thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Meet The Modern-Day Princess Diana Super Fans

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She’s still on the front pages of the papers 23 years since her death, and now Princess Diana, played by relative newcomer Emma Corrin, is arriving on Netflix drama series, The Crown. The fourth season drops on Sunday November 15.
From the young aristocrat’s ascent to fame and marriage to Prince Charles in 1981, to her tragic death in Paris in 1997, the life and work of Princess Diana has become the stuff of legend.
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Diana has been variously immortalised as the people’s princess, a style icon, a wife and mother, and, in some eyes, a kind soul thrust into a hostile world, as projected in her now infamous Martin Bashir interview, which has become the subject of fresh news this week. She is remembered for de-stigmatising AIDS and HIV, campaigning against landmines, and speaking out publicly against what she perceived to be the oppressive weight of the royal family.
Ahead of her introduction to The Crown storyline, HuffPost UK spoke to some of her modern day super fans to hear how the princess still shapes their lives.
‘I still Google her when I need an elegant look’
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“I adore Diana. She is the epitome of class and kindness,” says Zara, 32, a skincare entrepreneur who lives in Wembley, but was a little girl living in Pakistan when Princess Diana made a national visit in 1996.
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“Seeing her in traditional Pakistani dress was just so incredible as a child who was British Pakistani but didn’t really connect to the royal family before. I was just in awe. I instantly felt her warmth in the way she was interacting with local people – even as a small child I could sense that. She was seen greeting small children warmly and it made me wish I was one of them.
“I hadn’t seen a British Royal in the shalwar kameez before so it was great to see someone embracing my culture in that way. I hadn’t associated the traditional dress with anything other than being Pakistani. This was a link to it being something so elegant that a British royal would wear.
“Diana influenced my style choices as I got older. I’m a third culture kid, so for me, seeing her like that was a nod to my Pakistani identity and British one, too – in a positive way. I still find myself Googling her outfits when I feel I need a really elegant look for a classy event to go to.
“I have been dying to watch The Crown for a while. Unfortunately two small toddlers and running a business hasn’t made it possible, but I will most definitely try and watch this seasons because of Diana’s role.”
‘I’m okay being my authentic self because of Diana’
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“Lady Diana inspired me to overcome adversity,” says Sharenika Cummings, 30, from Georgia, US, a survivor of sex trafficking and author of Hustled Through The Pain.
“I admire how she always laughed and smiled. I looked up to her fashion and bright colours. She inspired me to be me no matter who thought otherwise. She had a big personality, and people loved to be in her presence.
“My favourite Diana moment was when she joined her older sisters to show talent in music and sports, but not academics. She kept failing the school exams, I think. I just remembered that inspired me. I felt dumb because I kept failing major tests in high school and college, too. I failed the graduation test, and in college I failed the placement test. Diana didn’t let that stop her.
“She showed me you can be strong no matter what you’re facing. She was in the public’s eye from being with a prince. She did not allow that to change who she was. My book, Hustled Through The Pain, explains and shows how I made it through life with many things being thrown at me. I’m okay with being my authentic self because of Lady Diana.”
‘I truly think she was a progressive champion’
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“Diana has helped inspire millions of people with her charity work on landmines, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. As a gay man, the latter is especially important to me,” says Konrad Juengling, 33, an LGBTQ+ activist from Idaho.
“HIV/AIDS was so stigmatised in the 1980s and 1990s, but Diana didn’t let that stop her from advocating for men whose lives were tragically cut short. She helped with fundraising efforts for research (which is something that is still needed to this day), visited patients in the hospital, and opened an AIDS centre.
“Even members of the royal family did not approve of that type of charity work, but she continued with it. She brought the message to millions of people that those living with those conditions are deserving of fair treatment and respect.
“I was 10 when Diana died, and remember the news reports and feeling sad because she was loved by so many people, but I was too young to really admire her then. I’ve come to admire Diana retrospectively. I truly think she was a progressive champion when it comes to HIV/AIDS. It’s a shame her life was cut short before she could see the strides in acceptance that have been made.
“I’m very excited for The Crown’s next season. Last Christmas, my husband got me a copy of the book, Impressions of Althorp, with a personalised inscription from Diana’s brother Charles Spencer. When coronavirus is over and we’re able to travel again, we’re planning on visiting the UK and have the Althorp Estate [where Diana grew up and is buried] on our list of places to see.
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“We will pay our respects to Diana, who inspires me by reminding me however small our platforms are compared to hers, we should be using them for good.”
‘She was an innocent young girl who was used’
Supplied Jennifer Redman
“When Diana died, everybody was devastated. It was total devastation. It was like we all lost someone close to us,” says Jennifer Redman, 71, a retired market stall trader of Greek Cypriot origin who lives in London.
“She was an innocent young girl who was used to fulfil a purpose. It felt like we needed to protect this young girl who was being duped by everyone around her. To find out your husband doesn’t love you and didn’t want to marry you, yet was seeing it through – it just made it feel very personal.”
“For me, Diana represented a new age; a very strong woman who fought her way through the most difficult times in her life to do good. Her thoughts and her actions were always focused on helping others, those less fortunate than her. She always put others first.
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“Her passing built up a never-ending hate for Charles and Camilla for me, which I think most people can resonate with. It wasn’t a case of Charles and Camilla falling in love after they were married, it felt so planned and structured.
“I cannot wait for Diana to appear in The Crown. I’m most excited to see how they portray her, especially Emma Corrin’s performance. I’m also excited to see Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher. In images, she looks exactly like her!”
‘Diana was from a pre-internet, pre-reality TV age’
Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock
“When I first joined Rex Features/Shutterstock in 1991, I loved traveling. That’s how I ended up specialising in royal coverage as it allows me to travel and take photographs – my two biggest passions,” says photographer Tim Rooke, 55, from London.
“I found Princess Diana fascinating in the pre-internet and pre-reality TV age – probably one of the most famous women in the world along with Mother Teresa.
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“She used her fame and status for good. Nowhere was this as important as how she helped change people’s perspective of HIV/AIDS. This was before my time shooting the royals, but in 1987 she opened the UK’s first purpose-built HIV/AIDS clinic and in front of the world’s media, she shook hands with an AIDS patient without gloves. This seems strange now but in the mid 80s the hysteria and misinformation was rampant. I think she was very compassionate.
“I took this photograph of Diana and Paul Burrell at Sarajevo Airport in Bosnia, a few weeks before the princess died. Initially I was annoyed her butler was in the picture since photos of her alone were more sought after. However, after Paul Burrell went to trial, this was one of the only pictures of the two of them together. Paul himself says it is his favourite picture with the princess.
“I think the work Prince Harry in particular does with HIV in Africa and around the world is partly inspired by his mother’s work in this field.”
‘Even as a child I was drawn to Princess Diana’
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“For some reason even as a child I was drawn to Princess Diana,” says Daniel Welsh, 29, HuffPost UK’s entertainment writer. ”I vividly remember when I was four or five years old, sifting through my mam’s magazines for pictures of her, which I’d then cut and save in a plastic wallet for some reason. I think at the time I just found her impossibly glamorous and other-worldly, always at these red carpet events looking amazing.
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“So she’s someone that I’ve always been drawn to, but it’s only as I’ve got older that I’ve realised what an incredible legacy she had, and what incredible work she did, particularly when it came to de-stigmatising AIDS at a time when LGBTQ+ people were being demonised in the British media. She was a fantastic ally, and that’s part of what makes her such a gay icon.
“I know a lot of people play up the more tragic sides of her story – how young she was when she married Charles, her struggles with her mental health and bulimia (the seriousness of which I’ve only learned recently, but were actually dominant forces in her marriage to Charles) – and they are, of course, important.
“But that’s not all she was. My favourite things to hear about are her sense of humour, her silliness, stories of her doing things she wasn’t supposed to like going to pop concerts, teasing the media and (allegedly) dressing up in boy-drag for a night out at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern with Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Trump's Voter Fraud Hotline Closed After Flood Of Prank Calls

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Anyone with a complaint can still fill out an online form on the campaign website. But the forms are also being sent in with bogus complaints and “lewd images,” according to ABC News campaign reporter Will Steakin.
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The Trump campaign is now directing people to its online form instead, which has been flooded with lewd images, per multiple sources — Will Steakin (@wsteaks) November 13, 2020
The president’s son Eric Trump claimed the hotline phone numbers — which were repeatedly switched in a failed bid to outwit pranksters — were being spammed by the Democratic Party. But complaint calls boldly posted on Twitter and TikTok were clearly not the organised work of the Democrats.
The @DNC is spamming our voter fraud hotline to bog down the thousands of complaints we are receiving! Wonder what they have to hide. — Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 7, 2020
A campaign staffer conceded many of the calls were coming from “lefty teenagers,” reported Axios journalist Jonathan Swan.
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Trump campaign aides manning the “voter fraud hotline” describe mostly fielding prank calls from lefty teenagers and dealing with some disturbing unsolicited adult images. — Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) November 9, 2020
Alex Hirsch, creator of the “Gravity Falls” cartoon, posted his report on Twitter of suspicious activities by someone who sounded suspiciously like the McDonald’s Hamburglar. He added helpfully: “I think he’s probably antifa.”
I...may just do this all night pic.twitter.com/OFtKDeMBqE — Alex Hirsch (@_AlexHirsch) November 7, 2020
The hotline has been ditched as the Trump campaign is significantly downsizing staff starting next week. Only a small number of staffers will work through to the end of the month, sources told ABC.
The campaign has been attacked for baselessly claiming the election was rigged — and then desperately searching for any anecdotes to back up that claim.
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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced in a joint statement Thursday that the election, in fact, was “the most secure in American history.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--White House Press Secretary Insists Trump Will Attend 'His Own' Inauguration In January

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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to accept the reality that president-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated at the White House on January 20, claiming that Donald Trump will likely attend “his own inauguration” instead.
McEnany told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney on Friday that Trump was “not even at that point yet” of conceding to Biden and instead remained focused on various lawsuits challenging the election’s outcome.
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“It would look pretty bad if he did not attend the inauguration,” said Varney, normally an adamant supporter of Trump. “It would look like sour grapes, wouldn’t it?”
“I think the president will attend his own inauguration,” McEnany responded. “He would have to be there, in fact.”
“You really think you can turn this around?” a skeptical Varney asked.
“Absolutely,” McEnany said before adding that Trump’s administration only wants to “lift the hood of the car” and examine the election results — though there is no evidence to support the president’s claims of election fraud.
"I think the president will attend his own inauguration" -- Kayleigh McEnany still hasn't acknowledged the reality that Trump lost to Biden and it wasn't particularly close pic.twitter.com/ErAvGsRVgT — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2020
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McEnany predicted before the election that Trump would win in a landslide. On Friday, she argued that Trump was “fighting for the men and women of this movement who have brought real questions and claims forward” about the voting process
These were far from McEnany’s first comments at odds with the reality of the election and its aftermath. She deflected a question on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday about allowing Biden access to daily classified briefings, saying that such an issue would better be addressed by “the White House” —ignoring the fact that she is, in fact, the spokeswoman for the White House.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--The Trailer For The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Reunion Special Is Here

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A new trailer teasing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion special means fans of the 1990s sitcom can now officially get excited to watch it.
Will Smith, who starred in the show, shared the trailer for the upcoming special on his Instagram account on Friday. The reunion is set to air on HBO Max on 19 November.
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“These are the people who made me the man I am today,” Will wrote in the caption for the post. “And I couldn’t let this day go by without marking the occasion.”
In the trailer, Will is joined by his co-stars Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton Banks; Tatyana Ali, who played Ashley Banks; Karyn Parsons, who played Hilary Banks; Daphne Reed, who played Vivian Banks; Joseph Marcell, who played Geoffrey; and DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jeffrey Allen Townes), who played Jazz.
“I’ve always been able to recognise chemistry,” Will says in the trailer.
Fresh Prince centered on Will, whose high-school-aged character (who bears the same name) moved from West Philadelphia to live with his relatives in the wealthy Bel-Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
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The trailer features a dedication to James Avery, who played Philip Banks, aka Uncle Phil. James died in 2013.
“James is the heart of the show,” Tatyana said about the late actor in the clip.
The cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air NBC via Getty Images
The Fresh Prince cast first teased the reunion special back in September, which marked the 30th anniversary of the show’s debut.
Janet Hubert also makes an appearance in the trailer, after an introduction from Will, who says, “I couldn’t celebrate 30 years of Fresh Prince without Janet.”
Janet originally played the character of Vivian Banks — or Aunt Viv — for the first three seasons of the show, before she was replaced by Daphne.
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Since her departure, she has had a rocky relationship with some of the cast members, particularly Smith. In 2016, she publicly accused the “Bad Boys” actor of being “a part of the system that is unfair to other actors” amid the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Beke Speaks Out On Judging Role

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Anton Du Beke has said he is “honoured” to be stepping up to the judging panel on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend.
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Following the announcement on Friday, Anton appeared on spin-off It Takes Two, where he said: “I can’t tell you how excited I am.“I am so thrilled for so many reasons.
“I just love, love, love the show as everybody knows and to be asked just to fill in for Motsi for the next couple of weeks is just an absolute honour.”
Anton Du Beke BBC/Guy Levy
He described his temporary job as the “biggest compliment”.
Anton also said he has been given advice by former head judge Len Goodman on how to approach the role.
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“He said: ‘Be yourself and say what you see’. And I’m going to do absolutely that, really,” Anton revealed.
He added that he would be an an “enthusiastic” and “kind” judge.
“I know everyone’s going to be trying their best but I shall say what I see,” he said.
Anton is sitting in for regular judge Motsi Mabuse BBC/Ray Burmiston
Anton, who has been a professional on Strictly since its inception in 2004, previously made a play for a role on the judging panel in 2017, when he was in the running to replace Len.
However, Shirley Ballas was later announced as his replacement.
Anton said he is pleased to have been able to remain with Strictly for so long.
“To be part of the show since the beginning and the only one left, I’m thrilled about that let me tell you. It just fills my heart with joy really,” he said.
Anton and partner Jacqui Smith were first to be voted off this year's Strictly BBC/Guy Levy
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The dancer, who was the first to be eliminated from this series with former home secretary Jacqui Smith, also discussed the departure of Olympic boxer Nicola Adams and her partner Katya Jones.
The pair were forced out of the competition earlier this week after Katya tested positive for coronavirus.
“I was really excited by what they were going to be doing over the next few weeks and what sort of choreography Katya was going to be putting together for them,” Anton said. “(They) started really strongly.”
This year’s Strictly Come Dancing has been hit by a number of complications due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Regular Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli is missing from the series due to travel restrictions, as he’s currently also a judge on the US version of the show.
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It Takes Two presenter Rylan Clark-Neal has also been forced into self-isolation after coming into contact with someone who has the virus outside of work, meaning he will miss two weeks of hosting the spin-off show.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--How The Covid-19 Pandemic Drove Croydon Council To Go Bust

The government’s failure to fulfil its promise of supporting local authorities to “do whatever it takes” to fight coronavirus has been blamed for Croydon Council “running up £1.5bn in debt”.
On Wednesday the Labour-run council in south London announced it had filed a Section 114 notice – effectively declaring bankruptcy – citing “severe ongoing financial challenges”.
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The notice bans “with immediate effect” all new expenditure, with the exception of statutory services for protecting vulnerable people.
Croydon is the first council to issue a Section 114 notice since Northamptonshire County Council in 2018 and is under a government review amid claims of “irresponsible spending” and poor investment choices.
In October auditors Grant Thorton revealed a £60m black hole in the council’s budget and accused it of “collective corporate blindness”.
Tory MP for Croydon South, Chris Philp, said the Labour council had ”shamefully – through neglect, incompetence and most importantly of all by not listening to residents – led the borough to bankruptcy.”
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But most have pointed to the decade of Tory austerity as the main factor for the huge, spiralling local government funding crisis, which has been pushed over the edge by Covid-19.
Councils have been at the very forefront of tackling the pandemic, from supplying PPE to care homes to feeding vulnerable families and finding rough sleepers safe accommodation. This has cost them – a lot.
At the same time, they have suffered a huge loss in income from a drop in business rates, parking, nursery fees and council tax as the financial impact of the national lockdown hit the public.
Earlier this year cash-strapped councils warned they would go bankrupt as a result of the pandemic and accused the government of having broken its promise to “do whatever it takes” to support them.
“Councils have had a double whammy of extra spending needed to fight the pandemic and a reduced income,” said Andy Lent, director of think tank the New Local Government Network.
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“The government told councils they would be behind them and reimburse them for any financial pressure, then they changed their mind. So yeah, they’ve pushed a lot of councils into a very serious financial situation.”
The government’s backtracking on its pledge came as a “very big disappointment” to councils across the country, said councillor Andy Wilson of Lambeth, a neighbouring borough of Croydon.
“That was the line from the government at the very start of the pandemic: to do whatever it takes and we’ll make sure you’re funding appropriately to do that,” he told HuffPost UK. “It’s clear now that the line has not been wholly accurate.”
Solidarity with colleagues in @CroydonCouncil who have had to cope with ten years of Tory austerity & broken promises over government funding to tackle increasing demand in social care and more recently the pandemic — Andy Wilson (@cllr_andywilson) November 11, 2020
Many local authorities find themselves in a precarious financial position, with deficits of tens of millions and an impossible choice – cut services or go bust.
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Wilson said he was not surprised to read about Croydon’s Section 114 notice on Wednesday. “The likelihood is that we’ll see a few more local authorities go to the wall.
“Croydon is not on its own in terms of finding itself in a situation where it is having real financial problems. It’s a systemic issue where all of us local authorities of every political makeup have had to deal with 10 years of reduced funding from the central government.”
Since 2010, funding from central government has been cut by about 50% – in Croydon, that number is at 75%. Councils have had to resort to desperate cost-cutting measures to stay in the black. These include selling off public assets such as libraries, parks and community centres.
“It’s meant a lot of services have been cut very severely,” said Lent. “Youth services have almost entirely disappeared. Libraries have been closed. Things like arts provision, sports provision – they’ve disappeared.”
We went decades without a council declaring bankruptcy and now we’ve had two in under three years. You’d have to be uniquely gullible to believe this has nothing to do with funding cuts of 50% for councils since 2010. https://t.co/fmDWUYgXZn — Adam Lent (@adamjlent) November 11, 2020
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Demands for services are expected to increase, likely dramatically, amid warnings of a “tsunami” of homelessness as more and more families will be severely impacted by the pandemic.
On an immediate level, the filing of a Section 114 notice will mean a number of council staff will almost certainly lose their jobs – at a time when the country faces a huge tide of unemployment as a result of the pandemic.
“It might also mean that the thresholds for people who qualify for social care might suddenly rise,” said Lent. “For example, children from troubled families who previously would have immediately been seen and received help by social workers might have to wait longer, or might not get help at all.”
He said he felt some sympathy for the people of Croydon. “They’ve been let down by an unfair government funding model.”
Meanwhile, the increase in demand for services has forced councils to overspend their budgets on social care, reduce key services and – as in Croydon’s case – rely on other far more risky sources of income.
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THREAD: Auditor Grant Thornton has issued a rare 'public interest report' into the crisis at Croydon Council.
It's an indictment of serious financial mismanagement, and a microcosm of the risks, highlighted by @TBIJ's work, taken by an increasing no. of local authorities — Gareth Davies (@Gareth_Davies09) October 26, 2020
“The Covid-19 crisis and a decade of austerity have had a major impact on our finances but it’s clear the council has also made mistakes,” said councillor Hamida Ali in a statement on Wednesday, only weeks into her role as Croydon council leader.
“The government needs to provide the funding for local councils – and pretty damn quickly,” said Lent. “They’ve completely and utterly failed local authorities.”
Wilson agrees. “They need to honour their commitment to provide us with the resources to support the community, particularly as we now go through this second lockdown period and the economic impacts of that.
“We are really, really struggling at the moment in terms of delivering social care, and this puts us in the situation of having to make really tough calls about which services to provide.
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“It’s pitting one part of the community against another. If we had the resources then we wouldn’t have to take these types of decisions.”
He added: “I want people to recognise that Croydon is not an anomaly. If the government doesn’t find a way of funding local government adequately in the near future, other councils will find themselves in a very similar situation.”
In response to the Section 114 notice, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the decision was “necessary”.
A spokesperson said: “We’re aware of serious concerns around the council’s governance and risk management and the recent Public Interest Report was damning about the governance within Croydon Council, which has been entirely irresponsible with their spending and investments.
“The council has decided to issue a section 114 notice and we will consider the findings of the review which concludes later this month.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Revealed: The 18 NHS Trusts With More Covid Patients In Hospital Than The First Wave

Sarah Turnnidge, Umar Hassan, Andrew Hillman and George Willoughby

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Eighteen NHS trusts now have more people in hospital with Covid-19 than they did at any point in the first wave of the pandemic, new data reveal.
Of these, six are in Yorkshire and six are in the North West of England, according to the latest figures published by NHS England, which provides figures on hospital bed occupancy up to November 5.
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Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is currently treating the most Covid patients in England, with 413 beds occupied by patients with the virus.
This exceeds the 390 beds occupied by Covid-19 patients on April 13, until now the busiest point for the trust since the start of the pandemic.
While other hospital trusts haven’t yet seen the same numbers as in Liverpool, 17 other trusts – as the following graph shows – also now have more Covid-19 patients than they did at any point in the first wave.
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The full list of NHS trusts where this applies is as follows:
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Equivalent statistics published on October 14, showed that at that point in the second wave no NHS trust in England had more bed occupied by patients with Covid-19 than they did in the first wave.
In total, 4,313 beds were occupied by patients with Covid-19 in England on October 14. By November 5 that figure had risen to 11,122, a 160% increase in a matter of weeks.
Despite the sharp rise, the number of beds occupied by patients with Covid-19 across England remains below peak occupancy during April, when 18,970 beds were occupied.
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This is largely due to low occupancy rates in hospitals in the south of the country, especially in London, which experienced some of the highest numbers of Covid-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic.
For example, at its peak London North West University Trust had 456 beds occupied by patients with Covid-19. On November 5 it had just 71.
Twelve hospital trusts in the North West and Yorkshire currently have more beds occupied by Covid-19 patients that at their peak during the first wave. BCU Coronavirus Data Team for HuffPost
Dr Kit Yates, Independent Sage member and a senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath, told HuffPost UK: “It doesn’t surprise me that a lot of them [hospital trusts] have reached previous levels.
“I think London was at about 40 hospital admissions per million people [seven-day average of admissions] when we locked down in March, and while not all regions are at the same level, the North East and Yorkshire is at about 70 per million.
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“The Midlands is climbing and in the south-west, which everyone was saying we didn’t need to worry so much about because cases and hospitalisations were low, it was just that it was a bit behind the curve and it has now overtaken London in terms of its new admissions to hospital.
“We’ve just reached over two thirds of the level of people in hospital in England that we saw at the very peak of the first wave, so in some senses it’s not surprising that many places are worse than they were last time.”
Boris Johnson announced the current nationwide lockdown on October 31, almost six weeks after Sage warned the government that a circuit-breaker lockdown was desperately needed to limit cases.
Yates said a two-week lockdown would have “done a lot” to bring cases and hospitalisations down, and ultimately would have limited the current pressure on the NHS.
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He added: “When you release a lockdown but haven’t introduced any additional measures, then of course cases will just rise again.
“What we advocated for on Independent Sage is to have a two week circuit breaker followed by a slow release back into slightly more relaxed measures to ensure R stays below one, and in that time try to reform systems like Test, Trace and Isolate so when cases do pick up we are able to reach people and actually support them to isolate.”
When it comes to a return to the tiered approach, which the government has proposed could be followed after December 2 when the current lockdown ends, Yates said it is unlikely anything less than tier 3 across the country will do enough to prevent a third spike.
He said: “There’s some evidence that tier 3, as we saw in Liverpool, has worked – cases have come down. But I think when we release restrictions, pretty much everywhere will have to go into tier 3 basically and then slowly reduce restrictions.
“If we want to have schools open, then we basically can’t bars, restaurants, hospitality and leisure all open at the same time because it will just push R back up above one.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--People Missing Out On Diwali Reveal Why They Feel Snubbed Over Bid To 'Save Christmas'

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When Boris Johnson announced the second national lockdown for England, and expressed hope the actions would be enough to save Christmas, Dhruv Upadhyaya felt insulted.
Dhruv, from Leicester, is just one of tens of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs across England who would normally be celebrating the festival of Diwali this weekend.
“Covid-19 has highlighted the elephant in the room – that people from ethnic minorities are treated differently and are only ‘British’ when they want us to be,” the 33-year-old said.
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“I am not angry about the fact that we are in national lockdown as that is the right thing to do.
“But it is really insulting to make it sound like they are doing this lockdown now to save Christmas and have just swept the issue of Diwali under the carpet.”
Also known as the festival of lights, Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world, and is seen as a triumph of good over evil and new beginnings.
Across the country, people have told HuffPost UK at their frustration and disappointment at their festival being ignored.
A Diwali 2020 cancelled sign on Belgrave Road, Leicester, at the start of a four week national lockdown for England. PA
Karishma Champaneria who lives in Ibstock, Leicestershire, loves celebrating Christmas. But she feels the sacrifices being made over Diwali needs to be acknowledged.
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“I personally felt disheartened when Boris Johnson announced the second lockdown and did not even mention Diwali, but talked about Christmas,” Karishma, 26, said.
“Diwali is in the middle of lockdown and is such a huge celebration for so many people in this country. I feel the government should have acknowledged it and highlighted the huge sacrifices being made.”
Karishma is a Hindu, but admits she isn’t deeply religious. For her, Diwali is about catching up with different family members and enjoying eating and celebrating together.
Karishma Champaneria, who says Boris Johnson effectively cancelled Diwali while vowing to save Christmas
“I will be grieving the loss of family time,” she told HuffPost UK. “For me, when the lockdown announcement was made, Diwali was cancelled.
“A lot of people celebrate Christmas for the same reasons I celebrate Diwali – for being with family rather than religious reasons. But with Christmas, there is a huge commercial aspect which obviously boosts the economy.”
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Karishma says Christmas is one of her favourite times of year. But she strongly believes coronavirus restrictions and rules shouldn’t be relaxed for it, either. “It would be like choosing Christmas over all the other religions which have already missed out on their festivals and making an exception,” she said.
The Diwali lights on the Golden Mile in Leicester ahead of Diwali, however due to Covid restrictions the usual ceremony and events will not be taking place this year. EMPICS Entertainment
Diwali celebrations in Leicester are famously one of the biggest outside India and usually attract people from all over the country for the entertainment and fireworks.
But this year, people are urged to take part in the city’s first virtual Diwali celebration from the safety of their homes.
Dhruv Upadhyaya, a practising Hindu from Leicester, told HuffPost UK that for his family, the restrictions will be “heartbreaking”.
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“Not only will there not be a huge celebration in Leicester like there normally is with stage shows, performing acts, food stalls and fireworks down the Golden Mile, people won’t even be able to see their families apart from those they live with,” he said.
“I live with my wife but my father lives less than a mile away with my aunty – his younger sister – and according to the government rules, we won’t be able to see him which is heartbreaking.”
Dhruv Upadhyaya celebrating Diwali with his family in happier times
Dhruv says he found the language used by Boris Johnson when discussing the second lockdown “insulting”, with no mention made about the thousands of Hindus and Sikhs and the sacrifice they are making so Christmas might go ahead.
Over in Southall, West London, Lekhika Chaudhary is bracing herself to miss out on yet another religious festival.
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Lekhika’s mother is Sikh and her dad is Hindu so she and her sister have always been brought up celebrating the festivals of both religions. This meant they experienced the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi under the first lockdown in April.
“Diwali is the one day when everyone gets together and gathers to celebrate and we were so looking forward to it,” the 24-year-old trainee solicitor said.
The major celebrations for Diwali that usually take place in Southall won’t be happening this year, and likewise neither will her traditional visits to the houses of people in her extended family. They will stick to one thing, though: A family prayer.
“I have grown up celebrating Diwali in a big way, so it would not feel right marking it in an understated manner,” she said.
“One of my best friends in Mumbai is ill with Covid. With coronavirus, it doesn’t feel like the right time to be celebrating.”
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Lekhika Chaudhary with her family on a previous Diwali
Lekhika told HuffPost UK that she believes it is the right decision for Diwali celebrations not to go ahead. “It is sad, but the mixing and mingling would be too dangerous.”
But for the same reasons, she thinks it would be inappropriate to lift coronavirus restrictions for Christmas. “I understand that Christmas is the biggest celebration in the UK and I am not being selfish, but I think it would be too risky to relax restrictions for Christmas as the chance of spreading the virus would be too great.
“I’m not saying that just because we missed out on our religious festivals, people should miss Christmas too as that would be petty.
“I just think it would be too risky to have Christmas, particularly for elderly grandparents and those with underlying health conditions.”
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Lekhika Chaudhary
Lekhika told HuffPost UK she believes Boris Johnson has been trying to give people hope that Christmas will go ahead – but she feels things will be far from normal.
“I’m not saying that just because we missed out on our religious festivals, people should miss Christmas too as that would be petty. I just think it would be too risky to have Christmas."” - Lekhika Chaudhary
“I love Christmas and will be sad at missing it too,” she said. “But a lot of people are frustrated that there is too much focus on Christmas and would sooner there be a focus on getting Covid behind us so we can reach normality together.
“So many plans and celebrations have been cancelled during this hellish year. We need to look ahead to 2021 and try to do them all properly next year.”
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Sunita Thind, 38, who lives in Derby, had to undergo the turmoil of having her one remaining ovary removed in May during lockdown when her ovarian cancer returned four years after her initial diagnosis.
Since then, she has been through chemotherapy treatment, lost her hair and tested positive and recovered from coronavirus.
Sunita Thind who went through surgery and cancer treatment during the first lockdown
As a Sikh, she was looking forward to Diwali and seeing her family who she hasn’t seen since March – but the second lockdown scuppered her plans.
“I haven’t seen my family since the first lockdown as my immune system has been very low but I was going to see them for Diwali and have food and light candles with them.
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“Diwali festivities such as people getting together to share food and have fireworks just won’t happen this year and it is so disappointing.”
Sunita, who is married to Peter, has always celebrated Christmas with his family in Lincoln. But this year, she fears that is unlikely to happen either. “I have this feeling of doom that there are going to be even more restrictions,” she told HuffPost UK.
Much as she loves Christmas, she believes Boris Johnson and the government should not be making a special case for Christmas while ignoring the needs and sacrifices of those from other religions.
Sunita Thind before her cancer diagnosis and treatment Sunita Thind
“It is all very well Boris Johnson saying: ‘Save Christmas’, but he has not really thought about people from ethnic minorities.
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“Diwali in lockdown has definitely affected me and my family. I celebrate both Diwali and Christmas and I feel sad that they will both be very different this year.
“I feel Boris Johnson is making exceptions for Christmas and dangling a carrot of hope. But I don’t think he will follow through as the handling of coronavirus has been shambolic and I don’t think it will be safe enough to lift restrictions.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--When Will You Admit Black Lives Don’t Matter?

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Black British people are being hung out to dry, according to a damning new report by the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Titled Black People, Racism and Human Rights, the 45-page document lays bare the racial inequalities that blight the lives of Black people across health, criminal justice, immigration and democracy.
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It focuses specifically on a number of areas that haven’t been recently covered across the myriad of previous race equality probes we’ve seen.
So you would be forgiven for thinking the report offers vindication for Black people in this country, for whom these findings are a long-lived reality. But even when the systemic inequality we face is etched in black and white, we’re still being ignored.
What has been absolutely dumbfounding about this report – over and above its shocking findings – is how little attention it has received from those in the corridors of power.
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Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The report is underpinned by a startling statistic: over 75% of Black people do not believe their human rights are equally protected compared to white people. Yet, there’s been no public word from the government about this.
It highlighted Black women are five times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, citing that the NHS acknowledges and regrets the disparity but does not have a target to end it. Yet, nothing from the NHS about this, not even an acknowledgement. When I contacted its press office asking about its target, my query was ignored and a dry statement issued.
85% of Black people aren’t confident that they would be treated the same as a white person by the police, the review found. There have been no lines from police forces in response.
The report established that our national, government-funded equality watchdog, the EHRC, has failed to protect Black people. Prior to my approaching the EHRC, no public comment was made about this.
Yet, some 24 hours later on Thursday, the very same body welcomed David Goodhart as a new commissioner. He has previously slammed complaints of racism in the UK as “statistically naive” and supported the hostile environment policies which led to the Windrush Scandal.
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The findings of the report have been spectacularly ignored by those in power, which speaks volumes about how Black people fare within society. It begs the question of how much our lives really matter.
Just a few months ago – as Black Lives Matter protests erupted across the country following George Floyd’s murder in the US – you couldn’t move for pledges of solidarity with the anti-racism movement, finally acknowledging that institutional racism plagues UK society too.
I remember the attention that Black Lives Matter garnered over the summer like it was yesterday. Do you? But for all the pretty promises, it appears we’re back to – black – square one, eh? Well that was quick; we were all singing kumbaya around the fire over the summer. It appears those who are supposed to care about all people don’t give a toss about Black people.
When BLM was at its peak, I confess the whole thing left me feeling somewhat gaslighted; the sense that, all of a sudden, our pain was valid and we had permission to be truly seen was insulting on so many levels, and yet the hope of a better tomorrow was deeply enticing.
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For the first time in my lifetime, certainly, it seemed that being unapologetically Black was en vogue, and within the global discourse about race, many of us had carte blanche to speak our truths, with a mild expectation that the establishment was genuinely listening to us.
But quickly Covid showed us that the government wasn’t listening to the specific dangers faced by Black people in this country – from disproportionate death rates to over-policing of our communities. And now, the reaction to this report has compounded what many of us have long known to be true – the reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement was just lip service.
“We are right to say Black lives matter,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in June, despite his past racist comments such as referring to Black people as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles” and suggesting colonialism in Africa should never have ended.
The following month, Labour leader Keir Starmer spoke of the need to tackle racial injustices. The politician tweeted a photograph in which he took the knee in solidarity with BLM alongside deputy leader Angela Rayner.
We kneel with all those opposing anti-Black racism. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/ZvjBndwqKk — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 9, 2020
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Yet, there’s been no word from these men, cabinet ministers or big organisations about the matter. No black squares on social media or speeches championing racial equality. No “vim” as the youngsters say.
I contacted the Labour Party press office asking what its position was, and didn’t receive a response.
I reached out to the government’s equalities office, asking specifically about Black human rights in the context of the report’s conclusions. In response, I received a bland statement pointing to the newly formed race commission which – due to controversial members and confusion around its aims – does not have the confidence of many of those which it purports to help. Its own sponsoring minister, Kemi Badenoch, a Black woman, has suggested that racism isn’t an issue in the UK, so where do we go from there?
A spokesperson said: “The government continues to take action to address the disparities that exist in our society, including implementing the recommendations from reviews that we have agreed to take forward. Throughout the pandemic, the measures introduced by this government have been designed to protect and support everyone across the UK, including our most vulnerable.
“The PM launched the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities to set out a positive agenda for change and to expand on the work the government has already been doing to maximise opportunities for all.”
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It’s like the words “Black” and “racism” stick in their throat, or is it just me?
You know what they say: silence is violence. Enquiring minds would like to know exactly where the allyship energy has gone in respect to those who sit within the upper echelons of society. The quiet is deafening.
I can’t speak for every Black person but I am happy to call this out knowing that I’ll sleep better tonight for having done so. My conscience will be clear knowing that I spoke out in favour of what is right, beyond the moment when a hashtag was trending. I’ll sleep; God knows I’m tired, anyway.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Lockdown Won’t Stop My Diwali Lights Shining Brighter Than Ever

Lights triloks via Getty Images
“Hello everyone, and congratulations on this fantastic virtual Diwali festival which is bringing the spirit of Diwali into people’s homes while helping to keep people safe,” Boris Johnson said in an online video statement last week.
His statement was the first time I was hit by the harsh reality that this is the first time I will be spending Diwali without my family. Just like me, millions of other Hindus, Sikhs and Jains have been left to improvise with their Diwali plans after the announcement of a month-long lockdown in England.
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All of us have made huge sacrifices since the pandemic hit, and I understand and respect the need for a lockdown. But with the recent call for action to ‘save Christmas’, I found myself asking whether Christmas would get cancelled in the same way Diwali has – and if our nation would even abide by the rules if it was.
Diwali is the Indian festival of light, and it also represents the start of a new religious new year. It honours the goddess Lakshmi, and celebrates the return of the deities Rama and Sita to their kingdom after a fourteen-year long exile. It’s a chance to celebrate the victory of good over evil.
The five-day festival is also a time to celebrate prosperity and positivity, but these messages are hard to keep in mind this year when I know I can’t see my elderly grandmother, who lives alone. Not to mention I am still recovering from personal and work struggles I faced in the first lockdown.
“I found myself asking whether Christmas would get cancelled in the same way Diwali has – and if our nation would even abide by the rules if it was.”
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So as Hindus, Sikhs and Jains prepare to celebrate Diwali in lockdown, I’ll be trying to make the most of lockdown festivities. My Diwali celebrations usually consist of a visit to my local mandir, where I will wear traditional Indian clothing and help serve food to the many visitors celebrating the occasion.
Mandirs and gurdwaras are already known for offering free food to everyone, but this pandemic has seen the focus shift where many now run as makeshift food banks. This charity has never been more relevant than this year, where a growing number of hungry and homeless people are relying on the good will of others.
Going to the mandir is not a regular occasion for me, however my Diwali visits there are always special. My temple is specific to the Sindhi community I come from, and it gives me a chance to reconnect with others from that small group. Another day of Diwali is dedicated to my close family, we get together for dinner and games, much like most of us do for Christmas.
Perhaps my favourite element of Diwali celebrations is the annual house party my family throws. My mother makes mountains of food, drinks flow and we dance to a carefully curated Diwali playlist. Not only is Diwali party an occasion for my Indian family, but it’s also a chance for me to share my culture with my non-Indian friends along with my partner, whose life it has very much become a part of.
I know I’m not alone in slightly dreading the idea of being apart from family this year at Diwali. Speaking to others in my community to find out their experiences of how they will deal with it. One, Simran Sing from London, told me spirits will be low as they won’t be able to visit their in-laws as normal.
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“While a video call can never replace the magic of all being in one room, I intend on recreating the hectic Diwali atmosphere.”
Many, however, are taking matters into their own hands and celebrating virtually. Kriti Sachdeva, who is Indian-born but who has now settled in the United Kingdom said, they usually go home to India to celebrate – “what’s Diwali without family?” – but will this year have to celebrate.
Similarly to Krtiti, I will be attempting to organise a Zoom with my family. I say ‘attempting’ because my family is spread across three different time zones.
On a usual Diwali, I’d have almost 20 of my family members crammed into my parents’ living room to enjoy drinks and nibbles. While a video call can never replace the magic of all being in one room, I intend on recreating the hectic Diwali atmosphere by inviting 16 of my family members from across the world onto one Zoom call for a catch up and a Diwali-themed quiz.
As for the religious element, I will be doing my first ever pooja (prayer) ceremony at home in an attempt to manifest positivity for the next year. Although I do not explicitly identify with Hinduism, I still find solace in expressing my spirituality through the rituals I grew up with.
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In the true spirit of Diwali, I will celebrate the victory of light over darkness by lighting my candles, helping the community where I can and watching the fireworks from my living room window. I look forward to going into this Diwali with an open mind, but I also can’t wait to celebrate it in all its glory with the ones I love for 2021.
Katrina Mirpuri is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter at @katrinamirpuri


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--5 Sweet And Savoury Comfort Food Recipes For A Cosy Lockdown

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Comfort food does well in a pandemic, when restaurants are closed and no one can go anywhere. Who would have guessed it? But here is the evidence.
Profits are booming at Premier Foods, the company behind such familiar brands as Bisto gravy, Ambrosia custard and Mr Kipling’s cakes. Premier says it has increased its UK customer base by a million in six months, the BBC reported.
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It makes sense. We could all do with a hug from the inside out right now. But instead of reaching for the gravy granules or custard powder, why not prep for a cosy night in or a long weekend lunch with some comforting recipes you can make yourself. It’s not like we don’t have time to cook right now.
Try an easy one-pot pumpkin and egg bake, a seafood chowder to warm the cockles, or some indulgent maple and pecan chocolate granola cookies. This is food to soothe the soul and beat off the blues during the cold winter months.
Pumpkin, tomato and egg one-pot bake
Serves: 2 | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 25 minutes
British Lion Eggs Pumpkin, Tomato and Egg One Pot Bake
Ingredients:
4 medium eggs
400g pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp olive oil
400g tin of cherry tomatoes
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
150g baby spinach
Small handful parsley, roughly chopped
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6.
2. Place the pumpkin into a microwavable bowl along with 2 tbsp water and the olive oil, ground cumin, and coriander. Cover with clingfilm and cook in the microwave on high for 10 minutes, until soft.
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3. Place a 20cm oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat and add the pumpkin, along with the cherry tomatoes and chickpeas. Bring to a simmer, then stir through the spinach.
4. Make 4 indents in the pan mixture and crack an egg into each one.
5. Place the skillet into the oven for around 10 minutes, or until the whites are set. Remove from the oven, season the eggs with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the parsley.
Recipe from: British Lion eggs
Seafood Chowder
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
Jason's Sourdough Seafood chowder
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 onion
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml fish stock (or chick or vegetable)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
150ml milk
450g salmon, diced
220g smoked haddock, diced
200ml double cream
250g winkles, cooked
50g rainbow chard, chopped
Fresh parsley, to garnish
Method:
1. Heat the butter in a soup pot and gently cook the onion and carrot, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes, until it softens.
2. Sprinkle over the flour and cook for a further minute, stirring constantly.
3. Add the fish stock and potatoes. Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
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4. Add the milk, salmon and haddock and cook a further 10 minutes until the fish is cooked.
5. Add the double cream and rainbow chard and heat through until the chard has wilted.
5. Serve with the winkles, fresh parsley, and buttered sourdough bread.
Recipe from Elizabeth Atia in partnership with Jason’s Sourdough
All-day one-pan breakfast
Serves: 1 | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes
British Lion eggs All day one pan breakfast
Ingredients:
2 medium eggs
15g unsalted butter
150g chestnut mushrooms, halved
100g cherry tomatoes, on the vine
75g baked beans
Small handful of rocket
1 slice brown sourdough, toasted to serve
Method:
1. Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once melted, add the mushrooms and cook for 7-10 minutes, until soft.
2. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, until soft. Add the beans to the pan and heat up.
3. Crack in the eggs and fry for 3 minutes, or to your liking.
4. Remove the pan from the heat, season, and scatter over a handful of rocket. Enjoy immediately with the toasted sourdough.
Recipe from: British Lion eggs
Maple and Pecan Chocolate Granola Cookie
Makes: 15 | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 10-12 mins
Lizi's Maple and Pecan Chocolate Granola Cookies
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Ingredients:
110g unsalted butter
100g soft light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten
150g plain flour
150g maple and pecan granola
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
100g milk or dark chocolate chips
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C/gas mark 5 and line two flat baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, place the butter, sugar, maple syrup. Cream together with a wooden spoon.
3. Add in the egg and beat well to combine.
4. Add in the granola, flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Gently mix together.
5. Add in the chocolate chips and mix further.
6. Place the mixing bowl into the fridge to rest for around an hour.
7. Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough into equally sized balls (around the size of a large walnut) and roll in your hands to shape.
8. Push each ball into the handful of granola and place onto the lined baking tray granola side up. Make sure these are well spaced on the tray as they will spread when baking.
9. Place the tray of cookies into the fridge to chill for five minutes. Take out the fridge and place it in the middle of the preheated oven to bake for around 10-12 minutes.
10. Once cooked, remove the tray from the oven and leave the cookies to cool down on the tray for around an hour before moving them.
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Recipe from Lizi’s Granola
Kiwi and Pear Crumble
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 40-45 mins
Sezpri Sungold Kiwi Sezpri Sungold Kiwi and Pear Crumble
Ingredients:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Dominic Cummings Is Gone. But What Does His Reign Tell Us About Boris Johnson?

“Well, it’s Friday the 13th, so it’s a fitting end to the horror show.” One Tory MP’s verdict on seeing Dominic Cummings exit Downing Street, cardboard box in his arms, was typical of many in the parliamentary party. The loathing was famously mutual, with the PM’s chief adviser rarely concealing his contempt for backbenchers or ministers he felt were second rate or plain fools.
After an extraordinary few days in which No.10 convulsed into the in-fighting worthy of a Tudor court, just as the real world was reeling from mounting death toll in the Covid second wave, the prime minister himself has finally been persuaded to rid himself of his troublesome high priest of the Brexit faith.
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In a bid to steady the ship, another senior aide Eddie Lister was appointed as interim chief of staff, pending the post being filled permanently. The episode follows months of perceived drift at the heart of government, laced with a string of U-turns and blunders on everything from A-levels to free school meals.
But while the overwhelming mood among many Conservative MPs was variously jubilation or sheer relief, for Boris Johnson the Cummings era and the manner of its ending raise some worrying questions about his own leadership. Or, for his critics, the lack of it.
Just as with Donald Trump there’s always a tweet, with Cummings there’s always a blog from which to pluck delicious ironies. In an article penned last January, which was used as dubious cover for his resignation this Christmas, he admitted just why his boss needed to get someone else at their side.
“At the moment I have to make decisions well outside...my ‘circle of competence’ and we do not have the sort of expertise supporting the PM and ministers that is needed. This must change fast so we can properly serve the public,” he wrote. As coronavirus subsequently hit the UK harder than any other European country, the following months saw repeated accusations of incompetence, against both Cummings and his boss.
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For more than a year, well before the last general election, some have been urging Johnson to appoint a traditional chief of staff who could ensure the daily running of government. For more than a year, Johnson failed to engage with the issue. The job was never filled and in the vacuum Cummings carved out a centralising role for himself while pursuing pet projects.
One senior backbencher said: “You need someone who’s going to get up at 5am, go to bed at midnight, and during dinner go and sort out the big speech, but all the time thinking of how they help the PM, not their own agenda. It can be a miserable but essential job. Cummings was never going to do that.”
A former minister summed up Cummings’ unsuitability for both their party and for the role of running Number 10. “He’s not Rasputin. Rasputin was actually quite conservative. No, he’s Trotsky, always after the permanent revolution,” they said.
Some think that the difficulty stemmed from the shortage of people whom Johnson felt he could both trust and respect. “You need to know the boss’s mind so well that you can say ‘there’s no need to wake him up, it’s 2am, I know this is what he wants’,” one MP says. “The problem is that because he’s such a private person, there are very few people that close to him.”
Others felt that the main issue with the lack of direction was the PM’s lifelong habit of just putting off to tomorrow any difficult problem he has today. Add his lack of a strategic vision or plan and the consequences were always going to play out, ex-ministers and advisers suggest.
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Despite chatter that former chancellor Sajid Javid may be lined up to fill the chief of staff role, many inside and outside government believe an experienced fixer is the real priority.
Prime minister Boris Johnson's top aide Dominic Cummings leaves 10 Downing Street. PA
“The job shouldn’t be about relations with the parliamentary party, that’s what the political secretary in No.10 is for, it’s what the Chief [Whip] and the PPSs [parliamentary private secretaries to the PM] are for,” one former adviser says. “The job should be about grip, being on top of stuff and actually being able to just be able to manage a team. For all Boris Johnson’s numerous qualities, grip isn’t one of them.”
One former insider says that Johnson also has to allow himself to be “managed”. “It sounds odd especially if you are the PM, but politicians need someone to manage them and the best ones let someone they trust do just that.
“Lots of secretaries of state have a paranoia they’re making the wrong decisions, and the PM is worse at that than anyone. In every meeting he’ll make a decision and then afterwards he will ask was that the right decision?
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“Actually sometimes you need a chief of staff who is the person who says ‘yes, that’s the right thing, now let’s go and bloody do it’. And they keep them on the right train track. It can be a beneficial thing, especially when he is not quite sure what he wants himself.”
Andrew Gimson, who wrote the biography ‘Boris: The Making of the Prime Minister’, says that Cummings’ perceived dominance and his boss’s loyalty to him were down to Johnson’s freewheeling approach to government.
“Boris has a much higher tolerance of risk than most people, including most politicians. He sometimes likes to let things run with a kind of belief that they will somehow work themselves out,” he says.
“Most of us in order to get a grip on some alarming situation would think ’Christ we’ve got to have a plan, we’ve got to get everyone knowing what they got to do in an organisation, you must have a chief of staff’.
“Johnson I think actually likes a much more fluid situation where he has lots of gifted people around him and a lot of confusion, while he’s still the centre of attention. This would horrify a certain kind of solemn person but he realises the value of putting on a sort of spectacle, of dramatising things and this drama has played itself out.
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“I think he does appreciate loyalty, and he hates losing people who he feels are loyal to him. And in some ways he always likes it if the decision is taken out of his hands, and is made by the pressure of the events rather than by him having to say ‘sorry my old friend, you’re no longer the right person’.”
But in the middle of a global pandemic, the tolerance of risk takes on a whole new meaning. One former adviser recalls how Lee Cain, the PM’s communications chief, was effectively left running the country as the PM and key aides went down with Covid and had to self-isolate or go into hospital.
“In April, there was a period where he was the only person left. The PM was off, Dom was off, Matt [Hancock] was off, [Mark] Sedwill [Cabinet secretary] was off. I remember coming back into that building and there was a sense of like, where are all the grown ups? In lots of meetings Lee was basically the one that was sort of driving stuff and actually pushing decisions and saying the PM is going to want this or that. That’s when you wanted a chief of staff.”
Dominic Cummings (left) alongside director of communications Lee Cain. Both are leaving their posts. PA
One quality that Cain possessed was sheer proximity to Johnson, having been at his side for four years at the foreign office, in his backbencher days and in No.10. But Cain lacked the deeper experience of government that critics say was required, while suffering from the overly combative habits of his other boss, Cummings.
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For Guto Harri, who served as Johnson’s communications chief in his first term in London’s City Hall, the real problem stemmed from his reliance on Cummings as his ‘Brexit conscience’ from the Vote Leave 2016 campaign days. In more ways than one, his chief adviser became his ‘aide memoire’.
“I suspect that Boris was a little worried that if he didn’t have Dom Cummings there, he might have allowed Brexit to slip. He realised he had to get Brexit done – no doubt about that – but in the pecking order of priorities in government Brexit might have started to slip,” Harri says.
“And the best way of making sure that he didn’t was to hire someone with the sort of zeal of Oliver Cromwell for that particular myopic passion and keep him by his side every day just to say ‘don’t forget Brexit, Brexit’.”
Johnson’s style of politics was also to delegate as much as possible, but that too had dangers when those to whom power was delegated were not right for the job, Harri adds.
“Every prime minister relies on others. You have to. The problem here is that he caved in very early to ridiculous demands by Dominic and allowed him to bring all his own people in. So instead of having a few counterweights to Dom he had a bunch of groupies, including Lee Cain.
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“Delegating is healthy, nothing wrong with that. But Boris has an aversion to confrontation – not because he wants an easy life, or because he’s lazy – he’s not. But he is sometimes reluctant to have difficult conservations and face people down.
“Instead of saying ‘I’m sorry mate, I love you like your brother and we will always have the referendum but you know it’s time to go’. He instead just says, ‘I’ll tell you what, why don’t I make you chief of staff, you’ll still be with me’. Which sadly shows that he underestimated how badly he needed a real chief of staff.”
Another of those who worked with Johnson in City Hall recounts how “we just assembled a team and we organised everything”. “We would say ‘Boris we need you on Tuesday morning to cut the ribbon on this thing’. And he did it.”
Harri says that in the London mayoral days, the Johnson reign worked because others put in place the building blocks of government. His mayoralty was a mess for the first few months until the late Sir Simon Milton was installed as his chief of staff and other executives were given more licence to grip.
“He’s always underestimated the importance of structure or how to organise the machine properly. I think that’s basically because he’s a big picture man, a ‘wood from the trees’ man, trained to ask ‘what is the moral of the story?’ that he underestimates how relevant the small detail can be. It’s not that he can’t do detail, by God he can when he puts his mind to it, but he tends to be bored by it unless it really matters.”
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Sonia Purnell, author of ‘Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition’, is much less forgiving of Johnson’s weaknesses.
Purnell recounts in her book how a departing civil servant in City Hall took Johnson to Joe Allen’s restaurant in Covent Garden early in his tenure. “They told him ‘get a grip, start being mayor’. Because he finds the kind of nitty gritty of government really boring. It’s all about the winning. It’s not about the doing.”
Purnell, who worked with Johnson on the Daily Telegraph in Brussels, says: “When I worked with him all those years ago, I realised that this was not a kind of normal person, with normal feelings of empathy. It’s like there’s something wrong with the wiring. Really, other people don’t interest him very much. Unless they are women that he wants to get into bed.”
Boris Johnson alongside chancellor Rishi Sunak during a visit to the Tesco Erith distribution centre in south east London. PA
She adds: “No-one would find this fun being prime minister right now and I think he’s totally freaked out. He doesn’t know how to deal with this. He’s just not got the skill set. I’ve known him all these years. And I can see that face. He’s terrified.
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“The weird thing about him as prime minister, as foreign secretary and as mayor is that he has no ideas. He doesn’t really have any plans of what to do with power. There’s no Johnsonism. There’s no creed, there’s no set of convictions. He’s a brilliant wordsmith and his greatest genius is PR, but there really isn’t much else.”
Someone who has known Johnson since his university days points out that the PM and his chief adviser were at odds over a string of issues before the pandemic, from HS2 to Huawei. “He allowed Cummings to get away with just not toeing the party line. That is part of his reluctance to rein people in, that is part of his liberalism, allow people to be who they are, unless you really have to stop them.”
One former special adviser says that Johnson’s loyalty to Cummings, and his unwillingness to reprimand him over his Barnard Castle trip, was the point at which their whole relationship became unhealthily unequal.
“When Boris was in hospital with Covid, he was in a position where the entire nation had an emotional connection with him, because he was one of the only people most of us knew who almost died. And most people did feel a sense of relief when he came out.
“And that could have been a Churchillian moment where he could have been like the physical manifestation of our kind of national response to Covid. But all that capital was burnt within a couple of weeks because of Barnard Castle stuff. That moment was the hinge on which the benefit of the doubt was withdrawn by the public.”
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Some aides are split on just how much Johnson was unaware of his adviser’s machinations and whether he actually deliberately used him as a lightning rod for tricky decisions. Withdrawing the whip from Tory MPs like Philip Hammond and David Gauke in 2019 was in fact a Johnson call, but it served his purposes to let people believe Cummings drove it.
But over several months, Johnson’s patience with his chief adviser has grown steadily thinner, insiders say. While the PM’s priority was Covid testing, Cummings had picked up on focus groups’ strong backing for a travel quarantine policy from overseas. But the first Johnson knew of the plan was when he was told of a Times front page story about it.
“There was this running joke at the time that Number 10 squared off a whole lot of cabinet ministers about it, but they hadn’t squared off the PM about it,” one ex-aide says. “They briefed it without running it by the PM first. The PM was on a call with Macron but was unsighted on this policy and it was, well, awkward.”
Boris Johnson during a visit to Northamptonshire Police headquarters in Northampton. PA
One telling moment came in September when Johnson was on a visit to a police station in Northamptonshire, while back in parliament Rishi Sunak was delivering a surprise statement on the Job Support Scheme replacement for furlough. Johnson had not been told by Cummings of the Commons statement, one insider says.
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“His instincts were I should be there a) because it’s my government b) to back my chancellor and c) what the fuck am I doing with police officers when we’re announcing a major economic initiative? That was the moment where he realised that Dom was a major liability to him, not just somebody who pissed off others.”
In the past fortnight, Johnson was most furious about the leak of his second national lockdown plan, seen by some as part of the splits and infighting between the Vote Leave faction and others in No,10.
One aide adds: “Over time, it didn’t often feel like he was getting full frank objective advice in his own interest, it felt he was sort of being gaslighted a bit and spun by his own team. And the scales have slightly come from his eyes because of some of the stuff around the leaking lockdown and so many things recently and the sort of bouncing your own boss into things via the media.”
Others, including former ministers, believe that the decision to finally deal with Cummings was yet another late U-turn dragged out of the PM like all the others this year: having incurred months of pain for standing firm, the upsides are diminished when it finally happens.
One MP says: “The daily diligence of delivery is not his natural style, so he ignores, ignores and ignores something until it blows up and then he’ll be like ‘right, okay we’ve got to sort this out’. Whereas most of us sort of manage our desks each day so that it never blows up, but he lurches from sort of divorce to divorce, from crisis to crisis.”
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Another factor driving Johnson’s need to up his game is that for the first time in his life he is facing a much more effective political opponent in the shape of Keir Starmer. Whereas he was up against leftwingers Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn in his previous elections, Starmer is a more formidable enemy, several MPs confided. The Labour leader has already rattled him in the Commons with his PMQs performances and with his call for a circuit breaker lockdown.
“He’s a competitive guy, an ambitious guy,” one former insider said. “He will want to sort of try and get his mojo back and luckily enough he’s very good at reinventing himself, and he does have an opportunity to do that now if he takes the time and listens to some people who have got his interests at heart. He does have an opportunity now to at least reshape things and have a sort of reset and a sort of 2.0 period.”
With partner Carrie Symonds and new TV press secretary Allegra Stratton appearing to have won the battle for the PM’s ear over the Cummings and Cain row, there is talk that the new chief of staff will be another strong woman, such as former legislative affairs chief Nikki da Costa.
Andrew Gimson points out: “I think he’s always had strong women to help him out. Ann Sindall his PA at the Spectator. She was his sort of gatekeeper, and was tremendously good at getting him to do various things he didn’t want to do, which had to be done. So maybe a woman chief of staff would be a good idea.”
One former minister sums up the mood of many colleagues who saw news of Cummings’ departure as possibly the end of a long period of gloom.
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“When he got into government this time last year Boris should have sat down and said ‘God, I’ve really gone and done it now. Okay, Number 10 is a different thing from anything I’ve done’. And he didn’t. He sort of went ‘Dom, fantastic, could you sort it out?’.
“Today is what should have been happening a year ago. Quite a lot of damage has been done in the year, but weirdly Covid means he is a lucky general because it actually allows him to again reinvent himself.
“If I was advising him I’d say ’Boris you can get away with this, you know, you can pop up in January and say that was a bloody awful year, I’m not gonna lie, folks, but the good news is we’ve done Brexit, we’ve got Covid vaccines on the way and Dom’s gone, the Wicked Witch of the North is gone. And I’m Bob the Builder, and we’re going to rebuild. He totally could do it.”
Sonia Purnell has a very different take, however. “He’s got this obsession with what he calls ‘the blessed sponge of amnesia’. He always thinks, and this is how he’s got away with it, that people forget.
“This whole idea of ‘oh we need to get the old Boris, the real Boris back’. But you’re seeing the real Boris, this is him. Finally there is a sort of spotlight on just what he’s like and how good he is. It’s not about Cummings, it’s about him.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--5,000 Extra Deaths From Heart Disease Recorded Since Start Of Pandemic

Almost 5,000 more people have died from heart problems than would be expected since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has warned.
The leading charity said there were 4,622 “excess deaths” from heart and circulatory diseases from the start of the pandemic to mid-October.
Amid the startling figures and the continuation of the second wave of Covid-19, the BHF has urged people to not put off seeking care.
It has previously called for action after noticing that hundreds of relatively younger adults have also been dying in higher numbers than expected for heart problems.
The charity calculated that in the under-65s alone there has been more than 800 additional deaths.
It said that a number of factors could be behind the excess deaths including:
People putting off seeking care for fear of “putting pressure” on the NHS
Patients who delay seeking care for worrying symptoms for fear of contracting Covid-19 in health settings
Delays to surgeries and routine heart care
The BHF has said that in late March the number of people attending A&E with a suspected heart attack dropped by 50% – but says numbers have since improved.
The charity reminded people that during the second national lockdown in England “the NHS is open for you”.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, told the PA news agency: “We know that patients with heart and circulatory disease have been dying from it in numbers in excess of what we would expect since the beginning of the pandemic.
“And this is on top of also being at an increased risk of severe Covid-19 resulting in deaths.
“From the onset of the pandemic to October 16 there had been 4,622 excess deaths in England.
“I feel every death is a tragedy, no matter how old you are and what your circumstance, whether it’s from Covid-19 or not.
“Equally, going forward, we must learn lessons from this pandemic and it seems that it’s very important that we do maintain access to cardiovascular care despite the winter surge and coronavirus resurgence so that we can, wherever possible, reduce these excess deaths.”
Dr Babu-Narayan cited a YouGov poll which found that among patients who had noticed a worsening of their health conditions, 56% didn’t seek help for it because they did not want to put pressure on the health service.
Dr Babu-Narayan, who is also a consultant cardiologist, told the news agency: “I wouldn’t want people to be so worried about protecting the NHS that the patient doesn’t get protection themselves.
“If you have a heart condition remember the NHS is open for you. And it’s here to protect you, rather than you having to worry about protecting it.”
She continued: “The NHS is ready for you if you have an emergency or life threatening illness.
“So if you think you’re having a heart attack or you think you could be having a stroke – it’s vital that you still call 999 and go to the hospital. Every minute matters in terms of saving your life and avoiding disability from those conditions.”
Dr Nick Linker, national clinical director for heart disease for the NHS in England, said: “The NHS continued to offer treatment for urgent and routine heart problems throughout the pandemic and the number of people seeking emergency care quickly rebounded during the first wave, after some people had initial concerns about coming forward for care.
“Going into the second wave, hospitals are continuing to redesign services so that care can go ahead safely, and our message remains the same: if you have symptoms, help us help you by coming forward so we can get you the care you need.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Protesters Clash With Police At Bristol Anti-Lockdown Demonstration

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Protesters clashed with police on Saturday as hundreds marched though Bristol to oppose England’s second lockdown and ongoing Covid restrictions.
Despite orders from police to cancel the protest, Stand Up Bristol pressed ahead with the event with a large crowd gathering in the city centre at noon.
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At the time of writing, Avon and Somerset Constabulary had arrested 14 throughout the course of the afternoon, writing on Twitter: “We recognise the right to freedom of expression but protests aren’t currently allowed.
Police form a circle after they arrest a man during the anti-lockdown protest. Matthew Horwood via Getty Images
“Covid-19 is deadly and the restrictions are in place to prevent its spread.
“We continue to urge people to go home.”
BBC News reported that at least one of the arrests was due to an individual assaulting the police, and Bristol Live reported that Piers Corbyn, brother of the former Labour leader, was spoken to by police and may have been arrested.
A small number of protesters were seen throwing bottles at officers, with chants of “shame on you” heard as arrests were made.
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Protestors hold signs as they march through the city. Matthew Horwood via Getty Images
In previous lockdowns the right to protest has been protected, with Black Lives Matter protests and other anti-lockdown demonstrations taking place over the summer, but under England’s current rules protests of more than two people are forbidden.
Ahead of the protest chief inspector Mark Runacres said: “We fully recognise the important right to freedom of expression and right to assemble but there is a deadly virus which has killed more than 50,000 people in the UK which simply cannot be ignored.
Several hundred protesters are estimated to have attended. Finnbarr Webster via Getty Images
“The government has passed legislation for a reason which is to prevent further loss of life and we have a legal and moral duty to uphold these laws.”
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He added: “We will not stand by and allow a small minority to endanger the health of the vast majority who have sacrificed so much to protect others.”
Protesters hold placards on College Green during the protest. Finnbarr Webster via Getty Images
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees also commented prior to the demonstration, adding: “Everyone should be following the current public health advice in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic while adhering to the current rules in place around lockdown.
“While lockdown is a difficult period for everyone, the guidance and rules are in place for a good reason, to continue to protect public health and we would urge those considering protests to find other safer ways to make their voices heard.”
Large crowds gathered illegally on Saturday afternoon in defiance of police orders. Finnbarr Webster via Getty Images


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-14--Second Trump Term Is The Operating 'Assumption' In The White House, Says President's Adviser

The operating “assumption” at the White House is that Donald Trump is heading into his second term, his trade adviser Peter Navarro said Friday, despite all the facts to the contrary.
Clearly others in the administration agree, including secretary of state Mike Pompeo and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who said she expects Trump to attend “his own inauguration” in January.
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“We are moving forward here at the White House under the assumption that there will be a second Trump term,” Navarro said on Fox Business.
Trump has refused to concede the race that has been declared for president-elect Joe Biden, and is challenging the results in court, with no success to date.
Navarro revealed the working assumption while responding to a question about what trade actions Biden might take as president.
“Our assumption is a second Trump term,” Navarro repeated. “Any speculation about what Joe Biden might do” in office “is moot at this point,” he added.
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“We think he won that election,” said Navarro.
Navarro has long unabashedly supported Trump in public, often blurring the lines between his official White House job and his role as a Trump campaign surrogate — even though plugging the president’s reelection on the taxpayers’ dime is a violation of the Hatch Act.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-15--The Government Is Ending Its Boycott Of Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan Announces

Piers Morgan, co-host of GMB KGC-404/STAR MAX/IPx
Boris Johnson has ended his ministers’ 201-day boycott of ITV’s Good Morning Britain, presenter Piers Morgan has revealed.
The PM’s top team has been banned from appearing on the show since March but health secretary Matt Hancock will appear on the show on Monday.
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Downing Street had clashed with the show’s producers over an incident during the 2019 general election campaign, when Johnson famously hid in a fridge to avoid an interview with Morgan.
The boycott was thought to have been driven by the PM’s outgoing adviser Dominic Cummings.
Cummings and communications director Lee Cain were both asked to leave Downing Street on Friday after allegedly briefing against the PM and his partner Carrie Symonds.
Morgan, who is known for his confrontational style and has repeatedly spoken out about the ban, tweeted on Sunday he “just had a call from Downing Street”.
BREAKING: Just had a call from Downing Street. The 201-day Government boycott of @GMB is over & Health Secretary @MattHancock will be appearing on the show tomorrow morning... pic.twitter.com/zDLWi0LkFp — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 15, 2020
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It is not yet known if government ministers will appear on BBC Two’s Newsnight or Channel 4 News, which have also been boycotted by Johnson’s Cabinet in recent month.
The decision to appear on GMB follows an embarrassing episode for the government, in which Hancock was pursued by ITV journalist Nick Dixon.
The move is a clear sign Johnson is keen to reset his premiership and is drawing a line under an era heavily influenced by the two Brexiteers.
The two men were asked to leave after the PM concluded they were briefing journalists about Symonds and Allegra Stratton, who will soon be the face of new US-style question-and-answer sessions with journalists.
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The PM is set to meet with Tory MPs this week to reassure them, following days of turmoil.
The Sunday Times reported Johnson will “attempt to get his premiership back on track” by establishing a policy board that will appeal to northern working class voters who helped Johnson win last year’s general election.
The paper said the group will be chaired by MP Neil O’Brien, who helped former chancellor George Osborne devise the Northern Powerhouse, and added Johnson will meet the Northern Research Group of MPs on Monday to listen to their concerns.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leave 10 Downing Street London PA
Charles Walker, vice chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, said the PM must “get the hires right”.
He told Times Radio on Sunday that Johnson needed “a chief of staff and two or three other people” as there was “a big job to be done at this time”.
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Adding MPs had felt sidelined, he said: “But it’s just a feeling that there are people at Number 10 who are interested in what we think and want to relay what we think back to the Prime Minister who can’t always be in the tea room and around. We accept that. But, you know, Members of Parliament are not all idiots. I know we can be caricatured as idiots and that sells newspapers but we’re not. We’re deeply in touch with our constituencies.
Former parliament advisor Dominic Cummings walks outside his north London home after he resigned from his role on Friday, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Environment secretary George Eustice was asked about Cummings’ exit on Sky News on Sunday.
He told presenter Sophy Ridge that the former Vote Leave chief “tends to apply himself in short bursts”.
Eustice added that a new set of advisers, including the role of chief of staff, which is currently being filled temporarily by his long-standing ally Ed Lister, will be filled by the new year.
He said: “I’ve known Dominic Cummings myself for many years. He’s got many great strengths and one of them is winning campaigns.
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“And he tends to apply himself in short bursts, short tours of duty, on big strategic changes such as the 2016 referendum result, such as the 2019 general election.
“And he’s very talented at that. But it’s always the prime minister’s prerogative who will be their key advisors.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-15--Donald Trump Has Finally Admitted Joe Biden Won The US Presidential Election

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Donald Trump has for the first time has admitted Joe Biden won the US presidential election, but still insists it was “rigged”.
In a tweet posted on Sunday afternoon, the president wrote: “He won because the Election was Rigged.”
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He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more! https://t.co/Exb3C1mAPg — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020
While still a long way from officially conceding the race, it is a marked shift in tone from the president’s previous tweets over the last week which repeatedly insisted he had in fact won.
Trump lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote and none of his claims of widespread fraud during the election have been proven true.
Shortly after posting the tweet, Trump appeared to regret his choice of language, tweeting: “I concede NOTHING!”
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He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020
Since the election was called for Biden last weekend, Trump has made false claim after false claim about the result leading Twitter to mark an unprecedented number of his tweets as disinformation.
700,000 ballots were not allowed to be viewed in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh which means, based on our great Constitution, we win the State of Pennsylvania! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2020
The president has attacked a number of aspects of how the election was conducted but as yet neither he or his team have provided any evidence to back up the claims.
On Saturday Trump urged Washington DC police not to “hold back” in cracking down on “antifa scum” in a shockingly violent tweet after protests in the US capital.
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Trump was reacting to street confrontations that erupted Saturday night between leftover members of a march earlier in the day protesting his loss in the presidential election, and counter-protesters.
At least 20 people were arrested throughout the day, including four on gun charges, The Washington Post reported.
Two police officers were injured, and a man in his 20s was in critical condition after he was stabbed in the back.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-15--The I'm A Celebrity Campmates' Arrival At The Castle Looks Suitably Terrifying

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While I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! may have a new setting this year, a first look at the new series proves that it’s going to be just as terrifying.
The first episode of the ITV reality show, which kicks off from Gwrych Castle in Wales on Sunday night, will see the campmates abseil off a cliff and complete a challenge involving cockroaches and crickets.
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The stars are split into two groups as they are introduced to each other – with TV presenter Vernon Kay, EastEnders star Jessica Plummer, Radio 1 DJ Jordan North, podcaster Giovanna Fletcher and journalist Victoria Derbyshire being taken to the top of a rockface.
Ant and Dec host the first trial, which is called Gates to Hell Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock
They are then paired up in the abseil challenge, which will determine who will receive their rucksacks and who will not.
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Any celebrity who fails to free the padlocked bags will not have kit for the first night.
The campmates have to take part in an abseil challenge to earn their kit bag Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock
After the challenge, the celebrities will then be taken to Gwrych Castle, where this series is being filmed instead of the usual location in the Australian jungle due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They then have to take part in a challenge to earn food for the camp, hosted by Ant and Dec.
The campmates arrive in the castle ITV/Shutterstock
They are locked into ten cages and must work as a team to pass ten stars from one side to the other using their hands and magnets.
However, in true I’m A Celebrity fashion, they will be joined by a host of creepies as they complete the challenge.
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Vernon Kay is covered with cockroaches in one of the challenges ITV/Shutterstock
Beverley Callard taking part in the first Bushtucker Trial Kieron McCarron/ITV/Shutterstock
I’m A Celebrity kicks off tonight at 9pm on ITV.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-15--Laws Needed To Combat Anti-Vaxxer 'Poison Garbage' Online, Says Labour

PA
New laws are needed to clampdown on the “poison garbage” of anti-vaccination fake news and disinformation online, Labour has said.
The party has taken aim at social media platforms for failing to tackle the spread of “nonsensical” conspiracy theories amid the Covid-19 pandemic and has urged the government to bring forward legislation.
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Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the Online Harms Bill, promised by the government, should include new penalties that fail to regulate false content which could damage public health.
It comes amid fears the anti-vaxxer movement is gaining ground after the discovery of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which is set to be rolled out next year pending safety checks.
Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge show, Ashworth said disinformation was still rife online, adding the government must deal with “some of the dangerous, nonsensical anti-vax stuff that we’ve seen spreading on social media.”
He said: “I looked on my phone this morning and you can still find stuff on TikTok and so on.
“So we want to work with the government and find a way of stamping this out. I think it would involve financial penalties.”
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Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth says "asking questions about the vaccine is entirely legitimate", but adds there are "poison, garbage that is spread, conspiracy theories" on social media which are eroding trust#Ridge
Read more here 👉 https://t.co/RSHjSHLiip pic.twitter.com/Wop2URi4ri — Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 15, 2020
He said fewer people choosing to take the vaccine due to online misinformation was “the last thing we want”.
Some of the “poison garbage” conspiracy theories on social media suggested that the vaccine is being developed by “big global business people who want to use it to insert microchips into people”, he added.
Meanwhile, Ugur Sahin, chief executive of BioNTech, has been recalling the moment he was told of their vaccine’s effectiveness.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “As a scientist, you of course expect certain likelihood that the card could be positive based on the data that we had so far, but there is always unknown factors.
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“And it could be that there is a scientific, biological or medical reason why the vaccine does not work.
“We now know that our vaccine works, and most likely other vaccines will also work.
“So this is really a message which not only changes how we develop vaccines, but also increases the likelihood that we will be able to get this pandemic under control.”
He added it was “absolutely essential” to have a high vaccination rate before autumn next year.
“This winter will be hard. So we will not have a big impact on the infection numbers with our vaccine this winter,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.