thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Boris Johnson’s ‘Go Into The Office’ Plan In Chaos As Civil Servants Told To Avoid Lunchtime Cafes

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Boris Johnson’s “go back to the office” edict is facing fresh humiliation after it emerged that key civil servants have been advised to bring lunch from home to avoid eating out near their workplace.
HuffPost UK can reveal that staff based at the Home Office’s HQ in Marsham Street, London, have been emailed a presentation which appears to directly contradict the PM’s own campaign to help eateries like Pret a Manger and other retailers.
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The presentation, complete with a picture of a water bottle and a sandwich, stated: “bring food and drink from home to prevent having to go to shops and stores”.
One insider said that staff were also advised to avoid using the lifts in the building at lunchtime, when most staff normally leave the building to grab a bite to eat or a coffee nearby, as social distancing restrictions meant that there would be big queues. “Which won’t help Pret!” they added.
The 'bring your lunch from home' presentation HuffPost UK
A quiet retreat from the “go to work if you can” guidance could accompany the new coronavirus restrictions expected to be confirmed on Tuesday, when the PM addresses the House of Commons before making a televised address to the nation at 8pm
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One of Johnson’s central arguments for a return to office life was to rescue cafes, takeaways and other businesses that have been crippled by the empty city centre streets at the height of the pandemic.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out To Help Out campaign fo half price meals, subsidised by the state throughout August, was also aimed at reviving restaurants near workplaces.
But with many staff preferring to work remotely for both their health and efficiency reasons, Johnson’s drive to get civil servants to lead by example has so far failed to achieve the success he wanted, and is well short of the 80% target mooted by some in government.
During the early phase of the virus’s spread, the government actively encouraged people to work from home, but Johnson changed that in July to instead say the preference was for a return to the office where possible.
Earlier this month, ministers faced a backlash when it was reported that a new ‘Back to The Office’ PR campaign could see home workers threatened with losing their jobs. Other mooted threats were the axeing of ‘London weighting’ for staff who normally commuted to work but worked remotely.
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Ministers such as Rishi Sunak, Michael Gove and Liz Truss have all been snapped coming out of Pret A Manger cafes as they sought to send a message of support for city centre cafes.
Dave Penman, head of the First Division Association trade union that represents civil servants, said: “It can come as no surprise that the government’s approach of setting arbitrary targets for civil servants returning to workplaces was never going to work once it was confronted by reality.
“The decision taken by ministers to set targets for thousands to return to offices ignored both the evidence that many staff were working effectively from home and that sensible plans for gradual returns were already being implemented across the service.
“Instead, ministers wanted a headline with little regard for the practicalities of what they were proposing. It’s all the more ironic, therefore, that a misplaced, tokenistic policy dreamt up around the cabinet table would also fail to deliver on its principle objective of stimulating the lunchtime economy.
“Now with infection rates rising and with the impracticalities of their targets clear for all to see, perhaps ministers will recognise that rather than micromanaging the civil service to virtue signal to the wider economy, they’d be better off leaving it to get on with its job of delivering vital public services.”
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PA
Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, said the Home Office guidance to staff underlined the confusion of the government policy
“The gulf between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric and reality is growing by the day. This is completely contradictory - on the one hand the PM is trying to almost force civil servants to work from the office, and on the other hand departments are clearly concerned about the impact of this. How can it be to support businesses if people are being told to bring in food from home?” she said.
“It’s wrong to force anyone to work in the office if they don’t want to - I hope the PM changes his mind and stops pressuring public servants and others to take risks if they don’t want to.
“With a likely second wave on the near horizon, this Government really needs to stop setting such a bad example.”
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Ministers had appeared divided over the policy, with health secretary Matt Hancock saying that the location of his staff was not as important as what they did.
“What I care about is that people perform. Of the people I work with, some have been working from home, some come in... What matters to me is that they deliver,” he told Times Radio earlier this month.
A Home Office spokesperson refused to comment on the ‘bring your lunch’ presentation, but said in a statement: “We are doing all we can to ensure our staff can return to our workplaces safely and in line with Covid secure guidance.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--'I Was Given Contaminated Blood For A Disorder I Didn't Even Have'

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As a young boy, Stuart McLean found he bruised easily.
By the time he was eight, a swollen knee prompted his parents to seek treatment – which led to a diagnosis of the bleeding disorder haemophilia.
“According to my medical notes, the hospital gave me Factor VIII blood product treatment over three days and gave me another dose three weeks later,” Stuart, who is now 50, told HuffPost UK.
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Stuart went throughout his life believing he suffered from the blood disorder, thinking the only reason he’d avoided further medical episodes was because he had a mild form of it.
It was only decades after his first diagnosis, through a chance appointment with a new haematologist, that he learned the shocking and life-changing truth.
The specialist suggested Stuart be tested for hepatitis C, a disease that had previously never concerned him.
“I thought to myself: ‘I’ll be fine as I don’t do drugs.’ I was ignorant to this whole scandal, and presumed hepatitis C was something that only affected junkies.”
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“When I was told I had hepatitis C, my whole world fell apart.”
Not only was Stuart misdiagnosed with haemophilia, he had also been infected with contaminated blood. And perhaps most disturbingly, medical notes that have now come to light show that it was known he did not suffer from a bleeding disorder – more than a year before he was given treatment for one.
Stuart is one of the many people campaigning for truth and justice at the Infected Blood Inquiry which will reopen today with former health minister Lord David Owen due as its first witness of this session.
Stuart McLean Stuart McLean was given contaminated blood as a youngster after wrongly being diagnosed as a haemophiliac
The diagnosis of hepatitis C led Stuart, who lives in Kent with his wife Karen, to become suicidal.
“I stood on a motorway bridge ready to jump because I did not want to be a burden to my family,” he recalled.
“The only reason I am still here is because I thought of my grandson.”
Factor VIII is a clotting medication for haemophilia. It infected around 4,000 people with Hepatitis C in the 1970s/1980s, and more than 1,200 of those people were also infected with HIV.
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At least 1,500 have since died as a result. It is estimated that one victim continues to die every four days.
Now a life peer, Owen has publicly called the scandal a cover-up and said that he believes legally: “The government hasn’t got a leg to stand on.”
His testimony could prove explosive and put on the official record what those impacted have been waiting to hear for decades.
Stuart, who was a core participant in the inquiry said doctors were adamant he had haemophilia when he was a child.
“I thought I had a mild form of haemophilia and that the reason I had never had any bleeding incidents was because I was lucky and so careful.
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“Every time I had any medical treatment, they would give me treatment as a precaution as they thought I was a haemophiliac. I thought I was a haemophiliac as that’s what I’d always been told.”
DESIREE MARTIN via Getty Images
When Stuart was 11, he was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a rare condition which affects connective tissue.
Stuart said: “The EDS means I have no tissue to protect my joints. It now looks like this is what caused the swelling and bruising and that I should never have been given Factor VIII.”
Stuart has suffered numerous health issues throughout his life. At the age of 21, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer but luckily it was caught in time.
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He also had meningitis at the age of 32 and has been ill with pneumonia four times.
Stuart said: “What I don’t understand is with being in hospital so many times during my lifetime, how did they not pick up on the hepatitis C much earlier?”
The truth only came to light seven years ago in January 2013 when Stuart had an appointment with a new haematologist at hospital and she raised concerns that Stuart had never been tested for hepatitis C.
Stuart McLean
When Stuart received a call from his GP telling him to come to the surgery and to bring someone with him, he knew it would be bad news.
“I used to be a project manager at a water company but my career came to an end through depression, and it was a few months after the diagnosis that I nearly ended my life on a motorway bridge.
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“I just did not understand fully what hepatitis C was and could not make head nor tail of what had happened to me and why.
“The worry of it all completely messed me up and it still does to this day.”
Stuart has since obtained his medical notes and has discovered all sorts of disturbing information.
He explains: “My medical notes show that 17 months before I was given the Factor VIII, I went to Oxford Haemophilia Centre and Lewisham Haemophilia Centre and they both said I did not have bleeding problems.
“My notes also show I was tested for HIV and hepatitis B in 1985 when I was almost 16. But no one told me any of this and I did not find out until I got my notes in 2013.
“I have since been re-tested for HIV and it has been confirmed I do not have this – I just have hepatitis C.”
“My immune system is shot to pieces and I feel like I am living a death sentence”
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Having survived cancer once, Stuart now faces the ordeal of regular scans to make sure the hepatitis C does not cause liver cancer.
He says: “My immune system is shot to pieces and I feel like I am living a death sentence.”
Since his diagnosis, Stuart campaigned for years for an inquiry along with other victims of the infected blood scandal. He welcomes the fact it is finally happening.
During the coronavirus lockdown, Stuart had to shield due to his hepatitis C and admits he felt anger that he was put in that vulnerable position because of being given contaminated blood decades earlier – in his case, completely needlessly.
He told HuffPost UK: ”My mental health is still affected and I struggle with depression. But I am lucky as I have got a good wife behind me.
″The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the government can find money when they need to. It is good that they have shown concern for people, but where was their concern when this happened to us?
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“I think the way we have been treated as victims and having to beg for scraps has been appalling. I feel we have been made to jump through hoops for justice.
Stuart said: “I just want to get to the truth and I want closure.
“I think there have been a lot of cover-ups and the truth needs to come out once and for all.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--I Grew Up Believing The Earth Was Flat And Dinosaurs Were Planted To Test Our Faith

Grass background and skyline under blue sky KEHAN CHEN via Getty Images
“Jesus will return within the next decade, mark my words,” said my father as we walked home from church. It was 1998, and I had just turned six.
Secretly, I was gutted. If judgement day comes so soon, I’ll never learn to drive, I remember worrying. But the second I thought this, I was flooded with guilt. According to Psalm 139, “God knows what I am going to say before I say it. He knows my thoughts from afar. Like a caged bird, he’s got me surrounded.”
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For 21 years, I earnestly believed this. Growing up, it seemed logical, because God was omnipresent.
At home, he was there. Christian memorabilia cluttered every room. Hand-written Bible verses and straw crosses were pinned to the walls. Even above the toilet, a poster read: “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever”.
In the car, he was there. Our Honda was an indoctrination mobile, the glove compartment crammed with sermon tapes describing hell in graphic detail. Those who rejected Christ, the narrator warned, would be “thrown into the furnace, where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
At school, he was there. A wooden crucifix hung in the hall, as though Jesus watched as we ate our meals, which always began with grace and ended with a hymn. Our headteacher would praise God rapturously, swaying at the piano.
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“He believed 90% of the population were hell-bound. Meaning well, he did everything he could to ensure me and my siblings were in the 10%.”
I was raised to be suspicious of anyone sacrilegious enough to suggest otherwise, including Nasa (rebels who rejected God by seeking answers in outer space), science teachers, and even Universal Pictures. The latter may seem bizarre, but the infamous movie introduction featuring a rotating globe was, in my father’s view, blasphemous. Growing up in a small seaside town, we would often go on ‘prayer walks’ along the beach as a family, where the glowing horizon did indeed appear to be flat. My father would point to this as unequivocal evidence – and as a small child, it seemed pretty compelling.
He also gravitated toward the fire and brimstone of the Old Testament (unlike more liberal Christians, who were almost apologetic about it, as if excusing a cranky grandparent).
He also believed 90% of the population were hell-bound. Meaning well, he did everything he could to ensure me and my siblings were in the 10%, leading us in daily prayer and Bible study. We had to beat Satan, the “father of lies”, who led God’s children astray with his tricks. Such tricks included planting dinosaur bones to fool mankind into believing in evolution. We were in a cosmic battle of good versus evil – it was petrifying, in a thrilling sort of way.
So I ′preached the good news’ to anyone who would listen (and this didn’t come naturally to a painfully shy introvert). People invariably reacted with ridicule, but this only strengthened my faith – after all, the Bible predicts that unbelievers would scoff at the truth. I often struggle to fathom how I believed for so long, but now I attribute it to three things.
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First, my formative years were spent in an environment where the Bible was indistinguishable from reality. That Jesus existed was as normal as brushing my teeth. According to the Church of England, 64% of church-goers became Christian as toddlers. Take it from me, childhood indoctrination works.
Second, there was the exclusion of mainstream media. Films like Harry Potter – “an abomination to God” – were forbidden. Instead, we watched God TV or wholesome cartoons like Veggie Tales. We only went to the cinema once, to watch The Prince of Egypt, based on the book of Exodus, in 1999.
Lastly, there was the fear of being ostracised. Everyone I loved believed, and I thought the authority figures – parents, teachers, and churchgoers, knew best.
“I confessed my doubts to the church, who treated me like a heretic. It hurt more than I can describe – they were my second family”
As a teenager, I came to see how incongruent my faith was with the outside world. I did a great deal of mental gymnastics to rationalise it, researching Christian books and websites, leading to confirmation bias. But it didn’t last. Deep down, I always doubted. I remember eyeing middle-aged Sunday school teachers, thinking how can you possibly believe this? But my hardwired fear of hell always triumphed.
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When I was 21, my faith unravelled. I was working at a Canadian summer camp as a pianist, where attendees were predominantly Jewish. I found myself amongst people who believed just as fervently in their God. They were kind-hearted, they loved their neighbours, and I couldn’t justify why they were hell-bound for being brought up outside Christianity.
So I studied Christian apologetics, but ended up encountering more problematic aspects of the faith such as the inconsistencies between the gospels, the lack of archaeological evidence, and the heavy influence of Greek mythology in the Bible.
Once home, I confessed my doubts to the church, who treated me like a heretic. It hurt more than I can describe – they were my second family. I left and travelled through South America, learning Spanish as I went, seeking new perspectives and answers. I never did find them. Now, as an agnostic, I am at peace with the fact that I never will.
In desperate moments – say, if a car is speeding toward me – I still pray instinctively, even though I no longer believe anyone is listening. And when I am anxious, I catch myself repeating Bible verses out of habit, a relic from another life.
I don’t regret my upbringing. It gave me a love of literature, music, and an insight into Judeo-Christian culture. The secular world could learn a great deal from it – the importance of introspection, community, and, in our frantic lives, rest.
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My dad still invites me to church, hopeful I will rediscover the truth there. Occasionally I attend, but as a passive observer; I no longer believe I need a saviour. And this truth has set me free.
Lara Joan is an author and journalist, writing under a pseudonym


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--5 Disastrous Things You Don't Realise You're Doing To The Environment

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The coronavirus lockdown led many of us to believe we’d been more environmentally-friendly. We travelled less, cycled more, and read that pollution dropped to its lowest levels in 100 years. But there are other ways we may be damaging the environment – without even realising it.
It can be hard to think about our environmental impact when we’re experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety due to the pandemic, but the latest report by Bloomberg revealed that even though greenhouse gas emissions dropped, the earth is still on target for its second hottest – if not hottest ever – year.
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For those concerned about the environment, it may be worth thinking about other changes you can make to live a more greener life – yes, even mid-pandemic. Here are five things you don’t realise are impacting the planet.
1. The internet is a silent, but deadly, driver of climate change.
Images By Tang Ming Tung via Getty Images
Thought binging TV on streaming services was fine? Wrong. Although exact levels of energy use are contested, many think tanks including The Shift Project have published research claiming our use of streaming platforms is detrimental to the environment.
We assume “the cloud” that stores our data as a fluffy, vaporous, literal cloud that hangs in the air innocently – but this is clever marketing. The cloud is actually another term for the data centres that consume vast amounts of energy to power our TV habits. Energy is also required to keep data centres cool, while they serve viewers throughout the year and across the world.
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So, when we’re watching TV on our sofa, the images being sent across to our screens (thanks to the internet) may be reaching us by unsustainable energy resources. Perhaps rationing our TV intake much like we do junk food is one healthier solution.
2. Meat and dairy replacements aren’t necessarily the answer.
Some meat-free food has unethical means of production. For instance, some of the soy-based products we enjoy in the UK derive from soy beans grown on farms, which have been established by cutting down trees.
Parts of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed due to increased production of soy, and experts say deforestation is causing around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.
While going meat-free is great, it’s worth trying to go the extra mile to think about what you’re eating and where that food comes from. Cutting out dairy and eggs can help, as livestock accounts for more than 80% of global agricultural land.
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3. Some of your favourite brands may have dodgy environmental credentials.
It’s always worth triple checking the green credentials of your shampoo provider, food manufacturer, or streaming service provider.
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Some companies may preach about their eco credentials, but aren’t as ethically upstanding as they may seem. There’s no simple way of working out if a brand you love is sustainable – but things to watch out for include Fair Trade Certified logos on food and the Global Organic Textile Standard on clothes.
For clothes, you might also want to use an online fashion checker, where you can see what brands say – and what they actually do ethically – around wages. Before shopping, type in the brand name to see how transparent it is regarding its supply chains.
4. Paving over your garden could be detrimental.
Halfpoint Images via Getty Images It's ideal to nurture as much green space as possible
Soil is one of the lesser-told heroes in our fight against climate change, but only if it’s looked after correctly. Soil protects our natural environment – it provides the nutrients to help trees grow. And in the event of tragedies like forest fires, which are more common due to climate change, soil helps restore the ground and make it fertile again for new plants to grow.
It also retains carbon dioxide. In fact, it’s the planet’s second largest pool of carbon dioxide – second only to our oceans. Broadly speaking, the more soil and greenery in your garden, the better: plants use carbon dioxide to survive so there can never be enough of them.
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5. Showering daily is actually unnecessary – and is causing the planet harm.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Tan France: Here's How To Cosy Up Your Home For Autumn Days

Tan France Tan France x Etsy
“I have to have my throw on my couch at all times,” says Tan France, telling us about his home interior habits. “Because when I’m watching TV I want to be comfortable.”
The Queer Eye star splits his time between Los Angeles and his home in Salt Lake City with his husband – so it’s technically summer where he is. But when we spoke to him last week on Zoom, he was all up for being cosy.
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“If you find things that make you feel like you’re being swaddled like a baby, then you’re probably good to go,” he laughs. “I’m making sure I’ve got everything around me that makes me feel happy because, my gosh, there’s not a lot to be excited about these days.”
Other than having a fondness of creature comforts during a pandemic, the style expert on Netflix’s Queer Eye and Next in Fashion – known for French tucks and his perfectly coifed hair – is venturing into homewares and home accessories, dipping his toes into his colleague’s design guru Bobby Berk’s territory.
Together with homemade online marketplace Etsy, he’s curated and designed a homeware and gifting collection which launches on September 14 –– just in time to learn how to cosy up homes for the crisp autumn days ahead.
So what advice does he have for us to glow up our homes for autumn?
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Tan France Tan France x Etsy
You do you. No, really.
A shift in season doesn’t have to mean a full-on interior makeover. Play by your own rules. Whether it’s something small, like introducing different furnishings and accessories, or changing up your layout for a more intimate feel, simple changes can make a huge difference.
“When it comes to finding your own style for your home, don’t go by what works for somebody else,” he says. “I’m not one for following the rules. I love the idea of creating a space that feels so uniquely me – and not what an interior designer or someone else suggests that would be me.”
France continues: “Who cares if it falls into a certain category that doesn’t make sense? As long as it makes sense for you, then I say go for it. Don’t be stifled by what’s on-trend or what you think is the right thing that goes within a space. Go with what feels like you.”
Tan France Tan France x Etsy
Keep the colours muted.
You don’t need loud and in-your-face colours to add your own stamp on things. You can easily up the comfort factor in every room with soft, muted colours.
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“Everybody’s starting to notice all the things they don’t like about their home after being in it for so long,” he says. “And colour is such an easy way to update your space.”
France says a muted palette is a good idea. “I always love a neutral tone, I think summer is when I incorporate more colour into my living space, kitchen or in my wardrobe,” he says. “When we start to get into the colder weather I usually stick with neutrals, they’re really not that substantial, but it’s a subtle way to add that little of luxury and to elevate. Plus, it definitely feels timely.”
Just because the colour wheel’s dialled back, it doesn’t mean have to be boring. “There are a couple of colours that I see are neutral like khaki, beige and off-white creams – or even louder prints such as animal prints,” he explains. “I know some don’t consider it as neutral, but I absolutely do.”
Tan France Tan France x Etsy
Max out on the comfort factor.
Considering 2020 has undoubtedly been the year of staying at home, it’s a great chance to reassess the place where we’re spending most of our time. Surround yourself with things around you that you adore and wear clothes that make you feel relaxed for peak-snugness.
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“If you have a space that doesn’t make you feel warm or something’s lacking, try layering up,” he explains. “Breathable robes and luxurious eye masks. Max out on the comfort factor.”
As the nights draw in and temperatures drop, there are plenty of other ways you can upgrade to a warm and welcoming living space. “As you know I’m obsessed with the big throw,” France laughs.
“Blankets, bathrobes, coasters, cushions, and slippers can help make you feel fresh in your home. Little updates here and there and something as simple as adding a throw to your sofa can make your space look different and add a pop.”
Tan France x Etsy Tan France x Etsy
Embrace seasonal scents.
Bring the hibernating scents of the season into your space. Think spice-spiked autumn breeze with hints of ginger, amber, and bergamot, which will make anyone want to wrap themselves up in a scarf and reach for the pumpkin spice lattes.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--My 34-Year-Old Husband Just Died And My Grief Is So Immense, I Can’t Accept He’s Gone

Courtesy of Kristin Crane The author and her husband, Ian, at their wedding in 2015.
Editor’s note: This piece was written on July 7, 2020, less than three weeks after the death of the author’s husband. It captures the emotions she was feeling at that time.
My husband is dead. Those words don’t feel real. Ian Donald Maclean-Blevins, age 34, died at 12:50am on Friday, June 19, 2020. I try not to count the days, but I do wake up every Friday morning and acknowledge that it’s been another week without him. How long will that counting go on? For a year? Two years? Forever?
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It doesn’t feel real. His autopsy is done, his ashes returned to me, his obituary posted, and I’ve received his death certificates, but I still expect him to come home to me. It feels like when he was in the hospital, when I couldn’t visit him for weeks at a time due to Covid-19 restrictions.
He will be home soon, as soon as he is better, I catch myself telling myself. Every morning when I wake up, for a split second, I forget ― I forget that he’s gone, I forget that I’m grieving, I forget that life as I knew it is over. I have little moments like that throughout the day, too. I will be looking at pictures of him for the hundredth time on Instagram or Facebook and for just a second I forget why I am doing it ― why I am obsessed with seeing him ― when he should be sitting on the couch next to me.
Grief guidelines call it denial. There is no way of knowing what that word really means until you have to feel it. No amount of reading can prepare you for it.
The last week of his life, I knew he was dying, and he knew, as well. He had said that he didn’t want to be intubated again ― for what would have been the fourth time in less than four months ― but in the end, he said he wanted to live. So, I fought. I argued with doctors, I talked to specialists, I begged his nurses to do something ― anything. After his condition continued to worsen, I finally persuaded them to change his treatment course, but it was too late.
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Knowing someone is dying is different than knowing they are dead. There is still hope.
He was hospitalised on March 12, and after being intubated he went into cardiac arrest. I was sitting in the waiting room when they called a Code Blue to his room. I didn’t know his room number, but I looked up and saw a blue blinking light outside of his room and I knew it was him. I left the waiting room, tried to rush into his room, and fell to the ground screaming. Nurses dragged me away, put me in a room with a chaplain and left me to wait. I sat there for 30 minutes not knowing anything; I found out later that they performed CPR for 16 minutes. At the time, it was the worst moments of my life. I was so afraid he was going to die, but I still had hope.
When I got the call from the hospital at 12:33 a.m. on June 19 telling me to get there as soon as possible, that they were performing CPR, logically I knew he was dying. You don’t get two chances like that in three months, two times of surviving for 15-plus minutes while they perform CPR, especially not when your kidneys have shut down, your heart is weak, you have blood clots, bleeding and infection. But still, I had hope.
As I drove to the hospital in the middle of that night, as I ran to his room, I still had hope. Then I saw the ICU doctor. He was the same doctor who was on duty the first night Ian was hospitalised. I don’t remember what he said. I know I asked if my husband’s parents, who had just flown in 12 hours before, were there yet, not wanting to have to be the one to tell his mother that her oldest child had died, that she had lost two sons now. At that moment I lost hope. But it still wasn’t real.
After the hope came the denial. I held his hand, kissed his forehead, hugged his cold body. I sat with him for hours, crying with his parents, telling him how much I love him, and refusing to let go of his hand. Looking at him, searching for a breath, checking to see if his chest was rising, trying to hear a heartbeat in the silence. As dawn approached, I logically knew it was time to go. He was dead. He wasn’t coming back. It wasn’t him anymore. It was just his body. I was afraid if I left him that he wouldn’t be able to come back. As long as I stayed with him, it would be alright.
Courtesy of Kristin Crane The author and Ian in Maui in 2019.
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It didn’t get any easier in the following days. I thought if I figured out why he died, what part of his complicated rare autoimmune disorder killed him, and I told the doctors, they could fix him. I believed I could still save him if I just figured out what happened. His haematologist called me a few days later with the autopsy results. He told me about the blood clots in his heart, his brain, his adrenal glands, the bleeding and infection in his lungs. He told me how his kidneys had stopped working for still unknown reasons. I thought that now that we knew what went wrong, we could fix it. After months of listening to doctors and doing my own research on his disease, I finally knew what he needed to save him ... and it didn’t matter that he was already dead.
I didn’t want to call the funeral home, or write his obituary, or send away for his death certificates. I thought if I didn’t do any of it that, it wasn’t real. He could still come back to me, we could still be happy together for another 30, 40 or 50 years! As I checked those items off my list, it didn’t lessen the denial and disbelief at all. I have his death certificates, I have his ashes in an urn by my bed, and I have read the obituary I wrote dozens of times, but none of it changes my denial.
Denial is your body’s way of trying to lessen the blow. Your body knows that you can’t handle the full force of the grief and mourning of losing your 34-year-old husband, so it attempts to protect you. It doesn’t allow you to believe what has happened until your body, and your heart, are ready to feel it. Until your body has wrapped your heart and soul in a protective barrier (which won’t help, but hey, your body has to try, at least) so you can survive. So, when you fall into the unending depression and grief, you don’t feel as if you fell quite as far.
It turns out you can literally die from a broken heart; it’s called the widowhood effect. There’s actually an increased probability of dying within the first three months after a partner’s death. This most often happens with older people, people who have been together for decades and decades. Ian and I didn’t even make it to our fifth wedding anniversary, which is later this month. Does that protect me?
“I feel completely alone, which is ridiculous, because other people lose their spouses every single day. But they didn’t lose MY husband, they didn’t lose MY hopes and dreams for our life together.”
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Grief causes real physical harm to your body. In addition to the depression, anxiety and feelings of guilt, physical illness can occur. I stopped eating, I stopped sleeping, my body is sore from being curled up in a ball all day and I have a constant headache from crying. I don’t exercise enough, I self-medicate, and I experience dark thoughts because I literally can’t imagine living without Ian.
I feel completely alone, which is ridiculous, because other people lose their spouses every single day. But they didn’t lose MY husband, they didn’t lose MY hopes and dreams for our life together. Even his parents and sibling’s grief is different than mine because we aren’t mourning the same person. They are mourning their son or their brother. I am mourning the person I spent almost every day with for eight years. I am mourning the person I married and bought a house with and traveled the world with and got two corgis with. That’s not to say that one person’s grief is better or worse than another’s ― everyone’s grief is valid ― but I am the only one grieving Ian as my husband and partner.
I can’t understand his mother’s grief at losing another son, because I’ve never lost a son, and she can’t understand my grief because her husband of over 35 years is there with her, grieving alongside her. I have voraciously read every article or book I could find about the grief of losing a husband, especially a young husband, but I still feel completely alone. Nothing can prepare you for grief, and especially denial, because it is unique to you.
It’s only been 19 days since I lost my husband. I’m still in the denial phase (don’t worry, there is a lot of anger mixed in there too, but I’ll leave those feelings for another day), and who knows how long it will last. There is no timetable, no rulebook. Everyone’s experience is different, everyone’s grief is valid, blah blah blah.
I still have a long way to go in the grief process. I’m not ready to move on from denial yet, because denial at least protects me from the reality. It allows me to get out of bed and try and take care of the important things, the money, accounts, sending out a death certificate that costs $20 each and that no one returns.
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It also gives me hope, hope that it isn’t real, that it’s all just a nightmare and I will be able to see Ian again soon. My body isn’t ready to give up the hope yet.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--These 20 Baby Names Were Popular In 2019. Would You Choose One?

NickyLloyd via Getty Images
After five years in the top spot, Emma is no longer parents’ No. 1 choice for girls ― having been unseated by Olivia. Liam remains the most popular name for boys for the third year in a row.
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Sophia surpassed Isabella for the No. 4 spot, and Amelia overtook Mia for No. 7. Otherwise, the top 10 names for girls remain unchanged from 2018.
There were more changes on the list of most popular names for boys. Oliver jumped up two spots to bump William down to No. 4; Elijah rose from No. 7 to 5; and Ethan replaced Logan in the top 10 after two years off the list.
The SSA compiles the annual list based on the names that parents in the US gave their babies born in 2019. The agency traditionally publishes the data on the Friday before Mother’s Day, but this year the release was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 girls’ and boys’ names of 2019.
Girls
Olivia Emma Ava Sophia Isabella Charlotte Amelia Mia Harper Evelyn
Boys


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--'Major Questions' Over Covid Contact-Tracing App As Charity Warns Pilot Data Missing

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The long-awaited NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app is set to be released on Thursday but “major questions” about its effectiveness remain unanswered, a charity has warned.
The Health Foundation said results from the NHS Covid-19 app’s trial run had been “notably absent”, adding failure to show how the technology had performed during testing risked reducing public confidence.
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The app uses Bluetooth technology to keep an anonymous log of other app users in close proximity and can notify them they were close to an individual who later tested positive for coronavirus.
The Department of Health and Social Care said trials of the app in Newham and the Isle of Wight – which began in mid-August – had revealed the app is “highly effective when used alongside traditional contact tracing to identify contacts of those who have tested positive for coronavirus”.
But the Heath Foundation said the public had yet to see the results of these pilots and called for greater transparency.
Josh Keith, a senior fellow at the charity, said: “With a virus that is transmitted as quickly as Covid-19, the automated contact tracing that the app promises could prove invaluable in reducing its spread.
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“Also, the additional features of the app, such as booking a test, reporting symptoms or checking the risk level in postcode district could provide a helpful single source of Covid-19 related advice and support.
“However, for any major, nationwide public health intervention it is important the Government publishes evidence that it is effective and ready for mass rollout in advance of its launch.
The NHS Covid-19 app on a mobile phone PA
“This is key for building confidence in the app as people will want to know that it will benefit them and their communities.
“But any data on the pilots that took place in August have been notably absent, leaving major questions over the app’s effectiveness unanswered.”
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After months of delay, technical issues and concerns over privacy, the NHS Covid-19 app is finally expected to launch in England and Wales on Thursday.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has described the app’s launch as a “defining moment” and said it would help to contain the virus “at a critical time”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said: “Ensuring a wide range of people download and use the app is essential.
“The NHS Covid-19 app forms a central part of NHS Test and Trace in England, and works alongside traditional contact tracing services and testing, to help individuals to understand if they are at risk of infection so they can take action to protect themselves and their communities.
“We have spoken with groups with protected characteristics, such as age, ethnicity and disability, those experiencing health inequalities and those groups particularly impacted by coronavirus and the app and supporting material will be available in multiple languages.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--'Offensive' Black Cars Matter Advert Banned For Trivialising BLM Movement

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An advert for a car leasing company has been banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog for being socially irresponsible and “likely to cause serious offence” on the grounds of race.
The advert, which appears in the form of a Facebook post, was shared by car leasing company LingsCars.com on June 16. It features the phrase: “Black cars matter. I asked Holly for a headline for this A4... and she said: ‘Once you go black, you never go back!’”
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Below the text is an image of a raised fist with a wristband displaying the Audi logo alongside an image of a black Audi car. Text states: “Audi A4 black power edition” and “Manual gearbox (big gearknob)”.
Three people complained about the post, saying the claims ‘black cars matter’ and use of the phrase ‘Once you go black, you never go back’ alongside the image of the raised fist were insensitive and offensive. They challenged whether the advert was likely to cause serious offence and was socially irresponsible.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has since ruled that the advert should be removed and not appear in its current form again. However it is yet to be taken down.
Provided by the ASA Black Cars Matter advert banned from Facebook
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When asked to provide a response to the complaints, LingsCars.com – founded by Ling Valentine – stood by its advert, saying ‘black cars matter’ was inoffensive.
It said the phrase was a pun on the launch of the new car, the Audi “Black Edition”, and that “Once you go black, you never go back” was a well-known phrase that would not be offensive to Black people.
The company, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, said the image of the raised fist was the symbol of the ‘Black Power’ movement and argued it was a positive symbol and was not seen as offensive in other contexts, such as the recent Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton raised his fist.
The ASA noted how the ad appeared shortly after the Black Lives Matter protests and during a public debate about racism in the UK. “We considered that people would understand the headline ‘black cars matter’, the image of the raised fist and the name ‘Audi A4 Black Power Edition’ to be references to the Black Lives Matter and Black Power movements,” ASA said in a statement.
“By using that slogan and iconography simply to draw attention to an ad for a car had the effect of trivialising the serious issues raised by those movements.”
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ASA added that the claim, “Once you go black, you never go back!” in addition to the reference to a “big gearknob” was likely to be seen as objectifying and fetishising black men.
“Because those claims, particularly in the context of an ad for an unrelated product alongside references to recent protests opposing racism against Black people, were likely to cause serious offence on the grounds of race, we considered the ad was socially irresponsible,” it said.
Lingscars.com Ltd has been told to remove the ad and it must not appear again in its current form.
Ling Valentine, who runs LingsCars.com, has made headlines previously for the design of her website – as the Independent wrote in 2016: “Its aesthetic can best be described as late-’90s GeoCities page, designed by a disgraced clown after ingesting a pillowcase full of LSD” – as well as a publicity stunt which saw her buy a nuclear rocket truck with her company’s name on the side, which she parked along the motorway.
In a Q&A published on the ‘about me’ section of the company’s website, Valentine writes: “Racism never bothers me, and it’s very rare, or maybe I never notice it. I really can’t understand people that are so politically correct that they think you don’t have a racial identity.”
A post shared on the LingsCars Facebook page after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the advert, reads: “I can only respond by suggesting the ASA should have the ‘big gearknob’ shoved right up their arse.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Misogyny Could Become A Hate Crime, Says Law Commission As Review Launched

Among the areas for consideration is the level of online abuse and threats of violence directed at women in the public eye and the effect on their participation in debate and public life.
It will look at whether amending offences in which the majority of victims are women, such as rape, sexual assault and female genital mutilation, is helpful considering their already gendered nature.
A preliminary paper also raises the fact that domestic violence and coercive control by men against women may have a complex set of motivations beyond misogyny.
The consultation will also consider whether protection should cover both men and women, or just women.
The proposals on misogyny are part of a wider consultation into the patchwork of existing hate crime laws, which have been criticised for their complexity and the different levels of protection offered to different characteristics.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Here's What You Need To Know About 'Silent' Covid

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Lots of people could be walking around with ‘silent’ Covid-19 – so shouldn’t we be testing them, too?
A study recently published in the journal Thorax suggested one in five people could be walking around with Covid-19 but no symptoms, leading researchers to suggest these people may act as an important driver of viral spread in the community.
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Lead author Professor Sung-Han Kim, from the Department of Infectious Diseases at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, said the findings add further support to the use of face masks by the general public and said the scope of testing for Covid-19 should be expanded to include asymptomatic individuals in high-risk settings, such as nursing homes or healthcare facilities.
A smaller UK-based study by University College London (UCL) researchers found that a massive 86% of people who tested positive for Covid-19 during lockdown did not have the specific virus symptoms (cough, fever, or a loss of taste/smell), suggesting that these well known symptoms could be a poor marker of infection.
The authors said a more widespread testing programme is needed to catch ‘silent’ transmission and reduce future outbreaks.
In the UK, asymptomatic people are not currently tested for Covid-19, however care home residents and staff members are able to get tested even if they don’t have symptoms.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US recently U-turned on its advice around testing asymptomatic people and now stresses the need to test asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic people, including close contacts of a person with confirmed Covid.
What did the Seoul study on silent Covid find?
The study found those with asymptomatic Covid appear to have similar viral loads to those with symptoms, echoing the results of past studies. Viral load refers to the total amount of virus a person has inside them. In theory: the higher the viral load, the more infectious someone is likely to be.
Researchers looked at a large cluster outbreak of Covid-19 in Daegu City, South Korea, early on in the pandemic. The close contacts of the cluster were traced and more than 3,000 cases of Covid-19 were uncovered, ranging from people having no symptoms at all to severe effects.
Those with mild or no symptoms were admitted to dedicated care facilities for isolation and monitoring. The 213 participants involved in this study had been admitted to one such facility.
People were classified as symptomless if they had none of the following: fever; chills; muscle pain (myalgia); fatigue; runny nose (rhinorrhea); blocked nose; loss of taste or smell; sore throat; swallowing difficulties; cough; phlegm production; coughing up blood; headache; dizziness; loss of appetite; nausea; vomiting, abdominal pain; and diarrhoea.
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Dan Rentea via Getty Images
In 213 patients with the virus, 41 (19%) remained asymptomatic. Of them, 39 (95%) underwent follow-up testing after an average of 13 days, while in 172 patients with mild symptoms, 144 (84%) underwent follow-up testing.
The follow-up testing is important as it showed those with silent Covid didn’t then develop symptoms, which would’ve meant they were pre-symptomatic.
A large proportion of mildly symptomatic patients with Covid-19 and asymptomatic individuals showed persistent positive upper respiratory RT-PCR results at follow-up. Asymptomatic individuals and symptomatic patients also had very similar viral loads.
Researchers said further studies are needed to clarify whether the persistence of viral DNA in people without any symptoms warrants precautionary quarantine measures. They added that most of the participants were in their 20s and 30s, so the findings might not apply to other age groups.
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Nevertheless, they pointed out: “Considering that most asymptomatic individuals with Covid-19 are likely to go unnoticed by healthcare workers and continue to reside within communities, such individuals may act as an essential driving force for the community spread of Covid-19 and the ongoing pandemic state.”
What did the UCL study on silent Covid find?
The study, published in the journal Clinical Epidemiology, used data from the Office for National Statistics Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey pilot study – a large population based survey looking at the association between Covid-19 symptoms and Covid-19 test results.
The study included data from a representative population sample of 36,061 people living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who were tested between April and the June, and provided information of whether they had any symptoms.
The data showed 115 people had a positive test result. Of these, 16 (13.9%) reported symptoms and 99 (86.1%) did not report any specific symptoms on the day of the test.
The study also includes data on people reporting a wider range of symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath. Of the sample who tested positive, 27 (23.5%) were symptomatic and 88 (76.5%) were asymptomatic on the day of the test.
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Professor Irene Petersen, from the university’s epidemiology and health care department, explained: “The fact that so many people who tested positive were asymptomatic on the day of a positive test result calls for a change to future testing strategies. More widespread testing will help to capture ‘silent’ transmission and potentially prevent future outbreaks.”
She said future testing programmes should involve frequent testing of a wider group of individuals, not just symptomatic cases, especially in high-risk settings or places where many people work or live close together, such as meat factories or university halls.
The authors did note that several studies have highlighted a lower proportion of individuals testing positive for Covid-19 are asymptomatic. However, the prevalence of asymptomatic cases varies substantially, possibly due to the sampling and the settings of the study.
What did other studies find?
One study found that of 262 confirmed cases admitted to hospitals in Beijing, 13 (5%) were asymptomatic.
A review of 94 studies concluded that the proportion of people who catch Covid-19 and remain asymptomatic throughout infection is somewhere around 20%.
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A study 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.
Until we know how long, and to what extent, asymptomatic people might be infectious, testing should be extended to certain groups as a precautionary measure, researchers recommend.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Why Boris Johnson Risks 'Too Little, Too Late' On Covid Again

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Belgian waffle?
For a man who loves having his cake and eating it, there was something delicious about the timing of Boris Johnson’s latest TV address to the nation on coronavirus. Serving as an hors d’oeuvre for the return of Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off, the PM’s recipe felt awfully familiar: a reheated mix of blithe optimism, cod Churchillian rhetoric and verbal blancmange.
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His signature dish included “moonshot” rapid testing and a healthy portion of U-turns (go to the office, no don’t go to the office). But there was a missing ingredient: any sense of regret at failures made earlier this year, or even earlier this month. Had he over egged the pudding of EatOutToHelpOut, the Rule of Six (which relaxes rules for six households) or the back to work drive? We didn’t find out, because no questions were allowed.
Perhaps what will stick in the throat of many of his critics was the suggestion that the new curbs would succeed because “we have succeeded before”, as if having one of the world’s worst death tolls from Covid was somehow a footnote rather than a damning indictment of his government.
There was even the characteristic dollop of military talk, with the PM saying again that the Army would be deployed as “backfill” to help the police enforce the new rules. This, despite the National Police Chiefs Council saying earlier that “no military involvement is necessary, nor do we anticipate this will be needed”.
Still, those warlike allusions were irresistible for the PM. When he said “Never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour…” the intended echo was of his great political hero. Sadly, given his indulgence of Dominic Cummings’ own individual rule breaking, he sounded more like a poundshop Winston Churchill.
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Bizarrely linking lockdown “breaches” with the UK’s history as a “freedom-loving country” only furthered the impression that Johnson somehow felt an absence of civic duty was not to be condemned, but excused. Which was all the more strange given he had new penalties for breaking existing rules like mask wearing.
One real irony is that the UK is taking lessons on Covid from the ‘enemy’ itself, the home of the forces that Johnson has made a career out of attacking. Yes, Belgium is being used by Britain as a template for three key measures unveiled or refined today: the 10pm curfew, the Rule of Six itself, and the ‘work from home’ edict were all pioneered in Brussels and its nearby cities.
Belgium did have some success with strict curfews (they went much further than just pubs closing early) and socialising with five others, and that’s what led health secretary Matt Hancock to sing its praises. But the unfortunate fact is that Belgium too has had a sharp increase in cases over the past couple of weeks. Its cases per capita have also been among the highest on the planet.
Belgium did have some success with strict curfews, and that’s what led health secretary Matt Hancock to sing its praises. Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Only today, we learned the EU summit has been postponed a week because European Council President Charles Michel has had to go into self-isolation.
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Earlier in the Commons, Johnson’s statement to MPs was as undercooked and underwhelming as his TV address. His line about the mental health problems of home isolation being a good reason to go into work seemed made up on the hoof, rather than included in any guidance. His defence of test and trace turned a bizarre claim that the system had “very little or nothing to do with the spread and transmission” of the virus. Waffle was the main item on the menu.
Crucially, the emphasis on “six months” of new rules, on what he called “tough enforcement” with military support, felt like a distraction from what was ultimately a light-touch response to the September surge. The economic “hawks” in the Cabinet have stopped a genuinely tough move to stop households mixing indoors, or at least to go back to just two households mixing outdoors (which was the case until last Monday, and the BMA wants it to return).
While the nation was treated to Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance’s scary presentation yesterday, the Cabinet had a different backdrop. On Saturday, it was “economic advisers” who also delivered a presentation to ministers as well as the scientists. And in a whole new meaning to ‘alternative Sage’, Johnson has been advised in No.10 by lockdown sceptics Prof Carl Heneghan and Prof Sunetra Gupta to give effectively a second opinion.
It was noticeable today that at no point was there any attempt to reveal any scientific basis or evidence for the impact on the spread of the virus of either a 10pm curfew or the ‘work from home if you can’ switcheroo. We certainly haven’t been told what impact a ban on mixing households indoors could have, from Sage’s modelling.
At least Nicola Sturgeon today created her very own lab experiment on such a tough restriction. If Scotland’s drastic curb (which actually is currently experienced by 14 million people in lockdown areas in the UK) fails, the PM may privately breathe a sigh of relief.
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Yet if Scotland’s cases and deaths rise slower than England’s, or even fall, there will be huge pressure on Johnson to follow suit - with all the political damage of being seen to have done “too little, too late”, for a second time in the pandemic. For some voters, that really would be a showstopper. And proof they’ve been victim to another Great British fake off, courtesy of their PM.
Quote Of The Day
“The tragic reality of having covid is that your mild cough can be someone else’s death knell.” - Boris Johnson
Tuesday Cheat Sheet
Another 4,926 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, the highest daily figure since 7 May. Hospitalisations rose too.
Keir Starmer has declared that Jeremy Corbyn“deserved” to lose the last general election because the public didn’t trust Labour with their security, jobs or their money.
A YouGov snap poll found that 78% of Brits support the new Covid curbs, with 45% saying they should go even further. Yet Labour hasn’t itself called for tougher curbs.
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Rishi Sunak is weighing up plans to replace the furlough scheme with German-style wage subsidies, the Guardian reports.
The government has confirmed that it will not allow trans people to change their legal gender via self-identification.
The firm behind last year’s tax credits scandal as well as companies linked to debt collection services are among those who have been handed contact tracing roles by Serco, PoliticsHome revealed.
What I’m Reading
Even The Italian Mafia Is On TikTok - Vice
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--NASA Plans To Send First Woman To The Moon In 2024

NASA said the multi-pronged Artemis plan shows it is “focused on achieving the goal of an initial human landing by 2024 with acceptable technical risks, while simultaneously working toward sustainable lunar exploration in the mid- to late 2020s.”
The choice for 2024 is not “arbitrary,” but rather the “most ambitious date possible, and our success at the Moon, and later, at Mars, will be grounded in our national goals and robust capabilities,” NASA explained.
NASA’s first modern lunar mission, Artemis 1, is slated for 2021 sans astronauts, and Artemis II is planned to fly in 2023 with a crew. Artemis III aims to land the first woman and a man on the moon in 2024.
“When Artemis III lands the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024, America will demonstrate a new level of global space leadership,” NASA said in the Artemis plan. “With lunar exploration capability re-established, NASA and the world will be ready to build a sustained presence on the lunar surface in preparation for human exploration of Mars.”
OK then. Where do we sign up?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Boris Johnson Urges Public To Show 'Discipline And Resolve' To Avoid Second National Lockdown

Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boris Johnson has told the public “we will get through this winter together” as he urged people to summon “the discipline and the resolve” to stick to new Covid-19 restrictions.
In a TV address to the nation from Downing Street, the prime minister warned of “unquestionably difficult months to come” and said the UK could still be “forced into a new national lockdown”.
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Signalling new restrictions, which include working from home where possible and a curfew for hospitality venues, could be in place for six months, he recalled a “spirit of togetherness” when the virus first swept the UK in March.
He then called for Brits to “protect each other” as he outlined the devastating consequences a second shutdown would have on the nation’s economy and health.
It was not “realistic” to effectively “lock up” the elderly vulnerable, he said, while allowing the virus to spread elsewhere, adding: “The tragic reality of having Covid is that your mild cough can be someone else’s death knell.”
He then said: “Never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour.”
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His message to the nation follows the government’s chief scientific and medical advisers warning there could be 50,000 UK cases a day by mid-October with a daily death toll of 200 or more by mid-November if the current growth in the rate of infection is not halted.
An update on coronavirus. https://t.co/3uCUJ5grBm — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 22, 2020
The PM went on: “If we let this virus get out of control now, it would mean that our NHS had no space – once again – to deal with cancer patients and millions of other non-Covid medical needs.
“And if we were forced into a new national lockdown, that would threaten not just jobs and livelihoods but the loving human contact on which we all depend.
“It would mean renewed loneliness and confinement for the elderly and vulnerable, and ultimately it would threaten once again the education of our children. We must do all we can to avoid going down that road again.
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He also confirmed that more police will monitor rule-breakers, with fines as high as £10,000 for breaches, and the military could be called in to “backfill”.
He said: “We will put more police out on the streets and use the army to backfill if necessary.”
Johnson’s stark message ended with a glimmer of hope.
The government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance (left) and chief medical officer Chris Whitty (right) speaking at a Downing Street briefing. PA
He said experts advising his government were “unanimous” in predicting the pandemic would be “far better by the spring”, when mass testing via the government’s “Operation Moonshot” programme and a vaccine may be possible.
He said: “And though our doctors and our medical advisers are rightly worried about the data now, and the risks over winter, they are unanimous that things will be far better by the spring, when we have not only the hope of a vaccine, but one day soon – and I must stress that we are not there yet – of mass testing so efficient that people will be able to be tested in minutes so they can do more of the things they love.
“That’s the hope; that’s the dream. It’s hard, but it’s attainable, and we are working as hard as we can to get there.
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“But until we do, we must rely on our willingness to look out for each other, to protect each other.”
Making his final appeal to the public, he said: “If we follow these simple rules together, we will get through this winter together. There are unquestionably difficult months to come.
“And the fight against Covid is by no means over. I have no doubt, however, that there are great days ahead.
Johnson set out new restrictions to last "perhaps six months" to slow the renewed spread of coronavirus. ASSOCIATED PRESS
“But now is the time for us all to summon the discipline, and the resolve, and the spirit of togetherness that will carry us through.”
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Under new measures announced on Tuesday, pubs, bars and restaurants in England will have to close by 10pm each night and must operate as table service only from Thursday. People have also been told to work from home if they can.
Johnson announced there would also be “tighter” enforcement of the new rules as the fine for not wearing a face mask will rise to £200.
Face masks will become compulsory for bar staff, shop workers, waiters and taxi drivers.
Businesses will be fined and could even be closed if they breach the rules.
The number of people who can attend weddings will be halved from 30 to 15 from Monday.
A plan to allow small crowds to sports stadiums has been suspended.
Johnson said that the restrictions announced could remain in place for “perhaps six months”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Boris Johnson Scoffed At The Idea Of Enforcing Covid Rules. Now The Army Could Be Used

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The military can help the police as they target Covid-19 rule breakers, the PM has announced – six months to the day since he appeared flabbergasted at the suggestion officers could be involved at all.
During a daily press briefing on March 22 – just a day before the UK went into full national lockdown – the PM was asked by a reporter if the government would consider using the police to enforce social distancing rules.
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“Bring in the police?” he responded, apparently shocked at the suggestion that officers could be involved in maintaining a host of regulations enforced by the government.
Just four days later it was confirmed that police would in fact be given new powers to enforce rules, with fines issued to those contravening the rules on leaving home “without reasonable excuse”.
Now, exactly half a year on from the UK’s first lockdown and facing the reality of a second wave of Covid-19, Boris Johnson told MPs in the Commons that not only will fines be increased for those violating the “rule of six”, but armed forces personnel could be brought in to help police fulfil their duties amid the pandemic.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Johnson said there would now be “greater police presence” on the streets with “the option to draw on military support where required”.
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Later on Tuesday Downing Street confirmed that the armed forces would be able to help fulfil certain police duties such as office roles and guarding protected sights to free up officers, but would not be granted “additional powers”.
The PM’s official spokesperson said: “To further free up the police to have a greater presence on our streets they will have the option to draw on military support, where required, using tried and tested mechanisms.
“This would involve the military back-filling certain duties, such as office roles and guarding protected sites, so police officers can be out enforcing the virus response.
“This is not about providing any additional powers to the military, or them replacing the police in enforcement roles, and they will not be handing out fines. It is about freeing up more police officers.”
It’s far from the first time Johnson’s government has shifted stance during the pandemic. Just hours before announcing that the army could fulfil some policing roles, Michael Gove admitted that the government’s push for workers to return to offices had been reversed.
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The government’s official position, confirmed by the PM during his speech, is now that employees who can work from home should do so wherever possible.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Labour's Shift To 'Britain First’ Rhetoric Will Only Further Alienate People Of Colour

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This morning, during his Labour leader speech to a near-empty room in Doncaster, Sir Keir Starmer outlined Labour’s vision going forwards with an emphasis on the importance of family, security, and patriotism.
It was an obvious attempt to distance himself and the party further from Corbyn’s internationalism and collectivism.
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Later in the day, this somewhat strange emphasis on patriotism was then re-enforced by shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy.
“We stand up for Britain, we stand up for British people, we stand up for British interests and we will always put that first,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
If you didn’t know that you were listening to a Labour MP, you probably wouldn’t be blamed for thinking you were listening to the words of a right-wing nationalist group or Nigel Farage.
But no, these are the words of a party who only a few years ago mourned the death of one of their own, Jo Cox, who was murdered by an individual shouting the very words “Britain First”.
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“Like many, I’ve had people regularly tell me to go back to where I came from, as if my brown skin and foreign sounding name don't fit in with British values.”
This kind of rhetoric conjures up many painful and traumatic memories of right-wing discrimination and violence against people of colour – all in the name of nationalism, patriotism, and “preserving British culture”.
Far-right politics and nationalist groups have been around since the 1930s, but really rose in popularity in the 1960s and 70s, with groups such as the National Front and British National Party (BNP) becoming established organisations with relatively large memberships.
And even though these specific groups have dwindled in recent years, we now have the likes of the English Defence League (EDL) gaining popularity. All were and are violently opposed to non-white immigration and multiculturalism, with the EDL taking a specific angle on the perceived “Islamification” of Britain.
Along with the rise of these groups, we’ve also seen the rise of far-right extremism. These beliefs hark back to this deeply entrenched idea that people of colour aren’t really British, unpatriotic, and simply don’t belong in this country.
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We are still seen as taking jobs, housing, healthcare, and forcing multiculturalism on the “British way of life”. We are viewed as not having existed or formed part of Britain until the days of the Empire. And because of these views, we are harassed, discriminated against, or worse, have violence inflicted against us.
Like many, I’ve had people regularly tell me to go back to where I came from, as if my brown skin and foreign sounding name don’t fit in with British values.
Growing up in the BNP’s heyday has meant the English flag now holds a lot of uncomfortable and fearful connotations for me, even walking past a house with the flag waving makes me nervous.
Most people do now tend to associate patriotism with the far-right, even though they aren’t intrinsically linked. So, the fact that Labour is situating itself with nationalist and patriotic values and rhetoric will undoubtedly make a lot of people of colour both nervous and angry.
It’s clear that Labour is attempting to reclaim patriotism and shift its associated narratives away from the far-right. A shift that has the potential to work.
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However, Starmer’s Labour party is unlikely to make it work, and this is due to its track record of being quite poor on issues that particularly impact people of colour.
These issues include crucial areas such as immigration, housing, and Universal Credit. But the best example to illustrate how Labour has recently treated people of colour is with the leaked report back in April of this year. This report showed racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism running deep within the party, and yet, apart from announcing an investigation, little has been done to tackle or prevent this from happening again in the future.
And so, people of colour were already feeling quite fed up with the Labour party under Starmer’s leadership. From empty statements on migrants crossing the English Channel to calling the Black Lives Matter movement a “moment”, a lot of people have frankly become disillusioned with the party. I know I’ve felt like it isn’t a party who cares or stands for people like me anymore.
This focus on patriotism and “Britain first” rhetoric could be a tipping point for a lot of people of colour who were already on the fence with their party membership.
To be part of a political movement that now serves as a reminder of far-right politics and discourse, and the discrimination and violence so many of us face because of it, will likely no longer be a viable option for many still in the membership.
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Shahed Ezaydi is a freelance journalist.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Chilling Footage Shows Mountain Lion Quietly Stalking Children Near San Francisco

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A mountain lion was caught on camera seemingly sizing up some kids in a neighborhood near San Francisco.
Timothy Kerrisk, who filmed the incident, told local news station KRON that he thought a dog had gotten into his Pacifica yard. Then he realised what it was ― and that it was watching children playing in the street.
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“I started yelling at the kids, ‘Get inside! Get inside! Get inside!’” Kerrisk told the station.
Kerrisk uploaded his footage without the audio, which he said in the comments section was “just me yelling for the neighbour across the street to come down and grab the kids.”
After being spotted, the big cat hid under a nearby pickup truck, where it continued to watch the kids for a few seconds. It then slinked off in response to Kerrisk’s commotion:
Zara McDonald of the Bay Area Puma Project told NBC Bay Area that the group has been tracking this particular mountain lion, which is a “people observer.” She said there’s been “nothing abnormal or scary or threatening about its behavior thus far,” but that people should give the cats plenty of space if they encounter them.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Digital Transformation, 5G and XR Will Drive Next-Gen Fashion Shows

The fashion industry is shifting towards significant digital transformation. From 3D design to the digital showcasing of fashion collections, the digitalisation of physical garments demonstrates key areas of rapid expansion, as well as offering hope and opportunity to an industry in flux.
The complex, global supply chain ground to a halt during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and remains sluggish as it steadily reopens. In the midst of physical lockdowns, shrinking economies and cancelled fashion week shows, the desire for fashion brands to engage consumers and, ultimately, sell their products, intensifies. But with all the physical and fiscal challenges, the question is: how?
Agile and progressive brands have turned to 3D and extended reality (aka XR, which includes VR and AR) to create and promote their products and gain an edge over the competition. The value of utilising 3D digital assets in AR experiences has been demonstrated by a number of brands, including Nike and Gucci (who both created AR apps for sneaker fit and Tryon) and JW Anderson, who partnered with HoloMe on an AR fashion presentation earlier this year.
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The Spring 2021 collection was captured using a green screen and computer vision in order to insert them, via a smartphone app, into the user’s immediate environment. The app hosted live feeds for wholesale buyers to visualise the collection in their own environment, from which they were able to make decisions on which garments to order for retail―a critical solution in the face of physical travel restrictions and social distancing. Add to this Shopify’s integration of 3D and AR tools, which it claims “have been shown to increase conversion rates by up to 250% on product pages,” and the benefits of 3D and AR for the fashion industry are clear.
FIA JW Anderson
Pushing this extended reality concept further, the recent Fabric of Reality VR fashion show brought together emerging fashion designers and VR artists to take part in a show that was live-streamed to a global audience of over 100,000 people. The project was the brainchild of RYOT (Verizon Media’s award-winning content studio and innovation lab) and the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion and has been covered extensively on HuffPost UK.
During London Fashion Week, the VR show has now taken on a new incarnation, with the garments of the three fashion designers, Charli Cohen, Damara Ingles and Sabinna Rachimova, being ‘teleported’ out of the VR realm and into WebAR. This demonstrates the potential for fashion brands to not only create designs digitally and present them virtually (with all the time, waste and cost savings it affords), but also share them to global audiences to experience in their immediate location in augmented reality, and share on social media.
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Click on the links below to be taken into a 3D AR experience, and hit the “Sound On” button on the top right corner to hear the designers talk about their garments.
Fabric of Reality On desktop, use your mouse to zoom and rotate the object in 3D; on mobile and tablet, place the object in your space, use your fingers to resize and rotate in augmented reality. Use earphones or headphones for best experience. View in 3D now
Fabric of Reality On desktop, use your mouse to zoom and rotate the object in 3D; on mobile and tablet, place the object in your space, use your fingers to resize and rotate in augmented reality. Use earphones or headphones for best experience. View in 3D now
Fabric of Reality On desktop, use your mouse to zoom and rotate the object in 3D; on mobile and tablet, place the object in your space, use your fingers to resize and rotate in augmented reality. Use earphones or headphones for best experience. View in 3D now
Fashion week is a pivotal time for brands to raise awareness, engage consumers and drive sales, however, this is proving challenging for many as traditional catwalk shows have been replaced with digital ones, which Business of Fashion declared earlier this year “a flop, at least on social media”. It reported that London Fashion Week in June, which features menswear, saw social media engagement plunge 55 per cent from January, according to data analytics and software provider, Launchmetrics. Given that social media is fundamental to brand awareness and sales, this appears to raise major concerns over the effectiveness of digital fashion shows.
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However, on review, the most common types of digital shows were 2D videos―many were traditional catwalks (filmed behind closed doors)― which may explain why they fell flat with digital-native audiences who are used to highly creative digital content, and stalwart fashion week insiders used to front row benefits and physical fanfare.
Considering the digital tools readily available to the industry – including 3D design, augmented and virtual reality, virtual catwalk models, animation and 3D gaming environments – it’s fortunate that the fashion industry has far richer technical toolkits to plunder before declaring digital fashion shows inferior. This season, some brands have begun exploring these tools to engage fashion week audiences, including ‘brand of the moment’ Khaite, who this week released their SS2021 shoe collection via WebAR.
Khaite Khaite Web AR
In terms of generating engagement and lasting impact, research shared by Gorilla In The Room, an agency testing consumer responses to AR and VR indicates that VR experiences impact implicit memory, causing heightened emotional responses as if the person is experiencing something from a first-person perspective. Due to the feeling of presence in the VR environment, episodic memories (autobiographical in nature) are created in favour of semantic (general factual) memories, which can amplify retention of what is experienced. In essence, VR has been proven to be a powerful tool to connect people to the stories behind products in a way that gives them deeper meaning and value. This cuts straight to the core of what brands seek to achieve in building affinity and loyalty with their target audience.
In a similar manner, AR places the brand’s product into the world of the viewer, allowing them to create new content that is personal and unique to them. Designer Damara Ingles articulated the importance of this when saying: “Extended Reality opens a whole new dimension of fashion possibilities and future dreaming, allowing us to expand the wearable vocabulary in ways that become inclusive of our digital identities.” As digital-native Gen-Z inhabit online realms as a natural extension of their physical lives, it seems that VR and AR will be crucial to engaging this cohort – both emotionally and commercially.
An important catalyst for brands’ increased adoption of VR and AR experiences will be the expansion of 5G networks, which will facilitate blisteringly-fast streaming, content creation and sharing. Moin Roberts-Islam, Technology Development Manager at the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion says that this expansion promises to not only allow vast and rapid data transfer in technical terms but a drastic reduction in latency for users, allowing truly interactive shared but unique-to-user AR and VR experiences. With the computation being done by powerful machines located remotely, the device, be it a smartphone, tablet or a headset, serves as simply the object of delivery, rather than a limiting factor.
At the same time as this technological leap, and accelerated by physical limitations brought about by Covid-19, brands are swapping 2D for 3D design and photogrammetry with widespread digitisation of products in the early stages of conception. This is creating a ‘perfect storm’ of digital assets that are virtual and augmented reality-ready. Utilising these digital products will help facilitate not only end-to-end digital supply chains from design to retail, but also with marketing, promotion and sales.
The sustainability gains, cost reductions and enhanced branding and marketing opportunities shouldn’t be underestimated. Stylus trends intelligence agency declared in their recent 5G retail futures report that “5G will enable a technological revolution, realising a ‘phygital’ world in which our physical experiences will be intertwined with digital layers, including seamless upgrades of AR uniting real life with imagined brandscapes.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Great British Bake Off’s Biggest Disasters Ever

Considering they are supposed to be the crème de la crème (sorry) of the amateur baking world, the bakers on The Great British Bake Off still manage to have some have absolute nightmares on the show.
Most of these disasters stem from when things aren’t going exactly to plan as the contestants navigate the challenges set by Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith and previously Mary Berry.
Over the course of the last 12 series, there have been many memorable-for-all-the-wrong-reasons moments. Here are the biggest disasters to strike inside that famous tent...
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#BinGate
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Let’s start with the obvious one, shall we?
In one of the most memorable Bake Off moments ever, Iain Watters binned his Baked Alaska back in 2014 after it fell apart when he removed it from the tray, having failed to freeze.
To add to matters, fellow competitor Diana Beard had momentarily removed it from the fridge, with some viewers wrongly accusing her of ruining his bake.
Toppling tiers
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Bake Off’s first-ever Vegan Week didn’t go exactly as planned for contestant Ruby Bhogal back in 2018, when she had trouble getting her two-tier cake to stay in place.
After a team effort to get it to stay, the bakers headed out of the tent as they awaited the judges’ verdict, only for the top tier of Ruby’s cake to make a break for it…
Pudding puddles
Bake Off has long been hailed as the pinnacle of food porn, with the contestants serving up eye-watering cakes, biscuits and desserts every week.
However, when Prue Leith tasked the 2020 series bakers with making a Pond Pudding, literally zero people said “oooh, I can’t WAIT to make that”.
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It had a suet crust. It had a leaky centre. And yes, it had a whole, unpeeled lemon in side. NO THANK YOU.
Things, unsurprisingly, did not go well for the bakers.
Ice cream (bad) dream
Sifting through your news feed to find the good bits like… pic.twitter.com/CiufCfSGu6 — British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) November 5, 2020
Not only do the amateur bakers have to contend with the pressure of the competition, but also the high temperatures in the tent.
So making ice cream cakes in the middle of summer 2020 was never going to end well, was it?
Heatwave horror
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The heatwave of 2018 also played havoc with one of Terry Hartill’s bakes during Cake Week, when the heat caused his Eiffel Tower cake to start looking more like the Leaning Tower Of Pisa.
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After his attempts to save it, the chocolate decorations crumbled and he binned the top layer, presenting the judges with only two thirds of the French landmark.
An act of god
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Paul Jagger earned a place in the hearts of Bake Off fans with his incredible lion bread, but he had much less luck during Patisserie Week in 2015.
His religieuse a l’ancienne showstopper collapsed under the weight of construction ahead of the final judging, with Paul subsequently exiting the competition.
Baking bloodbath
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There was a bloodbath in the tent back in series three, when eventual winner John Whaite had a kitchen mishap involving a blender.
John nearly lost a finger after dipping his hand in the Magimix, and he came close to passing out as blood filled his glove. He was later taken out of the tent to receive medical attention.
Cakes a-flying
Accidents happen - poor Dave and poor Sura. And spare a thought for the tent carpet too! #GBBO pic.twitter.com/S4s4oqCyMt — British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) September 22, 2020
Fans’ hearts were in their mouths after an incident involving contestants Sura and Dave and a tray of pineapple upside-down cakes during the first episode of the 2020 series.
As they delivered their half dozen pineapple upside-down cakes to the gingham alter, Sura swung her arm to hit a fly and but knocked Dave and his tray, causing four of his six cakes to fly across the room.
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Dave was then seen walking away in frustration as the cakes lay smashed on the floor, while a devastated Sura tried to apologise.
Devastating demolition
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Funnily enough, Louise Williams was eliminated from the competition after presenting this to Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood back in 2016, after disaster struck her gingerbread house in the final moments.
Speaking afterwards, she said: “I laugh at it now but it was devastating at the time. I think I could have got top marks for a cake disaster award.”
Flattened muffins
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We miss Mel and Sue a lot on Bake Off, but one person who might have wished they weren’t in the tent during his series was Howard Middleton.
Back in 2013, Sue was responsible for flattening his muffins (!) during Bread Week when she leant down on the counter to have a chat with him, not realising her arm was resting on his bakes.
However, Howard’s mauled muffins were just the start of his problems...
Custard crimes
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Just a week later, Howard suffered another setback when Deborah Manger mistakenly stole his custard during Dessert Week.
Deborah soon realised her error and confessed to Sue, in what became known as #CustardGate on social media.
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“It’s either a terrible error or the most incredible case of baking espionage I’ve ever seen,” Sue joked, before Debroah offered Howard her custard to use instead.
Gloopy gateau
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Series six contestant Dorret Conway was left in tears in the very first week of the competition when her showstopper challenge went off course.
She’d had trouble getting her black forest gateau to firm up, putting it in the fridge to help it set. But – as you can see from above – her hopes were dashed when it came to taking it out of its plastic.
It wasn’t all bad though, as a strong enough performance in the signature and technical challenge helped see her through to the next week.
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Fit for the floor
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Back in series three, competition favourite James Morton experienced every baker’s worst nightmare when he dropped an entire cake on the floor.
While he still had time to whip up another to replace it, his final efforts still didn’t hit the right spot with the judges.
A sorry soufflé
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Steph Blackwell had been the favourite to win the 10th series in 2019, but was left in tears when her stilton soufflés collapsed into liquid during the final technical challenge.
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After her later showstopper was badly received, she was given a hug by Paul, before David Atherton was crowned the winner of the series.
Early errors
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The bakers had only been set their first challenge when disaster struck Henry Bird in 2019.
An intricate topper for his signature bake – a house made out of piped royal icing – smashed into tiny little pieces as he tried to place it on the top of his fruit cake.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--If Boris Johnson Wants The Public's Backing On New Restrictions, He Must First Apologise

Prime Minister Boris Johnson making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons on the latest situation with the coronavirus pandemic. PA
Everyone makes mistakes. No-one has handled this pandemic perfectly. The question is whether you admit to your mistakes, learn from your mistakes, and make sure not to repeat them the second (and third) time round. So it is welcome to hear from the Prime Minister a frank admission: “I got carried away by the coming summer and the general mood. That was a mistake I don’t want to make again”.
Unfortunately (at least for those of us in the UK) those are the words of the Czech PM, Andrej Babis. And yet, what he says applies as much here as there.
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Remember all the hype about re-opening pubs on Saturday, July 4? It was dubbed ”Independence Day”, “Super Saturday”. That was no coincidence.
The timing and the messages were deliberately managed by No.10 and designed to send a strong signal that things were back to normal, such that people should resume their traditional patterns of consumption. And just in case the signal might be too subtle for some, Boris Johnson exhorted us that it was our “patriotic duty” to go to the pub.
In the case of workplaces, things were even less subtle. Not only were people told they should go back, Johnson warned that if they didn’t they might lose their jobs.
So many had little choice but to travel (often on crowded public transport) and mingle with their workmates. Sure, the workplace was meant to be safe and ministers repeatedly asserted that it was safe. Yet, the government did nothing to ensure that it was safe but rather handed the job over to employers with little guidance, minimal oversight and no support (hardly surprising since the number of Health and Safety Inspectors has been slashed by half in the last five years).
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The inevitable result? Employers themselves acknowledge that 46% of workplaces are not properly distanced and 38% of the most vulnerable employees report no Covid mitigations at all in their workplaces.
So, a few weeks down the line, it comes as no surprise at all that infections are spiking again and that those who are most exposed to contact with others – the young – are most affected (for now at least).
And how has the government responded? By acknowledging its mistakes? By learning the basic lesson that if you relax, this virus will come back and bite you? By apologising to people – especially young people – and acknowledging that its advice exposed them to danger?
“The notion that it is public misbehaviour that is the problem leads the government to put the onus almost entirely on us to change our ways.”
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No. None of that. Indeed, it has done the precise opposite and accused them of being the cause of the present mess. According to this narrative, the problem isn’t that young people have behaved according to the government’s bad advice, but rather they have misbehaved and ignored the government’s advice.
Not only is this wrong and unfair. It is also profoundly counter-productive. If you demonise one group as the cause of greater infections and greater restrictions, you alienate that group and make everyone else complacent (“we aren’t the problem, OK we may be having one or two more people over in an evening, but we aren’t having house parties like those dreadful youngsters”). In both ways, you undermine future adherence to the measures needed to control the pandemic.
Still worse, such a false diagnosis leads to an ineffective cure. The notion that it is public misbehaviour that is the problem leads the government to put the onus almost entirely on us to change our ways and to threaten us with punishment if we fail to heed their strictures.
On the one hand, this ignores the responsibilities of the government to support us in doing the right thing. While it would be a good start to stop encouraging us to increase our exposure to the virus, it would be far better to provide us with the resources we need to avoid getting infected and infecting others. Most obviously, provide a functioning test and trace system and make sure we can afford to self-isolate.
On the other hand, if the government does take its responsibilities seriously, and if it does support us then it has a far more authoritative voice when it asks us to take our responsibilities seriously (which we must), and is far more likely to be listened to. Support us, and we will both be able and want to observe the new Covid measures that are necessary.
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If we are to get on top of the pandemic, there needs to be a reset. Government must go from treating the public as a problem to engaging with the public as a partner.
They must shift from a narrow focus on what the public must (and mustn’t) do to a broader focus on what we all (government, employers and the public) must do. And they must understand that the best way to get us, the public, to do our bit is to stop hectoring us and do their bit.
Such a reset depends, of course, on realising and acknowledging their mistakes to date. Do they have the insight, the courage and the integrity to do so?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-22--Ban On Household Visits In Scotland Under New Coronavirus Rules

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon PA
Household visits will be banned across Scotland from Wednesday, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The decision by the first minister means there will be much stricter new rules in Scotland than imposed in England by Boris Johnson.
“I know how miserable this is for you and you have been so patient,” Sturgeon said.
“We are trying to give you as much flexibility as we can. In return, please work with us and do your best to stick to the rules, for everyone’s sake.”
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As in England, a 10pm curfew will be put in place for pubs, bars and restaurants in an effort to suppress the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
Sturgeon said that the Scottish government was seeking to strike a balance between reducing the spread of the virus and safeguarding jobs in the industry.
Workers in Scotland, as in England, have been asked to continue to work from home if they can.
Sturgeon told employers who have encouraged people back into the office to “rethink that”.
She added that if there is non-compliance from employers, then the Scottish government may impose a “legal duty” on businesses to allow home working.
Addressing reports that measures in Scotland could be in place for up to six months, the first minister said she hoped that would not be the case.
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She told MSPs: “It is certainly the case, until scientific developments such as a vaccine change the game in the battle against Covid-19, it will have an impact on our lives.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that all of the new restrictions I am announcing today will be in place for six months.
“By acting early and substantially, our hope is that these new measures will be in place for a shorter period than would be the case if we waited longer to act.”
The new measures put in place for Scotland will be reviewed every three weeks, the Sturgeon said.