thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--My Body Should Not Be Your New Favourite Coronavirus Quarantine Punchline

HuffPost UK Courtesy of the author
As much of the globe has gone quiet with people sheltering in place to slow the spread of Covid-19, many have used this downtime for some self-reflection. I’ve been reading the thought pieces flooding the internet on how society should learn from its mistakes and how we must commit to doing better when the pandemic passes – like sinners bargaining with God as they face a near-death experience.
But one thing shows little hope of changing when we finally emerge into our new world: fatphobia. And I’m not just fed up with it. I want to take you on a distance-learning journey about why this needs to stop once and for all.
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In a time when we’re consuming media at record rates, there has also been an uptick in weight loss ads, frantic calls for us to begin home fitness routines, The Biggest Loser marathons and, of course, memes poking fun at the ‘Quarantine 15’.
The latter seems to be not only the most ubiquitous but also potentially the most harmful. Even friends I feel should know better are sharing ‘fat beach body’ memes, counting calories or joking about ‘binging’ on quarantine snacks, all during a period when we should just be grateful for life and focused on beating the coronavirus. (Please note that an extra scoop of ice cream is not “binging” and to suggest it is makes light of a real disease. Those with actual binge or bulimia disorders should seek professional help.)
It’s interesting to see that even in a pandemic, what a lot of folks are most afraid of is looking like me. As plus-size women have recently railed against the fat-shaming quarantine memes, we’ve been met with the same refrain: ‘Lighten up.’ But it’s hard to take these memes as ‘harmless jokes’ when you know that they’re perpetuating diet culture and may be fuelling existing eating disorders or triggering women and men in recovery to relapse.
A few years ago, I became an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association, which was a natural fit with my work at the plus-size magazine SLiNK and my newfound role as a body-positive influencer. I knew I had a really messed-up past with diet culture, but what I didn’t know until I attended a NEDA event was that you can technically be anorexic while still being fat.
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Courtesy of Renee Cafaro A meme circulating on the internet during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I have atypical anorexia, a subclinical disordered eating behaviour, which means I fast for days on end – barely consuming anything, even water. What’s more scary is that I tend to do this as a knee-jerk reaction to stress, often with no conscious awareness that I am parched and starving until I feel faint on day three or four.
Many of the same jokesters who are posting fat-girls-in-bikinis memes right now also seem to love a ‘lighthearted’ nod toward anorexia and say things like “It would be so nice to forget to eat” and “Maybe now I can lose a few pounds in my quarantine.” Anorexia nervosa has a higher estimated mortality rate than the coronavirus. Gee, isn’t that “hilarious”?
I noticed all of this talk about bodies and eating and diets was triggering feelings of ugliness and worthlessness. I found myself having visceral reactions to these traumatising ‘jokes’ and I worried about my own mental health. And then, recently, amidst all the fat-trolling memes on Instagram, I came across a beacon of light called #MyQuarantineBody started by Anastasia Garcia aka @anastasiagphoto.
She asked influencers to post pics of ourselves in all of our curvy glory, as if the photos were divine offerings to our icon Lizzo. Models like Hunter McGrady joined the dialogue and I was also able to sound off on all of the cringeworthy and downright damaging content that we plus-size women are subject to. It was a much-needed campaign and it helped me feel immeasurably better about myself ― but it’s not enough. These fat-shaming memes need to stop.
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I’m not just trying to wag a ‘woke’ finger at the people who feel they’re simply offering some levity in dark times by sharing these memes. I’m here to tell you that by making anyone’s body at any size a punchline, you are potentially doing physical and mental harm.
It is estimated that nearly 30million Americans will struggle with some form of disordered eating in their lives (including subthreshold disordered behaviours). Surveys show that when bullied, all genders are susceptible to meeting weight-based victimisation with binging, fasting, substance abuse, depression and lower-participation in daily activities. So the next time you post a picture of a fat person and imply that gaining weight is the worst possible outcome of this quarantine, realise that you’re not just making a joke or motivating yourself or others to pay attention to eating habits – you’re also undermining someone else’s self-esteem and overall health.
“I’m here to tell you that by making anyone’s body at any size a punchline, you are potentially doing physical and mental harm.”
The deluge of fat-shaming memes is also setting a potentially dangerous example for adolescents, who are especially susceptible to these kinds of messages. In fact, 40% to 60% of elementary school-aged girls are already worried about their weight and/or being “too fat” thanks to the weight-loss-centric media that reaches them from the earliest of ages.
Not only does this show that fatphobia is impressed on us from almost the moment we arrive on this planet, but it raises the question of what children are truly being taught when the idea that thin equals beauty is perpetuated. We must realise the responsibility we all have to care for the next generation and we must work to stop this cycle of self-hatred and illness. Part of the solution is refusing to share these kinds of memes.
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Perhaps you’ve made it this far in my diatribe and are thinking, “Wow, it’s not that deep! It’s meant to be funny. Just deal with it.” I admit that even in my own family, many people refuse to see or understand why fat shouldn’t equal funny. But since trolling usually says more about the troll than the target, I challenge anyone who wants me to “just deal with it” to consider a few things.
Not everyone will look the way you may want them to ― not even yourself. Quite often the most vitriolic attacks I’ve received as a body image influencer have come from people with overwhelming internalised hate and body dysmorphia. It’s tragic, really. I wish everyone could use this time to finally end the war on our bodies.
What’s more, maybe you should do yourself a favour and ‘lighten up’. Let go of your fear that you’re not maintaining arbitrary body ideals and just eat the damn cookie. Life is too short – show yourself and others some compassion. We shouldn’t be expected to spend all this new ‘free time’ in lockdown doing crunches, eating clean and worrying about what we’ll look like when we finally emerge.
So many of us are trying to go on with our lives ‘as normal’ when nothing is normal. This is a time to stay as safe and sane and healthy at home as possible, not a time to feel guilty about food. We need to #FlattentheCurve, instead of worrying about flattening our curves, and we need to support each other, instead of sharing memes that can cause even more pain than we’re already experiencing.
Renee Cafaro is US editor of the body-positive magazine SLiNK, and a plus-size influencer known as @foxyroxyfashion on Instagram. This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Will Rising Elderly Deaths Force Politicians To Finally Sort Our Social Care Crisis?

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Who cares about social care?
When the nation stood at 11am for a minute’s silence to honour all the NHS and care workers who have died in the Covid-19 pandemic, it felt like a tragic but important counterpoint to the Thursday night claps for essential staff on the frontline in this battle.
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But just an hour and a half earlier, yet more sombre news of the wider death toll emerged in the latest Office for National Statistics. The grim rise in deaths in care homes was shocking, with more than 2,000 in the week ending 17 April, double the previous week. And while many now think the peak for hospital deaths was earlier this month, it seems fatalities in social care settings are still rising.
To his credit, Matt Hancock appreciated the need for more transparency and will from Wednesday include care home stats in the daily death figures. But today the most ominous chart at the No.10 press conference was the one showing ‘deaths in all settings’ for the UK, with the line now firmly above France (which includes care homes in its stats).
Hancock and his advisers were repeatedly questioned about the awful new statistics. Shortages of protective equipment for care staff, a lack of testing and the timing of a ban on visits from relatives were all raised. Hancock certainly looked uncomfortable, though at least he had some good news in that testing was at such a high capacity (now 73,400 a day) that he could expand testing to all care home staff and residents with and without symptoms.
That 73,400 figure is actually pretty impressive, given it is higher than South Korea’s and comparable now to Germany’s. I understand that the separate target of 25,000 daily tests in the NHS labs has nearly been reached too. So if he misses his 100,000 target this week, the health secretary will still be content that his personal ‘goal’ has dramatically driven up numbers. (Meanwhile, in Germany there are signs that even a well-tested country can risk a second wave if it eases the lockdown too early).
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Hancock also stressed today that far from ignoring care homes, he had been alive to the danger in January, when medical advisers pointed to the high risk posed by coronavirus to the elderly.It was something he had been “focused on right from the start”. Yet many critics think the UK took its eye off the ball, through the lack of protective equipment for care homes and the fact that it took until this month to start testing every resident with symptoms.
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Testing chief John Newton also had some intriguing information suggesting that the asymptomatic spread of the disease in care homes had been surprising. Intensive studies had shown now “there were significant numbers of residents who were asymptomatic who had the virus”. New tests for everyone mean that better ‘infection control’ can now be implemented (sorting the riskier cases from the others). But when Newton said we’ve “massively” increased the amount of testing available to 25,000 care home residents and staff, that’s still a small proportion given the 400,000 old people living in care in England.
Once again, the lack of early and widespread test capacity is likely to feature in any public inquiry. But the bigger problem was one alluded to by both Hancock and Newton: the complexity and extra pressures of dealing with a sector that is made up of thousands of individual centres, many privately run.
Under both Labour and Tory governments, many councils have been forced over the years to close old people’s homes and hand responsibility for provision to the private sector. This was made worse when social care budgets were slashed by £7.7bn since 2010. The Tories seemed so badly burned by Theresa May’s ‘dementia tax’ policy in 2017 that the party steered clear of any further proposals.
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One positive move was turning the Department of Health into the Department of Health and Social Care in January 2018. But a change of name couldn’t change the structural problems of a fragmented, chronically underfunded, underpaid, undervalued and understaffed (by at least 100,000 workers) system.
It took the Tory leadership campaign last summer for Jeremy Hunt to utter this telling line: “I think, having been responsible for health and social care, that some of the cuts in social care did go too far.” Despite rising demand, spending on adult social care actually fell by about 10% between 2010 and 2013.
Hancock knows he needs to do more than sport a ‘CARE’ badge to fix the social care crisis that is now being all too savagely exposed by the coronavirus crisis. There are around 140,000 beds in the NHS, but 411,000 people living in care homes. A cross-party consensus is needed on a national care service with more long-term funding, respect and political attention.
That would be a fitting legacy for those older people due to lose their lives in coming weeks, and give a new meaning to Hancock’s tribute to “the nation’s fallen heroes”.
Quote Of The Day
“The thing is, I think that’s unreasonable as a question, actually.”
Matt Hancock, asked to apologise for rising care home deaths
Tuesday Cheat Sheet
Nearly a quarter of coronavirus deaths in England and Wales were in care homes, with more than 4,300 deaths recorded in a fortnight, the Office for National Statistics revealed.
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Matt Hancock said he hopes to have in place the staff and technology to run a contact tracing operation to slow the spread of coronavirus by the “middle of May”. With any lockdown easing dependent on such a plan, it’s the first clue to a date for a shift in policy.
Hancock unveiled a major expansion of free coronavirus tests. They will cover not just all residents and staff in care homes and NHS hospitals without symptoms, but also all people over 65 with symptoms, or people who need to travel for work and have symptoms.
Downing Street refused to confirm whether Boris Johnson would be facing Keir Starmer at PMQs on Wednesday.
The Scottish government recommended people cover their faces while in some enclosed public spaces, such as shops and public transport. But Prof Angela McLean, the government’s deputy chief scientific advisor, said there is “weak” evidence of a “small” beneficial effect from face coverings.
British Airways is set to make up to 12,000 workers redundant as it is expected to take “several years” for the airline industry to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
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Theresa May urged ministers to consider rising domestic abuse and mental health, as well as the economy, when deciding how quickly to lift restrictions. “We cannot have a situation where the cure for the disease does more damage than the disease itself,” she said.
Ministers have asked the chancellor for £70m to help domestic abuse victims during the coronavirus crisis, HuffPost UK can reveal.
What I’m Reading
Boris Johnson And The Optimism Delusion - Atlantic
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Ilford Stabbing: Killed Toddler And Three-Year-Old Named By Police

Baby girl, Pavinya Nithiyakumar, aged 19 months, and three-year-old Nigish Nithiyakumar were killed in the attack Met Police
Two children stabbed to death at a home in east London have been named by police.
Pavinya Nithiyakumar, aged 19 months, and three-year-old Nigish Nithiyakumar, were both found suffering from stab wounds at their home in Aldborough Road North, Ilford on Sunday, April 26.
Pavinya was pronounced dead at the scene and Nigish was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service but died shortly after arrival.
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A 40-year-old man also suffered a knife injury at the scene and was taken to hospital where he remains in critical condition at this time. Officers remain in attendance at the hospital.
The children’s next of kin are aware and their mother is being supported by specially trained officers.
All parties involved were known to each other.
No arrests have been made but police are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.
Police attend the scene in Ilford, east London. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Detective chief inspector Vicky Tunstall said: “The ending of these innocent young lives is extraordinarily tragic and we are working hard to fully understand what may have caused this to happen.
“Whilst I know the effects of this crime are reverberating throughout the local community, please be reassured that we are not seeking any other person(s) in connection with the deaths and there is no cause for the community to be fearful or alarmed.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Coronavirus 'Test, Track And Trace' System To Be In Place By Mid-May, Matt Hancock Says

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Britain hopes to have in place the staff and technology to run a contact tracing operation to slow the spread of coronavirus by the “middle of May”, the health secretary has said.
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It is hoped that putting in place a “test, track and trace” system will help the UK ease the lockdown by quickly isolating clusters of cases, like in South Korea where bars, restaurants and shops are still open.
The new NHSX contact tracing app will alert users if they have been in contact with others who have had a positive Covid-19 test.
Matt Hancock said it would hopefully be ready in the middle of next month.
At or before the time the app goes live, the government also hopes to recruit 18,000 staff to trace the contacts of people offline.
Both the app and contact tracers will notify people who have been unwittingly in contact with the infected to ensure they also stay indoors to stop spreading the virus.
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Hancock said he wanted to make the app available “as soon as possible” and get “as many as possible” of the public to sign up to it.
He told the daily Downing Street briefing: “We hope to have the contact tracers, who will help when we find the positive tests, to find out who they have been in contact with and make sure they do the appropriate thing.
“We hope to have the contact tracers in place before or at the same time as the app goes live.
“And on the app, we’re expecting that to be ready by the middle of May.
“Both of these things together [...] will help us to keep the level of new cases down once we have used social distancing measures to get those new cases down.
“That’s the best thing for health and it’s the best thing for the economy.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Sex And Intimacy In The Age Of The Coronavirus Pandemic

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With social distancing depriving many of us of one of our most basic needs ― human touch ― we’ve been wondering: Could it be possible to build a new, and even transformative, kind of intimacy with friends, family and even lovers in the age of the coronavirus?
Join HuffPost Personal Editorial Director Noah Michelson and HuffPost Executive Editor Hillary Frey for a frank talk about what we’ve lost and gained, and what we find ourselves missing most when it comes to love, sex and desire as we’re forced to physically distance ourselves from everyone who doesn’t live with us.
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The live virtual event starts at 6pm UK time on 30th April. Register here to join us.
Noah and Hillary will lead a conversation about making connections now, sharing their own experiences with dating during the coronavirus and listening to your thoughts and feelings as we navigate this strange new world together.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Dua Lipa Gives Fan's Mash-Up Of Her Song And BBC News Theme The Seal Of Approval

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Dua Lipa has heaped praise on a new remix of her song Hallucinate, which mashes up the track with the opening music for the BBC’s news coverage.
OK, first, let’s back it up a bit.
While so many of us have been glued to the news during lockdown, a handful of people have been taking the opportunity to put their own spin on the BBC’s oh-so-catchy theme tune.
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Among them was Twitter user Ben Howell, who recently shared a snippet of a mash-up he was working on between the news music and Hallucinate, an album cut from Dua’s recent chart-topping release Future Nostalgia.
Our top story tonight: @DUALIPA and the @BBCNews Theme are a PERFECT match. *Manic laughter*
More on this story as it develops. pic.twitter.com/UWsffhHTaS — Ben Howell (@piffleandwhimsy) April 26, 2020
After getting the thumbs up from his followers, Ben posted the full version online, which quickly began being shared all over Twitter.
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So popular was the remix, that in a truly meta move, he even ended up being interviewed about it by Simon McCoy and Radio 1’s Greg James – who became a champion for the mash-up – on the news itself.
And we’re happy to say Dua has now revealed that she is also a fan of the remix, tweeting about it on Tuesday afternoon.
“Quarantine level: @BBCNews remix of Hallucinate by @piffleandwhimsy [Ben’s Twitter name],” she wrote. “Thank you @gregjames for sending me this! I think this calls for a new theme tune???”
quarantine level : @BBCNews remix of Hallucinate by @piffleandwhimsy 😂 // thank you @gregjames for sending me this! I think this calls for a new theme tune??? pic.twitter.com/0F6SzPJ523 — DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) April 28, 2020
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But Ben isn’t the only Dua fan who’s been having fun with her music and the BBC News theme.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--British Airways To Make Up To 12,000 Workers Redundant

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British Airways is set to make up to 12,000 workers redundant as it is expected to take “several years” for the airline industry to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, parent company IAG announced on Tuesday.
The airline, which employs 42,000 people, has suffered from the global collapse in passenger numbers caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s revenues plunged 13% in the first quarter of 2020, the Press Association reports.
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In a letter to staff, BA chief executive Alex Cruz wrote: “In the last few weeks, the outlook for the aviation industry has worsened further and we must take action now.
“We are a strong, well-managed business that has faced into, and overcome, many crises in our hundred-year history. We must overcome this crisis ourselves, too.
“There is no government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely. We will see some airlines go out of business.”
Around 4,500 pilots and 16,000 cabin crew work for BA.
IAG did not provide a breakdown of how many people in each role could be made redundant.
It announced the planned job cuts as it revealed that revenues plunged 13% to 4.6 billion euros (£4 billion) in the first three months of 2020 after the pandemic hit capacity.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Coronavirus: Everyone In Care Homes To Get Tests – Even If They Don’t Have Symptoms

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Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
All care home residents and staff will get a coronavirus test regardless of whether they have symptoms, Matt Hancock has said.
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Covid-19 checks will also be rolled out to all those aged 65 and over with symptoms, and to their households.
Speaking at the Downing Street briefing on Tuesday, the health secretary also said all workers who have to leave home to do their jobs, and their households, would be eligible for testing from Wednesday.
He said: “From construction workers to emergency plumbers, from research scientists to those in manufacturing, the expansion of access to testing will protect the most vulnerable and help keep people safe.
“It’s possible because we’ve expanded capacity for testing thus far.”
It comes as the government stretches to reach its 100,000-a-day test target by the end of April.
He added: “Building on successful pilots, we will be rolling out testing of asymptomatic residents and staff in care homes in England, and to patients and staff in the NHS.
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“This will mean that anyone who is working or living in a care home will be able to get access to a test – whether they have symptoms or not.
“I am determined to do everything I can to protect the most vulnerable.”
Hancock also said the government would begin releasing daily death figures for people in care homes and in the community who have died with the disease, as well as those in hospitals.
En esta foto distribuida por la oficina del primer ministro, Matt Hancock, secretario británico de Salud, habla con la prensa el jueves 2 de abril de 2020 (Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street via AP) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Adding it was an effort to “bring as much transparency as possible” to the statistics, he said: “From tomorrow we will be publishing not just the number of deaths in hospital each day, but the number of deaths in care homes and the community too.
“This will supplement the ONS [Office for National Statistics] and CQC [Care Quality Commission] weekly publication and all add to our understanding of how this virus is spreading day by day, and it will help inform the judgments that we make as we work to keep people safe.”
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On Tuesday, the number of people who died from coronavirus climbed by 659.
Hancock also said the government was on track to meet the goal of 100,000 tests a day and now had the capacity to carry out more than 70,000 tests a day.
He said the dispatch of home test kits would be expanded to 25,000 a day by the end of the week while mobile testing units manned by the army will total more than 70 by the end of the week.
“All of this has led to an increase in daily testing capacity, which now stands at 73,400,” he said. “This has allowed us progressively to expand access to testing.”
Asked whether care homes were now the government’s priority in dealing with coronavirus, Hancock said: “Of course care homes have been a top priority right from the start.
“We’ve strengthened the rules around what happens in care homes and tightened infection control, also making testing available throughout the care centre I think is incredibly important as we’ve ramped up the availability of testing.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--US News Presenter Gets Caught Out Over Lack Of Trousers During Video Interview From His Home

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Listen, we get it. We’ve been working from home for a solid few weeks now, and sometimes you just don’t feel like making the effort, even if you do have some class of video meeting.
We’re as guilty as anyone else of dialling in for a team meeting in our comfies, or even pairing pyjama bottoms with a smart top to maintain some semblance of professionalism while we’re on camera.
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But there is a line, folks. And that line... is called trousers.
That’s a lesson that one US news presenter had to learn the hard way on Tuesday morning, when he appeared on Good Morning America not realising the lower – less smart – half of his outfit was also on display.
ABC News reporter Will Reeve spoke to the presenters in the studio from his home, about a segment which questioned whether drones could soon be used to deliver medicine so people wouldn’t have to leave the house.
During the interview, Will was seen sporting a smart jacket and blue shirt, but apparently hadn’t clocked that his absence of trousers had also been caught on camera.
Hey put some pants on my guy pic.twitter.com/PpCIBRrjP5 — Adam Graham (@grahamorama) April 28, 2020
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After his mistake was spotted – and promptly shared all over social media – Will even spoke out to insist that it wasn’t his underwear that was on show, but rather a (very cropped, evidently) pair of shorts.
They’re shorts I promise 🤦🏻♂ — Will Reeve (@ReeveWill) April 28, 2020
I will not be getting hired as a camera operator any time soon — Will Reeve (@ReeveWill) April 28, 2020
Truly a cautionary tale for us all.
“I have ARRIVED… in the most hilariously mortifying way possible,” he joked on Twitter about the fashion faux pas, later adding: “Man the more I look at this the more thigh I see. Yikes.”
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I have ARRIVED*
*in the most hilariously mortifying way possible https://t.co/2NQ85QEJVr — Will Reeve (@ReeveWill) April 28, 2020
Man the more I look at this the more thigh I see. Yikes. — Will Reeve (@ReeveWill) April 28, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--'Highly Unlikely' That Every John Lewis Store Will Reopen After Coronavirus Lockdown

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It’s “highly unlikely” that all 50 John Lewis stores in the UK will remain open once the coronavirus lockdown ends, the Press Association has reported.
Dame Sharon White, the new chair of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP), and her team are set to address analysts in the City on Wednesday, updating them on the company’s performance during the past week.
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There has also been speculation that Dame Sharon will need to tap up customers and financial institutions, through a corporate bond, for extra cash.
JLP includes Waitrose, which has fared better during the lockdown by remaining open.
But with a major ramp-up of online operations, discussions are under way on whether it will be financially viable to reopen department stores. Several Waitrose stores have already been closed in recent years.
Retail analyst Richard Hyman said: “Does it make sense for John Lewis to close some stores? Absolutely, yes.
“No one wants to see people losing their jobs, which is what would happen, but the reality is, for the market at large, online has been getting bigger and bigger, with John Lewis at the vanguard.”
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He pointed out that 30% of all retail is already online, adding: “For John Lewis, that number was short of 50% before Covid-19, although now it’s at 100%.
“The reality is the retail world we are all moving into means every retailer needs fewer stores than it did before, including John Lewis, and not addressing this problem puts the rest of the business in jeopardy.”
The development is the latest blow to troubled high-street stores – earlier this week Debenhams announced plans to close as a many as 22 stores, putting 1,200 jobs at risk across the department store chain.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Police Face 'Tsunami' Of Domestic Abuse Reports Once Coronavirus Lockdown Ends

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Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Police face dealing with a “tsunami” of domestic and sexual abuse reports when the coronavirus lockdown ends, Dame Vera Baird has said.
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The victims’ commissioner, who gave evidence to the Commons’ justice committee on Tuesday, said curbs on Brits due to Covid-19 meant many people were cooped up with their abusers at home.
Charges and arrests have gone up as much as 24% in some areas, but calls to charities such as Women’s Aid have surged by 50%, suggesting the real problem could be masked by the lockdown.
Baird told MPs cops must start preparing for a rush in official reports when restrictions are lifted.
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She said: “What we do think will happen [is] there is likely to be tsunami of complaints, pleas for help, police reports as soon as the lockdown is over.
“I hope that if they didn’t plan particularly fantastically well for the epidemic now that they will be planning for the recovery which will inevitably produce this tsunami.”
She added: “Calls to the helplines have rocketed. Complaints to the police have not gone up commensurately, but complaints to victims’ services clearly have.
“There are real worries about access to any help if you are locked down with the perpetrator in the next room.”
Victims' commissioner Dame Vera Baird Tessa Bunney via Getty Images
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Baird also told the committee there had been “some suggestion of abuse by older children on parents” emerging during the coronavirus lockdown.
“This is a newer kind of domestic abuse which is probably suggestive of kids wanting to go out and not being allowed to,” she said. “We are talking teenagers.
“That is, I think, a worry and there’s a sense in which there’s a spike likely to emerge of this kind of domestic abuse complaining which is just coming through now.”
There has also been “quite a big spike” in calls about anti-social behaviour, she said.
“It looks like, if I can put it this way, people are getting more frustrated and slightly angrier at things like noise nuisance, which perhaps isn’t a surprise given what’s going on,” she said.
“But that is a big upturn, quite a big spike, in calls about anti-social behaviour.”
Victims’ services have also seen a high number of calls about welfare.
“Victims’ services are getting quite a lot of welfare-related calls – so, about not having enough food, not being on Universal Credit, not having enough money, they’ve lost their job, as if people are having to resort to a friendly face and they’ve been victims of crime before,” she said.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Watch Live: Matt Hancock Gives Coronavirus Update

Watch Live: Matt Hancock Gives Coronavirus Update
Health secretary Matt Hancock hosts the daily press briefing on coronavirus. It comes after the Office for National Statistics revealed that coronavirus played a role in 40% more deaths in England and Wales than previously thought.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Lily Allen Marks Nine Months Sober With Instagram Post

Lily Allen has commemorated nine months of sobriety with a post on Instagram.
The singer has spoken openly in the past about her past alcohol and substance abuse, most notably in her autobiography My Words Exactly and her most recent album, No Shame.
On Tuesday afternoon, the singer announced to fans that she was officially nine months sober.
“9 months sober today!” she wrote, alongside a photo of herself in gym clothes. “And the beginning of an ab is appearing. Very pleased.”
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Referring to her rather messy background, she jokingly added: “Still can’t make my bed though.”
In a 2018 interview, Lily spoke to GQ about what she referred to as her “codependent” relationship with alcohol, revealing that at a particular time in her personal life years earlier, things had become “really bad”, to the extent she was drinking a bottle of vodka a night.
Lily Allen at the Cheltenham Festival last month Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty Images
“I lost my house and my kids started to feel distant and I broke up with my husband and started to realise [drinking like that] probably wasn’t working,” she told the magazine.
At the time, Lily claimed: “I’ve always been a big self-medicator… now knowing that, if I’m not feeling 100 percent, I just stay away from drugs and alcohol, basically.”
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She also sang about this period on the 2018 song Everything To Feel Something, which featured the lyrics: “I’m at my worst when I’m alone, can’t take the peace, so my glass is always half empty, someone fill it up for me, set me free.”
Lily is currently self-isolating at home with her two daughters, Ethel and Marnie, as well as her boyfriend David Harbour, best known for his role in the Netflix series Stranger Things.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Coronavirus Lockdowns Have Been Hard. Ending Them May Be Even Harder

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For the past few weeks, the basic message from politicians and public health officials around the world has been straightforward: Stay home, reduce the spread of the coronavirus and save lives. As authorities begin to ease restrictions on daily life, however, that simple directive risks becoming muddled, leading people to believe the danger has passed and they are free to resume their normal activities.
Already, troubling scenes have emerged in Spain, France and parts of the United States.
In Paris, a throng of people danced together on a street corner in the 18th arrondissement on Saturday as music played over a loudspeaker, HuffPost France reported. The French government plans to ease lockdown restrictions starting May 11.
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On Sunday, following an announcement by the Spanish government that children under 14 would be allowed outside under the supervision of a single adult, images shared on social media showed families and groups of people congregating in the streets, playing soccer and lounging at the beach, HuffPost Spain reported.
And as the weather gets warmer, tens of thousands of people flocked to beaches in Southern California this past weekend – clearly violating guidance about maintaining social distancing.
People in Barcelona, Spain, take a walk outside on April 26, the first day of allowing kids to go out for one hour with an adult. SOPA Images via Getty Images
Fernando Simón, director of the Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies at Spain’s Ministry of Health, said seeing families out in the streets together highlighted the challenges that come with gradually easing lockdown restrictions.
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“These images bring me joy, because they show how, more and more, we will be able to return to a more normal life — but they are also concerning,” Simón said during a press conference on Monday. The fact that some restrictions have been lifted “does not mean that we can do everything we want.”
While the strict lockdown may have been a severe measure, Simón said, it was also a simple one for the public to understand and follow. The next phase, with an evolving mix of restrictions and permissible behaviour, will be trickier.
“We are going to do the difficult thing now,” he added. “Now is when all of us have to demonstrate our responsibility as individuals and families to guarantee that this gradual opening does not create a risk for the population.”
Margarita Robles, Spain’s defence minister, warned on Sunday that if Spanish citizens do not comply with the official guidelines, lockdown restrictions could be reinstated in order to avoid a second wave of coronavirus infections.
Disobeying the rules would create “a risk that Spain cannot afford,” she said.
People enjoy the spring sunshine in London Fields park in east London on April 25. JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images
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In the UK, Boris Johnson struck a similar note on Monday as he urged people to continue to abide by the national lockdown restrictions, even as it appears that the peak of the country’s outbreak has passed.
“This is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor, and so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity,” Johnson said in Downing Street during his first public appearance since recovering from Covid-19 himself. “This is the moment when we can press home our advantage. It is also the moment of maximum risk.”
By and large, people have been adhering to the lockdown measures. In the UK, studies have shown high compliance with, and acceptance of, the government guidelines. Some people even feel the lockdown could be stricter. Some parents said they would continue homeschooling their children if they felt like schools were reopening too soon.
“Our data suggest that people’s adherence to guidelines is still very high, but a few people may be starting to be slightly less strict in their behaviours,” Daisy Fancourt, the lead researcher of one study being conducted by University College London, told HuffPost UK. “It’s vital that people continue to follow the advice closely.”
In France, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said last week that the public was generally obeying the restrictions as well, despite the onset of warm springtime weather.
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In the United States, however, researchers at the University of Maryland have found that, throughout the country, more people have begun to go outside over the past two weeks and are doing so more frequently – suggesting that people are feeling a growing sense of “quarantine fatigue.”
“It just seems that people are getting a little tired collectively of staying at home after we passed that one-month mark,” Lei Zhang, who is leading the research, told The New York Times.
Large crowds gather near the Newport Beach Pier in California on Saturday, April 25, to cool off during the hot weather despite the coronavirus pandemic. MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images via Getty Images
Even as officials encourage the public to follow the rules, however, experts said it’s also imperative that authorities provide clear guidance and help make it possible for people to behave responsibly.
Shaming people for not maintaining social distancing or threatening them with fines is not the best response, said Stephen Reicher, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at St. Andrews University.
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“In the end, what I think was going on there was not that people were stupid and not that they didn’t want to socially distance, but that they’d been told they could go out, that going out is good for you, but there isn’t the space,” Reicher told HuffPost UK, pointing to the examples of people congregating in parks and other public spaces. “I mean, if there is limited space, there are going to be bottlenecks.”
As restrictions ease, government officials shouldn’t focus on how to stop people from breaking the rules, he said. Instead, the emphasis should be on helping people follow them.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Killing Eve: 7 Very Important Questions Episode 3 Has Left Us With

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After a slower start than we’ve had in previous series, Killing Eve’s third season finally kicked into gear in its third episode, Meetings Have Biscuits.
The moment fans had been waiting for (impatiently, we might add) finally arrived, when Villanelle and Eve came face to face for the first time since the former shot the latter in Rome – and the reunion was as dramatic and emotionally confusing as we’d been hoping for.
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But that was far from the only moment that took our breath away, as it briefly looked like we were about to say a grisly farewell to another favourite.
Here are the questions we were left asking this week...
Sid Gentle/BBC
Are we seeing a genuine maternal side from Villanelle – or are things pointing towards something more sinister?
During the opening scene, Villanelle came across a baby, which she stole to look after, having killed its mother and nanny.
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We know already that she’d been dreaming of a simpler life prior to rejoining The Twelve, but we were still not buying this new, maternal side to the assassin.
Did anyone else notice a flicker in Villanelle’s eyes in Andalusia where it looked like she was fantasising about killing the infant too? It could have been an indication that her desire to kill is extending beyond what we thought possible.
What is the relationship between Carolyn and Geraldine really like?
We outlined our suspicions of Geraldine and her sudden arrival in the story last week, but there was a line of dialogue in Meetings Have Biscuits that seemed to reveal tensions she holds towards her mother.
As Eve tried to hold some order to a meeting they were having at Carolyn’s house, Geradline remarked: “That’s the most parenting this household has ever seen.”
While she and Carolyn don’t exactly show an awful lot of affection to one another, the comment seemed at odds with the care she appears to have for her mother.
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Could she be harbouring ill feeling about her upbringing, which has manifested in her secretly working for The Twelve? It’s certainly an out-there theory, but there’s a feeling of mistrust we have towards her that we just can’t shake.
Who has been siphoning money from The Twelve’s Geneva account?
With Kenny digging into The Twelve’s finances prior to his death, Eve, Bear and Jamie discovered an account based in Geneva called Panda, named after an agent who was killed by Villanelle.
We then saw Konstantin pay a visit to an accountant of The Twelve – Charles Kruger, aka. Sergei – who revealed that $6 million had been siphoned out of the account, and that he planned to look into the matter.
The next thing we knew, Sergei – who also had a connection to Carolyn from their Cold War days – had been shot dead by Villanelle.
With the trail now cold, Eve, Carolyn, Jamie and Bear are going to have to find a new lead on the Geneva account.
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Where has Nico gone?
After Eve dropped by the facility her husband had been living at since surviving Villanelle’s rampage at the school, it was revealed Nico had actually been discharged and not told Eve.
It was suggested he’s headed back to Poland, but is this really the last we have seen of Nico?
Did Villanelle really not mean to kill Carolyn?
When Villanelle shot at Carolyn’s car disguised as a police officer, it seemed as if she was an intended target, but it was later revealed she’d actually survived, with Sergei dead in the back seat.
Was Carolyn just very good at playing dead (she certainly convinced us) with Villanelle just fleeing the scene before checking?
We did hear Dasha earlier warn Villanelle that her work had become sloppy, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d walked away falsely believing she’d finished someone off...
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Why does Villanelle want to find her family – and what will be revealed if she does find them?
Villanelle’s backstory had remained largely unclear until the introduction of Dasha at the start of the series.
But it finally looks like we’re going to learn more about her life before Dasha trained her as an assassin, as she asked Konstantin to help find her birth family.
Knowing Villanelle like we do, there’s almost certainly an ulterior motive to her decision, but we can’t wait to see what it reveals about her character.
Sid Gentle/BBC
Is Eve finally realising her feelings for Villanelle?
While Sandra Oh has always played down suggestions Eve has romantic feelings towards Villanelle, those sentiments were beginning to show themselves as the pair were reunited on screen.
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The moment they shared a kiss during their struggle on the bus was more than Eve just using it as a way of regaining power in the situation. The episode also saw Eve unable to stop listening to the message Villanelle had recorded and stuffed in a teddy.
With her marriage now seemingly in tatters, is Eve going to be forced to confront her complicated connection to the deadly assassin?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Whatever Happened To That New ABBA Music We Were Promised?

When ABBA announced they were releasing brand new music in 2018, it was described as “the biggest pop news of the 21st century” and a “pop miracle” in some quarters.
Those bombastic declarations might sound OTT to the tiny proportion of the earth’s population who (a) aren’t too familiar with Sweden’s greatest export (weird), or (b) never grasped their appeal (even weirder).
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But having not been in the studio for 35 years after shifting 385 million records, all of that fervent anticipation ahead of the mooted September 2018 release date appeared to be justified.
And then… nothing.
ABBA (L-R) Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus. Andre Csillag/Shutterstock
Almost three years on – an eternity in pop music – and we’re all still waiting for these new recordings to materialise.
So what happened? And will the pop gods ever gift us with brand new ABBA music? Here’s what we know...
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First, let’s remind ourselves of the band’s we-didn’t-see-that-coming 2018 announcement…
Benny Anderson says that he and Björn Ulvaeus – with whom he co-wrote ABBA’s entire back catalogue – had the idea to go back into the studio together when they were working on their upcoming “avatar” tour project.
He explained: “We said, ‘Hmmm... maybe we should try and write a couple of songs, ask the ladies if they want to come in and sing’. And they said, ‘Yeah, absolutely’. So it was just, out of pure joy I’d say.”
So what are the songs called?
I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down are the two new songs confirmed by Benny and Björn, both of which are said to have ABBA’s distinctive sound.
Björn revealed: “[They’re] definitely ABBA’s sound - that hadn’t gone.
“The minute the two ladies started singing together in the studio, there it was - the same sound. They’re slightly lower [in range] now but the sound is the same.”
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Björn previously said of the new songs: “One of them is a pop tune, very dance-able, the other is more timeless, more reflective, that is all I will say. It is Nordic sad, but happy at the same time.”
He added: “I think that exuberant quality of the two ladies together singing that makes the saddest song a bit uplifting anyway, I think that is what happens and that is very organic, that isn’t calculated, that just happened that way.”
Will there be any other new songs?
Initially, the band insisted there would only be two new songs, but excitingly, both Benny and Björn have revealed that they have other new ABBA songs in the bag.
“I think there are still things in our heads now that we haven’t used yet, that we haven’t found a place for yet,” Björn told the BBC.
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But Björn is underplaying it somewhat, with the ABBA star now confirming that five songs have been completed.
Benny Andersson (L) and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Journalist Geoff Lloyd, speaking on the Reasons To Be Cheerful podcast in July 2020, said: “I got to spend an hour […] with Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA via Zoom. He’s quarantining – he’s got an island in the Stockholm archipelago. ’They’ve recorded five new songs.”
So why the delay?
It all comes down to technology - and (surprise, surprise) the coronavirus pandemic.
Along with new music, ABBA announced a TV special, produced by the BBC and US network NBC, as well as a “virtual and live experience”, a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller.
ABBA (L-R) Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson Sipa/Shutterstock
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No, Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida won’t be taking to the stage again (even reportedly turning down an offer of $1billion to do so). Instead, digital versions of all four members – or ABBAtars as they’ve become known – are being created, to feature in video clips of the new songs and to go out on a “virtual” tour.
But if you think it’ll be anything like the recent – and highly divisive – Whitney Houston hologram tour, think again.
“It’s completely new,” Björn explained. “It proved to be technically more difficult to do certain things.”
Hence the hold up.
When can we realistically expect to hear the new material?
In February last year, Benny said the new songs were coming in summer 2020.
“They’re coming this year,” he said. “I’m guessing after the summer.”
“But I can only guess, because I’m not really sure. But I would think so.”
Asked if he could promise 2020, the ABBA star said: “One shouldn’t promise anything but if I were to decide myself, it would be September.
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“I can’t make that decision alone. But that’s what we’re aiming for.”
Well we now know how that panned out.
😲 New #ABBA songs in September 2020? 😍 “That’s what we’re aiming for,” says Benny 🤞🏻 pic.twitter.com/LmFTBoYVJi — ABBAtalk (@abbatalk) February 1, 2020
Speaking earlier, in 2019, Björn stated new music would only be released “together with the avatars” but aligned with Benny on a 2020 release date.
“Next year, I promise you,” he told ITV News. “I can’t promise any dates but next year is when you will get to hear the new songs.”
However, the coronavirus pandemic has now delayed things even further, with Bjorn now insisting all five new ABBA songs will finally see the light of day in 2021.
After interviewing Bjorn, journalist Geoff Lloyd explained: ”I think it’s because they’re going to do this tour with holograms. Because of technical difficulties and the pandemic, it’s delayed things. But [Bjorn] promised me that the new ABBA music will be out in 2021.”
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And it’s not just us fans who are getting frustrated with the endless delays. In an interview given at the end of last year, a clearly-frustrated Benny explained the band weren’t behind the hold up.
“Everything was up and running smoothly… then it didn’t run as smoothly as it was supposed to,” he said.
“We’re still trying to establish the agreements that need to be dealt with to be able to continue. We’re good… it’s the other side [where] everything has to be done, it’s delayed. So it’s not our doing.”
He concluded: “We can’t wait forever.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--UK Records 659 More Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours

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The number of people who have died in hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen by 659 in 24 hours.
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The increase consists of 552 in England, 70 in Scotland, 20 in Northern Ireland and 17 in Wales.
NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA
UK-wide figures from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have not so far been released, so the total is taken from each nation’s individual reporting.
It brings the working total to 21,751.
NHS England has also released a new figure for the first time: the number of people who have died in hospital with Covid-19 suspected as an underlying cause, but who had not yet tested positive. There were six such deaths recorded on or after April 24.
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A rather more comprehensive metric was issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) earlier on Tuesday: the total number of deaths across England and Wales where coronavirus was either confirmed or suspected as a factor. There is a lag reporting these, meaning the total of 22,300 is only for days up to and including April 17.
It is 40% higher than the figures released by NHS England and Public Health Wales for the same period.
Age breakdown


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Exclusive: Ministers Ask Chancellor For £70m To Tackle Domestic Abuse

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Ministers have asked the chancellor for £70m to help domestic abuse victims during the coronavirus crisis, HuffPost UK can reveal.
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The requests from three different Whitehall departments, which are being considered by the Treasury, would help fund refuges, community services and victims of child sexual abuse.
It comes after MPs pleaded for emergency funding amid “alarming” signs of a rise in domestic abuse during the lockdown.
Calls to domestic violence charity Refuge increased by 49% in the week leading up to April 15 compared to the average prior to the pandemic, sparking fears that victims were being trapped with their abusers in the lockdown.
HuffPost UK understands that the ministry for housing, communities and local government has asked for £35m for victims’ refuges, the ministry of justice £25m for community based services and the Home Office £10m for victims of child sexual abuse.
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The Treasury is currently negotiating with departments on the allocation of cash, which will come from its £750m pot for charities struggling to survive despite playing a crucial role in the coronavirus battle.
The final amount allocated for departments could end up being lower than the bids.
Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins earlier told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “We are in negotiations with the Treasury specifically for domestic abuse charities.
“Those negotiations are ongoing at the moment... those announcements will be made very, very shortly.
“Because we understand that domestic abuse charities, not just those providing refuge accommodation but also charities providing community-based therapies are absolutely essential.
“We are planning not just for the immediate-term but also for any possible increases in the future when lockdown begins to be eased.”
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Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins PA
It comes as MPs prepare to debate the domestic abuse bill on Tuesday.
Downing Street is understood to have been keen to announce funding to coincide with the debate, but the Treasury has not yet set out how the charities cash will be allocated.
However, an announcement is expected by Wednesday.
If the full amount requested is paid out, it will almost meet Labour’s demand for a £75m plan to fund charities working to protect people suffering from domestic abuse.
The Commons home affairs committee on Monday called for “urgent and direct funding” for domestic abuse support services.
Home secretary Priti Patel was also asked to expand the safe spaces scheme to supermarkets and other retailers.
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Currently the project offers help through pharmacies for victims who are unable to use the phone at home or talk to friends.
Labour also wants to try and amend the domestic abuse bill to ensure any new cash is fast-tracked to the frontline before charities have to close their doors due to being oversubscribed or unable to pay their staff.
It also wants some of the cash to be directed to specialist services, such as those that help male victims and LGBTQ communities.
The Home Office today announced more than £3m for specialist services for children affected by domestic abuse.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Prisoners Are Being Condemned To Death – Why Don't People Care?

Prisoners are being condemned to death Reuters
Soon after my release from prison for fraud conviction, I returned to practice yoga in Primrose Hill.
I felt like I was walking the plank of shame in entering the neighbourhood (where social passport control is virtually mandatory even for the blameless), whose last memories of me were being pursued by paparazzi in the tree lined road, while my life, fact and fiction, was sprawled across the Daily Mail and beyond.
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Re-entry was quite anticlimactic. In my gratis non persona, no one noticed me, beyond – maybe – my three-legged, downward facing dog and failure to embrace an apparently new fixation for Lululemon. Apart, that is, from one startled local.
As I staggered from the yoga studio, I made eye contact with a “friend” who had eaten in my home regularly, shared my family’s life – until I became a “pariah”. The expression seeing a ghost had never resonated with me before, but here in broad daylight I saw myself embodying the spirit of the dead in his eyes. Because I was never meant to come back.
During a decade spent adjusting to my own rehabilitation and increasingly supporting that of others through my charity, I am now very familiar with society’s perception of those who have been sentenced or remanded into custody.
The government’s contract to punish and rehabilitate is frequently ignored by its purveyors and the general public. Once guilty in the eyes of the law, HMP’s 85,000 inhabitants lose relevance. The key is thrown away, the individual erased.
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The principle of rehabilitation – living again – is left to human rights lobbyists to recite on the Today programme. Few countenance its existence as a legal tenet of the criminal justice system. Yet, fewer truly subscribe to its implementation beyond Probation Service stalwarts.
Prison in the time of Coronavirus is a justice game changer. HMP is officially closed for rehabilitation. Social visits have ceased. Education, training and employment programmes are unlikely to resume for the foreseeable. Residents describe being forced to defecate into bags and urinate into bottles. Basic sanitation ceased weeks ago, social distancing and shielding is an impossibility.
If you set out to create laboratory conditions to engender the transmission of Covid-19, a UK prison would be as good a starting point as any. It’s egregious human experimentation worthy of the Third Reich. Overcrowded cells are treated as “households”, compulsory, indiscriminate quarantining of sick prisoners forces those with the common cold into the path of coronavirus. Prisoners are behind doors 24/7. As UK pandemic deaths exceed 20,000, each UK prison sentence is potentially a death sentence.
The virus has lifted the lid on a global prison crisis. Chronic overcrowding and underfunding affect 11 million prisoners, whose mortality rate is 50% higher than in the outside world. And the world is finally listening.
Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia are releasing its prisoners in the thousands. France and Ireland have dramatically reduced its prison population. The European Centre for Crime and Justice Studies strives to redefine and reassess its nineteenth century solution in the face of millennial catastrophe.
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However, to date, the UK has released barely a dozen pregnant inmates. Fourteen inmates have been deemed eligible for its now suspended early release programme. It plans to build 500 temporary cells in six prisons. Prison infections currently stand at 300, deaths at 15, figures likely to be under reported and inaccurate. It is failing its prisoners.
And it seems our government has no inclination to heed the global message. It is therefore imperative that it listens to its courts this week which will consider the legal challenge instigated by the Howard League and Prison Reform Trust, reflecting the guidelines from the Prison Governors Association that 10,000-15,000 prisoners must necessarily be released immediately to enable authorities to implement effective social distancing and to avert humanitarian crisis.
Poor choices, momentary judgement lapses, inequality of social advantage and circumstance. These are merely some of the indiscriminate and life shattering factors that can lead to a prison cell.
During this zeitgeist of kindness and altruism, compassion would be well extended to society’s most vulnerable, whose rehabilitation is always elusive and whose punishment, at the point of global crisis, now far exceeds that envisaged by any court.
Pariahs belong in another age. Our prisoners must be allowed to come back.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-28--Nine Things You Need To Know About Coronavirus Today

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Britain came to a standstill at 11am for a minute’s silence to remember the key workers who have died during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Matt Hancock confirmed yesterday that 82 NHS workers and 16 social care staff had lost their lives to Covid-19 during the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the latest figures show:
The number of people who have died in hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales after contracting coronavirus has risen by 659 in 24 hours, taking the reported total to to 21,751.
Here’s the latest information you need to know today:
US cases pass 1 million
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US topped 1 million on Tuesday, representing a third of the global total.
More than 56,500 Americans have died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, with an average of about 2,000 a day this month, according to a Reuters tally.
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The number of confirmed US coronavirus infections passed 1 million and has doubled in 18 days. The actual number of U.S. infections is believed to be higher than the confirmed number of cases, with state public health officials cautioning that shortages of trained workers and materials have limited testing capacity, leaving many infections unrecorded.
About 30% of the American cases have occurred in New York state, the epicentre of the US outbreak, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania.
The virus was first reported late last year in China and has spread worldwide and the earliest-known US deaths were in February.
The grim milestone comes as Donald Trump said he “can’t imagine why” there has been a spike in calls to poison control centres after he suggested using disinfectant to treat coronavirus.
Since the president made the controversial comments last week, multiple states and cities have reported a spike in hotline calls about exposure to disinfectant.
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The New York City Poison Control Centre received 30 calls about exposure to household chemicals in the 18 hours after Trump’s remarks, compared to only 13 during the same period last year.
President Donald Trump answers questions during the daily briefing of the coronavirus task force Win McNamee via Getty Images
Some of the NHS staff who have died after testing positive for coronavirus Various
Testing increased in care homes
All care home residents and staff will get a coronavirus test regardless of whether they have symptoms, Matt Hancock has said.
Covid-19 checks will also be rolled out to all those aged 65 and over with symptoms, and to their households.
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Speaking at the Downing Street briefing on Tuesday, the health secretary also said all workers who have to leave home to do their jobs, and their households, would be eligible for testing from Wednesday.
He said: “From construction workers to emergency plumbers, from research scientists to those in manufacturing, the expansion of access to testing will protect the most vulnerable and help keep people safe.
“It’s possible because we’ve expanded capacity for testing thus far.”
It comes as the government stretches to reach its 100,000-a-day test target by the end of April.
BA to make one-third of workers redundant
British Airways is set to make up to 12,000 workers redundant, parent company IAG said on Tuesday.
The announcement also revealed that revenues plunged 13% in the first quarter of 2020.
BA has about 42,000 staff, with 12,000 representing about 29%.
In a statement, IAG said: “In light of the impact of Covid-19 on current operations and the expectation that the recovery of passenger demand to 2019 levels will take several years, British Airways is formally notifying its trade unions about a proposed restructuring and redundancy programme.
“The proposals remain subject to consultation but it is likely that they will affect most of British Airways’ employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000 of them.
“As previously announced, British Airways has availed itself of the UK’s Covid-19 job retention scheme and furloughed 22,626 employees in April.”
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John Lewis facing closures
John Lewis is “highly unlikely” to re-open all 50 John Lewis stores in the UK once the coronavirus lockdown ends.
Dame Sharon White, the new chair of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP), and her team are set to address analysts in the City on Wednesday, updating them on the company’s performance during the past week, the Press Association has reported.
JLP includes Waitrose, which has fared better during the lockdown by remaining open.
But with a major ramp-up of online operations, discussions are under way on whether it will be financially viable to reopen department stores. Several Waitrose stores have already been closed in recent years.
Retail analyst Richard Hyman said: “Does it make sense for John Lewis to close some stores? Absolutely, yes.
“No one wants to see people losing their jobs, which is what would happen, but the reality is, for the market at large, online has been getting bigger and bigger, with John Lewis at the vanguard.”
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Scotland becomes first UK nation to officially recommend face coverings
A document published by the Scottish government on Tuesday officially recommended the use of face coverings in some circumstances.
It said the evidence for their effectiveness was “limited”, but conceded: “There may be some benefit in wearing a facial covering when you leave the house and enter enclosed spaces, especially where physical distancing is more difficult and where there is a risk of close contact with multiple people you do not usually meet. [...]
“We are recommending that you consider using face coverings in the limited circumstances described above as a precautionary measure.”
Other examples include travelling on public transport or entering a food shop where it is not always possible to maintain a two-metre distance from another customer.
Coronavirus linked to 40% more deaths in England and Wales than previously thought
Coronavirus played a role in 40% more deaths in England and Wales than previously thought, the Office for National Statistics has revealed, with thousands dying with the virus in care homes.
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Figures from the ONS showed that, of all the deaths in the two countries up to April 17 (and registered to April 25), 22,300 involved Covid-19.
The death toll is 6,375 higher than previously reported by NHS England and Public Health Wales collectively, which only count deaths in hospital.
Meanwhile, it was also revealed on Tuesday that care home providers had notified the ONS of 4,343 deaths between April 10 and April 24.
Minute’s silence for key workers who have died during the coronavirus pandemic
A minute’s silence was held at 11am to remember key workers who have died during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said the tribute at 11am came from “a sombre but grateful nation”.
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Boris Johnson, who is only just back at work after he ended up in intensive care with the virus, was among those to pay respects, with government workers also having been asked to join in.
Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak observe the minute's silence for key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. pic.twitter.com/nOiRgfr6bM — Alan McGuinness (@Alan_McGuinness) April 28, 2020
Today Poole Hospital staff joined the #minutesilence to pay tribute to all colleagues who have sadly lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic 💙 pic.twitter.com/Vx5QysqOGq — Poole Hospital (@Poole_Hospital) April 28, 2020
Across the trust we fell silent this morning to pay tribute to all health and social care workers who have sadly lost their lives in the coronavirus pandemic. 💚 #minutesilence pic.twitter.com/tlhrxn3gKe — North West Ambulance Service (@NWAmbulance) April 28, 2020
Doctors, nurses, paramedics and healthcare workers were all expected to pay their respects to their colleagues at hospitals and other services around the country while transport workers had also been expected to take part.
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On Monday, health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that 82 NHS workers and 16 social care staff had lost their lives to Covid-19.
He confirmed that families of frontline NHS workers and social care staff who have died of coronavirus will get a £60,000 payout.
Bus drivers are also among those who have died carrying out their work during the pandemic. Tube and bus networks were also asked to pause for the silence so workers could honour their colleagues.
Dame Donna said: “This moment will bring together a sombre but grateful nation. Whether in nursing or driving buses, our heroes kept going to work when many had the luxury of staying at home. Nobody should go out to work and risk their life.”
Donald Trump ‘can’t imagine why’ calls about hotline calls about disinfectant have increased
Key PPE ‘not included in government’s pandemic stockpile when coronavirus hit’
NHS staff carry out coronavirus tests at a testing facility in Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln PA
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Key items of personal protective equipment (PPE) were not included in the Government’s pandemic stockpile when coronavirus reached the UK, an investigation has found.
BBC Panorama reported that gowns, visors, swabs and body bags were left out of the stockpile when it was set up in 2009. Some of the items are now in short supply.
A government spokesman told the programme that the expert committee that advises ministers on new and emerging respiratory virus threats, known as Nervtag, did not recommend stockpiling swabs and body bags.
They said the stockpile was designed for a flu pandemic, and Covid-19 has a higher hospitalisation rate.
However, Panorama reported that Nervtag said gowns, one of the items in shortest supply in the UK, should be purchased last June.
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Professor John Ashton, a public health expert who has previously criticised the government’s approach, said the failure to stockpile some items meant NHS staff were working without crucial equipment.
He told the programme: “The consequence of not planning, not ordering kit, not having stockpiles, is that we are sending into the frontline doctors, nurses, other health workers and social care workers without the equipment to keep them safe.”
A Department for Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have taken the right steps at the right time to combat it, guided at all times by the best scientific advice.
“The government has been working day and night to battle against coronavirus, delivering a strategy designed at all times to protect our NHS and save lives.”
Volunteers in the Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial talk about why they are taking part
HuffPost UK HuffPost UK
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The trial in Oxford began last week as scientists battle to fight Covid-19, which has claimed the lives of so many people globally.
Many experts believe finding a successful vaccine is the best way to end the pandemic and prevent cases surging once lockdown ends.
Developing vaccines usually takes years, if not decades, but as speed is a priority, researchers are skipping animal research to test its safety and effectiveness and going straight to trialling it on humans.
Scientists at the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford have begun administering the trial injections which will be given to more than 800 volunteers.
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But what kind of person does it take to volunteer for an experimental vaccine trial?
Lydia Guthrie, 47, who lives in Oxford, said it is something she feels is necessary to help control the pandemic crippling the world.
“We desperately need a vaccine to help us survive and come out of this major health crisis,” she said.
“Yes, there is a small risk, but if as a result of the trial, they find a vaccine for coronavirus, the pay off for everyone might be enormous.”
Meanwhile Kevin Lister, 57, a Maths lecturer who lives in Cirencester, applied to take part in the Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial as he felt it was “the least I can do when others are putting their life on the line.”
Also:
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The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the public return to a weekly ‘big shop’ – something that was far more typical 10 or 15 years ago, Dave Lewis, the head of Tesco, has revealed.
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- Lithuania to ease restrictions with ‘open-air’ policy


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Schools To Reopen In 'Phased Manner', Says Education Secretary

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Schools will reopen in a “phased manner” when the coronavirus lockdown is eased, Gavin Williamson has said.
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The education secretary refused to confirm a date, but told MPs that schools in England would not open their doors during the summer holidays.
Speaking before the Commons’ education committee, he said ministers would base their decision on advice from scientists, adding: “I do expect schools to be opened in a phased manner. I also intend to be giving schools as much notice as possible.”
Schools, colleges and nurseries across the UK closed their doors to the majority of pupils, apart from the children of key workers and vulnerable youngsters, more than five weeks ago.
Williamson said: “We recognise that the idea of schools all returning on day one with the full complement of pupils is not realistic or practical.”
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He did not say which year groups could return first, but he said the government would learn from best practice in other countries, such as Germany and Denmark, where schools had begun to reopen.
The minister added that there was no plan to “run schools through the summer”.
His comments come after the Welsh education minister said on Tuesday that schools would not be reopening to all students any time soon, but that there could be a phased return for some pupils.
Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson NurPhoto via Getty Images
Asked whether teachers should get personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing in schools to ensure teachers were kept safe, Williamson suggested they may review advice when a phased return of schools began.
He said: “It is incredibly important that we get the right balance in terms of actually making sure that we create an environment that is good to learn in but also that is a safe environment for people to both work in and learn in as well.”
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Williamson was also pressed on what the government was doing to ensure the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers did not widen amid school closures.
Tory MP Robert Halfon, chair of the committee, asked whether the government would support his idea of an “army” of volunteers – made up of retired teachers, graduates, and Ofsted inspectors – to help tutor and mentor disadvantaged children when the lockdown ended.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Exclusive: P&O Plans To Cut Workers' Pay Despite Taking Government Furlough Cash

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Ferry company P&O is attempting to cut essential workers’ pay despite handing shareholders huge dividends and cashing in on the government’s emergency coronavirus wages scheme.
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The firm, which operates the Dover to Calais route and is owned by Dubai-based DP World, has also asked for a £150m government bailout to keep afloat, and has used UK funds to furlough some 1,400 workers.
Now the company has told stevedores and other key workers, who are transporting food and medical supplies into the UK during the lockdown, that they may have to take a 20% cut in pay and benefits.
A document from P&O’s management seen by HuffPost UK and sent to the GMB union, which represents staff at Dover, tells staff the company is looking to cut £142m of costs by 20% – around £28m.
It says: “This must be found from wage costs, our operating model and the terms and conditions of employment.”
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Frank Macklin, regional organiser for the union, accused the firm of seizing on the crisis to make “opportunistic” cutbacks.
He says staff will lose pay and travel passes. The firm is also proposing that rights over redundancy and sick pay are stripped back.
P&O has said it needs £257m in aid to avoid collapse and has asked the government for £150m of that.
DP World also owns the ports of Southampton and the London Gateway, as well as numerous terminals around the world. It is reported to have made profits of more than £1bn on revenues of more than £6bn last year and a dividend of £270m is due to be paid to DP World shareholders this week.
Two P&O cruise ships docked at the Port of Dover in Kent as P&O Cruises is suspending any new cruises until April 11, 2020. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images) Gareth Fuller - PA Images via Getty Images
The firm has also confirmed in a Q&A document to union staff that it is pressing ahead with plans to purchase two new super-ferries in 2021 and bought up stores of fuel when the Covid-19 crisis saw oil prices plummet.
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Labour and the GMB has said ministers should guarantee that staff pay is not cut as a condition of any bailout to DP World.
The document adds: “Trading conditions will not recover in the foreseeable future – and we urgently need your help to make the business flexible enough to be sustainable in the future.
“The reality is that the cash we have in the bank will only last a matter of weeks unless we take drastic action to save ourselves now.”
It adds the company needs to move to “a resilient model to survive this crisis and beyond”, saying any loan would have to be repaid and that “every facet of the business, from management to front line operational staff, is being reviewed”.
“Ministers should be clear with the company that, if they are going to receive government support, dividends shouldn’t be paid – and, crucially, that the pay and terms and conditions shouldn’t be reduced” - Harrow MP Gareth Thomas
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Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow, urged the government to be cautious about handing the company money.
He said: “It’s extraordinary that P&O’s owners are seeking further government support when they are preparing to make huge cuts to the pay and conditions of essential workers, who are keeping food and medical supplies coming into the country to be distributed as soon as possible.
“Ministers should be clear with the company that, if they are going to receive government support, dividends shouldn’t be paid – and, crucially, that the pay and terms and conditions shouldn’t be reduced.”
Macklin added the union, whose representatives are among the staff who have been furloughed, was “keeping a very close eye” on the consultation.
He added: “We take a very dim view of any company that wanted to make opportunist gains off the back of coronavirus to draw down the pay and conditions of good, hardworking, honest key workers.
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“The GMB will take every measure that we can to protect our members’ terms and conditions and pay.
“We are very disappointing with how the company is behaving and that they are not feeding the trade unions with any information whatsoever.
“We would like to know exactly what the conversations are taking place between the ferry industry and the government.
“The GMB believes that the government are not doing enough to protect the vital infrastructure and to keep these vital trade routes open at this time when we are reliant on ferry and haulage companies to bring food and urgent medical supplies into the country.”
P&O has declined to comment on the document.
HuffPost UK has also contacted DP World for comment.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the head of DP World, had earlier this week defended P&O seeking money from the government.
He said: “DP World has never taken a penny out of P&O. Any profits we have made we have reinvested in new vessels. DP World owns many businesses around the world. You cannot just take money out of them to put into a company in another place – it doesn’t make sense.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Immigrant NHS Staff Get Visas Extended – But Many Care Workers Left Out

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Immigrant NHS midwives, radiographers and other health professionals will have their visas automatically extended for a year to help the fight against coronavirus, the home secretary has announced.
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The move by Priti Patel extends the scheme announced last month to give NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics automatic visa extensions to ensure the health service is at full capacity.
Social care staff employed by the NHS in “defined occupations” will also have their visas extended.
But Patel did not extend visas for the vast majority of care workers who work outside the NHS, arguing the “disparate” nature of the field presents a “unique challenge” in determining people’s immigration status, while promising to keep the situation “under review”.
There was also no visa extension for porters, cleaners, students and agency staff working for the NHS.
In total approximately 3,000 vital health and care workers and their families will benefit from the extension.
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But Commons home affairs committee chair Yvette Cooper said the measures were “very unfair” given deaths in care homes are rising and health secretary Matt Hancock wants to give care workers the same status as NHS staff.
The Labour MP told the committee: “This does feel very unfair to care workers given that the deaths in care homes now are rising substantially, and also the health secretary said he wanted to give care workers parity of esteem.
“It also feels very unfair to the porters and the cleaners and hte people who are scrubbing the virus off the door handles or who are washing the bedding and the gowns in our hospitals as well, that they aren’t included in this NHS visa extension.”
Responding, Patel insisted the Home Office did not want to segregate different groups of workers.
“We are conscious right now of the status of all NHS professionals, I think we should just be very, very clear about that,” she said.
“This is not about segmenting or discriminating against anybody who works in the NHS.
“I’m in daily discussions with the department for health and social care, as is the department (Home Office) as am I directly with the health secretary and that is exactly why we have brought the measures that we have brought in so far.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Tiger King Juror Reveals The Raunchy Story Joe Exotic Told In Court That Left Her 'Dumbfounded'

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A juror in the trial of Joe Exotic, the subject of the hit Netflix documentary Tiger King, says he went off on a raunchy tangent during one line of questioning that left her “dumbfounded.”
When his attorney asked where he was when he received a certain phone call, Exotic answered with his trademark TMI.
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“I think he said he was in Oklahoma City or Edmond or something and so he headed back to the zoo, but they stopped at a motel on the way and filmed a softcore porn,” the juror, identified only as Kristin, told Fox Nation’s Nancy Grace in an extended version of an interview from “A Tiger King Investigation.”
Joe Exotic ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kristin also said the comment left Exotic’s attorney shaking his head.
“He said ‘OK, that’s enough,’” she recalled.
Exotic ― real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage ― was convicted in a failed murder-for-hire plot to kill Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin as well as multiple federal wildlife charges.
He is currently serving a 22-year sentence, but Kristin said some of her fellow jurors felt for Exotic even as they convicted him.
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“We had a few jurors that were crying when we went back into the courtroom,” she said, adding that some kept their heads down.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Domestic Violence Has Always Been There – Maybe Now People Will Take Notice

The domestic abuse commissioner must be included in the government's violent crime taskforce. Getty Creative
Issues which for too long have been easy to ignore are suddenly emerging as urgent. The increased prevalence of domestic abuse, the dire pay of care workers, and gaps in the welfare system have all gained traction. For some politicians, policymakers and the public these are new issues, but for others they are simply more visible. And now that people are taking notice, there is potential to act on these gender disparities that have long plagued society.
The Domestic Abuse Bill working its way through Parliament provides an opportunity to adequately fund the organisations supporting survivors to be safe. Domestic abuse is escalating, with abusers having more control over survivors during lockdown and many trapped unable to leave. It is the increase in prevalence and public awareness that is new here. Before Covid-19 two women were killed every week by a partner or ex-partner; survivors were locked in relationships with abusers controlling movement and many feared for their children’s safety. The lack of adequate funding and suitable refuge accommodation resulted in organisations struggling to survive and support survivors. It is these same organisations – still struggling financially, urging politicians and funders to deliver the right support at the right time, both now and for beyond lockdown when the reality of abuse is unlikely to recede. Behind closed doors, domestic abuse is more visible with the challenges of physical, financial and emotional well-being more acute.
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“Existing ideas are there to build on; housing provision for those fleeing abuse, genuine living wages, universal childcare.”
The burden that frontline care workers face is also more real. The public has shown admiration for workers’ commitment to their patients recognising the immense physical and financial risks. But it is not new that this highly feminised workforce has been undervalued and low paid for decades. There are many reasons for this; but key is that care work is considered to be “women’s work” and although demand has increased with an ageing population, funding has decreased as a result of cuts that landed on local authorities’ social care budgets. Covid-19 has cast a sharp lens on the persistent poor terms and conditions that this sector faces. There is now an opportunity to value the sector, boost wages and offer job security.
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And it is also not new that security has been lacking from the welfare system. Like the care sector, political choices and funding cuts have led to disastrous effects for some. Before Covid-19, the child poverty rates of single parent families in work were rising. Many single parent families were worse off after moving onto Universal Credit, not able to access flexible work or affordable childcare to make ends meet. The government’s Covid-19 response was quick, with welcome temporary changes to the welfare system. They will help, but over time old challenges will merge with new ones on the horizon. Take childcare for example. If the lockdown eases at the same time as summer holidays begin it will become an additional barrier for parents working in retail or care sectors which are low paid and who are not able to work from home. School holiday childcare has always been expensive and so these parents are at a disadvantage and face a greater risk of redundancy if they are not able to return to work. Predictions are that women (and young people) will face the brunt of redundancy as the lockdown eases. This will amplify the “motherhood pay penalty” where mothers take a pay cut and earn less because of the lack of affordable childcare and flexible work. Pay inequality for women is certainly not new, nor is the lack of affordable childcare. The government’s welfare package illustrates the scope and speed in which change can happen to support families, by plugging some holes in the welfare system. And local authorities together with the voluntary and community sector have flexed provision to immediately meet demand to those most vulnerable. The pressure to continue this support and respond to changing needs will only increase.
There will of course be new consequences, risks and vulnerability that emerge from Covid-19. But in other areas, existing ideas are there to build on; housing provision for those fleeing abuse, genuine living wages, universal childcare, bold reform to the benefits system and labour market policies that support retention. New would be to adapt these ideas to make them work in changing social, political and economic times. Visibility and voices on women’s issues from the frontline might mean that this moment in time is finally a catalyst for sustainable change.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Boris Johnson And Carrie Symonds Announce Birth Of Baby Boy

Boris Johnson And Carrie Symonds Announce Birth Of Baby Boy
Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have announced the birth of a “healthy baby boy” at a London hospital via the couple’s spokesperson who also said “both mother and baby are doing very well”. Johnson had only recently returned to take charge of the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis after contracting Covid-19 himself. He had been due to face new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs for the first time but foreign secretary Dominic Raab will now stand in. Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds, 32, announced in March that they were expecting a baby in “early summer”, and that they had become engaged at the end of last year. The PM has previously suggested he intends to take paternity leave, although it is not known if this remains the case given the coronavirus pandemic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-04-29--Clean Air And Clear Skies Must Become The New Normal When Lockdown Lifts

We must not take for granted that this crisis will make us more green. Reuters
Some of the most striking images of this global pandemic have been those from satellites measuring air pollution hotspots around the world.
Where last year, cities and regions were shrouded in dense clouds of pollutants like nitrous oxide, now they are almost clear. People who live in the some of the world’s most polluted places, like New Delhi, say they can breathe freely again. The brilliant spring weather has given us views across cities without the brown cloud of pollution hanging over them.
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Sometimes it takes a sudden change to make you realise just how bad things were. We have lived with deadly levels of air pollution for years, which have made us more vulnerable to coronavirus. Now we have seen what it’s like to live without it. While the devastating health and economic impacts of the virus rightly demand our attention, we must also make time to think about how we avoid just going back to business-as-before.
Clear skies and clean air must become the new normal. We must re-design our cities, reclaiming the streets for cycling and walking, allowing people to walk along streets unpolluted by traffic.
There was justifiably an outcry when some local councils closed local parks in order to enforce social distancing rules. It highlighted how important green spaces are to our sense of wellbeing, and how unequal access is: the people who suffered most from the parks’ closure were those who didn’t have their own back garden and were more likely to live in small, overcrowded flats.
We should give everyone the right to access green, open space during social distancing measures (which may be with us for some time).
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“We must not let the response to the coronavirus crisis make the climate and inequality crises even worse.”
One would hope that this fresh appreciation of outdoor space and clean air would be a lasting legacy of the Covid-19 lockdown, but securing some positive gains from the nightmare of the past few months won’t happen by default.
There are already growing voices demanding a different way out of the current crisis, saying the fastest way to restart the economy is to de-regulate – environmental protections have already been swept aside in the US. There is a real danger that we will rush headlong into business-as-before and end up accelerating climate-wrecking industries and deep inequalities. We must not let the response to the coronavirus crisis make the climate and inequality crises even worse.
So how do we avoid this? How do we use what we have learned during this crisis to pivot to a greener, fairer economy?
There are plenty of steps which could, and must, be taken now which would start us in the right direction.
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As a start, the government should set strict climate conditions on any bailouts. All companies which are driving the climate crisis, and seeking government support, should be required to adopt targets in line with the Paris Agreement, and do the simple things every company should do, like pay their workers a fair wage and pay their tax. Covid-19 has “miraculously” allowed the government to discover that there is, after all, a magic money tree and that when there is a shared sense of emergency, and the political will is there, governments can do a huge amount in response, finding the money to do what needs to be done.
This now needs to be put to work to invest in a green economy, insulating and retrofitting all homes, which would create thousands of skilled jobs across the country and tackle fuel poverty.
The UK has some of the most energy-inefficient homes in Europe, leaving many families having to choose between food or staying warm. One dreads to think what the impact of Covid-19 might have been if it had struck in winter. It may well return then.
Our food system too needs to change. Covid-19 has shown us how vulnerable it is, with milk poured down the drain or crops left unpicked because there is no-one to harvest them and supermarkets dependent on long supply chains. At the same time, foodbanks have seen a huge increase in need, which they are struggling to meet.
This is a chance to re-imagine our food system, with support going to small farms and local shops. There should be funding for local food networks with a focus on agro-ecological farming, so we start the shift towards a resilient, localised and regenerative food and farming system.
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National emergencies in the past, whether pandemics or wars, have driven major social and economic change. Coronavirus must do the same.
We have seen what’s possible. We have seen who we really depend on in our society. It’s opened eyes to the unfairness and inequality of the way things were before. This is the moment to change.
Let’s make the legacy of coronavirus the moment when we started to build a fairer, greener society, so that life is better for everyone and, even at the eleventh hour, we turn society around in time to avert climate breakdown.