thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Boris Johnson's Brexit Crunch Point Has Arrived

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It is now a little over half a decade since David Cameron introduced the legislation for a referendum on EU membership. And it is four months since Boris Johnson proclaimed that he had successfully brought “the whole political wrangle” of Brexit to an end.
But Brexit was not done, far from it. Another event that day – the first recorded case of Covid-19 in the UK – ultimately meant that relations with the European Union, for the first sustained period in half a decade, have not been the most pressing policy problem facing the prime minister.
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Coping with Covid-19 will be the central task confronting the British state for some time. Yet a crunch point on Brexit has also arrived. Big decisions about the future of our most important trading relationship will be made over the next few weeks. And at that point, the two crises will begin to interact.
Despite his 80-seat majority and his outward nonchalance, backbench frustration over Dominic Cummings will have shaken the prime minister. The gradually rising number of Conservative backbenchers, rather than the mounting pile of evidence against Cummings, provided his biggest headache. And it is in this context that he will have to make some key decisions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson NurPhoto via Getty Images
Two in particular will need to be managed in the next month: whether the mooted easing of lockdown measures will be able to continue as planned, with pubs opening by July 4; and a decision by June 30 on whether the UK government will try and give itself more time on Brexit – whether to negotiate a deal, or prepare for no deal – through an extension to the transition period.
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At first blush, dealing with two crises instead of one looks like a double misfortune for a politician who has – to date – often been a lucky General. If Boris Johnson were to let either date slip – should he ask for an extension (even if repackaged as something else) or fail to open up the economy – a large portion of his party, already restless, will react negatively. Yet the art of party management is the politics of give and take, and Johnson could soon see the ailing negotiation as a source of strength in shoring up internal support.
On both these key decisions, pressure from within his party runs against the public mood. The public remain circumspect about ending lockdown, continuing to prioritise reducing the immediate negative health impacts of coronavirus over limiting negative effects of the lockdown measures. Equally, by a two to one margin, a majority of the country – including over a third of Leave voters – are happy to support extending the Brexit transition period, given the current context.
The problem is that powerful section of the parliamentary Conservative party is both bullish on lockdown and uncompromising on transition. The strongest backers of Brexit – David Davis, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Iain Duncan Smith, Steve Baker – are those who have lobbied hardest for a significant opening up of the economy and for the government to go further and faster. If you are a Eurosceptic, in the House of Commons at least, it seems you are more likely to be a lockdown sceptic.
It is not just the personalities that has summoned a sense of déjà vu with the Brexit debates of the past. The vivid primary colours in which the arguments are made also have a familiar feel. The freedom of speech of those in favour of ending lockdown is, we are told, being curtailed by identity politics fanatics, and ”liberal bubble hysteria”. The unions and the bourgeoisie have formed an unholy alliance. And those bloody experts have (again) waged a campaign based on fear. Welcome back to the politics of social values which underpinned the Brexit debate.
It is not inevitable – though it is certainly possible – that at some point in 2020 Boris Johnson will have to let down this section of the party, either over their old cause of Brexit or their new anti-lockdown crusade. And herein lies the rub. It is the latter decision that is more politically sensitive. As a result, the merits or otherwise of extending the transition period will be part of a wider calculation about the management of the Conservative party. A decision not to extend transition could come to seem like a pound of flesh worth paying – whatever the implications – to keep a restive parliamentary party onside.
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After all, if the UK experiences a second significant spike in infections following a truncated period in isolation, either in the summer or into the Autumn, Johnson’s Premiership could begin to be in trouble. Indeed, if controlling the virus proves incompatible with loosening restrictions at any point over the next 12 months, as we have seen elsewhere, more stringent measures could need to be reintroduced. And as James Johnson has pointed out, there is less of a public clamour for prioritising the economy over public health here than in other comparable democracies. A wrong decision would leave Johnson with nowhere to hide.
On the other hand, in the short term at least, failing to extend transition seems relatively (politically) cost-free. When it comes to transition, the prime minister does not face any real public pressure. The public, if asked, say extension may be a practical idea. Yet few are paying attention to the negotiations. The Leader of the Opposition is not willing to make the public case for extension. He is willing to prosecute the case that Johnson has made the wrong strategic mistakes in handling Covid-19.
These short-term considerations could well be important in shoring up the prime minister’s position, giving Johnson maximum room for manoeuvre as he makes some of the biggest decisions of his life on lockdown. Ultimately, the cost to the economy is likely to be viewed as the price worth paying.
Professor Anand Menon is director and Dr Alan Wager is research associate at UK in a Changing Europe.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--We All Feel Differently As Lockdown Eases – And It's Creating A Divide

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
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But now, things are shifting. Where once we were united in our emotions – with the clear advice of ‘stay home and protect the NHS’ – the picture has now become more complex as rules have eased.
Some people are ready to move on with their lives – to meet friends, to get back to work. Others are more reluctant, anxious about what this new future holds. And this mismatch is not exactly a recipe for happy relationships – whether that’s between partners, family members, friends or housemates.
“Things are very conflicting and there are very opposing feelings,” says Lucy Fuller, a UKCP-accredited psychotherapist.
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ADRIAN DENNIS via Getty Images
Fuller says our brains are trying to process a lot of conflicting information. There’s the excitement of returning to normal versus the sadness of the fact it’s a new normal. We still don’t fully understand what’s going on, either: will the virus die out in a few months or will there be a second wave? We don’t know.
“There is so much conflict everywhere,” she says. “Whereas when we started lockdown, it was actually very simple. There was a collective feeling about what was going on. It was about: you need to protect the NHS, you need to stay indoors. It was focused and clear.
“What’s going on for us [now] is a complete reflection of what’s going on outside.”
“There is so much conflict everywhere.” - Psychotherapist Lucy Fuller
And this conflict is causing an emotional divide. You may be in the camp of people who is ready to socialise in small groups outside. Your friend may be in the camp of those who are too scared to leave the house. And a family member might want to stick to the one-person outside rule, instead of groups.
Because of this, you may be questioning your family and friends’ choices more than ever. Fuller likens the divide this can cause to the Leave/Remain Brexit split.
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Judgment is also problematic. It can make you feel worse if you judge others for their movements, and it can also lead to tension. People previously told HuffPost UK a fear of judgment led them to form their own de-facto ‘bubbles’ of those who knew about their social movements.
“Many people operate on the level of thinking that they are right and the other person is in the wrong,” Sören Stauffer-Kruse, a relationships psychologist who runs The Counselling Practice, told HuffPost UK. “It is not up to us as a friend to judge the other person’s position.”
Malte Mueller via Getty Images
How can we ease the tension this is having on our relationships, then?
Firstly, we must acknowledge that other people’s actions are out of our control. Instead, therapists say we should focus on what we can control. If you’re anxious about leaving the house, you can turn down group barbecue invites – and perhaps just meet up with one friend for a walk, instead.
Stauffer-Kruse said friendships where both sides understand that behaviour is motivated by emotional need will fare better and have less conflict. “Good friendships are based on understanding we all have our own point on such issues,” she said.
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Things may be harder if you live with someone who is approaching the easing of lockdown differently to you. In that case, it’s important to rely on your ability to communicate well and compromise.
Pam Custers, a counsellor and psychotherapist who runs The Relationship Practice, recommends working out a “co-created solution”. One person in the household might feel it’s fine to attend a barbecue at a mate’s house, while another might feel uncomfortable about that. She says the conversation has to go along the lines of: ‘Ok, you’re happy to do that. But how can you reassure me that what you’re putting in place is going to protect me?’ says Custers.
“It requires us to be very adult in how we approach this” - Pam Custers, counsellor and psychotherapist
For the person who is perhaps more anxious, it’s about acknowledging that the other person might really need to go see friends for the sake of their wellbeing. “It’s for the two of you to negotiate a way of doing it,” says Custers.
You have to decide what you’re comfortable with and invent your own house rules, says Custers. “It requires us to be very adult in how we approach this,” she adds. “In the same way you would sit down and work out how you’re sharing the bills, who’s buying the food, this is another discussion and it needs to be had.” Have the conversation regularly, too, as the rules change.
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This advice is true for all your friends and family, whether you live with them or not: keep an open conversation. “We need to discuss this each step of the way,” Custers concludes, “it’s not a one-off conversation, it’s an evolving conversation that has to be done with openness.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--This Is Isolation, Summed Up Poignantly By 8 Young Artists In Lockdown

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How would you sum up your experience in isolation, if you could in one picture?
That’s what young British artists were asked to do to keep them occupied during the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown. And in response, eight of them have been shortlisted for The Arts Society’s ‘Isolation’ artwork competition.
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When asked to respond to the theme, many of them captured feelings of uncertainty, isolation, loneliness – as well as more uplifting concepts of nature, connection, and love.
Their work will form a virtual exhibition hosted on The Arts Society Connected site from June 3, where people will have a chance to vote for their favourite.
Four of the shortlisted artists shared their inspiration behind their pieces.
Abigail McGourlay, 20, from Sheffield painted a self-portrait titled ‘Brewing’ of herself drinking a cup of tea in the bath, two things she has found comforting during lockdown.
HuffPost UK Abigail McGourlay 20 from Sheffield
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Annie Doron, 19, from Cumbria was living in Canada and had to return home when lockdown started. Her piece explores the uncertainty for the post-lockdown future coupled with the uncertainty of Brexit.
HuffPost UK Annie Doron 19 from Cumbria
Ella Sambrook, 19, from Colchester noticed lockdown and isolation has helped her form a deeper connection to her surroundings. Inspired by Shinrin Yoku the ancient Japanese practice, known as ‘forest bathing’, her artwork is painted on tree stumps.
HuffPost UK Ella Sambrook 19 from Colchester
Erin Hartnett, 19, from Hertford was studying History at Leeds when lockdown started and she had to return home. She drew a series of sketches of loved ones using biro to bring happiness in this time of uncertainty.
HuffPost UK Erin Hartnett 19 from Hertford
Four other artists have also made the shortlist for the award: Indigo Price, 22, from London; Toby Richardson, 19, from Chichester; Sophie Meadows, 18, from Cambridge; and Emma Money, 18, from Harrogate.
Here are their entries:
HuffPost UK Toby Richardson
HuffPost UK Indigo Price
HuffPost UK Emma Money
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HuffPost UK Sophie Meadows
The shortlist was selected by a panel of judges. The winner will be announced on July 7 following a public vote.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Could Riots Happen Again In The UK As People Demand Justice For Police Brutality?

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On August 4, 2011, 29-year-old Mark Duggan was shot dead by the Metropolitan Police in Tottenham, north London.
His killing sparked public protests on those same streets two days later, as his friends, family and community demanded justice for his death.
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The protests were initially peaceful as a group outside Tottenham police station asked to see a senior officer. But the pent-up anger of many escalated into riots overnight.
They spread like wildfire across London, engulfing Hackney, Brixton, Walthamstow, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon, Ealing, Barking, Woolwich, Lewisham and East Ham – and then beyond the capital, in Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Derby, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.
Over a period of just five days, Britain saw the worst riots in its modern history. Five people died, more than a dozen were hurt, and more than 3,000 people were arrested.
US cities are now bearing witness to demonstrations on a scale not seen since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, fuelled by anger, frustration, despair, heartbreak and fear at yet another murder of an innocent Black man at the hands of law enforcement.
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Mark Duggan and George Floyd Press Association / Twitter
Rallies demanding justice for George Floyd have translated into protests in London, Cardiff and Manchester over the weekend. So far they have been peaceful – but could this change as frustration over decades of injustice comes to a head?
Labour councillor Maurice Mcleod was at the protest outside the US embassy in central London on Saturday. He witnessed the riots in 2011 and in Brixton in 1981 – and said he felt “the same tension in London right now”.
“There’s a real sense of heightened anger on the streets,” he told HuffPost UK.
Although the possibility of riots “really concerns” him, he accepted there was “every reason for certain communities to be livid” and that the coronavirus outbreak had shone a spotlight on “the inequality that has always been there”.
“We’re dying. I know six people who have died from this,” he said. “Then we look around and see there are two different kinds of pandemics going on.
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A bus is set on fire as rioters gathered in Croydon, south London, on August 8 2011. ASSOCIATED PRESS
“There’s the middle-class kind, where people are baking sourdough bread and getting bored. And there’s the working-class kind – which includes a lot of BAME [Black, Asian and minority ethnic] people – who are still being forced to go into work and put their lives at risk.”
To stop the “bubble from bursting”, the Met needed to be extra aware and cautious, he said. But Mcleod feels the police response to protesters over the weekend was “unnecessarily aggressive”. “They were deliberately banding their truncheons – they tried to kettle and to arrest someone.”
He warned: “It’s not impossible to see some heavy-handed policing could turn that sense of anger into something more serious.”
Fahim Alam, 33, experienced first hand the “criminal injustice system” in 2011 when he was arrested and falsely accused of violent disorder, spending six weeks in three different prisons and a further six months on an electronic tag. “At the time, it took over my life,” he told HuffPost UK.
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After his acquittal, he produced and directed a documentary about the riots, interviewing activists, youth workers and people who were arrested and convicted for other riots to explore the factors that led up to the events.
The Hackney born-and-bred Oxford law graduate said he would be “really surprised” if the George Floyd protests in the UK directly turned into social unrest. “Riots are organic,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have the same affinity and anger that happens when someone is killed by police in your immediate local community.
“Whenever we’ve had riots in this country, they’ve been from communities that have been consistently harassed, put into slums and prisons and criminalised over periods of time – but there’s always been a final trigger that’s broken the camel’s back.”
Back in 2011, this anger had been “bubbling up” for several years. “There was a narrative that we’ve been oppressed and brutalised for years. Society says ‘fuck you’ all the time.”
Alam said he had spent his entire youth being “stopped under all the search powers of the Terrorism Act”.
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“One thing you’ll hear from Black and Asian communities is that we’re being constantly under-served and over-policed,” he said. “They aren’t here to serve us, but they are over us.”
Police on horseback during the first night of the riots in Tottenham. Lewis Whyld - PA Images via Getty Images
That sentiment can be traced decades back to the 1980s, said Stafford Scott, whose work as a community campaigner and Black rights activist began during the Broadwater Farm riot in Tottenham in 1985.
“We were born to the Windrush generation,” he said. “Our parents weren’t well received, but they told us we were going to be OK because we were born here.
“But we weren’t received either, and we had nowhere to go so we fought for the right to be here and to be seen as Black.”
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Scott, who was a close friend of the Duggan family, compared how his killing sparked riots across the UK in the same way that Floyd’s has spread in the US.
He told HuffPost UK, however, that the past weekend’s protests in London had “infuriated” him.
He said: “Where were all these people when the police killed Rashan Charles, Edson Da Costa, Sean Rigg, Roger Sylvester, Joy Gardner?”
By not standing up for the victims who died as a result of police brutality or under police custody in the UK – “the most institutionally racist country on this planet” – Scott said that the protesters were effectively “telling the system that what they do to us is acceptable”.
“If you can’t get justice for Black people here, how can you demand justice for someone in America?” he asked.
People gather near the remains of a police patrol car left after being set on fire during a protest in Tottenham. Ferdaus Shamim via Getty Images
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Rashan Charles died under police restraint on July 22, 2017, aged 20; Edson Da Costa died a month earlier, aged 25. Both were fathers.
Although the officers in both cases were cleared of wrongdoing, the memory of their deaths continues to have a profound impact on the Black community in Hackney, according to youth leader Yolanda.
“Young people have grown up with the sense that there hasn’t been any justice given to [Charles’] family,” she told HuffPost UK. ”[The police] are killing us and [they] are getting away with it.”
The lack of trust in the police has only been amplified by the community’s firsthand experience with law enforcement.
“A lot of young people have been targeted, stopped and searched on the regular, and it’s usually common with excessive force and derogatory language.”
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The 25-year-old said she had already seen three cases of Black men dying at the hands of the British police in her lifetime.
“There’s a mixture of anger and frustration and hurt and fear. There’s the sense that it could happen to any of us.”
Despite the tragedy and deafening injustice, she said that there were “positive things” that had resulted from how the local community had responded in 2017.
She said: “After Rashan Charles was killed, I noticed there were people from all different areas of London at his protest.
“It was very peaceful, seeing people joining together with music and speaking on positive levels. It was important for community healing.”
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Like Mcleod, Yolanda believes the likelihood of riots breaking out in the UK as in the US is dependent on how protests are policed and the behaviour of officers in the coming weeks.
“It won’t be the young people who will make the first step,” she said. “The people I’ve spoken to are annoyed, but they aren’t going to take it to the extreme unless the police do something similar here as to what happened in America.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Covid-19 Has Devastated The Black Community. Here's Why And What Needs To Change

"A recent poll showed Black Americans are twice as likely to know someone who has tested positive or died from Covid-19." rubberball via Getty Images
I am Black. I am a woman. I am a physician.
My education took me from public schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the Ivy League halls of Brown University. I returned to post-Katrina New Orleans for my medical education, then went to the Washington, D.C., area for an internal medicine residency and allergy and immunology fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
I’ve practiced medicine on both coasts. I was one of only six Black students in my medical school class, one of a mere three Black residents in my residency class and the only Black allergy and immunology fellow in my class. I was the only Black physician in my group at my last hospital appointment. I am very aware of my Blackness, yet the impact of Covid-19’s racial disparities still surprised me. (I am aware of the impact of COVID-19 on all communities of colour, but as a Black woman I have chosen to focus this essay on my personal experience and perspective.)
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During a recent Zoom conference call with colleagues, I suddenly realised that, while I have had several family members, family friends and acquaintances who have fallen ill with and died of Covid-19, my colleagues have had none. The single obvious difference between my colleagues and me? I am Black, and New Orleans is my hometown.
In my family, five cousins tested positive for Covid-19. Two recovered quickly. One required ventilator support and recovered. Sadly, two died. Another cousin, a nurse, developed symptoms after caring for Covid-19 patients, but ultimately tested negative (I am convinced it was a false negative result). Each day there is another call, text or post about someone I know who has gotten sick or passed away from Covid-19. The grief and anxiety is profound, especially when compounded by recent news of police violence against and harassment of Black people.
I know I am not alone. A recent poll showed Black Americans are twice as likely to know someone who has tested positive or died from Covid-19. Why? It is complicated. Underlying health disparities and social determinants of health play a large role. But, Black Americans have also had less access to Covid-19 testing and medical care. We have been turned away from testing sites, and our symptoms have been minimised. For too many, this has proven fatal. For others it is yet another reminder that Black Americans are not afforded the same opportunities as other Americans, even during a pandemic.
Exclusion of Black Americans is not new. I have studied and researched racism, bias, ignorance and misconceptions in medicine and clinical research. I think about issues related to access to fair opportunities to good medical care and work to ensure access for my patients.
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“Each day there is another call, text or post about someone I know who has gotten sick or passed away from Covid-19. The grief and anxiety is profound, especially when compounded by recent news of police violence against and harassment of Black people.”
During my allergy and immunology fellowship training, I started to think about how patients became research participants. At our institution, all of the patients are research subjects and had to be referred by a physician. What standards, benchmarks and criteria stood between the patient and access to our hospital? How did my patients get there? What barriers did they have to overcome to make it to my office?
I asked a patient once. He was a young Latinx boy from Florida. His parents were undocumented and Spanish-speaking. He told me that he told his doctor about our program and asked to be referred. The boy had to advocate for himself. His doctor obliged. How many Black Americans ask their doctors for assistance, advocate for their health, and are still denied? How many times have Black women been ignored after childbirth and died? How many times have Black people been told that they are not really in that much pain? How many times have Black people been blamed for their ailments?
Historically, Black Americans are underrepresented in research. Why? Implicit and explicit bias are known factors. Mistrust and a history of victimisation too ― Tuskegee and Henrietta Lacks still loom large in communities of colour. But studies show that Blacks are viewed by medical professionals as more challenging, less promising research participants, have more underlying co-morbid conditions, and most discouraging of all, they are often just not asked to participate. Simply put, we are excluded.
I have always understood the duality of America: Black and white. Male and female. Rich and poor. Healthy and sick. I have experienced it. I always think about it. In high school, when a white doctor thought I was lying about my pain, I ended up requiring surgery. In college, when my professor asked my opinion of slavery, I was the only Black person in the room. In medical school, when other students laughed at the private parts of our Black cadaver because they had “heard” about Black male anatomy, I was the only one offended. In residency, when a white male patient demanded a non-Black, non-female physician, I was embarrassed and angry. In fellowship, when my patient was happy and relieved to see that I, his doctor, was Black, I was one of the few who understood his relief. And, as an attending physician, when a white colleague said that our Black patient must not have a father in the home to help manage his medications because Black mothers “never” have Black fathers in the home, I confronted her ignorance.
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All doctors are trained to listen to patients. Some listen more than others. The goal is to parse out the important information to find out what matters. When my Black patients speak, I listen a bit more closely. I know that those who are often ignored need more attention. I remember when I was 17 years old, in an emergency room, in pain, and ignored. I remember vowing never to treat my patients that way. I remember when my Black male patient who needed a lung transplant to survive knew that staff labeled him “difficult,” and that this was likely a death sentence for him. It was. I remember when my Black paediatric patient’s mother, also labeled “difficult,” told me about her own medical problems she was dealing with, in addition to her son’s severe asthma. When I sat and listened closely, we made a plan to ensure her son’s care would be less burdensome for their family.
To date, there are no FDA-approved Covid-19 treatments, and access to experimental treatments is through clinical research trials. When Covid-19 patients are admitted to hospitals, the sickest require experimental drugs to survive. They are not only sick patients, but now also research participants. Who is advocating for them? Who is listening to them? Who is ensuring their access to the best available treatments? Who is deciding who gets recruited into a clinical trial and who does not?
My colleagues and I have many common experiences. We all attended top-tier medical schools and training programs, and have worked at prestigious institutions. But my Blackness still sets me apart. I live in a different America. My grandparents lived in a different America. My parents, sisters, nieces and nephews live in a different America. Black people live in a different America. Covid-19 has shown this. Birdwatching in Central Park has shown this. Continued police brutality has shown this.
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“My colleagues and I have many common experiences. We all attended top-tier medical schools and training programs, and have worked at prestigious institutions. But my Blackness still sets me apart. I live in a different America.”
Yes, I hope the research enterprise during this pandemic will not be biased. I hope that Black Americans will be included in Covid-19 research. But, historic precedent is not favourable. If I contract Covid-19 and become severely ill, how will I be treated? Will I be afforded a fair opportunity to experimental treatments? Will I be treated the same as my colleagues?
Despite federal legislation mandating inclusion of women and people of color in NIH-funded research, participation of minorities in research has remained stagnant. Underrepresenting racial/ethnic minorities limits generalizability of research study findings, perpetuates disparities in access to high-quality health care, and contributes to disparities in treatment outcomes and survival.
What can we do? New legislation should give the regulatory power needed to incentivize inclusion of minorities in non-NIH-funded research, which make up the majority of studies. Additionally, public-private partnerships are needed to operationalize effective responses to community and nation-wide needs in research infrastructures.
The NIH and FDA announced public-private partnership initiatives to streamline development of Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, but there is no mention of a focus on equitable access in these plans. And even though it may seem like the equitable approach to take, colour-blind, race-neutral approaches must be avoided. Such frameworks allow for silent complicity in maintaining the social structures that underly Black Americans’ baseline poorer health status.
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While many American lives have been merely inconvenienced by Covid-19, my community has been devastated. As I watch what’s happening, I am devastated. Black Americans cannot be denied an opportunity to assist in finding solutions to Covid-19. Our inclusion is a matter of life and death.
Akilah A. Jefferson Shah is an NIH-trained allergist and immunologist. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Why Does Boris Johnson’s ‘Whatever It Takes’ Pledge Not Apply To Child Hunger?

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Making a meal of it
Today, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that the government is set to spend £132.5 billion on its full range of measures aimed at dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. From loans to business to paying the wages of furloughed staff, the huge injection of state help offers some respite for millions hit by the pandemic.
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But contrast the scale of that figure with the aid being offered to England’s poorest children in coming weeks. In what will come as a bitter blow to their parents, the PM’s official spokesman informed us that the free school meals voucher scheme will end as soon as the summer holidays start.
The programme, which gives families £15 a week to spend in supermarkets to feed their kids, has helped 1.3m children in recent weeks. Under pressure from charities and teachers, it was extended over Easter and the late May half-term holiday. The programme was far from perfect, but it fed hungry kids. It will now come to an abrupt halt the moment schools formally break up for summer in July.
The cost of extending the scheme over the six-week summer holiday would run to a few hundred million pounds, which is relatively small change in Whitehall terms. And it’s worth remembering the sums involved individually: just £15 a week per child. That may not sound a lot, but for families on the breadline it makes a big, big difference.
In many ways it’s a scandal that poorer parents don’t already have free school meals guaranteed during school holidays. The mouths still need feeding, so families have to find the money by cutting back on other things. And with coronavirus seeing more people’s income squeezed and furloughed jobs hanging by a thread, the need is more pressing than ever.
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There are local summer play schemes for children that do offer free meals, but they often rely on charity and can’t reach everyone. No.10 tried to defend itself today by pointing to a £9m pot of cash (yes, £9m) that activity clubs can apply for. Yet the group Feeding Britain says it would have to be massively expanded in order to reach every child who needs help.
Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak have both pledged to spend ‘whatever it takes’ to help Britons get through the crisis. They talk time and again about how “generous” their state support is. But those words may taste like ashes in the mouths of parents who will again struggle to feed their kids through July and August.
What’s even more worrying about the government’s blindspot on this issue is that the PM himself admitted yesterday that “there will be many, many job losses” this year. The number of people on Universal Credit, itself one of the eligibility criteria for free school meals, is set to soar even higher in coming months, as unemployment rises. “That is just inevitable,” Johnson said.
So why isn’t it similarly ‘just inevitable’ that his government would do something simple to prevent children going hungry this summer? And wouldn’t that really prove he wants to ‘level up’ Britain’s most basic inequalities?
Quote Of The Day
“Why wouldn’t people want to do the right thing?”
Grant Shapps on his hope that fines won’t be needed for new face covering rules
Thursday Cheat Sheet
Grant Shapps announced that it would be mandatory for the English public to wear face coverings on public transport from June 15. The move will be the most visible symbol yet of the government’s ‘stay alert’ public health messaging.
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Shapps also revealed that cycling had gone up by 100% on weekdays and 200% at the weekends during the pandemic.
Business secretary Alok Sharma announced he had tested negative for Covid-19. He had taken ill during a Commons debate on Wednesday. No.10 revealed he had spent 45 minutes in a meeting with the PM and Rishi Sunak in Downing Street on Tuesday.
The UK coronavirus deaths total reached 39,904, following the lowest rise in weeks. But it is certain to pass the 40,000 mark tomorrow. We will also find out more on excess deaths from the ONS, plus the latest R rate.
British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air all got hundreds of millions of pounds from the Bank of England’s Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility. Yet each faces complaints they are failing to refund customers for cancelled air flights.
The University of Oxford has delayed publishing admissions data on the diversity of its students in light of “world events”, HuffPost UK’s Nadine White revealed.
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Acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey launched his bid to lead the party permanently with a new pledge to improve conditions for carers. Wera Hobhouse and Layla Moran are also in the running.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Free School Meals Vouchers Will Stop In Summer Holidays, No.10 Reveals

Boris Johnson and education secretary Gavin Williamson. PA
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A government scheme to provide free school meal vouchers for poor pupils will not be extended to cover this summer’s holiday period, No.10 has revealed.
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The £15-a-week vouchers can be used in local supermarkets by parents of children who would normally have received a free lunch but have been forced to stay at home during the Covid crisis.
Following pressure from teaching unions and charities, the Department for Education extended funding to cover the Easter break and recent half term to help hard-pressed families coping with lost income during the pandemic.
But Downing Street has now revealed that the scheme will come to an end when the summer holidays begin.
The move sparked a swift backlash, with Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeting “kids don’t suddenly stop being hungry just because it’s the summer holidays, Boris Johnson”.
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You do know that kids don't suddenly stop being hungry just because it's the summer holidays, don't you @BorisJohnson? https://t.co/NvvCHqa0zV — 🌈 Angela Rayner 🌈 (@AngelaRayner) June 4, 2020
Around 1.3 million children are eligible for the meal vouchers, which are given to most parents on universal credit, income support, income based employment and support allowance, income-based job seekers allowance or child tax credit.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The voucher scheme will not run over the summer.”
He stressed that a separate project, that allows local areas to bid for funds for summer holiday activity and meals clubs, could be expanded instead,.
“A £9 million holiday activities and food programme will offer activities and meals to thousands of disadvantaged children during the summer break.
“We are keeping this scheme under review to consider whether it needs to be extended further.”
But the Feeding Britain charity said that only a handful of areas benefited from the holiday programme and it should be rolled out to ensure every child in need had access to a meal in the summer.
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Andrew Forsey, national director, told HuffPost UK: “Absent from all the recent reports, around the Government’s plans to help disadvantaged children over the summer holiday, has been any mention of how these plans will safeguard every child’s access to nutritious food.
“Now the voucher scheme is reaching its conclusion, we need the government to extend its holiday activities and food scheme across the whole country. That is the only remaining option for protecting every child from hunger and malnutrition.”
Labour’s shadow minister for early years Tulip Siddiq said: “Free school meals have been a lifeline for struggling families in this crisis.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Black Lives Matter UK Urges: Play Reggae Hit At 7pm To Protest Covid Deaths Whitewash

BLM UK UKBLM
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Black Lives Matter UK is urging supporters to play reggae hit The Harder They Come at 7pm on Thursday to protest the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on BAME people – and a “disappointing” government review that made no recommendations.
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With many returning to work in the phased reopening of the economy, the campaigners want to know how those most affected, especially Black key workers, will be protected.
Members of the public are being encouraged to play the reggae hit by Jamaican legend Jimmy Cliff and share clips of this to social media using a hashtag.
Previously, Thursday evenings saw the public take to their doorsteps to “clap for carers”. The organisers chose the same day for the reggae protest to recognise the fact that BAME people are overrepresented in the NHS and other essential services.
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The campaigners draw attention to the fact that, while the UK depends on these workers to stay alive, these workers’ lives themselves are not being adequately protected.
Protest co-organiser Alex, a founding member of Black Lives Matter UK, said people are “angry” about the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis.
“The timing of this very much to do with the PHE report. Though it was really descriptive and gave us figures – there’s nothing new in there. We already knew about the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME people.
“It’s talking about how inequalities that already exist were just reproduced and made worse. Then, of course, people have concerns about how they were sitting on the report because they didn’t want people to riot.” The government has denied this claim, reported by Sky News at the weekend.
“A lot of people are angry.”
BLM PROTEST BLM UK
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Because this protest can be joined indoors, those who are shielding or have concerns about taking to the streets during the pandemic can still get involved.
“It’s important to find ways of protesting that work for different people, different forms of accessibility,” the co-organiser said.
“Obviously a lot of people have gone out to protest – a huge diversity of people. We’re trying to show up in other ways. Even in our organisation, we have people who are shielding at home; they’re not gonna go out but they still want to support.”
Some 15,000 demonstrators attended a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest at Hyde Park yesterday – which was not organised by Black Lives Matter UK.
Tonight’s event will in fact be the first that the group has organised since George Floyd – a Black man – was killed on May 25 by US police.
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Black Lives Matter UK is demanding that the government investigates the root causes of disparities in health for Black people and people of colour, and provides a roadmap with individual, community and structural interventions.
Rosa Johan-Uddoh, who is co-organising the event, told HuffPost UK: “In the PHE review there were no recommendations, no action points, no plan about what they’re going to do. Just a statement of fact and we don’t accept that. With this protest today we’re calling for action to be taken to make sure that statistic isn’t just what we live with now.”
Rosa added that the song was chosen in acknowledgement of the fact that music has long been a form of resistance for Black people around the world.
Protesters on Wednesday take to the streets to march in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and protest the killing of George Floyd Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Since its inception in 2016, Alex said Black Lives Matter members have dedicated time and effort to advocating for equality – even if it sometimes doesn’t reach headlines or isn’t commonly talked about on social media.
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This includes fundraising, as well as supporting the Stansted 15 protests and the United Friends and Family campaign.
“There’s a difference between the moments when suddenly the spotlight is on us when we’re not even seeking it, and the moments when we’re trying to do stuff and not necessarily getting that airtime.”
This comes as a coalition of 15 race equality organisations, CORE, have written to health secretary Matt Hancock to express their dismay at the PHE review over the absence of recommendations around solutions.
The letter says: “There are no suggestions about how we might reduce the number of BAME deaths or protect frontline BAME staff who remain at serious risk.
“Nor does it reach any firm conclusion about why this disproportionality occurs or analyse whether racism in its many forms plays a role.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Business Secretary Alok Sharma Tests Negative For Coronavirus

Alok Sharma Parliament TV
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Business secretary Alok Sharma has tested negative for coronavirus.
He had returned home to self-isolate on Wednesday after beginning to feel unwell in the House of Commons chamber.
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He was seen wiping his face with a handkerchief several times and his opposite number in Labour’s shadow cabinet, Ed Miliband, passed him a glass of water at one point.
On Thursday, Sharma thanked well-wishers for their support after revealing the negative test result.
He tweeted: “Huge thanks to everyone for their really kind messages over the last 24 hours and my grateful thanks also to the parliamentary authorities and Speaker for their support yesterday. Just had results in and my test for #Covidー19 was negative.”
His spokesperson said: “Business secretary Alok Sharma has received a negative result after being tested for coronavirus yesterday.
“Mr Sharma would like to thank the parliamentary authorities and Speaker and also for the kind words from parliamentary colleagues and others who have expressed their well wishes over the last 24 hours.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--America’s Racial Injustice Highlights Britain’s Own, with Bim Afolami

America’s Racial Injustice Highlights Britain’s Own, with Bim Afolami
Conservative MP Bim Afolami joins Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth as they discuss the BAME report, whether Boris Johnson has been strong enough in his response to Donald Trump’s actions and whether the government is still following the science on Covid-19.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--The British Media Needs To Recognise Black Lives Matter As Much As Madeleine McCann's

Undated family handout photo of Madeleine McCann. PA
Anyone who has been following the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK will know of its importance. Of course, the UK has seen anti-racism protests before, but the outpouring of global support for the civil rights movement, and Black Lives Matter in particular, following George Floyd’s death feels historic.
Which makes it all the more bewildering to see a huge cross section of the media refuse to recognise this. Last night, I watched in shock as front page after front page ran Madeleine McCann’s face after German police announced they had a lead on the case. Indeed, most papers ran the story on their front pages without even a mention of the political and social earthquake rippling across the UK in the wake of Floyd’s death. Thousands took to the streets in London yesterday protesting racism and demanding racial equality – yet the British media saw the most important story of the day as Madeleine’s. It is moments like these that demonstrate the depth of the problem we are facing when it comes to not only addressing racism in British society but even accepting that it exists.
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To be clear, Madeleine McCann’s case is tragic, and I have much sympathy for her family. It’s been more than 13 years since the then-three-year-old disappeared without a trace from a holiday resort in Portugal, and numerous leads over the years have faded to nothing. So, in many ways, it’s no surprise the papers ran the news prominently that German police had a lead, and feared she may be dead. It’s important to recognise the significance of this moment for Madeleine’s loved ones. And as a British citizen, I feel that too.
But it is also important to recognise the significance of what is happening to Black people right now. A failure to recognise the systemic racism our society is built on is costing our lives. It is important to recognise the failure to give proper acknowledgement to the Black Lives Matters protests in the national press today, and what that means for the UK’s Black citizens.
“Police brutality, inequality, and discrimination faced by Black people in society should be making front page news, and if it isn’t, we need to be interrogating the reasons why.”
When John Boyega stood up, sobbing, in Hyde Park yesterday, saying: “I might not have a career after this, but f*ck that,” it demonstrated how much pain he, and the Black community, are in. When you turn on the news, you see thousands gathering, from the US to New Zealand marching against racism against Black people – and it shows how much we need justice. It is not an understatement to say we are witnessing a pivotal moment when it comes to the liberation of Black people in society. So to see all this passion, all this pain, and all this injustice deemed not significant enough, not important enough, not pivotal enough to even get a look in on the front pages of the British newspapers felt deeply personal. It felt like racism, and just another example that we feel empathy for white faces, and not towards Black ones. That a white girl’s face could so easily and seamlessly bury the voices and pain of millions of Black people across the world – from London to New York – shows that Black lives really do not matter that much at all.
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If Black lives are going to matter – to truly matter – we must call out this pattern of behaviour in coverage like this. While Madeleine’s story is an example of an emotionally charged, national issue, the UK’s Black Lives Matter movement should be too. The police brutality, inequality, and discrimination that Black people face in society should be making front page news, and if it isn’t, we need to be interrogating the reasons why. The fact that this did not happen today, is demonstrative of the issue at hand.
The media have a huge responsibility when it comes to tone setting. It has a huge responsibility because it decides which stories are newsworthy, and whose lives are important. Madeleine’s story burying a historic moment for Black liberation across the UK, and the world, shows that Black lives are not seen as valuable as white ones. And this happens because we live in a society with very little concern or awareness of the lives on Black people. It happens because our newsrooms and editors are overwhelmingly white – and lack the interest to change that. And thus the cycle of sympathy for white lives and lack of empathy for Black ones perpetuates.
The only way we change this is by having Black people represented in senior positions in journalism, which would be reflected in the type of stories we accord importance. It would help recognise that, at such a painful and historic moment, prioritising a white life over the lives of Black people everywhere, shows a deep systemic problem. Until this happens, Black lives will never truly matter in British society.
Nadine Batchelor-Hunt is a journalist and former president of the Cambridge University Black and Minority Ethnic Campaign.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Face Coverings Mandatory On Public Transport From June 15, Says Grant Shapps

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Face coverings will be mandatory on public transport in England from June 15, transport secretary Grant Shapps has said.
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Travellers could be fined or refused permission to board buses or trains if they refuse to comply with the order.
Face coverings can be a scarf, piece of cloth or mask.
Currently passengers are advised to wear a face covering but are not stopped from travelling without one.
At the Downing Street press conference on Thursday, Shapps said: “I can announce that as of Monday June 15 face coverings will become mandatory on public transport.
“That doesn’t mean surgical masks, which we must keep for clinical settings. It means the kind of face covering, you can easily make at home.”
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Shapps said there will be exemptions to the rules for very young children, for disabled people and those with breathing difficulties.
He said on May 12 that 42 TfL workers and 10 mainline rail staff had died after being infected by coronavirus.
“We need to ensure every precaution is taken on buses, trains, aircraft, and on ferries,” Shapps said.
“With more people using transport the evidence suggests wearing face coverings offers some – albeit limited – protection against the spread for the virus.”
He added: “This will mean that you can be refused travel if you don’t comply and you could be fined.
“Alongside transport operators, this will be enforced by the British Transport Police if necessary, but I expect the vast majority of people won’t need to be forced into this, because wearing a face covering helps protect others.”
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Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said he was pleased the “government has finally seen sense”.
“This is something I and others have been calling on ministers to do for some time, and is in line with a large body of evidence that they can help stop the spread of coronavirus,” he said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Watch Live: Transport Secretary Grant Shapps Leads Daily Coronavirus Conference

Watch Live: Transport Secretary Grant Shapps Leads Daily Coronavirus Conference
Transport secretary Grant Shapps chairs the daily Downing Street press briefing alongside chairman of Network Rail Sir Peter Hendy. It comes as the UK coronavirus death toll nears 40,000.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--UK Zoos May Never Reopen Post-Lockdown: 'Our Future Hangs In The Balance'

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The giraffes at ZSL London quietly roam in front of an NHS sign, but with no visitors since mid-March, their future at the zoo remains uncertain.
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Across the UK, zoos have been ordered to remain closed for the foreseeable amid the coronavirus pandemic, sparking urgent requests for donations to save them from permanent closure.
Chester Zoo launched a ‘Save Our Zoo’ JustGiving page on Wednesday after admitting it is facing debt in excess of £24m by the end of 2020. ZSL – which runs zoos in London and Whipsnade – is also urging the public to donate to its regular fundraising page, so the sites stand a chance of reopening once restrictions are lifted.
Many other zoos across the country are facing a similar predicament, according to The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA).
“The lack of income through visitation across our sector is challenging many organisations’ continued existence,” Nicky Needham, senior manager at BIAZA tells HuffPost UK. “The pandemic couldn’t have hit at a worse time, as collectively our community receives 70-80% of our income between Easter and the end of summer.”
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Following pressure from BIAZA, a debate on the reopening of zoos and aquariums is now set to take place in parliament on June 11.
PAUL ELLIS via Getty Images New signs at Chester zoo.
The order to remain closed is particularly frustrating for zoos that have set out plans for how they could reopen while implementing social distancing.
ZSL says it has designed a one-way system, plus added additional hand washing facilities and sanitiser stations. Chester Zoo now has “viewing spots” painted on the ground, to encourage visitors to maintain the two-metre rule.
“Meanwhile we’re having to sit back and watch as people are piling onto beaches and into public parks, where there is no way of controlling numbers, no way of guaranteeing people are socially distanced and no way of ensuring safety,” Chester Zoo wrote on Facebook, in a post that’s already received more than 182K shares. “We, can do all of this.”
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PA Social distancing measures at Chester Zoo.
Most zoos rely almost entirely on visitors for their income, says Needham, but they have now been closed for over two months. Will the animals suffer as a result?
“Any good zoo and aquarium, such as our BIAZA members, will not compromise on animal welfare,” she says. “But these are unprecedented times and no one knows when the lockdown will be eased.”
“Our 20,000 giraffes, tigers, lions, meerkats, penguins and other animals need us as much today as any other day.” - Dominic Jermey, director general of ZSL
While many non-essential zoo staff have been furloughed, ZSL’s director general Dominic Jermey points out zoos still have huge outgoings that simply can’t be cut.
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“You can’t simply mothball a zoo and furlough all the staff to save money – our 20,000 giraffes, tigers, lions, meerkats, penguins and other animals need us as much today as any other day,” she says.
While critics of zoos have long called for their closure, Needham says modern, British zoos are “conservation powerhouses”.
“Last year BIAZA zoos and aquariums contributed nearly £24m to field conservation in the UK and globally,” she says. “Zoo and aquarium closures will dramatically curtail our conservation impact at a time we need them the most. It will, for example, reduce our capacity to support internationally managed breeding programmes for the most threatened species, from Sumatran tigers to Partula snails.”
PA Asian elephants at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire.
Jermey claims scientists at the Institute of Zoology at London Zoo may even “hold the key to preventing future pandemics like Covid-19”.
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“Our pioneering research feeds into governments at the highest level, helping to set policy on crucial topics including infectious disease that crosses species barriers like Ebola and bovine TB,” he says. “ZSL’s zoological and conservation knowledge, experience and expertise is more valuable to the UK than ever.”
BIAZA is calling for clarity from the government on the plans to reopen zoos.
“We urgently need them to allow flexibility for those zoos and aquariums who are ready, to be able to open as soon as possible,” says Needham. “We also need further ongoing financial support reflecting the diversity of the needs of our members.”
The government is offering a Zoo Support Fund where companies can apply for an animal welfare grant of up to £100,000 for a zoo or aquarium affected by Covid-19. But Needham says this is “insufficient for the needs of the sector”.
“We are in a mass extinction crisis,” she says. “This government has pledged to leave the environment in a better state than when they inherited it, they must protect zoos and aquariums from closure during this crisis so they can do their job.”
BIAZA and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Zoos and Aquariums have secured a debate on reopening zoos and aquariums in parliament to take place on June 11.
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Andrew Rosindell MP, Chair of the APPG for Zoos and Aquariums said: “I am very glad that Mr Speaker has agreed that this important topic should be debated in the Chamber. It is essential that Zoos, Aquariums and Wildlife Sanctuaries are allowed to re-open as soon as possible, or many will not survive this crisis.”
The Chester Zoo crowdfunder has raised more than £950,000 in donations in its first 24 hours, proving there is still a public appetite to support zoos. But the future of zoos like Chester and ZSL London and Whipsnade remain unclear.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--Hairdressers Won't Be Opening Until At Least July, Government Confirms

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Hairdressers will not be allowed to reopen until “July at the earliest”, the government has confirmed, adding to the woes of an increasingly shaggy-haired nation of Brits.
Reports earlier this week had said that hair salons and barber shops could open their doors again on June 15 if stylists wore “dentist-style PPE” but the PM’s spokesperson shot down the claims on Wednesday.
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They said: “The road to recovery plan sets out that we are looking to open hairdressers from July at the earliest... that’s one of areas we have a ministerial led taskforce on.
“That will be subject to scientific advice at the time.”
Social media has been awash for months with haircut disasters from around the world as people learn to live under lockdown.
This was my mother’s attempt at a fade... prayers to all the men getting home haircuts during quarantine. #quarantinehaircut pic.twitter.com/MmfKH5mhiD — Brittany Mockbee (@bmockbee) April 6, 2020
Hubby needed a trim and we figured, why not? How bad a job could I possibly do? #coronacut #thehorror pic.twitter.com/oRCRZOcgj8 — LeAnne Cantrell (@kidsensela) April 6, 2020
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Do NOT cut your husbands hair. No matter how much he begs you. Nothing good can happen. Especially if you make him look like Moe from the three stooges. I’m sorry honey. #CoronaHaircut pic.twitter.com/xdqAdjkt05 — Laura Laser (@lauralaser) April 5, 2020
#CoronaHaircut #covidhaircut
Got my 7 year granddaughter to cut my hair.
At least looking like a leper from behind people are keeping 2 meters away 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/1nXwvNZtOx — JL (@kyr10) April 7, 2020
Boris Johnson has flagged that more restrictions will be eased on June 15, beginning with the reopening of other non-essential retail shops such as fashion or homeware retail.
Other businesses, such as pubs, and cinemas will have to wait until July before they can reopen, the government has previously said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-04--UK Records At Least 133 More Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours

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The number of people who have died across England, Scotland and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen by at least 133 in 24 hours.
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The increase consists of 115 hospital patients in England, nine people in Scotland, one person in Northern Ireland and eight hospital patients and care home residents in Wales.
So far, no UK-wide figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have been released, so the total is taken from each nation’s individual reporting.
It brings the working total to 39,861.
But the government tally, when it is released later today, will be significantly higher as it includes deaths in care homes (missing from the individual figures in at least England) and the community (missing from at least England and Wales). Here’s a quick primer on what all the different numbers mean and how to understand them.
NHS England said patients were aged between 26 and 100 years old. Five of the 115 patients, aged between 53 and 97, had no known underlying health condition.
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Meanwhile in Scotland the daily death toll dropped to single figures for the first weekday since just after lockdown began in March.
Nicola Sturgeon said: “I think that [a death toll in single figures] demonstrates the progress we’re making against this virus but also underlines why we all continue to need to comply with the public health guidance – so we continue to make this progress and don’t allow it to go into reverse.”
However, the first minister added nine deaths is still too many, with each one representing a person and a family left “shattered and grieving”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Why A Bit Of Rain Shouldn't Stop You Getting Outside This Weekend

Oliver Rossi via Getty Images
It’s not long until we can meet up with our mates indoors – we just have one more weekend to get through. But with a pretty poor forecast, you might be tempted to stay inside at home and cancel your plans altogether.
Absolutely not, we say – it’s time to embrace the rain.
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Instead of perceiving a rainy day as disappointing, why not see it as a chance to practise mindfulness?
As Ian Banyard, founder of Cotswold Natural Mindfulness, told the New York Times: “The human body is largely made of water, and yet so many of us feel uncomfortable walking in the rain and getting wet. That need not be the case. Walking mindfully in the rain is a wonderful opportunity to get closer to nature, and our true nature.”
Pause a conversation with pals to listen to the sound of rain trickling down a drainpipe, welcome the freshness of droplets touching skin, and inhale the delicious scent of water meeting earth.
Rain taps into each of our senses, making it the perfect weather to get us out of our heads and into the present moment – something that’s been proven to boost mental health. “Mindfulness meditation has been shown to affect how the brain works and even its structure,” states the Mental Health Foundation.
“People undertaking mindfulness training have shown increased activity in the area of the brain associated with positive emotion – the pre-frontal cortex – which is generally less active in people who are depressed.”
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LeoPatrizi via Getty Images
If mindfulness isn’t your bag, race your mates to the shelter of a tree, grab your brollies, dig out your brightly coloured mac, wear wellies to splash in puddles, and laugh as your mascara runs down your face. Rain presents a chance to be a bit silly – and we can all benefit from having a laugh in difficult times.
Laughing triggers a beneficial hormonal response in the brain, neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott previously told HuffPost UK. You get a change in adrenaline – the flight or fight neurotransmitter – and, in turn, become more relaxed.
“You also get an increase in the circulating endorphins, meaning it feels good to laugh,” she said. “Over a longer time scale, you then get a reduction in cortisol – the stress hormone.”
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skynesher via Getty Images
The rain also doesn’t need to stop you getting outdoors to exercise – especially if you’re among the many people who’ve discovered a love of running during lockdown. If you haven’t tried it before, a rainy run can be gloriously refreshing and makes sinking into the bath or the sofa afterwards feel that much sweeter.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Belly Mujinga: CPS To Review Evidence Into Coronavirus Death of Rail Worker

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been asked to review evidence into the coronavirus-related death of railway worker Belly Mujinga in “recognition of wider public interest”.
It comes one week after the British Transport Police (BTP) said it was taking no further action in the case. Following the CPS statement on Friday BTP said the review did not mean the case is being reopened.
The 48-year-old died in April after it was reported she had been spat at on the concourse of London’s Victoria Station by a man who said he was infected with Covid-19.
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A protester holds a sign for Belly Mujinga at a Black Lives Matter peaceful protest organised by BLM Southampton outside Southampton Guildhall in Southampton, England. EMPICS Entertainment
An investigation was opened by the BTP – a full seven weeks after the incident – but it said it had not found any evidence of anyone spitting during the incident and that a 57-year-old man officers interviewed had tested negative for Covid-19.
The decision to review evidence in the case comes after calls for justice for Mujinga at Black Lives Matters events held in the UK in response to the killing of George Floyd.
On Wednesday, thousands of activists, including members of Mujinga’s family, descended upon Victoria station holding signs demanding justice.
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On Friday, which marked two months since Mujinga’s death, her husband Lusamba Katalay said: “Black lives do matter. Belly’s life mattered. It mattered to me, to our daughter, our friends and family, to Belly’s colleagues, and now it matters to many thousands of you out there.
“We were there, united in our anger and our grief. United in our determination to be heard and in our determination to get change. We need change so badly.
“We want justice for Belly. Belly didn’t lie about being assaulted. Belly and her colleague were confronted and intimidated as frontline workers and their concerns and their concerns and their fears were ignored. We continue to have questions after the police investigation.
“We want to know why she was sent out to work unprotected on the station concourse that day.
“We want to know why she was working when she had a respiratory condition. We want justice for Belly’s colleagues who still don’t have full PPE. And we want justice for the families of all transport and key workers – they should all be eligible for the government’s compensation scheme for NHS workers and carers who have sadly died from the virus.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 5 Will Debut On Netflix A Little Later Than Expected

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The fifth series of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars is about to debut in the US, but it turns out we still have a little longer to wait before we can watch it here in the UK.
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While Drag Race has been available to stream week-by-week on Netflix, its All Stars editions have only been available to watch on Comedy Central, leaving those without that channel at home looking for *ahem* alternative ways of watching.
Last month, Netflix UK announced that this was about to change, though, revealing that they’d be streaming All Stars 5 while it was still on screens in the US for the first time.
All Stars 5 World Of Wonder
On Friday, they did reveal a small addendum, though, pointing out that while the show starts tonight (5 June) in the US, it won’t be on Netflix for another week.
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However, the first two episodes will be available to stream from next Saturday (13 June) and after that, they’ll be added weekly.
They tweeted: “Drag Race All Stars 5 News: We won’t have episode 1 tomorrow due to factors beyond our control, but we will get the first *two* episodes from next Saturday (13th), and new episodes each Saturday thereafter.”
Drag Race All Stars 5 News: We won’t have episode 1 tomorrow due to factors beyond our control, but we will get the first *two* episodes from next Saturday (13th), and new episodes each Saturday thereafter. — Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) June 5, 2020
Early Drag Race favourites like Ongina and Mariah Balenciaga will be going head-to-head against newer additions Miz Cracker and Mayhem Miller – not to mention Alexis Mateo and Jujubee, who each took part in the very first All Stars series.
Completing the line-up will be former finalist Shea Couleé, Britney Spears impersonator Derrick Barry, season 10’s Blair St Clair and India Ferrah, best known for being lifted by Mimi Imfurst during an infamous early-series lip sync.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Britain's Race Problem Rivals America's. It's Just Less Visible

Judging by the tone of some politicians and media pundits, you’d be excused for thinking the UK is an oasis of racial harmony, and that racism is an all-American export. The sad fact is that Britain is often just as racist as America. We just don’t like talking about it.
Police killings of Black people and other minorities are clearly lower on this side of the Atlantic (it’s unclear how high they would be if our police were armed).
And we don’t have the same legacy of slavery as America – although Britain was extensively involved in the slave trade.
Perpetuated through the generations by an Anglo-centric history syllabus, this creates a blind spot in parts of the British establishment, including the media – which is not the most diverse of places at the best of times.
Put simply, it’s a fantasy to say that Britain is not affected by the issues causing protests across the world.
The David Lammy Review in 2017 found that Black people in the UK are actually proportionally more likely to be in prison than their American counterparts. In London, police officers are four times more likely to use force against black people than against white people.
Twenty two percent of black people are living in poverty in America. In the UK the figure is 30% – 45%.
The evidence that Britain is at least as racist as the US is so overwhelming that this opinion piece should not need to be written. But unfortunately it does.
During the Windrush scandal, hundreds of Black Britons were wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights by a discriminatory immigration system.
British police killings of Black people is evidenced in the deaths of Sheku Bayoh, Mark Duggan, Sean Rigg, and many others.
This week, both Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock announced that “Black Lives Matter”. It’s great to hear them say it, but now we need to mean it, whether those lives are American or British.
This is not to say that Britain hasn’t made progress in recent years. Central government is an increasingly diverse place – whatever you think of their politics, Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid are proof that some BAME people are able to make it to the top.
Local government, however, is still decades behind Downing Street, and it is there that many of the day to day decisions that affect our lives are taken (often with little oversight thanks to the decline in local press).
Bradford Council was recently forced to apologise after its “inclusion campaign” featured pictures of exclusively white people, despite my native Bradford being one of the most diverse places in the UK.
As well as “trickle down” diversity to all the institutions that matter, we must avoid diversity for its own sake.
The most important diversity is diversity of opinion. Tokenistic appointments of people with different appearances but familiar thinking will achieve nothing.
We must also avoid the “selective activism” that would make Black Lives Matter the benign socially acceptable version of the movement for greater racial equality globally.
Matt Hancock may be happy to adopt the Black Lives Matter slogan from the despatch box, but would he be willing to say the same about the Middle East, the Uighurs, or the Rohingya?
This logic also applies to “intra BAME” bigotry. Sometimes communities champion their own causes but neglect others. For example, we must challenge the anti-Blackness which is sometimes prevalent in the South Asian community to which I belong.
Covid has exposed the realities of inequality in British society. However the pandemic also highlighted how – in Bradford and across the country – people of all ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds came together to support the most vulnerable.
This civic unity that brought together inner city South Asian and working class white communities is echoed in the peaceful protests we are now seeing, showing that the problem is with the institutions that govern, rather than with the people who are governed.
Building on this will take a generational change, starting with the children who will form the next generation.
BAME children are hardest hit by the racism that can alter the course of their entire lives. As a member of the government’s steering group on adoption, I’m all too aware of the institutional racism that affects even the most vulnerable: children in the care system.
BAME kids suffer the most at the hands of this system: they are overrepresented and take the longest to place in care, most likely due to the shortage of BAME carers. If we are to root out the causes of long-term racial inequality, we must start by reforming the institutions which determine our children’s future.
It’s easy to look at the protests in America and see it as someone else’s problem, and perhaps even a reaction to Donald Trump’s Presidency.
But as well as supporting the peaceful protestors there and around the world, we must take a look at the prejudice on our own doorstep. If we are to solve this problem for our children and future generations, we will need action and policy about our own issues, as well as hashtags and slogans about those abroad.
Shadim Hussain is a member of the government’s steering group on adoption, and CEO of My Foster Family.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Madeleine McCann Suspect: Everything We Know So Far

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in Portugal. PA
A 43-year-old German man, named officially only as “Christian B”, has been identified as a prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
A spokesperson for the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office said in a press conference on Thursday that the suspect is being investigated “on suspicion of murder”, adding: “We are assuming that the girl is dead.”
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“With the suspect, we are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he’s already serving a long sentence.”
Christian B is known to have lived on the Algarve coast at the time Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings Sean and Amelie.
A half-hour phone call was made to his Portuguese mobile phone in Praia da Luz around an hour before Madeleine is believed to have gone missing.
The suspect is reportedly serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005.
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Hans Christian Wolters, a spokesman for the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office, told reporters the suspect is being investigated “on suspicion of murder”. AXEL BRUNOTTE via Getty Images
Reports say he had lived at a rented farmhouse around a mile from the resort, and was staying in a distinctive VW campervan at the time, living in a “transient” manner.
German police have released images of the farmhouse in an appeal for witnesses.
Grassy scrubland near the property on the outskirts of the town was extensively searched by British and Portuguese police seven years later in 2014, but no evidence was found.
Portuguese police would not answer questions about whether Christian B was ever spoken to as part of their initial investigation.
Portuguese detectives were widely criticised for their handling of the case, missing chances to secure potentially key forensic evidence in the apartment room from where Madeleine was taken.
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Christian Hoppe, from Germany’s federal criminal police office, said they have not ruled out a sexual motive for the alleged crime against Madeleine.
He said the suspect may have broken into an apartment in the Ocean Club complex, where Madeleine was sleeping, before spontaneously kidnapping her.
The suspect has been linked to an early 1980s VW T3 Westfalia camper van – with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal – which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007.
Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Madeleine’s disappearance and is believed to have been living in the van for days or weeks before and after May 3.
A Volkswagen camper van, used by a suspect who may be connected to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann3 years ago UK Metropolitan Police/via REUTERS
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The Met Police have received hundreds of contacts from the public after launching a new appeal for information on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
More than 270 calls and emails had been received by 4pm on Thursday, according to Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who is leading the Met’s Operation Grange investigation into the case.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--How To Make The Most Of Your Annual Leave

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Coronavirus might’ve impacted millions of people’s holiday plans, but before you rush to cancel your planned annual leave why not take some time off for yourself?
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Lots of those fortunate enough to still be working will be finding themselves in this position. You might not be able to use your holiday as you would’ve done for cancelled or postponed trips, but there are still plenty of ways – and benefits – to spending that time off well.
Here’s how you can make your out of office count.
Planning and carving time out is key
The point of annual leave is to have a moment of work-free rest and relaxation, rather than overseas travel. It’s important workers take regular breaks away from the demands and the daily stresses of the email inbox, dealing with clients and attending meetings for their wellbeing and health.
“You don’t need to get on a plane to have a holiday,” says Neil Shah, chief de-stressing officer at The Stress Management Society, adding that it’s time to reassess how we define holidays.
“It’s absolutely imperative to have time to do things that are different from the norm. A change is as good as a rest. Ultimately, it could be a change of environment, a change of perspective or a change of what you’re consuming your time with.”
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However, without knowing what you’re going to do it’s really easy to get your head stuck in an email or slip into a Netflix hole sitting in the same spot all day.
“Do the same as you would with an actual holiday, such as planning, brochures and online research,” he says. “In the same way, plan loose activities that you’re going to be doing on a day-to-day basis in your actual home, including things you would like to have done, but never got around to because you’re too busy.”
Rest and recovery
Fortunately, many workers will have the ability to carry over unused annual leave for up to 2 years, but it’s important to give yourself some much needed TLC in the present day because being cooped up indoors can still be draining.
“A holiday is about relaxing, discovering new things and making memories – I think sometimes we forget that when taking time off,” explains Dr. Angela Carter, an occupational psychologist at Just Development. “We look back on our holiday snaps, we talk to people about them afterward and we should take time for what we miss.”
Being in our current covid-19 situation, we’re lacking in doing those things because we’re forced in the same space day-in, day-out.
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“What you’re trying to do in recovery is psychologically taking your brain to detach from work,” she suggests. “Find all-encompassing activities such as cooking, exercising, listening to a podcast, cycling, or reading. If you’re missing social interaction, use this time to catch up with friends over video calls or a socially-distanced meet up outside.”
Natalie_ via Getty Images
Avoid hassle and de-stress
Have you ever taken a break and returned needing another break to get over the one you just had? This is because there’s a lot of stress associated with travel.
“Going to new places is exciting, but there are a lot of challenges that could happen,” Shah says. “There’s an economic cost, packing, getting from A to B, and potentially being stuck abroad due to changing circumstances.”
If you are planning a day out somewhere else, then consider planning a local staycation that isn’t too far from home or opt to go somewhere off-peak times when places are less busy and crowded.
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Be sure to switch off
Don’t forget to remind yourself of the restorative value of simply taking the time to be ‘offline’ from time to time, even if this doesn’t involve leaving the house.
“Being glued to the news and social media all day, is not surprisingly, not good for you,” says occupational psychologist Dr. Emma Donaldson-Feilder. “Give yourself a break from watching the endless figures, stories, and some of the tragic things that are going on in the world.”
There’s no denying the importance of being engaged and proactive in a world that needs urgent change, but carving out time to stop scrolling will help you recharge so you’re able to contribute fully.
“Recognise what works for you as an individual and really make a conscious choice about it. Do something a bit different and try to break your habitual patterns,” says Donaldson-Feilder.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Kate Garraway's Colleagues Including Lorraine Kelly And Piers Morgan Show Support After Heartbreakin

Kate Garraway's Colleagues Including Lorraine Kelly And Piers Morgan Show Support After Heartbreaking Interview

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Kate Garraway has received a wave of support from her ITV colleagues, following her heartbreaking interview on Good Morning Britain.
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Since then, Derek has been in intensive care, and while Kate has said he’s now free of Covid-19, she said the disease had “wreaked extraordinary damage” on his body.
“It’s like the doctors manage one bit extraordinarily well and there seems to be a flicker of hope and then other things emerge and they’re fighting that and it’s affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes,” she said.
Kate Garraway interviewed during Friday's Good Morning Britain ITV/Shutterstock
Kate continued: “Let’s look at some of the positives. He is now Covid-free. So he’s testing negative for the Covid virus. So the fight with the virus has been won and he’s still here. But it’s wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don’t know if he can recover from that, basically.”
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Following the emotional interview, a number of Kate’s colleagues, including Lorraine Kelly, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, spoke out about the bravery she’d shown.
“So proud of our [Kate] - speaking with bravery and from the heart about her husband Derek’s fight against Covid-19,” Lorraine said. “Please everyone take care of yourselves amid this crisis.”
So proud of our @kategarraway - speaking with bravery and from the heart about her husband Derek’s fight against #covid19. Please everyone take care of yourselves amid this crisis. — Lorraine (@reallorraine) June 5, 2020
Wow. Such a moving, emotional, inspiring interview on @GMB with my fabulous friend @kategarraway about her family’s #coronavirus turmoil. So proud of you Kate, as Derek would be too. We’re all behind you, hoping & praying for a miracle. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/qmVrGhRKQD — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 5, 2020
Long-time co-presenting colleagues & the closest of friends.. I can’t imagine how hard that was for @benshephard to interview @kategarraway about the worst time of her life on the show they normally do together. Great job Ben (& @ranvir01 too) 👍 pic.twitter.com/2H5y2EzEqD — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 5, 2020
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Oh @kategarraway you are such a tower of strength for Derek and the children. So much love for you all. Everyone watching is with you, hoping for that miracle. ♥ — Susanna Reid (@susannareid100) June 5, 2020
That’s our girl. That’s our family 🙏🏻💕 https://t.co/txHCqCNDwF — Richard Arnold (@RichardAArnold) June 5, 2020
If you missed this earlier, make sure you watch it back. The amazing @kategarraway speaking so bravely about what her family have been through over the last 10 weeks. So wonderful to see her smile, but it’s just heartbreaking. Such an inspiration Kate, we love you, stay strong!💕 https://t.co/tn8zPqzBBs — Charlotte Hawkins (@CharlotteHawkns) June 5, 2020
The official Twitter pages for Loose Women and Lorraine also shared messages of support with Kate:
Sending all our love to Kate and Derek. ❤ https://t.co/9uoQBd9WWv — Lorraine (@lorraine) June 5, 2020
We're sending all of our love to Kate and her family ❤ https://t.co/iNzK54nr23 — Loose Women (@loosewomen) June 5, 2020
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Trump Campaign’s Plea For Video Messages To Celebrate President’s Birthday Backfires

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Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign put out a call on Twitter Thursday for people to film and send in videos wishing the president a happy 74th birthday on June 14.
“We want to make this year President Trump’s BEST BIRTHDAY EVER,” read the page on Trump’s campaign website where the clips could be uploaded. The campaign promised to show Trump “the first 500 responses TONIGHT.”
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The post, below, prompted a wave of angry responses.
President Trump's birthday is coming up and there's no better way to wish him a 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' than by sending him a personal video message.
Upload your video TODAY ⬇https://t.co/nP7MHCslxD — Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) June 4, 2020
Actor Rob Delaney hit back with a video of himself telling Trump, who he described as a “stupid bigot,” that he should resign.
“It’s going to be really miserable for you until November,” said Delaney, calling out Trump’s fumbled handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his violent rhetoric towards anti-racism protesters following the death of George Floyd.
Delaney also revealed why he hates Vice President Mike Pence and the president’s daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, more than he hates Trump himself.
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“Because you’re just f*cking garbage, but they’re like, ‘yay garbage,’” he explained. “Anyway, more and more people are growing to hate you every day, which is just fantastic, so you should fucking quit,” Delaney concluded.
Check out the video here:
Actor Michael Ian Black, meanwhile, wished Trump what he hoped would be his “final birthday in the White House” with a message on YouTube.
“You’re probably too busy to celebrate,” he said. “You’ve got television to work, tweets to write, protesters to gas, intelligence reports to ignore, pandemic responses to fuck up.”
Check out that video here:
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Some Twitter users responded with mocking gifs and videos they said they would upload:
Others lamented sharing a birthday with the president and predicted how else the campaign stunt would backfire:
I feel like this is going to go very well. https://t.co/QyGU0hxlGS — Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) June 4, 2020
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my birthday is also June 14 and i invite you to send your selfie videos of you furious and screaming in your SUV to me instead https://t.co/uXv80Wj0zJ — lvl 45 chaos potus #blacklivesmatter (@thetomzone) June 4, 2020
I weep to share this vile man's birthday https://t.co/HFSH5NJsdF — rabia O'chaudry (@rabiasquared) June 4, 2020
Here you go everyone, upload a video message for Donald Trump. What would you like to tell him on his birthday? 😅 I can't see this PR stunt going in any way wrong... https://t.co/yqiTZjVe79 — David Mac Dougall (@davidmacdougall) June 5, 2020
Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about this administration astounds me every day.
Just... wow. https://t.co/Wn6ke9LMLO — Antonio Javier (@CoolGrayAJ) June 4, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Amber Riley On Lea Michele/Glee Drama: 'I Don’t Give A S**t. People Are Out Here Dying'

Riley said that she didn’t read the apology because she doesn’t “give a shit about it.”
“She reached out to me; I responded to her. That’s where it ends for me,” Riley added. “I ain’t talk to that girl in two years, you know what I’m saying? I have no hatred or ill will on that end, and I want to make that very clear, that my life and what I talk about is not going to be about that. I will shut it down immediately. This is the first and last time I’m gonna say something.”
Previously, Michele’s behaviour on the show’s set was touched on in Glee co-star Naya Rivera’s 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up.
Rivera wrote that Michele “didn’t like sharing the spotlight” and that the pair didn’t speak during the last season of the show.
Also this week, another co-star ― Heather Morris ― tweeted after Ware’s missive that Michele was “unpleasant to work with” and that because she treated “others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--'Smell The Difference' Screening Tests Could Be Used To Detect Covid-19 In Workplaces

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Researchers have called for the use of additional coronavirus symptoms to detect new cases, reduce infections and save lives.
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In a letter published in The Lancet, the King’s College London team discussed how loss of taste and smell – anosmia – should form part of screening measures for the virus.
The researchers, led by Professor Tim Spector, previously reported that loss of smell and taste is a key predictor of Covid-19 in addition to the most established symptoms of a high temperature and a new, continuous cough.
On May 18, the symptoms were added to the NHS coronavirus symptoms list, weeks after experts first raised concerns that Covid-19 cases were being missed.
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From today, the UK's list of coronavirus symptoms has been updated.
Self-isolate if you develop any of the following:
➡ a new continuous cough
➡ fever
➡ loss/change in your normal sense of smell or taste
More info: https://t.co/g1t5F06bjz pic.twitter.com/m0aXt0ruSg — NHS (@NHSuk) May 18, 2020
However, the importance of the symptom was disputed by some.
The researchers’ additional analysis of the Covid Symptom Study app data and its 3.7 million users sought to quantify the clinical value of recording loss of smell in the population.
They said: “As countries slowly emerge from lockdown measures, it is imperative to correctly contact-trace infected individuals.
“We believe that having added loss of smell and taste to the list of Covid-19 symptoms is of great value as it will help tracing almost 16% of cases that otherwise would have been missed.”
From 76,260 people with symptoms who tested positive for coronavirus up to May 19, 28.5% never reported any fever or cough and 16% reported loss of smell but not fever or cough.
“We believe that having added loss of smell and taste to the list of Covid-19 symptoms is of great value.”
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Researchers say the prevalence of loss of smell and taste was three-fold higher in individuals testing positive (65%) than in those testing negative (22%), the strongest single predictor of being infected.
They suggest this means people with loss of smell and taste should self-isolate for at least seven days or until they can be tested.
Prof Spector said: “We believe that loss of smell and taste is a very common Covid-19 symptom, and in fact occurs more often than fever and lasts longer (five days on average compared to only two for fever).
“Infections could be reduced and lives saved now that this non-flu-like symptom is widely recognised and actions are taken.”
The researchers suggest that policymakers should consider these findings and their implications for mass screening as part of other public health measures in key areas such as schools, hospitals, airports and care homes.
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Prof Spector said: “Our data suggests that low-cost so-called ‘smell the difference’ screening tests, that are already being used in some workplaces to screen people as they enter buildings, would capture a larger number of positive cases than temperature sensors do.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-05--Reggie Yates Shares Powerful Statement Urging People To Be Better Allies To The Black Community

Reggie Yates has shared a powerful statement about racism, urging people to be better allies to the Black community.
Since the death of George Floyd last week, there have been mass protests in America and around the world against police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter.
Reflecting on the current situation, Reggie wrote on Instagram: “It’s a lot. It’s been an exhausting time for everyone and I get it but please, let’s not go backwards.”
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Reggie Yates Mike Marsland via Getty Images
Alluding to the divisive social media posts that were shared on “Black Out Tuesday”, the former Radio 1 DJ noted: “Please don’t make today business as usual. If yesterday was a black square and today is a selfie with no action, please realise how hurtful that can be.
“Myself and a lot of my Black friends are in mourning. We’re mourning the loss of Black life again. Yes still. We’re also mourning the relationships we thought we had with people professionally and personally who haven’t shown up for us.
“It’s overwhelming and it’s exhausting. So for what it’s worth should you have a Black friend or colleague, call them. Call and ask how they are.”
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He continued: “The awkward and uncomfortable conversations about race need to be had yesterday. Call the people who you claim. Show up for them.
“If you’re worried about offending or saying the wrong thing to your Black friends or work colleagues, stop right there. This isn’t about how you feel, this is about learning and support.
“Ask how they are, ask what you can do, ask how you can learn. It being awkward isn’t good enough. Ask yourself, what does your feed look like after that black square? Ask yourself, what is the bare minimum you can do that speaks to the point that black square was supposed to make?”
Earlier this week, on what was dubbed “Black Out Tuesday”, Reggie wrote on Instagram: “To the brands and celebrities showing racial harmony and ripping off tiny quotes from bigger statements that originally came from a place of truth, stop it.
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“It’s inauthentic, it’s transparent and it’s offensive. We’re smarter than that. It reads as ‘post something, before they say something’. If you’re not sure what to say with your platform, ask.