thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--What Is Chronic Kidney Disease, The 'Global Killer In Plain Sight'?

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Have you ever heard of chronic kidney disease? Perhaps not. But statistics suggest rates are increasing.
The condition is where the kidneys stop working as well as they should. It progresses over time and, in some cases, the kidneys can fail completely – but many people are still able to live long lives.
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The issue is generally associated with ageing – roughly 50% of all people over 75 have the disease – and it’s more common in people who are black or of south Asian origin, states the NHS.
There were an estimated 1.23 million deaths globally due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in 2017. And rates of people needing dialysis – a procedure to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working – have increased 40% since 1990, a new study published in The Lancet suggests.
“Chronic kidney disease is a global killer hidden in plain sight,” said Dr Theo Vos, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. “The evidence is clear: many nations’ health systems cannot keep pace with the dialysis demand. Cases far exceed and are well beyond the ability of those systems to handle. “The consequences, literally, are deadly.”
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Globally, CKD was the 12th leading cause of death in 2017, up from 17th in 1990. There were 697.5 million global cases of chronic kidney disease in 2017. Nearly one-third of those patients lived in China and India; while Andorra, Finland, Iceland, and Slovenia have the lowest burden.
Despite the prevalence of CKD being “lower than expected” in western Europe, the issue will develop in one in eight people, according to Kidney Care UK.
The causes of CKD
Causes vary, however high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes tend to be the most common. Around one in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure, while diabetes is estimated to impact more than four million people.
Other possible causes include high cholesterol; kidney infections; polycystic kidney disease; long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen, mefenamic acid and high-dose aspirin; and blockages in the flow of urine, caused by recurring kidney stones or an enlarged prostate.
LeoTroyanski via Getty Images
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The symptoms
CKD can range from a mild condition with no symptoms, to a serious one where the kidneys stop working – sometimes called kidney failure, which happens in around one in 50 people with the condition.
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It’s largely an invisible illness until it has progressed to an advanced stage. At this point, you might start to experience issues like: swelling of the ankles, feet or hands; tiredness; shortness of breath; blood in your urine and nauseousness.
The likelihood of CKD being diagnosed in the early stages is quite slim. The NHS states it might only be diagnosed if you have a blood or urine test for another reason and the results show a red flag with your kidneys.
The general advice is that you should see a GP if you have persistent or worrying symptoms that you think could be caused by kidney disease.
The prognosis
Many cases of CKD are mild and risks can be managed by patients and GPs without ever visiting a hospital, says Kidney Care UK. But in some cases, the condition can worsen to the point of needing specialist medical help.
In addition to deaths resulting from organ failure in chronic kidney disease, impaired kidney function puts people at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Globally, chronic kidney disease resulted in an estimated 1.23 million deaths in 2017, The Lancet study said, with an additional 1.36 million deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease resulting from impaired kidney function.
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“CKD is largely preventable and treatable and deserves greater attention in global health policy decision making,” the study’s authors said.
The treatments
There’s no cure for CKD, but treatments can help relieve the symptoms and stop it getting worse. The treatment, usually discussed with a GP, will depend on how severe the condition is. These can include: lifestyle changes (see below); medicines to control associated problems such as high blood pressure; dialysis; and kidney transplants.
How to look after your kidneys
:: Drink lots of water (6-8 glasses a day).
:: Eat a balanced diet including plenty of fruit, vegetables, grains, bread and rice, and steering clear of too much salty or fatty food.
:: Keep your blood pressure down. Ideally, it should be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg.
:: Drink less booze and quit smoking, if you can.
:: Try to stay at a healthy weight by keeping active and not overeating. We should all be aiming at least 150 minutes of exercise each week.
:: Make sure you manage conditions like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, with the help of a GP.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--How To Politely Tell Your Partner You Just Need To Be Left Alone

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Time to yourself (or “me time”) is extremely important for people in relationships ― arguably equally important to the health of long-term partnerships as date nights. But for many people, hearing the words “I need some time to myself” comes across as a threat to their relationship.
“For some folks, experiencing their partner emotionally or physically distance themselves can feel like a painful rejection or abandonment,” said Lee Land, a psychologist in Fort Collins, Colorado. Inevitably, this leads to an unhealthful push-and-pull dynamic between the pair.
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“Unfortunately, I often see a dynamic in relationships under strain in which one person attempts to push their partner away emotionally, which leads to the other person attempting to bridge the gap,” Land said. “It’s an ongoing tug of war that causes pain and dissatisfaction.”
That creates a tricky situation for the spouse who really needs some alone time: How do you get the message across without making it seem like something is wrong? How do you convince your partner that a dose of alone time is actually beneficial to both of you? Land and other therapists share their advice on how to broach the subject.
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Explain what you mean by “time apart” or “space.”
The “space” many partners crave is usually pretty modest: You probably don’t harbour secret fantasies to live apart à la Gwyneth Paltrow ― and you certainly aren’t suggesting going on an actual break when you ask for “space.” Sometimes, all you need is a free afternoon to do whatever you want, whether it’s grabbing coffee and reading idly or playing video games with friends.
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Help them understand where you’re coming from: For just a few hours, you want to decompress and do you ― something they may not see the full value of, said Talia Wagner, a marriage and family therapist and author of “Married Roommates.”
“The key to success with these types of requests is the ability to see it from their perspective, not just your own,” she said. “You’re only ever privy to your experiences, thoughts and feelings, so when your mate tells you that they need a break or time away, you have to trust that they know themselves and their limits.”
By honouring your request and tagging you out for a little while, your S.O. is learning how to be a better support system for you.
“As a mate, it is your job to hold your partner up when they are drowning in quicksand,” Wagner said. “You see it as a necessity for both of you to be emotionally sound ― even if that means space ― and you encourage one another to that end.”
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Be mindful of how you phrase the request.
Though there’s no need to approach your partner and their feelings with kid gloves, your tone and word choice do matter. Framing this request the right way could be the difference between your partner agreeing with you versus them seeing the ask as a threat, Wagner said.
“If you ask nicely and kindly and stress that it’s something you both need and would benefit from, it goes a long way,” she said. “When you deliver this news in an accusatory or frustrating tone, the message is rarely received.”
So instead of: “I’m feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with everything at work and home. I really could use some alone time” ― which could trigger resentment if your significant other is also feeling exhausted and overwhelmed ― try to stress that your partner has a stake in this, too.
Wagner suggested: “We probably both need ‘me time.’ It’s just that one of us recognised it first and spoke up about it. A little space is a positive and a good thing for both of us.”
Really underscore the benefits of time apart.
Point out that there are romantic and sexual benefits to having some breathing room, said Stephanie Buehler, a psychologist and sex therapist in Southern California.
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“Too much togetherness can feel like ‘family time’ and knock the romance right out of a relationship,” she said. “A little time apart allows partners to look at each other with fresh eyes ― and perhaps to experience some longing.”
Understand that this need could be rooted in your personality type.
According to Buehler, more often than not, it’s introverts who bring this issue up in therapy. An introvert spouse may thrive and feel recharged after a little alone time, but that’s often hard for an extrovert spouse to get their head around it.
“An introvert will really start to wilt if they don’t get time to themselves to daydream, read or do whatever quiet activity they like,” Buehler said. “If that describes you, explain that to your spouse.” (The other types of clients who come to Buehler with this problem? Working mothers.)
Hinterhaus Productions via Getty Images A little time apart can help couples grow closer, therapists said.
Remind them that you love them.
You might be able to attribute some of your partner’s apprehension about needing space to their attachment style or relationship behaviour patterns. Attachment styles ― how we’ve been taught to emotionally bond and show affection to others in our adult lives ― underlie our dating and relationship behaviour.
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If someone has an anxious attachment style, they struggle to feel secure in relationships and cling to their partner, fearing that they may leave them. (Head here for more on attachment styles.)
If you sense that your spouse may have an anxious attachment style, it’s important to stress that your plea for space isn’t a death sentence for your relationship. You still love your partner, but in order to do so in a healthy way for you means you need space to breathe now and then, Lee said.
“It’s helpful to remind your significant other about your feelings of love and desire for future connection,” he said. “Ideally, people in close relationships can spend time apart while still feeling safe and secure in the connection to their partner.”
Make a point to reconvene after your “me time.”
Nothing will allay your partner’s fears about this request more than you returning happier, calmer and more ready than ever to give your full 100% to family life. Sure, every now and then, you need a day to yourself to go putt some balls or chill at a Korean spa, but you always return to your partner. (Plus, when you have “we time” or go on a date night, you’re truly focused on that togetherness, not secretly wishing you could go off and do your own thing.)


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--I Waited Until I Was 41 To Lose My Virginity. But Was It Worth It?

HuffPost UK Courtesy of the author
By the time I was 40, I’d dated over 100 men. My romances, which lasted from one night to one year, were with men from 15 years younger to 15 years older. I dated a physicist, army captain, strip club bouncer, philosopher, professional country singer, peace-treaty negotiator, yacht captain, waste management baron, professional athlete, farming landscape painter, firefighter, ER doctor, retired CIA spy, minister, a handful of lawyers and enough engineers to start a firm.
While I was intimate with over 50 of these men, I never had sexual intercourse with any of them. I wasn’t waiting for marriage or holding out for religious reasons. I was attracted to the men I dated and fantasised about sex with some of them. Looking back, the seeds that would grow into my decision may have been planted by watching Disney and Hallmark movies and listening to music that romanticised waiting for a hero. Whatever the reason, I knew in my gut that I wanted to experience sexual intercourse within a mutually loving and committed relationship. That relationship just never came along.
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In 2013, I wrote an essay entitled “Does My Virginity Have a Shelf Life?” for The New York Times that changed my life. In addition to the 600 comments posted in 24 hours, the article was on the top 10 most emailed for a week. Both feminists and misogynists attacked my decision to remain abstinent in a culture that quite clearly says, if you aren’t having sexual intercourse, you aren’t complete.
Then I was invited to speak on the Katie Couric show on “Late in Life Virginity.” During a commercial break, Couric turned to me with a knowing look and told me I had a case of “fairytale princess syndrome.”
“You should just have sex,” she told me.
My heart felt like it had just been spanked.
I left NBC studios on a mission — not to take Couric’s advice to lose my virginity ASAP, but to find out if I were delusional, as America’s sweetheart anchor had suggested.
I started with books like “The Evolution of Desire,” “Necessary Losses,” “Appetites,” “The Power of Habit,” and “Attached.” Oh and of course, I skimmed the classic, “Sex and the Single Girl,” whose author, Cosmopolitan’s long-time editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown, claimed, “If you’re not having sex, you’re finished.”
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I sought out a therapist. I visited a local psychic. I talked to my primary care physician. I wanted to know if I was actually “sick” for following my desire to have sexual intercourse in a mutually loving and committed relationship.
I found that the majority of people thought that waiting to have sex before an established committed relationship is old-fashioned. “What’s commitment anyways?” a friend asked me. “We all get left eventually,” she said.
I emailed renowned Rutgers University psychologist Dr Barry Komisaruk who studies orgasms in paralysed female patients. I asked him if research shows women’s brains light up differently depending on the type of orgasm: plenty of people had said if I’d had oral sex or masturbated, I’d had sex. I told him I was seeking scientific proof for what I felt in my gut to be true — that I should reserve sexual intercourse for love and commitment. He suggested I email his colleague in the U.K. whose research found that a female’s brain lit up differently depending on the type of sexual activity. Then, what he wrote next, I’ll never forget, “In my experience, if it comes down to a choice making a decision based on science or based on my gut, I go with my gut!”
I reached out to interview a consecrated virgin, someone I thought would understand my compulsion to follow a strong feeling. When I met her at the coffee shop, she looked like any 30-year-old. There was no long flowing black habit, but she did wear a ring on her wedding finger. “Mary” had taken a vow of chastity through the Catholic Church, but, unlike nuns, she lived and worked in the secular world as a nurse.
I am Christian, but not Catholic, and I wasn’t saving myself for God, but as a 40-year-old virgin, I was curious if she’d met the same resistance from her peers — if they thought something was wrong with her.
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“My vagina isn’t going to blow up if I don’t have sex,” she’d told a couple concerned friends. She sipped her skinny latte and spoke frankly about her path that led her to choose a life of chastity. “I long for the day I meet Jesus,” she told me.
I understood how she felt. I also longed for someone who would love me unconditionally, and I believed he existed.
So I continued to be open to sages I randomly met along my journey.
During a road trip along Highway One, I stopped at the cliffside Café Kevah to soak in the Big Sur coastline. Taking in the view alongside me sat a large older man perched on his motorcycle, a former Chicago mob member turned addictions counsellor. As you do with a complete stranger you meet on a highway you’ll likely never see again, we swapped life stories.
“You’re a sexual anorexic,” he told me. He directed me to a website Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous that described my “disorder.” I desired sex, but by choosing not to have sex, I felt like I remained in control when my life felt out of control. This was not too different from how many of my friends spiralled into an eating disorder.
Instead of being addicted to resisting food, I was addicted to resisting sex. And just like any addiction, mine too had corollary addictions. I became addicted to men who would never commit. The first three men I loved in my 20s left me for other women. One denied the only offer I ever made to have sex. My self-preservation instinct told me that if I were to fall in love and be abandoned again, at least I’d still have my virginity.
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Call it self-sabotage or living a self-fulfilling prophecy, I fell in love with unavailable men— men with whom I knew I’d never have sex because they’d never love or commit to me. The steadfast atheist who’d never pray with me, the man with the vasectomy who didn’t want the child I wanted, the man I flew hours to visit who was too busy before I arrived to discard the used condom on the top of his overflowing bathroom trash can and the depressed man who could never love me because he couldn’t love himself. I knew I’d hit rock bottom when I met the frustrated married man. I’d never find Mr Right chasing Mr Unavailable.
I was starving myself of the emotional intimacy I truly craved. It took an interview with an Orthodox rabbi to teach me this.
Rabbi Manis Friedman, author of ”The Joy of Intimacy,” told me, “People are addicted to the physical, the junk food—and it won’t solve the problem (the emptiness) especially if you are lacking nutrients. Ten minutes later you are still hungry. You can go your whole life without sex but not without intimacy.”
My therapist helped me see that I was in an abusive relationship with myself and I kept returning, living in a heightened but empty state of anticipation. Longing disguised as hope was stealing my precious time. Every night for six months, I wrote in my journal, “I am ready for and worthy of a deeply intimate and loving relationship.” And then it happened.
In the summer of 2018, I met a mountain-running geologist while drinking margaritas on a rooftop with friends. I had just come off another dead-end affair with an unavailable man, and Dave was only six months out of a divorce after an 18-year relationship.
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This long-haired former drummer from Long Island was not my type; he actually returned my calls and texts. He was such a good communicator that even his blue-grey eyes changed colours depending on his mood. On our third date, he drove me to the airport and walked me to security. There was a different sort of spark, but it didn’t set off a swarm of butterflies.
My friend predicted it would be a slow burn that grew. But I didn’t feel like I was in love. It felt too easy. Where was the anxiety I equated to love? Where was the fear he’d leave me?
My attraction to his transparency and availability grew. Unlike my relationships with other men, I completely trusted him before I fell in love with him.
After two months of dating, Dave told me I was worth waiting for. I’d heard that before, and then men soon lost interest. But then a few months later at dinner, he took my hand and said what no man had told me: “You are worthy of love.” I slurped down a chokeberry cider and looked away as every muscle in my body recoiled. I wanted to run.
Instead, I found myself sitting still in a very unfamiliar place: learning to receive and return love with a man who stood facing me with his arms wide open. I decided I would exchange my virginity for a commitment to positive change: to replace an addiction to longing with a healthy desire to be loved.
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But I didn’t want to just have sex on a random Tuesday night and then get up Wednesday and go to work. I wanted to be deliberate as I had been with my choice all along. Dave and I began exploring destinations.
Ten months after our first date we flew to French Polynesia. Huahine, the second of five islands we visited, is known as the rebel island because it was the last of 118 to fall under French control. Upon arrival, our taxi driver told us the island meant “the sex of the woman.” This is the place, I thought.
It had been three years since Dave had had sex. So, in some ways, he felt like he was starting anew with me. He surprised me with a fun deck of cards, each with a different sex position. We made stacks: “Slam dunk,” “Awkward, but let’s try it anyways,” “Impossible, even for Gumby.” I wore new pink lattice lace panties and lit a candle.
Everywhere you turn in Huahine, you face something sacred: the red hibiscus flowers, the profile of the pregnant woman in its mountains, the marae stones that mark ancient ritual sites, even the blue-eyed eels that carry the souls of deceased ancestors. Just as these are sacred to some Polynesians, experiencing sex in this loving relationship was sacred to me ― despite what others had tried to convince me for so many years.
We made love in our bungalow overlooking a turquoise lagoon. Sex became the metaphor for discovery. My first time felt playful and awkward, but passion grew as we continued practising throughout that day.
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Hiking through Huahine’s dense jungle the next morning with our barefoot guide, I felt an indescribable fullness. My entire body tingled with a peaceful awareness. Having sex in the loving committed relationship I’d desired felt freeing. I wasn’t worried if he would want to see me the next day if he would return my phone call, and if he was secretly seeing someone else or multiple people on the side.
That giant leap of faith last summer triggered a cascade of monumental changes. A few days after losing my virginity in Huahine, Dave surprised me by proposing. Two months later we held a small wedding ceremony next to my grandma’s hospital bedside three days before she passed away. And now, at 42 years old, I am four months pregnant.
Was it worth waiting?
My extended journey as a virgin made me discover things about myself I might have never realised had I had sex with the first guy who insisted. Ultimately, it took a lot of time, as well as awareness and work to stop my self-destructive patterns and allow myself to be loved.
It was never about sex. It was never about waiting for the perfect guy to show up. It was about waiting on a healthy me to show up. The one who realised she deserved more than breadcrumbs. The one who finally felt the emptiness in longing. The one who turned toward love rather than chasing rejection. The one who was capable of accepting that love.
And that was worth the wait.
Amanda McCracken is a freelance journalist. This article was first published on HuffPost US Personal.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-16--Craig Ramage: BBC Football Pundit Taken Off The Air After Criticising ‘Young Black Lads’

Craig Ramage playing for Notts County in the 1990s. EMPICS Sport
A BBC football pundit has been taken off the air for “completely unacceptable” comments after saying “young black lads” need “pulling down a peg a two”.
Craig Ramage, a former Derby County midfielder, faced a backlash after criticism of the Sky Bet Championship club’s 1-1 home draw with Huddersfield on Saturday.
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Speaking on BBC Radio Derby’s Sportscene Podcast, Ramage said: “When I look over and I look at certain players, their body language, their stance, the way they act, you just feel, ‘whoa, hold on a minute – he needs pulling down a peg or two’. So I’d probably say that about all the young black lads.”
Derby left-back Max Lowe spoke out against “racial ignorance, stereotyping and intolerance” on social media, while the club say they “stand shoulder to shoulder, together as one with all our players”.
BBC Derby said it was “investigating the matter thoroughly and he will not be on air until this investigation is complete”.
The club said a statement on Sunday evening: “Derby County Football Club is aware of comments made by a BBC employee after yesterday’s game against Huddersfield Town, directed specifically at a section of our young players.”
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“We have been in contact with the BBC throughout the day and underline that we do not in any way condone any form of discrimination.
“We take comments like these extremely seriously, we do not tolerate them, and stand shoulder to shoulder, together as one with all our players.”
Here’s the original audio for anyone that didn’t hear it. Not good. #dcfcfans pic.twitter.com/snCQZ2hoN9 — Derby County Talk (@derbycountytalk) February 16, 2020
Ramage took Twitter to “apologise unreservedly”. He said: “What I said was wholly inappropriate and unintentional. Race is irrelevant to the issues that I was discussing and I deeply regret what I said. I sincerely hope that the players accept my apology.”
Lowe, who was an unused substitute against Huddersfield, wrote on Instagram: “As a young black footballer making my way in the game, I was shocked by comments made by one of the analysts on BBC Radio Derby’s Sportscene programme.
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“With the support from people I have around me – and after reading today that Raheem Sterling is to spearhead an anti-racism and anti-discrimination taskforce on behalf of players from all backgrounds – I have decided to speak out on behalf of black footballers at Derby County.
“Racial ignorance, stereotyping and intolerance negatively affects the image of impressionable young footballers and creates an unnecessary divide in society.
“I am also disappointed that a public service broadcaster did not step in to ask the analyst to explain his reasoning, or to distance themselves from these archaic thoughts.
“This was broadcast at the same time BBC Derby is promoting a 27-minute feature with former Rams defender Charlie Palmer about the difficulties he faced a as a young black footballer in the 1980s.
“As a professional footballer at an ambitious, high-profile Championship club I know that my performances will be scrutinised and I have no problem with that whatsoever – but I do not think it is acceptable for myself and my team-mate Jayden Bogle to be judged by the colour of our skin.
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“Thank you for taking your time reading this – in a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
Craig Ramage made unacceptable comments in a podcast yesterday, which have been removed. We are thoroughly investigating. Craig will not be on air while we look into this matter. — BBC Derby Sport (@BBCDerbySport) February 16, 2020
Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari told the Guardian: “These comments are shocking and the views expressed are the kind of thoughtless racist stereotypes that we heard 50 years ago. We do not expect to hear them lazily trotted out in 2020. I expect effective action to be taken by the BBC.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-18--The Best Easter Eggs For 2020 Have Been Revealed

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With dozens of options, choosing an Easter egg guaranteed to impress is quite the task. To help, some intrepid taste-testers have put in the leg work for you.
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The team at Good Housekeeping ranked 31 different eggs, shortlisted from 105, across categories such as milk chocolate, free from, dark chocolate, white chocolate and kids chocolate.
Following in the footsteps of The Booker prize and The Turner Prize, the judges decided that choosing just one winner was impossible – and instead, split it between three.
margouillatphotos via Getty Images
Best Overall Egg(s):
Asda’s Extra Special Free-From Dark Chocolate Egg with Vanilla Truffles, £5 for 200g
M&S’s Extra Thick Blonde and White Chocolate Egg, £12 for 500g
The Chocolate Libertine’s Honeycomb Beehive Egg with Honeycomb Nuggets, £69.99 for 1.05kg
HuffPost UK The three winners from M&S, Asda and The Chocolate Libertine.
The three eggs each received an impressive score of 80 out of 100, knocking the previous champion from artisan brand Booja-Booja off the top spot, ending its three-year winning streak.
The Asda egg is gluten-free and dairy-free and the tasters described it as “melt-in-the-mouth chocolate with hidden crunchy cocoa nibs”. M&S’s winning egg was praised for its “deeply creamy vanilla egg”, and tasters loved “the wow factor” of The Chocolate Libertine’s honeycomb treat.
If none of those eggs take your fancy, here are the other category winners:
Best Milk Chocolate:
Cocoa et Co Belgian Chocolate Beehive Egg, £10 for 220g sold at Sainsbury’s – 75/100
Sainsbury's
Best Kids Chocolate (Joint Winners):
Tesco’s Doug the Dinosaur, £3.50 for 200g – 76/100
Hotel Chocolat’s Pen Pals, £10 for 120g – 76/100
Co-op Golden Honeycomb Crunch Egg-splosion, £5 for 200g – 76/100
Tesco Tesco
Best White Chocolate (Joint Winners):
M&S’s Extra Thick Blonde and White Chocolate Egg, £12 for 500g – 80/100
The Chocolate Libertine’s Honeycomb Beehive Egg with Honeycomb Nuggets, £69.99 for 1.05kg – 80/100
M&S M&S
Best Free-From:
Asda’s Extra Special Free-From Dark Chocolate Egg with Vanilla Truffles, £5 for 200g – 80/100
Asda
The taste-testers also reviewed other Easter foods and M&S proved to be a firm favourite.
M&S’s 4 Luxury Hot Cross Buns (£1.50) were voted as the best hot cross buns, and its Made Without Wheat Gluten Free 4 Hot Cross Buns (£1.50) were voted as the best free-from ones. Meanwhile, M&S’s Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary (£15 for 800g) was voted the best roast lamb.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Keir Starmer Backs Police Forces That Avoid Arrests For Cannabis Possession

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Labour frontrunner Keir Starmer has said he supports police pilot schemes where people found in possession of cannabis are not arrested or prosecuted.
In a Channel 4 leadership debate, the former Director of Public Prosecutions said he would not back decriminalisation of the drug “immediately” if he became PM, but did back projects where an alternative approach was taken.
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Asked as part of a quick-fire question-and-answer session if he would decriminalise cannabis, he replied: “I wouldn’t immediately. I have supported schemes where cannabis possession, you’re not arrested, you’re not prosecuted for it. And I believe in that.”
Fellow leadership contenders Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy also said they would not change the law as it stands, but did suggest that it was time for a public debate on the issue.
Asked the same question, Long-Bailey said: “No but I think we need to have a conversation nationally.” Nandy replied: “No, let’s have a proper review.”
"No but I think we need to have a conversation nationally."
"I wouldn't immediately."
"No, let's have a proper review."
The Labour leadership candidates respond to the question: "Would you decriminalise cannabis?" #c4debate pic.twitter.com/DnizScu9P7 — Channel 4 (@Channel4) February 17, 2020
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Starmer has made clear in the past that decriminalisation would reduce drug related violence or halt the drugs trade.
But he said in 2018 that he wanted to “change the conversation around drugs and gangs”.
Several police forces in the UK have in recent years opted to follow “diversion” schemes where those found in possession of soft drugs are not prosecuted but are diverted instead towards treatment and education services.
Thames Valley Police in Newbury operates a pre-arrest scheme which offers those caught in possession of a range of drugs - not just cannabis - the option of entering recovery and education services run by a charity.
The Guardian reported last year that in the first three months of the experimental scheme, police apprehended 35 people for possessing drugs, mainly cannabis. Of those, 34 undertook the diversion drug classes and one was referred to a treatment centre.
Durham and Avon & Somerset Police forces have also run “diversion” schemes which have resulted in scores of drug users avoiding court, jail and a criminal record.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--What Does A Mediterranean Diet Look Like IRL? Breakfast, Lunch And Dinner Ideas To Try

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Now, new research suggests eating a Mediterranean diet that’s rich in fish, vegetables and olive oil may protect the brain from protein build up and shrinkage that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests.
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Study author Tommaso Ballarini, of the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Bonn, Germany, said: “Our study suggests eating a diet that’s high in unsaturated fats, fish, fruits and vegetables, and low in dairy and red meat may actually protect your brain from the protein build-up that can lead to memory loss and dementia.
“These results add to the body of evidence that show what you eat may influence your memory skills later on.”
artisteer via Getty Images
The diet was named the best diet for 2020 (for the third time running) by US News & World Report – and is actually pretty similar to the UK government’s healthy eating advice, which stars in the Eatwell Guide.
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So how does this type of diet play out in day-to-day life? And what would you eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you were trying to eat more Mediterranean-inspired cuisine? We asked specialist paediatric dietitian, Bahee Van de Bor, for her recommendations.
“The Mediterranean diet will typically feature more seafood, particularly both oily and white fish, small amounts of red meat, beans, pulses and lentils prepared into soups or falafels,” says a British Dietetic Association spokesperson. Olive oils, rapeseed or sunflower oils are used in cooking instead of butter and nuts, she explains, while seeds and fruit can be used for breakfast or as snacks.
“Onions, leeks, tomatoes and garlic are used to prepare soups or casseroles and are particularly friendly for the good bacteria in our gut,” she adds. “Aim to eat at least two portions of fruit and vegetables per day.”
Claudia Totir via Getty Images
What’s for breakfast?
Aside from fruit and nuts, as Van de Bor mentioned, you could try a Mediterranean-inspired breakfast dish consisting of eggs prepared with vegetables like onions, tomatoes, red bell peppers and garlic (shakshuka).
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Or you could go for a Middle Eastern-inspired platter filled with falafels and dips (hummus/baba ghanoush) and vegetables like cucumber, olives and wholemeal/wholegrain bread or pita.
Alternatively, a spinach and feta breakfast sandwich might do the trick.
How about lunch?
If you’re after something hearty and warming, try a bean soup – mixed beans prepared in a tomato sauce and served with wholemeal bread. Alternatively, a salad with oily fish could work. Think sardines, mackerel or salmon served on a bed of cucumber, olives, salad leaves, with a side of wholemeal toast and drizzled with olive oil.
And lastly, dinner.
Why not try a baked fish dish (white or oily fish) cooked in olive or vegetable oils, with a side of potatoes and vegetables, suggests Van de Bor. Alternatively, you could prep a Moroccan tagine with chickpeas, tomatoes, aubergines and other vegetables served with rice or couscous.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Dom And Dumber? What The Race/IQ Adviser Row Tells Us About No.10

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Dom and Dumber?
The driving narrative of Boris Johnson’s election campaign - and now of his government - is that he represents the mainstream, not the extreme. From sorting Brexit’s first stage, to pumping cash to the NHS, to being ‘tough’ on crime and immigration, he managed to unite former Labour heartlands with Tory Home Counties.
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Jeremy Corbyn was depicted as the party leader most out of touch and most on the fringe of political discourse. And as Labour is distracted by its own leadership contest, the PM has in many ways enjoyed quite a honeymoon since he secured that 80-seat majority in December. He’s made two big judgement calls, on Huawei and HS2, and the national polls continue to give his party a 20-point lead over the Opposition.
Don’t forget too that Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is the person who tells him to keep focused on the signal, not the noise. So in many ways, it was no surprise that No10 appeared unbothered about what it may think is yet another ‘metropolitan media’ squall, this time over the views of one of the PM’s advisers, Andrew Sabisky.
Sabisky, in case you missed it, has in the past riffed on Black people having lower IQ than whites, appears to have talked of “the very real racial differences in intelligence” and for good measure talked of compulsory “long-term contraception at the onset of puberty” to prevent the growth of an ‘underclass’.
All pretty shocking to many people, but perhaps not to this No.10. When he was Mayor of London, the PM himself once said that it is “relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85”. And Cummings has his own record in dabbling in debates about eugenics.
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Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings in October. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Don’t forget the PM’s own view on the perils of political correctness, made plain at his leadership launch last summer. Asked about his remarks about ‘letterbox’ and ‘bankrobber’ Muslim women, he said it is “vital that we as politicians remember that one of the reasons people have become disillusioned with us as a breed is because too often they feel we are muffling and veiling our language”.
Was all this why the PM’s deputy official spokesman, when asked today repeatedly whether the PM believed that black people were less intelligent than whites, refused to answer? No.10 had had plenty of time to come up with a line and yet had none. The spokesman even suggested that cabinet minister Grant Shapps wasn’t speaking for the government when he said Sabisky’s remarks were “not my views and those are not the views of the government”.
Amazingly, even several hours after that briefing, Downing Street aides didn’t clarify the issue. Their silence was deafening. It seemed for a large part of today that, for whatever reason - complacency, incompetence, hostility to Westminster journalists - Boris Johnson was happy to let the public think he was perfectly relaxed about sharing the view that Black people were less smart than whites. For a PM who prides himself on representing ‘mainstream’ Britain, appearing to flirt with extremist Britain was an ugly look indeed. Allegedly clever people had never sounded so stupid.
In the end, it was Sabisky himself who decided to defuse the whole row by quitting his contract (note he was not a permanently employed adviser). There was no Downing Street statement. That left No.10 looking both impotent and unconcerned about allegations of racism. It will have also left some wondering just who was the ‘Dom and Dumber’ pairing on this issue of IQ and equality - Cummings and Sabisky, or Cummings and Johnson?
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Love Island Honours Former Host Caroline Flack With Personal Tribute From Iain Stirling

Love Island has honoured its former presenter Caroline Flack with an on-air tribute from the show’s narrator Iain Stirling, following her death at the age of 40.
The TV host was found dead at her London home after taking her own life on Saturday.
ITV decided not to air the reality show on Sunday out of respect to Caroline and her family following the news. The Unseen Bits spin-off also did not air on Saturday night.
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As the show returned on Monday, the episode opened with a personal tribute from Iain, who heartbreakingly said: “You were a true friend. I’m going to miss you, Caz.”
Caroline Flack died on Saturday at the age of 40 ITV/Shutterstock
Speaking over a montage of beach scenery and crashing waves, Iain said: “We are absolutely devastated by the tragic news that Caroline, a much-loved member of our Love Island family, has passed away.
“Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this dreadful time. Caroline and me were together from the very start of Love Island and her passion, warmth and infectious enthusiasm were a crucial part of what made the show connect with millions of viewers.”
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If you or a loved one has been affected by recent events, you can find support here: https://t.co/CKFhYxMzWm #BeKind — Love Island (@LoveIsland) February 17, 2020
He continued: “Like many of you, right now we’re all just trying to come to terms with what’s happened. My only hope is that we can all try to be kinder, always show love and listen to one another.”
Becoming emotional, he concluded: “Caroline, I want to thank you for all the fun times we had making our favourite show. You were a true friend to me. I’m going to miss you, Caz.”
The tribute ended with a photo of Caroline on screen.
A picture of Caroline was shown at the end of narrator Iain Stirling's tribute ITV
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The show’s presenter Laura Whitmore, who is also Iain’s girlfriend, tweeted: “Love you @IainDoesJokes I know that wasn’t easy”.
As part of Monday night’s episode, Love Island’s commercial sponsor Just Eat worked with ITV and Samaritans to replace the usual idents so that anyone affected by Caroline’s death could access support.
Iain and Caroline had worked together since 2015 ITV
Meanwhile, Love Island companion series Aftersun, which usually airs on Monday night, was also cancelled this week, while ITV also confirmed the show’s official podcast, The Morning After, will not be released on Tuesday.
Caroline had presented the first five series of Love Island after it was rebooted in 2015 by ITV2.
She stepped down from hosting the sixth series following her arrest and subsequent charge for assault in December.
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Caroline was due to face trial in March after pleading not guilty to assaulting boyfriend Lewis Burton at her home.
Ahead of the show’s return, ITV’s director of television, Kevin Lygo, also doubled down on the broadcaster’s insistence it “constantly” offered guidance and support to Caroline after her arrest.
He said in a statement: “Everyone at ITV is absolutely devastated and still trying to process this tragic news. Caroline was part of Love Island from the very beginning and her passion, dedication and boundless energy contributed to the show’s success.
“After Caroline stepped down from the show ITV made it clear that the door was left open for her to return and the Love Island production team remained in regular contact with her and continued to offer support over the last few months.”
A Love Island spokesperson previously said: “Caroline was a much loved member of the Love Island team and our sincere thoughts and condolences are with her family and friends.”
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Caroline hosted the first five series of Love Island ITV/Shutterstock
Laura Whitmore took over as the host of Love Island last month, and on Sunday she paid heart-wrenching tribute to her friend and colleague on her BBC Radio 5Live show.
“Anyone who knew Caroline knew she was vivacious, loving and had a passion for life, which is why none of this makes sense,” she said.
Laura Whitmore had been standing in for Caroline on Love Island David M. Benett via Getty Images
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Caroline’s boyfriend Lewis Burton, who she had been banned from contacting as she awaited trial, said he was “in so much pain” after her death.
He wrote on Instagram: “I will be your voice baby I promise I will ask all the questions you wanted and I will get all the answers nothing will bring you back but I will try make you proud everyday.”
Following her death, Caroline’s management blasted the Crown Prosecution Service in a strongly-worded statement for pursuing “a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest”.
Downing Street described Caroline’s death as a “tragedy”.
A No.10 spokesperson said: “Caroline’s death was a tragedy and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this very difficult time.”
Useful websites and helplines:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Andrew Sabisky: Tory Aide Quits After 'Enforced Contraception' Comments

Andrew Sabisky said the "media hysteria" has forced him to leave his role as a contractor. BBC
Andrew Sabisky, the Downing Street aide who advocated forcing women to take contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies, has quit.
The 27-year-old was hired after Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings called for “misfits and weirdos” to apply to work with him, but faced a backlash over a series of controversial posts.
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On Monday, he said he was standing down because he did not want to be a distraction to the government.
In a tweet, he wrote: “The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help HMG not be a distraction. Accordingly I’ve decided to resign as a contractor. I hope no.10 hires more ppl w/ good geopolitical forecasting track records & that media learn to stop selective quoting.”
In another tweet he said: “I know this will disappoint a lot of ppl but I signed up to do real work, not be in the middle of a giant character assassination: if I can’t do the work properly there’s no point, & I have a lot of other things to do w/ my life.”
Sabisky once suggested that the benefits of a purported cognitive enhancer, which can prove fatal, are “probably worth a dead kid once a year”.
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Writing on Cummings’ website in 2014, he said vaccination laws provided a “precedent” for enforced contraception.
“One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty,” he said.
In one Twitter post he said: “I am always straight up in saying that women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s.”
He also suggested black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.
Earlier on Monday, a Number 10 spokesman said: “I’m not going to be commenting on individual appointments.”
The spokesman added: “The prime minister’s views on a range of subjects are well publicised and documented.”
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An ex-cabinet minister told HuffPost UK: “So much for ‘high output management’.
“Narcissistic Cummings can’t even get basic personnel decisions right. Outside of his intellectual ivory towers he seems to have little real common sense or decency. What a liability.
“Bet Boris is already thinking ‘will someone rid me of this troublesome priest’ - or if he isn’t he should.”
Labour said Number 10’s refusal to condemn the remarks was “disgusting”, while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the government must “demonstrate some basic but fundamental values”.
Speaking after Mr Sabisky’s resignation, Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: “It’s right that Andrew Sabisky is no longer working in government. He should never have been appointed in the first place.
“After Number 10 publicly stood by him today, Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer about how this appointment was made and whether he agrees with his vile views.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Storm Dennis Devastates Homes Amid 'Danger To Life' Warnings And More Rain Expected

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There are nine severe flood warnings active across England and Wales following Storm Dennis, with heavy and blustery showers forecast for Tuesday.
Warnings are in place in England for the River Trent at Burton upon Trent; the River Wye at Blackmarstone in Hereford and at Hampton Bishop; the River Severn at Uckinghall, New Street and Waterside in Upton upon Severn; and the River Lugg at Hampton Bishop.
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In Wales, there are two severe warnings in place on the River Wye at Monmouth in what Natural Resources Wales calls both “defended” and “undefended” areas.
At 3.30am, the level at Monmouth was 7.03 metres and rising. A peak level of approximately 7.2 metres is expected to occur between 4.30 and 8.30am on Tuesday morning.
An aerial view of the Welsh village of Crickhowell which has been cut off as the river Usk bursts its banks near the Bridge End Inn. Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
Residents in Upton upon Severn and Uckinghall, in Worcestershire, are being advised to evacuate, with water levels expected to rise on Monday evening.
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Emergency evacuations were also under way in Hereford, where the River Wye reached its highest level on record.
Further heavy rain is forecast in the north of England for Wednesday and Thursday, possibly falling on already flooded areas.
Meanwhile, police have found a body in the search for a missing woman who was swept into flood water in Tenbury, Worcestershire on Sunday.
She has been named by West Mercia Police as 55-year-old Yvonne Booth from Great Barr in Birmingham.
Four others have died as a result of the latest bout of extreme weather.
Flooding from the River Wye in Hereford following Storm Dennis. Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
A man wades through flood water in Hereford. PA
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A flooded rRver Wye in Hereford. PA
The aftermath of the storm caused transport disruption on Monday, as train lines and roads were blocked by flooding and fallen trees.
The AA said nationally it had attended more than 400 vehicles stuck in water or mud over the weekend, more than double the number under Storm Ciara a week ago.
In Hereford, residents were advised that flooding could trigger periodic power cuts, and some roads were closed.
Locals in the inundated area around Hereford described “devastating” flood scenes that struck roads, a business park, the railway line and homes.
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Greg Smith, who took drone images of the flooding, said: “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The Environment Agency’s David Throup said the water was at “truly exceptional levels”, adding: “They are the highest levels we’ve ever recorded on the River Wye and those records go back 200 years.”
Meanwhile, people living near Eastham Bridge in Worcestershire described 48 hours of chaos as they lost count of the number of vehicles – including a fire engine and a petrol tanker – caught in floodwaters.
Rachel Cox inspecting flood damage in her kitchen in Nantgarw, south Wales. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Over in South Wales, one of the worst-hit areas was the village of Nantgarw, near Cardiff, where entire streets were left underwater from the early hours of Sunday morning.
Jeanette and Rachel Cox had a “terrifying” evacuation from their home in Oxford Street after waking at 4am to the floodwater.
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“Everything downstairs has completely gone,” said 68-year-old Jeanette, who was only able recover a wedding day photo of her with husband Bill, who died from cancer in 2009.
Natural Resources Wales said provisional data indicated the River Taff at Pontypridd had reached its highest level for over 40 years.
As of 4.30pm on Monday, six severe “danger to life” flood warnings from the agency were in place for the River Wye, River Severn and the River Lugg.
Some 420 properties were flooded by Storm Dennis and 18,500 protected, with both figures expected to rise, the Environment Agency (EA) said.
The prime minister resisted calls to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, Cobra, to tackle the flooding crisis.
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Luke Pollard, shadow environment secretary, said it was a “disgrace” that Boris Johnson had “refused” to visit affected communities.
Environment secretary George Eustice defended the government’s response, saying it was not possible to protect every house from flooding and pointing to £4bn of funding committed to flood defences in the next five years.
A record number of flood warnings and alerts, more than 600, were issued by the EA across England on Sunday, with this falling to below 500 on Monday afternoon.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Rikki Neave: Man Charged With 1994 Murder Of Six-Year-Old Schoolboy

Undated handout file photo of Rikki Neave, as a 38-year-old man has been charged with murdering the six-year-old schoolboy more than 25 years ago. PA
A 38-year-old man has been charged with the 1994 murder of six-year-old schoolboy Rikki Neave.
The youngster was found dead in woodland a few minutes’ walk from his home in Redmile Walk, Welland, Peterborough, on November 29, 1994.
He had disappeared after leaving home to walk to school at about 9am the previous day. Tests showed he had been strangled.
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Rikki’s uniform was found dumped in a nearby bin.
On Monday, the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit said James Watson, of no fixed address, had been charged with murder.
He will appear at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Originally Rikki’s mother Ruth was accused of his murder, but she was later cleared of the killing and instead found guilty of child neglect and cruelty, and jailed for seven years.
In 2014, police looked again at the cold case, and began re-investigating in 2015.
Chief Crown prosecutor Chris Long said: “Following the death of Rikki Neave in Peterborough in November 1994, the Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised Cambridgeshire Constabulary to charge James Watson, 38, with murder. Rikki Neave’s family have been informed.
“This decision was made following careful consideration of all the evidence presented to us by Cambridgeshire Constabulary as a result of their cold case review and subsequent lengthy and complex investigation.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Pregnant Bangladeshi-Heritage MP Claims She Was Told Asians Are More Likely To Abort Baby Girls

Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn Tulip Siddiq at the registration of her daughters birth at Camden town hall Nicola Tree via Getty Images
A pregnant MP was told by a colleague they thought Asian people were more likely to abort baby girls, an investigation into racism in parliament has found.
Tulip Siddiq, who is of Bangladeshi-heritage, told a fellow MP in the Commons she was pregnant.
But she said the MP expressed surprise that doctors had told her the sex of her baby.
“Speaking to a colleague of a mine, she looked at me in astonishment and said you know you’re having a girl because normally they don’t tell people of Asian origin they’re having a girl because you know, then Asian people decide,” Siddiq told ITV News.
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She added: “I looked at her and I couldn’t believe what she was saying.”
Siddiq was also told when she was running to become the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn that she should use her husband’s English surname as “people wouldn’t vote for ‘Tulip Siddiq’.”
The revelation came as part of an ITV News survey of black and minority ethnic (BAME) MPs.
It found that more than half (51%) had experienced racism or racial profiling from colleagues.
The figure rose to 62% when including incidents of racism or racial profiling across the parliamentary estate, where thousands of staffers, security, police, journalists and contractors work.
An overwhelming majority (92%) said they found it more difficult to become an MP because of their ethnicity, while 83% said it had made their work more difficult.
Four in five of the MPs (81%) also said they had experienced racism from the public.
In total, 37 of the 65 BAME MPs, including Tories, Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians, responded to the survey.
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“A police officer came to physically escort me out of the member’s tea room even though he was told I was a member of parliament”
Shadow equalities secretary Dawn Butler said she was once escorted out of a room in parliament by security.
“A police officer came to physically escort me out of the member’s tea room even though he was told I was a member of parliament,” she said.
“He later sent me a written apology.”
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Labour MP Naz Shah said: “You battled your way here (to parliament), broken the glass ceiling, you’re actually here where there’s going to be equality, where we can advocate equality for the whole of the country and that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.
“But actually we’re landing somewhere we don’t have that equality.
“Even if you look at the last few weeks with the select committees, twenty select committees not one BAME MP was made chair.”
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One MP, speaking anonymously, said they had been spat at in the street due to their religious beliefs, while others mentioned racist comments on the doorstep, death threats, racist letters and emails.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, who is of Palestinian descent, said: “Whenever I mention anything to do with my background or ethnicity that comes back and you immediately get that torrent of people who want to tear you down.
“The comments about going home come to me a lot. It is really hurtful and horrible. You learn to wear an armoured jacket so you don’t listen to it. I’ve got as much right to be here as anyone else.”
Labour MP Afzal Khan said: “You get loads of tweets saying you’re drumming on about Muslims. ‘There is a simple solution, go back to Pakistan’.
He went on: “There is a license now to challenge people’s right to be here.
“For over 50-plus years I’ve been here (in the UK), this is my country, everything I have, everything I want to give back is to this country.”
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A House of Commons spokesperson told ITV News: “It is unacceptable that some MPs have experienced racism, and we are particularly concerned to hear of instances occurring on the parliamentary estate.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Boris Johnson Working From Country Mansion Rather Than Visiting Flood Victims

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Boris Johnson is not expected to visit any flood-hit areas today and instead will be working from a country manor, as parts of Britain continue to cope with the impact of Storm Dennis.
Downing Street said the prime minister was being kept updated about events at Chevening, the retreat usually used by the foreign secretary.
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The Chevening estate covers 3,000 acres stretching between Sevenoaks and Biggin Hill in Kent.
Its gardens include a lake, a maze and a double hexagonal walled kitchen garden.
Asked why Johnson was not personally visiting areas hit by the storm, a No.10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister will receive regular updates on this.
“It’s right that Defra and the secretary of state for the environment are leading on this.”
Johnson was heckled by locals when he visited flood-hit areas of Yorkshire in November.
Boris Johnson (left) in a row boat with Czech Republic's Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sramek on a boating lake in the grounds of Chevening House in 2017. PA
Storm Dennis has lashed the country with 90mph winds and drenched some places with more than a month’s worth of rain in 48 hours.
Over the weekend major incidents due to flooding were declared in South Wales, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.
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Labour leadership contender Keir Starmer said today it was “an appalling decision” not to hold an emergency Cobra meeting on the flooding.
“The recent flooding is a stark reminder that the government is not doing enough to get to grips with the climate crisis,” he said.
Ministers should be taking a lead on this situation, not ducking their responsibilities.
“I would urge the prime minister to reconsider this decision and give communities the support they need to deal with the horrendous flooding.”
The government said it had activated the Bellwin scheme to provide emergency financial assistance to storm-hit areas.
Under the scheme, local authorities dealing with the storm’s impact can apply to have 100% of eligible costs above a threshold reimbursed by the government.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Government Spending £60m On Motorway Barrier For Brexit Disruption

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The government is spending £60m on a moveable concrete barrier to ease traffic jams in case Brexit, bad weather or industrial action causes disruption at ports.
The barrier, allowing the creation of a temporary contraflow system at short notice, will be deployed on the M20 motorway in Kent “at times of cross-channel disruption”.
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The Department for Transport (DfT) pointedly did not mention Brexit as a potential cause of that disruption.
But the barrier replaces the £35m Operation Brock project which caused immediate chaos on the M20 when it was deployed in October in case there was a no-deal Brexit, despite the EU agreeing to delay Britain’s departure to January.
Despite Boris Johnson striking a withdrawal agreement with the EU, there is still every chance of disruption at UK ports if the government gets to the end of this year’s transition period without striking a long-term trade deal.
The prime minister has also made clear he is willing to walk away from negotiations without a trade deal, which could result in much of the disruption that would have been caused in what was previously known as a no deal Brexit scenario.
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Even if he succeeds in getting the “Canada-style” trade deal he wants, businesses have also been warned by the government to prepare for extra trade frictions that could potentially slow down the cross-border movement of goods and cause disruption at ports.
The DfT shared a video with a Dutch voiceover made by the Netherlands-based Vermuelan Groep to highlight how the concrete barrier might work.
But the government has not yet hired a supplier for the £60m project.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “After listening to frustrated residents and businesses affected by Operations Brock and Stack, we’ve invested in a new solution to boost Kent’s resilience and keep its vital road network moving, even at times of disruption.
“This state-of-the-art technology can be deployed quickly, simply and safely, ensuring motorists across the county can get to where they need to be with minimum fuss, whatever the circumstances.”
Moveable barriers are already used in cities around the world, including Auckland, Sydney, San Francisco and Vancouver.
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The technology will allow a specialist vehicle to quickly deploy the barrier on the M20 to ensure minimal disruption to motorists.
That compares to Operation Brock, which required a month of overnight closures to deploy a barrier required for the contraflow system.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--DJ And Producer Andrew Weatherall Dies, Aged 56

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DJ and producer Andrew Weatherall has died at the age of 56.
The musician was known for producing Primal Scream’s 1991 album Screamadelica and was seen as a key figure in the acid house scene of the late 1980s.
Andrew’s management confirmed that he had suffered a pulmonary embolism and died in hospital on Monday.
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Andrew Weatherall pictured here in 2011 Nick Pickles via Getty Images
They said in a statement: “We are deeply sorry to announce that Andrew Weatherall, the noted DJ and musician passed away in the early hours of this morning, Monday 17th February 2020, at Whipps Cross Hospital, London.
“The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism. He was being treated in hospital but unfortunately the blood clot reached his heart.
“His death was swift and peaceful.”
As well as his work on Screamadelica, Andrew was acclaimed for his DJ collaborations on Happy Mondays‘ Hallelujah, New Order‘s World In Motion and Primal Scream’s Loaded.
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He also founded the record label Boy’s Own Recordings and the production outfit Bocca Juniors.
Lead singer of The Charlatans Tim Burgess was among the first to pay tribute on social media.
He wrote: “Shocked and saddened to hear that cosmic traveller Andrew Weatherall has left the building. Always a pleasure to meet up with him and share good times. Rest well mate.”
Shocked and saddened to hear that cosmic traveller Andrew Weatherall has left the building. Always a pleasure to meet up with him and share good times. Rest well mate pic.twitter.com/OIsg2Fb6Di — Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) February 17, 2020
Absolutely distraught to hear this terrible news. Andrew was a longtime friend, collaborator and one of most talented persons I’ve known. Also one of the nicest. Genius is an overworked term but I’m struggling to think of anything else that defines him. https://t.co/nWlyE75bL5 — Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh) February 17, 2020
hard to put into words the influence and impact Andrew Weatherall has had on UK culture...
so sad to hear of his passing
RIP — Gilles Peterson (@gillespeterson) February 17, 2020
Absolutely heartbroken to hear about Weatherall. A wonderful person who contributed so much to music and British culture. The world is a poorer place today. — Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne) February 17, 2020
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Radio DJ Lauren Laverne wrote: “Absolutely heartbroken to hear about Weatherall. A wonderful person who contributed so much to music and British culture. The world is a poorer place today.”
DJ Gilles Peterson added: “Hard to put into words the influence and impact Andrew Weatherall has had on UK culture… so sad to hear of his passing RIP.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--China's Totalitarian State Kicked Into Overdrive To Fight Coronavirus – So Why Didn't It Work?

Faced with a crisis like coronavirus Covid-19, there are tools available to a totalitarian state like China that simply wouldn’t be options somewhere like the UK.
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Yet as of midday on February 24 there have been more than 77,000 confirmed infections on the mainland, and all but 27 of the 2,619 deaths globally have occurred in China.
So why haven’t the country’s extreme measures worked?
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Sarah Cook, senior research analyst for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House, told HuffPost UK: “If you look around the world, China is the only country so far where this has really gotten out of control.
“Granted, other countries had more notice so they were able to start containing the virus from a smaller scale, but that is exactly the problem.”
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“The political system in China is actually making it harder to deal with this crisis in a way that reduces public panic.”
What is China’s political system?
China’s political system is vast and complex. In essence, though, it is a one-party communist state.
That party is the Communist Party of China, which exerts full control over the country and exercises power through a network of regional and local party offices as well as the state-run media.
Local officials are elected by the public but the people really in charge – President Xi Jinping and the Politburo (the Chinese equivalent of the cabinet in the UK government) – are not democratically elected.
There is an unwritten social contract between the Chinese public and its government that the state will provide security and economic prosperity and in return the people will let those in power remain in power.
How does it react to crises?
In a one-party state, the reputation of that one party comes first.
The communist government’s rigid structure has long favoured officials that toe the party line and suppress negative information about China rather than speak out.
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Officials fear that flagging even legitimate worries will earn them nothing but a demotion – even though, of course, dealing promptly with a potential future disaster would help China save face in the long term.
Professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, told HuffPost UK: ”[It is] a system that has an incentive for people to underplay the problems rather.”
China’s reactions to a number of crises over the last two decades amply demonstrate this.
During the Sars outbreak in 2003 it took months for Chinese officials to acknowledge the outbreak at all.
The resulting global spread of that disease was due in part to a secretive government’s desperate fear of being shown up on the international stage.
Ultimately, China’s response backfired and it was forced to apologise.
Then, after a devastating earthquake in 2008 that killed nearly 70,000 people, it took nearly a year for the government to acknowledge that more than 5,000 schoolchildren had died because of shoddy construction standards.
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A masked woman in a plastic rain coat walks on a street in Beijing, Tuesday, Feb. 11. ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 2011, a train collision on the country’s much-vaunted new high-speed railway killed 38 people and was accompanied by a media blackout and allegations of a cover-up.
Yaqiu Wang, a China researcher with Human Rights Watch, told HuffPost UK: “We haven’t learned from the Sars outbreak, the 2008 earthquake or the 2011 train crash.
“Almost in every case they try to cover up the death toll or the way the government responded. It’s an authoritarian impulse – they’re not accountable to the people because they not elected.
“They’re accountable to their superiors.”
So how did it react to the coronavirus outbreak?
In exactly the same way, at least initially.
“In many places in China, it seems authorities are equally, if not more, concerned with silencing criticism as with containing the spread of the coronavirus,” says Wang.
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“Among other things, authorities have taken away citizen journalists Fang Bin and Chen Qiushi who tried to document the situation in Wuhan under the name of ‘quarantine’.”
The most infamous case of stifling criticism is that of Li Wenliang, a medic at a hospital in Wuhan who tried to raise the alarm about the new strain of coronavirus in December.
At the start of January, he was warned by police to stop “spreading rumours” about the illness now known as Covid-19, with officers telling him he had “severely disrupted social order” and he would face criminal charges if he continued.
Li died of the virus last earlier this month.
The way the Chinese authorities, at least on a local level, reacted to the emerging crisis severely hampered their ability to fight the virus.
“When Dr Li and his colleagues first tired to alert people and the authorities, there were only a handful or a few dozen cases,” said Cook.
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“And their efforts were quashed precisely because of the internal incentives and political priorities of the Chinese totalitarian system.”
Following an online uproar over the government’s treatment of Li, the Communist Party struck a conciliatory note, saying it was sending a team to “fully investigate relevant issues raised by the public”.
A member of a Chinese honour guard wears a face mask as he stands guard on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Tuesday, Feb. 4. ASSOCIATED PRESS
What should they have done?
Stamping out criticism and stamping out a virus are obviously two very different things.
Professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, told HuffPost UK that if the Chinese government had truly learned lessons from the Sars outbreak then the first cases of animal to human transmission confirmed in early December should have triggered a different response.
“If the government that dealt with Sars and avian flu had learned anything, it would have acted decisively at that stage,” he said.
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“They should have culled all the livestock, incinerated them and quarantined the staff who worked at that particular location.
“It didn’t happen.”
What about those massive building projects, though?
There’s no doubting that few states would have the resources and manpower to pull off the feats China has.
The 1,000-bed Huoshenshan Hospital and a second facility with 1,500 beds were built by construction crews in 10 days who are working around the clock in Wuhan, the city in central China where the coronavirus outbreak was first detected in December.
The ruling Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, sent 1,400 doctors, nurses and other personnel to staff the Wuhan hospital.
“The Chinese government is reporting it widely,” said Tsang. “They are showing how heroically they are confronting it, how they have built impressive new hospitals that no other countries could even imagine doing. They’ve reported how dedicated medical staff are, to the extent that some of them died fighting the virus.”
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But it is all too little too late – at the time of writing 2,619 people have died and 79,434 are infected, the vast majority within China itself.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Ring Lost In US Found Buried In Finland 47 Years Later

A woman has been reunited with the high school class ring she lost 47 years ago in Maine – after it was bizarrely found in Finland.
Debra McKenna, 63, lost the ring in Portland, US, when she was a student at Morse High School, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Mysteriously, the ring remerged when a sheet metal worker unearthed it from eight inches of soil in a Finnish forest while using a metal detector.
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Debra McKenna is wearing the class ring her then boyfriend and future husband gave her in high school back in 1973. She lost it than same year. The amazing story of how she got it back tonight @WGME @FOX23Maine pic.twitter.com/7L4hvkGeDe — Brad Rogers WGME (@BradWGME) February 14, 2020
The ring had been a gift from McKenna’s childhood sweetheart and now late husband Shawn, who died in 2017 after a six-year battle with cancer.
The person who found it noted it had an inscription and Shawn’s initials SM, and was able to track McKenna down through the school’s alumni association.
Just how the ring – which McKenna accidentally left in a department store all those years ago – came to be discovered more than 7,000km away remains a mystery, though it brought McKenna to tears when she received it back.
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“It’s very touching in this world of negativity, to have decent people step forward and make an effort,” McKenna said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--No.10 Refuses To Say Whether PM Shares Aide's View That Black People Are Mentally Inferior

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Downing Street has refused to say whether Boris Johnson agrees with the claim by a No.10 aide that black people are less intelligent than white people.
The extreme claim was reportedly made by 27-year-old Andrew Sabisky, who answered Dominic Cummings’ call for “misfits and weirdos” to join his team running No.10.
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At a briefing on Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson refused to condemn Sabisky’s views about black people or say whether the prime minister agreed with them, pointing only to Johnson’s previous statements.
The spokesperson also refused to condemn Sabisky’s call for the introduction of eugenics or his claim that women’s sport is “more comparable” to the Paralympics than men’s sport.
“I’m not going to be commenting on individual appointments,” the spokesperson said.
“The prime minister’s views are well documented and well publicised”.
The PM has been criticised in the past for referring to Black Africans as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”.
He also once wrote that working class mothers’ children were “unloved and undisciplined” and might “mug you on the street corner”.
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Sabisky has been hired as a contractor in Downing Street after answering Cummings’ call for staff.
But Downing Street’s response sparked criticism from Tory former minister Caroline Nokes, who also called for Sabisky to be sacked.
Cannot believe No 10 has refused to comment on Andrew Sabisky. I don’t know him from a bar of soap, but don’t think we’d get on ....... must be no place in Government for the views he’s expressed — Caroline Nokes (@carolinenokes) February 17, 2020
Sabisky, a self-styled “superforecaster”, once wrote about the IQs of black people in a 2014 blog post being circulated on social media.
“If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a century’s worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.”
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Sabisky also suggested enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies “creating a permanent underclass”.
“One way to get around problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty,” Sabisky wrote.
“Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.”
In a series of now-deleted tweets, the researcher also described female Labour MPs Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long-Bailey as “dim”, while writing in another: “I am always straight up in saying that women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s.”
In a 2016 interview with Schools Week, Sabisky also discusses a drug called modafinil.
It is usually used to tackle sleepiness due to narcolepsy but can be used as a brain-enhancer. Its side effects in children include a higher risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which is a life-threatening condition that causes a person’s skin to die and fall off.
He told Schools Week: “From a societal perspective the benefits of giving everyone modafinil once a week are probably worth a dead kid once a year.”
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Labour party chair Ian Lavery MP said: “It is disgusting that not only has No.10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabisky’s appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.
“Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.”
According to the Times, Sabisky has already attended several meetings in Number 10 and reports to Cummings.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps was pressed on the issue when he appeared on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
“Not only have I not seen the story, I don’t actually know the individual you are referring to at all,” he said.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Amazon Removes More Car Seats From Sale. What You Need To Know Following Product Recall

bubaone via Getty Images
Potentially unsafe car seats have been found for sale on Amazon, a BBC Panorama investigation has found.
The products were discovered as part of a wider investigation into the online retailer – and it isn’t the first time this has happened.
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In February 2019, a Which? investigation found child car seats that are illegal in the UK were being sold on Amazon and other online retailers. The watchdog said the seats lacked the safety features to properly protect children.
And back in 2014, Surrey County Council trading standards investigation found that illegal seats, which had been imported from China, were being sold on eBay and Amazon. Crash testing found the seats ripped apart on impact at 30mph, catapulting a toddler-sized dummy through the front of the car.
In the most recent case, four “obscure” car seat brands were found, the Panorama investigation revealed. One listing described its product as an “infant safe seat” for just £3.99. It said it was “capable” of preventing injury.
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When BBC contacted the four brands in question, only one replied, to deny being the manufacturer. Three of the four car seats were purchased by the journalist investigating, and they lacked safety labels. Trading Standards officers are now investigating these four cases and are yet to publish their results.
In a statement, Amazon UK told the BBC: “Safety is extremely important to us and we regret that these products were available from third-party sellers using our stores.
“After a thorough investigation, we identified the issue and are removing these products, and we’re also contacting each customer who purchased one of these products to explain the situation and issue a refund.”
“If [a seat] is not fit for purpose, a child can die.” - Good Egg Safety
In response to the report, Jan James, chief executive of Good Egg Safety, an independent safety regulator for car seats, told HuffPost UK: “It’s completely unacceptable for Amazon to trot out platitudes that ‘it regrets’ these killer child car seats were for sale when there have been innumerable warnings from Which?, Good Egg Safety and many others for many years.
“We are grateful to the BBC for flagging this urgent issue as the stark message which still isn’t being heeded is this: a child car seat is THE single most ‘safety critical’ piece of equipment we will ever buy for our children and grandchildren. If it’s not fit for purpose, a child can die.
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“Nothing is more important than recognising this fact and taking action against any who sell untested, unregulated seats.”
Amazon: What They Know About Us will be broadcast on BBC One on Monday 16 February at 8.30pm.
So, can you buy any car seat?
For parents to be certain they are buying a safe seat, James recommends the following steps:
:: Only buy from a reputable high street retailer or independent child seat specialist.
:: Check both the child seat manufacturer and car instruction manuals to ensure compatibility.
:: Then, always check the child seat fits your child and any car it will be used in prior to purchase.
Good Egg Safety also shared five factors to consider when buying a car seat.
1. Your baby’s weight, height and age
Many baby car seats are tailored to weight or height, and keeping a baby in a lower group seat is considered better than moving up a seat too soon. “Age is a starting point, but it’s not the best way to select a child car seat” is the advice.
2. The vehicle you own
Not all car seats fit in every car, so it’s vital to know your car’s specification.
3. Whether you’ll use the car seat in multiple vehicles
Not all car seats will be compatible with other car designs. Check first.
4. Whether your car has ISOfix connectors
If a car does not have Isofix connectors, this can affect the best seat to buy.
5. Whether your car has underfloor storage


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--Beckham Brood Put In Adorable Show Of Support At Victoria's London Fashion Show

The Beckham brood was out in force on Sunday, to support mum Victoria at her latest fashion show.
On Sunday, David Beckham was pictured with his sons, Romeo and Cruz, on the FROW at London Fashion Week.
They were joined by his and Victoria’s daughter, Harper, who was snapped sitting on his lap as the former Spice Girl debuted her latest Autumn/Winter collection.
Oh and, no biggie, but David was only sat next to Anna actual Wintour.
The Beckham family – including Harper on David's lap – at her latest London show Gareth Cattermole/BFC via Getty Images
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Sidenote: we didn’t think we’d ever be getting sweatshirt envy from Cruz Beckham, but there we have it.
David wrote in an Instagram post shared later in the day: “Show time @victoriabeckham... My babies looking pretty cool right now.”
Noticeably absent from the event was the Beckhams’ eldest son, Brooklyn, with David writing on Instagram: “We miss you @BrooklynBeckham”.
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Cruz and Romeo also posted similar photos from the runway show on their respective Instagram pages, with the former writing: “Congratulations mum I’m so proud of you, such an amazing show.”
Showing just how much a family affair the event was, Victoria also posted a behind-the-scenes photo of David, posing with both of their mums.
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Victoria later wrote of the event: “Such a great day showing #VBAW20 at #LFW! I’m so grateful for my family and @voguemagazine for always supporting me on this journey. So many kisses.”
Writing about the new collection on Instagram, Victoria said she’d been inspired by “different ideas of women”, adding: “[I was inspired by] different characters, different moments and different attitudes – but with no restrictions.”
The Beckham family previously made headlines back in September, when they were snapped beaming with pride at another of Victoria’s shows.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-17--How The Duchess Of Cambridge Learned The 'Power' Of Hypnobirthing

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The Duchess of Cambridge has spoken candidly about her “utterly rotten” experiences of pregnancy, as well as her journey into motherhood.
Joining Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast, Kate reflected on her own happy childhood, and said being a parent is a huge challenge.
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“You are pulled to your toughest and the most unknown places that you hadn’t necessarily known about before,” she said.
Here are five things we learned about the Duchess from her first ever podcast interview.
HuffPost UK Kensington Palace
She used hypnobirthing during labour
The Duchess revealed she used hypnobirthing, which includes techniques such as deep breathing and visualisation, to help her through pregnancy and birth, saying she discovered the “power of the mind over the body”.
Hypnobirthing helped her deal with hyperemesis gravidarum – a severe form of morning sickness, which she described as “utterly rotten” – during her pregnancies. She also used the techniques during labour.
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“I saw the power of it, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that ... and I realised that this was something I could take control of, I suppose, during labour,” she said.
“It was hugely powerful and because it had been so bad during pregnancy, I actually really quite liked labour! Because it was an event that I knew there was going to be an ending to.”
She was intimidated by that first post-birth photocall
Yui Mok - PA Images via Getty Images
When Kate walked down the Lindo Wing steps clutching Prince George in 2013, mums around the world were gobsmacked by her polished appearance. So much so, some shared jokey pictures of what they looked like post-birth.
But on the podcast, Kate revealed that while she looked cool as a cucumber on the outside, it was a different story on the inside. Asked how she found doing that first photocall, she replied: “Yeah, slightly terrifying, slightly terrifying, I’m not going to lie.
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“Both William and I were really conscious that this was something that everyone was excited about. And, you know, we’re hugely grateful for the support that the public had shown us, and actually for us to be able to share that joy and appreciation with the public, I felt was really important,” she said. “But equally it was coupled with a newborn baby, and inexperienced parents, and the uncertainty of what that held, so there were all sorts of mixed emotions.”
She practised the car seat manoeuvres with William
Remember when Kate passed baby George to William, who then secured him in a car seat and drove off? The seemingly seamless manoeuvre was carefully choreographed, Kate revealed, but still didn’t go exactly to plan.
“We were like: ’What do we do? He’s going to be in a swaddle. How is this even supposed to work?” she laughed.
“We’d even tried to practise with a little doll at home – but it just never works out the way you’ve planned it. It was quite hard to do that, I think, on the world’s stage, but he did a very good job.”
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She underestimated how parenthood would impact her life
The Duchess revealed she didn’t know she was going to have a boy with George, saying she wanted the gender to be a “surprise”. She then pointed out that you can’t plan for every element of a pregnancy and parenthood.
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“The challenge is then when you’re sent home with your newborn baby, particularly as a first-time mother, and you’re like: ‘Oh my goodness, am I okay to do this?’” she said.
“Particularly with your firstborn baby, you think everything is going to go back to the way it was before. I think I totally underestimated the impact it was going to have on our lives, really. And I think unless you’ve got children, you don’t realise – no amount of planning and preparation can get you ready for that moment.”
Things didn’t necessarily get easier with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, she said, adding: “No pregnancy is the same, no birth is the same.”
PA In the podcast, the Duchess said she treasures this photo of Charlotte smelling a bluebell. "It's moments like that that mean so much to me as a parent," she said.
She experiences ‘mum guilt’
When asked if she ever experiences “mum guilt”, Kate replied: “Yes absolutely! I think anyone who doesn’t as a mother is actually lying.
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“Even this morning, coming to the nursery visit here, George and Charlotte were like: ‘Mummy how could you possibly not be dropping us off at school this morning?’
“It’s a constant challenge, you hear it time and time again from mums. Even mums who aren’t necessarily working, aren’t pulled in the directions of having to juggle work life and family life – there’s always something.”
Kate added that a “wise man” told her she doesn’t have to be “everything to all people, all the time” – and that’s been “a real weight off [her] shoulders”.
″[I’ve learned] the more people you have around your children who are safe and loving and caring, the better,” she said.
“It’s not totally my responsibility to do everything. We all have good days and bad days and actually, if you can dilute that with others who aren’t on that particular day struggling, I think it makes such a difference to your child and actually, to keeping them as happy and as constant as possible.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-18--Why We Still Grieve For Someone We Didn’t Know

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As the news of Caroline Flack’s tragic death by suicide sinks in, those who knew her continue to share touching tributes and outpourings of grief. Just last night, Love Island aired an emotional message from the show’s narrator, Iain Stirling. “You were a true friend,” he said. “I’m going to miss you, Caz.”
But social media is also awash with messages from devastated fans who acknowledge that although they never met Caroline – and cannot begin to imagine how her loved ones are feeling – they feel a sense of personal loss.
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“You may very well feel sad for the pain of people who truly did know that person,” says psychotherapist Lucy Beresford, “but you, too, now have an emptiness, or an ending, which needs to be acknowledged or mourned.”
ITV/Shutterstock .
When a person in the public eye dies, there’s often a moment of shared, collective grief, says counsellor and psychotherapist Nora Allali-Carling. “To name but a few, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and David Bowie [have sparked this response],” she says.
Signs of grieving for a celebrity can vary, but it’s usually grounded in a feeling of shock or disbelief, she explains. This can be followed by obsessively watching, reading and listening to the news of the death and their life.
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Dominic Lipinski - PA Images via Getty Images Floral tributes placed outside Caroline Flack's home in North London.
We can grieve for people we don’t know particularly well – or at all – because it’s possible to still feel a bond to them, explains Beresford. If you’re drawn to an actor in a movie, you follow someone’s sporting career, or you interact with a person’s social media feed, they become part of your “internal village”, she explains, “the tribe you construct in your psyche”.
“You have created an emotional relationship with that person, even if one doesn’t exist in the flesh,” continues Beresford. “When they die, you have a genuine loss to your inner tribe.”
Within this “inner tribe”, we often place celebrities we admire on a pedestal, adds grief and trauma counselling psychologist Dr Chloe Paidoussis-Mitchell. “We hold them up as people who represent our ideals, our values, our dreams, aspirations, desires and intentions,” she says.
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Our grief may intensify around celebrities who have been in our lives for a long time, says Allali-Carling. Some viewers will have watched Caroline Flack since childhood, for example – she started out on children’s show TMi in 2007 before moving to primetime shows like The X Factor and Love Island.
“We may have felt connected to them, watching them grow, change, develop in their art form and it is relatable,” says Allali-Carling. ”[Their death] can also represent us losing a part of our past, a part that was connected to that form of entertainment. This intensifies the feelings of loss.”
The way a celebrity dies can impact our grief, too. The therapists agree “the shock and suddenness of suicide” is likely to affect those reading the news. These deaths may also serve as a reminder of our own fragility, or emphasise loss in our lives.
Lia Toby via Getty Images
The first stage of processing your grief for a celebrity is to acknowledge your feelings and understand they are valid, all three therapists tell HuffPost UK. “Give yourself permission to be sad, to grieve, to feel what is going on for you,” says Allali-Carling. “Allow yourself time to come back to yourself.”
Try and find a way to express what you’re feeling. Paidoussis-Mitchell says for some, this could be journalling. For others, it may be having time to cry or visiting a loved one’s grave.
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“It is really important to also appreciate that whilst grief is a personal journey it is also a collective affair,” she adds. “So reaching out to friends and family to share the impact of the loss is important.
“In sharing we can be validated, held, empathised with and supported. Going through any distress alone is never the answer.”
Useful websites and helplines: