thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Where Has My Motivation Gone And How On Earth Do I Get It Back?!

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Dear motivation, where have you gone? It’s a question you’ve probably asked yourself at some point in the past few months – whether you’re working from home, on furlough or unemployed right now.
It’s something therapists have noticed. Psychotherapist and broadcaster Lucy Beresford says there was a “definite shift” among her clients, friends and family. This collective dip in motivation became more apparent after Boris Johnson’s eased the lockdown restrictions, she says.
Advertisement
Beresford noticed a trend where, at the beginning of lockdown, there were quite a lot of people making an effort to adapt to working from home and utilising their free time to rediscover hobbies, bake copious amounts of banana bread and tune in for catch-ups and quizzes on Zoom.
We seemed to find our groove, we entered a “new normal”, and there was a sense that lockdown could soon be lifted, fuelled by the front pages of newspapers ahead of VE Day. But the British public very suddenly realised lockdown wasn’t going to lift in the dramatic fashion some had hoped for.
“I felt a real shrinking of the shoulders, nationally,” says Beresford. “That was the moment at which a lot of people had that sense of feeling a bit more defeated and deflated.”
Advertisement
Therapist Pam Custers, who runs the Relationship Practice, has also witnessed a shift. She believes the lack of motivation stems from the grief we’re feeling for the loss of our lifestyles and the many unknowns we face in terms of finances, social lives and relationships (among other things).
She’s noticed clients are also reporting a loss in libido and low desire. “People are not making hay while the sun shines, because there’s too much taking up our headspace. We’re in limbo,” she says.
Custers says lack of stimulation, and not knowing if or when we’ll be able to go back to “normal”, means that “everybody’s days are sliding into the next”. So it’s no surprise that motivation levels are low – whether that’s to get your work done, start a DIY project, learn something new – or even clean the bathroom.
Many things we’d usually plan for and look forward to are on hold, cancelled, in limbo, or solid restrictions around them. The holidays, the weekend brunches, the birthday parties. And a huge part of our motivation is fuelled by such plans and goals.
“People are finding it terribly hard to engage their motivation,” says Custers. “We’re all experiencing a grogginess.”
What can you do about it?
There are two key changes you can make. Firstly, think about making some lifestyle changes to fuel your motivation to do other things once more.
Advertisement
Plenty of people are finding themselves unable to sleep properly at the moment. Custers points out that it’s likely because they’re not getting out and exercising enough, so they’re then not sleeping very deeply at night.
And if you have a bad night’s sleep, you’re going to feel bad the next day too. “You get into this horrible cycle of having a lack of stimulation to excite you to do anything and a lack of healthy sleep to motivate you,” says Custers. Her solution? Spend more time outside (“it resets the circadian clock,” she says, “sunlight triggers hormones in us that keep us awake”) and get moving.
Now it’s time to address the second, psychological part – the fact we’re living in limbo. “It’s a hard one,” says Custers. “What I would do is start making plans.” They need to be easily attainable, she says. A round-the-world trip is out of the question, but a walking or camping holiday in the UK sometime this year is more realistic. Now think about where you would go and what walking trails you’d try out while you’re there.
Malte Mueller via Getty Images
Advertisement
There are smaller, more immediate things you can think about too. “Plan to go for a very long walk and take a picnic at the weekend, go for a socially distanced walk with friends, think about how soon enough there’ll probably be a bubble of people who you can see,” says Custers. “They have to be plans that can be flexible – and as soon as you’re able to, as soon as you’re safe, you can put them into action.”
Life coach Carole Ann Rice cautions against doing it all at once. Baby steps are key. “Take one step at a time, don’t try to think too far ahead and keep in the now,” she says. “Life tends to be pretty unpredictable anyway, so instead try to reconnect with what it is you’re trying to achieve work-wise or in your personal life – whether that’s health, relationships, wellbeing.”
Get a to-do list on the go with really basic tasks that you need to tick off each day. Don’t overdo it, three points per day are fine, but it will help you work through it. “Having too much on your to-do list is overwhelming, especially if you’re not feeling as motivated as usual,” says Rice.
Building structure and routine into your day can also help you regain some control throughout all the uncertainty – and make sure you factor in some fun things to do as part of this so it’s not just the mundane day-to-day stuff.
Ultimately though, if one day you find it hard and the best you can do is get out of bed and brush your teeth, that’s ok. Duvet days are perfectly acceptable. Be kind to yourself. Focus on self-care, whether that’s going for a walk in the sun or having a shower and taking time to moisturise afterwards.
And if you do manage to tick something off your list amid this global pandemic, reward yourself. “All of us are coping with this new reality and we need to pat ourselves on the back for coming this far,” adds Beresford.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--'I Walked Out Of Hospital And A Woman Screamed At Me To Cover My Baby's Face'

HuffPost is part of Verizon Media .
Click ' I agree ' to allow Verizon Media and our partners to @ @ @ @ @ to access your device and use your data ( including location ) to understand your @ @ @ @ @ measure personalised ads .
We will also provide you with personalised ads on partner products @ @ @ @ @ we use your data in our Privacy Centre .
Once you confirm your privacy choices @ @ @ @ @ changes at any time by visiting your Privacy dashboard .
Click 'Learn more ' to @ @ @ @ @ Media and our partners collect and use data .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
In HuffPost’s Birth Diaries we hear the extraordinary stories of the everyday miracle of birth. This week, Nneka Opara shares her story. If you’d like to share yours, email amy.packham@huffpost.com.
When I first heard about coronavirus earlier this year, while pregnant, I wasn’t that worried. I thought it was bad flu or something – not the end of the world.
Advertisement
As things went on, of course, I knew I was wrong. I was 39 weeks when they said pregnant women were at risk, cautioning us about going outside. I was self-employed, just beginning my maternity leave, and the worry started to sink in. It was really scary – quite unnerving, to be honest – as I slowly read more about it. I became cautious, on high alert. I realised how serious it all was.
At that point, there were rumours that lockdown was coming, so I called the hospital. They said their policy was to allow a birth partner in with you – but that it might change. The thought of going through labour alone was terrifying.
My labour was bang on time, the day after my due date. I’d been doing everything I could to induce my baby before lockdown: walking around the neighbourhood, eating spicy food, whatever it took. And when it came on – intense, painful contractions – I went straight into hospital.
HuffPost UK
Advertisement
When I went in at 2.30am, I was already 2cm dilated. The maternity ward was calm – they were going a good job and it was pretty much business as usual, only with lots of hand gel. But we were in our own little bubble. My last baby had taken three days, so I wasn’t expecting a quick labour, but I soon realised that was the way it was going to go.
The pain was bad. It was so intense. I’d had an epidural with my daughter but there was no time for that with my son. At one point they thought about sending me back home while my labour progressed, but I was in so much pain I asked a midwife to check me. She did, screamed, paged someone, and I was straight on the way to the delivery suite. She’d seen the top of my baby’s head.
I was so thankful they allowed my partner in with me – I know people after me haven’t got that – but he was there throughout. Everything happened so fast. I pushed several times and my son was born at 5.30am, just three hours after arriving at the hospital.
“They were eager to get people out as quick as possible, trying to discharge them”
They immediately did checks on me and my baby, and we stayed in overnight. But but could tell they were eager to get people out as quick as possible from the maternity ward – trying to discharge them. It wasn’t like that last time.
Advertisement
I left on Friday morning, just as the UK was shutting down. When I got out, it became clear I’d been fairly removed from everything in the ward. I walked out of hospital and it was chaotic. A woman screamed at me to cover the baby’s face. “There’s a virus,” she shouted. It was a completely different atmosphere to when I walked in, where everyone has gone out of their way to make sure there wasn’t that sense of panic.
As I arrived home, I put on the TV and saw the madness unravelling. We were at home, with our son, when we heard the lockdown announcement. And it was then that the realisation kicked in. No school for my daughter, no mum and baby groups to avoid being alone. Just knowing that I wouldn’t have that normality. I was checking mine and my son’s temperature for a week after we came out, nervous we’d been in hospital where so many coronavirus cases had been.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Universal Basic Income Is The Way Forward

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Covid-19 has brought many things into sharp focus but as attention moves to the economic impact of the pandemic, alongside the loss of life, a debate has begun about how best to support people amid potentially years of sluggish or no growth.
While the world needs to consider innovative ways to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, many – such as both the main political parties in the UK – have dismissed a policy I believe could transform societies, Britain included, for the better.
Advertisement
I’m talking about the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI), which has received increasing attention as a way of simplifying the benefits system and meeting other needs. In recent years Finland has trialled UBI, while Spain recently said it would introduce a version to lessen the economic pain of Covid-19. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg backs the policy as a way to reduce poverty.
So what is it and how and why would it work?
In simple terms UBI (often termed a ‘Citizens’ Income’) is a basic, unconditional payment made to every person. While interest in UBI has been building over the past decade, there is not a single country which has implemented a comprehensive programme. In essence, a tipping point is needed and the response to the Covid-19 crisis may just be the catalyst for this.
“If we are genuinely in this together, radical short-term changes are needed”
PA
Advertisement
The concept of basic income has a long history, with the philosopher Thomas Moore mooting the idea of providing everyone “with some means of livelihood” in the 16th century. The arguments for the policy have often centred on social justice, equality, fairness and poverty alleviation from a left-wing perspective, as well as attracting support from feminists as a way of giving income directly to women.
Those on the political right like UBI’s simplicity and reduced administrative cost, the smaller role for the state in means-testing and the removal of some of the perverse incentives that arise out of the current benefits system, such as clawback rates, in which citizens can end up paying back more than 70% of their income.
Yet despite its merits, and support from across the world, UBI has yet to be meaningfully implemented anywhere. There are perhaps two main reasons for this.
The first reason is included in political journalist Isabel Hardman’s book Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. Few politicians dare to show real leadership and be bold with radical policy ideas. The easy option is to wait for someone else – another country – to enact such a policy, and, if it works, to copy it. This, of course, is the ultimate chicken and egg situation, with no one daring to go first.
Second, many have concerns about cost. If one works on the basis that a full UBI would be around £7,000 per year for an adult and £3,500 for a child, giving a family of four annual income of £21,000, the cost is likely to be north of £300bn. This is about 50% of UK tax revenues, though of course there are benefit savings to be offset against this. Nonetheless, the net cost would remain significant and would require major and wide-ranging taxation changes to fund it.
Advertisement
Back in the world of Covid-19, chancellor Rishi Sunak’s policies – notably the furlough scheme – are set to be eye-wateringly expensive. Latest estimates suggest that the number of people being paid by the government is about half the workforce. Inevitably, Universal Credit applications have soared. However, there are many gaps and more problems to come. Those who are only recently self-employed do not qualify, nor those on higher salaries or those who are remunerated in other ways. The chancellor is yet to announce his changes to the furlough scheme but they are likely to involve a requirement for employers to bear more of the cost which in turn is likely to lead to more redundancies. The number of hardship cases will increase.
Perhaps this is the tipping point that UBI has been waiting for. The rules of the game that dictate government social security policy have changed as a result of Covid-19, creating the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive but time-limited experiment.
Clearly, this needs paying for, and here’s how we could begin to fund it. A temporary increase in all tax rates of 50%, so that a 20% income tax rate becomes 30%, along with the abolition of the Personal Allowance, would raise significant revenue. Adjustments would also be required to the State Pension in the interests of fairness, though I will leave others to consider whether VAT should also increase amid fears it could fuel inflation.
Young people have been disproportionately affected by the crisis – university years torn apart, the substitution of remote teaching for lectures and the withdrawal of job offers. I would not want to be part of the graduating class of 2020. A UBI would offer some degree of compensation.
If we are genuinely in this together, radical short-term changes are needed, to both benefits and taxation. This moment in time has the potential to be the tipping point, with 2020 the year of the UBI experiment. Fairness dictates that we try it.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall Gets Real About Life In Lockdown: 'I'm All Jigsawed Out, Hun'

Make the most of your time in lockdown with a daily dose of celebrity news and guides to the best shows. Sign up to the entertainment newsletter.
With the whole country on lockdown, people are having to be more imaginative than ever when it comes to keeping themselves entertained. So, in these challenging and turbulent times, we’ve never been so grateful to be following Jade Thirlwall on Instagram.
Advertisement
In the last few weeks alone, she has had us howling with her recreations of classic TV moments, her live-stream interviews and her kitchen segments.
We’re not the only ones either, as the Little Mix singer has now landed her own MTV series, Served! With Jade Thirlwall, which combines her love of drag culture with cooking, taking on a different famous queen in the kitchen each week via video-link.
Jade pays homage to Served! guest Courtney Act's infamous CBB wardrobe malfunction MTV
“I love drag culture, I love baking, I love having a laugh and having a cheeky cocktail,” she explains. “So I thought, ‘why not put it all together and see what happens?’.”
Advertisement
Ahead of the show’s debut, we caught up with Jade about life in lockdown, her love of drag culture and Little Mix’s upcoming 10th anniversary...
First of all, how have you found the last few weeks of lockdown?
Well, the first few week, it was fine. I was so busy anyways [Little Mix released their most recent single shortly after lockdown began] so being indoors for a while and not having to do much seemed like an alright idea. But now, I’m definitely ready to just get back to work.
I’m all jigsawed out, hun. Do you know what I mean? And that’s why I’ve done this show with MTV, I was getting a bit bored, to be honest.
Obviously drag culture is a big part of the show – how long has that been a passion of yours?
When I really think about it, I feel like subconsciously, I’ve always been into drag culture. Right from being a little girl, going on holiday to Benidorm with my family and seeing the drag queens there, I was always so fascinated by these human dolls, I guess.
And I’ve always been a big fan of divas like Diana Ross – my ultimate idol – I’ve always loved the artists that were larger-than-life and fabulous, feather boas, Shirley Bassey-types, sequins, glamour.
Advertisement
Then once I discovered Drag Race a few years ago, I was just hooked. Being in London, I’ve got a lot of LGBT friends who took me out to gay bars and to drag shows, so my love for drag grew more and more, and now I’ve got quite a few friends who are drag queens.
Jade appeared alongside Drag Race favourites Alaska Thunderfuck, Courtney Act and Willam in Little Mix's Power music video Vevo/Hannah Lux Davis
What is it about drag that appeals to you so much?
It’s just so incredible that these people can literally transform themselves into these characters that are so exaggerated and beautiful and funny.
I know so many drag queens who are actually quite shy in real life, but transform into their drag persona and all of a sudden they’re like a different person. And for me, I can really relate to that. Especially before being in Little Mix, I’ve always been shy, but when I get on stage and create this new sort of persona, I can really enjoy myself.
Let’s talk about some of the guests on the show, because some of those queens are real loose cannons. Were there ever moments during filming where you were dreading what they might say next?
Advertisement
There have been a few times where someone might have said something a bit shady or a bit wild, but that’s the beautiful thing, it’s my show! So I can do what I want with it!
It’s all fun and games really, and we’ve definitely been a bit merry and had a couple of wines during some of it. That’s what it’s all about, I wanted it to be really authentic and not too scripted. So it’s literally me, in my kitchen, trying my best to cook something while talking to someone at the same time. And just seeing what happens, really.
I was going to ask whether there’d be a lot left on the cutting room floor – but it sounds like all the juicy stuff is going to be kept in?
Oh yeah! That’s the stuff that makes it funny. And I think having my mam part of it as well, it’s literally just what I would be going on anyway.
What’s her role in the show?
My mam is basically going to be judging who did the better dinner. And she’s been absolutely loving it, bless her. She’s on her own in lockdown at the minute, self-isolating, so I think it was nice for her to be a part of it, and she loves it all as well, to be honest.
Advertisement
Jade's mum, Norma, has appeared in Little Mix's Change Your Life, Power and Strip music videos Vevo/Rankin
Was she a harsh judge?
Yes. Especially when it comes to cooking because... I try my best, but I’m no Gordon Ramsay, do you know what I mean? I give it a good go, but nine times out of 10, the results aren’t going to be particularly mind-blowing.
So my mam likes to lay into me when I haven’t done a good job. There’s definitely no favouritism going on.
Kim Woodburn is on the show too, what was she like to work with?
Honestly… what an icon. What an icon! We’re just giving everyone what they want, do you know what I mean? Putting two huns on there for people to see.
She’s actually very lovely, you know? She’s very up for it, it doesn’t bother her when you talk about all her one-liners and stuff – she loves it. You can really go there with her and say what you want, which we definitely did.
Advertisement
But what was really lovely was that after I chatted to her on Skype, she messaged me and said ‘thank you so much for asking me to be part of the show’. She’s definitely a lovely lady. From what I’ve experienced, anyway.
Kim Woodburn leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2017 Karwai Tang via Getty Images
Obviously I can’t ask about drag and not ask about Drag Race UK. How did being a judge compare to what you envisaged, because you’ve obviously been a fan for a long time…
Oh yeah – a superfan. So when I finally got to be part of it, I was just trying my best not to freak out all day. Just being on set and everything, it was like a dream.
I couldn’t stop staring at Ru, and what’s quite cute is that the first time I met Ru was a couple of years before at Drag Con, where I was fully literally willing to buy a $1000 doll just to get the chance to meet RuPaul. And then luckily I bumped into Michelle Visage and she was like ‘nah nah, don’t worry, I’ll take you to meet him’. So to go from that to actually being on the show, it was a dream come true.
Advertisement
When Drag Race UK was first announced fans were calling for you to be a guest judge straight away. Honestly, how pissed off would you have been had you not been asked?
To be honest, I was secretly happy that the fans kept hounding the show every single day… I was like ‘come on do your worst, fans’ – and it definitely worked.
But would I have been pissed off..? I think I’d have been disappointed. But when I got the call to say they’d officially asked me to do it, I could have screamed, honestly. Highlight of my career. One of, anyway.
Jade on the Drag Race UK judging panel BBC
Did anything surprise you about being on set and watching the runway as it happened?
Yes. Firstly, it was absolutely freezing in the studio. I guess because they have to make sure none of the queens’ faces melt off, but it’s really cold in the building. So I had a little hot water bottle on my knee under the desk while I was on the show.
Advertisement
And you have to always look forward because obviously the lighting on the show is insane, the most flattering light you could ever wish for. But I kept staring at Ru and I kept getting told off to keep looking forward. But I couldn’t help it! I was just in awe. I just wanted to have a proper look!
Watching it back, did any of the queens come across differently to watching it in real life?
It was interesting because my week was the week that The Vivienne had a bit of a down week, and was in the bottom two. And obviously, [when you’re judging] you don’t see any of how they’re doing beforehand.
It wasn’t the best performance, but I remember thinking at the time, ‘I really hope that she does well’. So it was interesting watching the show back afterwards and seeing her journey, and how well she’d actually been doing up until that point.
Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne is among the guests on Served! With Jade Thirlwall Karwai Tang via Getty Images
As a Little Mix fan, it’s been great in the last few years to see you all doing your individual projects. Do you feel like as time has gone on, you’ve all become a bit more confident in branching out outside of the group?
Advertisement
Yeah, definitely. For the first few years we were all terrified, and doing anything by yourself would have been so scary. We so heavily relied on each other – and also, I think we didn’t want the press to feel like we were branching off and splitting, when it’s very far from that.
As we’ve matured and got more confident in ourselves, we became women in the group, and we all have very different hobbies and interests and identities, we sort of agreed that, yeah, it was the right thing to start reaching out and doing our own thing – while still being together.
And I think people can tell that it’s nothing to do with wanting to be on our own, it’s just a case of again showing what our loves are and what our passions are. And we support each other in doing that.
You’ve got album number six on the way which is very rare for a girl band and practically unheard of for an X Factor act. That must be something that you must be really proud of.
Oh 100%. We can’t believe it’s been nearly 10 years – and you’re right, it’s so unheard of, especially for a girl band, to last that long. I guess the key to that is always thinking of the bigger picture, being in it together, supporting each other, nobody trying to, like, outshine anybody else.
Advertisement
We said from the beginning that we wanted to stay equal – and there have been times over the years when people on the team or whatever have maybe said something about someone in the band coming to the forefront, and we’ve always been very adamant that we never wanted that to be the case. The minute you do that is when a band starts to fall apart, so we’ve always stuck to our guns and what we believe in, and that is all of us being equal. And it’s worked for us!
Little Mix performing in 2019 Joseph Okpako via Getty Images
Almost 10 years in, do you feel like Little Mix gets the recognition for being a band that has been on top for all that time, and continues to have success?
No, not really, to be honest [laughs] I think for women in general, it’s hard getting the recognition you deserve. And so for a group of women, or a girl band, it’s incredibly hard. Because I feel like, for some reason, there’s this weird stigma attached to being in a girl group, especially a pop band.
It took us literally years to prove to everyone that we’re credible, that we write our music and we actually stand up for things that we believe in. It did take us a long time to get to that point.
Advertisement
Even with the Brit Awards, it’s incredibly heard to even be nominated for the group category – I don’t think a girl group has ever won Best Group at the Brit Awards which, for me, is mindblowing. So I think there’s still a long way to go in terms of celebrating women. Properly. And appreciating what we’re about.
That’s not me complaining by any means, because we’ve had a lot of success, and we’ve been fortunate enough to win Brit Awards in the past, but there is that feeling of being a bit of an underdog. Even in the X Factor days, I don’t think anyone expected us to do as well as we have done. But the proof is in the pudding, really.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--How To Deal With Anger If It's Building Up During Lockdown

LOADING ERROR LOADING
We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Emotions are riding high as lockdown stretches on and our freedoms remain constrained. One emotion in particular has repeatedly reared its head in households up and down the UK this week. Anger.
Advertisement
There’s anger at the virus, government, media and, most recently, anger at the injustice when most people have followed the rules – often at a huge personal cost – and a minority haven’t, including some of those in positions of power.
When HuffPost UK asked the nation ‘How are you feeling?’ earlier this month, multiple people cited anger as a predominant emotion. One midwife who wished to remain anonymous told us she felt “tearful” and “angry at [the] government for their treatment of us in the NHS as dispensable”.
Another said: “I am really angry with how the government has handled this. They don’t know what they are doing and they don’t seem to care about how many people are dying. I am scared.”
Advertisement
How Are You Feeling?
Anger is a very natural emotion – we all experience it at one point or other. Catherine Gallacher, a counsellor and senior-accredited BACP member, tells HuffPost UK that it falls on a spectrum. “People talk about feeling frustrated, irritable,” she says. “They talk about feeling annoyed, angry and then it goes up to rage. The last [emotion on the spectrum] is indifference, where there’s a lack of care of consequences and that’s obviously very severe.”
Bubbling away beneath the anger that people feel, there are usually other emotions at play: fear, confusion, grief (“not necessarily loss as in bereavement, but loss of the norm,” explains Gallacher). Anger can also be driven by a loss of control, and a sense of injustice or unfairness.
“Anger was one of the primary evolutionary feelings: it was designed for survival. It knows only on and off,” explains David Woolfson, an anger management specialist and psychotherapist. “But this means that once the trigger is pressed, often by a trivial event, we end up in noise and miss out on the detail and complexity of our humanity. Our capacity for empathy is reduced and we want only to survive, hide, hurt, blame or punish.”
Holding onto or internalising anger can be harmful – it’s been linked to poor heart health (multiple studies have associated it with an increased risk of heart attacks), high blood pressure, anxiety and stress, which has been linked in turn to a weakened immune system.
Anger has physical and mental symptoms you may recognise – including a fast heartbeat, tense muscles, feeling hot and tight in your chest, as well as feeling nervous, unable to relax, irritable, humiliated or resentful of others. If you are experiencing any of these, here’s a way through.
Advertisement
Accept the feeling
You might find yourself lashing out at someone you love or bursting into tears (yes, angry tears are a thing) and wondering why. This is because, for lots of people, it’s hard to identify anger as the underlying reason for how you feel.
Take a minute to check in with yourself and determine how you’re feeling today – and what might be the source of these feelings. If you’re reading this, you might already suspect anger as an underlying factor and this is a positive start.
Gallacher recommends accepting this is how you feel, understanding that anger is a normal emotion given the circumstances, but also recognising it can be “unhelpful and unhealthy” to internalise it. Dwelling on negative feelings for too long can be damaging – studies have even linked it to depression.
It’s not about beating yourself up – which can actually make you even angrier. “Often, when we are angry, we tell ourselves we shouldn’t be; that feeling angry is somehow bad,” says Woolfson. “Then we get angry with ourselves for being angry and feel ashamed – it’s an inexorable cycle.” To break that cycle, ask: why are you experiencing anger? And, most importantly, what can you do with it?
Analyse your anger
Sometimes the tiniest of events can trigger significant anger. If this is the case, it can suggest your anger is not about what’s actually happening in the moment.
Advertisement
“Each of us carries a ‘sack’ of anger and history with us, and disproportionate anger tells us this has been triggered,” explains Woolfson.
“Generally, your colleague’s lateness, or the washing up not being done, are not really big deals, especially during lockdown, and won’t be important by tomorrow. It certainly doesn’t merit much anger.” If your anger is out of proportion, it’s likely your feelings aren’t related to the immediate present.
Get some fresh perspective
Anger is often triggered by perception rather than the truth, says Woolfson. He offers the example of when a colleague turns up late for a Zoom meeting and you are affronted because you read it as a sign they don’t respect you. But the reality might be that their internet was down or their kids were playing up.
“Ask yourself if your opinion is accurate or merely your version of the truth,” Woolfson suggests. Look at the situation from a fly on the wall perspective – evidence shows this technique, called self-distancing, can help reduce our feelings of anger. It’s a good technique to use in the heat of the moment, too.
Don’t make it all about you
Recognising when we make things personal can help reduce anger levels significantly, says Woolfson. “This is typical of road rage, when we make being cut up by another motorist a personal attack,” he adds.
Advertisement
“Often when we take things personally, we rub salt in a childhood wound or false story, often around beliefs of not being good enough, being imperfect, or a failure. These beliefs often persist into adulthood, creating stress and anger when we ‘fail’. This pattern is self-perpetuating.”
Find a calming strategy
The key to diffusing anger is to find strategies that calm yourself, says Gallacher. And no, high-octane exercise sessions like boxing probably won’t help – they might even make you feel even more riled up.
“You want to de-escalate, decompress, self-soothe and calm things down,” she says. There are plenty of alternative strategies, like mindfulness, yoga, pilates, walking, swimming, jogging, journalling, engaging in a hobby you enjoy and doing breathing exercises.
Gallacher recommends the 5,5,5 breathing technique, where you breathe in slowly through your nose for five seconds, hold your breath for five seconds, breathe out through your mouth slowly for five seconds, hold your breath for five seconds – and repeat this five times. It’s also known as the box breathing technique, and can be good for those with anxiety.
Ultimately, it’s about finding what works best for you.
Advertisement
Malte Mueller via Getty Images
Talk to others
For some people, just talking about their anger with others can help – whether that’s a housemate, family member or therapist – rather than bottling it up. Have a good vent, but don’t overdo it.
If you’re arguing a lot with your partner or a family member, communicate. “By letting others know how you feel and what you need you can strengthen bonds – especially in the current intense health crisis,” says Woolfson.
Steer clear of vices
It might be tempting to turn to drugs, cigarettes, booze or gambling to help ease your anger – but actually, these can all contribute to poor mental health and will likely make you feel even worse (and angrier) afterwards.
Be constructive
While anger can drive terrible deeds and behaviour, it can also be a force for good, says Woolfson. “We usually focus on the ‘bad’ behaviours that come with anger, such as losing your temper, bullying or being heavily critical or sarcastic. But anger itself is just a feeling, not a behaviour.”
Many people are surprised to learn that anger management is not about getting rid of anger but “changing our relationship with it”. The NHS advice is not to focus on things you cannot change (easier said than done), but Woolfson is more of the mindset that denying anger will not make it go away – rather, it creates shame, fear and even more anger.
Advertisement
“We can change our relationship with anger simply by treating it as a source of valuable information about ourselves and how we see the world,” he says.
Anger often goes hand in hand with much of the activism we see in society – fuelling climate change activist Greta Thunberg, Big Issue founder John Bird, and Gina Miller, the business owner who challenged the UK government in 2016 over its authority to trigger article 50 without parliamentary approval.
There are constructive things that can come of anger for you too – whether that’s calmly talking to a boss or colleague about something you’re upset about or writing a letter to your neighbour about their noisy parties. This past weekend, thousands wrote impassioned letters to their MPs expressing their unhappiness over Dominic Cummings’ movements during lockdown. As Gallacher puts it: “If you want to be heard, don’t be angry, be reasonable.”
Psychologists believe that moral outrage can have beneficial outcomes and inspire people to take part in long-term collective action. Daryl Cameron, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State University, said that moral outrage “can get you to care, can get you motivated to sign petitions, can get you to volunteer” – and ultimately these things can help shape a better society.
If you feel angry about something, allow yourself time to calm down and then focus on constructive action – we’re talking solutions here. Think carefully about how you move forward. “If you hold on to the anger, it turns inside you and becomes unhealthy for you” says Gallacher. “Look at a way of processing the anger – acknowledge it and the reason behind it, but also ask: what next?”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--I’m Estranged From My Family. Lockdown Is Testing That Decision

solarseven via Getty Images
When lockdown began, I hadn’t spoken to my dad since Christmas Day. It was a brief, perfunctory call. I’d talked to my mum more recently but that too was strained, and I wanted the call to end as it began.
For six months, I’ve been in the process of reducing contact with both on the advice of my therapist, and my own feelings. But this global pandemic will really test that decision.
Advertisement
To an outsider’s eye, I had a very lovely middle class childhood. We had a leafy garden, my parents were both liberally minded and they provided violin lessons, holidays in Europe and a good education. We were the sort of family who always had a bowl of Kettle Chips on the table before dinner, who read the Guardian and voted Green. But liberal-mindedness at parties doesn’t really mean anything behind closed doors. Both my parents are narcissists, albeit in very different ways – my dad the vain, sometimes aggressive type-A high achiever and my mother, quietly manipulative, willing herself into states of physical illness to keep me at home caring for her. I spent my childhood swinging between trying to pacify him and keeping her safe. At its worst, my deepest fear when he was absent with work and she had periods of depression was that I wouldn’t be able to keep her alive.
What other people witnessed – fancy dinners and a posh home – and what I experienced – serious mental health problems and emotional abuse – were so at odds, I became certain I was a fantasist. I would obsess over moments of kindness, telling myself it was my fault our relationships had failed.
“I’ve had to reckon with the idea of a very real risk of their potential illness, maybe even death – and what my regret in the face of those things could look like.”
Advertisement
Blame is really irrelevant at this point. Just as I was just beginning to feel more confident in my decision, the coronavirus pandemic hit. And with this, I’ve had to reckon with the idea of a very real risk of their potential illness, maybe even death – and what my regret in the face of those things could look like.
I’ve spent a lot of lockdown asking myself what the right thing to do is, for everyone, and what my duty should be. In the beginning, I initiated contact again. We’ve never talked about the fact that it died out in the first place – I think they don’t want to risk talking about the past, and I didn’t feel like prompting that conversation. Immediately, my mood crashed; a familiar, still heaviness settled in the pit of my stomach and the clawing beginnings of depression tangled up in my chest when I woke every morning.
But in the middle of a global pandemic, it can be hard to tell what’s your own baggage and what’s just regular old anxiety. So I persevered, and with each phone call, I felt progress being undone; slipping further under the waves. It has now been ten days since we spoke last and I’m at a fork in the road. On the one hand, a global pandemic does not change the past. There’s a corner of my brain that doesn’t believe my parents should get a free pass just because they may be at risk. Believe me, I know how callous that sounds – but then the child in me was at risk, too.
“I can’t pause a global pandemic while I come to terms with our shared past. So for now, I swing between worry, sadness, and hope.”
On the other hand – and the stronger voice currently – I don’t want to live with regrets. If my mother contracted Covid-19 there’s a very real chance she could die, and if I knew her most recent memories of our relationship had caused her pain, I would never forgive myself. I’d feel like I had failed her.
Advertisement
I suppose, in the end, I want them to be safe, happy and fulfilled – just not with me. So I do everything I can to help that doesn’t lead to direct contact. I ask her friends to visit her and talk through the window. I send things in the post. I just don’t want to pick up the phone. Perhaps I should hold my nose one more time, jump in and try to be of comfort – but when speaking to them winds me for days, this feels more like martyrdom than a good deed.
I hide all of this from friends because, without the context of history which few people know, I’m scared of seeming cold, uncaring and selfish. My friends talk only about worry and love for their elderly parents – for me, it’s something different.
I don’t necessarily have the luxury of time to figure this out; I can’t pause a global pandemic while I come to terms with our shared past. So for now, I swing between worry, sadness and also hope, for a time when normality returns as a backdrop to this conundrum.
Until then, once a week, I will try to pick up the phone.
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--I'm An Adult Who Is Constantly Mistaken For A 12-Year-Old. This Is What My Life Is Like

Courtesy of Melanie Bell A photo of the author taken on recent vacation.
I was at the airport, waiting for a TSA full-body scan, when the woman managing the line asked me, “Are you old enough to go in the scanner?”
I stared at her face and wished I had the luxury to be surprised by her question. I was 30 years old. Full-body scans are a requirement for everyone once they’ve turned 12.
Advertisement
I have always been small compared to my peers. As a child, I was consistently one of the shortest in my class, lagging behind the others when we ran laps in gym. I would get asked if I was one or two years younger than my age, which irritated me but only to a point. On good days, I’d imagine myself as Cinderella due to my uncommonly small shoe size.
Once I became older, the perceived gap increased dramatically. My friends filled out while I remained spindly. I was given the freshman nickname “Itty-Bitty,” and people began calling me “tiny” as a matter of course.
As far as I know, I have no growth hormone deficiency or underlying condition other than being petite. But, I do have a confluence of genetic markers that signal youth: a round face, slight bone structure, minimal chest definition, and wide eyes. These are all features I can’t change. I also have relatives on both sides who hover around the five-foot mark. My mother, too, is narrow in frame, and early in her marriage she was often mistaken for my father’s daughter.
Getting ID’ed is a matter of course for me: “That’s really your age? Are you sure? Hahaha, you must get ID’ed all the time!” I’ve taken the advice of loved ones ― and nosy strangers ― and tried responding to comments like these with humour, but the people asking the questions have merely looked confused. I have attempted to improve my confidence and posture with little effect; it’s hard to stand tall when I have to look up to speak to everyone, no matter how straight my spine.
Advertisement
“You’re so lucky,” people tell me as they roll their eyes jealously whenever I mention getting ID’ed or mistaken for a preteen. I want to tell them that they’d change their minds if they were the ones who had heard infantilising remarks for over three decades. Would they enjoy repeatedly being mistaken for a date’s child or asked if they were old enough to sit in an airplane’s exit row? (At least the minimum age for that is 15.)
“'You’re so lucky,' people tell me as they roll their eyes jealously whenever I mention getting IDed or mistaken for a preteen. I want to tell them that they’d change their minds if they were the ones who had heard infantilizing remarks for over three decades.”
While pursuing my master’s degree, I went to my brother’s Christmas concert. He’s over six feet tall and five years my junior; my family moved to a new town when I started university, so his teachers didn’t know me. “Are you starting junior high next year?” they asked when they were introduced to his “little” sister. Situations like that one make me want to ask people who insist that a youthful appearance is a gift: Would you appreciate having your educational efforts and experience reduced or erased with a glance? Maybe they would ― but I’m sick of it.
Every year, it feels more embarrassing to go out in public. My shoulders tense in anticipation of the next remark someone might make. I have grown to divide the world into spaces of competence ― the ones where I am known and respected, and public encounters, where people see only my body and where a comment or misperception could occur at any time.
Work falls into the former category for me now. In earlier years, as a camp counselor, teacher, or professor, the pitfalls of public life were present at my job. I would often hear, “How old are you?” or “Are you a student?” I started shoehorning in phrases marking my age whenever I could. My current editorial position affords me some peace. Professionals respond to my emails like any colleague’s, and I am grateful they can’t see my face.
Advertisement
I first dated in earnest via websites that prominently list a user’s age, thereby avoiding misperceptions of me from the get-go, and I have met every one of my partners online. My written eloquence has garnered me much of my professional and romantic success, but words desert me when yet another stranger assumes that I’m too young to interpret a question about my age to be rude. White hairs peek from my temples and pepper my eyebrows, but no one notices; people are too distracted by my body’s small scale to see the details.
Adulthood has brought another unwelcome factor for me: body shaming. This is something I share with other women, even though I don’t look like most of them. I’ve been accused of having an eating disorder and my clothing has snidely been referred to as “doll clothes.” Others refuse to believe that I hear the things I hear, or tell me these comments shouldn’t bother me because “of course you look 12.”
I may look young, but I’m old enough to recognise that these comments are neither helpful nor constructive. Many of us are culturally conditioned to feel insecure about our bodies. That’s no excuse to make derogatory comments about how other people look. Sometimes I look in the mirror and have trouble taking myself seriously or connecting the voice inside my head with the elfin creature looking back at me.
From a physical accessibility standpoint, it’s uncomfortable to move through a world where my clothing choices are limited to a fraction of stores and my legs dangle above the floor in most seats. Despite insecurities and challenges, however, I don’t believe my body is inherently wrong. If I could change how the public responded, I would be happier in my skin. I suspect this is true for many others as well.
I’ve shed more tears over my “first world problem” than I’d like to admit. Conversely, I understand that my size affords certain privileges. I am virtually immune to catcalls and some manifestations of sexism (comments like, “When are you going to have children? Your biological clock must be ticking!”), and I do not tend to get sexualised unless I make the first move. I am fortunate not to deal with fat shaming or worrying that I might be too big to fit anywhere or for anything. I have an easier time weaving my way through a crowd than most people.
Advertisement
“While many of my peers can get away with wearing a hoodie, it turns me into a juvenile hobbit. I’d love to be able to dress comfortably and remain free from judgment, but I celebrate the little things, like when a guide on an architecture tour I took last year called me a 'lady.'”
Fortunately, I have found a few hacks to help mitigate mistaken public perceptions. Dressing in business clothes while traveling, wearing massive platform heels when an occasion permits, relying on tailored items, darker colors, bold lipstick, and keeping my hair short have all, at least on occasion, seemed to silence questions. But if I drop one of these shields, I find they resume. While many of my peers can get away with wearing a hoodie, it turns me into a juvenile hobbit. I’d love to be able to dress comfortably and remain free from judgment, but I celebrate the little things, like when a guide on an architecture tour I took last year called me a “lady.”
Since I moved from Canada to the U.S. before finally landing in the U.K., the comments have diminished. Brits seem to feel less entitled to comment on strangers’ bodies, or maybe they’re simply less preoccupied with them.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also intensified my sense of public peace. Social life has moved online, where nobody pops up and asks my age, and when I am out in the world, customer service people are more concerned with safety than small talk. It seems in a world where anyone might be capable of infecting someone else, public remarks on each other’s bodies have dwindled for a time. Ironically, while a respiratory illness floats around the globe, I breathe more easily. My physical concerns are focused on sanitation, eating well, and exercising ― keeping myself healthy in the ways that I can.
As devastating as the coronavirus has been, I hope that perhaps the changes in public etiquette that I have experienced will continue into the future — that maybe the temporary habit of staying six feet apart from one another will lessen people’s tendencies to judge each other to their face. Our bodies are going through a lot right now, and I am seeing signs that we are beginning to realise just how interconnected we are and how dependent our welfare is on each other.
Advertisement
Those of us who live through the pandemic will share a legacy of both embodied stress and resilience, and the image we see in the mirror seems trivial in comparison to that. Hopefully, we can learn from this unprecedented time and the challenges it has brought, and as we continue to press forward and face whatever uncertainties lie ahead, maybe we’ll recognize that how we look pales in comparison to what we do and how we treat each other.
Melanie Bell is a writer, editor, and co-author of The Modern Enneagram. This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--How To Make Perfect Jammy Eggs Every Time

An enduring kitchen staple, eggs are particularly useful to have on hand during the coronavirus pandemic due to their health benefits and versatility. There are a variety of classic preparations for those looking to make a quick breakfast or amp up a lunch or dinner plate –– sunny side up, scrambled, hard-boiled and poached, to name a few.
But for those looking to mix things up, we’re here to tell you about the magic that is jammy eggs.
“This is my favourite form of egg,” Sara Woods, executive chef at Vaux, a contemporary restaurant in Portland, Oregon, told HuffPost. “Granted, I will also say that about several other styles of egg cookery, but I really like eggs. A jammy egg, where the white is completely set and solid but the yolk is still creamy and soft, is really the ideal combination of all egg qualities. No snotty whites, no gray chalky yolks. Just all parts of the egg in their optimum form.”
Celebrity chef, television personality and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich defines jammy eggs as having solid egg whites and yolks “cooked to a spreadable texture.” Think somewhere between a soft-boiled and a hard-boiled egg.
Advertisement
There are many ways to achieve this texture. Here’s how:
The boil method
Nick Korbee, partner at Egg Shop, an egg-centric cafe with two locations in New York City, makes jammy eggs by carefully lowering whole eggs into rapidly boiling water that’s salted and slightly acidulated. “Enough water to cover the eggs by one inch, plus two tablespoons vinegar and two teaspoons salt,” Korbee said. “Boil for 7 minutes and 30 seconds and immediately remove eggs and place in an ice bath. Peel and enjoy when they’re just cool enough to handle comfortably.”
The addition of salt and vinegar to the water is Korbee’s “superstitious trick that seems to make the eggs easier to peel.”
Woods similarly lowers whole eggs into boiling water. However she cooks them for 6 1/2 minutes before cooling in ice water.
Bastianich places room temperature eggs in a pot of boiling water for approximately 7 minutes, “give or take a minute, depending on how runny you want your egg yolks.”
Advertisement
There may be some trial and error to determine the optimal cooking time for your eggs at home, as size and other factors (like the number of eggs you’re boiling at once) can affect cook time.
Matthew Accarrino Chef Matthew Accarrino demonstrates a perfectly jammy egg, just between hard-boiled and soft-boiled.
Matthew Accarrino, executive chef at SPQR, a Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in San Francisco, recommends removing eggs from the refrigerator and letting them sit on the counter at room temperature for about 15 minutes as the water heats up, so that “the eggs are at equal temperature and all cook uniformly.” He makes sure to have enough water in the pot to cover the eggs by at least two inches. “If there is not enough water, then once you put the eggs in the temperature has to rise back up and you lose some of your cooking time,” Accarrino said. “My benchmark is a 6-minute egg. This gets you a set white with a custardy yolk.”
The immersion circulator method
While Woods uses the boil method for making jammy eggs most days, “If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll bust out the immersion circulator and cook the whole eggs, in the shell, at 194 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes.” No vacuum sealer required ― just place the eggs in the temperature-controlled water bath. Once the eggs are finished cooking, Woods places them in an ice bath or runs them under cold water before peeling.
The steam method
Whether he’s using the popular boil method or steaming his eggs, Accarrino brings water to a simmer. While he ensures there is plenty of water in the pot when boiling eggs, the steaming method requires less water.
Advertisement
“You can steam eggs in a basket, like an artichoke,” Accarrino said. He brings his water to a simmer, places a steamer basket over the water and steams the eggs for the same amount of time he would boil them (which in his case is 6 minutes). Like the boil method, after cooking, the steamed eggs are placed in cold water to stop them from cooking any further.
How to peel jammy eggs
To peel jammy eggs, Accarrino has two methods: place the eggs in a covered container with water and shake them, or tap the bottom of the egg on the counter and work your way around to peel it completely. “There is an air pocket there and the membrane is thinner,” he said.
Ways to enjoy jammy eggs
While there is no right or wrong way to eat jammy eggs, our chef experts have shared their go-to preparations to help get you started.
Korbee enjoys cured and marinated jammy eggs “where the peeled eggs are soaked in a variety of brining liquids.” He uses excess pickling liquid from beets or red onions to make bright pink eggs, covering the eggs with the brine and allowing them to soak overnight or up to two days to achieve a more intense colour.
Woods enjoys warm jammy eggs with buttery toast, as well as on top of a lunchtime salad. For a handy snack, she recommends keeping a couple unpeeled jammy eggs in your fridge and, when you’re hungry, simply peeling them, halving and sprinkling with your favourite seasoning blend (think flake salt, furikake, harissa, etc.).
Advertisement
Accarrino noted that jammy eggs are great on a Caesar salad, as well as covered in breadcrumbs and fried, like a Scotch egg.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--More Than 100,000 People Have Now Died From Covid-19 In The US

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
The confirmed Covid-19 death toll in the United States has surpassed 100,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Advertisement
The development falls in line with a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention projection in mid-May that the US would reach that milestone by June 1.
Three New York City counties with a combined total of more than 13,000 deaths round out the top of JHU’s list.
The US continues to have the greatest coronavirus death toll of any country in the world — around triple that of the United Kingdom, which ranks second in total deaths.
Though the US ranks ninth in deaths per capita, varying methodology between countries may obscure the real picture. Belgium, which has reported the greatest mortality rate, is including all deaths suspected of being linked to the Covid-19 in its tally, regardless of whether the deceased patient was tested for the virus.
Advertisement
Less than four months ago, US oresident Donald Trump baselessly claimed that the coronavirus ― then concentrated in China’s Wuhan province ― would probably disappear “in April as the heat comes in”. Infectious disease experts warned him not to be so sure. Nearly 59,000 Americans died from COVID-19 during the month of April alone.
Workers move a deceased coronavirus patient in New Jersey. Mike Segar / Reuters
The president has repeatedly revised his predictions of the US death toll upward as the pandemic sweeps the country, an act that’s allowed him to boast of the job he’s doing regardless of how bad things get. A New York Times analysis of all Trump’s public comments on the pandemic from March 9 to April 17 found that he congratulated himself on the US response to coronavirus roughly 600 times. He rarely expresses any empathy for the victims but dedicates lots of time to attacking his critics.
The US would not be hitting 100,000 deaths this soon had it acted earlier, one analysis concluded. A recent Columbia University study found that if the country had put broad social distancing measures in place just a week earlier than it did in March, roughly 36,000 deaths could have been prevented.
The Trump administration is under more fire than ever for brushing off the advice of medical experts early on before the disease began spreading on U.S. soil. Rick Bright, the recently ousted government vaccine official, testified before Congress this month that he “pushed for our government to obtain virus samples from China and to secure more funding ... to get started quickly on the development of critical medical countermeasures,” only to be fired from his job.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Boris Johnson’s Blame Game On Covid-19 Finally Begins To Reveal Itself

LOADING ERROR LOADING
You’re reading The Waugh Zone, our daily politics briefing. Sign up now to get it by email in the evening.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Last year, Boris Johnson avoided the Commons Liaison Committee no fewer than three times. His excuses ranged from being too close to summer recess, through an illegal prorogation, and finally being too busy with Brexit.
Advertisement
It was widely known within Whitehall that Dominic Cummings felt that his boss shouldn’t waste his time appearing before a gathering of senior MPs. On the same day that Johnson ducked the committee last September, Cummings actually told journalists: “You guys should get out of London.” Little did we realise that would turn out to be his personalised pandemic self-protection plan.
Fast forward to today and Cummings’ presence hovered over proceedings like a gas leak. At the end, the PM claimed he had “enjoyed” the session, despite the “difficult” questions. But he then added a novel excuse for why he couldn’t fulfill the convention of appearing twice in a parliamentary year. “The trouble is, it does take a huge amount of sherpa time, of preparation time,” he said. The remark was telling not so much for laying bare his dislike of preparation, but because it showed how much he relied on ‘sherpas’ or officials to do the prep for him.
Of course, Johnson was also keen to stress that he and his team would rather focus on tackling the coronavirus crisis than answering questions about it. But the Liaison Committee session featured some excellent questions from MPs on everything from testing to school inequalities to mothers struggling with childcare and even the economy. And for all the preparation of others, it often felt like the PM just hadn’t bothered to do his homework.
Since Keir Starmer became his prosecutor-in-chief at PMQs, Johnson’s unease with close questioning has become all too palpable (though we shouldn’t forget it was during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that he blundered into suggesting Nazanin Zaghari-Radclliffe was a British spy). His bluster and obfuscation was once again in evidence as dismissed questions about Cummings’ “autobiography” and “exegesis” of his conduct.
Advertisement
The PM was happier trying to explain his new announcement of NHS Test and Trace’s launch on Thursday. That didn’t stop him from making the unforced error of describing the self-isolation at the heart of the plans as “captivity”. Given he was already struggling to defend Cummings’ elastic interpretation of ‘stay at home’, why compound the problem by making self-isolation sound like house arrest rather than an act of civic duty?
That latter phrase was again used by Matt Hancock later. And in what felt like an epic troll of the PM’s adviser, he emphasised why we should follow the test-and-trace rules. It was so epic it’s worth repeating in full: “Do it for your community. Do it too for the frontline workers, who’ve gone out every day and put themselves at risk to keep you and your family safe. And in return for following those instructions, you’ll have the knowledge that, when the call came, you did your bit at a time when it really mattered…when the whole country, who are desperate to see their families, were counting on you to do the right thing.”
There was some evidence today that people are starting to do the wrong thing, thanks to Cummings’ example. West Midlands police and crime commissioner David Jamieson said officers had seen rule breakers tell them “if it is OK for Cummings, it is OK for us”. But I do think the public will comply with the test and trace rules, not least because the system will be seen as the NHS, not the government, telling people what to do.
In fact, while some say that the Cummings affair means now is exactly the worst time to be launching a new system that has quarantine at its heart, one can argue that it is actually the best time politically. Why? Because we are not in the peak of the pandemic, rules have already been loosened and are due to loosen further, on a national level. The PM hinted today he could even relax the 2m rule to 1m, allowing more travel and more shopping. Hancock even talked about people getting their haircut again. If most people are allowed to see extended family again, the few forced to quarantine may get drowned out by the wider sense of relief.
Crucially, the test-and-trace scheme does not rely on huge numbers of people complying because its very nature is meant to deal with a situation when cases are low and flare-ups are rare and localised. Johnson was right to say only a “tiny, tiny minority” would have to suffer the hardship of a 14-day self-isolation. And with high public compliance generally, that means even a few refuseniks won’t ruin the whole thing.
Advertisement
There are still doubts about elements of the test-and-trace scheme, not least the sense its launch date is as arbitrary as the June 1 timetable for school reopening. NHS chiefs feared today that local councils have not been given enough time to engage with it and the NHS App is still not ready. Even the PM admitted tomorrow was just a first step, and the system would be “getting steadily better” to “become a truly world-beating” model. I.e it isn’t world-beating yet.
Johnson did issue a ‘sorry, not sorry’ apology about Cummings. He was “deeply sorry for all the pain and hurt and anxiety” caused by the lockdown, but there were no regrets over his own liaisons dangereuses with an aide who breaks the rules. Yet on the wider question of personal responsibility, he did say something very notable (and unusually well-prepared) about who was to blame for the UK’s huge death toll from Covid-19.
He told Jeremy Hunt: “I think the brutal reality is this country didn’t learn the lessons of Sars [Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome] or Mers [Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome] and we didn’t have a test operation ready to go on the scale that we needed.” That sounded right out of the Trump playbook of blaming your predecessors for your current crisis (Blair was in power during SARS and Cameron during MERS). It may even have been a dig at Hunt himself, who was health secretary after all for many years.
Johnson’s remarks on this were so detailed - talk of a lack of enzymes, kits, trackers - that it suggests he now thinks a public inquiry really is inevitable (Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today Scotland would have one) because he has already started mapping out the case for the defence. He may also be set to blame scientists around him who some believe stuck to groupthink about lockdown timings (Cummings hinted darkly at this on Monday). Yes, everybody’s fault but mine.
In some ways, it’s obvious the UK was unprepared for this pandemic and that stretches back years. But of course, Johnson can’t really escape the fact that the crisis happened on his watch. He had been PM for seven months when the corona hurricane hit landfall in Europe. More than anything, today’s dig at his predecessors showed that he and his No.10 team prefer political distancing to social distancing.
Advertisement
Can he distance himself again from the past decade of a rule by a Tory party and government of which he was a member? That trick worked in the last election, but it may not work now. The public may even think it is his ‘civic duty’ to finally accept responsibility.
Quote Of The Day
“I’m not certain, right now, that an inquiry into that matter is a very good use of official time. We’re working flat out on coronavirus.”
Boris Johnson on why he hasn’t ordered a civil service probe into Dominic Cummings’ conduct
Wednesday Cheat Sheet
The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus reached 37,460.
The number of Tory MPs calling for Dominic Cummings to step down grew to 40 after the PM’s Liaison Committee hearing.
Matt Hancock said the NHS Test and Trace scheme would go live at 9am on Thursday. He also announced that all ages - including children under five years old - will now be eligible for coronavirus tests.
Emily Maitlis was replaced as host of Wednesday night’s episode of Newsnight after BBC bosses reprimanded her over a monologue in which she attacked the government’s handling of Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham.
Advertisement
McDonald’s announced it will reopen 975 more UK branches for drive-thru customers next week.
The number of deaths to Covid-19 in the US went past the 100,000 mark.
What I’m Reading
Inside The Mind Of An Intensive Care Consultant On The Night Of The Peak - New Statesman
Got A Tip?
Send tips, stories, quotes, pics, plugs or gossip to waugh.zone@huffpost.com.
Subscribe To Commons People


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--This Is How Common Asymptomatic Coronavirus Is

LOADING ERROR LOADING
We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Many of us wouldn’t know if we’ve had symptomless coronavirus, but an increasing number of studies suggest it could be more common than you think.
Advertisement
Around eight in 10 coronavirus infections are mild or asymptomatic – meaning the person had no symptoms – according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Meanwhile 15% of infections are severe, and 5% are critical.
But that eight in 10 statistic doesn’t specify how many people experience mild symptoms versus how many have the virus without feeling ill at all.
While we don’t know exactly how many people tend to be asymptomatic, we do know that the number could range from 35-50%. It could be even higher.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has estimated that just over a third (35%) of Covid-19 infections are symptomless.
Advertisement
But other studies suggest this figure might be conservative. One from Italy published at the end of June found that of residents who tested positive for Covid-19 in the municipality of Vo’, a small town near Padua, 42% were asymptomatic.
Another study of 9,000 people selected to take a coronavirus test in Iceland found 50% of them tested positive for Covid-19, but didn’t have any symptoms.
Studies from cruise ships suggest the figure could be higher. Almost three quarters (72%) of people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship who had Covid-19 were thought to have been asymptomatic, according to a preliminary study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Meanwhile a study of the infection on a different (and smaller) cruise ship discovered that eight in 10 passengers and crew members who tested positive for Covid-19 were asymptomatic.
Of those testing positive for the virus, 24 (one in five) people had symptoms, but 108 (eight in 10) people didn’t.
Advertisement
Professor Alan Smyth, joint editor-in-chief of the journal Thorax, where the study was published, told HuffPost UK: “It’s difficult to find a reliable estimate of the number of Covid positive patients who have no symptoms. In early March, WHO suggested the figure might be only 1% – very different from the 81% figure found on the cruise ship.”
As countries progress out of lockdown, the number of asymptomatic individuals may mean that a much higher percentage of the population than expected may have been infected with Covid-19, he said.
“These individuals may have immunity to Covid-19,” he said. “This would in turn reduce the chances of a ‘second peak’ in cases, and the size of the peak should one occur.”
He noted that while the population on the cruise ship was small, every single member was tested – so this is a unique “natural experiment”, which will never be repeated elsewhere.
“There’s no reason why the passengers and crew on the ship are any more likely than the general population to be infected with Covid-19 but have no symptoms,” he said.
Advertisement
“It’s therefore very plausible that the rate of 81% infected but symptom-free might apply to the general population. This means that many more people may be (potentially) immune than was first thought.”
Why are asymptomatic cases a problem?
While it’s good news that some people aren’t getting ill from coronavirus, this presents a problem if those people are still going to the shops and to work, because they think they’re fine, but are inadvertently spreading it around.
Dr Jenna Macciochi, an immunologist and author of Immunity: The Science of Staying Well, tells HuffPost UK asymptomatic carriers are “one of the biggest challenges” with easing lockdown restrictions.
Studies have found that symptomatic and asymptomatic people have a similar viral load. Explaining what a viral load is, Dr Edward Parker, research fellow in systems biology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “After we are infected with a virus, it replicates in our body’s cells. The total amount of virus a person has inside them is referred to as their ‘viral load’.”
The higher the viral load, the more infectious someone is likely to be. And with asymptomatic people being potentially as infectious as those with symptoms, one study from South Korea suggested the isolation of asymptomatic patients may be necessary to control the spread of the virus.
Advertisement
The current NHS advice is that people who have symptoms of coronavirus – a high temperature, new continuous cough, or loss of smell or taste – or those who have tested positive for the virus, should self-isolate.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Police Told To Enforce Lockdown 'Without Fear Or Favour' As BAME People Fined Disproportionately

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the police should enforce lockdown “without fear or favour” as new data shows that ethnic minority groups are being disproportionately fined.
Advertisement
During the coronavirus daily briefing on Wednesday, HuffPost UK put to Matt Hancock that Dominic Cummings, senior adviser to prime minister Boris Johnson, was statistically more likely to have been stopped by police while travelling away from his home during lockdown if he was black.
It followed research highlighting that Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in England are 54% more likely to be fined under coronavirus rules than white people.
Hancock replied: “This is an incredibly important issue and of course it’s vital that the rules, where there is mandation, are policed without fear or favour and fairly and equally according to the evidence.”
'If Dominic Cummings were black, it is statistically more likely he would have been stopped by police while out with his family."
HuffPost UK reporter @Nadine_Writes questions Matt Hancock over the disproportionate number of lockdown fines issued to Britain's BAME community. pic.twitter.com/ffTolDKOqo — HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) May 27, 2020
Advertisement
On Tuesday, analysis by Liberty Investigates and the Guardian revealed that BAME people received as many as 2,218 of the 13,445 fixed-penalty notices (FPNs) under distancing regulations recorded from March 27 to May 11, while white people were given about 7,865.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council has published data fortnightly showing the racial breakdown of the fines which indicates that Black and Asian individuals were disproportionately fined, as exclusively reported by HuffPost UK on May 15.
BAME people account for 15.5% of the population in England, according to 2016 population figures, yet received at least 22% of the coronavirus lockdown fines, according to NPCC data, which was most recently updated on 15 May.
This comes after Durham Police confirmed that it is examining further information and complaints in connection to Cummings flouting lockdown rules.
The force said on Monday that they received further information and complaints from the public and they are reviewing and examining the new information.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Call For Police To Investigate Housing Secretary Over £30m Planning Favour For Tory Donor Richard De

Call For Police To Investigate Housing Secretary Over £30m Planning Favour For Tory Donor Richard Desmond

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has admitted “unlawfully” signing off a 1,500-home development by Conservative Party donor Richard Desmond – in a move that would have saved the billionaire publishing tycoon some £40m.
Labour peer Lord Andrew Adonis has called for the Metropolitan Police to look into the matter, and the Conservative Party leader in Tower Hamlets has resigned from the party altogether because it looks “very suspicious”.
Advertisement
The £1bn project on the former Westferry Printworks on London’s Isle of Dogs was approved in January by Jenrick – despite the council and then the independent Planning Inspectorate both deciding it should be refused over a lack of affordable housing and because it conflicted with local planning policy.
His decision came a day before Tower Hamlets Council approved a new rate for its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which would have increased Desmond’s financial liability to the council by between £30m and £50m.
In March, the council began legal action, alleging that the timing of the decision appeared to show bias. It asked the High Court to order the government to disclose documents that, it argued, would show Jenrick was influenced by a desire to help Desmond save money by avoiding the charges.
Faced with the prospect of having to publicly release documents relating to the decision, Jenrick accepted his decision letter was “unlawful by reason of apparent bias” and confirmed it was deliberately issued before the new CIL policy could be adopted. He agreed planning permission should be quashed and decided by a different minister.
Advertisement
A High Court order states: “In pre-action correspondence, pursuant to the duty of candour, the first defendant [Jenrick] explained that the DL [decision letter] was issued on 14 January 2020 so that it would be issued before the claimant [Tower Hamlets] adopted its new local plan and CIL charging schedule.”
It adds: “He [Jenrick] accepts that the timing of the DL, on the eve of the approval of the claimant’s new CIL charging schedule, thereby avoiding a substantial financial liability which would otherwise fall on the second defendant [Westferry Developments Ltd], would lead the fair minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real possibility that the first defendant was biased in favour of the second defendant.”
Westferry Printworks Consent Order now public
Key points 2 to 6 on page 3 @RobertJenrick accepts his 14th Jan decision "was unlawful by reason of apparent bias" & that he made decision on that date so as to avoid 15th Jan decision on new CIL rates helping developer avoid £40m
1/ pic.twitter.com/wVfk0uPZDy — Andrew Wood (@Andrewwood17) May 27, 2020
Cllr Wood, who resigned as leader of a local Conservative group after Jenrick’s decision, has called for the council and Greater London Authority (GLA) to put more information about the matter in the public domain.
He told The Times: “The reasons for the minister’s decision and his correspondence with the developer should be put in the public domain and investigated by the appropriate authorities.”
Advertisement
Speaking to HuffPost UK, he added: “The whole thing looks very suspicious and I was so angry that I chose then to quit as leader of the Conservative group on the council and as a member of the Conservative Party.
“For me it was the final nail in the coffin. I had decided to stay in because I thought the ability to write to ministers as Conservative group leader was worth me suppressing my increasing doubts about the direction of the party nationally. But Jenrick’s decision was so shocking that I could not continue.”
Lord Adonis tweeted: “I hope the Metropolitan Police are looking at this. By taking the decision he did, Jenrick excused this party donor £40m in tax, maybe more in other respects. His lawyers appear to have conceded it was done in a highly inappropriate manner & Jenrick won’t disclose documents.”
I hope the Metropoitan Police are looking at this. By taking the decision he did, Jenrick excused this party donor £40m in tax, maybe more in other respects. His lawyers appear to have conceded it was done in a highly inappropriate manner & Jenrick won’t disclose documents https://t.co/XyXOIvLx79 — Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) May 27, 2020
Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs said: “We may never know what emails and memos the secretary of state received before making his decision and what influence they had, but his reluctance to disclose them speaks volumes.
Advertisement
“In siding with the developer, he went against not only the planning inspector but also the council’s strategic development committee and the residents whose lives would be directly impacted by this scheme.”
Tower Hamlets planning chief Cllr Rachel Blake added: “We were shocked that in taking his decision, the secretary of state went against the government’s own planning inspector’s recommendation.
“The timing, which meant the developer would have been able to pay significantly lower infrastructure costs than if it had been made the following week, meant we had no choice but to challenge it through the courts.
“We feel strongly that these decisions should be taken locally but where they’re not, our residents must still be able to trust the integrity of the processes that are followed.”
In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Jenrick told Adam Boulton the application was decided “on its merits” and done “without any actual bias”.
Advertisement
He added: “But clearly the way that the process was run gave rise to some concerns and so that’s why we’ve chosen to quash the decision.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Tory Revolt Grows As More MPs Call For Dominic Cummings To Go

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
More Tories have joined calls for Dominic Cummings to leave the government despite Boris Johnson’s attempts to calm the row.
Advertisement
Some MPs appeared to have been waiting for the prime minister’s appearance before the Commons liaison committee on Wednesday before making their minds up on the controversy surrounding his top adviser.
But Johnson’s appeal for the country to “move on” left them unconvinced.
Ex-ministers George Freeman and Andrew Selous, as well as Pauline Latham and David Simmonds, have added to calls for the top aide to go.
The BBC reported that Henry Smith had also urged Cummings to quit.
It is now believed there are more than 40 Tory MPs united against the PM’s chief adviser.
After 48hrs & c1000 emails from constituents expressing outage at the PM’s Chief of Staff breaking the lockdown & not apologising, it’s clear that public anger at the betrayal of their trust & compliance now risks a collapse of respect for HMG public health advice. DC has to go. pic.twitter.com/QtHtFJIJAm — George Freeman MP (@GeorgeFreemanMP) May 27, 2020
Johnson has also suffered the resignation of Scotland minister Douglas Ross over Cummings’ apparent breach of the coronavirus lockdown by driving 260 miles from London to Durham to self isolate with his family, and then later taking a further drive to Barnard Castle, where the family walked on his wife’s birthday.
Advertisement
Freeman said it has become clear from constituents’ letters that nothing has matched “the scale and depth of the anger” over this in his 10 years as an MP.
The Mid Norfolk MP said his “credibility and patience was stretched” by Cummings’ account of his trip to Barnard Castle on a bank holiday weekend “when the whole nation was being instructed to stay at home”.
“It’s clear to me that Mr Cummings’ actions have seriously undermined the authority of the government, the prime minister and the public health message,” he said.
“By continuing in office, Mr Cummings is now regrettably undermining the government, party and prime minister he is employed to serve.
“For all these reasons, I believe Mr Cummings must now apologise and resign his post.”
Selous said Cummings’ behaviour has “damaged the prime minister, the government and most critically of all, the integrity of our vital public health messages.
Advertisement
“I therefore think he should no longer have a role in government.”
Latham said: “We should all follow that guidance no matter who we are. That is more important than the role of any one government adviser and I cannot defend the indefensible.”
Johnson on Wednesday afternoon refused to publish evidence Cummings presented to him to save his job, and rejected calls for a Cabinet Office inquiry.
The PM also denied there was a conflict between how Cummings interpreted the rules compared to parents who stayed at home during the lockdown despite having the virus or its symptoms.
It came as a YouGov survey for The Times showed the Conservative lead over Labour dropping by nine points during the Cummings saga.
Support for the Tories fell four points in the week to Tuesday, to 44%, with Labour rising five points to 38%.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--A Minute Of Kindness: The 100-Year-Old Hot On Captain Tom’s Heels

A Minute Of Kindness: The 100-Year-Old Hot On Captain Tom’s Heels
Mr Choudhury, who was fasting for Ramadan, initially made a pledge to raise £1,000 for victims of COVID19. He set a target to complete walking 100 laps while fasting during the month of Ramadan at the communal garden of his house. Within the first 9 hours of setting up a JustGiving page, he already raised more than £200,000.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Under-5s Can Now Get Tested For Coronavirus, Matt Hancock Announces

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Children under five years old will now be eligible for coronavirus tests, Matt Hancock has announced.
Advertisement
The health secretary said the expansion in testing now means that “every single person who has symptoms of coronavirus can get a test no matter their age”.
Hancock spoke as he announced the NHS test and trace scheme, which will launch on Thursday at 9am.
The government hopes finding and isolating those with coronavirus symptoms and those they have been in contact with will help slow the spread of Covid-19.
It is nine days since the government announced it would expand the testing service to make anyone over five eligible, rather than just certain categories of key workers.
Hancock said the NHS in England now has the capacity to conduct 161,000 tests a day, telling the Downing Street briefing: “Because of that increased capacity, I can announce that we’re expanding eligibility yet further.
Advertisement
“From tomorrow, we’re expanding eligibility for testing to include the under-fives so that every single person who has symptoms of coronavirus can get a test, no matter their age.”
The expansion comes as the government roles out its NHS Test and Trace programme, which will be voluntary at first.
Individuals will be one phone call away from being told to self-isolate for up to a fortnight if a new army of 25,000 tracers identify them as having had “close contact” with others who have tested positive for the virus.
Under the system, “close contact” is defined as being within two metres of someone for more than 15 minutes without any protection such as a plastic screen or protective equipment.
Baroness Dido Harding, the former TalkTalk boss who is leading the test and trace programme, explained how it would work.
Advertisement
She said everyone in the UK would need to follow three steps:
If you have symptoms of coronavirus – a fever, cough or loss of taste or smell, you must self isolate. You should then book a test at nhs.uk/coronavirus, or by dialling 119. If you test positive, you will then be contacted by the Test and Trace service within 24 hours. NHS Test and Trace will then help you identify who you have been in close contact with and may have infected, and pass on their contact details. You will be instructed to self-isolate for 14 days, as will your contacts even if they feel well.
“We all have a part to play and it will only succeed if each of us does our bit,” she said.
“You need to follow these instructions.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--John Boyega Is In No Mood For Any Rebuttals After Tweeting He 'F***ing Hates Racists'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Star Wars actor John Boyega has made it clear that when he tweeted that he he “fucking hates racists” he was not opening up the floor for a debate.
John made the declaration on Wednesday morning, after the tragic death of George Floyd in Minnesota once again raised the issue of police brutality towards Black people.
Advertisement
“This just burns,” he tweeted, alongside a photo of Floyd. “Seems to be a never ending cycle. The murderers need to be charged severely. Even in the face of death this man was given zero empathy.”
This just burns. Seems to be a never ending cycle. The murderers need to be charged severely. Even in the face of death this man was given zero empathy. #RIPGeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/gyuaoC6vUh — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
Minutes later, he followed this with a second tweet, saying simply: “I really fucking hate racists.”
I really fucking hate racists. — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
While many, agreed with the sentiment of John’s tweet, others began flooding his replies with counter-arguments. And he was absolutely not here for it.
Advertisement
Some of his critics suggested that “hate” was too strong a word for him to have used…
I said what I said. Speak for yourself at all times x — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
...while others questioned his swearing, given that his role in the Star Wars franchise has meant that he has a lot of young followers on social media...
This is my own personal account. I am not here for the kids. — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
Nah. I’m gonna continue still...🤷🏾♂ — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
And then there were those who wanted to remind John that racism exists in many communities, which he was quick to point out was not the point of his initial tweets:
Advertisement
Yes because to specify what I’m talking about seems to be an issue? Again I’ll say it for you. I am talking about white on black racism. Is that okay for you? — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
Please do shut up. I am being specific to a topic. I am not talking about any other way. Given what is happening right now. So the wise thing for you to do is defo shut up. Do it well too my G. — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
I don’t care. That’s not what I’m talking about. — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
Pls. I am Yoruba. All your chit chatter on this here app won’t cut into this soul. Thunder fire you. pic.twitter.com/6wdpPOIODX — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
Twitter academics tend to make something out of nothing. Fack em. https://t.co/U7XEFZdEzb — John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
Advertisement
To illustrate his point further, John then retweeted a video addressing those who were tweeting #AllLivesMatter in response to Geroge Floyd’s death:
Seeing #AllLivesMatter trending right now, just reminded me of this video. Your mindset is disgusting. @benjithesecond pic.twitter.com/GhF5uLuIvi — Tannie (@tanniej_) May 27, 2020
Earlier this month, John put Sky News on blast over an article on their website referring to a traditional African hairstyle as a “spiky coronavirus haircut”.
“You lot lost your damn mind putting this on the internet,” he wrote. “Which hairstyle did you just call spiky coronavirus haircut? Are you guys okay? The media need to make sure they do research before wiring articles like this. Ya fackin dummies.”
John Boyega Kurt Krieger - Corbis via Getty Images
Advertisement
John is best known for his role as Finn in the most recent Star Wars trilogy.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Woman Removes Mask And Spits In Shopper's Face For Flouting Distancing Rules

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Police in Connecticut say a woman removed her face mask and spit in another shopper’s face after he flouted social distancing measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Martine Shanchuk told officers she “felt it necessary” during her visit to a Big Y store in Newtown on May 18 to “enforce” its aisle rules herself after a young man started walking the wrong way down a one-way zone, according to a Newtown Police Department report obtained by HuffPost.
Advertisement
When the unidentified man refused to turn around, Shanchuk allegedly “stopped in the aisle to prevent him from continuing down the aisle in the wrong direction,” said police.
Shanchuk “continued to yell at the other individual in the store and that because he was not listening to her she removed her face mask and spit in the males face,” police determined.
Police arrested and charged Shanchuk with one misdemeanour count of second-degree breach of peace, which could carry a six-month jail sentence. She will appear in court on July 7.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--Boris Johnson Struggles To Explain Policy That Denies Migrants Welfare

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Boris Johnson today appeared unable to explain why some migrants cannot access any welfare support and said he will “see what we can do to help” them during the coronavirus crisis.
Advertisement
The prime minister appeared lost for words as he questioned why a working Pakistani family with British-born children and temporary leave to remain in the UK had no recourse to public funds – a longstanding policy for some non-EU migrants that denies them benefits.
Labour’s Stephen Timms told Johnson the couple and their children were being forced into destitution because the husband could not work due to the lockdown and his employers did not access the government furlough scheme.
The PM first questioned why they could not access universal credit or employment support allowance, before saying: “We will see what we can do to help.”
His lack of awareness about the policy was described by critics as “simply astonishing” and “extraordinarily worrying”.
Advertisement
The Children’s Society estimates that more than 100,000 children could be affected by it.
Many of those living under the conditions work in frontline jobs, such as NHS cleaning, social care or food preparation, but have no support to rely on when they are most in need, the charity added.
The Covid-19 crisis has sparked calls for the rules to be suspended to stop families falling into destitution because they cannot work during the lockdown.
But the government said earlier this month the rule ”prevents burdens on the state and the UK taxpayer”.
At the Commons liaison committee, Timms said of the couple: “They both work. They have two children. The husband’s employer didn’t put him on the job retention scheme so he has zero income. His wife is still working but her income is less than their household rent. They have leave to remain in the UK but no recourse to public funds.
Advertisement
“So they can’t get any help at all. Isn’t it wrong that a hardworking law-abiding family like are being forced by the current arrangements into destitution?”
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the UK, doesn’t know what no recourse to public funds means. pic.twitter.com/eKWYhN7OBL — Jordan (@JordanPfot) May 27, 2020
Johnson replied: “Why aren’t they eligible for universal credit or employment support allowance or any of the other...?”
Timms intervened: “It’s a very good question – it’s because they have no recourse to public funds. That’s the condition that’s attached to their leave to remain.
“They have been here for years. Their children have been born in the UK but, because for a 10-year period they have this ‘no recourse to public funds’, at the moment they can get no help at all.”
Advertisement
Johnson then asked where the couple were from, before going on: “And they can’t get furloughed... obviously not...
“I’m going to have to come back to you on that scheme.
“Clearly people who have worked hard for this country, who live and work here, should have support of one kind or another.
“You’ve raised a very, very important point.
“If the condition of their leave to remain is that they should have no recourse to public funds, I will find out how many there are in that position and we will see what we can do to help.”
Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said: “Thank you to the prime minister asking the crucial question – why aren’t hardworking people who have leave to remain in this country eligible for crucial support like universal credit?
“People who work hard for our country should have access to support of one kind or another during these difficult times, which is why we are calling for a suspension to the no recourse to public funds condition.”
Advertisement
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “That the prime minister apparently had no idea what “no recourse to public funds” was and meant for people is extraordinarily worrying.
“We’ve called for its suspension in this public health emergency and, with the prime minister promising to look at it, let’s hope that he can persuade the home secretary to think again.”
Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Layla Moran said it was “simply astonishing” that Johnson “seems to have not even been aware of the impact of his own government’s heartless policy”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-05-27--BBC Says Newsnight Breached Impartiality Guidelines With Emily Maitlis' Dominic Cummings Monologue

She continued: “The country can see that, and it’s shocked the government cannot.
“The longer ministers and the prime minister tell us he worked within them, the more angry the response to this scandal is likely to be.
“He was the man, remember, who always got the public mood, who tagged the lazy label of ‘elite’ on those who disagreed. He should understand that public mood one now: one of fury, contempt and anguish.
“He made those who struggled to keep to the rules feel like fools, and has allowed many more to assume they can now flout them.”