thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--How To Have A Conversation With A Covid-Denier

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Many of us know the devastating effect Covid-19 has had on families and friends firsthand – but at the same time, the pandemic has been accompanied by a flurry of misinformation and a sharp rise in QAnon conspiracy theories.
Some think a second wave is nonsense, others believe “positive” test results are false, and people claim Covid is a hoax. You’ve probably been there – having to explain to your high-risk grandad why wearing a mask won’t trample anyone’s freedom, or reminding pals on WhatsApp it’s not “over” and we’re still in the midst of a pandemic.
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Dr. Kit Yates, senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath and author of The Maths of Life and Death, has noticed a rise in the number of people using a range of arguments to downplay the seriousness of the second wave of Covid-19. Some “Covid-denier favourites”, he says, include: the rise in cases is due to a rise in testing; lockdowns “don’t work”; people aren’t dying, it’s only cases going up; and it’s “just a bad flu”.
So how can you have a conversation with a Covid-denier, and reason with them?
Stay cool and don’t force your views.
If people in your life believe in complex conspiracies or downplay the seriousness of Covid-19, it can lead to difficult arguments. But forcing your views down their throats won’t do any good.
“Firstly, take a step back and remove the label of ‘denier’ – by making it into a collective noun, you’re saying that’s all they are to a person,” counselling directory member and psychotherapist, Katerina Georgiou, tells HuffPost UK.
“If you do that, it makes it a whole lot easier to deal with. Just because they’re a ‘denier’, it doesn’t mean they’re a terrible person, it means they have a view you don’t agree with. Try to take emotions out of it. The second you’re trying to win, you’re already losing.”
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Stay cool and battle through the generalised feeling of unease in these conversations. Try to engage to the best of your abilities through careful questioning, share any experiences, and discuss yours fears.
Remember: they may be in denial through their own fears. “Not being able to accept the reality is a very natural way of dealing with anxiety and panic,” says counselling directory member and psychotherapist, Antony Constantinou. “A lot of what we’re told is coming from all over the place: the media, politicians, the government, scientists. Because everything is intertwined with so much data, opinions and perspectives it makes things very, very difficult.”
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Arm yourself with data and facts.
Leave the myths and folklore to the storybooks. If in heated debate, try to reason with statistics, sources, and logic.
“It’s hard to stay unemotional in the face of distortions of the facts,” Dr Yates explains, “but remember to stick to the facts and have your arguments ready and well-rehearsed.”
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For example, if someone says: ‘But what about Sweden?’ – a country that decided against lockdowns – Dr Yates says you could remind them Sweden fared relatively poorly, both in terms of their economic impact and their fatalities, compared to their Nordic neighbours. “Of course, the deniers will always have counter-arguments, but with a little reasoned thought these, too, can be unpicked,” he adds.
Being armed with data and studies for whatever possible outcome means you can counteract with viable explanations and reasoning – but remember, we’re not all wired the same.
“Everybody functions differently, so if you gave logical statistical facts, for some it’s too much and too hard to bear,” Constantinou adds. “Some people just can’t function that way and will always come from an emotional place and that seems to be the kind of disconnect.”
Avoid the social media argument.
Social media can be a minefield at the best of times, but the pandemic has sent it into overdrive. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are full of misleading and false Covid-19 claims – and you might even see your pals sharing such articles. The best approach? Don’t bring it up – online or offline.
“Take everything with a pinch of salt with social media,” Georgiou says. “People are constantly sharing articles and retweeting articles. Those articles have got headlines on them that are designed to enrage and add fire to the fuel. Understand the way social media and algorithms work, they set you up in a way to be angry and to feel passionate about something.”
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Remember, take a step back, think before you comment, or don’t even comment at all. Save yourself the stress.
Agree to disagree.
When there’s a divide, it can easily manifest into a ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ situation, which can cause the rift to become even bigger.
“Everything had to change and for some, it’s just too much to bear and grasp with the reality of what’s actually going on,” says Constantinou. “People draw their own natural conclusions. With so much information floating around, it’s become unclear what to believe in and people start to think, ‘nothing can be true, someone must be lying along the way somewhere’.
“If people can smell a hint of a lie, they start to create their own system of belief.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--From Sex To Service Stations, The Covid Rules You Might've Missed

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Well, what a week it’s been. The UK government has announced a raft of new measures designed to try and curb the spread of the virus.
It comes as the UK has recorded more than 6,000 new cases of coronavirus for the first time since the start of May.
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If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you’ll know pubs and restaurants across the UK now have a curfew of 10pm and workers have been told to work from home if they can.
But what else do you need to know? Here are some of the guideline changes you might’ve missed.
Table service is exempt in McDonald’s and Pret.
Food and drink outlets are now restricted to table service only. Some places had been doing this already, but it’s no longer voluntary.
After a bit of confusion over how table service would work in fast food chains and sandwich shops, the government confirmed restaurants without an alcohol licence do not need to serve customers at tables, meaning McDonald’s and Pret are exempt.
So yes, that means you can still go up to the counter and order your Happy Meal – and you can dine in the restaurant, too.
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You can now have sex with your partner you don’t live with.
They snuck that one in. The new rules in England read that you don’t need to socially distance from someone you’re in an “established relationship” with. Happy news for many, we’re sure.
In Scotland, the rules state: “Children whose parents do not live in the same household can move between homes, as can non-cohabiting couples.”
And in Wales, since 22 August 2020, people have been able to form an exclusive extended household with up to three other households – meaning couples who don’t live together will have already been able to mix (if they are in each other’s extended household). In Northern Ireland, however, the rules state: “Households are no longer allowed to mix indoors in private homes.”
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You should only stop at service stations if you really need to.
People are being told to limit the time they spend at garages, petrol stations and motorway services. “Try to keep your distance from other people and if possible pay by contactless,” reads the new advice. Oh, and make sure you wash or sanitise your hands when exiting or re-entering your vehicle.
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You shouldn’t share a vehicle with a friend.
If you’re travelling somewhere, you shouldn’t share a vehicle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble.
If you have to share a car ride, the UK government advises to open windows for ventilation; wear face covers; travel side-by-side or behind other people, rather than facing them; and clean the car between journeys.
You can still get a takeaway after 10pm.
While restaurants and pubs will be forced to close from 10pm, people can still order takeaways after that time for delivery to their homes. They just can’t eat the takeaway in the restaurant where it’s made.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--This Cancer Survivor Is Fighting For Stylish, Affordable Wigs

Kaz Foncette Kaz Foncette
Kaz Foncette danced among her friends wearing a bright green wig topped with a giant flower at Glastonbury in 2017. She didn’t look like your typical breast cancer patient – the 31-year-old had delayed her chemotherapy treatment for a week in order to attend the festival.
“You know how it is, those tickets are like gold dust, so I said: ‘I want to let my hair down with my friends while I’m still able to,’” says Foncette, now 33 and based in Seven Sisters, London.
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“I bought these really funky coloured wigs I knew I probably wouldn’t wear after the hair loss, but it was my way of embracing change and the fact my hair was going to go. I had the best time.”
Kaz Foncette Kaz Foncette at Glastonbury in 2017.
Foncette started chemo the day after coming back from Glastonbury. She’d initially refused the treatment – requesting a lumpectomy – because she associated “chemo with death” and didn’t want to lose her hair.
But after paying for tests at a private clinic – where they confirmed everything the NHS doctor had said – Foncette accepted surgery wouldn’t be enough to protect her from the tumour she’d discovered in the shower. She agreed to go ahead with chemo.
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“I’m Turkish Cypriot and our hair is our thing,” she says. “I just couldn’t see myself without hair. It might seem so silly, but I was terrified of losing myself and becoming this alien-type person. The image shook me completely.”
Shopping for the colourful festival wigs with friends helped Foncette come to terms with hair loss and surprisingly, she didn’t cry when clumps began to fall out. But she was shocked when a nurse showed her some of the NHS wig options available to her – they were hideous, she says.
“These three Halloween-looking wigs were pulled out of a box and the nurse said ‘these are the NHS wigs’. I said: ‘Excuse my language, but are you fucking kidding me?’
“I thought: ‘Look at Kylie Jenner’s wig, come on, can’t I get a wig like that? Can’t I get a Kim Kardashian wig? I’m 31 years old, they look like they’re for 90 year olds!’”
Kaz Kaz Foncette
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Foncette was told about NHS wig prescriptions, which entitle patients to money off wigs – but still come at a large prescription cost. A modacrylic (synthetic fibre) wig, for example, costs around £150 to buy in a store, but is available for £74.15 with an NHS wig prescription.
You can also get a partial human hair wig for £196.40 with the NHS prescription, or a full, bespoke human hair wig for £287.20. Foncette couldn’t believe the cost. “It’s a week’s worth of shopping,” she says. ”A wig is presented as an item of luxury and not a necessity.”
Armed with her prescription, Foncette visited Hair to Ware, a shop in Ware, Hertfordshire, which sells NHS wigs and other hair accessories. While they had more options than the hospital’s horror box, she was disappointed with the choices available with her NHS discount.
“None of the prescription wigs were that suitable for me and they certainly weren’t suitable for any women of colour,” she says. When she asked the shop owners how much it would cost to make a wig resembling her long hair before treatment, they quoted £450.
“That’s a lot of money, but particularly for someone who is forced to be out of work for God knows how long, or for single-parent families dealing with cancer,” she says. “I felt hesitant spending it and I’m just a normal Londoner with an average wage, I don’t have kids and my husband and I are both working.”
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The shop owners were sympathetic and said they regularly see people buy the cheapest option, rather than a wig they feel good in.
Foncette stumped up the cash for a long, grey wig – which she dubs her ‘Gandalf the Grey’ look – then started fundraising to help other women.
She founded a charity, Wigs For Heroes, in a bid to make wigs accessible for younger cancer patients. Her aim was to support others through wig grants, meet-ups and pamper bags. While finishing chemotherapy and immunotherapy, she shared her story and created an online community, which helped raise £6,000.
But she had to pause her venture when her cancer returned.
Kaz Foncette Kaz Foncette in her 'Gandalf the Grey’ wig during treatment.
In January 2019, tests revealed she had another tumour in her left breast, which was 4cm big. “They advised a mastectomy and I said ‘Just take it,’” she recalls.
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Foncette had another course of chemotherapy. Thankfully, she’s been cancer-free for one year, although the treatment damaged her heart and she’ll have to take medication for life. She’s left her job in HR and splits her time between content creation, part-time barbering (when her health allows her to), and working on her charity.
Ongoing health problems have prevented her from hosting big events or fundraisers, but by continuing to hustle online, she’s managed to raise £20,000, encouraging friends, family and complete strangers to fundraise on the charity’s behalf.
Wigs For Heroes has also had sponsorship from Macmillan Cancer Support, who helped Foncette during her treatment. Macmillan gives out clothing grants to cancer patients, if, for example, they’ve lost weight during treatment or need to buy new items such as bras.
Longterm, Foncette’s goal for her charity is to offer grants to women struggling to access the right wigs for them. Wigs For Heroes has partnered with the shop, Hair to Ware, so staff can identify people who may be in need of a grant to buy their perfect wig. Patients can also apply for a grant via the charity itself. Grants will be up and running by the end of 2020, while Foncette irons out the details.
In the meantime, she’s using her platform to provide information about wigs and fashion during cancer treatment, with a weekly Instagram Live, hosted with the shop. From the first week of October, she’ll also be running Hero’s Coffee Club – an online meet-up for people shielding or those with cancer, who need a bit of extra company during the pandemic.
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Foncette Foncette
Foncette is in talks with her old hospital to run a partnership – her dream is for a selection of high-end wigs and information about the charity to be displayed in a glass cabinet in the hospital, rather than crumpled in a box, so the prospect of wearing a wig is less scary for patients.
Looking good is part of feeling good, adds Foncette, who firmly believes great wigs can help those on the road to recovery.
“When I lost my hair, it was a process of self-discovery,” she says, “it was finding out who I was again. Shopping became... not exactly my therapy, but the thing I could go to for happiness.
“It’s about empowering people and making them feel a bit better about themselves, and not letting them feel that nobody is on their side.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--The Trump Administration Is Rushing To Execute People In The Middle Of A Pandemic

The federal government is scheduled to carry out its seventh execution since July at the Terre Haute prison on Thursday. SOPA Images via Getty Images
The federal government executed 50-year-old William LeCroy on Tuesday night after the Supreme Court denied a last-minute bid to block it. LeCroy, who was convicted in 2004 of killing a nurse he believed had put a spell on him, was given a lethal injection of pentobarbital. The sedative caused his midsection to heave uncontrollably, the colour to drain from his lips and his face to turn pale grey, according to witnesses in the execution chamber inside a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was pronounced dead at 9:06 p.m.
Another man, Christopher Vialva, is scheduled to be executed Thursday as punishment for killing two people during a 1999 carjacking at Fort Hood in Texas. He will be the first Black man executed under President Donald Trump and the seventh this summer since Attorney General William Barr and Trump revived the punishment.
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LeCroy and Vialva are part of a wave of federal executions that began in July when the Trump administration resumed carrying out the death penalty for the first time in 17 years, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is using a drug that may torture as it kills, according to autopsy reports. Several of the men selected for execution over the past two months still had pending litigation related to their cases when their deaths were scheduled.
Vialva, who was 19 years old when he committed his crime, never had the chance for post-conviction review, despite credible claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and advancements in neurological science showing that the teenage brain is not fully matured.
“I am speaking out now because the U.S. government is trying to execute me and many others using your tax dollars, and there is no substantial national media coverage on federal capital punishment,” Vialva said in a video recently released by his attorneys. Most people, Vialva noted in the video, are unaware that Black people are disproportionately sentenced to death and that many people on death row were arrested before they were old enough to legally drink. “People decided that despite having our whole adult life ahead of us, that we were beyond redemption,” Vialva said.
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An ‘End-Run’ Around Judicial Oversight
Last year, Barr announced plans to resume federal executions after a long hiatus caused by legal challenges, drug availability issues and an Obama-era review of capital punishment after a disturbing botched execution in Oklahoma. The first five men initially chosen for death appeared to have been strategically selected. The men had been convicted of violent crimes against children and the elderly. One had been a member of a white supremacist group — a detail that obscured the systemically racist implementation of the death penalty.
The federal government also appears to have intentionally chosen for its first executions men who were not original plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2005 alleging that the three-drug formula used in federal executions violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment and ran afoul of procedural requirements. The Supreme Court eventually upheld the legality of the drug combination in a different case — but in 2011, the sole U.S. manufacturer of one of the drugs stopped producing it in response to pressure from human rights activists.
Barr’s solution to the drug supply issue was to switch from the three-drug protocol to a single drug, a sedative called pentobarbital. But several of the legal challenges to the three-drug protocol would also reasonably apply to the single pentobarbital dose. Selecting individuals for execution who were not originally part of the lawsuit amounts to “an end-run around judicial oversight,” Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said in an interview.
Autopsy reports reviewed by NPR show that individuals executed by lethal injection — including those who were administered pentobarbital — experience high rates of pulmonary edema, in which the lungs fill with a mix of blood, plasma and fluid to create the feeling of suffocation or drowning.
“It is highly likely that even in an execution that appears to be going according to plan, that the prisoner is sedated and nonresponsive but is conscious and aware of being put to death in a manner that feels like waterboarding and suffocation,” Dunham said.
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Executions During A Pandemic
Unlike the federal government, most states have paused executions during the coronavirus pandemic in an effort to limit the spread of the virus in prisons, which are already high-risk environments for COVID-19. The federal death row is housed at the Indiana complex. A federal execution team consists of more than 40 Bureau of Prison staff members, assisted by about 200 Terre Haute prison staff, who provide security and support, BOP regional counsel Rick Winter wrote in a court filing.
“It is just mind-boggling,” said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s capital punishment project. “The federal government is struggling to respond to Covid. We have nursing homes getting inadequate [protective gear]. There are just all these resource problems, and they’re pouring resources into these totally unnecessary federal executions. For no reason at all.”
The ACLU sued the federal government in July on behalf of Buddhist priest Seigen Hartkemeyer, the spiritual adviser to Wesley Purkey, who was executed later that month. Killing Purkey during the pandemic “presents an untenable conflict” for Hartkemeyer, the ACLU wrote in its complaint. The 68-year-old man, who has a history of recurring bronchitis and pleurisy, “must decide whether to risk his own life in order to exercise his religious obligation to be present for Mr. Purkey’s execution.” Family members of the victims of another man scheduled to be executed later joined Hartkemeyer in asking the courts to delay the executions until it would be safe for them to attend.
Their concerns weren’t hypothetical. On July 11, just days before Purkey and two other men’s scheduled executions, a BOP staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member had attended meetings in preparation for the executions and did not always wear a mask, Winter wrote in another court filing. Asked how many staff and incarcerated individuals he was in contact with, the staff member reported, “? Alot.”
Still, the federal government pushed forward with the killings, fighting cases up to the Supreme Court. On July 15, Hartkemeyer waited in his car outside the prison from 4 p.m. until 3 a.m., when the Supreme Court ruled that Purkey’s execution could go forward despite pending litigation on his mental competence.
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Data obtained by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act request show that the executions at Terre Haute may have caused a COVID-19 spike at the prison.
Susan Otto, who has worked as Vialva’s lawyer for 17 years, flew to Indiana from her home in Oklahoma ahead of his scheduled execution on Thursday. “If I contract COVID as a result of it, then that’s what happens,” she said in an interview.
“It would be unbearable to me to let him be executed without being present. He asked me to be present. And I’m going to be there,” she said.
Vialva has spent part of what may be his final days responding to letters from strangers, Otto said. He even made sure to respond to one letter that he wasn’t allowed to read because it was sent with a return address label on the envelope that violated prison rules. He told the sender that although he couldn’t read their letter, most people had written to him to send their prayers — and that if that was their message, he wanted to thank them.
“I just think it’s really important that you respond to things like that. Because if people know that what they said mattered, they’ll keep saying it,” Vialva told Otto.
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Vialva is still trying to persuade the Supreme Court to stay his execution, arguing that a Texas law that guarantees a minimum of 91 days between the notice of execution and the date of execution should apply in his case. Vialva received only 55 days’ notice, barely enough time to file a petition for executive clemency, Otto said. Vialva isn’t asking for freedom, only for his life to be spared. “For him to be allowed to live out the rest of his life, as he puts it, ‘preaching, teaching, and learning,’” Otto said of Vialva, who is a Messianic Jew.
Vialva was sentenced to death in 2000 by a nearly all-white jury. Since then, neurological research has shown that the portions of the brain responsible for impulse control and decision-making do not fully mature until a person is in their 20s.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Has Rishi Sunak Done Too Little, Too Late To Prevent The Unemployment Tsunami?

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Masking the problem
“It is on all of us, and we must learn to live with it and live without fear.” Rishi Sunak’s closing words, from his Winter Economy Plan to the Commons, delighted Tory lockdown sceptics. For them, it was a statement of defiance, a two-fingered salute to the damned virus.
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But for many people, the fear is all too real: the fear of losing their job in coming months. If you’re an MP, especially a millionaire former banker whose wife is the heiress to a billionaire fortune (as Sunak is), lecturing the public about not being scared is not an entirely great move. Complying with Covid prevention is indeed “on all of us”, but coping with unemployment certainly isn’t.
The package unveiled by the chancellor was welcomed by business and the TUC (in fact he wisely had their representatives flank him on the steps of No.11). There was much to cheer, from the extension of VAT cuts and business loans to the centrepiece of a part-time furlough alternative.
Yet there was a worrying element of fatalism to it all, as if the job losses expected this winter are an act of God rather than politics. Sunak’s talk of supporting “viable” jobs, of a “permanent adjustment”, seemed to neglect the fact that it is his government’s Covid curbs which are directly responsible for many jobs - in hospitality, the arts, aviation - being made unviable.
It was only later in the press conference that he hinted that things would still be bad despite his new policies, pointing to forecasts by the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility. Sounding almost like a bystander, he said the forecasts “don’t make for good reading” (nearly 10% unemployment, they predict), were “tragedy” but anyway 750,000 jobs had “already” gone.
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When asked how many jobs his new schemes would save, Sunak could only say “large numbers of people”. There may be good reason for his vagueness, given that many employers may well think the measures simply don’t suit them. As the Resolution Foundation and others pointed out, it will cost a firm more to keep two people on part time than it would to keep one full-time and sack the other.
And the stark bottom line for employers is what matters most. Many have already decided to lay off staff as the government gradually pulled its support through August and September. The carrot of a one-off £1,000 Job Retention Bonus, payable for each person they kept on until January 31, didn’t feel like a tempting carrot at all.
Similarly, today’s Job Support Scheme may prove too little, too late. Why would a hard-nosed businessman want to pay his staff 55% of their wages for just a third of their working hours? It’s a great deal for the employee, but for a company whose cash flow and customer base is struggling it may simply prove too expensive.
Head of NHS Test and Trace Dido Harding JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images
There was nothing today about extending the mortgage holidays that many have depended on, nor any pledge to end the ban on repossessions at the end of October. Unlike the recession of the early 1980s when manufacturing was hit hard, this service industry recession and those repossessed homes could be in the Tory south as much as the Red Wall north. Similarly, support for the self-employed will continue but at a fraction of its current level.
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Almost in passing Sunak said that he could “inform the House” (always a sign of something ‘new’) that “we have now provided over £12 billion for test and trace”. With £10 billion earmarked for it in his summer statement, that meant an extra £2bn is being pumped into Dido Harding’s scheme.
With today’s turnaround times for tests worsening yet again (just 10% of them are done within the PM’s own target of 24 hours and care homes are suffering longer delays), that will feel to many like a reward for failure. More charitable observers will just hope that two billion quid will fund the rapid expansion of not just capacity but also functionality.
On Tuesday, Boris Johnson’s new Covid restrictions had the overall feel of being undercooked and unprepared for the sharp rise in cases (today’s new number is even higher than at the height of the pandemic in April). Many expect him to have to return to the Commons in a few weeks with the tougher measures he should have imposed this week.
Similarly, if his own plan fails to stem that second wave of joblessness, Sunak may well have to return with a revised strategy too. He told the FT today that “if you’re asking me if I’m ready to do more as the situation evolves, of course I am”, so the door is open for yet another new plan. The problem is that, like the PM, he may by then have lost control of events. And the jobs lost - like the lives lost - will never return.
Quote Of The Day
“There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.”
Rishi Sunak
Thursday Cheat Sheet
The UK recorded 6,634 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily total since the pandemic began.
The new NHS Covid-19 App was launched, but it will need around 7 million downloads to have a meaningful impact on the virus’s spread.
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More than 40 Tory MPs (enough to reverse Johnson’s majority if Labour and others back it) have signed an amendment for next week, arguings MPs should in future get a chance to vote on Covid restrictions.
Rishi Sunak said it was “simplistic” to suggest his Eat Out To Help Out scheme had helped fuel the Covid spike.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace was expressing “a personal view” when he suggested Iraq and Afghanistan were an “illegal wars”, No,10 said.
Liz Truss was warned by Tory MP Crispin Blunt that her opposition to transgender self-ID would not get a Commons majority.
Health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed reports in the ‘i’ newspaper that students may be asked to stay on campus over Christmas if their universities suffer severe outbreaks.
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DUP MP Sammy Wilson was photographed on a London Tube not wearing a face mask.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Brit Holidaymakers Jetting Off To Cyprus Are Clogging Up NHS Covid Testing System

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Brits who do not have symptoms of Covid-19 are taking advantage of the already overstretched NHS testing service so they can jet off on holiday to Cyprus.
The island in the Mediterranean, which has recorded less than 2,000 cases of coronavirus, requires travellers from the UK to hand over a negative Covid-19 test result upon arrival.
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The government has explicitly told Brits not to use up NHS tests to get the green light to go on holiday, with the Test and Trace system already so backed up that sick people are being asked to travel hundreds of miles to be swabbed for the virus.
Guidelines say that Brits looking for some Cypriot sun should instead fork out for their own private Covid-19 tests, which usually cost between £100 and £200 – and many are.
But a number of people are actively fiddling the system in order to get the negative result they need to guarantee their trip to Cyprus.
People on the beach at Konnos Bay in Cyprus Kirillm via Getty Images
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In a Facebook group about travelling to Cyprus, one man described how he and his partner had used the NHS testing service in Scotland to go on holiday.
“The tests centres are empty at the moment and the results were received after 25 hours only,” he wrote.
“Yes it’s true you are not supposed to be using these tests for travel purposes but in many cases like ours we had no choice. Get a free test and get the results quickly or lose £1,800.
“The price for private tests in the UK right now is nothing but a joke. £150 a head in most cases where Cyprus offer tests at 60 euros each and guarantee results in 24 hours.”
Meanwhile, a second person tweeted: “I’m in Cyprus, had a free test on NHS, great service. Finally repaid some of the thousands I invest in it.”
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Another wrote on Facebook: “I did use the NHS for a test when I went in September but now I’m going back in October I have booked a private test.
“If people want to use the NHS it’s up to them and people should keep their nose out of other people’s business, especially when they have done exactly the same thing. Maybe some people are on a very tight budget and can not afford a private test.”
The High Commission of Cyprus in the UK has also confirmed that the country will accept NHS test results from British travellers.
Face protection mask and travel documents over trolley bag. Stefan Cristian Cioata via Getty Images
In an update on its website, the commission wrote: “NHS for #covid19 will be accepted in order to travel from UK to Cyprus.
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“Travellers with negative NHS test need to have both their NHS test appointment booking and the NHS COVID-19 negative result notification. Result not more than 72 hours before departure.”
But the government has warned that holidaymakers should not be taking advantage of the NHS system.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care told HuffPost UK: “Only people with symptoms should be requesting a test – we all need to play our part to protect the NHS Test and Trace service for those who really need it.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--UK Travellers Returning From Denmark, Slovakia and Iceland Told To Self-Isolate From Saturday

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Denmark, Slovakia and Iceland have been removed from the UK’s travel corridor list, Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced.
The Caribbean island of Curacao has also been removed.
Any travellers arriving in the UK from these countries as of 4am on Saturday will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
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Data shows we need to remove DENMARK, SLOVAKIA, ICELAND, and CURACAO from the Travel Corridor list. If you arrive in the UK from these destinations after 4am this Saturday, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days. [1/3] — Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) September 24, 2020
The new rules come amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in these countries, with the Department for Transport warning there had been a 921% increase in infections per 100,000 people in Iceland over the past week.
Meanwhile, the government warned there had been a 115% increase in cases in recent weeks in Slovakia and a 508% jump in Denmark over the past month.
In Curaçao, a small Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela, there had been a 481% increase in newly reported coronavirus cases between September 2 and 23.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Donald Trump Booed By Crowd At Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial

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Donald Trump was met with loud jeers and boos as he paid a visit to the coffin of the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday.
Trump, wearing a black face mask and accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, stood near the casket at the Supreme Court amid chants of “vote him out” from mourners.
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There were also chants of “honour her wish”, referencing the late justice’s statement that it was her “most fervent wish ... that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Thousands of people have turned out to pay tribute to Ginsburg since her death at the age of 87 on Friday.
The Trumps are said to have spent 11 minutes at the court before returning to the White House.
Trump and Senate Republicans are moving quickly to select and confirm a replacement for Ginsburg before the presidential election in November.
Her death has raised the stakes for the election, putting key issues like voting rights, healthcare access and reproductive rights at risk, and giving Trump an opportunity to cement a conservative majority on the court for decades.
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The president has already installed two Supreme Court justices and has said he would announce his latest pick for the seat on Saturday.
Ginsburg, appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993, was an icon for liberals, especially as the court grew increasingly conservative. Her death has sparked a renewed push by Democrats to get people to the polls in November and an outpouring of campaign donations.
She will be the first woman to lie in state at the US Capitol to allow mourners to pay tribute, as well as the first Jewish person to lie in state at the US Capitol.
A ceremony for Ginsburg will be held on Friday and will be by invitation only, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
As the president’s motorcade left the Supreme Court, there were also chants of “Breonna Taylor” from some mourners, according to an Associated Press reporter traveling with the president.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--Sex Education Series 3: Jemima Kirke Joins Cast Of Hit Netflix Series

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Netflix has announced some new additions to the cast of Sex Education, ahead of the teen drama’s upcoming third series.
Production on season three of Sex Education was confirmed to be underway earlier this month, with former Girls star Jemima Kirke among the newest members of the cast.
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Jemima – who played Jessa in Lena Dunham’s hit series – will be playing Hope, the new headmistress at Moordale High.
Jemima Kirke Dominik Bindl via Getty Images
Meanwhile, singer-songwriter and actor Dua Saleh will be playing Cal, a student at Moordale who is set to clash with the new headteacher.
Dua also revealed on their Twitter page that Cal will be the show’s first nonbinary character.
joined the cast of @sexeducation on @netflix as CAL, a nonbinary student at Moordale. see me on season 3 😈 https://t.co/t9ZzQ9MzwW — dua saleh (@doitlikedua) September 24, 2020
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Completing the newbies is Jason Isaacs, whose recent credits include Star Trek: Discovery, the Netflix series The OA and playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series.
Jason is joining the show as Peter, who is described as “Mr Groff’s more successful/less modest older brother”.
SEX EDUCATION S3 CAST NEWS:
~@jemimakirke is joining as Moordale's new headmistress ‘Hope’
~Dua Saleh (@doitlikedua) is playing ‘Cal’, a student who clashes with Hope
~Jason Isaacs (@jasonsfolly) is playing ‘Peter Groff’, Mr Groff’s more successful/less modest older brother pic.twitter.com/zkfGCm9hje — Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) September 24, 2020
Jason tweeted on Wednesday: “On a set again after what seems like decades. It’s both extremely weird and disarmingly normal, despite all the masks, tests and colour zones.
“Doing a lot of acting. Forgive me, it’s been building up.”
On a set again after what seems like decades. It’s both extremely weird and disarmingly normal, despite all the masks, tests and colour zones.
Doing a lot of acting. Forgive me, it’s been building up. #DontBeATwatWearAFaceHat — Jason Isaacs (@jasonsfolly) September 23, 2020
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Earlier this month, cast members like Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa and Gillian Anderson revealed in a video that work had begun on the third series of the hit Netflix show.
Series two debuted in January, and ended with Adam Groff finally declaring his feelings for Eric Effiong, Jean discovering that she is pregnant and another hurdle being thrown in the way of Otis Milburn and Maeve Wiley getting together.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--'Simplistic' To Blame 'Eat Out To Help Out' For Covid Resurgence, Says Rishi Sunak

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It would be “simplistic” to blame the Eat Out To Help Out scheme for the resurgence of Covid-19 in the UK, Rishi Sunak has said.
But the chancellor, whose cut-price meals plan saw people flood into restaurants over the summer, refused to say whether ministers explored what impact it would have on people’s behaviour.
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The programme was aimed at swerving job losses in pubs and restaurants, which were forced to close when Boris Johnson imposed lockdown in March.
But some scientists have claimed people rushing out to take advantage of the scheme could be linked to the second spike in positive cases that the country is seeing.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Sunak said the UK was “following similar paths to other countries in Europe”, such as France, Spain and Belgium, who are all battling an uptick in coronavirus cases.
Asked added: “I think it’s probably simplistic to look at any one thing. What’s happening here is similar to what’s happening in many other countries, and of course, there are lots of things going on at the same time.
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“Towards the last few weeks, and as we get into a season for respiratory illnesses, there’s going to be lots of different factors at play as to why the virus is acting in the way that it is.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak walks across Downing Street ASSOCIATED PRESS
Asked about whether the government commissioned or was presented with behaviour modelling which could have predicted the impact Eat Out To Help Out risked, Sunak did not answer.
He went on to say it was right that the government should “strive for normalcy” amid the pandemic.
He said: “But more broadly, I don’t think it’s the wrong thing for the government or indeed people to want to try and get their lives back to normal.
“I said in the summer that we’ll have to learn to live with the uncertainty of the moment and that’s what we will all have to do.”
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Earlier this week, Sage adviser Professor Calum Semple said that the restaurant discount scheme had not helped to contain Covid.
“Speaking purely as a scientist, I think it was bordering on experimental. I don’t think it was particularly helpful as far as virus control goes.”
Expert in outbreak medicine and SAGE adviser Prof Calum Semple says it's a "very positive move" for the government to adopt the 'stay at home if you can' message and adds the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was "bordering on experimental".#KayBurleyhttps://t.co/I0Ya5YFTvZ pic.twitter.com/qLxMjLNYks — SkyNews (@SkyNews) September 22, 2020
Prof Semple did say however that pubs and clubs were the main worry in terms of a lack of social distancing.
Sunak today unveiled a new job support scheme aimed at protecting “viable” roles rather than all posts which have been kept going as a result of state support under the furlough programme.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--When Will The Vaccine Be Ready For Coronavirus?

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For months, we’ve been told once a vaccine arrives, we might be able to get back to some semblance of normal. So, where are we at with a due date?
In the UK, there are two key vaccine contenders we’ve been keeping an eye out for.
The first is the University of Oxford and Astrazeneca vaccine, which goes by two catchy names: ChAdOx1 or AZD1222. The trial for this was recently halted to allow a review of safety data by an independent committee, but has since been resumed.
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The vaccine harnesses an adenovirus (common cold virus) from chimpanzees, which has been genetically modified so it can’t replicate in our body’s cells. This virus is used as it contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein (a protein that lives on the surface of the coronavirus).
When the vaccine enters cells inside the body, it uses this genetic code to produce the surface spike protein of the coronavirus, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.
It’s in the last phase of trials, which means tens of thousands of people globally are being vaccinated. The point of this trial is to see how the vaccine works in a large body of adults. Does it prevent people from becoming infected and unwell with Covid-19? That’s the question researchers hope to answer.
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skaman306 via Getty Images
If the answer is yes, we could have a vaccine ready for early to mid-2021. It’s worth noting the World Health Organisation has said it doesn’t expect vaccines to be available to the masses until the middle of next year, due to checks for efficacy and safety.
Early trials of the Oxford vaccine have shown promise, with people displaying a “robust immune response” against the virus. A single dose of the vaccine resulted in a four-fold increase in antibodies to the virus spike protein in most (95% of) participants one month after injection.
A T-cell response was also induced in all participants, which is good news as T-cells are another important factor in fending off the virus once it enters the body.
More recently, two sources familiar with the ongoing trials told the Financial Times the vaccine has produced a robust immune response in elderly people.
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The second contender for a workable vaccine in the UK comes from Imperial College London. The team behind the vaccine – dubbed saRNA – is now conducting trials in humans.
Its vaccine uses genetic code called ‘self-amplifying RNA’, rather than bits of the virus. This code has been made in a lab, so there’s no need for animal cells or human stem cells.
Once injected into the body, it should produce copies of the spike protein found on the outside of the coronavirus – it’s kind of like you’re injecting an instruction manual to build some flat-pack furniture, but rather than furniture, you’re building the spike protein – and that trains the immune system to respond to it in future.
Professor Robin Shattock, who is leading the vaccine research, said trials are showing promising results and human volunteers are “responding well”. All being well, he believes they could have a vaccine ready by mid-2021.
There are three typical trial phrases when testing a vaccine, but it’s been reported there will also be “challenge trials” – where volunteers are deliberately infected with coronavirus – conducted to help researchers establish which vaccines are most likely to succeed.
Imperial College London; the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); hVIVO, a leading clinical company with expertise in viral human challenge models; and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust have teamed up to initiate challenge trials, which are expected to take place in January next year.
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The first stage of the project will explore the feasibility of exposing healthy volunteers to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The study would recruit volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30 with no previous history or symptoms of Covid-19, no underlying health conditions and no known adverse risk factors for Covid-19, such as heart disease, diabetes or obesity.
The aim will be to discover the smallest amount of virus it takes to cause a person to develop Covid-19. This is known as a virus characterisation study.
Once this first phase is completed, clinical researchers aim to use this human challenge model to study how vaccines work in the body to stop or prevent Covid-19, to look at potential treatments and study the immune response.
Dr Claire Waddington, clinical lecturer in infectious diseases at the University of Cambridge, says such trials have the advantage of allowing us to know exactly when people are exposed to the pathogen of interest, “so the response to infection and the protection of any vaccine used in the model can be directly and accurately investigated”.
That said, safety is an important factor when you’re exposing someone to a live virus. “As we gain more understanding of Covid-19, we are increasingly in a position to identify those people for who Covid-19 infection is a mild illness, and these people could safely participate in a controlled human infection study after a thorough medical assessment and consent process,” she says.
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Worldwide, there are no Covid-19 vaccines currently approved for widespread use. Some are approved for limited use. One of China’s vaccine candidates, for example, has been approved for use in the military.
There have already been some success stories in phase 3 trials outside of the UK. A vaccine being trialled by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech has been found to be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 and No.10 Downing Street said the UK has procured 40m doses of the vaccine, with 10m set to be manufactured by the end of the year if the jab is approved by regulators.
A government spokesperson said that while they are “optimistic of a breakthrough” it’s important to remember that there are no guarantees.
“We will know whether the vaccine meets our robust standards of safety and effectiveness once their safety data has been published, and only then can the medicines regulator consider whether it can be made available to the public,” they said.
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“Once approved, the NHS stands ready to begin a vaccination programme for those most at risk, as currently recommended by the independent JCVI, before being rolled out more widely.”
Interim guidance published in September on the UK government’s website suggested that care home residents and workers could be prioritised for the vaccine if and when it’s ready.
Hopes are high. Discussing the Pfizer news, Professor Sir John Bell, Regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, told BBC Radio 4′s World at One he believed life in the UK could return to normal by spring 2021 with a vaccine on the cards.
“I am really delighted with this result,” he said. “It shows you can make a vaccine against this little critter.
“I can’t see any reason now why you shouldn’t have a handful of good vaccines available for this disease.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-24--This Is Why NHS Covid-19 App Privacy Concerns Are Massively Overblown

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The long-awaited NHS Test and Trace Covid-19 app has finally arrived and although the technology is not a “silver bullet” in the fight against the pandemic, it is at least a positive step to aid contact tracing efforts.
For it to work it will need at least seven million people to download and use it but already it’s clear not everyone is on board.
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Social media is currently awash with people voicing concerns and refusing to download the app because they’re concerned about their data and privacy...
I will never do so and I strongly encourage others not to. I do not trust the government to store my data securely. I do not trust the government not to use it for other purposes.
I do not trust the government. https://t.co/bSVbDl7YV2 — Francis Hoar (@Francis_Hoar) September 24, 2020
Feel free to believe that you have say over what access you give it... But in reality, it has access to your camera, your mic, your emails and texts and all your online activity. This is dark stuff. https://t.co/xnX5luijqC — Dante Harker (@DanteHarker) September 24, 2020
Facebook
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I've decided against downloading the #NHSCOVID19app
I just don't trust it to keep my data safe 💁 — Nick 🇬🇧 (@OhMyDaleys1) September 24, 2020
Of course the irony of this is, those very same people have signed away for more personal information in order to be able to make those comments in the first place.
If you set up the most minimal anonymous account on Twitter, you still need to provide an email and, if you’re using on a phone, grant access to your mobile data.
The new #NHSCOVID19app, now available in England and Wales, is the fastest way of knowing when you’re at risk from coronavirus.
Download now from:
➡ Google Play Store: https://t.co/sivYOhAkH3
➡ Apple App Store: https://t.co/EnHDdr5mtg
Find out more: https://t.co/NkCmy6UWyv pic.twitter.com/rPluYnpBSX — NHS (@NHSuk) September 24, 2020
Facebook and Instagram typically require far more, not to mention that many users willingly post photos and check in to places, leaving a permanent digital trail of their lives.
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Just using Google provides the company with reams of information about your browsing history, shopping preferences and a whole host more and a wearable device like a FitBit regularly tracks your location.
Eerke Boiten, professor in cyber security at De Montfort University, told HuffPost UK: “It records the minimal amount of personal data and most of the data is only recorded on the phone.
“It compares extremely favourably [to Facebook] but having said that, Facebook is for sharing stuff that you want to share with people you want to share it with.
“On top of that, it does an awful lot of interpreting of what the user does in order to target advertising and satisfy its paying customers, the advertisers.”
In short, if you’re on social media or use a popular internet browser, you’ve probably already sacrificed more personal information to massive tech companies that you ever will to the NHS Covid app.
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Let’s take a closer look...
OK, how does it work?
The app uses Bluetooth signals to log when a user is in close contact with another user, generally meaning within two metres for 15 minutes or more.
If someone then tests positive for Covid-19, they can choose to share the result anonymously with their close contacts, who will each receive an alert and will have to isolate for 14 days.
App PA Media
How much information am I handing over?
Very little. It doesn’t even ask for your name, just the first half of your postcode which is used to tell you the current coronavirus risk level in the area you live.
This information is only held on your phone, not on a central database.
How does it track the spread of the virus?
This relies on you inputting any symptoms you have or coronavirus test results. If you do have Covid, this will then be registered as a case in the area that matches the postcode you entered.
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The app generates a random ID for each user to protect privacy, and matches cases on the device rather than on a central server, as was the case in the first iteration.
It will also enable users to book a Covid-19 test subject to availability, check symptoms, and register at venues using a QR-type bar code displayed by businesses.
But it’s tracking my location, right?
Nope. Downloading and using the app doesn’t require that you grant it permission to track your location.
All it is looking for – via Bluetooth – is other app users, which it then logs if you are within two metres of them for 15 minutes or more.
This doesn’t require knowing exactly where you are, only when you are near another app user.
Won’t it know who I am from my phone?
No, it’s all done using randomly generated codes that are used to identify you and other users.
This code changes every day so that it cannot be associated with you or your phone.
The app also produces another randomly generated code every 15 minutes which is collected by the app installed on other users’ phones when you’re in close contact with them.
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What else am I giving it permission to do?
You are granting the app permission to use Bluetooth to look for other app users, the biggest downside to which is it might drain your battery a bit quicker.
It also asks for access to your camera in order to scan QR codes when registering at venues.
How long is this information held?
Firstly, it’s important to stress again that the information is held locally on your phone, not on a database run by the government or a tech company.
The first half of your postcode will be held for as long as you have the app installed.
A history of the places you’ve checked into in the last 14 days, will be held for just those 14 days.
Data about those venues is held for 21 days.
Who can’t use it?
The app is available on iOS and Android operating systems but will not work on older handsets.
On the iPhone, you will need to be running iOS 13.5, meaning the oldest possible iPhone device you can use it on is 2015’s iPhone 6s.
On Android, Marshmallow 6.0 – released in 2015 – and higher is required.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Two People Wounded In Knife Attack Near Former Charlie Hebdo Offices

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Counterterrorism police in France have opened an investigation into a knife attack which saw at least two people wounded near the former offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Friday.
The investigation was opened into “attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise,” according to an official at the prosecutor’s office.
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One suspect has been arrested.
A police official said that while authorities initially thought two attackers were involved, they now believe it was only one person, who was detained near the Bastille plaza in eastern Paris.
A blade was found at the scene, two police sources told Reuters. One described it as a machete, the other called it a meat cleaver.
It is unclear what motivated the attack Friday or whether it had any link to Charlie Hebdo, which moved offices after they were attacked by Islamic extremists in 2015.
Police did not release the identities of the attacker or the wounded, who are in “absolutely urgent” condition, the official said.
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Prime Minister Jean Castex cut short a visit to a suburb north of Paris to head to the Interior Ministry to follow developments.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--London Faces Local Lockdown After Being Placed On Coronavirus Watchlist

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London has been placed on the government’s coronavirus local lockdown watchlist.
It means stricter restrictions could be imposed in the capital if cases continue to rise.
In a statement on Friday announcing the move, London Councils said it was “a stark reminder” to Londoners about the threat from the virus.
The body, which represents the 32 borough councils and the City of London, said there would be no new rules imposed “at this stage”.
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Sadiq Khan said the said London was now “at a very worrying tipping point”.
“The near collapse of test and trace and the resurgence of the virus means new measures to slow its spread were absolutely necessary,” he said.
“Ministers simply have to get a grip. It’s vital that testing capacity is increased immediately in London and focused in the areas it is needed most. Any delay will mean letting the city down and will cost lives.”
Millions of people across the country are already living under local lockdown rules, including a ban on visiting each other’s houses.
A total of 6,634 new cases were recorded across the UK on Thursday – the largest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic.
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The rise in cases is a “clear” signal, Public Health England’s Professor Yvonne Doyle said, as she insisted people must follow the stricter measures announced this week in order to help control the virus.
Thursday saw the introduction of new rules across England that mean pubs and restaurants must close at 10pm.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England between 26 April and 08 September, 6.2% of people tested positive for antibodies, suggesting they had the infection in the past.
The percentage of people testing positive for antibodies is higher in London than in the East Midlands, the South East and the South West of England.
It comes as Boris Johnson faces a rebellion from Tory MPs demanding a greater say for parliament over lockdown restrictions.
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But there is mounting disquiet on the government benches at Downing Street’s decision to announce the regulations without giving MPs a say.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Is Now The Winter Of Our Discontent? With Steve Reed MP

Is Now The Winter Of Our Discontent? With Steve Reed MP
As curfews and other restrictions are brought in to try and stem the rise in coronavirus infections, Rishi Sunak took to the dispatch box with another rescue plan for the economy. But do his emergency schemes go far enough?Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed reacts to Sunak’s statement, tries to unpack the problems with test and trace, and discusses what Labour’s virtual conference revealed about the party’s new leadership.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Dido Harding’s Failing Test And Trace Risks Harming Reputation Of NHS, Senior Labour MP Says

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The “politicised” appointment of “crony” Baroness Dido Harding to run England’s coronavirus test and trace service risks “denigrating” the NHS, a shadow cabinet minister has suggested.
Steve Reed told HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast that hiring the Tory peer amounts to a “deskilling” of the civil service and is partly to blame for the problems plaguing NHS Test and Trace.
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The service is falling short of key targets, with just one in 10 Covid tests being processed within 24 hours last week, despite Boris Johnson wanting a 100% completion rate by the end of June.
With the public complaining of huge delays in even booking a test, the total number of results processed decreased by 19% compared to the previous week.
But despite being a Tory peer, Harding is not a minister and is not compelled to answer questions about the service in parliament.
The system is also largely managed by outsourcing giant Serco and call centre company Sitel.
Last week, the British Medical Association (BMA) told HuffPost UK that test and trace is “not an NHS service” but a “largely outsourced programme that sees numerous private companies given billions of pounds to run testing sites, process samples and manage contact tracing call centres”.
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Reed told HuffPost UK that the politicisation of the service was leading to failures, blaming the prime minister’s top adviser Dominic Cummings.
Head of NHS Test and Trace Dido Harding walks through Parliament Square in central London JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images
“It’s part of a bigger story I think,” the shadow communities secretary said.
“One of the great things about this country is we have a non-party political civil service but they are trying to politicise it.
“So it’s extraordinarily unusual, well it’s unprecedented, that you would appoint a Conservative peer to a civil service job, and yet that’s what is happening.
“We’ve all seen some of the leaked reports coming out of No.10 about Dominic Cummings, about his desire to politicise the civil service.
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“Well I think that’s really damaging.
“Senior civil servants are appointed because of their expertise, not because they are cronies of whoever happens to be in 10 Downing Street at that particular moment.
“And the more that we move towards a politicised model the more we are deskilling it and the more that will go wrong, and I think that’s what we’re seeing with Dido Harding.
“But it’s not only Dido Harding now.”
Asked if Labour could call for the acronym NHS to be stripped from the title of the test and trace service, Reed said: “I’m happy to pick you up on that one.
“The brand of the NHS is one of the country’s greatest institutions, we can’t let it be denigrated.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Kate Garraway's Injury At The Hands Of A Rogue Contact Lens Sounds Horrible, But Oh So Relatable

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We don’t know about you, but when it comes to eyes and people talking about things getting stuck in them, it sets our teeth on edge.
Which is why Friday’s Good Morning Britain proved to be an uncomfortable watch, as Kate Garraway discussed an injury she recently suffered at the hands of a rogue contact lens.
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The presenter said she was left “embarrassed” after a doctor removed a six-day-old lens from her eye that had become stuck.
Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway on Good Morning Britain ITV/Shutterstock
Kate explained that it happened after she’d forgotten to take them out one night, which to be fair, most of us who wear them have done at one point or another.
Speaking about her trip to the doctors on GMB, Kate said: “A team of eye nurses were baffled, absolutely baffled. Then eventually, after having drops, they found it was actually a contact lens stuck in my eye that’s been in there for about six days.
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“I felt embarrassed – I thought I had taken it out, but there was a bit still in there – just by root cause untidiness.“
Kate’s diagnosis came after she appeared on the ITV breakfast show wearing glasses, admitting she was having trouble reading the morning news, describing it was “a bit of a lottery” as to what she could see.
Kate wore glasses on Thursday's show ITV/Shutterstock
She said: “Let’s have a look at the front pages now, if, that is, I can see them. If you haven’t noticed [the glasses] ... I’ve injured my eye.
“I don’t know what I’ve done to it, but I’m going to get it checked out today. But it means it’s all a bit of a lottery at the moment as to whether I can read anything.”
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During Friday’s show, Kate also revealed it had been a “tough week” for her husband Derek Draper, who has been in hospital since March after contracting coronavirus.
While Derek, who is a former lobbyist and political adviser, no longer has Covid-19, he still remains seriously ill in an induced coma.
However, he has shown signs of consciousness in recent weeks, even occasionally opening his eyes.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--These Supermarkets Are Limiting Items Again To Stop Panic-Buying

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As rumours swirl of toilet rolls disappearing off supermarket shelves once more, some retailers are taking precautionary action to ensure everyone has enough.
Morrisons has limited certain items such as toilet rolls and disinfectant products to three per customer, despite saying stock levels were “good”.
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“We are introducing a limit on a small number of key products, such as toilet roll and disinfectant,” a spokesperson said. “Our stock levels of these products are good but we want to ensure that they are available for everyone.”
Meanwhile Tesco has implemented a limit on items like flour, dried pasta, toilet roll, baby wipes and anti-bacterial wipes – so customers can only buy three of each. There are additional limits for a small number of products online, such as rice and canned vegetables.
A Tesco spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “We have good availability, with plenty of stock to go round, and we would encourage our customers to shop as normal. To ensure that everyone can keep buying what they need, we have introduced bulk-buy limits on a small number of products.”
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Other supermarkets have shut down claims that items like toilet rolls are in short supply and, as a result, are not implementing any measures at this time.
In response to HuffPost UK’s request for comment, an Asda spokesperson said they aren’t seeing evidence in a change of customer behaviour. The supermarket has “good availability” in stores, they said, as well as through its online slots.
However it has announced new measures this week, which includes the creation of 1,000 new safety marshals stationed at the front of every store and in the aisles of larger stores. They will be on hand to help customers with safety queries and reiterate government guidelines to wear a face covering and maintain social distancing.
Sainsbury’s also has good availability of products like toilet roll and Waitrose did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said in an email: “Customers can continue to shop with confidence in our stores, where they will see we have good availability. We aren’t currently restricting products.”
There is confidence there will be enough toilet roll to go around, despite sales rising by 23% in the past week. Toilet roll manufacturer WEPA Group told The Guardian it expected sales to remain high, but insisted that supplies would not run out.
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While panic-buying is an understandable reaction to an uncertain situation, it can have a profound impact on supply chains – and people’s everyday lives.
In March, when the fear of a strict lockdown was impending, supermarkets wrote an open letter to the British public urging people not to panic-buy and limits were placed on certain items so there was enough to go around.
solarseven via Getty Images
Therapists believe people panic-buy because of anxiety and needing some way to take back control. Psychotherapist Nick Blackburn previously told HuffPost UK people are trying to “solve” their anxiety by buying supplies, but when they get to the shops, they’re likely to experience more anxiety because items are running low.
Then there’s the added anxiety of being criticised or hearing snarky comments by others for doing it – in the supermarket or all over social media. “That’s not the way to make fearful people feel better,” Blackburn said.
Hansa Pankhania, a therapist of 25 years and member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, said it’s also driven by helplessness, fear and loss of control. When people panic-buy it’s a “gesture”, she told us earlier in the year – they’re doing something to help themselves in an otherwise helpless situation. When we have no control over the bigger picture, we crave control in our “micro world” – our home and daily routines. And in this case, people are doing it by buying up supplies.
There’s also the fear element – understandable when Covid-19 cases are rising again. On top of that, people are scared of running out of food or supplies, said Pankhania, so there’s the basic survival instinct of: “If I don’t have food, I’ll die.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--I’m Thinking About Casual Sex For The First Time Since Coronavirus. This Is How It’s Going

Photoboyko via Getty Images Large amount of condoms, shot from above - safe sex and contraception concept
You’re reading Sex Diaries, a HuffPost UK Personal series about how we are (or aren’t) having sex. To share your story, get in touch on ukpersonal@huffpost.com.
Back in May, when lockdown measures relaxed and it was possible to see people outdoors again, I thought life would start to feel a bit more normal. But, several months down the line, the truth is it still hasn’t.
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After the mass exodus of my flatmates out of London, I spent two months furloughed and alone. With the extent of my daily interactions with others limited to video calls and short conversations with cashiers in Tesco, there was nothing I craved more than real human contact. It goes without saying, but there’s only so much joy you can get from passing fruit and veg over a counter, so after weeks spent daydreaming about doing dreadful things like hugging and holding hands, I was glad to see my boyfriend. Even if it had to be in a park.
The relief didn’t last. We saw each other in what seemed like every public space in the city, and with every royal park we visited, my frustration grew. As expected, we weren’t very good at upholding the two metre rule, and I knew there was only so long sheepish kisses outside my building and feeling horny in St James’s Park would suffice — so I tried talking about it.
After several charged conversations about changes to guidance, social bubbles, and seeing each other indoors — all which boiled down to me wanting to be intimate again, but he and his flatmates feeling uncomfortable with the prospect of mixing indoors — we broke up.
“If having a relationship in this climate is so difficult, surely it’s a terrible idea to look for a new one. Or worse yet, something less.”
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Although it wasn’t the only reason we separated, after so long alone sex, or at least a conversation about it, felt as necessary as it did taboo. I knew what I wanted flouted public health guidance and I understood his reluctance, but at the time I didn’t understand why morality only kicked in at the entrance to my flat.
But navigating intimacy right now is difficult. We each have our limits, and few of us are immune to the moral dilemma. It’s just that nobody wants to admit it. I’ve never considered myself needy or unprincipled, but the fact I still want to date during the worst of our times is telling. Post-break up, I’m at a stage where ordinarily, I’d throw myself back into dating. But given even seeing close friends and family has been complicated by the fact we’re all walking incubators for a virus with no cure, I’m conflicted.
If having a relationship in this climate is so difficult, surely it’s a terrible idea to look for a new one. Or worse yet, something less; because now there’s a particular weight that comes with wanting something casual. As if only the strength of feeling that comes with ‘actually’ being in love comes close to justifying putting lives at risk.
The Government seems to agree, because even with cases on the up and restrictions tightening, those in ‘established relationships’ have now got the cabinet’s stamp of approval if they want to be intimate again. But for the rest of us, it’s not as straightforward. At least when there were clear protocols about staying two metres apart and keeping interactions strictly outdoors, it was as plain as day that sex, never mind casual sex, was out of the question.
This is what I tell myself, but it seems like the more time has passed from the bit of lockdown where we all panic-bought linguine and stockpiled toilet paper, we’ve started to forget. I’ve heard it said that pandemic or no pandemic, if a date goes well, then sex is on the cards — and while I don’t agree, I certainly understand. Guidance has been so vague and confusing throughout the course of the pandemic that I have no idea what I should be doing, no matter how scrupulously I read the policy. Unlike the Dutch government, which included provisions for a ‘seksbuddy’ in its guidelines, Matt Hancock deftly told people in the UK to “make a choice and stick with it”.
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“I never thought I’d find myself in a situation where I’d have to wear a mask, or consider a third, fourth, or even fifth party during sex.”
But what if the choice you made months ago hasn’t stood the test of the virus? I never thought I’d find myself in a situation where I’d have to wear a mask, or consider a third, fourth, or even fifth party during sex. Not even in an exciting way — it’s just that Covid means we now have a social responsibility to take into account literally every person we come into close contact with when we date.
For many of us, this means consulting flatmates. While I’m lucky to call mine my friends, it feels weird asking a relative stranger what stance his housemates are currently taking on his sex life. We’re living in a world where the euphemism ‘do you want to come back to mine?’ has been replaced with ‘how do the people you live with feel about you coming back to mine for sex?’, and I don’t think I like it.
It honestly feels a bit pointless that I’m sat in a pub with a person, who under normal circumstances and all being well, the end-goal would be to get closer to. As a result, I’m dating half-heartedly. The urge is still there, so I go on them anyway, but I’m acutely aware that any desire I have now comes with caveats. It doesn’t say much about my values if I sleep with Tom from Bumble, so I’m sitting a bit further away from him at the bar nowadays.
As restrictions are reimposed, I’m becoming even more tentative about dating — but I’m starting to accept that I’m only human. In the meantime, we can only hope that scientists develop a sanitiser that can cleanse my thoughts as well as it cleans my hands.
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Sian Frances is a freelance writer


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Princess Eugenie And Husband Jack Brooksbank Expecting First Child Together

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Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank are expecting their first child together.
A tweet by the Royal Family account said: “Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in early 2021.
“The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, Mr and Mrs George Brooksbank, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news.”
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👶 Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in early 2021.
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The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, Mr and Mrs George Brooksbank, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh are delighted with the news. pic.twitter.com/nLrzkwHMGC — The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 25, 2020
The royal baby will be 11th in line to the throne when they are born. This means Eugenie’s uncle Prince Edward will move down to 12th in line.
It’s unlikely the new baby will have a royal title, as their children will take their rank from their father.
Eugenie and Jack married on October 12, 2018 at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, with around 800 guests.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Lizzo Says Body Positivity Movement Has Become Commercialised

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Lizzo has said the body positivity movement has become commercialised, calling into question who it now benefits.
The singer appeared on the cover of Vogue’s October issue, and in the accompanying interview, she said she believed the movement calling for the acceptance of all bodies had been partially appropriated.
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Lizzo said: “It’s commercialised. Now, you look at the hashtag ‘body positive,’ and you see smaller-framed girls, curvier girls. Lotta white girls. And I feel no ways about that, because inclusivity is what my message is always about.
“I’m glad that this conversation is being included in the mainstream narrative. What I don’t like is how the people that this term was created for are not benefiting from it.”
Lizzo Mike Marsland via Getty Images
The Juice singer continued: “Girls with back fat, girls with bellies that hang, girls with thighs that aren’t separated, that overlap. Girls with stretch marks. You know, girls who are in the 18-plus club.
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“They need to be benefiting from… the mainstream effect of body positivity now. But with everything that goes mainstream, it gets changed. It gets – you know, it gets made acceptable.”
Lizzo, who in January won a Grammy for her album Cuz I Love You, said she wants to “normalise” her body.
She added: “And not just be like, ‘Ooh, look at this cool movement. Being fat is body positive.’ No, being fat is normal. I think now, I owe it to the people who started this to not just stop here. We have to make people uncomfortable again, so that we can continue to change. Change is always uncomfortable, right?”
Lizzo also celebrated appearing on the cover of Vogue on her Instagram, writing: “I am the first big black woman on the cover of @voguemagazine. The first black anything feels overdue. But our time has come.
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“To all my black girls, if someone like you hasn’t done it yet— BE THE FIRST.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Paloma Faith Reveals She's Pregnant Following 'Struggle' With IVF

Gareth Cattermole via Getty Images
Paloma Faith has revealed she is pregnant following a “struggle” with IVF.
The singer said she had six rounds of the treatment, in a post on Instagram.
She added she is set to release new music and wanted to “feel free in my body as it changes before all our eyes”.
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“This child is so wanted, it’s my sixth round of IVF and [it] was a struggle to get here,” she said.
Faith added that her experience of giving birth for the first time was “very traumatic” and she is also “prone to postpartum depression”.
“Being a mother is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me but I will swell up and I won’t ‘glow’,” she added.
She asked the media not to publish “unflattering shots as anxiety is detrimental to me and my baby”.
Faith added: “To all the other pregnant women out there who are as in love with their babies as me but simultaneously shitting themselves, let’s do this.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Met Officer Shot Dead In South London Police Station

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A murder investigation has been launched after a long-serving police officer was shot inside a station in south London.
The male officer died in hospital after the suspect, who was being detained, opened fire at Croydon Custody Centre during the early hours of Friday.
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The 23-year-old suspect is in a critical condition in hospital with reported a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
No police firearms were discharged during the incident, which happened at about 2.15am at the Windmill Road centre, Scotland Yard said.
The victim is the eighth officer shot dead in the UK over the past 20 years.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick said early indications were that the suspect had shot himself, though this has not been confirmed.
Commissioner Cressida Dick: "The Met is a family. Policing is a family, within London and across the UK, and today we are all mourning a great loss.
"This terrible incident underlines once again how police officers face danger every day in their work to protect the public." pic.twitter.com/pvIWSyFXo6 — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) September 25, 2020
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Forensics at the scene where the office was shot Press Association
She said: “This morning we learned of the shocking death of a much-loved colleague, a long-serving sergeant in the Metropolitan Police who was working last night in our Croydon custody suite.
“I have visited and spoken to our officer’s partner together with other colleagues, and we are of course giving her the best support we can.
“My heartfelt condolences go to her, to their family, to his colleagues and his close friends.
“I’m thinking also of everyone who was involved in, and those affected by, this terrible event.
“We are all deeply shocked and very sad.”
Just before 2pm a dozen uniformed police officers walked silently to the custody centre, laid two large bouquets and bowed their heads as they stood side-by-side in tribute to their colleague. They left a minute later without saying a word.
The deceased officer was described as “an inspiration” by a friend who knew him from playing rugby together.
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“The Met is a family. Policing is a family” 💙
Officers across London have today observed a minute silence, as a mark of respect for their fallen friend and colleague. Commissioner led reflections at New Scotland Yard alongside @MayorOfLondon @PritiPatel#NeverForgotten #Hero pic.twitter.com/uEemsoYiTx — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) September 25, 2020
Lead by BCU Commander @mpsdavestringer Mr Stringer and @MPSAndyBrittain with community leaders, and officers from @MPSCroydon held a minutes silence at Windmill Road Custody Suite in a mark or honour and respect for our fallen brother pic.twitter.com/2phrckS83s — Croydon MPS (@MPSCroydon) September 25, 2020
A minute silence held today at 1600 hours outside Ilford Police Station for our fallen police colleague. @MPSRedbridge pic.twitter.com/vmtoljcOL7 — Mayfield Police (@MPSMayfield) September 25, 2020
He said: “It is sad that our force are out in that position. They are just men and women doing a job.
“They are at the front line and on the bad end of it but nobody deserves that.”
The 27 year-old friend, who would only give his name as Paul, said: “We all looked to him – on the field or off the rugby field, he always found a way to gee us up. Losing that is big.
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“The man was a machine. He went from training with us last night to come to his shift work here in Croydon. He would do that week in and week out.
Leroy Logan, a former Metropolitan Police superintendent, said there were a number of questions to be answered around the circumstances which led to the shooting of the officer.
He told BBC News: “The first thing you want to know is how did this happen?
Floral tributes are being left at the scene of the shooting PA
“How did that person come to be in the station whether it’s in the yard or the building itself and be able to produce a weapon, whether it’s on them at the time.
“It depends on the calibre of the weapon, because obviously if it’s a small weapon and it can be easily in that person’s clothing, then obviously it brings another question on how thoroughly that person was searched, if at all.
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He added: “It depends if that person was arrested outside the police station and has been transported in a vehicle. Invariably these officers will search that individual to make sure they haven’t got anything that can harm other people or themselves. Or try and hide any material whether it’s drugs or any sort of articles that they shouldn’t have.
“That’s standard procedure and of course that’s for security reasons just in case they have got a weapon.
“There are circumstances where someone might turn up at the custody suite area itself in the reception and are led straight through.
“So not knowing all of the details, how this person got into the secure area of the station, whether it’s outside the building or in the yard or whatever, we just need to try and find out what’s happened because the details are very, very scant.”
Community police officer Jacqueline Kufuor burst into tears after laying flowers outside the centre in tribute to her colleague.
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My deepest condolences go to the family, friends and colleagues of the police officer who was killed in Croydon last night.
We owe a huge debt to those who risk their own lives to keep us safe. — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 25, 2020
She told the PA news agency that the deceased officer was “a lovely guy” and “the nicest man I have ever met”.
She said: “You never expect this to happen when you go to work. For him to have been in custody and for this to have happened, it is just so sad.
“He was a very lovely man. He was such a nice man. When he sees you, he would just stand and talk to you. He would ask you about your job and how your are coping and how you are doing out there.
“So when I ever had issues, I would just talk to him.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sent his “deepest condolences” to the family, friends and colleagues of the officer, adding: “We owe a huge debt to those who risk their own lives to keep us safe.”
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Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was “deeply shocked and saddened” to learn of the death.
My statement on the tragic incident in Croydon. pic.twitter.com/5FdDhCNCPt — Priti Patel (@pritipatel) September 25, 2020
Sadly this has now been confirmed, truly horrific, immediate thoughts with the officer’s family and colleagues. All of us in Croydon are in shock at this heartbreaking tragic news https://t.co/X3XuxHGtfS — Steve Reed (@SteveReedMP) September 25, 2020
Horrific to hear of a police officer being shot and killed in Croydon.
Our police put themselves in harm's way every day to keep us safe.
All my thoughts are with the officer’s family, friends and colleagues. — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 25, 2020
Devastated by this news. My heart goes out to the family of this brave officer, who has paid the ultimate price for helping to keep Londoners safe.
Tragic incidents like this are terrible reminders of the dangers our police officers face every single day. https://t.co/LQ7PHNxwJt — Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) September 25, 2020
There are no words to adequately describe this tragic and deeply upsetting event. Our sincere condolences go to the officer's family, friends and wider @metpoliceuk colleagues. This is a sad day. https://t.co/DEpTJt5tFo — National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) (@PoliceChiefs) September 25, 2020
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “Our police put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep us safe.“
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: “Devastated by this news. My heart goes out to the family of this brave officer, who has paid the ultimate price for helping to keep Londoners safe.”
Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North, said his thoughts were with the officer’s family and colleagues.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse updated MPs about the officer’s death, adding: “May justice follow this heinous crime.”
Raising a point of order in the House of Commons, Malthouse said: “We ask our police officers to do an extraordinary job.
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Police officers wearing protective face masks bring floral tributes to the Croydon Custody Centre where the incident took place DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS via Getty Images
“The fact that one of them has fallen in the line of performing that duty is a tragedy for the entire nation.
“I know the entire House will offer their condolences to his family and friends and colleagues.
“May he rest in peace and may justice follow this heinous crime.”
Reverend Catherine Tucker, who attended the centre to see if anyone needed prayer or support, said: “The action taken against the police is really unacceptable but I also feel sorry for the perpetrator.
“Sadly, I am not surprised there has been a shooting in Croydon.”
Rev Tucker, who is of the Holy Church Croydon parish, which includes the centre in its catchment area, described the region as having a diverse community who live in a highly-deprived setting.
She said: “There are tensions between the police and young people particularly in relation to stop and search and the way the police relate to the community.”
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This morning my team and I responded to the worst possible radio transmission from custody, words and scenes I shall never forget. The unimaginable happened to our police family. We have lost not only a good skipper but also a real gentleman. One of the best. RIP brother 💔 https://t.co/FsIZGHCQWx pic.twitter.com/0wmEntKrmP — Stuart James (@Stuarthutson) September 25, 2020
A number of policing colleagues have changed their social media profile pictures to black, with a blue line, as a mark of respect to the officer.
The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct which will lead an independent investigation.
Lissie Harper, the widow of PC Andrew Harper, who was killed on duty last year, said the death of a Metropolitan Police officer was “utterly devastating”.
In a statement she said: “This is devastating news. No person should go to work never to return. No human being should be stripped of their life in a barbaric act of crime.
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“Another hero has been taken from us in unwarranted violence.
“They protect us but who protects them? Another life is gone in a disgraceful act that reminds us of the danger our police officers face with every shift they begin.”
Some 25 other officers have been murdered since 2020, according to the UK’s police roll of honour.
The officer killed on Friday is the first to be killed by a firearm in the line of duty since PCs Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, in September 2012.
They were murdered by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade attack while responding to a report of a burglary in Greater Manchester.
In July the same year, off-duty police officer PC Ian Dibell, 41, was shot dead while trying to stop gunman Peter Reeve, 64, who had fired at a couple in Clacton, Essex.
In March 2009, police officer Stephen Carroll was shot dead while responding to a call in Craigavon, Co Armagh.
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PC Ricky Gray was shot in the head by a gunman who then turned the weapon on himself in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in May 2007.
PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead when she and a colleague tried to stop armed robbers in Bradford in November 2005.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-25--Revealed: This Is How Much The Royal Family Spent Travelling The Globe Last Year

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The travel costs for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s high-profile family tour to southern Africa cost the taxpayer nearly £246,000, new accounts show.
Harry and Meghan took their then four-month-old baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor to South Africa in September last year on his first royal overseas trip, with the duke also travelling solo to Angola, Malawi and Botswana.
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The flights came to nearly a quarter of a million pounds and were the most expensive royal journey of 2019-2020, according to the royal financial records.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meeting a group of dancers at the Nyanga Township in Cape Town, South Africa, on the first day of their tour of Africa, which cost nearly £246,000 PA
Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, criticised the cost as a “disgraceful abuse of public money” and said there was no justification at a time when public sector jobs were being lost and services cut.
The trip became controversial after Meghan launched legal action against a newspaper and Harry delivered a scathing attack on the tabloid press while the tour was still under way.
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A senior royal source insisted the couple are under no obligation to pay money back for the trip after announcing their decision to quit as senior royals just three months later.
The source stressed it was a key visit approved by the Foreign Office and helped to highlight the work of numerous charities.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex undertook over 20 engagements, bringing attention to a number of worthwhile causes, in particular, raising awareness of the work and the legacy of the Halo Trust,” the source said.
“So, the visit, as an official visit funded by the government, fulfilled the objectives that were set out for it and so therefore there would be no requirement or obligation on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to make any payments in relation to that official visit.”
Other costly overseas trips by members of the royal family included a two-day visit by the Prince of Wales to Oman to pay his condolences following the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, with the charter flight costing £210,345.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to Badshahi Mosque, Lahore, on the fourth day of the royal visit to Pakistan. The trip cost £117,116 PA
The source said the trip was taken at very short notice, and there were no commercial flights available.
The Duke of York took a charter flight to Northern Ireland to attend the Royal Portrush Golf Club’s Open championship, which cost £15,848.
The royal source defended Andrew’s use of a charter instead of a scheduled flight, saying: “In this particular case, we concluded that actually, the use of charter was the only way to get him to complete his engagements to fit in with his other programmes.”
Andrew – once dubbed Air Miles Andy for his lavish use of helicopters and other aircraft at public expense – has since stepped down from royal duties over his former friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
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The Princess Royal flew by charter to Rome to watch the Italy v Scotland Six Nations rugby match at a cost of £16,440.
For a trip to Pakistan, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s travel costs were £117,116.
The total cost of official travel for the royal family, met by the taxpayer, was £5.3 million in the last financial year – up 15% or £700,000 from £4.6 million in 2018/2019.
Buckingham Palace’s Sovereign Grant financial report revealed the Sussexes’ southern Africa travel costs came to £245,643, including the scheduled flights to and from South Africa, Harry’s charter flights for his solo trips and scheduled flights for a staff planning visit.
Graham Smith, of Republic said: “At a time when public sector jobs are being lost and services cut, these figures represent a disgraceful abuse of public money by the royals. There is no justification for spending a quarter of a million pounds on a trip to Africa or more than £200,000 to fly to Oman.
“And they’re all at. Thousands of pounds spent on junkets for Anne and Andrew, so they can attend sporting events. This is not public service, it’s daylight robbery.”
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He added: “A 15% increase in travel costs when hospitals can’t deliver the very best care to every person in need, when teachers are struggling to pay for the necessary books and equipment and the police are stretched to breaking point, is scandalous.”
During the Sussexes’ 10-day tour, Meghan gave a rousing speech to young women in a township, and also tackled the issue of gender-based violence in South Africa, while Archie met Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Harry brought back memories of the visit of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales to Angola, as he walked through a minefield in Dirico to see the work of a landmine clearance charity.
But the trip, carried out at the request of the government, was overshadowed at the end when the duchess announced a privacy lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday over a letter she wrote to her father.
While still on the tour, Harry launched a scathing attack on the British tabloid press, accusing them of a “ruthless campaign” against his wife, adding: “I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”
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He then filed his own legal proceedings against News Group Newspapers and Reach plc over alleged historical phone hacking.
Harry and Meghan also filmed an ITV documentary while on the trip in which they spoke of their struggles as royals.
The pair stepped down as senior working royals just months later, and now live in the US, where they are financially independent having signed a multimillion-pound deal with Netflix.
Only three trips were taken on the Royal Train in 2019/2020, but the total cost was more than £63,000.
They were the Prince of Wales’s trip from Kemble to Carlisle to visit Pirelli Tyres and a mountain rescue team among others, costing £20,822; The Queen travelling from London to Edinburgh for the Royal Week at the Palace of Holyroodhouse at £22,696, and the Prince of Wales’s London to Severn Tunnel Junction journey to visit Newport and Penarth, coming to £19,737.
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