thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--12 Common Words And Phrases With Racist Origins Or Connotations

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We know the English language is chock-full of words that are racist ― words that are fireable offences in the workplace, words that we’d be rightfully shunned for saying out loud.
But racism is so deeply ingrained in society, even some of our seemingly innocuous, everyday language is marred by prejudiced ideas.
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“Stories are made up of words, but words are also made up of stories, and not all of those stories are happy ones,” Sadie Ryan, host of the language podcast Accentricity, told HuffPost.
“Our cities are still full of monuments and street names that glorify slavery, and you could easily walk past these every day without knowing or thinking about what they reference,” she said. “Our language is just the same.”
As anti-apartheid and human rights activist Desmond Tutu put it: “Language is very powerful. Language does not describe reality. Language creates the reality that it describes.”
Obviously, calls to end policy brutality and address institutionalised racism are paramount when we talk about righting racial wrongs. Language may seem like a superficial fix. But the fight for a more inclusive, racially aware language is also important. We bear responsibility to study our words and consider how they shape our thoughts and actions, and how they might demean and exclude others.
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With that in mind, and with the help of linguists and other language experts, we decided to look at the history of some English words and phrases you may not realise have racist roots or undertones. Our one rule for inclusion on the list? Members of the minority group they allude to or directly reference must have said they found the terms problematic. Naturally, there will be those who object and dismiss any list like this as “politically correct” or “going too far” ― woke culture gone amok.
“There’s usually protests that the words are being used without malice and that nobody cares anymore about their hidden origins,” said Tony Thorne, a lexicographer and language consultant at King’s College London. “And it’s true that some of these words are memorable, colourful, and useful parts of our mental furniture and cultural landscape.”
But for those who object, Thorne thinks it’s important to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that “obviously racist, sexist and bigoted and prejudicial epithets (the n-word, the f-word for gay men) were heard all over the Western world.”
In working to be anti-racist with our language, it’s not about being “perfect” ― it’s about being accountable and responding with humility when others object.
“Feminism, LGBT activism and anti-racism have made great progress in outing those terms and shaming their users, but we can go further,” Thorne said. “Telling the fascinating stories of words and tracing their evolution as they morph through different communities and take on different subtleties and senses can be a great corrective.”
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Now for the list:
1. “Peanut Gallery”
If kids at school start to get chatty in their seats, the teacher might shout, “Quiet in the peanut gallery!” If someone is giving unsolicited advice in the comment section online or heckling in a theatre, we might dismiss them as just complaints from the peanut gallery.
It’s a colourful phrase ― and one that journalist Jeremy Helligar pointed out in Reader’s Digest has “the fingerprints of Jim Crow and segregation” all over it.
The “peanut gallery” was once used to refer to people — mostly Black people — who were sitting in the cheap seats in vaudeville theatres and would throw peanuts on stage if they didn’t like a performance rather than throwing tomatoes. (Yes, throwing foodstuff on stage was once a thing. The first noted reference to throwing tomatoes after a bad performance came in an 1883 New York Times article describing actor John Ritchie being pelted with tomatoes and rotten eggs by the audience. “[A] large tomato thrown from the gallery struck him square between the eyes and he fell to the stage floor just as several bad eggs dropped upon his head.” Tough crowd.)
Some hold that “the peanut gallery” is more of a classist disparagement than anything else ― but others say there’s a racist implication.
“The ‘peanut gallery’ was the cheapest and worst part of the theatre, and the only option for Black attendees,” the National Urban League said of the phrase in 2018. “No one wanted to sit in the peanut gallery and today, no one wants to hear from the peanut gallery.”
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Did you know the phrase 'peanut gallery' has racist origins?
It was the cheapest and worst part of the theater, and the only option for Black attendees. No one wanted to sit in the peanut gallery and today, no one wants to hear from the peanut gallery. #RewriteBHM #BHM pic.twitter.com/vwHHHWLeVP — Nat'l Urban League (@NatUrbanLeague) February 13, 2018
2. “Grandfathered In” or “Grandfather Clause”
If a longtime customer is “grandfathered in,” it means they’re exempt from any new (typically more stringent) requirements or fees a company establishes. (For instance, “I’m grandfathered in to a really sweet Hulu deal from a partnership they did a few months back with Spotify.”) A “grandfather clause” exempts certain people or groups from the requirements of a piece of legislation affecting their rights, privileges or practices.
The phrase has a racially charged history: Its origins go back to post-Civil War attempts to undercut the voting power of newly free Black people by creating strict requirements for new voters, including literacy tests, that did not apply to the descendants of those who voted prior to (usually) 1867. On paper, these rules didn’t discriminate, but in practice, everybody understood how they would work: It was white people, by and large, who were “grandfathered in” to vote.
“Because of the 15th Amendment, you can’t pass laws saying blacks can’t vote, which is what they wanted to do,” Eric Foner, a Columbia University historian, told NPR in 2013. “But the 15th Amendment allowed restrictions that were nonracial. This was pretty prima facie a way to allow whites to vote, and not blacks.”
3. “Gyp,” “Gypped,” “Jip” and “Jipped”
When we feel shortchanged, cheated or swindled, we might say we’re been “gypped” out of something. This one is racist because it’s tied to the term “gypsy,” an offensive term used to refer to the Romani people, who’ve long faced discrimination because of their darker skin and were even enslaved in some parts of Europe.
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Sweeping laws against the Romani people were widespread in many European countries. For instance, in Britain, a 1530 law banned Romani people from entering the country and forced those already living there to leave within 16 days.
“Fifteen years later, a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire declared ‘whoever kills a gypsy, will be guilty of no murder,’ leading to a killing spree so severe the empire was forced to issue a caveat that citizens were not allowed to drown women and children,” Kitty Wenham-Ross wrote in Foreign Policy.
4. “Uppity”
If a Black school superintendent says something critical about a certain department’s performance, a white teacher might call the superintendent “uppity” behind her back. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were repeatedly called “uppity” during his administration.
These days, those who use the term to describe Black people will usually claim ignorance of its racial overtones and say they simply meant haughty or elitist, as then-Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland did when he used the word to describe the Obamas in 2008.
But the term is more historically loaded than any of its synonyms, said thandiwe Dee Watts-Jones, a psychologist and social justice advocate who writes about race.
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“It’s used to disparage a Black person who does not know his or her place,” she said. “‘Uppity’ is a term used by White people to refer to Black people who have the audacity to think well of themselves, to assert unapologetically an opinion that may be outside a white person’s comfort zone or thinking.”
Left: Gilbert Carrasquillo via Getty Images. Right: Ethan Miller via Getty Images In 2014, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said NASCAR fans booed Michelle Obama for her "uppity-ism."
5. “Articulate”
There are words that don’t necessarily have etymologies that are racist, but they’re used in a racist manner nonetheless. “Articulate” is one of them, said Megan Figueroa, a linguist and co-host of The Vocal Fries podcast about linguistic discrimination. Consider “articulate” the slightly less racist, but still cut-from-the-same-cloth cousin of “uppity.” To call a Black person articulate or “well-spoken” is to suggest that you expect the opposite to be true.
“When a non-Black person says to a Black person, ‘You are so articulate!’ what you are saying is that you are surprised they have a certain set of ‘acceptable’ linguistic skills, and here, ‘acceptable’ equates to ‘sounds white,’” Figueroa said. “This upholds the racist idea that the only way for Black people to be taken seriously is to sound white, when linguistically speaking, both ways of speaking are equally good.”
6. “Spirit Animal”
These days, “spirit animal” is almost a term of endearment, a phrase used colloquially to describe any person or thing the speaker deeply relates to or loves. “Plankton from ‘SpongeBob’ is my spirit animal.” “Rihanna is my spirit animal.”
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For many Indigenous people, though, the phrase refers to spirits who “help guide or protect a person on a journey and whose characteristics that person shares or embodies,” per Dictionary.com.
Critics call casual usage of the term by non-Natives cultural appropriation.
“There are terms like ‘spirit animal’ which denote something positive, intimate, universally attractive and don’t seem to denigrate the original owners of the term — but the acid test is not to make that judgment ourselves but to ask, in this case Native Americans, what they think,” Thorne said.
“Nearly always they will say they don’t feel comfortable with the casual cultural appropriation,” he said.
To return to Rihanna, the singer actually provided a great case study in how to learn from misusing a phrase like “spirit animal.” Last year on Instagram, she referred to her choreographer Parris Goebel as her “spirit animal.” A follower promptly called her out: “Please stop using ‘spirit animal’ unless you belong to one of the indigenous groups to which this concept belongs.” Rather than taking offense at being criticised, Rihanna owned up to her mistake and promised to do better.
“You’re so right! It won’t happen again,” she said.
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7. “Paddy Wagon”
“Paddy wagon” has been called the last surviving Irish American slur. Indeed, we might have forgotten about it had President Donald Trump not used it a few years back while disparaging another ethnic group: Mexicans.
Speaking at a Republican rally in June 2018, Trump railed against undocumented immigrants and claimed that his administration was rounding up MS-13 gang members, putting them in “paddy wagons” to “get ’em the hell out of our country.”
Irish journalist Dermot McEvoy criticised Trump for using the epithet and gave an overview of its history:
The term “Paddy Wagon” goes back to the 19th century when Irish immigrants, refugees from the Great Famine, flooded the cities of the northeastern U.S. The rowdy, hated Catholic Irish, as the poor frequently do, liked to steal, drink and fight. This behaviour usually caused them to be arrested and carted away in Black Marias. Soon the Marias had a new name—Paddy Wagons! The history of pejoratives for the Irish is colourful—and racist. There were all kinds of epithets aimed at the Irish.
8. “Long Time No See” and “No Can Do”
If it’s been a minute since you’ve seen a friend, you might say, “Long time no see.” If your mom asks you to get a list of chores done by the end of the day and it’s already 6 p.m., you might playfully answer, “Ha, no can do.”
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The history of the phrases isn’t innocent, though. “No can do” originally emerged in the 19th century to mocked Chinese immigrants’ speech patterns in English. (“Pidgin English,” as it was called.)
As for “long time no see,” it’s debated whether the phrase originally mimicked and denigrated Chinese or Native American speech patterns.
9. “Sold Down The River”
The phrase “sold down the river” means to be betrayed to a huge degree. The origin lies in one of the horrors of the American slave system: Those who were “sold down the river” were enslaved people, separated from their families in most cases, and transported via the Mississippi or Ohio river to cotton plantations in states further south.
In his 2010 history “Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild,” journalist Lee Sandlin wrote, “The threat of being ‘sold down the river’ was seen as tantamount to a death sentence.”
Hulton Archive via Getty Images A poster for a January 1850 auction of 90 enslaved people.
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10. “Blacklist,” “Blackball,” “Black Mark,” and on and on.
The symbolism of white as positive and black as negative is pervasive in our culture. Watts-Jones has highlighted many terms with negative meanings that reference blackness. In the English language, she wrote in 2004, colour is “related to extortion (blackmail), disrepute (black mark), rejection (blackball), banishment (blacklist), impurity (‘not the driven snow’) and illicitness (black market).”
“The Black power movement brought front and centre the way the term ‘black’ is used with rare exception to convey a derogatory, devalued meaning,” she told HuffPost. “The meaning of these phrases is always something undesirable — evil, depression, gloomy, immoral.”
11. “Off The Reservation”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “off the reservation” as a metaphor meaning “to deviate from what is expected or customary; to behave unexpectedly or independently.”
Hillary Clinton was criticised for using it in the run-up to the 2016 election ― and for good reason. The phrase is rooted in the forced relocation of Native Americans. In the 19th century, it referred to Native Americans leaving the reservation land to which they had been confined.
Rob Capriccioso, a citizen of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for Indian Country Today, explained why the phrase is so frustrating in a 2014 interview with NPR’s “Code Switch”:
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I bristle when I hear the phrase because many of the people who use it nonchalantly have likely never thought about its origin, nor have they probably ever visited a reservation. It’s not about political correctness, either. It’s about helping the majority realise that there is a minority point of view that holds weight that the majority is giving too little credence. To me, there are indeed many more offensive words involving American Indians than this phrase — including the name of the Washington football team. But I believe it is the common use of phrases like “off the reservation” that allows people to end up being comfortable going further — to the point of using a slur to name a football team that supposedly honours Indians, but not realising that it is actually a slur.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--If The Government Is Serious About 'Building Back Better', Rishi Sunak Must Invest In Care

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“Build back better,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson in last Tuesday’s speech, as he made bold claims of a New Deal to “build, build, build” to stimulate the economy and “level up”.
But what did the speech really offer, beyond the alliterative slogans?
Economists and commentators across the board agree the much-vaunted stimulus package is paltry. There’s not much “new money” here: the £5 billion on infrastructure and £12 billion on “affordable homes” had already been budgeted in March and were simply re-announced. At the same time, the speech failed to acknowledge structural barriers that prevent groups disadvantaged by gender, ethnicity, class, disabilities and age from achieving substantive equality.
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Crucially, Johnson barely mentioned the simple word which could “turbocharge” (to coin his phrase) his levelling up agenda – and that word is “care”. Investing in care provision is absolutely crucial if the government is truly determined to reduce inequality in our society.
Midsection Of Doctor Consoling Patient In Hospital Sasirin Pamai / EyeEm via Getty Images
And yet, Johnson’s speech postponed yet again a plan for social care. Build, build, build was the clarion call – with investment focused on physical infrastructure and construction. This is in spite of the fact that research for the Women’s Budget Group Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy shows investing net 2.7% GDP in the care sector would generate 2.7 times the number of jobs as the same investment in construction. That economic boost takes into account not only direct employment in the sector, but also indirect employment in the supply chain, as well as induced employment across consumer goods sectors as newly employed care workers spend their wages.
The chancellor could make a start in his summer economic update today by providing substantial new funding to local authorities to invest in care. This should be used to ensure that better wages are paid to care workers. Currently wages in the care sector are so low that, prior to the pandemic, there were 122,000 unfilled vacancies in social care. If care wages were raised to the level of those in construction, then investing 1% of GDP in care would still generate 1.6 more jobs than if it were invested in construction. What’s more, with higher wages, care jobs would be better jobs – ones that are more likely to be of interest to women, and indeed to men, who will lose jobs in retail, hospitality and travel.
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Since the government is determined to build, the chancellor must also take steps to encourage women’s participation in construction, an industry in which the vast majority of workers are men. After all, unless there is a determined effort to include more women in programmes of skill development for the building and construction industry, then all this talk of job creation in the sector will do nothing to offset widening gender inequalities in the labour market. We know the chancellor is expected to announce new investment in apprenticeships in his summer economic update. He should target some of this to address the huge gender gaps in apprenticeships, with research for the Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy showing that women are 84% of those on health and social care apprenticeships and 93% of those on childcare apprenticeships, while men are 97% of those on construction apprenticeships.
Investment in creating new construction training opportunities for women can go hand in hand with building a greener future. Let’s get women working in converting homes to become more energy efficient, for example. Is it time to swap World War Two’s iconic feminist symbol Rosie the Riveter with Rosie the Insulator?
Of course, the “Build, Build, Build” slogan did cover commitments to building more affordable housing. But research for the Women’s Budget Group Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy has identified how even this so-called affordable housing is out of reach to most women.
“The most effective way to create more jobs quickly is investment in care: putting a greater value on care work and expanding care provision.”
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In fact, this research has shown that no region in England has affordable rents for women on median wages (when affordability is measured on rents taking less than a third of monthly income), whereas for men on median wages every region is affordable except London. Women are similarly disadvantaged in buying property: the median home in England costs over 12 times women’s median salary, compared to eight times for men.
Not only is this unfair on a basic equality level, but the ways in which women are priced out of housing means they are more vulnerable to homelessness, and at risk of being trapped in abusive relationships. Where’s the New Deal for a woman struggling to find a home of her own?
Building back better and levelling up requires an ambitious programme of investment in social housing (i.e. housing with rents at around 50-60% of market rates), not simply affordable homes (80% of market rate), together with proactive initiatives to get more women working in building them.
But the most effective way to create more jobs quickly is investment in care: putting a greater value on care work and expanding care provision. This has far more transformative power than powering up the cement mixer and bulldozer. If the government is truly serious about keeping its electoral promises, they have to start recognising that building back better and levelling up requires an ambitious programme of investment in care.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Hamilton Slavery Criticisms Are 'Valid', Says Musical's Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda

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Following the recent Disney+ release of Hamilton, history has its eyes on Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The historically inspired hip-hop musical from Miranda, who is of Puerto Rican descent, has been praised for its diverse cast, which gives all of its most prominent roles to people of colour.
However, amid a year marked by protests over police brutality and racial injustice, the film version debuted to a nuanced response on social media, with critics questioning how a show about people who owned slaves just brushes past that fact.
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Now, Miranda is responding.
Tracy Clayton, writer and host of Netflix’s Strong Black Legends podcast, expounded on the criticism in several tweets, noting that the Broadway musical, which debuted in 2015, and the filmed Disney + release were “given to us in two different worlds.”
“Our willingness to interrogate things in this way feels like a clear sign of change,” Clayton wrote, noting in another tweet that “frustration” over “a play about slaveholders that is not about slavery” is understandable, and that the conversation deserves nuance.
im late w the hamilton criticism stuff & im clearly biased but.. i really like that this conversation is happening. hamilton the play and the movie were given to us in two different worlds & our willingness to interrogate things in this way feels like a clear sign of change — tracy clayton aka CHUBBA BEEF (@brokeymcpoverty) July 5, 2020
i totally get the frustration about it being a play about slaveholders that is not about slavery. ive felt that in lots of things i watch, but i flex the same muscle i use when i listen to hip hop as a black woman. we enjoy problematic things all the time — tracy clayton aka CHUBBA BEEF (@brokeymcpoverty) July 5, 2020
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Addressing Clayton’s tweets, Miranda wrote that “all the criticisms are valid.”
“The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It’s all fair game,” Miranda said.
Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It’s all fair game. https://t.co/mjhU8sXS1U — Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 6, 2020
Slavery isn’t ignored in Hamilton. For instance, Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton notably brings it up during a cabinet battle against Thomas Jefferson, rapping, “A civics lesson from a slaver, hey neighbour. Your debts are paid ’cause you don’t pay for labour. ‘We plant seeds in the South. We create.’ Yeah, keep ranting. We know who’s really doing the planting.”
However, it is drastically understated. Historian Lyra Monteiro told Slate in 2016 that the production uses Founders Chic, which portrays America’s founding fathers as “relatable, cool guys” but tends to downplay their roles in upholding slavery.
“Washington’s ownership of slaves isn’t mentioned at all. He’s this perfect father figure and he has nothing to do with slavery. Even though he was as embedded in slavery, of course, as Jefferson was,” Monteiro said.
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Hamilton was originally going to address slavery more, but Miranda revealed to Rolling Stone in 2016 that a rap battle between Hamilton, Jefferson and James Madison on the subject was cut:
In the end, no one does anything. Which is what happened in reality! So we realised we were bringing our show to a halt on something that none of them really did enough on.
Tweeting her thoughts on the Hamilton criticism, director Ava DuVernay wrote that though slavery isn’t central to the story, it’s not ignored.
“I greatly enjoyed the work and was wildly curious after watching. I wouldn’t have studied any of those ‘founders’ like I did if it wasn’t for #Hamilton and @Lin_Manuel,” DuVernay wrote.
Slavery is not central, for sure. But he didn’t deny or ignore it either. He made his choices about it. I greatly enjoyed the work and was wildly curious after watching. I wouldn’t have studied any of those “founders” like I did if it wasn’t for #Hamilton and @Lin_Manuel. https://t.co/sBwBQYUi1s — Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 3, 2020
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Talking to NPR last month, Miranda said he was heartened by Hamilton lyrics being used on signs in anti-racism protests and spoke about all the characters in the musical being complicit in slavery.
“Hamilton — although he voiced anti-slavery beliefs — remained complicit in the system,” Miranda said. “And other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy with regards to slavery in Act 2, doesn’t really say much else over the course of Act 2.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Scrap The Vouchers – It's Time To Roll Out A Universal Basic Income

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Vouchers are all the rage. We’ll get some for home insulation. We’ll get them for groceries and free school meals – over the summer at least. And now we could each get a £500 voucher to spend in selected high street stores.
They are of course nothing new. Businesses promote them at Christmas. Asylum seekers got them (until they were scrapped for being dehumanising). They are a way of maintaining loyalty and control. A way of directing our behaviour – and for the government, often the behaviour of the poorest. It is no surprise then that they have made a comeback as the government tries to steer us all out of the biggest economic crisis we have seen for generations.
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The idea that we each get £500 to spend in certain types of high street stores is an attempt to get consumption going again – and firmly focused on high street retail. But in so doing it overlooks the fundamental question about who the economy is for – something that will be highlighted all too clearly if vouchers can indeed only be used “face to face” and not online. This would clearly discriminate against the disabled or those who need to shield at home – particularly in the event of a second wave.
“The intervention of the government through the furlough scheme has opened many people’s eyes further to what might actually be possible.”
As such, these vouchers are based on the same desperate thinking that we saw in the financial crisis of 2008. That we must keep spending and consume our way out of an emergency – regardless of whether that consumption is what we want, or even meets our needs.
Instead of vouchers let’s give people cash. More choice. More control. We can spend it if we need to. We can save it if we want to. The main argument against only seems to be that cash for everyone would boost the bank balances of the richest. But of course it doesn’t have to be this way, if it is accompanied by wealth redistribution.
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We have long argued for a Universal Basic Income. An unconditional regular cash payment to everyone to do what they want with. But clawed back from the rich through taxing their wealth and clamping down on avoidance and evasion. It could also be funded by a carbon tax on the pollution and environmental destruction that threatens our future – changing patterns of consumption because the good stuff we consume would be cheaper than the bad stuff.
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak ASSOCIATED PRESS
We have advocated it for years, not just because it empowers and tackles inequality but because it would provide real security for everyone. It would keep us all safe as we make the fundamental changes that we must make to our economy in the face of the climate emergency. Replacing millions of old jobs in the outdated fossil fuel economy, with new low carbon ones through a Green New Deal.
It is only in the last few years that the idea has gained traction. The intervention of the government through the furlough scheme has opened many people’s eyes further to what might actually be possible. A basic income, with top ups for the disabled and others who need additional support, is an idea whose time has surely come.
A basic income should be the new 21 Century welfare state. Simple, transparent and empowering. The reason why our existing welfare state is in such a mess, and even ends up killing the very people it should be supporting is because of the desire of successive governments to try and maintain the economic system by controlling our behaviour. This is exactly the same thinking that lies behind vouchers, and it’s time we moved to a more empowering model.
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The economic system at the moment isn’t just about producing what we need. Like a vampire sucking us dry, it is about consuming as much as it can. It needs people to go out and work and create stuff for people to buy whether they need it or not. And it needs people to work so that they can earn wages to buy the stuff, whether they need it or not.
We need to make the links. This is why we have benefit sanctions and conditionality to force us out to paid work whether it suits us or not. It is why unpaid work is at best devalued, at worst simply not recognised or even penalised by the economy or the benefit system. It is why the government is gambling so recklessly with lifting lockdown so quickly. It is why we face a climate and ecological emergency. And it is why, if the scientists are to be believed, we may see more pandemics like Covid-19.
Vouchers are part of the problem not a solution. They perpetuate an old system which is simply unsustainable. They are about a return to business as usual, not reimagining a better world. A basic income, as well as putting cash in our pockets, would allow us to break free from our addiction to the old economy and bring about the system change we need so we no longer lurch from one crisis to the next.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Free Hospital Parking For NHS Staff Set To Be Scrapped As Coronavirus Pandemic Eases

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Free hospital parking for NHS staff in England will end once the coronavirus pandemic begins to ease, the government has announced.
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Doctors, nurses, carers and support staff have been allowed to park at their workplace for free since March, after more than 400,000 people signed a petition calling for the government to cover parking costs.
However the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said free parking will continue only for “key patient groups and NHS staff in certain circumstances” as the pandemic eases.
Health minister Edward Argar said last week the support to make free parking available “cannot continue indefinitely”, adding the government was looking into how long the system would “need” to go on.
In response to a written question from Labour MP Rachael Maskell, he said: “The provision of free parking for National Health Service staff by NHS Trusts has not ended and nothing has changed since the announcement on March 25.
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“However, free parking for staff has only been made possible by support from local authorities and independent providers and this support cannot continue indefinitely.”
He said the government wanted to fulfill its election manifesto promise to offer free hospital parking for the disabled, frequent outpatient attendees, parents of sick children who are staying overnight and nightshift workers.
These plans, originally due to start in April, will not come fully into effect until January 2021.
“Implementation of this commitment has been on hold whilst the NHS has been managing the Covid-19 pandemic and devoting its hospital parking capacity to staff and other facilities necessary for managing the pandemic,” he continued.
Responding to a separate question from Labour’s Zarah Sultana, Argar said the government was “considering how long free parking for National Health Service staff will need to continue, recognising that this has only been made possible by external support from local authorities and independent sector providers”.
He added: “The government’s focus remains on ensuring the commitment of free parking for the groups identified in their announcement of December 27 2019 is implemented once the pandemic abates.”
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There are no parking fees at hospitals in Wales and most Scottish institutions.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said reintroducing parking charges for medical staff would be “a rebuff to the immense efforts of staff across the country and the sacrifices they have made to keep others safe”.
BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: “The BMA has always believed that it is unacceptable for staff who serve in our health service to be required to pay significant amounts of money to park their car in hospital grounds. This is even more salient as the nation recognises the immeasurable contribution of healthcare workers in fighting this pandemic.
“The government’s decision to waive parking charges during Covid-19 was a welcome announcement, but to reinforce them, before we’ve even won the fight against this virus, is a rebuff to the immense efforts of staff across the country and the sacrifices they have made to keep others safe.”
A DHSC spokesperson said: “We want to make sure NHS staff can travel safely to work during the pandemic, which is why we requested that the NHS make parking free for staff, and that local authorities do the same with their car parks.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Thandie Newton Reveals 'Scary' Experience Working With 'Dominant Individual' Tom Cruise

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Thandie Newton has shared what it was like working alongside Tom Cruise, calling the action star “a very dominant individual.”
In a new interview with Vulture, the British actor divulged what it felt like on the set of 2000′s Mission: Impossible 2.
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“I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual. He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done,” Thandie said.
Cast members of the film, Mission: Impossible 2, from left, Ving Rhames, Tom Cruise, Thandie Newton and Dougray Scott, prior to the premiere in Hollywood on May 18, 2000. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The actor went on to tell the story of a scene shot in Spain in which the Hollywood star got frustrated with her and offered an “unhelpful” way of fixing what was wrong.
“Tom was not happy with what I was doing because I had the shittiest lines,” she said. “And he gets so frustrated with having to try and explain that he goes, ‘Let me just — let’s just go do it. Let’s just rehearse on-camera.’
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“So we rehearsed and they recorded it, and then he goes, ‘I’ll be you. You be me.’ So we filmed the entire scene with me being him — because, believe me, I knew the lines by then — and him playing me. And it was the most unhelpful … I can’t think of anything less revealing. It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest.”
Thandie Newton SIPA USA/PA Images
Thandie also told a bizarre anecdote about how fast the action star developed a zit on his nose during the filming.
“I remember at the beginning of the night, seeing this slight red mark on his nose, and by the end of the night, I kid you not — this is how his metabolism is so fierce — he had a big whitehead where that red dot was,” she said.
“It would take anyone else 48 hours to manifest a zit. I saw it growing, and it was like the zit was me, just getting bigger and bigger.”
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Of her overall experience with Tom, Thandie said: “He wasn’t horrible. It was just — he was really stressed.”
She credited his wife at the time, Nicole Kidman, for helping her get the role.
Tom Cruise, Thandie Newton and Russelll Crowe arrive for the premiere of Mission: Impossible 2 at the Empire cinema Leicester Square, central London. Michael Crabtree - PA Images via Getty Images
Thandie also revealed that Tom shared his Scientology religious beliefs with her.
“He was very generous and open about sharing Scientological stuff,” she said. “Christmas gifts would be something to do with Scientology,” including “a book with the greatest hits of Scientology, a bit like a Bible kind of thing.”
“I was curious, because it’s like, Wow, if it’s going to attract people, powerful, high-profile people, there’s got to be some glue that sticks this shit together. Didn’t find any,” she said, according to Vulture.
Thandie previously talked about working opposite Tom in an interview with Time, telling a funny story about breaking the ice with him with a joke about “bums and farts.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Anti-Racism Campaigners Told School Curriculum Is 'Already Incredibly Diverse'

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The government has responded to calls for colonial and Black British history to be taught in schools by claiming the curriculum is “already incredibly diverse.”
Campaign group The Black Curriculum said a request to meet face-to-face with education secretary Gavin Williamson had been rejected on the basis that the current syllabus “as a framework is broad, balanced and flexible”.
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The group, which aims to redress the “whitewashing” of education, said the government’s response was “disappointing” but told HuffPost UK it later received a “more positive” response from schools minister Nick Gibb and is hoping to arrange a meeting.
A separate petition signed by more than 250,000 people calling on the government to teach Britain’s colonial past as part of the compulsory curriculum has also been dismissed.
The organisation behind it, The Impact of Omission, said the response was “so superficial it borders on insulting”.
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A spokesperson from the Department of Education told HuffPost UK: “Racism in all its forms is abhorrent and has no place in our society and schools play a crucial role in helping young people understand the world around them and their place within it.
“The curriculum in our schools is already incredibly diverse and offers pupils access to different Black History topics across all key stages, teaching children about significant figures from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds to help them learn about our shared history with countries from across the world.”
So the government has responded to our petition, “Teach Britain’s colonial past as part of the UK’s compulsory curriculum” with a statement that is so superficial it borders on insulting. Here’s how you can help us refute this: pic.twitter.com/p2WiepyUxQ — IMPACT OF OMISSION (@impactomission) July 5, 2020
As the Black Lives Matter movement has gained global traction in the aftermath of the US police killing of George Floyd, in Britain the focus has been directed towards how children are being educated about racism.
An increasing number of people have questioned whether the school curriculum accurately depicts Britain’s colonial and imperial past, or reflects the achievements and contributions of Black people.
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Led by Lavinya Stennett, the Black Curriculum campaigns for a syllabus that incorporates Black British history across a range of different subject areas including politics, migration and art history.
The group previously sent an open letter to Williamson urging the government to make the teaching of Black history compulsory in England through primary and secondary school.
“Thousands of us, the British voting public, are grief-stricken and concerned about the existing status quo in the UK, which disregards the lives and contributions of Black British people,” the letter said.
“Despite numerous calls over the years to reform the national curriculum to incorporate Black histories, these requests have been denied.
“Learning Black history should not be a choice but should be mandatory. Our curriculum should not be reinforcing the message that a sizeable part of the British population are not valued.”
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Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone called the government’s response “incredibly disheartening”.
“Decolonising the curriculum is a necessary step to building a more inclusive country and a great way for the UK Government to teach children of all ages that Black lives matter,” he told HuffPost UK.
Supporters of the Rhodes Must Fall group take part in a protest calling for the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, in Oxford. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The teachers’ union said it was also concerned students were not being taught enough about the contributions of Black people in the country’s history.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union said it was “vital” the government acts to ensure the curriculum was more inclusive to “challenge the deeply entrenched stereotypes around race that limit opportunities for the next generation”.
“We share the concern that the current curriculum does not do nearly enough to include global Black history and the history of Black Britain,” she told HuffPost UK.
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“This lets down Black students, but it also lets down all British students because they too need to learn about how Black people helped build this country.”
Black secondary school teacher Albert Adeyemi said not including Black British history in the curriculum has “failed many students” and has presented “false pictures of British history”.
“Representation matters,” he told HuffPost UK.
“At present the resonating image of Black people in history is slavery. The inclusion of Black history isn’t simply Black history, it is British history providing a more broader understanding for all students in Britain as a whole – it’s full history, it’s growth, how Black people and other ethnicities supported its development.”
Adeyemi, who runs a network promoting diverse and inclusive education, said the government refusal to meet with the Black Curriculum “speaks volumes”.
Although some schools were doing “great work” to promote diversity, he said this was a “minority” and that decolonising the curriculum “can’t be left up to individuals schools.”
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“An open and honest curriculum is needed to educate pupils,” he added.
James Mosley, who works at a secondary school in Poole, Dorset, said the current curriculum only acted as a “starting point” for history teachers like himself.
“The national curriculum gives topic headings that schools need to cover but teachers can approach it how they believe will be beneficial for their students,” he told HuffPost UK.
An imitation street sign that says 'Teach Colonial History' which has been erected in Dundas Street, Edinburgh, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests across the UK. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images) Andrew Milligan - PA Images via Getty Images
Because the national curriculum does not apply to academies, Mosley argues it is the exam boards who should be ensuring students are being taught a history that is “more representative including the voices and stories of women, people of colour and different sexualities.”
Labour MP Kim Johnson said she would be raising the Black Curriculum’s calls to the education select committee and called on the government to “listen to our voices, hear our stories and let us ensure we are educating our future generations in our history in all its diversity”.
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“The contribution of Black people to this country, to our society, has been there for hundreds of years but if our history is taught it focuses largely on the slave trade,” she said.
“Rarely do we learn about the Black rebels and oppositionists such as Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass or Toussaint Louverture. Who leaves school knowing that the first Black Lord Mayor in England was John Archer, or about the role Mary Seacole played in the Crimean War? Not forgetting the role Black service men and women played in the Second World War.”
Model and author Eunice Olumide has launched a petition to the Scottish Parliament to include Afro-Scottish history into the curriculum. HuffPost UK
Despite the government’s latest gesture of inaction, calls are only growing for the curriculum to reconsider what our children are being taught in classrooms.
In Scotland, a petition launched by author and model Eunice Olumide is urging the Scottish parliament to include Afro-Scottish history into the curriculum.
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Olumide told HuffPost UK she was taught “little to nothing” about the history of Britain’s colonisation of Africa, the transatlantic slave trade or about the contributions of Afro-Scottish, Caribbean and Black British figures.
She is calling on the Scottish government to reform the curriculum to “include all Afro-Scottish history including artefacts of African diaspora, cultural and economic contributions, the role of the British Empire and the benefits to Scotland from colonies of the Caribbean and Africa”.
In Wales, 30,000 people have signed a petition calling for the devolved government to make it compulsory to teach BAME history in Welsh schools.
Plaid Cymru shadow education minister Siân Gwenllian said making Welsh history and the history of Black people and people of colour a statutory part of the curriculum would be a “historic move”.
“Making these elements a statutory part of the new curriculum presents an historic opportunity to redress structural inequality in Wales and to ensure that the education system creates an equal and inclusive Wales for all in the future,” she said in a statement.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Usain Bolt Reveals Baby Daughter’s Name, And Well, It’s Absolutely Perfect

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Usain Bolt has revealed the name of his baby daughter and it really is perfect.
The sprinter’s partner Kasi Bennett gave birth to their first child on 17 May, and the 33-year-old athlete has now revealed her name on Twitter.
Usain Bolt PA
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Ladies and gents, please welcome... Olympia Lightning Bolt.
Olympia Lightning Bolt ⚡ pic.twitter.com/Ovo5PzVQAt — Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) July 7, 2020
We did say it was perfect.
“I want to wish my gf Kasi a happy birthday,” Usain wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
“I want nothing but happiness for you and will continue to doing my best keeping a smile on your face.
“We have started a new chapter together with our daughter Olympia Lightning Bolt.”
The Jamaican sprinter, who holds world records in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay, retired from athletics after the 2017 World Championships.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--How The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Affecting Councils' Plans To Tackle The Climate Emergency

Spring in Troutbeck Valley with the Kentmere Fells beyond, in the scenic Lake District Tonywestphoto via Getty Images
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Delayed plans and stretched budgets triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic could make it more challenging for councils to meet their climate change targets, local authorities have warned.
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During the summer statement on Wednesday, chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to unveil a £3bn green package to help cut emissions, including £2bn in grants for the public to insulate their homes.
The cash has been marked as an attempt by the government to “build back greener” in the wake of the global coronavirus outbreak – and to meet its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
But while local authorities have welcomed the plans, with hospitals, schools and other local buildings also expected to receive £1bn to improve insulation and green heating technology, they have also warned the Covid-19 pandemic could make it more difficult for them to meet their own climate change targets.
In July 2019, Liverpool City Council declared a climate change emergency, setting a target for the city to be net carbon zero by 2030.
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It was already a “tall ask”, said councillor Laura Robertson-Collins, who is leading the council’s efforts to tackle climate change. “We had a budget that was cut by around 60% between 2010 and 2020,” she said.
“Post-health emergency, there has obviously been a massive economic impact on the city and on the council. The council budget will probably have to be reset in a few weeks.”
Across England, councils are facing huge holes in their annual budgets after shouldering the costs of the coronavirus crisis.
While the government has given local authorities £3.2bn in emergency funding, the Local Government Association has warned councils could actually need almost twice that.
View of Liverpool benkrut via Getty Images
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Robertson-Collins said: “We’re very much hoping the government will do what they said they would do, which is pay us whatever it took, because everything went on hold.”
However, despite the financial challenges facing Liverpool City Council, it has not changed its fundamental climate objective to be carbon neutral in 10 years, with plans to build its into a number of projects.
Robertson-Collins insists that the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown presents an “opportunity, as well as a threat”.
“It has changed people’s views in some ways about things like driving and clean air and their local green spaces,” she said. “So lets absolutely grab that new consciousness.
“The government needs to do a great deal more and very quickly to help councils. But let’s build on what has been a massive problem and not just build back better, but grow back greener.”
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In recent weeks, the council has revealed plans and funding for seven new pop-up cycle lanes across the city in response to the impact of Covid-19 on the public’s travel plans.
Like Liverpool, Sheffield City Council has adopted plans to become net zero by 2030.
Apart from delays to a citizen’s assembly on climate change, the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t changed a lot of what the city intends to do tackle the climate crisis, said Mark Jones, the council’s environment lead.
“We are trying to push on ahead, irrespective of Covid and everything else, because climate change hasn’t gone away, despite the drop in emissions we have had because of lockdown,” he said.
But he is “deeply unsure and worried” about Boris Johnson’s plans to invigorate the economy post-pandemic with radical reforms to the planning system.
Boris Johnson at a building site in Dudley on June 30 POOL New / Reuters
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Under new regulations, developers won’t need planning permission to turn buildings and land in town centres into housing – a move the government said will make it “easier to build better homes where people want to live”.
But Jones said it seemed like the PM “wants to tear up the book and give a free for all to developers”.
“One of the biggest levers I have as a local councillor other than transport policy is planning policy – where we build those new properties, whether those properties are within an active transport radius of workplaces,” he said.
“So unless the government comes to its senses on this ludicrous approach, we’re going to really really struggle to achieve what we want via the planning system and the transport system.”
It’s a concern shared by Robertson-Collins, who called on the government to give local authorities “effective powers”.
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“They were talking the other day about undermining planning law even further – we need really really stringent planning laws now so that local authorities can make sure anything that is built is up to the absolute highest environmental standards.”
In Birmingham, a number of plans to make the city carbon neutral in the next decade have been delayed by coronavirus – including the city’s clean air zone.
A project to charge high-polluting vehicles for entering the city centre will not come into force until 2021 after Birmingham City Council asked the government to delay the scheme so businesses could focus on getting through the health emergency, rather than upgrading their vehicles.
Putting the full climate change plan to council for endorsement has been pushed back too as people adjust to home working, said Maria Dunn, the council’s head of development policy.
But Dunn sees “challenges and opportunities” ahead of the local authority created by Covid-19.
“We have seen people move to very different ways of working and seen reduced traffic on the roads. We have got an opportunity to influence that and the Birmingham transport plan was being prepared and it was due to be adopted this year.
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“It’s still due to be adopted this year, but what we have now is the Birmingham emergency transport plan, which is a more immediate response and is picking up on those opportunities to encourage walking and cycling and making sure public transport infrastructure continues to be in place.”
A government spokesperson said: “The UK is leading the world in tackling climate change as the first major economy to sign a commitment to net-zero emissions into law.
“We’re giving councils unprecedented support during the pandemic as part of a £27 billion package for local communities and businesses to tackle the pressures they have told us they’re facing.
“Later today, the chancellor is expected to announce details of a £3 billion investment in making the economy greener, including a transformative £1 billion programme to make public buildings more energy efficient.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--25 Of The Funniest Tweets About Married Life (June 22 - July 6)

I’ve realized I’m at the point in my marriage where I assume that any time my husband disappears, he’s probably off taking a shit. If he ever goes missing I’m going to be on the news like:
Reporter: You didn’t look for him for two days
Me: I figured he was REALLY constipated


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Easy Vegan Summer Desserts That Are Delicious And Healthy

Warm weather and seasonal ingredients are inspiring the desserts we’re making this summer.
From ice cream-topped apple crisp to healthy smoothie lollies, we’ve rounded up some delicious vegan dessert recipes that are making us excited for every last bite.
These vegan versions make use of plant-powered substitutes like creamy coconut milk, flax and chia, and sometimes sugar substitutes like maple syrup and dates. They also don’t include the heavy creams and rich butters often found in conventional desserts.
For those of us who prefer to avoid the heat of an oven or stove, we even have no-bake options like chocolate chia pudding and homemade pistachio ice cream to ensure your summer dessert prep is entirely no-sweat!
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Vegan lemon pound cake
Murielle Banackissa Vegan lemon pound cake
Summer heat calls for light, refreshing flavours, and vegan blogger and recipe developer Murielle Banackissa’s gorgeous lemon pound cake recipe hits the spot.
Lemon pound cake is the perfect packable picnic dessert or satisfying complement to a cool glass of iced tea. We always appreciate a healthier recipe that still tastes outstanding and Banackissa’s use of half the conventional amount of sugar sits just fine with us.
Vegan apple crisp
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This classic dessert brings up so many fun childhood memories, and this vegan apple crisp recipe from Delish Knowledge combines tasty apples with the familiar tastes of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Top the crisp with a scoop of your fave vegan ice cream (we love this one) for an easy-to-make quintessential summer dessert.
Summer smoothie lollies
Joyous Health Smoothie popsicle
A favourite summer treat takes on a healthy yet delicious twist with these summer smoothie lollies from Joyous Health.
These green pineapple and berry avocado lollies are as pretty to look at as they are fun to eat. Joy uses coconut milk to keep the consistency creamy, as well as good-for-you ingredients like avocado, fresh berries, pineapple, and kale.
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Frozen dessert pizza
When Oprah shares something we know it has to be good, and her featured recipe, frozen dessert pizza, by Angela Liddon of Oh She Glows is beyond delicious.
Super simple and fun to make, Angela combines a cereal crust with a homemade frozen banana soft serve and some decadent toppings for this frosty summer treat.
Vegan pistachio ice cream
We love the simplicity of this four-ingredient recipe, not to mention its spectacular taste.
We crushed pre-shelled pistachios for a topping as Jean Choi from What Great Grandma Ate suggests, and tried her freezer method as we don’t have an ice cream maker, although our success with this recipe is motivating us to invest in one.
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Strawberry jam swirl muffins
Murielle Banackissa Strawberry jam swirl muffins
Strawberry season is upon us and these sweet little berries inspire all sorts of recipes. We’re particularly fond of this one for strawberry jam swirl muffins from Murielle Banackissa, who uses frozen berries but fresh strawberries can also be used if preferred.
We’ll be baking these tasty muffins for our morning walks and plan to enjoy this yummy taste of summer all season long.
Chocolate chia pudding
Eating Bird Food Chocolate chia pudding
This versatile simple-to-make vegan chocolate chia pudding is the perfect after-dinner refreshment on a hot summer’s day.
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Brittany Mullins of Eating Bird Food’s technique of popping all the chia pudding ingredients in a high speed blender to create a mousse-like consistency turns this breakfast favourite into a creamy dessert, no baking required!
Vegan bark with caramelised crackers
The First Mess Vegan s'mores bark
Summer and s’mores go hand in hand — there’s nothing like the gooey melted chocolatey marshmallow combined with the cracker crunch. This vegan s’mores bark recipe from The First Mess gives us all that goodness without needing a campfire!
Laura’s recipes consider accessibility — while she doesn’t insist on hard-to-find ingredients she does link to ethically sourced vegan chocolate (which can be used in this recipe) on her site.
Cardamom bliss balls
Carley Nadine Cardamom bliss balls
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These no-bake, easy to make cardamom bliss balls from Carley Nadine are delicious bites of nutrient-dense goodness!
Her recipe, which is suitable for nut-free diets, calls for sunflower seed butter or tahini, and the addition of adaptogenic herb ashwagandha can help manage stress.
We recommend rolling the balls in edible rose petals as Carley suggests.
Easy vegan raspberry bars
While we love baking at home, we’re less fond of a messy kitchen, so we were thrilled to discover that this scrumptious vegan raspberry bar recipe from Norah Cooks only uses one bowl to make the recipe and a small bowl to hold the toppings!
We enjoy using fresh raspberry preserves from our local farmers market for the filling and we take Norah’s advice to double the recipe when we’re planning to feed a socially distanced group of loved ones.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Davina McCall Insists She Has 'No Idea' About Big Brother's Rumoured Return To Channel 4

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Davina McCall has insisted she has “no idea” about a potential Big Brother revival, following rumours the show is to return with her at the helm.
The Daily Star recently claimed that the show’s original presenter had been in “secret talks” with Channel 4 to revive the celebrity version of Big Brother in 2021.
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This came after she fronted the Big Brother: Best Shows Ever series of specials with Rylan Clark-Neal on E4 last month.
However, Davina has now downplayed the speculation, telling HuffPost UK she had “absolutely no insight whatsoever” on Channel 4′s potential plans.
Davina McCall Ian West - PA Images via Getty Images
She said: “TV is in such turmoil at the moment, as far as what’s going to be made and what’s not going to be made.
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“I’ve got no idea if there are any plans on the table for Big Brother, all I know is that I loved presenting that show with Rylan.”
Davina, who hosted Big Brother during its original run on Channel 4 between 2000 to 2010 before its move to Channel 5, also clarified recent comments she made during an appearance on Scott Mills’ Radio 1 show, where she said she would say yes to fronting a revival.
She explained: “Basically Scott said to me ‘if it came back, would you do it?’ and I said ‘yeah of course I would’ – that’s because me and Scott are massive Big Brother fans.
“But it’s not like I’ve sat down and really thought about it and decided to make an announcement to say ‘I want to host Big Brother again’ – it’s not like that.”
Davina with Big Brother 1 winner Craig Phillips in 2000 Sean Dempsey/PA Archive
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Davina admitted that the experience she had as part of Best Shows Ever had felt “like the old days”, but added that bringing Big Brother back could prove to be “difficult”.
She said: “From 2009 to 2011, my inbox and Twitter was spammed incessantly with Big Brother tweets all day and all night, and literally the first show goes out of Big Brother’s Best Shows Ever and again, my Twitter feed is literally spammed full of Big Brother fan sites and everything. It was just like the old days, I was like ‘oh my God, this is nuts!’
“So it was really good fun and it did fire up a lot of people. But bringing a show back is always difficult, because you look back at all those old shows – Big Brother could never be like that again.”
She added: “Some of the stuff that happened in the shows back then might not happen now... We live in a different world to 10 years ago, so who knows what shape Big Brother would be in if it came back. It’s a funny one.”
Big Brother was hosted by Emma Willis prior to Chanel 5 axing the show David M. Benett via Getty Images
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Big Brother was hosted by Emma Willis prior to its cancellation by Channel 5 in 2018.
Davina, Rylan, Emma and former Little Brother presenter Dermot O’Leary all reunited on Best Shows Ever last month, which led to former housemate Brian Dowling speaking out against the show.
Brian claimed they were “trying to rewrite history” after the presenters failed to mention his time hosting Big Brother when it first moved to Channel 5 in 2011, sparking a Twitter exchange between him and Davina.
The full interview with Davina for HuffPost’s What Works For Me Series, where she talks about mental health and meditation, will be published on Sunday. Headspace x Boots gift cards are available from Boots.com for £30, and come in one of four content themes Mind, Health, Sleep and Focus


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--'I Spent 3 Years Trying To Get Pregnant. Then Birth Terrified Me'

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In HuffPost Birth Diaries we hear the extraordinary stories of the everyday miracle of birth. This week, Sarah Harrington shares her story. If you’d like to share yours, email amy.packham@huffpost.com. It took three and a half years for me to fall pregnant – and it was far from straightforward. We tried different types of fertility treatment, including three rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination) on the NHS and, when that proved unsuccessful, were referred for a single round of IVF. But then we were faced with further complications: after taking the drugs I developed a blood clot in my leg and had to stop treatment for a while. Thankfully, our second attempt with IVF was successful.
Once pregnant, I was hit by really high anxiety. I’d spent such a long time trying to get pregnant, that I kept worrying about keeping it and making sure my baby was healthy and safe. With IVF, they tell you there’s an increased risk of having a stillbirth and I couldn’t get that out of my head – even though it was a marginal risk.
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I knew I didn’t want to go full-term. I spoke through my anxieties with my midwife and the more I talked about it, the more I realised it’d be best for me to have an elective c-section, which was planned in for 39 weeks. I was frightened about having a major operation, but I was so riddled with anxiety that this was the best way I could control the outcome of him arriving safely.
HuffPost UK
It was 29 May. I was booked in for 9.28am and I was petrified. The feeling of waiting on the trolley to go down to theatre was a desperate-sort-of excitement – scared of things that could go wrong, but with such a strong desire to meet my baby.
All the midwives were in masks and gloves – but in a way, I just got used to it. It’s easy to see past it. I didn’t find it intimidating at all.
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The actual surgery went quite well. The first time they went in to get him, it was a struggle. It felt strange – I had no pain, but felt lots of tugging and pulling. I felt a little wobbly on the table when they managed to get a hold of him and pull him out. The minute they did, he was crying.
My partner watched the whole thing, amazingly. I don’t think he planned on doing it, but he was so intrigued by the process of what was happening – he was fascinated! He got lots of photos, too. Although when they were pulling by belly apart to get him out, I think he had to turn away for that bit.
They brought my son straight over to me. I never understood that feeling of feeling so full up with love until he was placed on my chest. It was overwhelming, like I was floating on cloud nine. This beautiful bundle of joy we’d worked so hard for was lying on my chest. It was the best day of my life.
He cried when he was taken away – my partner got up from his seat, walked over, and started talking to him; he immediately went quiet when he heard my partner’s voice. My partner also had skin-to-skin, which I’d asked for. He didn’t want to cause a fuss, so I made sure it happened and I know he was grateful I insisted he had it.
Rob was in theatre with me on the ward and recovery for 30 minutes after, but then he had to go home.
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HuffPost UK Supplied
My son developed a squeaking noise after he was born so had to be monitored – it can sometimes be the first sign of a viral or bacterial infection, so he was rushed to paediatrics, had tests, and was put on antibiotics and medications while waiting for his test results to come back.
It was really hard going through that without Rob. That was the worst, wondering what would happen. The results all came back negative, but the wait for those results had been agonising.
Going home was an amazing feeling. I hated staying in the hospital, which was for four days in total. But leaving hospital to meet my partner? It makes me well up thinking about it. There are moments you dream about when you’re trying for a baby – and to be living it when we left the hospital, the three of us, was perfect.
I’ll never forget the look on my partner’s face when he came to pick us up: Proud. As. Punch.
My birth advice? I read up lots about C-sections and knew what I was getting myself in for. I read, watched videos – and I knew it was beneficial for my partner to have skin-to-skin so insisted on that, which he was happy about.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--'Waiting To Be Well': What It's Like To Suffer From 'Long Covid'

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
For 15 weeks, Tereza, a 36-year-old Pilates instructor from Scotland, has been unwell with suspected Covid-19. At the end of March, she developed the classic symptoms: a fever and persistent dry cough, alongside fatigue.
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She self-isolated and, after about 10 days, the cough disappeared – but she still didn’t feel 100%. “The roulette of other strange symptoms started,” she tells HuffPost UK. There were day-long migraines, stabbing pains across her body, pressure in her ears and behind her eyes, confusion, brain fog, rashes, a dry mouth, shortness of breath, pins and needles, hallucinations – the list goes on.
“At the beginning, my symptoms were growing in numbers and were quite intense and severe,” she says. “Around week 10, things started to calm down and some symptoms often disappeared for long periods of time.”
Tereza, who preferred not to share her surname, is one of thousands who suspect they’re still dealing with the repercussions of the virus. While there’s limited data on it, the Covid-19 Symptom Study found one in 10 are reporting a longer tail of symptoms, exceeding the suggested two-week recovery time.
Some refer to the phenomenon as ‘long Covid’, with around 5% of people experiencing symptoms for months.
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Many can’t say for sure whether they’re fighting the virus or something else, because widespread testing wasn’t in place when they first became ill. HuffPost UK spoke to four people who tested negative for the virus because they were tested a number of weeks into their illness, by which time swab tests don’t tend to work. People are advised to get tested in the first three days of experiencing symptoms, although it’s considered effective up until day five.
Tereza had three tests, but not until she was six weeks into her illness. It was too late to find out if she had coronavirus. “It turned my life upside down,” she says. “I was a healthy 36-year-old, hoping to start a family this year. But when I became ill, I felt like I was in a car accident, and then got hit by a bus.”
She was given two courses of antibiotics and antidepressants for her mental health, but says she was mostly told to “wait and see” by doctors. When she saw an article by Paul Garner, an expert in global health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, about his experience of the long-term symptoms of Covid-19, she began to suspect she could be in the same boat. She joined a Long Covid Support Group on Facebook, set up by Claire Hastie, which has 6,000 members, and says that’s where she’s received the most care and support.
“I was a healthy 36-year-old – but when I became ill, I felt like I was in a car accident and then got hit by a bus.” - Tereza
“I tried to re-engage with my GP surgery once the news of ‘long haulers’ [people with long-term Covid-19 symptoms] started to hit the media, but I was told they have not heard anything [and] were not aware,” she says. “So I found a private GP who keeps up to date with the latest research, supports me and helps to manage my symptoms.”
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Tereza says she’s been lucky to have her husband – who experienced symptoms, but swiftly recovered – with her, but even then, life has been hard. Most of her symptoms have gone away, but some still linger.
“I’m not well enough to get back to my life, so I feel like I’m just waiting,” she says. “My life now is waiting to be well. I feel frustrated because no matter what I do – or don’t do – the Covid-19 lottery of symptoms still goes on.”
Supplied Deborah Foley
Deborah Foley, 50, from London, has been struggling with a long list of symptoms, while also trying to care for her nine-year-old daughter who is in recovery from leukaemia.
Back in mid-March, she had an itchy throat, which progressed to a slight burn in her trachea. For a month, she had a mild cough and pains in her chest. Some days she’d feel short of breath. Six weeks in, she felt burning sensations in her lungs – an ultrasound confirmed she had inflammation.
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“I called NHS 111 numerous times and was told to stay at home,” she tells HuffPost UK. “I did get my GP to give me antibiotics and have since had six lots for my chest and a urinary tract infection (UTI).”
During this time, Deborah lost two stone. She went to A&E, but blood tests, x-rays and electrocardiograms (ECGs) came back fine. “From week 10, things have got worse,” she says, citing symptoms like shaking, shortness of breath, night sweats and feeling like electricity was pulsing though her body.
“I constantly feel like my body is fighting a virus and go to bed hoping for a better day,” she says, now in week 16 of symptoms. “Sometimes I can sleep and other times the shaking or gasping for air keeps me awake.”
Like Tereza, Deborah had a coronavirus test but not until week seven. She’s had four in total – they all came back negative.
Deborah’s partner also had symptoms of the virus – loss of smell and fatigue – as did her nine-year-old daughter, who has been shielding. The illness has impacted the whole family, and her partner has taken unpaid leave to care for them. “I can hardly engage with my daughter,” Deborah says, “it feels like I’m going to pass out much of the time.”
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For Stephanie Pratt, 30, a secondary school teacher from Essex, the past 13 weeks have been a “standstill” because she’s been so ill with the virus.
“I don’t know how to explain to parents and students I’m still unable to work properly and I often have to cancel last minute,” she says. “I worry they feel it’s an exaggeration because it’s been three months.”
Her first symptom back in March was severe sinus pain, followed by muscle aches. She assumed it was hay fever, but on 1 April was rushed to A&E with shortness of breath, chest pain, confusion, coughing fits, and exhaustion.
It was on this trip to A&E she was told she might have Covid-19. “The doctor’s exact words being: ‘the hazy pattern on your lungs matches that of Covid-19’,” she says. However, a swab test on day 90 of her symptoms came back negative. Since that A&E trip, her symptoms have worsened or, bizarrely, moved around her body. “The unpredictability of the virus has been one of the most challenging aspects to live with, both physically and mentally,” she says.
Supplied Stephanie Pratt
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“Over the first eight weeks, I was relatively bed-bound. It often felt as if I was trying to pull my legs through an invisible trench of mud when I tried to move,” she says. “Pains ranged from the sensation of a bowling ball tied onto to my chest and abdomen, to [feeling] as if acid was being leaked across my lungs and ribs.”
Her lungs still ache to this day. Other symptoms she’s had include extreme acid reflux, abdomen pain, a burning sensation in her right calf and left ear, muscle spasms and aches, a sore throat, hoarse voice, insomnia, joint pain, tinnitus, sensitivity to sound, distorted taste and smell, and a burst blood vessel rash.
Stephanie has spent the last few months in what she describes as an “awful purgatory” of never-ending rounds of new and old symptoms. “I’ve cried more than I have in any other three months – partly from exhaustion, but partly from just how frightening it is to experience a constant slew of bizarre symptoms with no doctor being able to help you,” she says.
She’s received a positive response from doctors, but notes that while they’re supportive, they’re equally as lost as she is on how to help her return to normal.
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Even doctors are falling ill and experiencing Covid-19 symptoms for weeks on end. Dr Jake Suett, a doctor in intensive care medicine, says he’s still unwell 13 weeks after first developing symptoms, meaning he hasn’t returned to work.
As a doctor, he feels a responsibility to bring ‘long Covid’ to the attention of politicians, as well as medical and scientific communities. He – and others in the Long Covid Support Group on Facebook – are calling for rehabilitation for those still struggling with the illness, research into it to investigate possible treatments, and recognition among workplaces and healthcare professionals.
Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock has announced that a study into the long-term health impacts of coronavirus on hospitalised patients has been launched in the UK, with around 10,000 patients expected to take part. The government has pledged £8.4 million to the study, which will see patients assessed using techniques such as advanced imaging, data collection and analysis of blood and lung samples, creating a comprehensive picture of the impact Covid-19 has on longer term health outcomes.
The findings will support the development of new strategies for clinical and rehabilitation care, including personalised treatments based on the particular disease characteristics that a patient shows, to improve their long-term health.
The NHS has also said it’s launching a ‘Your Covid Recovery’ service for those who have survived the virus, but still have problems with breathing, mental health problems or other complications. Nurses and physiotherapists will be on hand to help patients’ needs either online or over the phone.
Supplied Stephanie Pratt not long after visiting hospital for suspected Covid-19.
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While this has been seen as a victory by those who have been struggling for so long, some are worried an online approach won’t be helpful. Lyth Hishmeh, 26, a representative of a new action group called LongCovidSOS, says: “We all need help for our condition urgently. I want to be able to get back to work and on with my life – not wait for online-based aftercare at some time in the future.”
Ondine Sherwood, a spokesperson for the group, says there is a need for clinics where patients can be assessed, diagnosed and properly cared for. “GPs must be given the right information so they can respond appropriately,” she says. “And the government should now focus on the economic implications: sufferers need financial support and employers must be made fully aware of this growing impact on the workforce.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--I Left My Conservative Hometown To Come Out. Now, I’m Back (With My Girlfriend)

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In one of my most vivid middle school memories, I’m sitting in the grass during a break at field hockey practice. One of older girls on the team grabs the hand of a quiet sixth-grader as she reaches for a water bottle, pulls it close to her own face, and announces, “If you have hair on your fingers above the first knuckle, it means you’re a lesbian.”
My heart pounds in my stomach as she starts reaching for the hands of the other girls closest to her, examining their fingers for any sign of difference. I tuck my hands into my lap, palms up, afraid of what I’ll see, and I’m beyond relieved when our coach blows the whistle to signal that our break is over.
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It wasn’t the first time I questioned whether I might not be straight, but it was the first time I felt the fear of what might happen if the people around me had the same question.
For the next 12 years, that fear was enough to keep me from giving the idea too much thought. It kept me from understanding that my feelings toward certain teachers were crushes and from seeing a close college “friendship” for what it really was. And after settling into a job just 45 minutes away from my small, conservative Pennsylvania hometown, it kept me from considering why I couldn’t stop thinking about what it might be like to date a woman.
Then, in a cliche so tired that I am embarrassed to type it, I moved to Brooklyn with my cat and started dating women. I switched my dating app preferences on the same day I landed a job at a young startup, where no one batted an eye when I nervously mentioned an upcoming first date. When I recounted that date to my new roommates, and later, introduced them to my now-girlfriend, they were entirely unfazed.
By moving to a new, progressive city where no one assumed I was straight, I skipped right over an uncomfortable coming out process I’d always assumed was an unavoidable rite of passage for members of the LGBTQ community.
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When I realised this, I felt like what I’d done was cowardly, and like I hadn’t earned the right to live the out, gay life I’d built for myself in New York. This feeling deepened when I later told my mom that I was in a relationship with a woman and she was not only immediately supportive, but offered to tell the rest of my family so I wouldn’t have to. I took her up on the offer (and provided a written FAQ doc for assistance), but again felt like I’d somehow cheated by evading any potentially difficult conversations.
That was over a year ago now and aside from a week over the holidays, I hadn’t come back to my hometown for more than a weekend. But after two weeks of isolating in a tiny apartment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, my girlfriend and I decided to take my brother up on his offer to pick us up and bring us to my family’s home.
I knew that living here for a bit would be a big change for both of us and I knew that we would both miss being in New York. What I didn’t know was that being here would give me a chance to understand the disconnect between the first 25 years of my life in Pennsylvania, and the life I’ve built for myself since I left.
By waiting to come out until I moved to a new city, I was able to start from scratch. I never had to face the fear I’d felt here, because I left it behind instead—a decision that made me feel like I didn’t deserve the happiness or the relationship that I’d gained after leaving. But being back is giving me time to understand that fear.
We’ve only been leaving the house once every week for groceries, so I still haven’t had the chance to be really, publicly “out.” I haven’t seen any of my high school classmates, I haven’t had to explain myself to anyone, and I haven’t faced any sort of homophobia.
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Still, I notice myself looking around every time we go to the grocery store, wondering if this will be the time I run into one of my high school friends’ parents. I notice the countless Trump signs in front yards (and suspended from the beds of pickup trucks) we pass while running errands. I notice that I haven’t seen a single other queer couple in weeks.
I know that, not far from here, people protesting the stay-at-home order showed up to the state’s capital waving homophobic signs. I know that our state’s secretary of health has had to defend herself after being misgendered multiple times on air. I know that every time I log in to Facebook, I’m reminded that many of the people I grew up with don’t see the issue with either of these things.
I also know that I needed to leave here before I could come out, and that this doesn’t make me weak.
But what I feel here now isn’t fear. Moving to New York gave me a chance to figure out my sexuality in a place where no one knew me, and no one batted an eye at the idea of me being queer. It gave me a chance to get comfortable with who I am, and the confidence to be that person even in a place where it might raise some eyebrows.
Being here is giving me the chance to reconcile who I am with the place where I grew up. It’s giving me a chance to read queer memoirs in my childhood bedroom, to see how much my family loves spending time with my girlfriend, and to feel proud every time we do something as simple as hold hands in the local grocery store.
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Now, our first anniversary has come and gone in Pennsylvania. And as disappointed as I was that we weren’t able to spend it in New York, the city where we met and a place we both love, it felt like a step in repairing the disconnect. In a town where I was once too scared to know myself, I was able to celebrate with a person I love, unafraid.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--The One-Way Letters To My Grandpa That Saw Us Both Through Lockdown

HuffPost UK The author's grandpa, with Olive's letter
Much like the rest of the country, my 95-year-old grandpa, Peter, is in lockdown too. But unlike most of us resorting to Zoom quizzes and phone calls to keep in touch with our loved ones, my grandpa has no mobile and no computer in his assisted home 150 miles away.
My grandpa is an authoritative figure, warm, with a healthy dose of sarcasm. But moreover, he is a family man with a love for all things food, history and languages: my fond childhood memories with him revolve around some form of teaching, whether it was how to peel potatoes or linguistics – either way the dictionary was never far away.
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Constantly intrigued by what his grandchildren are up to, he’s always remained in close contact. Over the years this often took form in letters and cards – he’d never miss a birthday or any special occasion. It was all very proper and, to me, old-fashioned: date written in the top right-hand corner, pages filled with impeccable, meticulous writing. The letters he wrote to me in my childhood varied in subject, whether it was an update on my favourite dog of his, Digby, or words of encouragement before a ballet show, his writing always resonated. Every letter felt like a gift in itself.
But in his old age, my grandpa’s lost much of his independence. Arthritis prevents him from writing, his hearing aids make phone calls impractical. So when I was navigating the challenges of communicating with him in lockdown, letter writing seemed like the best option. Initially intended just to ease his boredom, these one-sided lockdown letters have transformed into something far more meaningful.
“I narrated life on the outside – on the things he cannot experience for himself.”
The contents range from culinary experiments (or disasters, like dehydrated pastries), to observations on the world outside his care home. Reflecting upon how restrictive and lonely life may currently be for him, I narrated life on the outside – on the things he cannot experience for himself. Whether it’s the politics of the one-way system in the local Co-op in lockdown, or lengthy rants on current crises, there’s little consistency.
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Whilst the one-sided nature of these letters can feel odd at times, I’ve received good feedback. Writing these lockdown letters to my grandpa has led to a number of realisations that busy life rarely leaves time to reflect upon. While a present figure in my life, in recent years whether it was distance, time or any other excuse I can find, our one-on-one conversations have been rare. In that sense, these letters are somewhat of a silver lining, an opportunity to say anything I’ve wanted to with the time we’ve got left with each other.
Courtesy of the author The author, as a child, with her grandpa
In an age so consumed by technology, and the current restrictions of most face-to-face contact, the reliance on social media and Zoom calls have become the norm for communication. But excessive screen time can become tiresome and it can sometimes feel overwhelming to keep up with a constant online presence.
These letters have in turn highlighted a clear paradox between social media and letter writing, the former connection dependent, instantaneous and somewhat distant, while the latter is uninterrupted and easy. For me, letter writing in a time which feels so uncertain is simple and mindless. It’s just putting pen on paper and thoughts into words. It’s a tangible memento of a fixed time and place. I feel that I have more to say on paper than in messages that take less than minutes to write, and seconds to disappear.
Writing has reinforced the significance of intergenerational relationships for me, particularly between grandparents and grandchildren. I’ve only lived for a small portion of my grandpa’s life, but a constant curiosity exists between us. For me, a fascination with the past decades he’s lived through; for him, the curiosity of what life is like now, in the present.
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“Despite the generational gap, the 150 mile distance and a global pandemic, it feels as if there’s no space at all between us.”
In a more selfish light, these letters have provided a combination of a digital detox and almost a form of lockdown therapy. While the pandemic has catalysed incredible solidarity and reinforced a sense of community, the internet reaction in particular can sometimes feel dominated by so much hurt and anger, for often very justifiable reasons – but this can also be hard to process. Letter writing, and in this case its one-sided nature, has provided space for both solace and reflection.
For my grandpa, these letters are a weekly source of lockdown entertainment and carry sentimental value, something which I’ve only recently discovered. In his youth, he frequently wrote letters to my late grandma whenever they were apart. So for him this is a nostalgic return to something both familiar and comforting. He’s also made it clear (on many occasions) that he’s rather bored, so I hope that these letters have eased that too.
Despite the generational gap, the 150 mile distance and a global pandemic, it feels as if there’s no space at all between my grandpa and I. When the times we’re in can feel uncharted, these letters have been an accidental, effortless silver lining. Although I’ve promised to visit my grandpa as soon as I can, the letters will continue.
Olive Enokido-Lineham is a freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter at @OliveLineham
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-07--What The Stamp Duty 'Holiday' Changes Will Mean For You

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Stamp duty is the tax every homeowner dreads paying – especially when you’ve scrimped and saved to stump up a deposit, then swiftly realise you need thousands more for a lump sum tax payment.
With the economy in dire straits (the Resolution Foundation think tank warns the UK economy could shrink by 9.3% this year – the biggest annual hit in a century), chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak made a statement in July, announcing a stamp duty “holiday”, which will take effect immediately and last until next March.
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So what does this actually mean for you – and is it a good deal?
What is stamp duty?
Stamp duty (or stamp duty land tax, SDLT) is a tax you pay if you buy a property or slice of land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland.
The tax applies to both freehold and leasehold properties, whether you’re buying outright or with a mortgage.
Before today, people had to pay stamp duty on homes over £125,000 or non-residential land and properties over £150,000. How much tax they would pay would go up as the value of the property increased.
Gov.uk Stamp duty tax
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So, if you were to buy a house for £275,000, the stamp duty tax you would need to pay would be as follows:
0% on the first £125,000 = £0
2% on the next £125,000 = £2,500
5% on the final £25,000 = £1,250
Total stamp duty tax = £3,750
filo via Getty Images
Is it the same for first-time buyers?
There were separate rules in place for first-time buyers, who wouldn’t have to pay any tax up to £300,000, and would have to pay 5% on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000. If the price went above £500,000, usual rates would apply.
What about second homes?
People buying a second home – meaning they own more than one property – have to pay 3% on top of the normal stamp duty rates for a property costing £40,000 or more.
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What are the changes?
Sunak has abolished stamp duty on homes worth up to £500,000, with the change coming into effect immediately and remaining in place until March 31 2021.
This has implications for first-time buyers, who currently have to pay tax on this threshold, as well as existing homeowners looking to move somewhere else.
Those buying second homes will now have to pay 3% stamp duty up to £500,000.
Sunak said the average stamp duty bill will fall by £4,500. Analysis by Savills estate agents found the move would make 88% of English property transactions exempt from the tax, The Telegraph reported, and could actually save the average buyer almost £7,000.
House prices in June 2020 were 2.5% higher than this time last year, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-08--Hopelessness Is A Heavy Feeling. Here Are 5 Ways To Help It Pass.

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Hopelessness. Is that something you have felt, as we ease out of lockdown?
New research found almost one in five (21%) of UK adults felt hopeless during the first half of June – with the unemployed, young adults and those with pre-existing mental health conditions especially impacted.
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Almost a third (32%) of 18- to 24-year-olds and 31% of people with pre-existing mental health conditions felt hopeless, according to new data from the Mental Health in the Pandemic study, led by the Mental Health Foundation, in partnership with the universities of Cambridge, Swansea, Strathclyde and Belfast.
The poll of 4,294 adults aged 18 and above, carried out between 18 and 22 June, also found more than a quarter who are unemployed felt hopeless.
“What our research shows is that even as lockdown is easing, millions are still struggling,” said Dr Antonis Kousoulis, director at the Mental Health Foundation, who has called for a government mental health response and recovery plan.
“We’re not all in this together. It’s clear that the pandemic remains a much more devastating experience for certain groups, who number millions of people.”
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For those who are struggling with feelings of hopelessness right now, psychotherapist Rakhi Chand, a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), has some advice.
1. Talk about it.
Chand urges people to talk to loved ones – or charities, therapists, support networks – about it. The NHS is keen to remind people they can still access free therapy, although mostly over the phone or virtually. You can also find trusted private therapists through sites such as Counselling Directory, BACP and UKCP.
“Talk to people you trust, or a professional,” says Chand. “Hopelessness is a heavy feeling. Don’t be alone with it. In ten years of practice, I don’t recall anyone struggling with hopelessness saying that it helped to keep it to themselves. And I realise that for many this takes much courage.”
2. Don’t judge yourself.
Don’t fight it if you feel hopeless – or make it worse by judging yourself for feeling that way, she adds. It’s a normal response to have, given the situation we find ourselves in. And remember, you’re not alone in these feelings.
3. Stay in the present.
“Hopelessness is inherently about the future,” explains Chand – so try and stay in the present. You can do this by: practising mindfulness, exercise, engaging with a puzzle, reading a book, cooking, listening to music, or seeing friends. Focus on what you’re doing there and then, not on the future.
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4. Take a break from social media.
Step away from social media if you can, says Chand, as it can fuel feelings of hopelessness. “Social media is far from being in the present and for many – especially younger people – it’s an addiction,” she says.
“Set aside time on a daily or weekly basis to be phone-free. Tell people you’re doing that to help you be accountable.” If it’s hard to resist the urge to check your phone, give it to someone else to look after, she suggests.
5. Seek help.
“If you feel that hopeless that you want to hurt yourself, call the emergency services,” she says. “If that’s not quite where you are at, the Samaritans
could also help.”
We need government action, too
There are glimmers of hope from the latest survey. Levels of anxiety and worry about the pandemic have fallen across the population, from 62% of UK adults surveyed at the beginning of lockdown to 49%.
Professor Tine Van Bortel, an expert in global public health from the University of Cambridge, acknowledge this is good news – but added that this should not obscure the fact vulnerable groups are still struggling.
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“The UK and devolved governments must respond to their needs, to prevent many people’s current mental distress from escalating into tragic long-term consequences,” she said. “This research clearly identifies where some of those areas of most need are – including young adults, people with existing mental health problems and the unemployed.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise the impact this pandemic can have on people’s mental health.”
They pointed out that mental health support continues to be available for those who need it during this time. “NHS services remain open and we are providing £9.2m of funding to national and local mental health charities to support adults and children affected by the pandemic,” they said.
“Mental health services will continue to expand further and faster thanks to a minimum £2.3bn of extra investment a year by 2023/24 as part of the Long Term Plan.”
Prof Bortel said any policies going forward should be developed in “meaningful consultation” with stakeholder groups and the wider public, “to ensure they adequately address all needs”.
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“There is a unique opportunity now to do things better and get it right,” she said.
Useful websites and helplines
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0300 5000 927 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.