think it is necessary to go into details of who may or may not be doing it.
“We don’t normally give operational updates – you’re talking about public attribution of cyber attacks. That’s a matter for government rather than any individual agency.”
Priority rankings
Professor Azra Ghani, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Imperial College London, said priority for which groups should be in line for a vaccine jab could change during the rollout.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about her modelling of vaccine prioritisation, she said giving jabs first to the “most vulnerable”, such as the oldest in society, was a way of reducing illness as clinical trials had shown the vaccines currently developed “reduce illness and particularly severe illness and hospitalisation”.
But how the priority ranking works further down the line will depend on the stage of the epidemic, she added.
Advertisement
Prof Ghani said: “Once we go below the age of 50, then the risk of severe outcomes really does drop off quite dramatically.
“Then, I think, we need to think about what stage the epidemic is in, what the supply looks like and what the priorities are.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice Reckons He's The Person To Break Piers Morgan: 'I Would Des

Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice Reckons He's The Person To Break Piers Morgan: 'I Would Destroy Him'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice is eyeing Piers Morgan up as his next celebrity partner so he can knock him down a peg or two.
The dancer believes he would “destroy” the outspoken Good Morning Britain presenter’s confidence within a week of working with him.
Advertisement
Speaking to The Mirror, Giovanni said he would love to see what Piers is “really made of” if they were to become Strictly’s first all-male pairing.
Giovanni Pernice and Piers Morgan Shutterstock/ITV
“I would love to dance with him, sexy Piers,” he said. “I would love to get down with him on the dance floor and see what he’s really made of.
“I would destroy his confidence in a week. In a week we will realise ‘Who’s this man? What is that? Is it really Piers?’”
Advertisement
Giovanni is currently partnering Piers’ Good Morning Britain colleague Ranvir Singh, who agreed that she’d love to see them dance together.
“I would love to see that!” she said. “Actually, it’s quite an exciting prospect – who’s going to lift who?”
Ranvir Singh is currently paired with Giovanni BBC/Keiron McCarron
Piers is one of few Good Morning Britain presenters left who have not competed on Strictly yet.
Strictly Come Dancing made history earlier this year for introducing its first-ever same-sex couple with Olympic boxer Nicola Adams and pro dancer Katya Jones.
Advertisement
However, they were forced to withdraw from the competition earlier in the series when Katya tested positive for coronavirus.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--I Couldn't Fulfil My Boyfriend's Fetish, So We Opened Our Relationship

LOADING ERROR LOADING
My boyfriend, Drew, and I have been together for almost four years. Last year, we cracked open the door to our relationship because he has a fetish I cannot fulfill.
Drew is 29 years old and a trim tens tone. I am 24 and stopped weighing myself when I began eating disorder recovery. Jessica (not her real name), the woman with whom Drew had his first external date, is 44 years old and over 40 stone. I know this information because it’s displayed proudly on her dating profile. “Do NOT feel sorry for me,” her bio states. “I’m very much into being super fat.”
Advertisement
When Drew introduced me to his fetish, I was mesmerised by the newness of it all. His kinks fall into the categories of feeder and fat admirer. As defined by the social network/dating site where Drew met Jessica, feeders are “men or women who like the idea or physical act of helping someone grow bigger,” and fat admirers are “men or women who are sexually and romantically attracted to partners who are chubby.”
I met Drew when I was 20, a time when my bouts of uncontrollable binging, purging, and subsequent restricting had grown to feel commonplace. I’d spent my adolescence and fledgling adulthood believing my obsession with food was the least attractive thing about me, so, when Drew finally disclosed his proclivities, it turned my reality upside down.
At first, I desperately wanted to make our unique situation work, to take this demon I’d been living with and use it for good ― to please my partner. Drew and I experimented with feeding but, unsurprisingly, it was not something in which I could find pleasure.
About six months after Drew first told me about his fetish, he lobbed the idea of an open relationship at me. I now know his intentions were honourable; he wanted to initiate a line of honest communication about exploring this facet of his sexuality, in ways he knew would be too triggering for me to try. Drew is my best friend and life partner ― someone I cherish with a gooeyness I did not know myself capable until meeting him. But his pitch for an open relationship was graceless, and I did not take it well.
Advertisement
I cried for what felt like 24 hours straight. I became host to a fear of inadequacy and abandonment issues that had lain dormant since puberty. I began grieving in surges for a relationship that was still very much intact. I agonised over all the ways I could have been more fun as a girlfriend. I drafted a melodramatic email to my therapist. I wondered if dying my hair platinum blond would help.
If Drew had wanted to pursue an open relationship for any reason other than his fetish, I don’t think I could have stomached it. The specificity of our situation provided a safety net. Because weight has always been where my ego gets tied up, the idea of Drew dating other women ― as long as they were fat ― didn’t seem so bad. The simple fact of body mass softened the blow of my boyfriend wanting to see other people. My perception was undeniably warped and problematic. But it was one instance in which the diet culture and thin ideal I’d spent my life worshipping had my back, protecting me from the Wild West of “if you love something, set it free.”
“I wanted my partner to feel sexually liberated and liked the idea of sampling someone else’s desire for me. But I first had to surmount the gnawing belief that I wasn’t enough for my boyfriend.”
Following his failed proposal, Drew let the notion of an open relationship lie ― assuming it was dead on arrival. I was the one who revived it. I wanted my partner to feel sexually liberated and liked the idea of sampling someone else’s desire for me. But I first had to surmount the gnawing belief that I wasn’t enough for my boyfriend.
Over the next few months, Drew and I discussed the concept of an open relationship to a pulp. We mapped out every possible outcome until seeing other people felt devoid of spontaneity. I made Drew tell me over and over that in no way did the fate of our relationship ride on my willingness to be open. Only then did the possibility seem safe enough to attempt.
Advertisement
On an evening in late July 2019, near the end of a heat wave that had infiltrated our apartment and turned the air oppressive, we agreed to move forward.
I downloaded Tinder, realised it had saved all my old matches, and promptly deleted Tinder. I joined OkCupid and spent a few weeks trying to ignite something in my messages. Though sleeping with strangers sounded alluring in concept, everyone I matched with felt too figmental and I couldn’t summon excitement for any of my prospects.
Though Drew and I decided to open our relationship for physical reasons, what I desired most was the opportunity to feel novelty ― a fickle sensation that tends to dissipate if you are lucky enough to find yourself in a lasting, stable relationship. For me, novelty is a midpoint between the physical and emotional. To be able to enjoy the physical, I needed to first form an emotional bond. Something shallow would do, but I would require more than a foreign body to hold my interest.
I’ve had a few moments in my life ― no more than I can count on my fingers ― when I’ve locked eyes with someone and immediately wanted to be at their erotic mercy. But now that I was primed (i.e., sexually confident, on birth control and emotionally ready for meaningless sex), these options dried up like a mirage in the desert. I found myself in a bind because I wanted to have a crush, something I couldn’t assemble from an app.
While I was swiping, Drew spent his time on a platform specifically for “feeders, fat admirers, and BBW/BHM (big beautiful women/big handsome men).” As his online conversations solidified, I burned out on apps and decided to text James, a guy with whom I went on one great date in New York about two weeks before Drew and I first met in Los Angeles.
Advertisement
I sent James a simple Hey. 51 minutes later, he responded: Wow hey. Long time no speak. I explained the bare bones of my situation and asked if he would be interested in talking. James promptly let me know he was “down.”
Whether by fate, luck, or coincidence, Drew’s first date was with Jessica ― a matriarch of the feederism community who founded a successful softcore website featuring BBW and SSBBW models, one of the first of its kind.
Drew and Jessica went out on a Sunday night in August. I spent the day in a haze of disbelief, trying to wrap my head around the fact that my boyfriend was going to spend the night with another woman. We kissed goodbye and my body flooded with a jealousy that felt chemical.
Drew texted when he arrived: I’m here! I feel like I need to go through with this, but I’m very excited to come home to you. I took a moment to let my heart swell for the man I loved, then began digging in my closet for a matching set of lingerie.
I sent James photos of myself and basked in new compliments from a fresh set of eyes. Our banter quickly devolved to sexting, and I let myself be as dirty as I wanted. I fell asleep on top of the covers and didn’t wake until Drew unlocked the door around 2am. He reeked of another woman’s perfume and I groggily told him to shower before getting into bed. He kissed my forehead, then walked to the bathroom to scrub himself clean.
Advertisement
“I spent the day in a haze of disbelief, trying to wrap my head around the fact that my boyfriend was going to spend the night with another woman. We kissed goodbye and my body flooded with a jealousy that felt chemical.”
Summer turned to fall and Drew grew comfortable visiting Jessica’s home, a large property outside of LA she shared with her husband (open marriage), and a rotating cast of friends, lovers and BBW models. Drew and Jessica never had sex but they were physical. I coped by texting James, an antidote available via iMessage.
In December, I flew home to New York for the holidays. James was living in Brooklyn and we made plans to go out.
As my date approached, Drew bristled and grew callous ― the laissez-faire attitude slipping as reality encroached. His texts became curt and I picked up the phone to call him, my fingers fuelled by indignation.
“Do you realise how childish you’re being?” I asked him.
“I know ... I obviously have no right to act like this.”
“This was your goddamned idea,” I reminded him.
“But James is a normie.”
“Excuse me?”
Drew meant that he had something specific for which he was leaving the relationship ― I didn’t. He was grocery shopping with a list while I embarked empty-handed, my stomach growling.
Advertisement
On Christmas Day, I met James in the bar of the hotel where I was staying for my final night in New York. As I waited for him to walk in, my heart hammered diligently at the base of my throat. I moved from one end of the bar to the other, trying to assess the most flattering way to sit. I texted a friend to ask if I should move from the bar to a table. She said no, but I did anyway.
James arrived and we caught up affably over a few rounds. Soon, he was asking if I wanted to go back to my room. I nodded, my heart grinning with pride and guileless hedonism.
James kissed me and I couldn’t help but feel present. His tongue seemed out of place against mine, but we undressed and our bodies felt easy together. As I fooled around with someone who wasn’t my boyfriend, I realised how silly our jealousy was. The intimacy in which I was partaking was cheap ― fun but entirely synthetic, like a shirt from Zara that worked for one party but unraveled at the seams after its first wash.
Of course, my moment of enlightenment was less valuable since I came to it on the winner’s podium, gripping my prize.
I left for JFK the next morning feeling unreliably giddy, like the contents of a medicine cabinet had been spilled open inside my chest. Airport security was a breeze, and I didn’t mind walking from one end of the terminal to the other when a last-minute gate change was announced. I was on the rush of uppers supplied by any successful tryst.
Advertisement
As the plane took off, I took a moment to bask in my success. How cosmopolitan was I? Leaving one lover in New York to reunite with another in LA. I looked around and wondered whether my seat mates knew the sexual royalty next to whom they were jostling.
One holiday rom-com and four episodes of Veep later, the plane began its initial descent and my mood followed suit. I wanted to take my night and shut it in a hermetically sealed container, safe from my mind’s analytical automatons. By the time wheels touched tarmac, my high had deflated and regressed into nauseating anxiety. I turned my phone on and, self-indulgently, let my heart sink when I didn’t see one (or five!) texts from James appear on the screen.
The problem with grocery shopping sans list is you don’t know when the excursion has come to a close. Because I needed a base level of emotional investment to enjoy the physicality of a tryst, I was having trouble extricating my feelings once the experience was over. Though the structure of our interaction couldn’t have been clearer ― me, disentangling my limbs from his and rolling out of bed to hail a cab and board a plane that would return me across the country, to my long-term relationship ― I texted James, hoping to breathe life back into the spark of desire we had created. His replies were unmemorable and peppered with too many “lol”s.
“Drew and I aren’t insatiable extroverts with high sex drives, we are partners who wondered if it was possible to scratch the itch of novelty without scarring our relationship. At the end of the day we just want to come home, order takeout, and teach our cat how to play fetch.”
Emotional input at the beginning means equal output at the end, a comedown that needlessly occupies the mind. I had fun for a moment, returning to the world of dating as a tourist, but I couldn’t imagine experiencing any lasting enjoyment.
Advertisement
My open relationship never officially ended but it lost steam and slowed to what looks like a halt from afar. Drew and I aren’t insatiable extroverts with high sex drives, we are partners who wondered if it was possible to scratch the itch of novelty without scarring our relationship. At the end of the day we just want to come home, order takeout, and teach our cat how to play fetch.
To emerge unscathed, we had to become our own cool parents ― letting each other know it was okay to sample the apple of sin as long as you stayed truthful, communicative and available via text.
Drew’s relationship with Jessica waxed and waned. They currently stand as “just friends” who text now and then. From time to time, I find myself wanting to pursue someone else. I flirt because it’s fun, and sometimes I fantasise about sleeping with other people. But because I know it’s not not allowed, there’s no urgency fuelling these thought experiments. I’m no longer stricken with the fear of shattering something inflexible. Drew and I have proved to ourselves that what we mean to each other is transcendent, influenced by but not at the mercy of lust and impulse.
Though I’m not ecstatic about Drew’s lasting communication with Jessica, I have found that it serves me in unexpected ways. Because Drew is relentlessly honest and open with me, I feel safe on my all-knowing throne. From that space, I can let the notion of “my boyfriend texting another woman” rile me up in a fun way. It ignites flurries of jealousy and consequent desire ― seeing Jessica’s name light up on Drew’s phone screen sends my body into a state of “he’s mine.” Ultimately, it injects our dynamic with the excitement of dating someone new.
Much to my chagrin, a partner is not a magical piece of gum from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory that automatically provides a three-course meal with all the fixings. As much as I want to be everything for my partner, and I want my partner to be everything for me, such omnipotent expectations are unrealistic and unsustainable.
Advertisement
Drew’s fetish forced us to have uncomfortable conversations early on and for that I am extremely grateful. His proclivity isn’t something that can be checked off a list, it is an integral part of his sexuality. Though it was terrifying to admit I may not be enough for my partner at all times, it was equally freeing ― in doing so, I’ve relinquished the fantasy of being a contortionist girlfriend who can serve every want and need that blows by. Catering to whimsy can be fun, but it shouldn’t be an obligation. When I’m with Drew, I only feel compelled to be myself.
Letting our relationship be malleable has been paramount to its success ― like any living thing, it needs room to breathe, grow and shirk expectations. For as many twists and turns my relationship with Drew has taken, it rarely feels dramatic. I have no idea what comes next but I trust us to figure it out.
Sophia is a writer living in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter at @Sophia__Ortega. This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--I'm A Celebrity Confirms Finalists After Shane Richie Elimination

LOADING ERROR LOADING
The former EastEnders star became the latest star to leave the castle on Thursday night, ahead of this year’s final.
Advertisement
The campmates were stunned after hosts Ant and Dec revealed Shane had failed to make the final three.
Shane Richie has failed to make the I'm A Celebrity final Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock
Speaking after his elimination, he told the pair he had “mixed emotions” to have fallen at the final hurdle but said the experience had been “above and beyond” anything he had imagined.
Shane also explained why he had worked so hard to lift his campmates’ spirits each morning.
He said: “I’m not a big fan of silence. At home we have always got the radio on, we have got music on and of course have got kids there.
Advertisement
“When I wake up to silence, when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye who was kind of drifting away, I would go, ‘Come on, come on. What can we do? Let’s try and have some fun’.
“If anyone was falling into a bad mood, because misery breeds misery, it only takes one person and it can spread through the camp, so if I thought I could nip it in the bud.”
Congrats to @jordannorth1, @vernonkay and @MrsGiFletcher, the #ImACeleb Class of 2020 FINAL THREE! One of them will be crowned your King or Queen of the Castle tonight! 👑 pic.twitter.com/812mQAc6nd — I'm A Celebrity... (@imacelebrity) December 4, 2020
Shane said he wanted to see Giovanna win because she had been “so strong all the way through”.
Earlier in the show, the remaining four contestants faced the Celebrity Cyclone challenge, a favourite among fans of the ITV show, in which they were tasked with climbing a giant water slide.
The four contestants took part in the Celebrity Cyclone challenge ITV/Shutterstock
Advertisement
The I’m A Celebrity final airs on Friday at 9pm on ITV.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Trump’s Cruel And Unusual Parting Gift: A Spree Of Federal Executions

When Yusuf Ahmed Nur, a professor at the University of Indiana, was asked to administer last rites to federal death row inmate Orlando Hall last month, he knew that there was a chance he would contract the coronavirus.
Prisons are known hot spots for the virus as they’re often crowded, have poor ventilation, and are filled with ageing, medically vulnerable individuals. At the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal executions are carried out, at least 188 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and three have died. And yet these executions — which bring together dozens of correctional staff and witnesses, many of whom have travelled from out of state — are still being carried out, despite the danger of spreading the virus.
Advertisement
“I knew it was going to be a big risk,” Nur told HuffPost. “But I felt like it was worth the sacrifice.”
On November 19, Nur spent more than five hours at the prison complex awaiting Hall’s execution, housed in a small, windowless room with other witnesses. When it was time for Hall to be put to death, Nur entered the chamber to administer the last rites, reciting a prayer from the Quran. He stood close to the two executioners, both of whom were unmasked. Less than a week later, Nur tested positive for the coronavirus. He believes that he contracted the virus at the prison, as he was strictly isolating from others at the time.
The decision by the US government to move full steam ahead with federal executions in the face of a raging pandemic has attracted scant attention, despite the fact that it is dramatically out of step with state prison practices and opposed by a growing number of law enforcement officials and advocates for incarcerated individuals.
Since coronavirus lockdowns began in mid-March, executions by state governments have essentially come to a halt because of the health risks involved. Only two people on state death rows have been executed, Walter Barton in Missouri on May 19 and Billy Wardlow in Texas on July 8.
Advertisement
In contrast, the federal government has executed eight people, with five more people scheduled to die before President Donald Trump leaves office. Brandon Bernard is set to be executed on December 10, Alfred Bourgeois on December 11, Lisa Montgomery on January 12, Cory Johnson on January 14 and Dustin Higgs on January 15.
Since it reinstated capital punishment at the federal level this summer, the Trump administration has killed more death row prisoners than the US. government has done in the last five decades combined.
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to end the practice.
View of a sign outside the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex where death row inmates await execution. Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos: Getty
Critics argue that continuing to carry out federal executions endangers the health of inmates, employees and visitors to FCC Terre Haute, as well those who live in the surrounding community. At the same time, the pandemic is also severely compromising the ability of death row prisoners to prepare comprehensive clemency petitions before their execution dates.
“Right now, nobody but the federal government is carrying out executions,” said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “Most states have recognised that there is no urgent penological need to carry out an execution during the worst pandemic in a century, when, if the execution is lawful, it can be carried out safely once the pandemic is under control.”
Advertisement
FCC Terre Haute is located in Vigo County, where coronavirus cases are spiking. On November 14, governor Eric Holcomb issued an executive order to restrict public gatherings after hospitalisations in the state hit an all-time high.
A lawsuit filed last week on behalf of inmates at FCC Terre Haute asks the US government to delay the scheduled executions until the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic has passed. It argues that the executions are putting the incarcerated population at significant risk of serious illness or even death without a good reason.
As the complaint details, each execution is expected to draw around 200 people who will intermingle at or near the prison, eat at local restaurants, and sleep at local hotels. Nearly a hundred Bureau of Prisons staff are typically brought to Terre Haute to assist with the execution from other prisons, which may or may not be experiencing coronavirus outbreaks. Media representatives and demonstrators are also likely to gather for each event.
“The pandemic poses more of a risk with federal executions than state executions because you are bringing in people from across the country,” Dunham said. “You have more of an opportunity to infect people.”
Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, which has also been litigating issues related to Covid and capital punishment, called the executions obvious superspreader events.
Advertisement
“People are getting sick and dying because of them,” she said in a statement. “Lawyers, spiritual advisors, reporters, and people from around the country will put their lives at risk to attend these federal executions. But the people who live in Vigo County and the people incarcerated at Terre Haute prison have no say in the risk they’ll be exposed to.”
According to an affidavit by Joe Goldenson, a doctor with 33 years of experience in correctional settings, the numbers of Covid-19 infections at FCC Terre Haute increased after executions resumed this summer. He warned that the Bureau of Prisons had not adopted appropriate measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus, noting that the prison complex was still using an out-of-date visitor screening form first issued in March.
“It is my professional opinion that inmates at FCC Terre Haute are at a heightened risk of contracting Covid-19 as a result of the nature of conducting executions at the facility,” he wrote. “The same is true of staff members at FCC Terre Haute and their families and members of the broader Terre Haute community, all of which groups would likely have a higher risk of contracting Covid-19 than they would if the executions were postponed, with the attendant risk of serious illness and death for some number of the members of those groups.”
Yusuf Ahmed Nur, who served as a spiritual adviser to death row inmate Orlando Hall, contracted Covid-19 after administering last rites. Photo was taken by Liliana Segura, who covered Hall's execution for The Intercept. Liliana Segura/The Intercept
Yusuf Ahmed Nur, who administered last rites for Orlando Hall, is not the only person to have contracted coronavirus while attending to the needs of a death row inmate. The two lead attorneys for Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, both became sick with coronavirus after visiting with her at a prison in Texas.
Advertisement
Montgomery, who is mentally ill, was sentenced to death for murdering a pregnant woman in 2004 and kidnapping her baby. She is a victim of severe childhood abuse, including incest and sex trafficking, according to her lawyers and family members.
Her execution was initially scheduled for Dec. 8 but has been postponed until January 12 to give her attorneys more time to prepare her clemency application. She is currently incarcerated in a women’s medical prison in Texas but is expected to be transferred to FCC Terre Haute, an all-male prison, in the coming weeks.
Many in the criminal justice community are also speaking out about the public health implications of federal executions and pleading for a reprieve.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of nearly 100 criminal justice leaders issued a statement calling for an immediate halt to federal executions and urging Trump to commute the sentences of the five people scheduled to be executed before Biden’s inauguration. Carrying out executions during a pandemic and in the waning days of Trump’s presidency will undermine trust in the criminal justice system, they warned.
“At a time when the country is struggling through a deadly pandemic, spending scarce resources to carry out federal executions and forcing defence lawyers to risk their lives to defend clients on death row is simply unthinkable,” the letter states.
Advertisement
For Nur, who contracted a mild case of Covid-19 after attending Hall’s execution, the illness was nothing compared to the trauma he experienced watching a man be killed by the state right in front of him.
“It just hits you, it hits you in the face and it’s terrible,” he said.
Still, he is planning on returning to FCC Terre Haute to serve as spiritual counsel for Dustin Higgs, another death row inmate, who is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 15, five days before Biden’s inauguration.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--'High Value' Business Travellers' Quarantine Exemption Branded 'Dangerous And Elitist'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is under fire for introducing a policy which allows “high value” business travellers returning to England to avoid quarantine.
The rules, which come in from Saturday at 4am will see individuals who meet prescribed business criteria – such as carrying out a trip to preserve or create at least 50 UK jobs – exempt from having to self-isolate for 14 days.
Advertisement
The Department for Transport (DfT) promised to issue further information when the rules come into force, but experts and politicians are already lambasting it.
Labour MPs have slammed the policy as “a joke” and “one rule for the rich and one for everyone else”.
Is this a joke? What Is high value? So the Government lets its rich mates in quarantine-free, while the rest of us trying to see our loved ones for Christmas have to quarantine for 5 days & then pay £150 for a test. #oneruleforrhem https://t.co/m6jJC955Lp — Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) December 3, 2020
60,000 dead and one of the worst economic impacts in the world.
It is truly staggering that this government’s priority is to make special rules for its rich mates.
History will remember how the @Conservatives let down everyone else. https://t.co/FsZW3R99fU — David Lammy (@DavidLammy) December 3, 2020
"High value" business travellers are going to be exempted from quarantine.
Absolutely unbelievable.
It really is one rule for the rich and another for everyone else with this government. — Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) December 3, 2020
Advertisement
Labour MP David Lammy said the policy was “staggering” as it came amid the Covid death toll hitting 60,000 people in the UK.
Ben Bradshaw pointed out the inequality at ordinary travellers having to self isolate and then pay for a test to be released. If a traveller does not pay for a private test, which costs around £120, they have to fulfill the two week quarantine period.
What an absolute shower these people are. Maybe they think folk won’t feel so worried if they know they’ve caught COVID from a ‘high-value business traveller’. Dangerous fools. https://t.co/JLezLSj5HG — Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) December 3, 2020
Coronavirus: imma get inside you and do my thang
Businessesman: wait, I am the VP of sales in a multinational, Fortune listed.
Corona: 500 or 100
Businessesman: 100
Corona: my apologies Sir. https://t.co/rdlZQzcJTg — Dr Philip Lee (@drphiliplee1) December 4, 2020
SNP Stewart McDonald branded Shapps and his department “an absolute shower” and “dangerous fools”, while MP Richard Burgon exclaimed: “Absolutely unbelievable. It really is one rule for the rich and another for everyone else with this government.”
Dr Philip Lee, who works in acute medicine for the elderly, mused how the virus is able to differentiate between those carrying out business or leisure travel.
Advertisement
One Twitter user simply replied to Shapps’s announcement with the words “how elitist.”
The policy is the latest in a series of confusing and often contradictory rules being enacted by a Tory government during the pandemic - including the decision to spare grouse shooting and hunting with guns from laws which prohibited groups of more than six people to congregate.
The DfT said sectors such as media and elite sport were also selected for exemption from quarantine as they “require specific, high-talent individuals who rely on international connections”.
New Business Traveller exemption: From 4am on Sat 5th Dec high-value business travellers💼will no longer need to self-isolate when returning to ENGLAND from a country NOT in a travel corridor, allowing more travel to support the economy and jobs. Conditions apply. — Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 3, 2020
High value business travellers. How elitist. — Dan (@slowhands27) December 3, 2020
It added: “PHE (Public Health England) do not anticipate these changes will raise the risk of domestic transmission, due to the protocols being put in place around these exemptions, however all exemptions will remain under review.”
Advertisement
It also including sports stars, performing arts professionals, journalists and TV production staff.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--Australian Family Discovers Koala Perched Inside The Christmas Tree

LOADING ERROR LOADING
’Tis the season ... for adorable animals perched inside Christmas trees.
A juvenile koala became an internet sensation after an Australian family discovered her inside the house, tangled up in the branches and lights of a Christmas tree.
Taylah McCormick said she and her family returned home Wednesday to find ornaments strewn about the living room in Coromandel Valley, a suburb of Adelaide. Upon further investigation, they spotted the koala nestled in the artificial tree.
Advertisement
“It was pretty tangled up in the lights. It was a fake tree and very old, but she still tried eating the leaves off it,” Taylah, 16, told The Guardian. She added: “I saw her munch down on some, but she stopped when she realized it was plastic.”
Taylah’s mother, Amanda McCormick, said the family had previously spotted koalas on the property but never inside the house. “It must have crawled in when the doors were open,” she said. “It would have been in our house for at least three hours.”
The McCormicks contacted the Adelaide and Hills Koala Rescue, which arrived on the scene shortly. The koala was a female, between 3 and 4 years old and in good health, according to the rescue’s co-founder Dee Hearne-Hellon.
Advertisement
Taylah named the koala Daphne and uploaded a short video of her family’s unexpected visitor to TikTok before she was removed. As of Thursday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 730,000 times.
Daphne isn’t the only woodland creature enjoying time in the spotlight this holiday season.
New York’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree may have looked, well, slightly less than regal when it was first unveiled last month. But in a twist that can only be described as a much-needed dose of holiday magic, a tiny saw-whet owl was found trapped in the boughs of the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce, which was transported about 170 miles after being cut down.
The owl ― nicknamed Rockefeller or “Rocky” ― was cleared to continue her migratory journey south after being sent to the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, New York, for rehabilitation.
Watch The Guardian’s report on Daphne’s rescue below.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-04--George Clooney Says He And Amal Made A 'Dumb' Parenting Mistake With Their Twins

LOADING ERROR LOADING
George Clooney doesn’t mind admitting when he’s made a mistake.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Midnight Sky actor and producer talked about the “dumb” parenting gaffe that he and his wife, Amal Clooney, are responsible for.
“We did a really dumb thing, which is they speak fluent Italian,” the director said of the couple’s 3-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander.
Advertisement
Of course, that sounded like a wonderful skill — until Clooney admitted where they had gone wrong.
George and Amal Clooney welcomed twins in 2017. Presley Ann via Getty Images
“But I don’t speak Italian. My wife doesn’t speak Italian,” the actor told host Jimmy Kimmel. “It’s a terrible [thing]. We’ve armed them with a language.”
“A secret language,” Kimmel added, laughing.
Clooney gave an example of what it’s like to tell one of his twins to do something, and how they respond in Italian:
Advertisement
Though Clooney never responded to a question from Kimmel about why the twins speak Italian, it could have something to do with the fact that the family has a home in Lake Como, Italy, called Villa Oleandra.
The couple welcomed their twins in 2017, although Clooney revealed last month that the two had “never talked about having kids.”
“And then one day we just said, “What do you think?’” he said. “And, you know, then we go to the doctor and you do the ultrasound and [they’re] like, ‘Hey, you got a baby boy.’”
“I said, ‘Baby boy, fantastic!’ Then they go, ‘And you got another one there.’ And I was like … I was up for one, you know? ’Cause, again, I’m old,” Clooney quipped.
“All of a sudden it’s, like, two?” he continued. “You know, it’s hard to get me to not talk. And I just stood there for like 10 minutes, just staring at this piece of paper going ‘two’ silently. But I’m so glad they have each other.”