thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--The 6 Meghan Markle Outfits We Got To See In 2020

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So much has happened this year that you may not remember the moment 400 years ago ― in March ― that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially stepped back from their royal duties and began life as private citizens.
Though they have maintained a public presence — signing a massive Netflix deal, advocating for causes close to their hearts, and sharing candid and at times heartbreaking looks into their real lives — 2020 gave us far fewer sightings of the now California-based couple.
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They made a couple of appearances in the early months of the year, a goodbye tour of sorts. And Markle turned it out for those appearances ― the blue dress that resulted in an iconic photo, a gorgeous red Safiyaa gown, and the big finale moment: an emerald green Emilia Wickstead ensemble with a fascinator in a matching hue.
Below, a short ― but sweet! ― list of Markle’s best looks of 2020.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--A Minute Of Kindness: The Bristol Couple Who Created A Gallery Outside Their Home

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A Minute Of Kindness: The Bristol Couple Who Created A Gallery Outside Their Home
Robin and Emma-Jane Richards show their love for Bristol and colour by creating a street side gallery outside of their home. With the artworks on display the couple are hoping to brighten up the road for passers-by too.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--Worzel Gummidge's Mackenzie Crook 'Really Sad' Barbara Windsor Won't See Her Character Reborn In Reb

Worzel Gummidge's Mackenzie Crook 'Really Sad' Barbara Windsor Won't See Her Character Reborn In Reboot

Mackenzie Crook is about to take another turn as classic character Worzel Gummidge in his self-written and self-directed reboot, but there will be one person on his mind when the tale of Saucy Nancy airs on Christmas Eve – the late Dame Barbara Windsor.
The former EastEnders and Carry On star, who died at the age of 83 earlier this month after six years of living with Alzheimer’s Disease, was also beloved for her turn as the foul-mouthed figurehead of a ruined ship in the late 1970s and early 80s TV series.
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With the character now being brought to life by Shirley Henderson in Mackenzie’s reimagining, the former star of The Office tells HuffPost UK that the timing of Barbara’s passing feels sobering.
“It’s really sad that she died so close to it,” says Mackenzie. “I never met Barbara and I didn’t know her, but she’s remembered quite fondly for that role, I didn’t realise. When I saw the obituaries it was quite often mentioned, it was quite high up the list.”
Would he have been in touch with Dame Barbara and her family when the show aired? “Yeah, quite possibly,” he says.
Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge with Barbara Windsor as Saucy Nancy in October 1980 Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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Mackenzie, who most famously starred as Gareth in The Office and Ragetti in Pirates of the Caribbean, received five-star reviews when he brought the original Barbara Euphan Todd novels from the 1930s into the modern day with two new episodes last year.
At its heart, Worzel Gummidge – about a scarecrow that comes to life – is a study in friendship. Shot on location around Britain, it’s also a gorgeous celebration of nature. “I’ve become really fond of him, I think he’s a nicer character even than Barbara wrote back in the thirties,” Mackenzie says.
“It’s a strange tone in the books and he’s quite a mean character to the kids and lets them get in trouble and take the blame – whereas my Worzel is kinder. It’s a very simple tale of misplaced kids who find a secret magical friend that leads them on adventures.”
Mackenzie Crook in full prosthetics as Worzel Gummidge BBC
Last year’s initial episodes attracted Michael Palin and Zoë Wanamaker to star in lead roles, with Michael later describing the series is “an oasis of calm” in an interview with the Press Association, and “different in tone from an awful lot that is on television.”
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This year the show has attracted an even bigger ensemble of acting talent: Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Blessed and the aforementioned Shirley Henderson all appear alongside Mackenzie as the central character.
Was it easy to get acting royalty Vanessa, four-times Oscar-nominated for Best Actress and twice for Best Supporting Actress (she won Best Supporting for Julia in 1978) to film on a blustery beach somewhere near Eastbourne? “Embarrassingly it was,” says Mackenzie.
“It was lovely that Michael Palin agreed to the first episode,” Mackenzie adds.
“Perhaps that made it easier to approach people like Shirley Henderson and Vanessa Redgrave and for them to take it seriously. I was proud to get those actors. Surprised and astounded that Vanessa would even read my script or know who I was you know – I still find that crazy.”
Vanessa plays Peg in the episode, an older seawoman who inhabits a shipwreck washed up on the beach that’s central to the plot line.
Shirley Henderson, left, as Saucy Nancy and Vanessa Redgrave, right, as a seawoman in Worzel Gummidge BBC
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Mackenzie remembers bemoaning the terrible British weather the day they filmed. “I was annoyed about the changing weather and she told me to embrace the weather - we were on the south coast that’s what the weather’s like so just accept it,” says Mackenzie. “She’s absolutely right, I think it does look beautiful, that change in the weather as we get to the coast.”
He adds: “She was so complimentary, it blew me away, but it was the writing, it comes down to the writing a lot of the time with actors. If you don’t like the writing you don’t do the job so I sent her the script, she read the script and she liked it.”
Vanessa’s turn feels folklorean, but Brian Blessed is there (as he often is) to provide the show’s biggest laughs with his booming voice. “Certainly with Brian, that was the gag. I was upfront with him about that,” reflects Mackenzie.
“It is a very diminutive scarecrow that used to be a giant and so we were looking for someone with a big voice and we went to the biggest voice. He said yes so that was great.”
Brian and Vanessa have history – they starred together in a film called The Trojan Women in 1971 but they didn’t cross paths on Worzel because “obviously they weren’t allowed to,” says Mackenzie of filming during a global pandemic.
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“She said, ’send him my love because we did a movie years ago,’ and so I mentioned that to Brian and he launched into an anecdote about that movie which turned into another anecdote and another. It’s just rolling anecdotes, one after the other, it’s amazing - and they’re all fascinating, all incredible, but you have to in the end say, ‘Brian, Brian, we have to get some work done.’”
But it’s Harry Potter and Bridget Jones star Shirley Henderson’s appearance as Saucy Nancy that’ll be the source of the most conversation when the show airs.
The cast of Worzel Gummidge in a scene filmed on location near to Eastbourne BBC
Potty-mouthed and a visual feat of both CGI and incredible make-up design, Nancy is a former ship’s figurehead. She buddies up with Worzel and the two young human lead characters Susan, played by India Brown, and John, played by Thierry Wickens, to go on an adventure to the coast.
“The swearing, the swear words, hopefully they’ll be amusing to adults and to kids,” laughs Mackenzie, who adds that the faux bad language “just sounds like funny things to say, to adults it’ll be funny they sound so close to recognisable swear words but they’re not, it’s gobbledygook.
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“That was a fun process, everyone should try writing a list of fake swear words, it’s a good afternoon’s work.”
Mackenzie now has his sight on another three Worzel specials, but there’s no-one on his wish list yet for Christmas 2021, when he’s hopeful the show will return.
I suggest the show is becoming something of an annual event for Christmas TV. “If it became some mini tradition that would be lovely,” admits Mackenzie.
“The fact that it’s summery and outdoorsy doesn’t really sound very Christmassy, but for some reason it fits nicely in the Christmas schedule. Perhaps it reminds people of the longer summer days or perhaps the magical realism in it lends itself to Christmas.”
Worzel Gummidge airs at 5.55pm on Christmas Eve on BBC One.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--Why Lateral Flow Tests Can Give False Negatives For Covid-19

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Lateral flow tests for Covid 19 have been rolled out across the UK in various settings – from cities to universities and care homes.
Now, the prime minister has suggested they could even be used to allow the return to nightclubs and theatres.
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At a press briefing on February 15, Boris Johnson hailed lateral flow tests as a possible “route forward” for reopening businesses that form “parts of the economy we couldn’t get open last year”.
“You are already seeing lots of businesses using the potential of rapid, on-the-day testing as well,” he said. “I think that, in combination with vaccination, will probably be the route forward.”
Promising results in 30 minutes without the need for a laboratory analysis, the tests are touted as a key way of identifying asymptomatic cases of coronavirus – which are thought to impact one in three people with Covid-19 – in the UK.
But they’ve also come under fire for their accuracy. Here’s what you need to know about them.
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What is a lateral flow test?
The PCR (polymerise chain reaction) swab tests used by the NHS – where a sample is sent off to a laboratory and returned within 48 hours – are currently only available for those who display symptoms of coronavirus.
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The lateral flow antigen test, also in use in the UK, is a type of molecular test that can detect an active infection – including in very infectious people and asymptomatic people.
These tests contain antibodies that bind to proteins on the surface of the virus if it is present in a sample. If someone has a positive result, this will show up on the test kit itself – a bit like a pregnancy test.
The main benefit is that lateral flow tests don’t need to be sent off to a laboratory to be analysed, with most results generated in under 30 minutes. They are also cheaper and therefore more suited to mass testing than PCR tests.
Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed that lateral flow tests can still detect the new Covid-19 ‘Kent’ variant, which is on the rise in the UK.
How reliable are they?
There appear to be a few different outcomes from initial trials of lateral flow testing. Health secretary Matt Hancock previously said the tests, produced by the US company Innova, identify around 70% of those who are infectious.
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His comments were based on research from Public Health England’s Porton Down laboratory and the University of Oxford which found such tests were most accurate when carried out by lab scientists (picking up 79% of positive cases).
When healthcare workers did the tests, the accuracy dropped to 73%. And when carried out by self-trained members of the public, this fell to 58%. Real world data suggests that this figure is probably even lower.
Pilot data from Liverpool, which trialled the lateral flow tests on a city-wide basis, revealed they detected 48.89% of Covid-19 infections in asymptomatic people when compared with a PCR swab test that was sent off to a lab. These results were published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).
Dr Alexander Edwards, associate professor in biomedical technology at the University of Reading, previously said that these tests are best at detecting “really abundant targets” – in other words where there is a high viral load or people are very infectious.
“When the level of virus is lower – which can often happen with swabs – they aren’t as effective,” he said. Because they are portable and rapid, lateral flow tests are suited to community testing. But this ease is offset by a risk, he pointed out, which is that the people operating the tests will be less experienced at diagnostic testing than technical staff in an approved laboratory.
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Researchers from the University of Oxford, working with Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace, recently used Test and Trace data to determine if lateral flow tests would be sufficient in detecting those who are most infectious.
Using information from more than 250,000 people, the scientists found that in all groups, the more virus detected in the nose and throat (known as ‘viral load’), the more infectious the individual is. This partly explains why some people pass Covid-19 on and others do not.
The researchers said lateral flow tests could be a good solution to ensuring those who are highly infectious are able to know they need to isolate more quickly and could allow an easing of lockdown restrictions. They would also allow more people to be tested, yielding immediate results.
In the study, 18,291 contacts were found to test positive for Covid-19, via a PCR test, between two and seven days after the index case’s PCR test (aka a person with Covid-19 who they’d been in contact with).
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Researchers estimated the most sensitive lateral flow devices would detect 90.5% of cases with Covid-19 positive contacts, while even the least effective tests would detect 83.7% of cases. They based these estimates on accuracy data of lateral flow tests from previous studies.
Professor Tim Peto, of the University of Oxford and senior author on the government-funded study, said: “Lateral flow tests have been very popular with staff at our hospitals in Oxford, with over 60,000 tests done since November. We’ve been able to detect asymptomatic infected staff who would not have been otherwise diagnosed, protecting patients and staff.”
Why are they a cause for concern?
In December it was announced lateral flow tests were being issued to Care Quality Commission registered care homes for the purpose of testing visitors. But some care homes refused to use the tests because of concerns over accuracy and safety, the Independent reported. The worry being that people who had asymptomatic Covid could be given a false negative result – where they have Covid, but the test doesn’t pick it up – and allowed into care homes. At the time the government said it’s impossible to eliminate risk entirely with lateral flow tests, but added, in a blog, that it’s “important to achieve the right balance between the increased risk of infection transmission and the clear benefits to the mental and physical health of residents and their families which visiting enables.” The tests have also been trialled in university settings. However Professor Jon Deeks, of the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham, claimed in December that it hadn’t gone well, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Covid cases were missed “because of its poor performance”.
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Prof Deeks said 7,189 students at the university were tested between December 2-9 – students self-swabbed and lateral flow tests were performed by testing team members. In total, two people tested positive for Covid-19, which Prof Deeks said was in line with low rates from other universities – and these positive results were also confirmed via a PCR test.
But when researchers randomly sampled roughly 10% of those who tested negative with the lateral flow test, and retested their samples with PCR tests, they unearthed six false negative cases. “We thus estimate that we found two cases and will have missed 60 (because we only double tested 10%),” he said.
More recently, a blog published in The BMJ by Prof Deeks and colleagues called for the government to rethink the rollout of the tests, saying extending the programme could cause “serious harm”.
A separate group of scientists have since come back and challenged this view, arguing that the tests are “efficient, accurate and easy to use at scale”.
Professor Iain Buchan, chair of Public Health and Clinical Informatics at the University of Liverpool, said the devices enable testing for infectiousness quickly, as well as picking up more asymptomatic individuals. The quick turnaround of results allows them to isolate at least a day sooner than they would if they took a PCR test, he added. The scientists said lateral flow tests are now widely used in the UK, with more than 2 million kits producing results and more than 27,000 infected individuals being identified up to January 6. “The rapid self-isolation of many of these individuals will have broken chains of transmission of the virus in ways that could not be achieved with PCR tests,” they said. The tests should be used as an additional risk measure to compliment PCR testing, they added. What does this mean for schools? There were plans for schools to test pupils daily with the lateral flow tests, however these have been halted, Sky News reports. The original plan was for students to be tested daily for a week if they’d come into contact with a positive case – with a stipulation they wouldn’t need to self-isolate. But Sky reported in January that PHE and NHS Test and Trace had recommended the programme be paused because the “balance between the risks” for daily testing is unclear. The government accepted the recommendation, but said it will continue to trial it in a small number of secondary schools and colleges. The tests will still be used to detect asymptomatic cases when schools reopen – with students and staff tested twice a week. Scientists are worried about more false negatives occurring in schools. Previously asked by the BBC what would happen if the tests were used in schools, Prof Deeks said: “Well, we’ll be allowing teachers and students to stay in school who had Covid; we’d be missing people who’ve got Covid.”
monkeybusinessimages via Getty Images
He added: “Anything like this where we’re taking a new unknown test which has very little data as to how it works anywhere, it must be evaluated in its intended use setting before it’s rolled out across the country.”
Prof Deeks admitted the test might possibly work better in schools, “but the data are emerging that this test isn’t working well anywhere in asymptomatic people”.
“It’s an imperfect test and when you have an imperfect test you have to use it so carefully to make sure you don’t mislead people and there’s a big risk this test is going to give a lot of false reassurance which inevitably will lead to more Covid disease,” he said.
Dr Edwards said it’s hard enough for schools to teach in the current environment and that “we shouldn’t be expecting them to set up diagnostic testing services on top, without being sure that the tests used are accurate enough”.
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“We are stuck with an urgent need to spot cases in the community to reduce spread, but still without a perfect tool for mass testing,” he said.
Lateral flow tests have potential, he added, and – based on PHE trials – may be the best compromise, “but new data suggests either the product accuracy has dropped or that wider roll-out has revealed it’s harder to use than anticipated.”
What does the government say?
The Department of Health and Social Care told HuffPost UK in December that scientists had evaluated the lateral flow test and confirmed its accuracy. The government will continue pilots to understand how these tests may be used to help stop the spread of the virus.
“Latest figures for similar settings showing sensitivity of 57.5% generally and 84.3% in people with high viral loads,” said a DHSC spokesperson at the time. “This means they are accurate, reliable and successfully identify those with Covid-19 who don’t show symptoms and could pass on the virus without realising.
“With up to a third of individuals with Covid-19 not displaying symptoms, broadening testing to identify those showing no symptoms will mean finding positive cases more quickly and break chains of transmission.”
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What do other experts think?
The consensus appears to be that a lateral flow test is better than nothing, but that it could lull people into a false sense of security, so caution is required.
Professor Gary McLean, an expert in molecular immunology from the London Metropolitan University, said: “My feeling is these tests are of value but cannot be solely relied upon. Remember they are designed for asymptomatic people testing only and therefore it is not surprising the positive rate is low.”
No test is perfect, points out Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist and expert in molecular oncology from Warwick Medical School. “Even the so-called gold standard RT-PCR test is prone to false negatives with reports of around 20% of truly positive samples not being detected,” he said.
However, the lateral flow antigen test is “notoriously inaccurate”, he said, particularly in infected but asymptomatic people, leading to false assurance.
“So a negative test doesn’t mean that you are not infected. But is it better than nothing? One solution is repeat testing,” he explained. “As the lateral flow test works more effectively in individuals with high virus loads and there is preliminary evidence that the virus variant results in more virus production in infected individuals, it could be that these tests will prove more useful.”
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The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) urged the public to remember the current versions of these lateral flow tests “are not of sufficient sensitivity or accuracy to rule out the possibility that a negative result may not be correct”.
While a negative result reduces the chance that the person tested is infected, it does not eliminate it, said RCPath, which advises those with negative test results to continue to observe social distancing and hygiene precautions – such as wearing face masks, and covering the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, especially while around others.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--The Best Festive Bottled Cocktails – Tested By Us

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Bottled cocktails have emerged as high quality contenders for the New Night In during these strickened times, with master mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, among those releasing sups from his famous bars to take home.
The popularity and increasing visibility of these tipples on supermarket shelves has proved that the freshness and flavour profiles of cocktails can be savoured in bottled form. And the festive take on this trend is quickly gaining traction as we adjust to the tiered lifestyle we’re leading from our living rooms.
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All the complexity of ingredients found behind some of the best bars in London and beyond are now available to pour from home – here are some of the seasonal sups to try this Christmas, as sampled by the HuffPost UK team.
The Rudolph’s Rouge, The Drinks Drop
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My presumptions about ready-made cocktails are that they’re weak, sugary, and not very alcoholic. This was very much not the case with this festive offering, which contained six cocktails in pouches, delivered in a trendy-looking box.
I try Rudolph’s Rouge, the only cold cocktail of the lot, which is gin-based with Champagne syrup, and needs freezing for 30 minutes before pouring into a chilled glass – all very easy. The drink is good, but super strong. A bit strong to drink on its own, to be honest, so I add tonic (which also makes it last longer).
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The alcohol content of these cocktails range from 14-22%, and they definitely match up to it. The mulled sangria, which you leave in hot water for just 60 seconds, is delicious though also wincingly strong. Or maybe I’m just a wuss.
For a drink at home, £7.50 is a little on the pricey side, in my opinion, but now we can’t go out, perhaps it’s worth spending your money on. -Amy Packham, life editor
£7.50 per bottled cocktail from The Drinks Drop
The Mince Pie Negroni from Tayēr
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Imagine the spicy sweetness of a mince pie with the bitterness of a Negroni – just the right amount of festive for the year we’ve had and a brilliant twist for those as partial to a Negroni as I am.
This cocktail contains a punchy mix of Tayēr x Hepple Gin, Martini Rosso, Noilly Prat Original Dry Vermouth and ēe Mince Mix. Buy it as part of a Christmas gift box with three 100ml bottles of different cocktails, alongside a Pine Martini and Gingerbread Old Fashioned. Or on its own in a 300ml bottle – if you’re likely to want more than one, I suggest you go for the latter. Tayer is currently operating as an online off licence, but is usually a bar -Brogan Driscoll, life editor
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£30 for three bottled cocktails from Tayer + elemen
Chocolate Orange Negroni, The Umbrella Project
Adam Bloodworth
Let me tell you, my mouth has never been forcibly pulled in so many different flavour directions as by this chocolate orange martini. I know, I know: chocolate oranges are a bit like marmite: some love them, some hate them. But I’m partial to throwing a couple in the shopping trolley when they’re going for £1 – and I’m definitely partial to this chocolate orange bottled cocktail made by The Sun Tavern, the pub near me which is a part of The Umbrella Project group.
You get to try two different cocktails when you order a festive kit for £30 – and two bottles of each choice. The Three Kings has actual frankincense and myrrh in, although I find it hard to decipher these flavours, so I’d swerve and go for the Buttered Brandy, instead, which isn’t so sweet and has a crisp freshness that cheerfully lifts the butter-washed cognac. A well-balanced and joyous drink.
The buttered brandy’s also served with warm water – read the cute little serving instructions on the bottle – making it long-lasting and bang-for-buck too. I sipped mine for nearly an hour, but admit I gorged on the chocolate orange negroni in about one minute flat. -Adam Bloodworth, features writer
£30 for four bottled cocktails from The Umbrella Project
Winter Rum Punch, Calooh Callay
Huffpost UK Calooh Callay Rum Punch
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It feels a life ago that I last went to a bar, let alone a bar in the centre of town, to drink cocktails, which strike me as a drink of celebration, not consolation. But maybe being stuck out in tier four and zone four in the run up to a Christmas unlike any other is just the sort of social emergency that calls for high spirits.
Certainly, my mood lifts with the arrival of a box from this Shoreditch stalwart, hand-mixed and hand-delivered by the lovely Goda – with three fresh mince pies nestling in a brown paper bag next to a lovely big bottle, tied up with red ribbon and a cinnamon stick that doubles up as a festive cocktail stirrer.
And this punch definitely packs some, as it should, mixing Havana 7, Bacardi, Skipper and Amaro, alongside pineapple and lemon sherbet. If that sounds summery, don’t worry. It has a lovely fruity warmth that’s just what we need in these dark days. The box also contains two mini bottles of Jägermeister (should that be your mixer) and two Havana Club tin cans for the Instagram serving. A nice touch, though I prefer a glass. And a party to go with my punch. Ho hum.
Free next day delivery within M25 for orders of £30 and over from Calooh Callay (48 hour nationwide delivery Mon to Fri, £6.50; Saturday, £11).
Maple-Salted Nogroni, Adam Handling’s Eve Bar
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I recently decided to give my body a bit of a break from booze, so I’m excited to try a non-alcoholic cocktail from Adam Handling’s Eve Bar. The beverage that arrives on my doorstep is a Maple-Salted Nogroni (see what they did there?) in a stylish brown glass bottle. The perk of this cocktail, which serves six, is that it’s ready-made. All you have to do is pour it into a glass with ice – and enjoy.
The cocktail contains Æcorn Aromatic, Æcorn Bitter, Seedlip Spice 94, maple and salt. I’m going to front up this review by making clear I’m more of a fruity cocktail kind of gal, so the negroni might be a bit too much for me. Sadly, I’m correct – this non-alcoholic drink tastes like smoke, medicine and cola. One sip is enough. My partner also tries it and doesn’t manage more than a swig either.
There are cocktails in the range that I’m sure would be absolutely delicious: the boozier No ‘X’ in Espresso coffee martini, for example. But with great regret it’s a thumbs down from me on the nogroni. Come Christmas, I’ll be sticking to ginger ale. -Natasha Hinde, life writer
£20 for a 500ml bottle of maple-salted nogroni from Adam Handling’s Hame.
Hot Buttered Rum, Nightjar
Ash Percival
A disclaimer: cocktails aren’t really my thing. Either too sweet, full of ice or not long enough. Give me a glass (read: bottle) of crisp, dry wine any day of the week.
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So, it’s a nice surprise to try something that isn’t two of those three things. I’ve never had a hot cocktail before, and I’ll admit, this one doesn’t look the most appealing or smell particularly amazing when I take its top off. However, after a quick blast in the microwave (or mîcrocwhavé, if you’re Nigella Lawson), it takes on a whole new life.
It’s rich, velvety and buttery thanks to the walnut butter and roasted chestnuts, while the apple and rhubarb gave it a lovely fruity flavour. The alcohol gives you that lovely warm glow, and it would be the perfect drink for an outdoor Christmas gathering, if you’re able to store it in a flask. My only criticism would be that it might be rather sweet to drink too much of – but that’s also probably a matter of personal taste. -Ash Percival, entertainment editor
£45 as part of the Nightjar Christmas Collection, which also features a champagne cocktail and an aperitivo punch
Cointreau Christmas Margarita, Mr Fogg’s
HuffPost UK
This festive cocktail certainly packs a punch, but it reminds me of happier times sipping Margaritas by a pool pre-pandemic, rather than Christmas. It comes in a pouch containing two servings, alongside a cinnamon and sugar mix to decorate the rim of a glass. The AquaRiva Blanco tequila is definitely the dominant flavour with the Cointreau orange liqueur slightly lost.
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It’s a nice flavour though, with a smoky aftertaste. But at £19.50, I’d rather buy a bottle of tequila and mix my own. Call me Scrooge, but the small bag of bon-bons, Christmas hats and cracker jokes that have been added to pad out the packaging feel a little surplus to requirement. -Rachel Moss, life reporter


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--2020 Has Been Hard, Especially For Parents. Now's The Time For A Break

Anastasiia Krivenok via Getty Images
It has been a year. Hasn’t it? It has. I hear you.
It’s been no picnic for any of us, but if you’re a parent or carer of young children, the unique pressures of parenting through 2020 are probably still with you like a bad dream you’re struggling to shake off.
We’ve been shaken by the horrors of homeschooling, the fear and anxiety over whether or not to send our kids back to school, as well as the teaching bubbles forced to self-isolate following positive Covid-19 cases within the classroom.
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Even if your family has stayed healthy – for which we should be truly thankful – it’s been a tough year for both working and non-working parents alike. And that’s exactly why you need a rest. You deserve one. Big time.
Here are nine tips on how to make the most of Christmas 2020 – without stressing yourself out.
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Don’t be afraid to indulge. If there was ever a time not to beat yourself up over ploughing through an entire box of Heroes chocolates in one sitting, it’s now. Plus, eating cocoa has been found to release “feel good” chemicals called endorphins. Studies have even shown eating chocolate can boost your memory and reduce stress. So you’re really eating those Heroes for health reasons. Win.
Go outside for a family walk. “Being outside and in the fresh air can really clear your head,” says Norland Nanny Louenna Hood. “Children have the freedom to run and shout without the confinement of the house which allows them to let off steam.” The same goes for grown-ups. Plus, a number of studies have examined the links between being in nature and the possible benefits to our mental health.
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Take a deep breath. No really, just breathe. Christmas can be stressful – especially this year, if you aren’t seeing extended family members due to tier restrictions. Over the festive period, remind yourself to breathe if things get too much. “Sometimes, just giving yourself two breaths before reacting can avoid a rash shouty reply,” says Hood. “When things get stressful, say to yourself ‘will this matter in a year’s time?’ If the answer is no, there’s no point stressing.”
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Consider a takeaway dinner. Yes, it’s Christmas – but if the idea of slaving away on a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings makes you feel stressed, why add to your burden? Especially if you’re cooking at home last-minute due to a change in tiers. Some restaurants are offering a cook-from-scratch seven-course ‘Christmas dinner kit’, with optional matching wines. Or, you could take a punt on Just Eat. If you can’t find a roast dinner, go for your favourite takeaway. This Christmas, there are no rules.
Set your own schedule. The true joy of Christmas, this year – particularly if you’re seeing fewer family members than usual – is that you get to call the shots. If that means nobody gets out of their pyjamas all day, and you watch festive films back-to-back, so be it. You can even be the Christmas Grinch and forget the whole thing, if you like. Bah, humbug.
Buy yourself a present. You know that deeply impractical gold sequinned dress you saw on The Outnet for a steal? Treat yourself. Yes, we know you have nowhere to wear it, and you haven’t had an office party this year, and you aren’t leaving the house on New Year’s Eve for the first time in forever – we don’t care. You need that dress. You deserve that dress. You can wear it next Christmas (or just dress up for Jools Holland).
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--We Decided To Tell Our Kids When We’re Having Sex. Here’s Why

Candace Mickler / EyeEm via Getty Images
“Have fun and make good choices!” our eight-year-old son calls through a fit of laughter as I usher him into his bedroom.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” our 11-year-old daughter calls from her room across the landing, also laughing so hard she’s having trouble getting the words out. I’m laughing, too.
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It’s a normal weeknight in pandemic quarantine, and my husband and I are about to have sex.
The kids should be asleep, in their own beds, in their own rooms, but they don’t do that much these days, preferring instead to stay up late talking to each other or reading until we agree to let them sleep on our floor. And because they’re doing school from home and we’ve kept them out of sports and social activities (for the past nine months), they are... always around.
I love them, but... it’s a lot more family time than I’m used to. The kids used to have soccer practice, after-school care, piano lessons and playdates. My husband and I used to occasionally go out to dinner without them. We are privileged to have this family time and privileged to enjoy it, but our small townhouse doesn’t allow for a lot of “grown-up alone time.”
Prior to the pandemic, I preferred to have sex with my husband when the kids were out of the house. That’s not to say that’s the only time we had sex, but it was the only time I could relax enough to truly enjoy it. When the kids were at a friend’s house or at school, I felt like we could take our time. Enjoy each other’s company. Luxuriate in the afterglow. Those moments reminded me of our garden apartment in Brooklyn and the days we shared there in our 20s after we first moved in together. We would have sex, take a nap and have sex again (or maybe just take a really long nap and then get takeout). I love my kids, but I miss those days.
For the last 11 years, my husband has been understanding but also a little frustrated with my aversion to having sex while the kids are in the house. I couldn’t explain why I was so afraid of them walking in on us or interrupting us in some other way, like knocking on the door or calling out for us. I have no traumatic memories of walking in on my own parents, unless I’ve buried them so deeply I can’t remember them. And my husband and I have a door that locks, something my parents never had.
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The only memory that does stand out is a night in a hotel room with my parents and brother. I don’t know how old I was, but I was probably around my daughter’s age. I was jarred awake by the sound of a couple (in the next room? above us? across the hall?) having very loud sex. I pretended to be asleep. Everyone else did, too. They couldn’t have actually been asleep, because the sounds were way too loud to sleep through.
I remember the feeling of lying in bed, perfectly still and quiet, not wanting anyone else to know I was awake and hearing these sounds. I was embarrassed, but why? What would it have said about me to simply be hearing this ― something I had nothing to do with? Something I wasn’t in control of? And something that should not have been embarrassing in the first place? I know now sex is not embarrassing unless you treat it that way.
“For the last 11 years, my husband has been understanding but also a little frustrated with my aversion to having sex while the kids are in the house. I couldn’t explain why I was so afraid of them walking in on us or interrupting us in some other way, like knocking on the door or calling out for us.”
As a young kid, long before that night in the hotel room, I had asked my mom where babies came from, and she didn’t say “the stork.” Basically, I knew the biology of intercourse before it made much sense to me. I don’t remember another conversation on the subject after that until years later, when, one morning in my late teens, I told my mom that I had had sex for the first time the night before. Clearly, by then, I wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed, but I also don’t remember being guided by my parents in any meaningful way around the subject of sex through my adolescence. I can, however, remember lots of conversations I had with my friends about the subject.
Several years ago, I heard author Peggy Orenstein speak on a radio show about a very specific contingent of women who were raised with the ethos of free love, sex as empowerment and the idea that as long as you were using “protection” ― from diseases and unintended pregnancy ― you were “safe.” While my parents didn’t raise me this way, this is certainly how my friends and I talked about sex, and how I expected I would talk to my own kids about it. But then Orenstein went on to caution that if we don’t talk about the feelings associated with intimacy, we are doing our kids a disservice. I was in my 30s, monogamous and married, and had been conditioned to protect my body at all costs, including separating my feelings from sex. I sat in my car, a true “driveway moment,” realising I needed to rethink everything I thought about sex.
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My husband and I chose to have a sex-positive household a long time ago. Or, rather, I told him we were going to have a sex-positive household and then explained to him what that meant. Our kids were going to get information about sex from us, and, thanks to Peggy Orenstein, that would include discussions of the emotions associated with intimacy. We were going to talk about things openly and frankly. We were going to use the proper anatomical terms and have developmentally appropriate conversations and imbue them with our values, not repressive societal norms.
But because I didn’t grow up with this kind of perspective, I felt a little like I was making things up as I went along. To be clear, you can read all the books. You can follow all the blogs. And still, you can be caught unprepared when your daughter reads about oral sex in a young adult book and asks, “Do you two do that?”
Yes, we know we don’t have to answer all our kids’ questions. We know what we do is private and we’re entitled to privacy, but also, sex isn’t bad or gross or shameful, so if we tell them what TV shows we watch behind closed doors, why wouldn’t we tell them about the other things we do when our door is closed? Not explicitly, of course, but generally, in a way we feel is developmentally appropriate.
One day, pre-pandemic, while I was at work, my husband did just that. They were asking questions and he answered them. They were initially grossed out, which is not surprising, but then they asked more questions. And he answered them. Delicately. And then they started teasing us. Which was weird. It made me even more uneasy about having sex when they were home. And very shortly after that, Covid-19 hit, and they were... always home.
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A few months into our self-imposed quarantine, a few months in which I felt like having sex with my husband was akin to sneaking around ― and not in the good way, like when you’re 16 and riding on the back of the “bad boy’s” motorcycle ― I decided to tell the kids exactly when we were having sex. I just couldn’t hide it anymore. It felt too much like lying, and while I know we were under no obligation to tell them, we didn’t have a good reason not to.
“If I close the door and turn on the fan in the hall, please leave us alone,” I said. “We’re having sex.” They giggled. They squirmed. And then they left us alone.
Our sex became less about making sure we did everything we wanted to do before we got interrupted and more about connection, just like it was all those years ago back in Brooklyn.
If we want to watch a TV show naked after sex, we do. If we want to talk for an hour before we take our clothes off, we do. Our time together is now about connection, and what couple doesn’t need more of that, especially in these stressful times? If we were going to give up our grown-up nights out at restaurants and events, we were going to have good sex. And to have good sex, I needed to be transparent about it. That may not be everyone’s preference, but it’s one that’s worked out well for our family.
It is my hope this will also have a positive effect on how our kids approach sex as they get older. We’ve talked to them for years about consent. We model it for them and with them. We’ve talked to them about anatomy and birth control and disease prevention. We’ve talked to them about feelings and intimacy, and why people would want to have sex even if they’re not “trying to make a baby.” Now we’re modelling that for them, too.
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“Our time together is now about connection, and what couple doesn’t need more of that, especially in these stressful times? If we were going to give up our grown-up nights out at restaurants and events, we were going to have good sex. And to have good sex, I needed to be transparent about it. That may not be everyone’s preference, but it’s one that’s worked out well for our family.”
I think about that night in the hotel room with my parents and brother more than I’d like to. I wonder if someone had acknowledged what was happening in the moment, would it have felt less scary or “dirty”? Because that’s how it felt back then, and it’s why I never spoke of it to them. I don’t even know if any of them remembered the nocturnal activity in the morning or why I do, 30 years later.
I wonder how I would handle the same situation if it were my family awakened in the middle of the night now. I can imagine laughing to break our collectively held breaths and then suggesting we turn on a movie to block out the noise and give the couple some privacy. I can imagine my kids laughing, too. And I can imagine them telling the story to their kids decades from now, without shame, or the knot I feel in the pit of my stomach every time the memory creeps up on me.
Will some parents disagree with our choices? Definitely. Is our approach the right approach for other families? Possibly. Is it the right one for our family? I hope so because I truly believe being open and honest with our kids has been beneficial to us as parents, will be beneficial to them as young people and has benefits for our family unit as a whole.
Have I scarred my kids in some way by informing them when and why my husband and I close the door and turn on the fan? Maybe. But I hope when they think back on the mess that 2020 has become ― if we are all lucky enough to live long enough to look back on it, no guarantee these days or ever ― they will approach the idea of sex (and, when they start having it, the act of sex) with less shame and secrecy than I did, and they will value how much their parents cared about each other. That they still needed time alone. To connect. To have sex. And watch TV shows naked.
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This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Travel Ban: UK And France Strike Deal On Dover Crossing After Freight Chaos

Lorries parked on the M20 near Folkestone, Kent, as part of Operation Stack after the Port of Dover was closed and access to the Eurotunnel terminal suspended PA
A mass testing programme for HGV drivers will get underway to alleviate congestion at ports after an agreement was reached to reopen the border between France and the UK, the Department for Transport said.
This means Boris Johnson’s government has avoided the threat of food shortages in Britain this Christmas.
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French president Emmanuel Macron had closed the border after a new and more infectious strain of Covid-19 emerged in the UK.
French authorities announced late on Tuesday night that journeys from the UK would be allowed to resume, but those seeking to travel must have a negative test result.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed rapid lateral flow tests – which can give results in about 30 minutes – will be used to test HGV drivers at the ports.
The French authorities will be carrying out similar testing on hauliers entering the UK.
More than 2,800 HGVs were stuck in Kent on Tuesday afternoon as a result of the disruption, and Shapps warned it could take until Christmas for congestion to be relieved near ports.
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He said: “We have managed to get all those tests to Kent, enough for all the vehicles which will want to return before Christmas, so that won’t be an issue.
“Obviously there’s a physical issue of providing the test, getting the results. A negative test allows you to leave.
“But all of that requires operationalising and that can’t happen in an instant, so this will take two or three days for things to be cleared.”
The transport secretary has urged hauliers not to travel to Kent until further notice.
We have agreed a deal with France to reopen the border to hauliers with a negative #Covid test. At this time, hauliers should continue to avoid travelling to Kent to minimise disruption. More info here: https://t.co/iOxT2kSN07 — Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 22, 2020
Elizabeth de Jong, policy director at business group Logistics UK, said it was “vital” that testing procedures are “stood up fast to ensure drivers can be processed and get home for Christmas safely”.
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She added: “The backlog of traffic across the region will take time to clear so hauliers should wait for further news before travelling to Kent.”
The protocol agreed with the French government will be reviewed on December 31 – but could run until January 6, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.
Those who can make journeys include French and EU residents, British or third-party nationals who normally live in France or the EU, as well as some other groups.
The French decision to ease its restrictions came after the European Commission recommended a joint approach from EU members in response to the mutant strain.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Freight Chaos 'Will Trigger Disruption Like UK Has Never Experienced'

Lorries are parked up on the M20 in Kent near to Folkestone services whilst the Port of Dover remains closed. PA
The Dover border crisis means the UK will see disruption to supply chains as “never experienced” before, freight and industry chiefs have warned.
Ministers are scrambling to agree a deal with France to open the border after Paris closed the port amid fears about the new and more infectious strain of Covid-19 found in the UK.
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Bosses told MPs on Tuesday that as many as 4,000 lorries are backed up in Kent and “at various points” elsewhere.
The emergency has sparked widespread concern there may be shortages of some foods.
French president Emmanuel Macron shut the border on Sunday after Boris Johnson’s snap press conference in which the prime minister introduced strict new measures for London and huge swathes of the south-east.
But Duncan Buchanan, director of policy at the Road Haulage Association, predicted the worst may yet be to come.
Lorry drivers will be left grappling with new regulations from January 1 when the Brexit transition period ends.
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Buchanan told MPs on Parliament’s business and industrial strategy committee: “This is a very serious problem – whether you have moved trucks from one place to another, it is irrelevant.
“This is a very different level of supply chain disruption, of the like we have probably never experienced.
“Many of the retailers are saying that [...] we will be fine until Christmas at least, but we must recover very fast to keep the shops fully stocked after Christmas. It’s a big worry.”
Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), meanwhile, said the “number of trucks that need to be cleared as this unwinds will be more than 4,000”.
He also said UK exports will also be affected, including Scottish seafood products.
“There are dozens of lorries there with product that is going off. There is a huge hit here to Scottish seafood,” he told MPs.
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“The government was well aware of the power of the announcement it made on Saturday. [...]
“Everyone would have rightly known that everyone in Europe would have reacted this way, and in fact we felt similarly when Danish mink were infected.
“The consequence of this is the chaos we’ve seen over the past 24 hours. It’s incumbent on the government to come forward to compensate those who have lost out because of that failure of authority.”
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said the next 24 hours would be crucial.
He said: “The real issue we face is what happens in the next day or so.
“If we do not see the empty trucks, which have already delivered warehouses and stores, getting back over the Channel, they will not be able to pick up the next consignment of fresh fruit, vegetables, salad vegetables, all the food we do not grow in the country at this time of year.
“What we’ve been told by members is that unless those trucks can start travelling again and go back to Spain and Portugal and other parts of Europe, we will problems with fresh produce from December 27.
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“What we need is for those trucks to move in the next 24 hours if we are to avoid seeing problems on our shelves.”
The European Commission recommended an EU-wide approach that would allow essential travel, and transit of passengers from the UK.
Flight and train bans “should be discontinued given the need to ensure essential travel and avoid supply chain disruptions”, the commission said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Gemma Collins' Parents Both 'Extremely Unwell' With Covid-19

Gemma Collins has revealed her parents are “extremely unwell” with Covid-19.
The reality star urged everyone to “stay home” and “stay safe” after her mum and dad Joan and Alan Collins tested positive for the virus, which she described as “heartbreaking”.
Gemma Collins Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Posting pictures of her parents on Instagram, Gemma wrote: “Please please please take notice of the guidelines ! Both my parents are extremely unwell with Covid 19!
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“Seeing my dad cry which he never does ! Was a shock and say he would rather be dead then experience everything he is going through right now… this has totally wiped him out and it’s heartbreaking.
“My mum also is extremely extremely unwell with Covid also, this is real!”
Gemma continued: “And please please take notice and keep your loved ones SAFE, it really is petrifying.
“What a difference a year makes …. STAY HOME !!! STAY SAFE !!! SAVE LIFES without your health !!! You got nothing !!!!”
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The Diva Forever star previously expressed frustration at some members of the public’s behaviour during the pandemic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Alexandra Burke Reveals Surprising Secrets From That Iconic Beyoncé Duet On The X Factor

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Alexandra Burke’s duet with Beyoncé on The X Factor went down in the pop culture history books, but 12 years on from the iconic moment, the talent show winner has revealed some never-before-known details about it.
Alexandra has told of how the international megastar had originally asked her to sing her then-new single If I Were A Boy during the final of the ITV talent show in 2008, but Alexandra had to turn it down as she didn’t know the words.
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She revealed their subsequent duet of Listen from the musical Dreamgirls saw both of them “blagging it”, as they only had an hour to rehearse beforehand.
Beyoncé and Alexandra Burke duetted on The X Factor in 2008 Ken McKay/Shutterstock
Alexandra recounted the tale during a recent appearance on Angela Scanlon’s nostalgia-filled BBC Two series The Noughties, telling the host: “We had an hour to get our stuff together and pick a song and go live at like 7. We hadn’t picked the song yet!
“She walks in and she goes, ‘Nice to meet you, blah blah blah,’ and I’m in tears just crying the whole time… And then she starts crying and she’s like, ‘Well, we really need to practice the song, I want you to sing my new single.’
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“I was like, ‘Sorry, what?’ She goes, ‘Yeah, If I Were A Boy’.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know that song, I’m really sorry. I am a fan, but I don’t know that song… But can we just sing Listen? I sung it by myself two weeks on the show... You can take every verse you want, just give me a line. But can we sing a song that I know?’”
Talk about a cultural reset though pic.twitter.com/ZRqruOQCM3 — Wayne David (@WayneDavid81) December 22, 2020
Alexandra continued: “She was like, ’OK’ and then I asked her for the one line we’ve done together, and she was like, ‘Ok we’ll do that line,’ and we literally blagged it.”
Referring to the performance, she added: “If you watch it back, you see us hold each other’s hands and you just see us going, ‘Your turn, OK my turn. OK, your turn.’ That’s how the song went.”
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The duet helped Alexandra storm to victory on the fifth series of The X Factor, triumphing over boyband JLS in the final.
The singer previously revealed to HuffPost UK that she had planned to revisit the moment during her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017.
She said: “I originally asked to do the Rumba to Listen and we couldn’t do it for reasons I can’t say, and it’s a good reason.
“It’s a massive moment for me to have sung with her... I don’t think people will realise how surreal that is for me to feel.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Ministers Ignored Own Scientists' Advice To Cut Christmas Relaxation To One Or Two Days

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The government’s decision to ignore weeks of warnings by its own scientific advisers to cut the Christmas relaxation to one or two days made things “much more difficult” for many people, scientists have said.
Boris Johnson was urged to cut the Christmas relaxation to one or two days as early as December 2, documents have revealed.
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But the prime minister chose to press on with plans for a five-day lifting of rules, calling it “inhuman” to consider withdrawing them as recently as Wednesday.
As reported by HuffPost UK on Friday, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) had also told ministers their Christmas plan could cause a Covid spike that would particularly hit the elderly.
“The total number of days spent mixing within that period may have a large impact on post-Christmas prevalence,” wrote Sage’s SPI-M-O (Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational) sub-group in a “consensus statement” also signed off by Sage itself.
“It is likely that visiting loved ones over the holiday period for one or two days would be considerably less risky than spending the entire time together.”
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On Tuesday, Independent Sage – a panel of leading scientists led by a former government chief scientific officer – condemned the government’s refusal to shorten the Christmas window until the last minute.
Professor Martin McKee, a public health expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of Independent Sage, told HuffPost UK: ”It is now clear that the risks of removing restrictions were known, several weeks ago, but were ignored.
“Moreover, by encouraging people to make plans to meet up and then dashing them so late, the decision to limit mixing at Christmas has been made much more difficult for many people.”
He stressed the importance for people to follow the new restrictions. “There is no doubt that it is the right decision and that people should rethink their plans to meet – not because the government is asking them to, but because it is the right thing to do for their own safety, that of their families and of their communities.”
On Saturday Johnson cut the relaxation from five days to one, and scrapped it altogether in London, the south-east and east.
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The blame fell on a new, more virulent strain of coronavirus that has begun spreading rapidly in those areas, though is not currently believed to be any more or less deadly.
But the revelation of the warning from the start of the month adds to a chorus of voices that had urged the government to rethink far earlier, even without the new strain – raising the question of whether the last-minute chaos and heartache of cancelled plans could have been avoided.
A spokesperson from the government said: “As soon as the threat posed by the new variant became clear, the government took swift necessary action to protect the public by introducing further tiering measures.
“The latest changes announced by the prime minister are in response to the latest analysis of the virus. Our approach has always been guided by the latest scientific and medical advice and kept under constant review.”
While the extent of the new strain may not have been known before Friday night, health secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons more than a week ago that such a variant was spreading more quickly and could be the cause of increased infection rates in the regions now under tier 4.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--English Hospitals See Deadliest Day Yet Of Second Wave Of Covid-19

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More than 400 Covid deaths in English hospitals have been recorded in the most recent 24-hour period, the deadliest day of the entire second wave.
According to NHS England, 405 deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 across the country were recorded.
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Patients were aged between 26 and 100 years old, and the vast majority – all but 13 of the total – had known underlying health conditions.
Their actual dates of death range from July 2 to December 21, 2020, with most being on or after December 18.
The total number of deaths reported in a single 24-hour period has not topped 400 since April 29, but the way the data are reported means it will be several days before the number of deaths actually occurring today will be known. Here’s a guide to understanding the daily updates provided by the NHS and the UK’s governments.
The most recent figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) state that 691 Covid deaths were reported across the UK in all settings during the most recent 24-hour reporting period.
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According to the most recent figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of excess deaths that have occurred in the UK since the start of the coronavirus pandemic has now passed 80,000.
There is currently no evidence that the new mutated strain of Covid-19 spreading quickly through the South East of England – referred to as VUI-202012/01 – is any more deadly than any other variant the UK has already seen.
But Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats advisory group (NervTag), said on Monday that estimates showing the new strain is up to 70% more transmissible are based on less data.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--A Minute Of Kindness: The Feminist Collages Popping Up On London Streets

A Minute Of Kindness: The Feminist Collages Popping Up On London Streets
Feminist Collages London is a branch of a movement that started in Paris in 2019 where activists paint letters on A4 sheets of paper and paste slogans on walls around the city. From femicide, to trans rights to abortion rights, the group writes highly political messages to give, “women a way of feeling community”. The collective also promotes osrganisations covering subjects from domestic labour in Lebanon to African & Caribbean heritage women and girls affected by domestic and sexual violence.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Exclusive: ITV Drops Coronation Street Director Over Facebook Posts On Industry Racism

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ITV has dumped a regular Coronation Street director following a series of online posts rubbishing concerns of racism in the media industry, HuffPost UK can reveal.
The broadcaster said Steve Finn, a freelancer who has worked on the soap over the last two years, made social media posts that were “inconsistent with the values of both Coronation Street and ITV”.
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In one of the posts, all of which are public and still available to view, Finn poked fun at David Olusoga after the TV historian told the Edinburgh TV Festival that being marginalised in his career had left him feeling “crushed, isolated” and “disempowered”.
Finn wrote in response on his Facebook page: “Oh poor dear, so crushed by his success on the unenlightened British media. Could I get just a tenth of his salary for making programmes which people actually watch, as he is so crushed.”
The famous Rovers Return is decorated for Christmas as the set of television soap Coronation Street is covered in fake snow for the festive season in 2014 Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
No racism Screenshot
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Around this time the historian also delivered a lecture on his own experiences of racism.
Finn claimed that he had never seen any racism during his four decades working in TV and dismissed concerns as the “fabrication of fashionable claims”.
He said: “I have worked in this business for over 40 years and I have not seen one instance of racism. I’m afraid I find people like him [Olusoga] beyond contempt because he has made a very nice earner out of his niche abilities, but now wants to ride the racism high-horse to maximum effect.
“I am a product of the white working-class, and have often felt alone and isolated, and yes unwanted, especially in the BBC, but I would never have made such a shameful parody of myself just to further my career.”
In a separate comment, he said: “People like Olusaga [sic] are victim-making frauds and need to be called out.”
When BBC Bitesize published an interview about white privilege with psychologist and author John Amaechi in August, Finn wrote on Facebook: “This is on a BBC ‘Education’ website. Is it not ‘re-education’, a la Soviet Union or China?”
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Simone Padovani/Awakening via Getty Images
The same month, actor and director Noel Clarke told BBC Radio 5 Live about what happened when he asked for a more diverse production crew when shooting a TV show. Finn branded Clarke a “fucktard” and said: “You got some white people ‘let go’ to assuage your own agenda”.
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In November, Finn also dismissed the fact that structural racism is a factor behind the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities, despite a Public Health England review citing this as a factor.
Sharing the link to a Channel 4 investigation entitled “Is Covid Racist”, the director wrote: “Oh, so we know what the answer is before the question is asked don’t we, since the pre-publicity already blames ‘structural racism’? So a disease obviously knows what to target, and Channel 4 has already decided who to blame.”
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An ITV spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “We have been made aware of comments on social media by a freelance director, Steve Finn, which are inconsistent with the values of both Coronation Street and ITV. The director will not therefore be returning to Coronation Street.”
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Most television directors are employed on a freelance basis.
Finn directed Monday’s episodes of the soap and also contributed to scenes airing this week – including the highly anticipated Christmas Day instalment.
Following Black Lives Matter protests this summer, ITV pledged o increase the number of opportunities for under-represented Black, Asian and minority-ethnic (BAME) groups across its businesses. Among its aims were increasing ethnic diversity across commissioning and in key editorial roles, such as writers, directors and producers.
ITV also introduced mandatory racism training for staff – but did not say whether Finn as a freelancer had participated in this scheme when asked by HuffPost UK.
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A few months ago, ITV backed the Black Lives Matter movement, openly supporting Ashley Banjo and Diversity amid backlash about their Black Lives Matter-inspired dance routine on Britain’s Got Talent.
Doubling down on its support of the performance amid growing Ofcom complaints about it, the company took out advertisements in newspapers.
In addition to this, ITV commissioned more Black programmes including Back to School and Unsaid Stories – which was praised by many race equality campaigners.
Just months ago, Coronation Street introduced its first Black family and, though this move was welcomed by many, some questioned why the show hadn’t done so before in its 59-year history.
Steve Finn, who's currently Directing on the cobbles of Coronation Street, will be joining @TimKentDirector for his next 5 Day Course starting 13th May.
BBC and ITV Regular Steve will be directing your showreel! Get your place now as spaces are limited: https://t.co/MJU2eB405X pic.twitter.com/ANRnXpKfyY — Actors Studio (@Actors_StudioUK) February 4, 2019
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During his illustrious career, Finn has been a director of some of the UK’s biggest and longest running dramas, including EastEnders, The Bill, Hollyoaks, Casualty and Holby City.
He directed EastEnders episodes between 1995 and 2018. BBC declined to comment on Finn’s posts when approached by HuffPost UK but stressed that he had not worked on the soap for two years.
Finn has run courses on directing drama for the BBC Academy, University of the Creative Arts and Mid-Kent College, and workshops for Actors Studio and Ascend Actors.
It comes as a new report commissioned by broadcasting union Bectu, Race To Be Heard: Racism Reporting Body For UK Broadcasting Sector examined widespread underreporting of racial discrimination across broadcast media.
Written and researched by the respected producer and academic Marcus Ryder MBE, the 25-page document lays bare bleak realities experienced by people of colour within the industry.
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The probe calls on broadcasters, industry stakeholders and entertainment unions to form a new independent reporting body to tackle racism in the industry.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-22--Peter Cruddas: Boris Johnson Hands Peerage To 'Cash-For-Access' Scandal Tory Donor

Peter Cruddas Steve Russell via Getty Images
Boris Johnson has defied an independent commission to hand a peerage to a Tory donor and Vote Leave board member who was caught in a “cash-for-access” scandal nearly a decade ago.
The prime minister nominated Peter Cruddas for a seat in the House of Lords, despite past accusations that he had offered access to David Cameron in exchange for party donations. He denied this claim, but the Court of Appeal found it to be true following a defamation case.
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Cruddas was one of 16 appointments to the Lords – including seven recommendations from Johnson, five from Keir Starmer and five crossbench nominations.
This list will bring the total in the House of Lords to over 830 – almost 200 more than the House of Commons.
The scale of the nominations list sparked criticism from Lord Speaker Lord Fowler, who said he had a “fundamental concern” about “the number of new peers that have been appointed by the prime minister in his first 12 months in office” and called for a review of the powers of the appointments commission.
But Fowler did welcome the elevation of former Archbishop of York John Sentamu to the Lords, who was reportedly snubbed by Downing Street for an automatic life peerage because Johnson wanted to scale back on numbers in the Lords.
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1/9 My response to the announcement today that @10DowningStreet has appointed 16 new peers to the @UKHouseofLords:
My fundamental concern is about the number of new peers that have been appointed by the Prime Minister in his first 12 months in Office. — Lord Speaker (@LordSpeaker) December 22, 2020
4/9 Unlike other senates in democratic countries, there is no limit on the number of members there can be. Any Prime Minister can appoint as many as he or she likes. To her great credit the previous Prime Minister, @theresa_may , committed her govt to a policy of ‘moderation.' — Lord Speaker (@LordSpeaker) December 22, 2020
5/9 In a massive U-turn, those words seem to have been forgotten. It may also now be the time to review the role and the powers of the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC.) — Lord Speaker (@LordSpeaker) December 22, 2020
Johnson’s decision to nominate Cruddas came in defiance of the recommendation of the Lords appointment commission, which said it could not support Cruddas’s nomination due to a Sunday Times story revealing the allegations in 2012.
Parliamentary records show Cruddas donated £50,000 to the PM in June 2019, when Johnson was embarking on his campaign to replace Theresa May as Tory leader and in Downing Street.
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Cruddas has also recently made several donations to Tory MPs.
In 2012, Sunday Times reporters went undercover to film Cruddas explaining how donations to the Tory Party could secure access to politicians and influence over policy making.
Cruddas denied allegations he was offering access to leading politicians like then-PM Cameron in return for cash for the party.
But in a 2015 libel case, the Court of Appeal found the allegation to be true and branded Cruddas’s behaviour “unacceptable, inappropriate and wrong”.
“Cruddas was effectively saying to the journalists that if they donated large sums to the Conservative Party, they would have an opportunity to influence government policy and to gain unfair commercial advantage through confidential meetings with the prime minister and other senior ministers,” the judgment said.
Commenting on Cruddas’s appointment, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: “From Dominic Cummings’s eye test to handing out contracts to their mates, it’s one rule for the Tories and their chums, another for the rest of us.”
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Boris Johnson cronyism latest - cash for access former Tory Party Treasurer appointed to the House of Lords.
From Dominic Cummings's eye test to handing out contracts to their mates it's one rule for the Tories and their chums, another for the rest of ushttps://t.co/mBgA0tyl8u — 🌈 Angela Rayner 🌈 (@AngelaRayner) December 22, 2020
In a letter to Lord Bew, chair of the appointments commission, Johnson justified Cruddas’s nomination by saying the former Tory treasurer had made “outstanding contributions” to charity and business since being caught up in the cash-for-access scandal.
The PM also insisted an internal Tory investigation “found that there had been no intentional wrongdoing” on the part of Cruddas, who was born in Hackney.
Johnson went on: “Cruddas was born without the advantages of many of those in the House of Lords and has gone on to become one of the country’s most successful business figures.
“His broad range of experiences and insights across the charitable, business and political sectors will, in my view, allow him to make a hugely valuable contribution.”
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Here is a full list of the peerages approved by the Queen on Tuesday:
Boris Johnson’s nominations:
Sir Richard Benyon – former Tory minister and MP for Newbury. Peter Cruddas. Dame Jacqueline Foster – formerly deputy leader of the Conservative Party in the European Parliament Stephanie Fraser – chief executive of Cerebral Palsy Scotland. Dean Godson – director of Policy Exchange. Daniel Hannan – formerly Tory MEP. Syed Kamall – formerly leader of the Conservative Party in the European Parliament.
Keir Starmer’s nominations:
Judith Blake – leader of Leeds City Council. Jenny Chapman – close ally and former Labour MP. Vernon Coaker – former minister and Labour MP. Wajid Khan – former Labour MEP. Gillian Merron – chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, former minister and former Labour MP.
Nominations for Crossbench Peerages:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--UK Records 744 More Covid Deaths In Highest Daily Rise Since April

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The UK has recorded 744 daily deaths following a positive coronavirus test, the highest number since April 29.
It brings the UK total to 69,051.
The last time the daily death toll rose above 700 was May 5 when 700 were recorded.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 85,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
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The government said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 39, 237 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, the highest figure reported on a single day throughout the whole pandemic.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 2,149,551.
Earlier on Wednesday it emerged that the R (reproduction) rate for Covid-19 had risen to 1.1-1.3, up on last week’s value which was 1.1-1.2.
R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect. If R is greater than 1, the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
The figure is highest in the East of England and in London, with an R value of 1.2 to 1.5, which means every 10 people infected will infect between 12 and 15 further people.
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In response to the worrying news about the Covid mutation, heavily referenced by the PM when cutting Covid rule relaxations on Saturday, health secretary Matt Hancock used a press conference on Wednesday to set out tougher restrictions for millions more people from Boxing Day.
Hancock also warned that a new variant of the virus, first identified in South Africa, had been found in the UK. Any traveller who has arrived into the UK from South Africa during the past two weeks has been ordered to self-isolate immediately.
Meanwhile, up to 10,000 lorries remain trapped in Kent following the closure of the border between the UK and France on Sunday night. French president Emmanuel Macron reopened the crossing on Tuesday night, but everyone passing through must be able to prove they do not have the virus with a valid PCR test.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--Our Obsession With 'New Year, New Me' Can Get In The Bin

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It’s the festive season, and a mental image appears in my brain. It’s me, sipping a green juice, towelling down the glistening sheen left on my muscled torso having just completed my latest marathon.
Imaginary me glares down at the real me lounging on the sofa eating pizza in pyjamas. He boldly declares that now is the time to get on with drinking less, eating better and getting fitter.
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“Bro, it’s a new year,” he’ll brashly declare. “New year, new you.” Recently, this apparition makes me vomit a little in my mouth.
The last time this happened, at the tail end of 2019, I was a month into a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. The “New Year, New Me” statement felt particularly poignant. We were heading into a new year, and I was a new me, but not one of my choosing.
Multiple Sclerosis is an unpredictable degenerative neurological condition, which can result in loss of cognitive function, mobility issues, balance and sensory problems, and a plethora of other symptoms. There are currently treatments to manage symptoms and slow progression, but no cure.
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As 2020 dawned, the mantra was running around my head like the music of an old fairground carousel, but one where the speakers have become warped to make the cheery music sound increasingly threatening and dangerous.
This was because the adage was correct. A new year could bring a new me, and that me might be unable to climb the stairs unassisted. Extreme, perhaps, but nevertheless, it isn’t the most hopeful way to approach a milestone.
“For those with degenerative conditions, it feels like a threat, and it is equally damaging for those who live with chronic illness.”
Now, over a year in to my diagnosis, and with a pandemic putting an end to much of my work, I have had a lot of time to think. It’s made me realise this tired motto can get in the bin. For those with degenerative conditions, it feels like a threat, and it is equally damaging for those who live with chronic illness.
Really, promising that we’ll transform ourselves every year is our brain’s way of telling us that the way we have existed for the past year is simply not good enough. That your life doesn’t live up to the image it’s trying to conjure of who you should be.
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There is of course nothing wrong with wanting to make changes in your life, and it is, in fact, an important thing to do. As we mature, grow and educate ourselves, it is good to make adjustments, create new mentalities, value new things. But a completely “new” you is an unnecessary and unrealistic aim.
In a way, “New Year, New Me”, is the ultimate form of procrastination. Anything that really needs change, and a change that’s likely to stick, needs doing pronto. “I will continue stealing my housemate’s milk for now because next year I will be better at buying my own.” Buy your own now, you cheapskate. “I really must eat less meat, it’s bad for the environment.” Sure thing, here’s a courgette and a recipe book. You can do these things as easily in any month of the year as you can in January.
So, as we hurtle toward 2021 and my brain fizzes with the phrase, I’m shutting it down immediately. In a year when the word “unprecedented” has been thrown around with, well, unprecedented commonality, we all deserve to be proud of ourselves. Unless you are stealing milk from your housemate.
Next year, I’ll continue to be proud of who I am, but aware of what I’d like to improve. At the core I will always be the same me: the one with MS, who loves to eat pizza so tries to stay fit but really could do better. The one whose friends tell him that his eyes are too close together. The one who should drink more water and less Irn Bru. I’ll try and work on a few things, but if I can’t then that’s fine. I’ll celebrate the person I am first and foremost, probably while demolishing a large pizza.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--Tier 4: Strictest Covid Rules Extended To Millions As Infection Rates Soar

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More of the east and south-east of England will enter the toughest tier 4 lockdown on Boxing Day, Matt Hancock has announced.
The health secretary said Covid-19 is spreading at a “dangerous rate” across large parts of the country and also revealed a new “concerning” and “more transmissible” variant from South Africa has been detected in the UK.
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The new areas that will be under the toughest restrictions are:
Sussex
Oxfordshire
Suffolk
Norfolk
Cambridgeshire
Those parts of Essex not yet in tier 4
Waverley in Surrey
Hampshire
Portsmouth
Southampton, with the exception of the New Forest
This means a total of 24m people will now be in tier 4, or 43% of the population of England.
Hancock told a press conference: “Just as we’ve got a tiered system in place that was able to control this virus, we’ve discovered a new more contagious virus, a variant that is spreading at a dangerous rate.”
He added: “Against this backdrop of rising infections, rising hospitalisations and rising numbers of people dying from coronavirus it is absolutely vital that we act.
“We simply cannot have the kind of Christmas that we all yearn for.”
PA Media
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Tier 4 means all non-essential shops, gyms and leisure facilities, hairdressers and salons, and hospitality venues will be closed. People are ordered to stay at home where possible.
Household mixing indoors is strictly prohibited and only one person can meet up with one other from a different household outdoors.
Travel is also restricted unless for essential work purposes, childcare or healthcare. Nobody can travel in or outside of tier 4 unless essential. No tier 4 resident can stay overnight away from their own home.
Areas being moved into tier 3 are:
Bristol
Gloucestershire
Somerset including the North Somerset council area
Swindon
The Isle of Wight
The New Forest
Northamptonshire
Cheshire
Warrington
Areas being moved into tier 2 are:
Cornwall
Herefordshire
The new tier 4 level was announced on Saturday and introduced the following day, after the detection of a mutant strain of coronavirus that was spreading more quickly in London and the south-east and east of England.
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Pedestrians walk past a "wear a face covering" message displayed outside Victoria station this week Barcroft Media via Getty Images
The challenge facing the government was underlined by official estimates showing the R rate, the average number of people someone with coronavirus infects, has increased to 1.1 to 1.3, up from 1.1 to 1.2 a week ago.
The number of new infections is growing by between 1% and 6% every day, up from 1% to 4% last week.
Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats advisory group (Nervtag), said he expected lockdown measures to help control the spread of the variant.
He told the committee on Wednesday: “Schools are now shut, we are in a near-lockdown situation across the country, contact rates are lower over Christmas.
“I expect, though I hesitate to make any sort of predictions, we will see a flattening of the curve in the next two weeks. We will see at least a slowing of growth.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--New Covid Variant From South Africa Detected In UK

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Another new strain of Covid-19 linked to South Africa has been detected in the UK, Matt Hancock has said.
The health secretary the “highly concerning” mutation was yet more infectious than the new strain recently discovered and that two cases had been discovered.
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Anyone who has been to South Africa must immediately quarantine and a travel ban has been introduced.
Speaking at the Downing Street briefing on Wednesday, Hancock said both cases of the new variant had been contacts of cases who had travelled to South Africa “over the past few weeks”.
He said: “This new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK.”
Hancock said Porton Down was analysing the new variant.
He added: “We are incredibly grateful to the South African government for the rigour of their science and the openness and the transparency with which they have rightly acted as we did when we discovered a new variant here.”
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A cyclist moves cycles past the Christmas lights on Oxford Street amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in London, Britain, November 19, 2020. REUTERS/Simon Dawson TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Simon Dawson / Reuters
More of the east and south-east of England will enter the toughest tier 4 lockdown on Boxing Day, Hancock also said.
Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, all of Essex, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire including Portsmouth and Southampton, excluding New Forest, will all be escalated to tier 4.
It means all non-essential shops, gyms and leisure facilities, hairdressers and salons, and hospitality venues will be closed. People are ordered to stay at home where possible.
Household mixing indoors is strictly prohibited and only one person can meet up with one other from a different household outdoors.
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Travel is also restricted unless for essential work purposes, childcare or healthcare. Nobody can travel in or outside of tier 4 unless essential. No tier 4 resident can stay overnight away from their own home.
Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire as well as Cheshire and Warrington will all be escalated to tier 3.
Cornwall and Herefordshire have seen sharply rising rates and will be added to tier 2, he said.
On Wednesday, the UK’s R rate rose once again rate has risen once again to between 1.1 and 1.3, from 1.1 to 1.2 the previous week.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--This Photo Of Penguins Cuddling Is Exactly What We Need To See Today

Tobias Baumgaertner
A picture of two penguins standing “flipper in flipper” has won a photography award. Tobias Baumgaertner won the Ocean Photography Awards’ community choice prize for the image, which was taken in St Kilda, Australia.
The photo of two little penguins, also known as fairy penguins, went viral after Mr Baumgaertner posted it on Instagram in March, claiming that the birds had both been widowed.
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“These two fairy penguins poised upon a rock overlooking the Melbourne skyline were standing there for hours, flipper in flipper,” Mr Baumgaertner wrote on Instagram.
“A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner, and apparently so did the younger male to the left.
“Since then they meet regularly, comforting each other and standing together for hours, watching the dancing lights of the nearby city.”
Nadia Aly’s picture of mobula rays was the overall winner (Nadia Aly/Ocean Photography Awards/PA)
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The overall winner of the competition, organised by Oceanographic Magazine, was Nadia Aly, who photographed mobula rays off the Baja California Sur in Mexico.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--‘Clusterf*ck Of Sh*thousery’ – 550 MPs Locked Out Of Crucial Covid Meeting

Covid Twitter
The government has been accused of a “clusterfuck of shithousery” after up to 550 MPs were locked out of a crucial Zoom call about Covid rules because it had reached its participant limit of 100.
Ministers and the deputy chief medical officer for England were set to virtually brief Parliament about the latest coronavirus developments, ahead of a press conference at 3pm on Wednesday.
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But a number of MPs tweeted to say they were locked out of the meeting. Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan tweeted: “Another example of government incompetence.
“I’ve tried to join but couldn’t because the Zoom meeting is at capacity.”
Another example of Government incompetence .
MPs were invited to a call with Health Minister @nadhimzahawi at 2:30 to discuss the latest COVID-19 data and measures.
I've tried to join but couldn't because the Zoom meeting is at capacity. pic.twitter.com/KAXxQ4JTMf — Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (@DrRosena) December 23, 2020
Labour MP Neil Coyle told HuffPost UK: “Inept is not a good enough word for this clusterfuck of shithousery.”
He later tweeted to say the meeting had also “ended without warning”.
Furious with this absolute shower. Can’t even run a zoom which just ended without warning too! https://t.co/GMvYYcKa5v — Neil Coyle (@coyleneil) December 23, 2020
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Another MP said: “Just an example of how utterly useless this government is – minister for logistics hosting a really important zoom re. vaccine roll out with Jonathan Van-Tam and used his own Zoom with 100 capacity!
“Cue furious MPs unable to get in with meeting cancelled and link being reissued. Couldn’t make it up!”
I managed to get in. Should count myself one of the lucky ones out of over possible 600 MPs trying to get onto a Zoom meeting with Ministers on vaccine roll out. Everything all about luck than planning at this moment🤞🏾✨ pic.twitter.com/M4YuQqKdcB — Apsana Begum MP (@ApsanaBegumMP) December 23, 2020
An unnamed MP got in touch with journalist Dan Bloom to say: “This is beyond dickheadery now...”
An MP stuck out of Zoom gets in touch... "This is beyond dickheadery now" — Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) December 23, 2020
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The new areas that will be under the toughest restrictions are:
Sussex
Oxfordshire
Suffolk
Norfolk
Cambridgeshire
Those parts of Essex not yet in tier 4
Waverley in Surrey
Hampshire
Portsmouth
Southampton, with the exception of the New Forest
He also revealed a further new, “more transmissible” and “concerning” variant of coronavirus had been detected in the UK after first being identified in South Africa.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--British Model Stella Tennant Has Died Suddenly, Aged 50

“Stella was a wonderful woman and an inspiration to us all. She will be greatly missed.”
Her family also asked for their “privacy to be respected”, adding that arrangements for Stella’s memorial service will be announced at a later date. No cause of death was given.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--A Boxing Day Lockdown Will Be Too Late

A Boxing Day Lockdown Will Be Too Late

At every stage, from the initial outbreak in the spring to the relapse in the autumn and the dithering over Christmas plans, the government has acted too slowly, writes Kit Yates. NurPhoto via Getty Images
Collating the figures for the weekly Independent SAGE Covid briefing, it became clear in the last week or two that something unusual was happening in the South East of England.
Despite tier two restrictions, which should have been enough to significantly slow the spread of the virus, London and the South East were seeing sustained and rapid rises.
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On top of this, across the country we were seeing rises in almost every local authority under tier two and the majority of local authorities under tier three. Something strange was going on.
We wondered whether these rises in cases might be attributable to changes in behaviour – people relaxing in the false sense of security provided by the government’s Christmas mixing plans, or letting their guards down in response to the good news of the vaccine roll out.
On Friday night when news of the suspected increased transmissibility of the B117 variant of the virus was broken – a variant which, according to The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) potentially transmits 70% more effectively than the variants we have been dealing with all year – the rapid rises in London and the South East started to make sense.
“Now is the time for Boris Johnson to be brave, to make unpopular decisions – in short, to lead. Now is the time to act. For many, Boxing day will be too late.”
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The situation is evolving rapidly. After convening an emergency meeting of the cabinet on Friday evening, the prime minister announced new tougher tier four restrictions for London and much of the South East, as well as tighter Christmas plans for the whole country.
Thousands fled London that evening to avoid the new tier four travel ban. On Monday, in a press conference convened to allay fears of the impact of UK travel bans to many European countries, Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance informed us that the new variant was “everywhere”.
So, why aren’t tougher measures being implemented to suppress the spread? Why are we waiting for areas in tiers one, two and three to level-up with the current tier four areas?
Yesterday saw the single highest number of reported cases ever across the UK, at nearly 37,000. More Covid deaths were announced yesterday in England, at 608, than at any point since April. With increases in death figures almost certainly locked in for the next few weeks – reflecting the recent rises in cases – these figures are only going to get worse.
“Although we are not 100% certain, all the evidence points towards B117 being a significantly more transmissible strain of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. Waiting for absolute certainty before taking action could be catastrophic.”
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In particular, tier two regions that border tier four regions are seeing extremely rapid rises in cases – significantly faster than those tier two regions which don’t border tier four. It is clear that the spread of the new variant has not been constrained to tier four regions.
Hospitals in many areas of the UK are already creaking under the strain – ambulances queueing to off-load patients, staff off sick, hospitals cancelling operations or only able to accept patients with life-threatening conditions.
With hospitalisation admissions rising rapidly in the South East and London, reflecting the rises in cases before the regions went into tier 4, hospitals face the very real possibility of becoming overwhelmed. Similar patterns are likely to be repeated in the other regions currently in tier two if nothing is done to slow the spread there.
Although we are not 100% certain, all the evidence points towards B117 being a significantly more transmissible strain of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. Waiting for absolute certainty before taking action could be catastrophic. We don’t need to see the rapid rises in cases in tier two regions turn into hospitalisations to know that the situation there will deteriorate rapidly, as it has done in the South East.
If there is one lesson we should have learned from our response to the pandemic so far, it is that fast decisive action always pays dividends. If ever there was a time for this government to be decisive this is it. With the virus spreading as fast as it is, even three days will make a huge difference.
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At every stage, from the initial outbreak in the spring to the relapse in the autumn and the dithering over Christmas plans, the government has acted too slowly. Now is the time for Boris Johnson to be brave, to make unpopular decisions – in short, to lead. Now is the time to act. For many, Boxing day will be too late.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--Live: Matt Hancock Gives Press Conference As R Number Rises In Britain


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-12-23--Explicit Song Branding Boris Johnson A 'F***ing C***' On Course For Christmas Top 10

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An explicit song branding Boris Johnson a “fucking c***” has become a late entrant into the race for this year’s Christmas number one.
The K**ts’ imaginatively-titled song Boris Johnson Is A F***ing C*** has officially cracked the festive top 10, according to the Official Charts Company’s latest update.
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Currently at number six, the track sees the Essex-based punk group repeating the title phrase for the duration of the minute-long song.
Radio 1′s Chart Update presenter Katie Thistleton said last week that the song would not be played during the day on the station, due to having “so many bad words in it”.
Boris Johnson Tolga Akmen - PA Images via Getty Images
Having been endorsed by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker and former Sex Pistols musician Glen Matlock, the track is presently the UK’s second most-downloaded song.
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However, while the song has surged in popularity in recent days, it’s still a long way behind frontrunner LadBaby.
The sausage roll-loving husband-and-wife duo are still on track to land their third Christmas number one in a row, with their song Don’t Stop Me Eatin’, a parody of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.
As with their previous two chart-topping songs, proceeds from Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ are going towards the food bank charity The Trussell Trust.
LadBaby pictured earlier this year PinPep/Shutterstock
Mariah Carey and Wham!’s festive classics All I Want For Christmas Is You and Last Christmas look set to occupy the number two and three spots this year, while Jess Glynne’s new cover of This Christmas is now at number four.
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At the time of writing, Ed Sheeran’s surprise song Afterglow is at number 44, though this is “expected to climb further” before the 2020 Christmas number one is revealed on Friday afternoon.