thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--Far-Right Men Have Been Storming Homeless Hotels To Harass Asylum Seekers

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel following a number of small boat incidents in the Channel. Gareth Fuller - PA Images via Getty Images
Groups of far-right men have been storming hotels housing asylum seekers and harassing people – forcing outreach teams to introduce measures to protect homeless guests.
The “despicable” actions of Britain First follow Priti Patel’s threat to deploy the Navy to block the record number of desperate migrants making the perilous journey across the English Channel.
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Police have been called to a number of incidents where far-right groups have harassed people placed in emergency accommodation because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Greater London Authority’s (GLA) rough sleeping team sent out an email to outreach teams saying protesters from Britain First – whose leader Paul Golding was convicted of a terrorism offence in May – had targeted a council-run hotel in Camden over the weekend.
It said the team had since been made aware that the group had also stormed hotels in Bromsgrove, where they gained entry and “harassed several residents”, and Essex, as revealed by the Independent on Tuesday.
A screenshot of an email from City Hall was posted on Facebook by Streets Kitchen – a grassroots group working to help the homeless community.
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“Dear all, we are writing to make you aware of an incident which took place this past week at a Covid Protect hotel in the London Borough of Camden.
“A group of men from the extremist ‘Britain First’ group targeted the hotel, attempting to gain entry and demanding to know if the facility was housing asylum seekers. Staff dealt with the incident well and the police were called, and no residents were harmed.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “Harassing migrants who are being legally accommodated in hotels is despicable, and goes against all the values we hold as an open, welcoming city.
“The mayor’s rough sleeping team are working with our charity partners to put measures in place to prevent homeless people sheltering from Covid-19 in hotels from being targeted, mistakenly or otherwise, by these right-wing groups.”
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Britain First has recently used a yacht to “patrol” the English Channel.
Streets Kitchen founder Jon Glackin said the government’s messaging over the Channel crossings – including Priti Patel’s Navy threat – was feeding into the far-right’s actions.
“Golding and his like have never cared for those experiencing homelessness,” he told HuffPost UK.
“They’ve never done anything to benefit anybody, they are violent thugs coming to hotels to cause trouble.
“We’ve heard about them haranguing staff saying: ‘Is this a migrant hotel’. These hotels are just places of sanctuary for people who are vulnerable.”
The Met confirmed to HuffPost UK that officers were called to a hotel in Camden on Saturday afternoon, following reports that a small number of protesters had entered the property.
Officers were also called to a hotel in Brent Cross on the same day in response to similar reports of a few protesters gathering outside the venue.
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The groups left both areas shortly after the arrival of police and no arrests were made.
Lisa Doyle, director of advocacy at the Refugee Council, told HuffPost UK the reports were very concerning.
“The UK should be a place of safety for people seeking asylum, where they can rebuild their lives and fulfil their potential, she said. “It’s shameful that they are being subjected to such hostility.”
Extremists have reportedly been circulating lists of hotels to “investigate” on social media.
They have also been swamping websites with negative reviews of hotels that have taken up contracts with the Home Office, encouraging people not to stay in them when they reopen, according to The Independent.
Campaigners protest outside the Home Office in central London on Tuesday to demand safe passage for migrants across the English Channel. Empics Entertainment
On Tuesday, dozens of pro-migrant demonstrators accused the government of “dehumanising and vilifying” asylum seekers at a protest outside the Home Office.
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The demonstration was organised by campaign group Stand Up To Racism who demanded that the right of safe passage be given to “desperate” migrants making the crossing between England and France.
Protesters chanted “no-one is illegal” and said migrants had been “scapegoated” by the government.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--Rule Britannia Row Is Nonsense Designed To Keep The Nation Polarised

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he tours Castle Rock school, Coalville, in the east Midlands. PA
It was perhaps inevitable that Black Lives Matter would be reduced to mere cannon fodder for the Culture Wars.
No longer an international confrontation with the law being wielded as an instrument of torture and murder against black people, BLM is now – for the purposes of daytime telly and talk radio at least – the mobilisation of the woke, coming for everything you hold dear.
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The Sunday Times kicked off the hue and cry (“Rule Britannia faces axe in BBC’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ Prom”), and the nation’s broadcast media duly scampered off in pursuit.
It’s of seemingly little importance that the central claim of the article – that nationalist anthems wouldn’t be sung this year out of sensitivity to Black Lives Matter – wasn’t supported by anyone willing to speak on the record.
Furthermore, no anti-racist organisation, and certainly neither the US nor UK’s iterations of Black Lives Matter, has demanded that the songs should be dropped.
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What’s more, the BBC itself has suggested that replacing “Rule Britannia” and “Land of Hope and Glory” has nothing to do with the lyrics, but because coronavirus restrictions mean there can’t be any big singalongs.
But the article’s thoughtful juxtaposition between progressive buzzwords and pictures of black people involved in curating this year’s Proms was evidence enough.
For/Against pitched battles were staged on Good Morning Britain, This Morning, and Jeremy Vine on 5, columnists competed to file copy, and radio producers raced to secure pundits who’d be willing to confect an opinion for £35 and ten minutes of airtime.
Not that I’m speaking from a position of lofty disdain for the gig. Being both cheap and available, I too fielded requests from guest bookers who were keen to fill the role of “censorious and/or ethnic lefty”. I didn’t, however, get much further than the pre-interview recce.
“By defining political antagonism along the lines of culture, the right have kept focus away from socioeconomic and institutional inequalities.”
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It turns out that a talking head saying “this story is a load of made up nonsense, and designed specifically to make your audience of retirees murderously furious” wasn’t quite what they were after.
The emphasis on culture wars in mainstream media is a problem of structure, not staffing. Moral panics of the “political correctness gone mad” variety are nothing new, but have become all the more impactful in an era where both leading politicians and news outlets take their cues from reactive social media engagement.
With original newsgathering and investigative budgets slashed across the sector, being able to dictate the national conversation through manufactured outrage is a cost-effective alternative to breaking a big story.
Legacy print and broadcast media are in a fight for their very survival: generating reaction from both social media and the frontbenches are the metrics by which the value of a story is judged. And like a monstrous Greek god consuming its children, the media must birth the very takes upon which it will later feast.
Never one to pass up an opportunity for empty gesturing, Boris Johnson resurfaced to proclaim that “it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history [...] this general bout of self-recrimination and wetness.” The government’s willingness to fuel culture wars microevents isn’t merely a means of drawing attention away from, say, a bungled pandemic response. It’s true that shadowboxing against an imagined enemy produces an easy win. But there’s a deeper strategy here too.
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Nurturing a sense of grievance among those who disproportionately benefit from the status quo keeps those same demographics invested in its preservation. The Conservative electoral base – baby boomers, homeowners, retirees – have little stake in transforming the economy. And it’s hard to maintain a sense of political insurgency, to keep your base fired up and engaged, when you’ve been in power for a decade and enjoy a parliamentary majority of 80 seats.
But whether it’s Brexit, taking the knee, or the singalongs at the Last Night of the Proms, Johnson’s Conservatives have cannily realised that their path to power relies on polarising once marginal issues, and turning them into potent symbols of the nation under threat from despotic minorities.
By defining political antagonism along the lines of culture, the right have kept focus away from socioeconomic and institutional inequalities. It doesn’t matter that the “Rule Britannia” brouhaha is a paranoid fantasy: by concocting such moral panics, those with little to gain from egalitarian change are galvanised by fear of what they stand to lose.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--Introducing Black Voices UK – Our New Video Series Hosted By Yinka Bokinni

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Black Voices UK is a new video series from HuffPost UK that amplifies and celebrates Black voices and experiences in Britain.
Host Yinka Bokinni, who is also the breakfast presenter on Capital Xtra, will front six episodes over the coming months to discuss topics including parenting, feminism and healthcare with special guests.
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Writing for HuffPost UK, Bokinni said it would help viewers “really understand what it means to be Black and exist in the UK too”.
“This will be a collection of Black voices discussing the things that should matter not only to us, but to everyone,” she said. “The Black experience is part of the British experience.”
Episode one, which is available to watch above, focuses on education and parenting in Britain at a time when the national curriculum is facing fresh claims it fails to teach students about anti-racism and doesn’t accurately depict Britain’s colonial and imperial past.
Bokinni is joined by Black Curriculum CEO Lavinya Stennett, singer-songwriter Jamelia, and CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson to discuss how teaching can better reflect the history and contributions of Black people.
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Catch new episodes of Black Voices on HuffPost UK’s homepage, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts from now until the end of 2020. You can join the conversation too with the hashtag #BlackVoicesHPUK to make your contribution heard.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--I’m Hosting #BlackVoicesHPUK, A New HuffPost Series About Being Black In Britain. Here’s Why

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Am I qualified to host a show amplifying Black voices?
By early morning, I am the breakfast presenter on Capital XTRA, one half of the first ever black female duo to host a commercial breakfast radio slot. We do things like laugh at Krept & Konan and gush over Saweetie’s Birkin bags – hardly ever is it part of the job to speak about the serious stuff.
That was until the Black Lives Matter movement was catapulted into the British consciousness this May, and stations like Capital – and broadcasters like myself – were forced to come up for air. We were forced to burst our bubbles of what was ‘suitable’ to speak about, and start concentrating on what we should really be talking about.
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Before lockdown and the killing of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement was something I spoke about with my friends, that I tweeted about from my personal account and that was something separate from what I actually do for a living. Now? There is no room for the compartmentalisation that came oh so naturally. We have to be loud and we have to be intentional.
You might ask why fans tuning in for some Skepta would want to hear about how black teenagers are three times more likely to be excluded from school in the UK, or why listeners patiently waiting for Rihanna’s ninth album would want to be reminded that Black mothers-to-be are five times more likely to die in childbirth?
Well, the answer is simple: because it is the truth.
“This is the kind of show I have wanted to host since I first picked up a microphone and told the world my name.”
I wanted to get more involved in spreading that truth – and that is why I am working with HuffPost UK on #BlackVoicesHPUK, a new series which will highlight the Black experience through a series of panel discussions with guests from all different walks of life. Each episode will focus on a different topic, from sports to entertainment to education to sex, from the perspective of the Black Brit. This is the kind of show I have wanted to host since I first picked up a microphone and told the world my name.
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However, there was one thing that worried me when I agreed to front this project. One thing that I could either ignore completely and allow the elephant to potentially take up a lot of space in my mind – or that I could address and discuss. Am I qualified to speak for Black people?
My instinct is to shout and scream and defend my Blackness with a vim and conviction that would make even the biggest critic wonder how they could ever deny me. But instead I think it makes more sense to stop, take a second, and actually understand why this is even a question.
I am mixed race and, yes, my mum is white (Irish to be exact) – but when I read stories of other mixed race people not knowing where they stand or how to identify, I have never been able to relate. Growing up in Peckham, London, the only experiences I have ever had are those of a young Black girl. For me, there isn’t a question as to who or what I am: a Black woman.
But do my experiences differ to those who have two Black parents? Yes, completely. And in recent months I have taken a long look at what this means. I’ve thought about what it means to be Black, to identify as Black but live with the privilege of being lighter-skinned in British media, and I’ve thought about how I can be part of the problem.
“I am not signing up to be the Beyoncé of the show, but to be the host who wants Black voices to be heard properly without being questioned.”
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Part of me believes that I am qualified to tell the stories because of my job. As a broadcaster that is what I do – I am the proverbial bus driver, getting the conversation from one stop to the other, leaving no passenger behind. I can show you my CV and hopefully you will agree that “YES… Yinka Bokinni is RIGHT for this ROLE OH YEAH!” simply because it is my job to speak to people.
The other part of me knows that I am here to learn. Sure I’ll contribute, but I know it’s more important that I listen and to hear the voices of Black people, both like myself and different. In working with HuffPost UK on this project I am not signing up to be the Beyoncé of the show, but to be the host who wants Black voices to be heard properly without being questioned like they so often are in mainstream media.
#BlackVoicesHPUK is also an opportunity for you reading this to really understand what it means to be Black and exist in the UK too. This will be a collection of Black voices discussing the things that should matter not only to us, but to everyone – the Black experience is part of the British experience.
This is the kind of show that is missing from the British consciousness, yet so very necessary. On #BlackVoicesHPUK we are not going to be talked about or tokenised – we are going to be leading the conversation, on our terms. And we are going to be a space that doesn’t simply tolerate, but celebrates, the contributors – something that I have been wanting to do since the very first time I saw a Black person have to defend their existence on morning television.
Yinka Bokinni is a breakfast presenter on Capital XTRA and founder of Sistem magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @yinkabokinni.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--PM Sacks Top Education Official After Exams Fiasco – While Gavin Williamson Keeps Job

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Boris Johnson has sacked the top official at the Department for Education after the exams fiasco – as embattled education secretary Gavin Williamson keeps his job.
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Permanent secretary Jonathan Slater will step down on September 1 after the “prime minister concluded that there is a need for fresh official leadership” in the department, the DfE said.
It comes after the head of England’s exam regulator, Ofqual, Sally Collier quit over thousands of pupils’ marks being unfairly downgraded by an algorithm, costing many A-level students their university places.
Williamson has faced pressure to quit, including from several of his own Tory MPs.
But he remains in post as education secretary despite two U-turns in as many weeks – firstly allowing students to use teacher predicted grades instead of those generated by the algorithm; and secondly changing guidance to recommend face masks for secondary pupils in schools in locked down areas of England, which has reignited calls for him to go.
Labour MPs criticised Williamson for failing to take responsibility.
Shadow minister Bill Esterson insisted “the buck stops” with Williamson and “sooner or later, he has to go too”.
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West Streeting described it as a “sorry state of affairs”.
First the head of the regulator Ofqual resigns over the exam fiasco, now the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Education. Why is the Secretary of State still in post? Two scapegoats can’t save him. The buck stops with Williamson. Sooner or later, he has to go too. https://t.co/KpbbggEFvc — Bill Esterson (@Bill_Esterson) August 26, 2020
Everyone is to blame for education failings except the Education Secretary it seems. What a sorry state of affairs. If Williamson had any integrity or decency he’d have fallen on his sword. https://t.co/qFxi1QyjcR — Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) August 26, 2020
Earlier on Wednesday, Williamson was asked whether he saw himself in the job in a year’s time.
“I love this job,” he replied on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The prime minister then attempted to blame a “mutant algorithm” for the exams fiasco, as he addressed.
Addressing pupils at a school in Coalville, Leicestershire, Johnson acknowledged that the situation had been “stressful” for those awaiting A-level and GCSE results.
“I’m afraid your grades were almost derailed by a mutant algorithm,” he told them.
“I know how stressful that must have been for pupils up and down the country.
“I’m very, very glad that it has finally been sorted out.”
Shadow education secretary Kate Green said: “Boris Johnson is shamelessly trying to avoid taking responsibility for the exams fiasco that his government created.
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“Responsibility for this shambles lies squarely with Downing Street and the Department for Education, who set out how they wanted the algorithm to work and were warned weeks in advance of issues, but repeatedly refused to address the problems they had created.
“It is this Tory government’s incompetence that is to blame for the exams fiasco.”
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “It is brazen of the prime minister to idly shrug away a disaster that his own government created.
“Parents, students, teachers and heads will be horrified to see the leader of this country treat his own exams fiasco like some minor passing fad.
“The public will not easily forget the emotional rollercoaster of this year’s results season. It is certain to put a long-lasting dent in the government’s reputation on education.”
Slater will be replaced by his de facto deputy Susan Acland-Hood, who will take over as acting permanent secretary. A permanent successor will be appointed “in the coming weeks”, the government said.
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A statement posted on the gov.uk website said: “The prime minister has concluded that there is a need for fresh official leadership at the Department for Education.
“Jonathan Slater has therefore agreed that he will stand down on September 1, in advance of the end of his tenure in spring 2021.
“Susan Acland-Hood, currently interim second permanent secretary, will take over as acting permanent secretary.
“A permanent successor to replace Jonathan Slater will be appointed in the coming weeks.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--Black Voices UK: ‘Black History Is Just As Important For White Children’

‘Black History Is Just As Important For White Children’
‘Black Voices HuffPost UK’ is a conversation about race, society and change in contemporary Britain and beyond. In this episode, host Yinka Bokinni, singer/songwriter Jamelia, CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson and Lavinya Stennett from The Black Curriculum discuss including more Black history in UK education.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--Gatwick Airport Set To Cut 600 Jobs As Passenger Numbers Plummet

Gatwick Airport has announced plans to cut 600 jobs after it revealed passenger numbers have plummeted by more than 80% this month compared to last year. Chris J Ratcliffe via Getty Images
Gatwick Airport has announced plans to cut 600 jobs after passenger numbers plummeted by more than 80% this month compared to last year.
The airport is the latest business in the travel industry to confirm job cuts as the sector continues to be devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The proposed job cuts will amount to almost a quarter (24%) of Gatwick’s entire workforce.
In a statement, Gatwick’s CEO Stewart Wingate said: “If anyone is in any doubt about the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on the aviation and travel industry then today’s news we have shared with our staff, regarding the proposed job losses, is a stark reminder.
“We are in ongoing talks with Government to see what sector specific support can be put in place for the industry at this time, alongside mechanisms which will give our passengers greater certainty on where and when they can safely travel abroad.
“We will continue to do all we can to preserve as many jobs as possible.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-26--RuPaul's Drag Race UK: BBC Offers Update On Filming Of Series 2

The BBC has finally offered an update as to what is going on with the second series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
The British version of the hit US reality competition launched last year, with a second run originally scheduled for the autumn.
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However, like many other TV shows, plans were thrown into chaos when production was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic shortly after filming began.
Now, speaking at the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival, BBC Three Controller Fiona Campbell has given fans hope that filming will be complete before the end of the year.
RuPaul with fellow judges Alan Carr, Michelle Visage and Graham Norton on Drag Race UK BBC
Revealing that filming was already “midway” through prior to lockdown, she said: “It’s currently being ‘regrouped’, as we say.
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“I think the best thing I can say is hopefully if we all stay well and stable in the UK like we are now, we’ll get it done by the end of the year. But yeah, it’s regrouping as we speak.”
RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton and Alan Carr were all previously confirmed to be involved in the second series of Drag Race UK.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK aired its first series last year BBC
BBC Three is currently screening the first-ever Canadian series of Drag Race in lieu of the new UK series, while the fifth All Stars run featuring queens from the original US show wrapped up on Netflix last month.
The first UK Drag Race was won by The Vivienne back in November, ahead of fellow finalists Divina Di Campo and Baga Chipz.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Leading Broadcasting Union Will Write To BBC Over Staff Claims Of 'Institutional Racism'

Reporter holding microphone making media interview with politician or business person Mihajlo Maricic via Getty Images
The head of Britain’s leading broadcasting union will be writing to the incoming BBC director general Tim Davie about allegations of “institutional racism” at the broadcaster, which were revealed on Friday by HuffPost UK.
In our exclusive investigation, dozens of current and former Black employees from departments across the corporation gave worrying accounts ranging from being denied career development opportunities to being bullied and then silenced by an ineffective complaints procedure.
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Following the report, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu) announced that its head Philippa Childs would be writing to Davie about the claims.
Bectu is the largest union at the BBC and have thousands of members at the corporation who are employed staff.
Responding to the allegations on Friday morning, a spokesperson at the broadcaster said: “The BBC is absolutely clear that we are an inclusive and welcoming organisation and we are saddened if anyone is experiencing any form of discrimination at work.
“That is why, as an organisation, we have put so much effort into ensuring that we have robust processes in place for staff to raise complaints which will be dealt with the utmost seriousness.”
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Bectu has also announced plans to launch an independent racism reporting body for the TV industry.
The union has commissioned broadcasting diversity champion Marcus Ryder to report on options for developing the industry-wide organisation.
Bectu represents more than 40,000 staff, contract and freelance workers across the UK”s media and entertainment industries.
Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said: “I am delighted that Marcus has agreed to undertake this crucial piece of work for us. In recent months we have heard too many experiences of racism from Black, Asian and minority ethnic members working in TV. Despite good intentions and plans of action from broadcasters and production companies nothing is changing.
“Bectu’s hope is that an independent reporting body could be the start of giving non-white people in the industry some confidence that their experiences are heard, monitored and addressed.
“I would encourage anyone working behind the camera who has experienced racism in the industry to join Bectu and be part of the pressure for change.”
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Ryder, a long-standing Bectu member and former BBC executive, will explore the different models that a racism reporting body could take.
The process will include: a review of racism in the industry and an analysis of existing independent complaints bodies, in addition to interviews with key stakeholders to inform the options that will be put forward.
The work is due to start in September with the aim to conclude the process by the end of October.
Simone Padovani/Awakening via Getty Images
The negative experience of non-white people in these industries was also highlighted in David Olusoga’s MacTaggart Lecture at the start of the Edinburgh TV on August 24.
It follows other high-profile people in the industry sharing their experience of racism, including Rachel Adedeji while she worked on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks.
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Marcus Ryder said: “I feel that this is an incredibly important piece of work and I am excited to be working with Bectu to find practical solutions to the to the problems currently facing the industry.”
Simon Albury, chair of the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality, has welcomed Bectu’s decision to start this independent probe.
“Bectu is showing great leadership,” he said. “The processes for addressing discrimination, racism, grievances and complaints against a broadcaster involves such a differential in power and resource that most complainants can never win and that even if they “win” it is inevitably at great mental cost.
“Too many people in broadcasting have felt impotent in the face of racism for too long. There is no safe place for them to raise their concerns and get them addressed.”
The Campaign for Broadcasting Equality asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate BBC Racism and Albury expects to receive its decision on whether it will go ahead in September.
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“It is getting serious consideration,” said Albury, a former CEO of the Royal Television Society.
“There is an increasing volume of evidence of racism in the BBC,” Albury added. Perhaps a body tailor-made for all broadcasting is what’s needed. No one is better than Marcus Ryder in developing strategies and policy solutions to address diversity issues. If the BBC had adopted Marcus’ proposals, it could have avoided the mess it is in today.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Boris Johnson's Obsession With Office Working Punishes Disabled Workers Like Me

Woman in home office during Covid-19 lockdown Kathrin Ziegler via Getty Images
My morning commute used to be an hour-long obstacle course of bumping into dockless bikes, my white cane sticking in pavement cracks and having to repeatedly ask for someone to offer me a seat on the tube.
Now, it’s a stress-free five steps from my bedroom to my home office.
As a disabled person, working from home has made me happier and more productive. I’m no longer exhausted from the struggle in and out of London every day. I start my day fresh rather than flustered.
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So this morning’s announcement by Boris Johnson that we all better get back to the office or risk the sack has left me reeling.
Next week, a new government campaign will instruct us all to get back into work. It will be full of assurances that the workplace is safe and that we can confidently return to offices in the knowledge that life is “Covid secure”.
Of course, many workplaces are safe, and employers have put excellent measures in place to support staff. Lots of people are comfortable with returning to work and have missed the 9 to 5.
“This will do little to tackle the barriers to employment disabled people already face, and instead risks further entrenching the idea they are too difficult to employ.”
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I also recognise the impact of home working on town centres, but my concern is that this messaging will further stigmatise disabled workers and anyone with a health condition who is anxious or unable to go back to the office.
Undeniably, as well as the ongoing threat of the virus, the workplace poses a few practical challenges for disabled people at the moment.
As a blind employee unable to socially distance I’ll need a risk assessment just to walk from my desk to the photocopier. Whereas at home, I’m safe, productive and only risk bumping into my partner on his way to the fridge.
Most of all, I’m concerned this latest government policy will do little to tackle the barriers to accessing employment disabled people already face, and instead risks further entrenching the idea we are too difficult to employ.
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It is a worrying and toxic message from the prime minister; employees get back to the office or you might get fired, employers don’t encourage home working, it’s bad for business.
This rhetoric is made more problematic by Ministers talking about home workers as “vulnerable”. The very same language deployed to homogenise disabled people and those with health conditions who needed to shield during the height of the pandemic. Except, it’s not just Covid-19 that poses the risk, but also a looming P45.
“Working from home has really levelled the playing field for many people with disabilities, mental or physical health conditions.”
The implication that working from home is for slackers is a myth that has been used against disabled people for years. Allegedly, if a boss can’t keep an eye on you, you’re likely to skive off from the spreadsheets.
This narrative of distrust does home workers a disservice and it is also interwoven with the ableist narratives of disabled people as lazy scroungers who are out to cheat society and get a quick buck.
Of course, working from home isn’t for everyone or every business. We’ve all been facing the challenges of the colleague who doesn’t know how to unmute or kids crashing conference calls.
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I miss the watercooler moments and post-work pint too. However, I simply can’t agree that I need to be in front of my colleagues all the time to do a good job.
I’m not sure about Boris, but I’ve been working damn hard from home. Like many people around the country I was part of a small crew manning the helm as my colleagues were furloughed. I was busier than ever and in the comfort of my own home I had more time to focus on the tasks at hand.
Working from home has really levelled the playing field for many people with disabilities, mental or physical health conditions.
“Government should be helping employers to adapt, not forcing them back to a model of business that feels old fashioned and less dynamic.”
Disabled people have been calling for home working for decades, especially as technology has advanced. I’ve been repeatedly told by previous employers that roles were office-based and that they couldn’t accommodate my reasonable adjustment needs for even one day working from home.
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Yet, suddenly, in a matter of weeks workplaces, businesses and universities have realised remote working was possible after all. What once used to be an extraordinary request has become the norm.
For a brief time, it felt like the rest of the world was finally waking up to the value of virtual connections, the benefits of remote working and the possibilities for a different kind of work life balance.
Disabled people face a significant employment gap in the UK, but with everyone adapting to working from home, there was a glimmer of hope that maybe we could finally be recognised as a valuable part of the workforce. Now it feels like a more accessible and equal working world is slipping way.
I want to see workplaces embrace the “new normal” and find a flexible solution to support employees to be productive and safe at home and in the office.
Government should be helping employers to adapt, not forcing them back to a model of business that feels old fashioned and less dynamic.
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As a nation we should fight for the 5.30pm family bike ride, the lunchtime spent playing with our children, and the disabled colleague who can work from home and still be a valued member of the team.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--5 Fibs Donald Trump And Republicans Told You This Week

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This week HuffPost UK’s ‘5 Fibs’ is a Republican National Convention special, due partly to the fact it was a pretty important event but mostly because the scale of deception on show was simply monumental.
To get an idea of the lengths Donald Trump’s party are going to in an effort to paint the president as the saviour of America, consider this tweet posted by a Republican senator on Thursday...
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This is what a Biden Presidency will bring to your city.
Hats off to CNN for having the stamina to continue to carry water for democrats.
“Fiery but mostly peaceful protests” pic.twitter.com/hlnVX0dCZ9 — Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) August 27, 2020
That’s right, Republicans are trying to sell ongoing dystopian scenes of carnage that are happening right now on Trump’s watch as what could happen under Joe Biden.
Melania Trump’s speech alone could make up this entire article. It was so far from reality the only logical explanation is the First Lady is kept in a room in the White House with nothing but a TV showing Tucker Carlson clips on repeat.
Such was the vastness of deceit on show that we can cover pretty much cover every major topic going.
Economy
The economy is a big deal for Trump, mostly due to the fact his reelection could strongly depend on it doing well.
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As you will no doubt be aware, pretty much every country on the planet is currently struggling economically due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the US in no exception.
Rather than acknowledge the downturn, vice president Mike Pence stood up on Wednesday evening and used one of the oldest Trump administration tricks – blame Obama.
He said: “Four years ago we inherited ... an economy struggling to break out of the slowest recovery since the Great Depression.
“In our first three years we built the greatest economy in the world.”
In reality, the Obama administration started started the longest expansion in US history and remained in power while it oversaw most of it.
This was then handed to Trump who – until the biggest drop in US history last month – saw similar levels of growth.
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War
There was much talk of the US military, how under Trump it is “great” but under previous presidents was not so great.
Speaking on Tuesday, senator Rand Paul said: “Joe Biden voted for the Iraq war, which President Trump has long called the worst geopolitical mistake of our generation.”
Incorrect Rand.
When asked during radio interview on September 11, 2002, Trump was asked if he would support an invasion of Iraq. He responded: “Yeah, I guess so.”
The next year, just days after the US launched its invasion, Trump said it “looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint”.
It wasn’t until September 2003 that Trump first publicly raised doubts about the invasion, saying: “A lot of people (are) questioning the whole concept of going in in the first place”.
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand as Trace Adkins sings the National Anthem on the third day of the Republican National Convention. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Religion
Two speakers on Tuesday night – Melania Trump and Cissie Lynch, granddaughter of evangelist preacher Billy Graham – claimed Trump was the first president to raise the issue of religious freedom at the the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The first lady said: “He’s the first president to address a special session of the United Nations General Assembly to call upon countries across the world to end religious persecution and honour the right of every person to worship as they choose.”
Unsurprisingly this is utter tosh – the UNGA was founded in 1945 and religious freedom has been a hot topic on the global stage ever since, so the idea a US president had never thought to mention it is incomprehensible.
And surprise surprise, we only have to go back to *checks notes* the previous president for an example. In September 2012, president Obama said: “We not only respect the freedom of religion, we have laws that protect individuals from being harmed because of how they look or what they believe.”
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I typically take a beta-blocker before a big speech. Apparently Kimberly Guilfoyle mainlines Mountain Dew. #RNCConvention2020 pic.twitter.com/Wf3PFWpa3l — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 25, 2020
Racism
Next up is Jack Brewer, a former NFL player who said something so demonstrably false it makes you wonder if he fell asleep in 2017 and was only nudged awake seconds before he spoke.
Speaking of the neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, he said: “Are you going to allow the media to lie to you by falsely claiming that he said there are very fine white supremacists in Charlottesville?
“He didn’t say that. It’s a lie.”
It is not a lie – it is one of the most documented quotes of Trump’s presidency, as his comments sparked outrage around the world.
Speaking about violence that broke out after neo-Nazi protesters – many chanting “blood and soil” and “Jews shall not replace us” – Trump refused to condemn actual self-professed Nazis.
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He did acknowledge there were “some very bad people”, but added: “But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.”
The lie detector determined that was a lie. pic.twitter.com/M8tALr4xCx — The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 27, 2020
Coronavirus
Just like his wife’s, the president’s speech could have taken up this entire piece, containing more than 20 false or misleading claims, according to CNN.
But we’re going to highlight just one.
Trump said: “The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country anywhere in the world.”
According to data gathered by the John Hopkins University, this is simply false, and the US case-fatality ratio is higher than Iraq, India and Russia, among others.
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The US’ coronavirus death toll – the highest total death toll in the world – has been surpassing 1,000 people a day for weeks now.
Here’s a sum to put that in perspective:
According to the latest figures, 1,143 Americans died of the virus yesterday, and Trump’s speech lasted 78 minutes.
Given those figures, it would mean as the president of the United States publicly boasted about his response to the pandemic, around the country some 62 Americans died from Covid-19.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--There’s A Lucrative Meme Factory Backing Trump And It's Run By Teens

Sixteen-year-old Casey, a high school student living in New York, has amassed more than 50,000 new Instagram followers since the start of this year. On his account, @FuriousPatriot, he churns out memes that lionise President Donald Trump and ridicule Democrats and the mainstream media. One is a manipulated image of the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, asleep on a lectern; another is a Gif that calls Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, a “hoe” and simulates her performing oral sex. A third falsely accuses CNN of altering a photo to make a gunman’s skin appear lighter.
Amid the sea of memes, a new post stands out. It’s a paid promotion for a clothing brand’s fitted T-shirts, featuring an illustration of Trump dominating Biden in a wrestling match. This kind of ad, known as “sponcon″ (aka sponsored content) is common on Instagram – influencers regularly score endorsement deals and earn a commission from their followers’ purchases.
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Casey doesn’t consider himself to be an influencer, and he certainly doesn’t fit the stereotype. Instagram starlets, who can earn salaries of up to six figures on the platform, are often conventionally attractive young women who grow their audiences with glamorous photos of themselves – lounging by the pool, luxury travelling, modelling lingerie – while profiting off the attention by shilling for brands.
But in recent years, the influencer marketing business model has given rise to a starkly different crop of entrepreneurial content creators – one led by young men and teenage boys like Casey. In lieu of selfies, they’ve found another niche that, with the help of Instagram’s powerful recommendation algorithm, has also proven highly effective at attracting followers (and brand deals) en masse: MAGA memes.
Casey is part of a sprawling network of ad-hungry memers reaching millions of followers. They chase growth at all costs by sharing a torrent of right-wing clickbait – often including content that crosses the line from snarky political satire to hyper-partisan misinformation and bigotry. Though they decry the “fake news” media, many accounts circulate falsehoods and conspiracy theories with roots in the far-right QAnon movement. And throughout the coronavirus pandemic, they have downplayed the crisis, demonising public health officials and railing against face masks. They also pander to their base by demeaning prominent female Democrats – especially those of colour – in crude and sexist ways.
This effort to capitalise on America’s fractured political climate, and Instagram’s amplification of inflammatory content, is working remarkably well. As election day looms, MAGA meme moguls are enjoying explosive surges in traffic, even earning “likes” and reposts or follows from Trump’s confidantes – including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Their thriving cottage industry serves as a free propaganda operation for the president’s campaign, and highlights the role that social media platforms play in fuelling political polarisation by incentivising the spread of hyper-partisan agitprop.
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“Instagram is a gold mine,” Casey told HuffPost. “And it’s only getting better.”
MAGA memers' post incendiary content to attract followers while selling ad space.
Inside Teens’ Lucrative MAGA Meme Factory
There are hundreds of sponcon-soliciting MAGA meme accounts, ranging in size from a few thousand followers to well over 1 million. Many are fan pages for Trump and members of his inner circle, such as Donald Trump Jr., White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and representative Dan Crenshaw. Some are dedicated to trashing Biden, and other top Democrats like House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. But the majority purport to be partisan news and satire pages, like Casey’s. Certain terms and themes frequently appear in the usernames of such accounts; there are umpteen variations on “patriot,” “libtard,” “deplorable” and “snowflake.”
The teen MAGA memer subculture contains both true believers and opportunists – and, sometimes, both. A staunch Republican, Casey started his account as a fun way to post about his political views, and never expected to have much of an audience. But he soon realised it could become much more.
“I saw other conservative meme pages posting ads, and I thought, ‘If I actually grow this account really big, I can do that to earn money on the side,’” the 10th grader, who also works part-time at a restaurant, told HuffPost over the phone.
“This is just a side hustle that I have. But I realized it has big potential.” - Daniel, a 21-year-old MAGA memer
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Casey began posting multiple times a day, and studied what kind of content would really drive traffic. It had to be incendiary, and fit a specific narrative. Once, when he shared a post questioning whether a police officer had unjustly shot someone during an arrest, he received angry messages and even lost some followers. He quickly realised he could get more likes and follows with memes that attacked star Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“Conservatives are more likely to be hating on her,” Casey explained. “We [memers] just do it to get followers. We’re not actually trying to make AOC look bad or anything – it’s just to grow our accounts.” And it does: “I hit 50K [followers] way before my expected goal,” he said. “As we get closer to the election, I feel like I’m going to grow even more.”
The young men who run these pages tend to describe themselves on Instagram in ways that emphasise both their age and their political valence: “16 year old patriot,” “teen Republican,” “20 year old conservative,” “Political Teen,” “15 Year Old Die Hard Trump Supporter,” pro-Trump “high schooler.” Like other savvy influencers, they often appear in live-streamed videos to engage with their followers, who tend to be much older. Those who spoke to HuffPost said their audiences consist mainly of “Boomers.” The owners of many meme accounts are minors, and HuffPost is protecting their identities as requested (including Casey, whose name has been changed).
For Daniel, the 21-year-old Nevada resident behind the QAnon-promoting meme page @TrumpsPlans, ad requests slowly started rolling in after he passed 10,000 followers a few months ago. Now he has more than 40,000 followers and says he receives more marketing requests than he can handle – posting ads too frequently can scare off followers, after all. Last month, he said, he earned $1,200.
“This is just a side hustle that I have,” Daniel added, “but I realised it has big potential.”
MAGA meme accounts are tapping into the influencer marketing industry by aggressively soliciting paid marketing partnerships.
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‘DM For Business’
Most MAGA memers openly solicit marketing partnerships right in their Instagram bios with requests for brands to direct-message them, such as “💰DM For Business💰,” “📩Msg for biz promo” and “DM FOR AD RATES!!!” Often, novice pages will pay bigger ones to promote them and help them grow through shoutouts in posts or Instagram Stories.
Although the Federal Trade Commission orders influencers and brands to clearly and conspicuously disclose their paid relationships on Instagram and other platforms, this rule is poorly enforced. A representative for Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, directed HuffPost to a Facebook policy page for its branded content tool, which makes it easy to label posts as ads. But MAGA memers almost never use it, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that a post is sponsored rather than an independent endorsement.
This marketing approach can be more cost-efficient than traditional advertising strategies. Unlike TV or radio ads, the meme pages’ posts reach a very specific audience of people who share a common interest – in this case, Trump – and many young memers offer better rates than digital ad giants such as Facebook and Google. Daniel charges around $10 to $15 to keep a sponsored post up on his page for 24 hours before deleting it; Casey charges $30.
It’s not much to start out with, but as MAGA meme pages grow, they can generate more income for their owners. Casey said that when he asked a conservative memer who has close to 2 million followers for a shoutout post, the given rate was $400 for a single hour. And in the current political climate, these pages can quickly become huge.
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A handful of MAGA memers have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers or more.
Rogan O’Handley, a millennial from Tampa, Florida, left a career in finance law to launch his pro-Trump meme account, @DC_Draino, shortly after the 2016 election. The page now boasts 1.5 million followers and a bio that reads, in part, “DM FOR BUSINESS.” Between ads, his content centres around political news and is occasionally reposted by Donald Trump Jr., who on Instagram calls himself “General in the Meme Wars.” O’Handley’s influence has grown so large that the White House invited him to attend its Social Media Summit last year.
O’Handley did not respond to a request for an interview. His page appears to be a passion project that’s sustained by frequent ads, but his success has been inspiring to many memers who aggressively solicit brand deals in hopes of cashing in on inflamed political tensions ahead of the election. O’Handley has even offered advice to conservatives starting new pages. “Just do it,” he wrote in an Instagram Story. “Every meme counts.”
In an effort to reach his level, many memers chasing ad deals post inflammatory content to drive traffic – whether it comes in the form of support from fellow conservatives, or angry comments from liberals.
“That stuff honestly helps me,” Casey said. “[My followers] will respond and just boost my engagement, so hey, I like it getting hate comments.”
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Many accounts pander to their base by demeaning prominent female Democrats — especially those of color — in crude and sexist ways.
Working The Algorithm
Memers hoping to go viral often traffic in racism, misogyny and misinformation. But some are reckoning with the consequences of spreading such content. Daniel, who has posted memes accusing Biden of pedophilia and calling antifa activists a “complete waste of semen,” told HuffPost he’s trying to cut down on sharing divisive posts because he doesn’t like pitting people against each other.
“Some meme pages go too far,” he said. “It shouldn’t just be about offending people.”
Days later, however, he posted a video of a man dressed as Trump picking up a woman dressed as Hillary Clinton and throwing her over his shoulder onto the ground. It quickly racked up tens of thousands of views.
This kind of polarising and prejudicial content is reminiscent of the meme-based Facebook operation that Russia launched ahead of America’s 2016 election to divide and manipulate voters. Although the MAGA memers’ objectives are less nefarious, and primarily financial, they’re still exploiting and exacerbating political divisions ahead of one of the most important elections in American history. And Instagram is helping them do it.
“A lot of these pages are just in it for the money ... they see it as a job.” - Reed Cooper, a 15-year-old MAGA memer
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The kinds of memes described above frequently appear in Instagram’s algorithmically curated hashtag and explore feeds. This helps them reach new people who don’t already follow the memers’ accounts, and incentivises the memers to shell out even more disinformation and hateful propaganda. Instagram regularly rewards such content with increased visibility. When you search for #MichelleObama on Instagram, for example, one of the top results is #MichelleObamaIsAMan – a reference to the meme-fueled conspiracy theory that the former first lady is a trans woman.
As with most social media platforms, Instagram’s recommendation engine was designed to show users whatever content it algorithmically determines will keep them on the app for the longest period of time, because their attention is the commodity that Instagram sells to its own advertisers. Influencers know this well, and they’ve learned how to consistently produce the kind of attention-grabbing content that stimulates algorithmic promotion – whether it’s pretty selfies, fashion inspo or polarising clickbait.
Unlike platforms such as YouTube, Instagram doesn’t give its users an opportunity to earn a cut of the ad revenue they generate, so financially, there’s less of a direct incentive to try to gain lots of followers or go viral (through incendiary content or otherwise). But Instagram is the backbone of the influencer marketing economy – which is projected to be worth $15 billion by 2022, nearly doubling in three years – and the app’s recommendation engine can rapidly turn content creators into social media sensations who attract brand deals like flies.
Many of the memers who talked to HuffPost insisted that they receive no algorithmic amplification, and in fact claimed they’re actually victims of political censorship through “shadow-banning,” echoing the false narrative that Big Tech is biased against conservatives. Yet in captions on their Instagram posts, they regularly instruct viewers to follow them – indicating that they’re not only aware they’re reaching new people through Explore and hashtag pages, but that they’re counting on such promotion as a way to grow their accounts.
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Doctored tweets and fake headlines are common tools for MAGA memers to try to draw in new followers.
Literal Fake News
Outside of algorithmic amplification, MAGA memers commonly resort to cheap tactics to gain followers. One page will post a doctored tweet that typically appears to show a Democratic politician calling for another meme account to be taken offline for spouting hate speech – along with a message urging people to go follow that account to show support. (The supposedly targeted account will then return the favour, posting a similarly doctored tweet and directing people to follow the other page.) They also share fake Instagram notifications as “evidence” that they’ve been shadow-banned, and fake news headlines that purport to show major news outlets calling for their deplatforming.
“I know it’s dumb, but it works,” Casey said, noting the fake-tweet technique can earn him as many as 1,000 new followers at a time. “It’s really easy. There’s even an app you can use.”
Such posts may seem like obvious hoaxes, but people still fall for them – likely in part because they look up to the influencers who share them. One post shows a doctored tweet supposedly written by 17-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, which says: “It’s unbelievable how offensive the Trump Campaign account @trumpfact on Instagram can be. They said ‘Merry Christmas’ rather than ‘Happy Holidays.’” In a maelstrom of angry comments, people responded by calling Thunberg a “brat,” an “asshole” and “stupid eurotrash.” One user called for someone to “shove something in her mouth long enough to shut her up, and give her a nice warm feeling in her throat at the end.”
“Some stuff I post, it’s just because it will get likes.” - Casey, a 16-year-old MAGA memer
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The MAGA meme community is so rife with disinformation and deceptive advertising that it has triggered internal criticism.
“It’s kind of a scam,” said 15-year-old Reed Cooper, who asked to be identified by his real name, which he displays on his meme page, @GodBlessDJT. “A lot of these pages are just in it for the money. I mean no offence – I’ve talked to a lot of them, and they see it as a job.”
The Virginia-based high schooler features Trump quotes, Bible verses and QAnon conspiracies on his account, which he started in January and which now has more than 40,000 followers. But he doesn’t run ads – his dream is to get so popular through social media that he has an opportunity to meet Trump.
“I wear Trump shirts everywhere I go,” he said. “I guess you could say I’m obsessed.”
Donald Trump Jr. even reposted one of his memes, branded with Cooper’s original logo – but failed to tag or credit him. Cooper still hopes the “Meme Wars” general will follow him back. In the meantime, he’s using his page to help “rally the base” ahead of November.
While Casey espouses the same views, his priority – like that of many teens in the MAGA meme sphere – remains a financial one. After shilling for so many Republican apparel brands on Instagram, he hopes to start his own someday. He’s dedicated to doing whatever he can to draw in new followers and build up a future customer base.
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Asked if he actually believes in the divisive messaging behind the memes he posts, or if he ever considers their impact, the teenager paused for a moment.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Miranda Kerr Shares Sweet Message With Ex-Husband Orlando Bloom And Katy Perry Following Baby News

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Miranda Kerr has sent a sweet message to ex-husband Orlando Bloom following the news that he and Katy Perry have welcomed a baby girl.
On Thursday, Orlando and Katy introduced their daughter Daisy Dove Bloom to the world in an Instagram post, and received a deluge of well-wishes, including from Miranda, who was previously married to the British actor for three years.
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Commenting on the post, she wrote: “I’m so happy for you guys. Can’t wait to meet her.”
Miranda Kerr Franziska Krug via Getty Images
Katy and Orlando announced the arrival of Daisy Dove through Unicef, which the couple are both goodwill ambassadors for.
“We are floating with love and wonder from the safe and healthy arrival of our daughter,” they said in statement, alongside a black and white picture of them holding Daisy’s tiny hand.
A number of other stars shared their well wishes in the comments, including actors Justin Theroux and Luke Evans.
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Luke sent the couple “love”, and Justin wrote: “DAISSSSYYYY!!!!! WELCOME!!!! And Love to both Mama and Papa.”
Meanwhile, former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote: “Congratulations, @katyperry and @orlandobloom—and thank you for speaking up for maternal health. Wishing you and your new family all the joy in the world.”
Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown also said: “Yay!!! Congratulations so happy for you guys.”
The pair said they have set up a donation page to mark Daisy’s birth, with the money going towards new mothers and their children.
They added: “By supporting Unicef, you are supporting a safe start to life and reimagining a healthier world for every child. We hope your (heart) can bloom with generosity.”
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Katy and Orlando are engaged and have been dating since 2016.
Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry Stephane Cardinale - Corbis via Getty Images
Orlando was previously married to Miranda Kerr until their split in 2013, and the two share a nine-year-old son, Flynn.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Liam Payne Confirms Engagement To Girlfriend Maya Henry

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Liam Payne has confirmed that he and girlfriend Maya Henry are engaged after two years of dating.
Rumours had begun circulating that the former One Direction star was set to marry after he and Maya were photographed on a night out in London, where she was seen sporting a ring on her engagement finger.
A rep for Liam has since confirmed to HuffPost UK that he and the 20-year-old US model are engaged.
Liam Payne and Maya Henry at the Fashion Awards last year Karwai Tang via Getty Images
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According to The Sun, Liam and Maya have been an item for around two years, but went public with their romance in August 2019.
In an interview with Roman Kemp shortly afterwards about the decision to speak openly about the relationship, Liam explained: “I’m just past the point of where I’m bothered or not.
“It’s not worth my happiness; I’d just rather go out and do what I want. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
The couple at the launch of Liam's Hugo bodywear campaign David M. Benett via Getty Images
The 26-year-old singer was previously in a relationship with fellow British star Cheryl Tweedy, with whom he shares a three-year-old son.
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Liam and Cheryl split in 2018, but have since spoken highly of one another in the press.
Earlier this month, Liam marked an important anniversary as One Direction fans celebrated 10 years since the band were put together on The X Factor.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Melania Trump Wore A 'Green Screen Dress' And It Played Out Just As You'd Expect

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Repeat after me: Bright green clothing is not safe for the internet.
First lady Melania Trump learned that the hard way when she wore a lime green dress to the closing night of the Republican National Convention, which was held, in an unprecedented move, on the White House South Lawn on Thursday.
The moment she emerged from the building, internet pranksters knew they had their work cut out for them:
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The internet looking an Melania's green screen dress pic.twitter.com/dmqwJpMFdp — Adam Sheehan 🔜 V-CRX (@neumaverick) August 28, 2020
According to CNN’s Kate Bennett, the dress appeared to be a Valentino, but to some online, it was nothing more than a blank canvas. Video editors immediately had at it, using the dress as an opportunity to draw attention to some of the issues that were hardly referenced by Republicans during the four-day convention. The coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests were common themes overlaid on the dress.
Here’s one edited to show the current case count and death toll from the virus in the US:
Some toilet humour was also featured, due to the accusations about the first lady made in a new book authored by her former adviser Stephanie Winston Wolkoff:
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What’s that? Melania allegedly refused to move to the White House until they replaced Obama’s toilets? https://t.co/IUH5V1vewM pic.twitter.com/PuwTcJUgAN — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) August 28, 2020
As was Trump hanging out with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein:
Melania's fashion choices always send a message pic.twitter.com/FvriwnX0fR — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) August 28, 2020
There were strong words from his Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden:
And other editing shenanigans:
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Melania Trump should’ve learned from Queen Elizabeth’s foray into the world of lime green in 2016: That color is outright dangerous.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--A Minute Of Kindness: The Batman Who Anonymously Helps Chile’s Homeless

A Minute Of Kindness: The Batman Who Anonymously Helps Chile’s Homeless
A man disguised as Batman helps Chile’s homeless during COVID-19, delivering hot food packages on the streets of the country's capital city. The anonymous hero scours the streets helping people in need during the coronavirus pandemic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--'Go To The Office Or Get Sacked' Government Briefing Sparks Backlash

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The government has backed away from suggestions that workers would be vulnerable to the sack if they continue to work from home amid a backlash.
Labour said it “beggars belief” that the government was “threatening people” during the coronavirus pandemic and asking them to “choose between their health and their job” as part of Boris Johnson’s drive to get workers back to the office.
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It came after an unnamed government source told the Telegraph that workers need to be “alert” and that it could be “problematic” if bosses “are only seeing workers once a fortnight”.
“Suddenly the word ‘restructure’ is bandied about and people who have been working from home find themselves in the most vulnerable position,” the source added.
An unnamed cabinet minister also told the newspaper that bosses “will realise some people weren’t working as hard as they thought”.
And transport secretary Grant Shapps insisted there was a “limit” to home working.
The briefing came as the prime minister reportedly prepared to launch a major drive to get workers back to the office, including reassurance that workplaces are safe and a new online tool to help people avoid the busiest trains and buses.
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The prime minister and major business lobby the CBI are concerned about the economic impact of city centre “ghost towns”, with Pret A Manger announcing plans to cut 2,800 staff on Thursday.
But the issue has opened up a cabinet rift after health secretary Matt Hancock defended his own officials’ remote working, insisting that “what I care about is how effectively people work”, which put him at odds with chancellor Rishi Sunak.
There were also murmurings of discontent on Tory backbenches, as normally loyal MP Kevin Hollinrake said that if Covid-19 has been a catalyst to change working practices then “so be it”.
Mustn’t lose our faith in free markets and creative destruction as the best way to drive service up and prices down. If Covid has been the catalyst for more efficient and effective ways of working for businesses and citizens then so be it #TheCustomerIsKing pic.twitter.com/tfqCc57Lyq — Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) August 28, 2020
Responding to the briefings to the Telegraph, Shapps told Sky News workers and bosses “need to work together to resolve this” and highlighted employee protections if people have concerns about their workplace.
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He went on: “The vast majority of employers just want to get their businesses back up and running, they want to do the right thing, and many will have found that actually home working can work for some of their employees.
“But as I say, I think there’s a limit, just in human terms, to remote working. And there are things where you just need to spark off each other and get together in order to make progress.
“So I think common sense will prevail between employers and employees. It’s certainly what we’ve seen so far and I very much think that will carry on next week as people do start to return more often to the office.”
Shadow business secretary Lucy Powell said: “It beggars belief that the government are threatening people like this during a pandemic.
“Forcing people to choose between their health and their job is unconscionable. No.10 should condemn this briefing and categorically rule out any such campaign.”
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Responding to the Telegraph story, a government source said: “This is a deeply irresponsible headline with no truth behind it. Our priority has always and will always be protecting people’s jobs.”
Meanwhile, Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn was mocked online for writing an article headlined “one person’s working from home is another’s P45” before revealing in the 25th paragraph: “I should tell you like most people who write for a living, I’ve worked from home for the past 30-odd years, unless I’ve been broadcasting and needed to be in a studio”.
I have worked in the same office as Richard Littlejohn for eleven years and I am happy to be corrected but to the very best of my knowledge he has never once been into it. https://t.co/4Cynnk4Xrs — Tom Peck (@tompeck) August 27, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--EastEnders Cast's Real-Life Partners Have Been Drafted In For Kissing Scenes

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With production on EastEnders back on, it’s been revealed that producers have drafted in cast members’ actual partners to help film kissing scenes for future episodes.
The BBC has reported that for certain scenes when characters need to kiss their significant other (or, in some cases, their extramarital one), actors will be seen smooching their real-life partners, allowing “moments of intimacy to be cheated” on screen.
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This means actors will not have to kiss anyone from outside their household or bubble, so that “crucial moments where two characters are kissing” can still go ahead while still adhering to social distancing measures.
EastEnders will be back on our screens from 7 September PA Entertainment
Meanwhile, for scenes involving characters who live in the same household, many actors will be filming “in complete isolation from one another”, with camera trickery used to make it appear they’re actually closer than they are in reality.
“Our greatest challenge is that we have several family units, that’s the nature of EastEnders and soap,” said executive producer Jon Sen.
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“Families who would be in the same household, so not at 2m distances, but obviously they are played by actors who are obeying social distancing, so there’s a huge challenge at the heart of it.
“So, when you are filming, the actor will be talking to space, essentially, and that will happen with the other actor, and then you’ll put them together and it will look like they are at the same table, so we’re doing that a lot.”
The day we’ve all been waiting for is nearly upon us - #EastEnders is coming back to our screens, 4 times a week, from Monday 7th September at 8:05pm. Before the duff duffs return, here’s a sneak peak behind the scenes to give you a little insight into our ‘new normal’.🎥 pic.twitter.com/BNDWUoUd9k — BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) August 28, 2020
It was previously revealed that bosses had also introduced clear perspex screens, which are invisible to the soap’s cameras, which allow actors to sit closer than two metres away from each other but still follow government guidelines.
EastEnders went off air for the first time in its 35-year history in June when it ran out of episodes, which were recorded before the coronavirus pandemic shut down production in March.
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Filming resumed in July when new safety measures were introduced, while it has also been confirmed coronavirus will feature in upcoming storylines.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Trump Gives Absurd Interview To Far-Right Conspiracy Network

President Donald Trump. Alex Wong via Getty Images
Far-right conspiracy network One America News aired a White House interview with President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before that evening’s Republican National Convention events, in which Trump faced questions that would have sounded at home on authoritarian state-owned television.
“We’re watching Joe Biden slip very gently into senility while you’re at the top of your game. What’s your secret?” Chanel Rion, OAN’s White House correspondent, asked Trump.
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The outlet, which has sycophantically covered the president, also ran interviews the same day with Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Both received the same fawning deference given to their father, as Rion lobbed compliments in the form of questions.
Trump and his sons’ appearances on OAN further solidify a mutually beneficial relationship between the president and a network that has spread dangerous disinformation and conspiracy theories to support him. Trump’s promotion of OAN has helped mainstream the fledgling network, which last year claimed to reach around 35 million households through multiple providers, and in exchange, it has come to function as his personal propaganda machine.
Throughout the interview, Trump and Rion ran through many of his favourite talking points, allowing the president to attack journalists, blame China for the coronavirus “plague,” claim that he could have easily beaten President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, and insinuate that Biden, his Democratic opponent, has cognitive issues. Rion had no follow-ups or pushback, giving Trump free rein to boast.
“Tens of millions of Americans, everyday Americans, people who you may not have lived lives like, really support you and your family and your campaign to the great frustration of your adversaries,” Rion said. “Why do you think you’re able to have this kind of empathy for people you don’t have to have shared experiences?”
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“It’s incredible,” Trump agreed.
Chanel Rion, a correspondent for One America News Network, asks a question during a White House coronavirus briefing. Win McNamee via Getty Images
The president has praised OAN during the Republican convention for airing an uninterrupted feed of the event, while other networks, including Fox News, have interspersed their coverage with analysis and commentary. He has also repeatedly celebrated the network in tweets and press conferences, presenting the outlet as an alternative to Fox News when that channel fails to show the subservience he would like.
During his daily coronavirus briefings earlier this year, Trump repeatedly called on Rion and OAN by name. Among other bizarre comments, Rion’s briefing questions claimed that legitimate news outlets were siding with “Islamic radicals and Latin gangs and cartels” and asked Trump if he thought the term “Chinese food” was racist.
Rion has a long history of promoting conspiracy theories and debunked falsehoods. Before her stint with OAN, when she was an aspiring political illustrator, she drew images suggesting that Hillary Clinton had ordered a contract killing and that Sharia law was infiltrating the United States. One of her OAN segments this year falsely linked the coronavirus to a North Carolina laboratory – her source was a 61-year-old Italian QAnon cult supporter and sound engineer who was falsely claiming to be a Washington insider and using a fake name on Twitter. (There’s no evidence the source had national intelligence experience or medical knowledge of any kind.)
In the interviews with Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump broadcast on Wednesday, Rion told the latter, “You have a lot of fans at OAN.”
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“Me and my family are big fans of yours and we appreciate everything you do,” Eric Trump said.
Along with Rion, OAN employs a number of other far-right personalities and conspiracy theorists. Correspondent Jack Posobiec – who has repeatedly spread disinformation, including the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory propagated by white nationalists that falsely claimed Democrats ran a satanic pedophile ring out of a Washington DC pizzeria – has extensive connections to far-right extremists. Posobiec had a segment on OAN with a notorious promoter of online disinformation who has celebrated Adolf Hitler on far-right social media platforms. Staffer Kristian Rouz simultaneously worked for OAN and Kremlin-owned propaganda site Sputnik and falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton had given hundreds of thousands in cash to “antifa” protesters. Correspondent Pearson Sharp pushed a narrative dear to Russian propaganda and Syrian dictator Bashar Assad that claims chemical attacks widely blamed on Assad’s regime were faked.
In the hour before airing Trump’s interview, OAN ran a segment on nationwide anti-racism protests that focused on “leftist rioters” and “antifa” and that used footage from far-right media activist Andy Ngo. OAN then moved on to cover uncritically Trump’s claims that the Chinese government wants Biden to win the 2020 election and to air an interview on “the Democratic Party’s ties to the Ku Klux Klan.”
Trump’s appearance on OAN is the apex of a long courtship between the president and the network’s founder Robert Herring Sr., a millionaire Republican donor who started the outlet in 2013. Herring has lauded the president non-stop on Twitter, including praising Trump-favoured hydroxychloroquine despite mounting evidence that the anti-malarial drug is ineffective in treating the coronavirus and amid warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against its use for that purpose. A former OAN host, Emily Miller, was recently hired as the FDA’s new spokesperson. Earlier this month, Herring publicly wondered why Trump hadn’t given the network an exclusive.
“Isn’t it amazing that President Trump has not given any @OANN journalist a sit-down interview. They all practice good hygiene…” Herring tweeted. “Their questions have been posed to keep America informed and not to attack the President. Can’t figure it out!”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Michelle Obama Describes Being 'Invisible' To White People – Even As First Lady

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Michelle Obama knows what it’s like to experience “daily slights” as a Black woman.
The former first lady detailed some of those “invisible” incidents and the exhausting double standards that people of colour face on the latest episode of her Spotify podcast.
“When I’ve been completely incognito, during the eight years in the White House, walking the dogs on the canal, people will come up and pet my dogs, but will not look me in the eye,” Obama said. “They don’t know it’s me.
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“White folks don’t understand it’s like that,” she added. It’s “so telling of how white America views people who are not like them. You know, we don’t exist. And when we do exist we exist as a threat. And that’s exhausting.”
NBC via Getty Images
That sort of attitude and bias exists everywhere.
“What the white community doesn’t understand about being a person of colour in this nation is that there are daily slights,” Obama said, “in our workplaces where people talk over you, or people don’t even see you.”
The episode also featured three of Obama’s close friends, Denielle Pemberton-Heard, Kelly Dibble and Dr. Sharon Malone. The former first lady told the story of a slight she faced alongside Pemberton-Heard, when she was still in the White House and they were coming back from a soccer game with Malia and Sasha Obama.
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“We were stopping to get ice cream and I had told the secret service to stand back, because we were trying to be normal,” Obama said, before describing what happened as they stood in line. “When I’m just a Black woman, I notice that white people don’t even see me. ... I’m standing there with two little Black girls, another Black female adult, they’re in soccer uniforms. And a white woman cuts right in front of us to order. Like ― she didn’t even see us.”
Malia, Sasha and Michelle Obama listen as then-President Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
“The girl behind the counter almost took her order. And I had to stand up because I know [Pemberton-Heard] was like, ‘Well, I’m not gonna cause a scene with Michelle Obama,’” she said. “So I stepped up and I said, ‘Excuse me? You don’t see us four people standing right here, you just jumped in line?’”
Obama said the woman “didn’t apologise, she never looked me in my eye, she didn’t know it was me. All she saw was a Black person, or a group of Black people, or maybe she didn’t even see that. Because we were that invisible.”
The former attorney has repeatedly spoken out about the racism she faced as the first Black first lady, including being called an ape and facing disparaging comments about her body.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Blake Lively Celebrates Her Birthday With Cake And A Side Of Ryan Reynolds' Bicep

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Blake Lively saw in her birthday in style this week, with cake served up alongside a side of Ryan Reynolds’ bicep.
The former Gossip Girl star turned 33 on Tuesday, and days after her birthday celebration, shared a picture of her famous husband presenting her with what we can only assume was a home-made cake on her Instagram story.
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However, after sharing the photo with her followers, it seemed that something else had caught Blake’s eye besides a slice of cake.
Blake Lively marked her birthday with this Instagram post Instagram
After noticing that the angle and lighting was really working for Ryan’s arms, Blake shared a further five posts on her story (yes, five actual posts) zooming in on the same photo.
The last pic was accompanied by the cheeky message: “Happy birthday to me.”
Well, if you can’t brag on your birthday, when can you?
Yep, she knew what we were all thinking Instagram
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Blake and Ryan have been married for almost eight years, tying the knot in September 2012.
Since then, they have welcomed three daughters, five-year-old James, three-year-old Inez and 10-month-old Betty.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Michael Stewart via Getty Images
The pair are known for having fun with one another on social media, with Ryan repeatedly cropping Blake out of the group photos he posts on his own Instagram.
Blake later got her own back by sharing a photo of fellow actor Ryan Gosling on her husband’s birthday.
“We’re people that don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Ryan (Reynolds, not Gosling) said of his wife during a podcast interview in 2018. “The only people I really love to make fun of is us.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Trump Freaked Out After Missing A Call With Putin, Former UK Adviser Says

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Donald Trump once erupted into a fury after an aide told him he had missed a phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, an ex-adviser to Theresa May said on a podcast released on Tuesday.
Nick Timothy, who served as joint chief of staff to May from 2016 to 2017, shared his anecdotes of the US president on the “What Were They Thinking?” podcast, which interviews former UK political figures.
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“Meeting Donald Trump was fairly extraordinary,” Timothy said, when prompted to reflect on unusual occurrences during his career. He said that during a meeting with May in the Oval Office, Trump went on a tirade against Michael Flynn, who was serving as his national security adviser at the time.
“Somebody just mentioned in passing that Vladimir Putin had asked for a call with him, and right in front us, he absolutely shouted down Mike Flynn. Like, really shouted,” Timothy said. “This was at a formal dinner, with butlers and fancy crockery. ... [Trump] was properly shouting at him down the table, because ‘if Putin wants a call with me, you just put him through.’”
Trump’s fervour for the Russian president was further confirmed last week in old documents released by the Senate Intelligence Committee, showing the president fawning over the Russian leader and claiming he was a “big fan.”
Timothy said the entire affair was “not especially reassuring about the state of [Trump’s] mind, or the stability of decision-making in the White House.”
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In another story related to that same visit, Timothy said Trump and then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon had pontificated on geopolitical issues in front of May in a “pretty strange” manner.
Bannon in particular sounded like someone who had “read a couple of books” rather than a full-fledged expert, Timothy said, recalling how the former Trump strategist had referred to Japanese people as “warrior people” when debating whether or not Japan should have its own military as a deterrent against China. (Japan has not formally had an offensive military since World War II, and instead calls its peacekeeping unit a self-defence force.)


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--President Trump Ends RNC 2020 With Divisive Rhetoric Emblematic Of His Tenure

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President Donald Trump capped the Republican National Convention on Thursday with an ominous speech warning of an end to American exceptionalism in an effort to unite the fervent base that helped propel him to victory four years ago.
“Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens,” Trump said, calling his competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden, a “Trojan horse” for socialism.
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“Joe Biden is not a saviour of America’s soul ― he is the destroyer of America’s jobs. And if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness,” he said.
Trump cast his first term as a success for those hoping to see a political outsider in the White House and said he has spent four years fighting Washington’s elite.
“From the moment I left my former life behind, and a good life it was, I have done nothing but fight for you,” he said. “I did what our political establishment never expected and could never forgive — breaking the cardinal rule of Washington politics — I kept my promise.”
The president spoke for more than an hour to a crowd of more than a thousand people at the White House, raising concerns not only about the ethics of using such a storied government building for a political campaign but also the threat of spreading the coronavirus.
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President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House in front of more than 1,000 invited guests. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Few attendees were seen wearing face masks in the tightly packed crowd.
Trump, like others in his administration this week, made it seem like the United States had already moved past the pandemic, despite the fact that more than 40,000 people are testing positive for Covid-19 each day and hundreds are dying.
“In recent months, our nation, and the entire planet, has been struck by a new and powerful invisible enemy,” the president said. “Like those brave Americans before us, we are meeting this challenge. We are delivering lifesaving therapies, and will produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner.”
Trump misleadingly said the US had a low fatality rate despite the country having the highest rate of infection and highest number of deaths anywhere in the world. More than 180,000 people have now died from Covid-19 in America.
He also railed against an ongoing movement across the nation to address police brutality and systemic racism, which flared again this week following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. An apparent white vigilante was arrested for murdering two people and shooting another during protests this week, but Trump instead cast demonstrators as the problem, declaring once again that he would be the nation’s “law and order” president.
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“When there is police misconduct, the justice system must hold wrongdoers fully and completely accountable, and it will,” Trump said. “We can never have a situation where things are going on as they are today. We must never allow mob rule.
In Trump's remarks Thursday night, the president made it seem like the United States had already moved past the coronavirus pandemic, despite thousands of people testing positive for Covid-19 each day and hundreds dying. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The president also spoke about his notable yet controversial achievements during his first term, namely his hard-line immigration policies and efforts to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He pointed to the appointment of many conservative judges to the federal bench, including two Supreme Court justices, and championed the approval of controversial oil pipelines approved by his administration.
The speech capped the two-week political coronation circuit that also saw Biden accept the Democratic nomination in hopes of unseating Trump in November. The election season will now enter a new and deeply expensive period as both parties spend tens of millions of dollars in advertising in an effort to court voters.
On Thursday, Trump took direct aim at his competitor, claiming that a vote for Biden would be catastrophic for the country.
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“In the left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on earth,” the president said. “Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.”
Trump and Biden are scheduled to debate for the first time on September 29. The showdown between their deputies, Vice President Mike Pence and California Senator Kamala Harris, will take place on October 7.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Ant And Dec Reveal It Took A Heated Confrontation With Simon Cowell To Get Them To Stay On Britain's

Ant And Dec Reveal It Took A Heated Confrontation With Simon Cowell To Get Them To Stay On Britain's Got Talent

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Ant and Dec have revealed they came close to quitting their presenting role on Britain’s Got Talent, as they were unhappy with how little of them was actually being shown on screen.
The pair have hosted every series of BGT since its debut in 2007, but in an excerpt from their new book Once Upon A Tyne (published by The Sun), they revealed that in 2012, they came close to stepping down from the show altogether.
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As well as Simon Cowell’s constant lateness on set every day “driving them nuts”, the duo also had a problem with the number of scenes they were being asked to record which would ultimately end up on the cutting room floor.
Ant and Dec Ian West - PA Images via Getty Images
“It was on a trip to America, in 2012, where we had to have a serious conversation with Simon,” Ant wrote. “The previous series of BGT had been especially tricky for us two.
“The audition days had been very long, which in itself we don’t mind, but after filming interviews and interacting with every single act, as well as making jokes, giving reactions and everything else we always do, we found that when the show went out on TV, we hardly seemed to feature in it at all.”
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He continued: “We began to feel that we were wasting our time doing the auditions because all the footage of the work we were doing was ending up on the cutting room floor.”
Feeling like they were being “sidelined”, Dec said: “We’d been to see the bosses at ITV and told them we were strongly considering leaving BGT.
“At that stage, it felt like it may as well have been anyone hosting the show and we said that when our current contract expired, we thought it was time to move on.
“This isn’t something we’re in the habit of doing and they aren’t easy conversations to have, but we felt like honesty was the best policy.”
Simon Cowell Tibrina Hobson via Getty Images
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The duo eventually sat down with the TV mogul at an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, where he convinced them that they should stay with BGT for at least one more series.
“We let him have it with both barrels,” Ant explained. “We told him everything — that we weren’t being used, that we could be doing other stuff, that maybe someone else should take over.
“To be fair to Simon, he sat there, took it all and listened intently for four, maybe five cigarettes.”
Dec noted: “He made a promise to us: that things would change and that we’d never feel like that again.
“He desperately wanted us to stay and we told him we’d do the next series and see how it went — and, to be fair to him, he was as good as his word, things did change.”
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Ant and Dec with Simon Cowell at the launch of their show Red Or Black in 2011 Sean Dempsey - PA Images via Getty Images
The current series of Britain’s Got Talent is on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the auditions airing earlier in the year.
It was recently revealed that the semi-finals will resume in September, with a weekly pre-recorded show replacing the usual live episodes, which usually air over the space of a week.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Tenet & Celeb Transformations | Good Vibes Only

Tenet & Celeb Transformations | Good Vibes Only
This week in entertainment, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is finally released and we look at the rest of 2020’s cinema releases. After a glimpse of Colin Farrell’s Penguin in The Batman teaser trailer, we look at other insane celebrity transformations for a role, plus our streaming recommendations for the week.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--Passenger Taken From Ryanair Flight By Staff In Hazmat Suits After Positive Covid-19 Result

Ryanair said in a statement: “Since this passenger and his companion had complied fully with Ryanair health regulations, they were both wearing masks at all times at Stansted Airport and for the very short period – less than 10 mins – they were seated on the aircraft prior to departure.
“There was little if any risk of Covid-19 transmission to other passengers or crew members as all of whom were also wearing face masks at all times.
“The aircraft departed for Pisa following a delay of one hour and 20 mins to allow for the empty seats and overhead cabin bins to be disinfected to comply with all UK health authority guidance.
“Ryanair apologises to all passengers for this short delay.”
A spokesman from Stansted Airport said: “We were made aware of the passenger by the airline and members of the airport’s fire service attended the aircraft and escorted the passenger and travel partner to an isolation area, where they were put in contact with Public Health England who then oversaw the passenger’s onward journey.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-28--45 Hilarious Tweets About Parenting Siblings

You know how when you were a kid playing a game with your sibling and you were terrible so you'd say, "Okay, I'm going to start playing FOR REAL now," and you'd give it your all but you still sucked? That's how dieting has been going for me lately.