thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-06--Time To Talk Day: 4 People On How They Started A Conversation About Mental Health

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We’re constantly told we should be talking more about our mental health. But when it comes to doing it – actually speaking to someone you’re worried about or opening up yourself – it can be terrifying.
What if someone is offended by what you say? What if it ruins your friendship or relationship? What if it all comes out wrong?
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There are so many ‘what ifs’, but perhaps the big one we should be asking ourselves is: what if not talking about it means things get even harder?
Last year, a survey of more than 4,000 adults in the UK by mental health anti-stigma campaign, Time to Change, found one in three of us would avoid speaking to a friend who is struggling with their mental health to avoid an awkward conversation. Asked why, people’s top concerns were saying the wrong thing (39%), feeling uncomfortable (28%), or being rude (23%).
If you’re ready to take the plunge, regardless of which side of the conversation you’re on, take inspiration from those who’ve been there.
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Starting the conversation about someone else’s mental health...
‘I told him during the week that I wanted to have a life chat’
Henry, who preferred not to share his surname, noticed a friend of his was indulging in unhealthy vices more and more, and enjoying them far less. He’d also become more reclusive and seemed to have something on his mind.
Mid-week, Henry, who is 29 and from Bristol, told his mate that he wanted to have a ‘life chat’ with him at the weekend. He didn’t specify whether the chat was about him or his mate.
On a Saturday, the pair met at a local coffee shop which they’d been to before. “There weren’t many people in the spacious café, so we had a comfortable corner to ourselves with big armchairs and no one really within ear shot. It was a warm, familiar setting with a comforting background din,” says Henry.
“I told him I knew things weren’t great and I wanted him to tell me about it. I wanted him to open up so that I could be sure he wasn’t dealing with things alone. We knew each other well and he knew I’d dealt with a fair amount of my own issues, as I’m quite open about them.”
His friend tensed up at first, but when Henry told him that lots of their mutual friends suffered the same, similar or more severe mental health issues, he seemed to relax. “We didn’t speak for as long as I would have liked, as I could tell he was getting more and more uncomfortable and agitated. I didn’t want to push too far and my intention was only to get the ball rolling,” says Henry.
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The initial chat had a positive effect though. Since then, he’s been able to return to the conversation with his friend, who has since been more open with his friends and family, and is even considering medication and therapy, too.
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‘I came home from work and asked if she wanted to talk’
Paul Bickerdike from Wakefield, noticed his daughter Celine hadn’t been her usual chatty and cheerful self for a while. “One day I came home from work and noticed that she was displaying signs of anxiety,” he says. “I asked if she would like to talk about it.” And she did.
Paul and his wife are foster carers, meaning their house is a busy environment where deep and meaningful conversations aren’t easily had. When he had a snatched moment alone with Celine, he told her both he and her mum had noticed she seemed to be unhappy and asked if she would like to talk.
“Celine responded positively, so I asked if she would like to go out together to Nando’s,” Paul recalls. “I knew this was a place she liked and wasn’t too crowded.”
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Having broached the topic at home, it was easier to jump into a more in-depth discussion when they went out to get a bite to eat, says Paul – but they didn’t speak about mental health until the food had arrived, which helped Celine relax and both of them to be honest “that things were not as we would want”.
“As a parent it was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that my child was not living the happy and fulfilling life I had envisioned for her since the day she was born,” he admits. “I needed to put my own feelings aside and to put her need first.”
Celine, now 22, says the chat was helpful because her dad showed compassion rather than judgement. “Young people want their parents’ advice, they just don’t want the extra baggage of judgment or forcefulness that can so often come with it,” she says.
artbesouro via Getty Images
Starting the conversation about your own mental health...
‘I asked if he would be comfortable if we arranged a time to sit down and talk about our feelings’
Zoe Hazel, 29 and from Kent, has borderline personality disorder (BPD) and experiences of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She and her dad had never spoken about her mental health and Zoe felt like it affected their relationship. It was the elephant in the room, so they agreed to chat about it.
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“We’d discussed having the conversation after we’d been out for my birthday in November,” says Zoe. “I asked if he would be comfortable if we arranged a time to sit down and talk about our feelings.”
On the day they sat down with a cup of tea while her mum was out, and Zoe started by explaining what she was experiencing. “I asked if he had any questions. It was shaky to start, but then the conversation started to feel more natural,” she says. “Since then I can tell him when I’m having a bad day. I don’t feel like I need to keep it to myself anymore.”
Her advice to others is to try to keep it casual and informal, just two loved ones having a chat. “And most importantly, if the person isn’t willing to listen, walk away. You do not have to prove yourself to anyone.”
‘We went for a beer and started talking as usual. It didn’t start out about mental health, but then he asked me how I was’
Ryan Francis, who is 46 and from Bristol, has general anxiety disorder, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). After the birth of his daughter, he started feeling suicidal – it was during this time that he turned to a friend for help.
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“We went for a beer and started talking as usual,” Ryan recalls. “It didn’t start out about mental health, but then he asked me, ‘How are you doing?’”
Normally, Ryan would’ve said he was fine but on this occasion he told his friend he was struggling. “He asked, ‘In what way?’ and we went from there,” says Ryan. “I opened up and then he told me about his own experiences, which helped me feel less alone. He talked through my problems with me and helped me to rationalise some of the things I was saying.”
It was a relief for Ryan to get it all out. Now, if either he or his friend feel that way, they meet up for a beer and a chat. “Speaking wasn’t a magic pill, but it helped me,” he says. “A lot of the time it’s not about saying anything in particular – it’s just about listening.”
Tips for talking from Jo Loughran at Time To Change: 1. Ask twice. Research shows that ‘How are you?’ can often prompt no more than a meaningless exchange. The simple act of asking again, with interest, shows a genuine willingness to talk and listen. If you’re worried about someone, the next time they say they’re fine, try asking ‘How are you really?’ or ‘Are you sure you’re ok?’ 2. Ask open questions. We can worry about prying when it comes to mental health, but it’s better to ask questions. It might help someone to get things off their chest, and it shows that you care. Some questions you can ask are: ‘What does it feel like?’, ‘What kind of thoughts are you having?’ and ‘How can I help?’ 3. Think about the time and place. Sometimes it’s easier to talk side-by-side. Try chatting while doing something else, like walking. Some people might prefer to talk somewhere with background noise, others may rather have a quiet conversation at home. Everyone is different, so think about which environment you are likely to both feel most comfortable in. 4. Keep conversations small and informal. You don’t have to set aside hours to chat. Talking when shopping, cooking or driving can take the pressure off – it doesn’t need to be a formal sit-down conversation. 5. Depersonalise the situation. It might easier to talk about a hypothetical event rather than asking direct questions about feelings or speaking about your own. For example: ‘work can be really stressful, can’t it?’ 6. Help them see they’re not alone. If you know someone else who has struggled with their mental health, talking anonymously about their experiences might be a good way of starting a dialogue, or you could discuss celebrities who are talking about their mental health in the media. 7. Talk about your own feelings. Being open about your own emotions shows it’s ok to be open too. 8. Don’t try and fix it. Resist the urge to offer quick fixes. Often listening is enough. 9. Look after yourself, too. Choosing to talk can make a real difference to someone’s life but it can also bring up difficult things that people may not have spoken about before. If you or someone you know might need support, organisations like Mind (mind.org.uk), Rethink Mental illness (rethink.org) and Samaritans (samaritans.org) provide guidance and advice.
Useful websites and helplines:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Kirk Douglas Dead: Hollywood Legend Dies Age 103

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American actor Kirk Douglas, one of the last remaining stars of Hollywood’s golden age, has died aged 103.
Douglas is best known for films including Spartacus and Ace In The Hole, and his explosive acting style and masculine persona established him as a leading man throughout the 1950s.
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He died on Wednesday, according to his son Michael, also a Hollywood actor.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” Michael’s statement said.
“To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.”
Douglas made more than 90 movies in a career that stretched across seven decades.
He was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916 to mother Bryna and Herschel Danielovitch, Jewish immigrants from what is today Belarus.
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He endured an impoverished childhood and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before joining the US Navy during the Second World War.
He made his film debut in 1946 noir The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers, opposite Barbara Stanwyck.
He also played a major role in breaking the Hollywood blacklist - actors, directors and writers who were shunned professionally because of links to the communist movement in the 1950s. Douglas said he was more proud of that than any film he made.
His first best actor Oscar nomination came for his role in 1949 boxing drama Champion, while his second was in recognition of his part in 1952’s The Bad And The Beautiful, in which he starred opposite Lana Turner.
His third followed for the 1956 biopic Lust For Life, in which he portrayed Vincent Van Gogh.
But it is for 1960 historical epic Spartacus for which Douglas is best known.
He partnered with the then relatively unknown director Stanley Kubrick to play the leader of a slave revolt in ancient Rome.
Spartacus features one of the most quoted scenes in cinema. Towards the end of the film the captured slaves are told to identify Spartacus in exchange for leniency – they respond by all claiming to be Spartacus, sealing their own fate.
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It is a scene that has been endlessly imitated and parodied, most notably by Monty Python’s Life of Brian in 1979.
Kirk and Michael Douglas in 2007. 3514399Globe Photos/MediaPunch/MediaPunch/IPx
The Douglas family is a Hollywood dynasty. Michael, 75, is a two-time Oscar winner known for films including Wall Street, Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction.
During Michael’s Hollywood Walk Of Fame ceremony in November 2018, a proud Douglas watched on from his wheelchair.
The father and son shared a poignant moment and a kiss shortly after Michael’s star was unveiled.
During the ceremony, Michael turned to his father and said: “I know, no son of yours is celebrating his 50th anniversary in the business, it means so much to me Dad that you’re here today.
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“I thank you for your advice, your inspiration and I’ll say it simply with all my heart, I’m so proud to be your son.”
Douglas was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1996 while the American Film Institute placed him number 17 on their list of the greatest male screen legends of classic Hollywood cinema.
He narrowly survived a helicopter crash in 1991 and suffered a stroke in 1996, following which he lived with a renewed focused on spirituality and religion.
Michael, married to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones, said his father was a “wonderful husband” and a “loving grandfather”.
He added: “Kirk’s life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet.
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“Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son.”
Zeta Jones called her father-in-law “darling Kirk”, adding: “I shall love you for the rest of my life. I miss you already. Sleep tight.”
Douglas, a father of four, is survived by his second wife, Anne Buydens, who he married in 1954.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Why Lisa Nandy And Emily Thornberry Are Getting Squeezed In The Labour Race

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The big squeeze
The Labour leadership contest is now into its fifth week and, brace yourself for the excitement, there are still another nine weeks to go before we will hear who has won. That’s still enough time for some upset to happen, or some new piece of information or gaffe to emerge that could change the whole direction of the contest.
But as it stands, judging by the (admittedly thin) polling and by local constituency party nominations so far (a much better guide thanks to all-member meetings and transferable votes), it’s looking like a two-horse race between Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey.
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And tonight, in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Emily Thornberry put her finger on why she was getting squeezed out of the picture. She’s up against two monolithic campaigns, one “seen as” (key caveat that) on the Left, and one seen as being on the right or centre ground.
Her most telling quote was this: “I’ve had people saying to me they’ve gone to a nominating meeting and they’ve said, well,’ Emily I was going to support you, but we’ve got to stop Keir Starmer, so I’m voting for Rebecca Long-Bailey’. And I’ve had other people coming to me and saying ‘I was going to support you, but I can’t because we’ve got to stop Rebecca Long-Bailey so I had to vote for Keir’.”
Now, of course that oversimplifies why Labour members are voting for her rivals. The real power of the Starmer campaign is that it has actually attracted a lot of soft left and left support, people who are avid fans of Jeremy Corbyn’s politics. It would also be wrong to caricature Long-Bailey’s supporters as simply ‘stop-the-centrists’. There are positive reasons to back each of them, rather than negative factional ones to block their opponent.
But Thornberry did hit upon something important: Starmer and Long-Bailey have won the battle of profile, getting your name out early with clear definition. Long-Bailey is the candidate members can think of as the most Left, not least given the backing of John McDonnell, Momentum and unions like Unite and CWU. Starmer is the candidate whose supporters think is the most ‘prime ministerial’ (oven-ready, as Boris Johnson might put it).
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For all her media savvy, Lisa Nandy has also so far been squeezed as she too lagged behind in the battle for profile and easy definition. And there are two other key factors that works against her and Thornberry, but in favour of Starmer and Long-Bailey: impatience and risk-aversion. Together, they are a lethal cocktail for outsiders in the race.
Many party members who are sick of getting thrashed in general elections now just want an instant, safe pair of hands. Starmer and Long-Bailey both send out the message to their supporters that the party (and Corbynism itself) will be safe with them, and it’s time to get on with it.
Still, Nandy has deliberately made herself the risky candidate, the one who will build a profile with the voters over the next four years. “Now is not the time to steady the ship or play it safe,” as she told the PLP right at the start of this contest.
Emily Thornberry during the Labour leadership husting at the ACC Liverpool. PA
But that appetite to take a risk may have hugely diminished after members previously rolled the dice on Ed Miliband then Corbyn, and ended up losing their gamble. Add in the fact that Nandy has been missing in action (not in the shadow cabinet, not on a select committee, not making waves as a backbencher), and her lack of profile means many members just don’t know who she is.
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Thornberry and Nandy’s other problem is a perception of inconsistency. Thornberry’s critics think she’s flip-flopped over the past couple of years (anti-referendum, then pro-referendum, Corbyn’s best neighbour, then Corbyn’s arch critic on a lack of credibility with voters). Nandy too is seen as having changed her stance on things like Universal Credit and freedom of movement. One senior party figure told me simply: “She’s just a contrarian.”
Still, the party hustings in recent weeks have shown just how fluent and passionate Thornberry and Nandy can be. Yet a tiny number of Labour members (let alone the public) are even watching the party’s YouTube livestreams. And days after the hustings applause dies down, yet another CLP seems to vote inexorably for Starmer or Long-Bailey. Country-wide organisation and local fixers ram home their advantage too.
Nandy and Thornberry still think that the longer the race goes on, the more they have a chance to get in front of more members, particularly in TV debates like the one due on Channel 4. Yet there is also a danger that the longer it goes on without them making any breakthrough (the next poll may test that), the more they cement their roles as also-rans.
The new worry for Nandy and Thornberry now must be that the two front-runners have banked their capital as the ‘reassuring’ candidates and are now coming up with policies that make them look simultaneously ‘new’. Starmer’s plan to reform the party’s internal structures (including independent complaints and no more NEC power over candidates) and Long-Bailey’s promised shake-up of the ‘not what you know, but who you know’ culture that has dominated Team Corbyn could further squeeze the third and fourth placed contenders.
There could still be some surprises, of course (hey, this is 2020, after all). And a last-lap ‘kick’ for the finishing line is the hope that keeps middle-distance runners going. But this Labour leadership race is a marathon, not a sprint or a four-minute mile. And as with most marathons, the longer it goes on, the likelihood is that the front runners will stretch their lead rather than lose it.
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Quote Of The Day
“I am here talking about a shoulder when it is an important time for the media,”
Tracy Brabin says some things matter more than her dress
Wednesday Cheat Sheet
Nicky Morgan suggested ministers were ‘open minded’ about abolishing the BBC TV licence after 2027.
Ed Miliband would be an “entirely suitable person” to chair the United Nations COP26 event in Glasgow later this year, Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman said. David Cameron and William Hague have already turned down offers of the role.
Labour deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon called for party members to be given a vote on any future military action by the UK.
Ministers signalled they would back two different private member’s bills, one from Labour’s Mike Amesbury to help with school uniform costs, and another by Tory Chris Loder to increase jail terms for animal cruelty.
What I’m Reading
What Will Tory MPs Really Rebel On? - Rafael Behr
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Donald Trump: Senate Rips Up Articles Of Impeachment In US President's Trial

He becomes the third president in US history to be acquitted after being impeached in the House.
But Trump has his own distinction: he is the only president to go through a Senate impeachment trial that heard from no witnesses.
The outcome capped nearly five months of impeachment proceedings launched in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives, ending in Mitch McConnell’s Senate, and reflective of the nation’s unrelenting partisan divide three years into the Trump presidency.
Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, broke with his party to vote to convict Trump on the abuse-of-power charge.
Romney called the president’s actions in pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden “grievously wrong” and said Trump was “guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust”.
“What he did was not ‘perfect,’” Romney said on the Senate floor, as Trump has described his call with Ukraine’s president that was at the heart of the scandal.
“No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values.
“Corrupting an election to keep one’s self in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.”
Democrats expressed concern that an acquittal would further embolden a president who already challenges political norms.
They have painted him as threat to US democracy and a demagogue who has acted lawlessly and exhibited a contempt for the powers of Congress and other institutions.
They also have voiced concern over Russia interfering in another American election.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--'Politicos' Like Corbyn Aide Karie Murphy Should Not Get Peerages, Emily Thornberry Suggests

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“Politicos” like Jeremy Corbyn’s controversial aide Karie Murphy should not be nominated for peerages, Labour leadership contender Emily Thornberry has suggested.
The shadow foreign secretary said that Labour should not be trying to “pack the House of Lords” with former staffers and that if she succeeded Corbyn she would not do so with her own team.
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In an interview with the BBC, she said former PM David Cameron was “wrong” to nominate his own office staff and suggested that Corbyn ought not to follow the practice either.
Thornberry spoke out just days after HuffPost UK revealed that the House of Lords appointments watchdog had been told that Murphy was “completely unfit” to be nominated for a peerage, amid a raft of bullying allegations by former and current Labour staff.
Murphy has been accused of pushing a member of staff by the neck and pinning them against a wall, as well as shouting at and undermining staff, all claims that she strongly denies.
Murphy, who was for three years Corbyn’s chief of staff and is still an executive director at the Labour party’s HQ, is on a list of peerage nominations drafted by Corbyn.
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The peerage list includes ex-Commons Speaker John Bercow, who is also accused of bullying by former staff.
Asked directly by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg if it was “appropriate” for Murphy to go to the Lords, Thornberry replied that she didn’t want to personalise the issue and it was up to the Lords appointments commission to decide.
Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry. OLI SCARFF via Getty Images
“As leader of the Labour Party I would not be putting people forward for peerages who have been close to me and working in my office,” she said.
“I think that David Cameron did it. And I think that was wrong. I think that this is not a time for us to pack the House of Lords with politicos who’ve been close to the leader.
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“That’s my view, I think there are many people, if we are going to appoint people to the House of Lords, there are many people from a much wider background who should be going into the House of Lords.
“But that’s my decision that is not a personal thing about any individuals. That is the way in which leaders have done things until now and I would do it differently.”
Cameron gave peerages to a string of former aides including Gabby Bertin and Liz Sugg. Ed Miliband nominated his own former key staffer Spencer Livermore for a peerage and Tony Blair’s ex adviser Sally Morgan was made a peer too.
HuffPost UK reported last weekend that the Lords appointments commission has been offered evidence of Murphy’s “aggressive behaviour”. Murphy’s lawyer said that any claim that she was or is aggressive in her behaviour is “untrue and false”.
A 2018 letter, signed by “20+ members of staff from the leader’s office”, alleged “bullying and intimidation of staff by SMT [senior management team] members”.
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The letter did not name Murphy explicitly, but several of those who endorsed it have told HuffPost UK it was aimed at her. Murphy’s lawyers insist that she was “not identified by name or position” in the letter.
Jeremy Corbyn and Karie Murphy outside the Labour Party HQ in Westminster. PA
David Leakey, a former senior parliamentary official, warned on Wednesday that it would be “a scandal that parliament would struggle to live down” if Bercow was made a member of the House of Lords, given the bullying allegations against him.
But Labour faced another row when shadow home secretary Diane Abbott tweeted that it was “unlikely” that Leakey had been bullied by Bercow because he was a former soldier who had “served in Germany, Northern Ireland and Bosnia”.
Abbott deleted the tweet after a backlash from military groups, the civil servants’ trade union and Labour MPs.
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A spokesman for Corbyn said: “If Diane deleted her tweet that probably indicates that she had concerns that it might be misinterpreted and so she probably thought better of it.
“As a matter of course, all allegations of bullying and harassment should always be taken seriously and investigated. I’m sure Diane agrees with that.
“Diane is responsible for her own statements. Diane should speak for herself.”
When asked why Corbyn had nominated two people who now faced bullying allegations, the spokesman replied: “We are not in a position to comment on proposals, real or imagined, for peerage nominations.
“In relation to issues around our staffing, we don’t comment on staffing issues as a matter of course.
“I would just say that staff are always encouraged to make any complaints about any allegations of bullying or harassment and there is a very strong procedure in the Labour party for investigating and dealing with those things.
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“Jeremy would agree that all allegations of bullying and harassment whatever the workplace should always be investigated under robust procedures.”
Earlier this, week another leadership contender, Rebecca Long-Bailey, said that if she won the top job “promotions will be based on what you know, not who you know”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--I Wore Trackies And A Football Shirt In Parliament – Where’s My Abuse?

The treatment of Tracy Brabin is a reminder of Westminster's sexism problem, John Leech writes. Getty
Picture the scene. An elected member of parliament turns up to work in clothing that seems a little on the casual side. No jacket or tie. Certainly, no fabulous heels.
Are they attacked online? Are they splashed across the front pages of the media? Are they called a “slapper” and a “drunk”?
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No, they weren’t. Because that MP was me. And while I wasn’t wearing an off-the-shoulder LBD, despite the fact I could pull one off no problem, I was wearing a pair of Next trackies and a Manchester City top.
In fact, I entered the chamber wearing these trackies and then registered my vote against the Bedroom Tax.
I didn’t do this to make a point or attract attention. I was just bored of wearing a suit, and it was a comfortable alternative after many long, dramatic days of voting in parliament.
I really didn’t think that much about it as I’m sure Tracy Brabin didn’t either.
Had there been a wider scale of keyboard warriors back then, just itching to be outraged by something, I may well have copped some stick. But even today, I can find nothing online about my own brush with the fashion world, even though what I did was arguably a trailblazing moment.
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I do remember it raising a few eyebrows, but not from anyone whose opinion I cared much for.
We both worked in the undeniably stunning settings of the Houses of Parliament, and we can both pull off evening wear.
But I’m a man, and as such, I can turn up to work in trackies and a City top without inviting endless bile upon myself, my character, and my physical appearance.
Those that did ignore Ms Brabin’s shoulder realised that she was highlighting Number 10′s Trumpian decision to stop respected political journalists from attending important Brexit briefings.
But the breathtaking sexism women MPs face on a daily basis has once again reared its ugly head for all to see.
We find ourselves discussing fashion over facts — appearance over authoritarianism.
Now, more than ever, we must focus on the substance of parliament. We must look at what MPs are saying, scrutinise how they vote and how it will affect our country for generations to come.
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We need journalists and commentators to be holding lying politicians to account, not treating parliament like a red carpet awards ceremony.
I would rather see this new generation of women representing their constituents in whatever outfit they choose, than see smug career politicians slouching across the front benches like some z-list, off-brand Roman Emperor.
Let’s focus on what’s important here.
Some women wear dresses. Even some men wear dresses. And those dresses come in all shapes and sizes. Women also have shoulders, just like men! I know, it’s truly mind-bending stuff.
But as compelling as all that is, let’s remind ourselves; Brexit is nowhere near “done”. Yes, we’ve successfully alienated ourselves by acting like clowns for six years, but we have secured exactly zero trade deals or any agreements. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson believes he is above scrutiny.
So, let’s all give our heads a little wobble and remind ourselves that what women wear is not news and certainly not worthy of abuse.
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Repeatedly lying to the country, failing to keep hardworking families in jobs and snatching a prosperous future from young people, however, may well be worth keeping an eye on.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--The Oscars Still Has A Diversity Problem

The Oscars Still Has A Diversity Problem
After the controversy of the Baftas, awards season rolls on to the big one - the Oscars. However, after trying to quell anger over #OscarsSoWhite in 2015 and 2016, it seems that Hollywood has gone back to its old ways this awards season.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Ministers In Race Against Time To Stop Terror Offenders' Release Within Weeks

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The government will try to pass emergency laws by February 27 to stop any more terror offenders being released from jail early, in the wake of the Streatham and London Bridge attacks.
It is understood that unless MPs and peers pass potentially controversial new legislation to end automatic early release by that date, one terror offender would be released on February 28.
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Five more will be released in March if the laws are not passed in time.
A Whitehall official said: “If the legislation is passed by February 27 we can prevent the automatic release of any further terrorist suspects who might pose a threat to the public.”
Three people were injured when 20-year-old Sudesh Amman began attacking members of the public with a knife in Streatham High Street on Sunday.
Amman, 20, was handed a three-year and four-month sentence in December 2018 for possessing and distributing terrorist documents.
He had recently been freed from jail and was under 24-hour surveillance by police, having served half of his sentence under the early release scheme.
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The incident had echoes of the London Bridge attack last year in which Usman Khan killed two people having previously been released on licence halfway through a 16-year sentence for his part in planning terror attacks.
The Whitehall official said the attack in Streatham had highlighted an issue surrounding terrorists with relatively short prison sentences.
“There aren’t many terrorist offenders who will be in that similar kind of scenario but if there are any then that’s too many and that’s what we are looking to fix,” the official said.
Police conduct a finger tip search following the terror attack in Streatham High Road, south London by Sudesh Amman, 20, who was shot dead by armed police. PA
On Monday, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the urgent legislation was needed to make sure offenders serve two thirds of their sentence before they are considered eligible for release, at which point their case would be considered by a panel of specialist judges and psychiatrists at the Parole Board.
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There are 224 terrorists in prison in Britain, with most thought to be holding Islamist extremist views, according to the latest published figures to the end of September.
As many as 50 terrorists could be freed from jail this year, figures suggest.
it is believed that the government may eventually look to set up a system where terror offenders can only be released if they are judged not to be a threat to the public.
But it must avoid rehashing indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPPs) which were scrapped in 2012 following legal challenges.
The government plans to introduce the legislation in the Commons on Tuesday next week, with the aim of clearing the House by the time it rises for recess on Thursday.
The bill will then go to the Lords on February 25 with the aim of getting royal assent on February 27.
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The official said the Lords should “wish to carry out its scrutiny quickly” as “we cannot continue to be in a position where the state has no power to block the release of terrorists who continue to pose a threat to the public”.
HuffPost UK understands that lawyers in the Lords may have concerns about the rapid timetable, but peers have not held up emergency legislation for years.
The government has not ruled out derogating, effectively suspending, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to apply the new measures.
Lawyers have warned the move would open the government up to legal challenges from those already behind bars who were sentenced under the current rules.
But officials said they are confident they have the flexibility to change how an offender serves their sentence, by extending the time they spend behind bars rather than on licence.
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It came after Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick said it was “inevitable” that there would was a short delay before officers trailing Amman responded to his stabbing attack in Streatham.
She told the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee: “They [officers] are conducting covert surveillance, so they are not of course providing man-to-man marking. They are there covertly and that is a deliberate thing.
“It is inevitable that there could be a time delay before somebody totally unexpectedly does something.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Who Is Pete Buttigieg And How Do You Pronounce His Name?

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First things first – it’s (sort of) pronounced “Boot-edge-edge” – here’s a handy pictorial prompt to remind you.
PA Media/Getty
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Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s learn a bit about the man himself, not least why we’re talking about him at all.
It wasn’t too long ago that the elder statesman and meme-generator of US politics, Joe Biden, was pretty much a shoo-in to be the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election.
Unfortunately for Joe things haven’t quite been plain sailing and as the battle officially kicked off this week in Iowa, it looks like it’s Buttigieg that’s taken an early lead, just ahead of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
For a candidate who came into the race largely as a political unknown, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has been the surprising package of the race.
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.@PeteButtigieg has a plan to restore fairness and balance to our economy—so that every worker can share in America's growth. Watch him explain his vision in our new 30-second ad 📺 pic.twitter.com/Cv3iTTHurZ — Team Pete HQ (@PeteForAmerica) October 21, 2019
A Midwestern moderate and Navy veteran, Buttigieg has billed himself as the flagbearer of a new political generation.
Despite his youth, he has aligned himself with less radical policies than Sanders and Warren. Should he win the Democratic race, he would be the first openly gay presidential nominee in US history.
Questions have been raised over how far he can appeal, with some convinced his lack of support from minority voters nationally dooms his candidacy.
Let’s break it down a little...
Education
This is where us Brits can lay clam to a small piece of the Buttigieg movement. He studied as a Rhodes scholar in the UK at Pembroke College, Oxford.
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After that he graduated from Harvard so he has quite the educational pedigree.
Work
Perhaps the most notable entry on his CV is a stint in Afghanistan in 2014 where he served as a naval intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserves, even earning himself a Joint Service Commendation Medal in the process.
Pete For America
Buttigieg cut his political teeth as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to January of this year.
In 2015 he publicly came out as gay and went on to win reelection in a landslide with over 80% of the vote.
The ex-serviceman is often introduced on stage by his husband Chasten whom he met on Hinge and is the first openly LGBT candidate to make a serious pitch for the presidency.
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What does he believe in?
As noted above, Buttigieg is far more centrist than the radical socialism of his rival, Bernie Sanders, and generally toes the liberal Democratic party line on issues such as abortion, healthcare and immigration.
He has called for the legalisation of marijuana and has said he used it “a handful of times a long time ago”.
He also said that he knows people whose lives have been “shaken” by its criminalisation and the so-called “war on drugs”.
Buttigieg is a Christian, but has been critical of evangelical Christians who support Donald Trump.
In an interview in 2018, he said: “There is just a way to bring it back to the values that are actually discussed the most in scripture.
“I mean, think about foot-washing. Feet are gross, and one of the enduring images of Christianity is, when the divine comes to Earth, he occupies himself with service in the most humbling way, of those who are most humble.
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“And right now, in our leadership, we have the opposite. We have this idea that those in political service need to make sure that their powerful allies succeed, and it’s just not – it’s not the Christianity that I get in church or in scripture.”
Any scandals we should be aware of?
Buttigieg has also been forced to call “bullshit” on claims he was involved in a bread price-fixing scandal in Canada during his time as a management consultant.
It was alleged he helped artificially inflate the price of bread in Canadian grocery stores while working for consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
“He had nothing to do with this bread pricing issue and had never heard of it until recently,” campaign spokesperson Sean Savett told CNN last year.
Is he going to win?
It’s too early to say for sure, although the Iowa result is encouraging, but there is an elephant in the room – his lack of popularity with Black voters.
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Buttigieg is betting big on Iowa and New Hampshire, hoping success in the largely white states will help him overcome dismal support from Black voters by the time more diverse states weigh in on his bid for the presidency.
Buttigieg’s most recent swing through South Carolina, the first state with a large Black population to hold a primary, underscored the depth of his challenge with the critical Democratic voting bloc, Reuters reports.
Amid campaign stops designed to put Buttigieg before Black audiences, the white former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, faced continued questions about his record on race and his ability to earn Black voters’ trust.
Buttigieg lacks the national profile and long-standing relationships with the Black community that have boosted Biden. His recently-ended tenure as mayor has come under scrutiny, particularly over a lack of diversity on the local police force and a fatal shooting of a Black resident by a police officer.
A national Washington Post/Ipsos poll this month showed Buttigieg with just 2% support from Democratic Black voters nationally, far behind former vice president Joe Biden’s 48% and Bernie Sanders’ 20%. In South Carolina, where roughly 30% of the population is Black, Buttigieg has remained in the single digits.
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He has taken steps to try and address this. Buttigieg hired a diverse campaign team and has released a detailed policy proposal – dubbed the Frederick Douglass Plan after the 19th-century abolitionist leader who was born into slavery – that he would send more federal money to Black colleges and Black-owned businesses, said Hasoni Pratts, the campaign’s national engagement director.
The fact he is an openly gay man, however, is seen as an obstacle for the state’s deeply religious population.
“It’s South Carolina. We are gas, sweet tea and religion,” said Mattie Thomas, who co-chairs the state’s Democratic Black Women Caucus.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Serena Williams Just Launched An Away Luggage Collection

HuffPost You might jump in the air for this Away x Serena Williams collab that just dropped.
It’s only the second month of the year, but you’ve probably already budgeted out how to use up your new vacation days, whether they’ll be spent going to Bangkok or Bora Bora.
While you’re busy booking a flight, finding a hotel and getting a pet sitter, it’s easy to forget about all the packing you have to get done before you board a plane.
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But Serena Williams is here to help with that.
The tennis champ co-designed the collection with the travel brand. It includes Away’s hard-side and soft-side carry-ons, as well as a set of packing cubes, all in red and with a multicolor camo-printed lining on the inside that was “designed to reflect the bold spirit of Serena,” the brand said in a press release.
While the colour of the carry-ons and packing cubes is unique to this collaboration, the collection includes a completely new item, too: a shoe cube. It’s meant to organise your footwear from the rest of the stuff in your suitcase. Unfortunately, the cube’s the only piece in the collection that’s already sold out.
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Williams represents the “modern traveller” who “mirrors the essence of our brand and what Away stands for,” said Jen Rubio, Away’s co-founder and chief brand officer, in the press release.
Away The collection features two suitcases, packing cubes and a shoe cube.
“With this collaboration, we’re looking forward to giving people a window into this side of Serena, shedding light on the habits, rituals and experiences with travel that shape who she is,” Rubio said.
But this isn’t the first and only partnership between the brand and tennis star. More Away x Serena Williams products are coming out later in the year, according to the company.
Buy it now: Serena Williams X Away Travel Collaboration
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Lawyers For Harry Dunn And Epstein Victims Call For Exchange Of Road Death Suspect And Prince Andrew

The family of Harry Dunn (left to right): mother Charlotte Charles, stepfather Bruce Charles, family spokesperson Radd Seiger, father Tim Dunn, stepmother Tracey Dunn and solicitor Mark Stephens outside the Ministry Of Justice in London David Mirzoeff - PA Images via Getty Images
Anne Sacoolas should return to Britain to face charges over the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn, and Prince Andrew should be sent to the US to give evidence over sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, lawyers for the victims in both cases have said.
A lawyer acting on behalf of six women in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal gave a press conference in New York with the spokesperson for Dunn’s family on Wednesday.
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Lisa Bloom and Radd Seiger have joined forces to call for both Sacoolas – the suspect charged in relation to Dunn’s death – to return to the UK, and the Duke of York, who has not been convicted of any crime nor officially summoned by police, to face questioning from the FBI in the US.
Bloom said the “parallels between the two cases are eerie” and involved “everyday teenagers” who were “victimised”.
Prince Andrew, who has not been convicted of any crime nor officially summoned by police zz/KGC-492/STAR MAX/IPx
She said: “Today we stand with the family of Harry Dunn and they stand with us. Both Mrs Sacoolas and Prince Andrew must cooperate with law enforcement.
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“I call upon my government, the US, to return Mrs Sacoolas to the UK to face justice.”
She said Andrew needs to “answer questions about Jeffrey Epstein and his own behaviour”, adding: “In both countries everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.”
Seiger said he “reached out” to Bloom after realising “that there was a common thread running between these cases.”
He said: “It’s about evasion of justice. These are the two greatest allies in the world and they follow a rules-based system.
“No one, no matter who you are [...] is above the law.
“We all break the rules from time to time but we don’t get to walk away and hide.”
Harry Dunn was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire in August last year Supplied
Seiger added it was “terrible advice” for Sacoolas and the Duke of York if they are being advised “it’s all going to go away” and they should just “wait it out”.
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He said after meeting Kiki, an alleged victim of Epstein also present at the press conference, “what you see every day is a strengthening and stiffening of resolve”.
In a message to Andrew, Seiger said: “If you have nothing to hide get on a plane and meet with Kiki, and help her and help other victims [...] there’s no other way”.
He refused to call the proposal a “swap” outright, but spoke of the need for “reciprocity”.
“It can never be a swap but at the heart of extradition treaties is reciprocity,” he said.
“If you want me as a nation to send people you want to prosecute you have to agree to do the same thing.
“It can never be a straight swap but be careful what you wish for.
“If you want people from the UK like Prince Andrew [...] you have to think about making sure that treaty is followed to the letter.”
Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Prince William: 'Imagine If We Talked About Mental Health As Much As We Talk About Football'

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Prince William has written a personal message to the football community as clubs across the country come together this weekend to kick off the “biggest ever conversation around mental health” – with new research showing just one in three football fans regularly discuss their mental health with friends.
Activity is planned at fixtures across the men’s and women’s calendar during February’s two consecutive Heads Up Weekends, which aim to highlight the power of talking as a way to support and dispel stigma around mental health.
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In a message included in every match day programme. the Duke of Cambridge wrote: “Imagine if we talked about mental health as much as we talk about football… many of us won’t go a day without talking about it.”
“Whatever team we support, every single fan, player and manager has one thing in common – we all have mental health, in the same way that we all have physical health. And we will all face ups and downs in life which will affect it.
“It’s time we start taking our mental fitness as seriously as we do our physical fitness, and that starts with talking.”
The launch comes as a Heads Up survey of 2,014 football fans, carried out by Censuswide, found male football fans were over three times more likely to talk about football than mental health with their friends (83%, compared with 27%).
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Polly Thomas via Getty Images
For the next two weekends in February, every football team from across the Premier League, English Football League, National League, Barclays FA Women’s Super League, FA Women’s Championship and FA Women’s National League will dedicate their matches to Heads Up, a partnership between the Fa and the Royal’s Heads Together venture.
The season-long Heads Up campaign aims to harness the popularity of football to normalise the conversation around mental health. To kick off the weekends and also mark Time To Talk Day on 6 February, the Duke of Cambridge joined players, managers, representatives and fans to take part in a table football tournament and a mental health conversation in London on Wednesday.
His involvement follows January’s Take A Minute campaign, which saw 32 Emirates FA Cup Third Round fixtures delayed by a minute to promote better mental health, with a video clip narrated by the Duke and featured footballers Frank Lampard, Harry Maguire and Alex Scott. Last year, William also took part in the documentary A Royal Team Talk on BBC2.
HuffPost UK has been shining a light on the wider issues of mental health in sport with our new Head in the Game series, in which athletes – including footballer Eniola Aluko – speak candidly about their mental wellbeing.
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Speaking to HuffPost for the series, Marjorie Wallace, CEO of the charity Sane, applauded high-visibility campaigns, but cautioned that mental health services are “buckling under the strain” as demand and awareness both increase.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Mouthful Of Moggy Fur? You Need This Reusable Cat Hair Removal Device

honestly it's life-changing
Honestly, it’s life changing is a regular series where we talk about the weird and wonderful possessions we can’t imagine life without. Think of it as an ode to the mundane, bizarre and, sometimes, wholly unnecessary products in our lives.
Even the most dedicated cat servant can lose patience when waking up (yet again) with a mouthful of moggy fur.
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Alongside that unconditional love we feel for our cats – in my case, three cats of varying shapes, sizes and coat-colours – comes a furry house of hell that makes wearing block colours an absolute no-no.
Black is particularly challenging, given its tendency to proudly display the ginger, tabby and white fur it manages to gather – even when your clothes go directly from washing machine to wardrobe.
As a 40-something woman who gets her kicks from wandering around garden centres on a weekend, I may have found the solution: a reusable pet hair remover.
n_chetkova via Getty Images Vector illustration
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The traditional tear-off lint roller is no match for cat hair – at least not in today’s environmentally-responsible age. You can literally get through a whole lint roll in one sitting. You tear off sheet after sticky sheet and dump them in the bin, damaging your conscience – as well as your wallet – in the process. Plus, you probably need to buy a minimum of three per week, per cat, to have any kind of impact. Nightmare.
I was initially sceptical about a reusable device. I’d lived in the house of hair for many years and was resigned to my fate. But I decided to take a leap and invest in a blue set, complete with little and large rollers.
The way you use it is simple enough. Roll the roller, which is made from a silicon material, collect the hair, wash in warm water, let it dry, and go again.
I should probably say at this point you won’t remove an entire duvet’s-worth of hair in one sitting. It’s best to commit to breaks in usage so you can wash and dry the roller. Still, you can use it with a clear conscience because there’s no waste – and there’s a way to factor it into your cleaning routine.
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For big hairy household items such as duvet covers and sofas: roll, remove, wash, then set aside to dry as you focus on Mr Sheen and the dusty TV unit. After polishing, roll, remove, wash, set aside to dry, then vacuum up any extra hair if you need to.
With your wardrobe, it’s even easier. You can de-fur your black work jacket in one fell swoop. Simples.
My main tip? Always wash the roller before you put it back in the cupboard. Otherwise, you’ll be seriously disappointed next time you get it out, only to remove half your cat from your best interview suit when you’re running 10 minutes late.
The reusable pet hair remover can be found in random garden centres and online with Amazon at just £8.99.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Boris Johnson's Reshuffle Will Likely Result In Cabinet 'Filled With Men', Says Senior Tory

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Boris Johnson’s upcoming reshuffle will likely result in a cabinet “filled with men”, a former Tory minister has warned.
Caroline Nokes said on Wednesday she expected many current female ministers to be “replaced” when the PM reshapes his top team.
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The chair of the Commons women and equalities committee was sacked as an immigration minister last summer.
Speaking at an event in parliament organised by the Fawcett Society, Nokes said there was “no pipeline” of junior female ministers ready to step up to the top table.
It comes amid a flurry of reports that Johnson will embark on a cabinet reshuffle as early as next week and that women are in the firing line.
Secretary of State for the Environment Theresa Villiers is thought to be among those facing the chop in Johnson's reshuffle. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Nokes said: “I know never to trust Downing Street briefings and to believe what I read in the press, but if you do then it’s really obvious that there is a whole raft of women secretaries of state that are about to be replaced by who knows who.
“But the reality is when you only have three ministers of state, which is the next [level] down, there is no pipeline, and the likelihood is that we will see women replaced by men. Quelle surprise.
“And although they will be paid the same [as any women in the cabinet], we will have another cabinet table that is filled with men.”
It comes as Johnson is widely expected to reshape his cabinet after the December election gave the Conservatives a stunning 80-seat majority.
A report in The Sun last week suggested that as many as four cabinet ministers were to face the axe, with business secretary Andrea Leadsom, environment secretary Theresa Villiers, work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey and trade secretary Liz Truss among those mentioned.
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Other reports suggested the PM plans to elevate MPs from the so-called red wall seats the Tories took from Labour.
As it stands, just 24% of Tory MPs are female (87 out of 365).
Tory MP Caroline Nokes SOPA Images via Getty Images
Nokes also alleged that the role of women and equalities minister, a cabinet post which is designed to hold the government’s feet to the fire on equalities issues, was like a “ball that’s been picked up and just chucked to whoever’s available next”.
Since 2014, it has been held by six MPs, including Amber Rudd, Nicky Morgan, Justine Greening and, the current post-holder, Liz Truss.
“It just makes me really cross, it’s like this is a ball that’s been picked up and just chucked to whoever’s available next, with no real thought,” said Nokes.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Margot Robbie's Love Island Encounter Didn't End On The Red Carpet

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One of our favourite celebrity photos of the last month was from the red carpet of Birds Of Prey, where two-time Oscar nominee Margot Robbie was seen barely able to control her excitement at meeting the cast of Love Island.
Well, as it turns out, the story didn’t end there.
Former Islander Lucie Donlan – who appeared on last year’s series – has told The Sun that after their red carpet encounter with Margot, she and her former co-stars received a video message from the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star, and ended up partying with her at her flat in London.
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Lucie explained: “After the film, we got a video message via an Instagram DM of Margot saying, ‘Please come to the after-party!’ We got ready really quickly and joined her at The Oxo Tower.”
Margot Robbie meets the stars of Love Island Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock
She added: “Michael [Griffiths] and Jordan [Hames] got tequila shots in, then we went back to her apartment with a few of her close friends.
“We chatted about surfing, because she’s Australian, and she loves longboarding. It was so relaxed - she was just chilling in her slippers!
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“She said, ‘If you’re ever in LA, hit us up and we’ll hang out.’ I just couldn’t believe it.”
The group ended up back at Margot's flat after the event David M. Benett via Getty Images
Australian-born Margot has made no secret of being a Love Island superfan, telling Metro in 2018 that she was stunned to see the Islanders even knew who she was, after they compared her to former contestant Megan Barton Hanson.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--The North Needs HS2 And Northern Powerhouse Rail

Jack Taylor via Getty Images
At the top of the new government’s agenda seems to be the much-vaunted idea of levelling up, although details of what this means are somewhat sparse. What it should involve, and what those of us who have served constituents in the North for many years have strived to achieve, is destroying the north-south divide and creating a North as full of opportunities for young people and small businesses as in London or the home counties.
There is no quick fix for this. It is a long-term, transformational ambition that tackles some of the most entrenched problems in society. Many children in the North have lower educational attainment than elsewhere in the country, adversely affected by disadvantage to the extent that more than 12,000 infants go to school unable to speak in full sentences or use the toilet. A woman living in parts of central Manchester would expect to die almost 20 years earlier than one in boroughs of south-west London. Our productivity lags behind the capital and the South-East – northern workers produce £4 less per person per hour worked than their Southern counterparts.
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A major first step would be to address the historical imbalance in funding for major projects. The Treasury’s rigid appraisal of funding allocation has always favoured areas of high productivity, expensive house prices and demonstrable growth – ie London and the South East. This, the Green Book appraisal method, needs to be urgently changed to produce a balanced economy.
But equally important is investment in infrastructure. The north has seen barely any investment since the railways were first invented. HS2 is a major first step to create the world-class rail network the North needs and deserves. Joining it up with Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), linking Liverpool in the west with Hull in the east and up to Newcastle, would provide fast, frequent, reliable services for people living in our great cities and towns, but crucially also the capacity that would end the misery for commuters stuck on packed trains, crawling through notorious bottlenecks such as the Castlefield Corridor in Manchester.
Leaks of the Oakervee review, the independent report that government commissioned but is seemingly unwilling to publish, recommends a six-month pause to the Northern part of HS2 to integrate it properly with northern Powerhouse Rail. Given that we may not see new lines in the north for 20 years, further delays would seem unhelpful. However, getting the integration right between HS2 and NPR is vital; it will save money, it will create one, fully integrated system and it will give the 16 million people of the North the services they need. Our Northern leaders need to oversee this pause to make sure the full economic benefits are realised and the government do not let the delay drag on indefinitely.
There are very practical reasons why we need HS2 in order to deliver NPR. The leaked review states that NPR services will make use of up to around 110km of the proposed Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds HS2 tracks. So you physically can’t have the new Northern Powerhouse Rail without the new HS2 tracks. The critical capacity benefits would also not be realised without both projects.
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But equally, there is another reason why we need both. It seems the north always has to make a choice – HS2 or NPR. We up north are getting a little bit tired of southern-based sceptics, be they Conservative MPs, peers or journalists, telling the north what is should prioritise. The north is speaking loudly and clearly with one voice: it’s not either/or, its both.
We never hear London being asked to choose, say between Crossrail and the HS1 link to the Channel Tunnel.
London, as a global city, needs major investment. But so does the north. The opportunity to truly level up the country is within our grasp. Only committing to both HS2 and NPR in full will give us the opportunity to tackle some of the significant imbalances in the UK.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Ivanka Trump's Video Promoting Dad Donald’s State Of The Union Branded 'Nightmarish'

There is something genuinely nightmarish about this. As if you heard a noise in your bedroom in the dead of night and crept over to the closet door and opened it — AND THIS WAS INSIDE, TALKING AND TALKING AND TALKING. https://t.co/mtw8WR7olk


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--At 65, I Just Posed For Playboy 40 Years After My Centrefold And I Couldn't Be Prouder

HuffPost UK Nadia Lee Cohen for Playboy
Coming from a small, very conservative, railroad town in Southern Illinois, I might seem like an unlikely candidate to become a Playboy centrefold – but I’ve never been one to follow the status quo. So, when the opportunity presented itself way back in 1973, I took the leap and I joined the Playboy family first as a Bunny in the St. Louis Club before moving to Chicago and becoming a Playmate in December 1979. And I never looked back.
My childhood sort of compelled me to leave my hometown, as my stepfather was a town drunk, and a mean one at that. I remember spending hours studying in my bedroom closet, hiding as he rampaged throughout the house. It didn’t deter me as I still graduated valedictorian of my class. And in spite of my difficult life at home, or perhaps because of it, I was determined to leave. Playboy gave me the perfect out.
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Lucky for me, I had a very supportive mother and father. Once, during a press conference, my father even said, “If they would’ve paid me what they paid her, I would’ve done posed myself.”
Courtesy of Candace Collins Jordan Candace Collins Jordan's first Bunny photo was shot at the St. Louis Playboy Club in 1973.
If there was any blowback in my little town, I never heard it. I moved to Chicago, Playboy’s headquarters, in 1974, and lived in the Playboy Mansion. I went on to become Bunny of the Year, December 1979 centerfold and, to date, a nine-time cover girl.
Recently, at age 65, I was included in the magazine’s Winter 2020 12-page cover feature, “The Equality Issue: Once a Playmate, Always a Playmate.” This is the second time I’ve been revisited by the magazine, the last being three years ago for a remake of my February 1979 cover.
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My first photoshoot for the magazine came when I was a Bunny in St. Louis. The shoot was done by the late David Chan for a ‘Best Bunnies’ pictorial. Oddly enough, I had no qualms about posing nude. I felt comfortable in my own skin and I guess I always have. I also trusted Playboy not to portray me in a bad light.
When I shot my centrefold in 1979, it was the ultimate measure of success for a Bunny and I welcomed it with open arms. It has been the best decision of my life.
Archival Playboy Magazine material. Copyright © 1979 by Playboy. Used with permission. All rights reserved. A photo taken Richard Fegley as part of Candace Collins Jordan's December 1979 centerfold shoot.
The way the magazine is now embracing diversity would be something Playboy’s founder, Hugh Hefner — or “Hef” as he was affectionately known — would be proud of too. My latest pictorial also includes a 77-year-old Playmate, Victoria Valentino, who is the oldest to ever appear in the magazine; Raquel Pomplun, the first Mexican American Playmate of the Year; Renee Tenison, the first African American Playmate of the Year, and Brande Roderick, Playmate of the Year 2013.
This most recent shoot occurred in October 2019, a full 40 years after I shot my original centrefold. The request to participate arrived via email on 9 October, just after my husband Chuck and I had returned from a trip to Dollywood where I had been happily eating my way through every fried food stand there. The timing was not perfect, waist-wise, but this was an honour I couldn’t refuse. I immediately began to prepare for the shoot and, by the time I flew to LA, I was ready and excited.
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The pictorial was shot by Nadia Lee Cohen, a cool, edgy female photographer who also serves as her own muse on her Instagram account. She’s a contributing photographer for Vogue too. Her surreal vision for the shoot came as a surprise to me and several others. It involved a step back in time to the swingin’ 60s, when wigs were big and everything old was new again. The shoot paid homage to five decades of Playmates and celebrated diversity. It was also a departure from the “glamour shoots” of old.
Courtesy of Candace Collins Jordan Candace Collins Jordan with Hugh Hefner at Playboy Mansion West (in Holmby Hills, Califorinia). Hefner hosted a party for all of the Bunny of the Year contestants from the various clubs who were all in town to participate in the International Bunny of the Year Pageant, which was televised on ABC. Collins Jordan was first runner-up.
Long fake nails were glued onto everyone’s hands and longgggg eyelashes were applied. Heavy eye makeup was the order of the day as were the aforementioned wigs. Downstairs, racks and racks of vintage clothing, underwear, heels, jewellery and more were strewn across every spare surface. We were also instructed to get spray tans before we arrived on set. During the shoot, Nadia mentioned that she was aiming for something like a ‘Valley of the Dolls’ vibe. I wasn’t overly pleased to hear this but, in the end, her vision rocked and made history for Playboy. I did, however, manage to ditch the wig, which was not me at all, no matter the theme or vision. Nadia was kind enough to oblige me.
The venue for the shoot was a house in Burbank that was once owned by Esther Williams, the iconic swim star of the ’40s and ’50s. Its vintage vibe had never been touched as witnessed by the throwback wooden fixtures and overall mustiness. An orange shag carpet had been brought in to add more authenticity to the era. There was a pool in back, of course, and a guest house that served as the staging area for wardrobe, hair and makeup. It was a big shoot, with lots and lots of crew members and even a dog wrangler for two cute pups who seemed to want to be anywhere else but where they were.
Doing this shoot was a thrill in every way, although in the beginning, I was a little nervous considering the time span between my first shoots and the fact that I would now be shooting with other Playmates who were decades younger. Eventually, though, I realised I would be representing an age group that rarely gets this sort of recognition so I embraced the opportunity wholeheartedly.
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Nadia Lee Cohen for Playboy The cover of Playboy's Q1 Equality Issue published in December 2019.
The outpouring of support I’ve received since the issue was released in December has set me back on my (high) heels! I love the way the magazine is embracing diversity in every way and I’m even happier to be a part of this new age for both women and Playboy.
Still, my involvement with the magazine hasn’t always been a bed of roses. I’ve had many, many arguments with so-called feminists over the years who suggest that the women who pose for Playboy are being objectified. I think Jamilah Lemieux put it best in the article she wrote to accompany my latest cover shoot when she wrote, “The present-day pin-up is less concerned with how she appears before the male gaze than how she feels about herself.” I have never once felt objectified, but rather liberated and empowered. No one put a gun to my head and made me pose. It was my decision and I, honestly, I thought this was one of the tenets of the feminist movement too ― to be free to make your own choices.
Posing for the magazine was empowering because it gave me the confidence to be the woman I want to be. I’m proud of who I am and what I look like and, given the opportunity, I would pose again in a heartbeat. I might not weigh 118 pounds like I did in my first pictorial, but I’m honored to be able to represent women of a certain age and prove that you don’t lose your sexuality after age 20.
Courtesy of Candace Collins Jordan Candace Collins Jordan grabbing as many copies of the December 2019 Playboy Q1 Equality Issue as she could. All of the copies sold out at this particular Barnes & Noble in Chicago in just two days.
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Ultimately, I first posed for Playboy because a) I could, b) it felt like the right thing to do and c) it was fun! It opened up a whole new world for me and brought me to Chicago where I eventually met my husband, who’s very proud of my involvement. Of course, it has meant an entree for him into a world many people can only dream about. Parties at the Mansion when Hef was alive were thrilling beyond belief.
Playboy also gave me lifelong friends whom I cherish along with priceless memories. It’s given me so many great opportunities and I have zero regrets about any of them.
My advice for anyone who might have to ― or want to! ― make controversial decisions is this: do what feels right for you and put blinders on to the naysayers. They’re not living your life and, in many cases, they might just be jealous of your opportunities. You may have to toughen up a bit and develop a thick(er) skin, but I personally never let negativity get in the way of my ambition.
Playboy has taught me to stand up for myself in the face of adversity, be it from disgruntled so-called feminists or simply from those who disagree with my choices. In the end, I’ve learned not to judge. Everyone has different doors to open and close. I’m proud of my Playboy association and am glad to see it continuing.
Here’s hoping they revisit me when I’m 80. I’ll be ready.
Candace Collins Jordan is an award-winning media personality, Playboy centrefold and nine-time cover-girl, cyber-scribe and social columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This article was first published on HuffPost US Personal.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Stormzy And Journalist Gary Younge Poke Fun At BBC's MP Mix-Up

On Monday, the BBC mislabelled de Cordova – Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people – as Butler, who is running to become the party’s next deputy leader during a debate in the Commons.
The BBC quickly apologised for the error, but to make matters worse, the Evening Standard was then forced to issue their own apology, after using a photo of a completely different Black MP in their reporting on the BBC’s mistake.
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On Wednesday morning, Stormzy and Gary Younge tweeted out a selfie making fun of the repeated mistakes, with the latter writing: “ATTENTION NEWS EDITORS & CAPTION WRITERS: I’m the one in red. @stormzy is in black.”
ATTENTION NEWS EDITORS & CAPTION WRITERS: I’m the one in red. @stormzy is in black. Neither of us are @DavidLammy @DawnButlerBrent or Steve McQueen pic.twitter.com/t5fNpuLG6a — Gary Younge (@garyyounge) February 5, 2020
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 — HEAVY IS THE HEAD (@stormzy) February 5, 2020
He added: “Neither of us are [David Lammy], [Dawn Butler] or Steve McQueen.”
The BBC’s recent gaffe is the latest in a line of similar incidents at the corporation, including one last month, where footage of basketballer Lebron James was used during a tribute of the late Kobe Bryant.
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In 2017, Stormzy voiced his upset after an Irish newspaper used a photograph of him to accompany a news story about footballer Romelu Lukaku.
Reacting at the time, Stormzy wrote: “I don’t find none of this funny btw… don’t wanna sound like the party pooper who missed the joke.”
I don't find none of this funny btw 🤷🏿♂don't wanna sound like the party pooper who missed the joke... — HEAVY IS THE HEAD (@stormzy) July 10, 2017
The Vossi Bop star recently sat down with Gary Younge for an interview in GQ, accompanying the chart-topping rapper’s third cover shoot for the magazine.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--As Love Island's Callum And Molly Hit It Off, We Ask: Can Lust Ever Last?

ITV2 Callum and Molly share a bed in Casa Amor
“Every time I look at her, the sexual attraction is massive, I want to rip her clothes off.”
Those were the words of Love Island’s Callum, speaking about his new Casa Amor interest Molly, who he smooched in a challenge in last night’s episode.
The issue? Callum is partnered up with Shaughna back in the main villa, who seems a tad more into him than he is into her – though she hinted to pals they’d “done bits” before the scaffolder headed into Casa Amor and met his current crush, Molly.
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Fans of the show are calling it already: trouble is looming in paradise. Sharing her two cents, one viewer tweeted: “Callum is gonna choose Molly based on short-term feelings and lust, then find out that they have nothing else to build from. It happens every year.”
But what are “short-term feelings” – and are they different to lust? Yes, says psychotherapist Lucy Beresford. “Lust is focused on the sexual connection, on what the person looks like and you have a strong desire, as Callum says, ‘to whip their clothes off.’”
Callum is gonna choose Molly based on short term feelings and lust then find out that they actually have nothing else to build from. It happens every year #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/YogZiIGFGD — BbyGurl✨ (@DebbiehAnne) February 4, 2020
Lust is very immediate, so much so that it’s almost primitive, says Beresford. When a person is in lust, a lot of interaction will be flirtatious with a strong sexual undertone. There’ll be lots of touching and physical contact. “It’s that kind of arousal that happened in the days before we could speak.”
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Short-term feelings come later, when two people think about the interactions they’ve had and reflect on them. It’s more about connection.
And these feelings (despite the name) last longer – they could still be present after six months in the real world, says Beresford.
Shaughna and Callum have been together for a long time in Love Island terms. Whereas Molly is a new attraction – and they barely know each other. Callum may be experiencing lust, as well as short-term feelings for Molly, considering how quickly things happen in the villa.
“On the evidence we’ve been shown, Callum clearly fancies Molly in a way that he doesn’t fancy Shaughna, unfortunately,” says Beresford, acknowledging Callum’s conversation with fellow Love Islander Finn, where he admitted he wasn’t as sexually attracted to Shaughna as he was to Molly.
“And Shaughna and Callum’s relationship has been characterised by quite a lot of criticism from her about how he is,” she continues. “There’s been quite a lot of disappointment on her side and annoyance at the nagging on his side.
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“You could argue that what he’s leaning towards is the positivity of this new relationship with Molly – and in a way, even if they’re short-term feelings, why would you not go with something more positive?”
Malte Mueller via Getty Images
Can lust, or short-term feelings, ever last? “Love commonly starts out as lust and the two might even have an overlapping stage at some point in the relationship,” suggests an eHarmony advisor. But there’s also a risk that lust may never turn into love – it’s a gamble you have to take.
The question is, if the spark is there, do you act on it? How do you know if there will be something left to build on after lust fades?
Firstly, draw on your experiences from past relationships, says Beresford. Make sure you don’t fall into a trap of moving too fast and forming passionate attachments too quickly, which then have to be unravelled just as quickly when you realise there’s no lust anymore – and no short-term feelings either.
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Context is also key, says counsellor and sex therapist Ammanda Major from Relate. Think about how you feel about the person you’re lusting over – and how you feel about your current partner. If your relationship has been on the rocks for a while, it might be understandable why you’re getting feelings for someone else.
“People have to make choices about how they behave,” says Major. “In some instances, go for it. But in others it might be helpful to sit back and think about whether it’s something you’ll feel ok about it in the morning.”
Ultimately, it’s about weighing up the situation. Be logical and rational – and think about how your short-term feelings might pan out. “I’m all in favour of people having amazing sex, but obviously Callum is in a tricky situation, because technically he’s in a relationship with somebody else,” says Beresford.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--Birth Diaries: 'I Didn't Want A Baby For Five More Years But I Got Pregnant On Contraception'

HuffPost UK
In HuffPost Birth Diaries we hear the extraordinary stories of the everyday miracle of birth. This week, Megan Nichole shares her story. If you’d like to share yours, email amy.packham@huffpost.com.
I’d had the copper IUD for four years when I found out I was pregnant. My periods had always been regular, but one afternoon I realised my cycle hadn’t come on when I’d expected it. I swept the thought aside, because I was in the process of a move. When I still hadn’t come on after a few weeks, I took a test. It was positive.
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A doctor performed an ultrasound to find out why I’d fallen pregnant – perhaps the IUD had moved out of position or dislodged, he said – but when he did check, it was where it was supposed to be. No one knows why it happened.
I was very upset. I’d just graduated from pharmacy school and was in the middle of a fellowship programme, 100 miles away from home. It wasn’t a happy scenario for me. I hadn’t planned on getting pregnant for another five years or so. My partner and I weren’t engaged – we didn’t even live together.
The first half of the pregnancy was a whirlwind. I had to leave my fellowship programme to move home, as well as find a new job. So I didn’t think much about giving birth until about halfway through. The second half mellowed out and I began to get excited once I’d got into my routine.
Initially, I did research on natural birthing. I have scoliosis, you see, so I didn’t want to have an epidural. And, as a pharmacist, I didn’t like the idea of having the drug pumped into my spine. My scoliosis is quite mild, but it was definitely a factor in preparing for birth. I focused on coping mechanisms to relieve back pain if my labour was going to be intense.
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HuffPost UK Supplied
At 37 weeks and three days, it started. But I had no idea at the time. I was probably labouring for 24 hours – and didn’t know until about five hours before I delivered my son. I was at home, working, on calls, just going about my day. I felt constipated, but it was only later after looking on a parenting forum, that I realised that feeling could mean I was in labour.
I already had an appointment booked with my doula that day. She came over and could tell something was happening so told me to go to the hospital for a check. When I did, I found out I was at 10cm already! The pain was about an eight out of 10, but having studied hypnobirthing, I managed to go through the exercises to breathe and keep calm. My eyes were closed; I was in the zone.
I asked if I could have the water birth I’d written in my birth plan, but they were concerned it’d take 45 minutes to fill up the tub – and I was already close. In my plan, I’d also written that I didn’t want to be coached or told when to push, so they waited on my cues. Thankfully, I managed to get into the water before my actual waters had broken, and after about 15 minutes I felt an intense pressure inside my body – it wanted to push the baby out.
It wasn’t a conscious effort, my body just started pushing and as it did, my waters broke. Five minutes later, my son was out. The midwife instructed me to pull him up and I reached down and did as I was told. He was taken away for a little while for a check while they got me out the tub. I delivered the placenta and he was put back on to me, where I could nurse him for the first time.
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Everything happened so fast and felt so unplanned that it was difficult to process what was going on. I kept thinking: “Did that just really happen?”. I was so in shock, I didn’t emotionally catch up with everything that had happened until he was about two months old.
If I could sum it all up in one word? Miraculous, that’d be it. From getting pregnant to the way he was born. It was just miraculous.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--What To Do If You’re Worried About Coronavirus

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For some, anxiety and fear around coronavirus is taking hold – and is it any wonder, considering it’s dominating the news?
Worry is a rational reaction to something we can’t control, but when these fears start to rule our lives, we need to do something about it, says therapist Pam Custers. Otherwise, it can start “sabotaging our thought processes”.
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“There’s a lot being spoken about coronavirus and a lot of fear because there’s a constant tally of how many have got it and how many have died,” she says. “If you have a slight tendency towards anxiety, this might nudge you towards becoming even more anxious.”
When we’re tipped over into a state of anxiety, we might feel panicky and worry more than normal. Some people might have difficulty concentrating; others will change their daily routines to avoid whatever it is they fear.
Custers gives the example of getting into a lift and suddenly feeling like you have to leave, or struggling to get on public transport to work because of a fear of catching something. So what can you do about it?
Challenge your thoughts
The key to reducing fear, or at the very least controlling it, is to challenge your way of thinking. “It’s a balance between challenging thought processes and having healthy caution,” says Custers.
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It’s normal to worry. In fact, it’s part of our protective mechanism of survival as humans, says therapist Natasha Crowe. “When we see or hear of someone that’s been ill, or see a news story, of course our mind is going to go to that place,” she says. “Some of it is rational, but [the issue] is when we catastrophise and it becomes a worst-case scenario that we can’t get out of.”
If you fear that you have, or might get, coronavirus, ask yourself: Do I have evidence? Am I at risk? Have I been in contact with someone who has had it? Am I feeling ill? “The likelihood is that for most people, they’re at very low risk,” says Crowe, a member of Counselling Directory.
Step back from the news
We should keep ourselves informed about how to manage ourselves health-wise, but we don’t need to be glued to every single news report or every specialist who’s discussing it, says Custers. This could feed and fuel our fears.
If you find it’s all getting too much, avoid the news and mute words on social media.
Have some perspective
The stats around confirmed cases can sound scary on their own – and we shouldn’t underestimate what could happen with this virus – but when you compare these to the number of people who develop and die from flu each year, your perspective may change.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that every year, flu results in 3-5 million cases of severe illness globally, and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths.
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“The last thing any government wants is to allow the virus to take hold,” says Custers. “There are teams of people who are all working, consciously putting in place a very safe programme for ourselves. If there was any reason to start being worried, we would be told.”
Practise self-care
For people with anxiety – particularly health anxiety – reading updates about coronavirus and poring over advice may not help. If this is the case, Sally Brown, a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) spokesperson and counsellor, recommends attending to your self-care.
Brown often tells her clients to have a “daily prescription” of self-care to build resilience. This could be spending 30 minutes outdoors, speaking to a friend who makes you laugh, or just carving out time in your day to truly relax.
Be aware of your avoidance strategies
If you’re feeling anxious about coronavirus, you might be tempted to stop taking public transport or stay in the house. While giving in to those avoidance techniques can help in the short-term, Brown says it makes your anxiety worse in the long-term. “Check in with yourself,” she advises. “You can choose to either do that [avoid the fear] or push through those avoidance feelings.”
If your anxiety starts to impact your day-to-day behaviour, Custers recommends seeing a therapist. “Speak to someone if you’re overwhelmed. You might need a couple of sessions.”
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Focus on what you can control
In the therapy room, Brown will often ask clients to draw two circles – the circle of influence and circle of concern. In the circle of concern, she asks patients to write everything they’re worried about. In the circle of influence, she asks them to write what they can actually control.
“The circle of influence is where you direct your energy,” she says. “When it comes to something like this [coronavirus], it’s about controlling your hygiene and immune system.”
Public Health England (PHE) suggests the best way to protect against illness – whether the common cold, flu or coronavirus – is to practise good hygiene. This means regularly washing hands with warm water and soap, particularly after using public transport or before eating. If you can’t wash your hands, it might be helpful to carry hand sanitiser with you.
If you need to sneeze or cough, do so into a tissue and then immediately bin the tissue afterwards – remember ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow – especially if travelling on public transport where you need to touch handles.
Break your day into chunks
Feeling completely overwhelmed? It’s time to take a step back. Rather than thinking about the whole day ahead of you, break it down into chunks, says Crowe.
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First things first, focus on getting yourself to work. Then on sitting down at your desk and doing work. Next, eating your lunch. The idea is that you’re not letting your feelings and thoughts run away with you. It’s all about the small steps we can take on a daily basis.
Useful websites and helplines:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-05--My LGBT Football Team Finally Lets Me Be Myself While Playing The Game I Love

HuffPost UK Courtesy of Stonewall
Head In The Game sees athletes across a variety of disciplines speak candidly about their mental wellbeing – from occasional periods of poor mental health to ongoing, sometimes debilitating, struggles with mental illness. They also share coping mechanisms and the support they’ve turned to during their lowest points.
‘It’s just a game’, they say – and football is, to most. But for me this ‘game’ has changed my life.
Growing up in Leytonstone, East London, the only success I saw that felt attainable was either on the football pitch or in the music studio. I wasn’t a particularly gifted singer or dancer, so naturally I gravitated towards the green grass of a football pitch (or in my case, a car park with jumpers for goalposts).
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I played at a high enough level to be put on a talent pathway that, I presumed, with a cocktail of hard work, dedication and luck, would see me turn pro. I realised soon enough that nothing is ever certain.
However, coming to terms with not becoming a professional footballer was nothing compared to coming to terms with being gay. It’s difficult to look back and not dissect how much influence being gay may have had on my performance, motivation and sense of belonging when I was young.
When you feel as though the game you love, the game that saved you from choosing a darker path, is also possibly a place which won’t accept you – that’s a huge barrier.
“I was a black, gay man who loved football, and it was really hard to reconcile these apparently disparate parts of my identity...”
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Research by the LGBT charity Stonewall backs this feeling up: more than two in five LGBT people (43%) think that public sporting events aren’t a welcoming space for LGBT people. And BAME LGBT people are even more likely to feel this way (52%). I was a black, gay man who loved football, and it was really hard to reconcile these apparently disparate parts of my identity. I wanted to succeed as a footballer, so I felt I had to suppress the parts of my identity that might affect my chances of success. But in doing so, I found myself experiencing a number of mental health difficulties. I lost confidence, became isolated and felt confused and scared. The game that used to be an escape was now holding me hostage.
However, the older I got, and more importantly, the more comfortable I became with being gay, the easier it was for me to see the wood for the trees. I went on to university with the aim of entering a new chapter in my life as my authentic self, and I fell in love with other aspects of the game like coaching and development.
I played university men’s football as an out gay man, but I still didn’t feel completely comfortable. We’d have away trips where I would tune out of conversations for fear of not wanting to make anyone else (or myself) uncomfortable. I would edit myself, go quiet, isolate myself from my team. I did all of this while still trying to build and maintain strong relationships with teammates so we could perform on the pitch. It was exhausting.
To this day I wonder if the coaches or teammates I was close to picked up on my discomfort. Or whether through years of assimilating it’s just something I became so good at pretending, they presumed I was just naturally quiet.
Ian Walton for The FA Courtesy of Stonewall
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My coaches and teammates did their best to make me feel welcome, but I’m not sure they had the tools or confidence to know how to create fully inclusive environments where someone who may be gay, bi or questioning could feel not just accepted, but valued and celebrated.
In my final year of uni, I decided to write about homophobia within grassroots football for my dissertation. That directed me to the London Unity League, GFSN League and a number of LGBT-friendly teams that play in them. I ended up interviewing a few of the players that played for a team based in North London, London Romans and joined them after I graduated.
After a season or so with the Romans, the first team manager of Stonewall FC, the world’s most successful LGBT football club, asked if I wanted to join them and play at a higher level. After learning about the rich history of the club, their success and role within the game, of course I accepted.
I’m now captain of Stonewall FC, and still play and coach with London Romans. I’m finally in a position where I feel able to be completely myself while playing the game I love. I am now playing in a space where elements of my identity are not just being tolerated, brushed over or avoided, but are being celebrated. Instead of silencing my own voice to blend in or not stand out, my voice is now heard, and uplifted.
“In a society that feels in many ways more divided than ever, football has a unique ability to bring communities together...”
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LGBT-inclusive clubs like ours have long played a crucial role in the lives of so many people – many who grew up playing football in far more hostile environments than I did. They still have that role today – not just creating safe spaces for LGBT people to play a sport that they love, but also providing visibility and role models to younger LGBT people and potential allies too.
In a society that feels in many ways more divided than ever with the number of anti-LGBT hate crime incidents on the rise, football has a unique ability to bring communities together. The game has progressed a lot and we can be proud of that. However, we have a long way to go to ensure every LGBT person feels safe, accepted and celebrated in sport. Support and solidarity for these clubs and community groups is vital now more than ever.
Jehmeil Lemonius is sports campaigns manager at Stonewall, and captain of Stonewall FC


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-06--This Morning's Phillip Schofield Learns The Hard Way Why You Shouldn't Get On The Wrong Side Of An A

This Morning's Phillip Schofield Learns The Hard Way Why You Shouldn't Get On The Wrong Side Of An Alpaca

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Thursday’s edition of the ITV show proved no exception, when hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby became better acquainted with a pair of alpacas.
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While introducing the show at the end of Lorraine, Phil introduced the host to alpacas Pete and Spitfire over video link, with Holly admitting her co-presenter had already got on the wrong side of one of them.
“You say [they’re] gorgeous, Lorraine, but Pete just spat in Phil’s face,” Holly revealed.
Phil and Holly during Thursday's This Morning ITV
Phillip was then seen telling the offending alpaca: “Don’t do it again! Once is OK, twice is unacceptable.”
Through hysterical laughs, Holly then addressed the This Morning producers, saying: “Can we have a few days with no animals in the studio please?”
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It’s been an especially ridiculous couple of weeks for This Morning, with Holly and Phil finding themselves at the centre of a truly iconic moment when an 80-year-old guest took oversharing to a new level, letting slip details of her first night of passion with her 35-year-old fiancé.
A few days later, the duo struggled through a live broadcast after a night of celebrating their 10th win in a row at the National Television Awards.
Last month, they were also unable to control themselves when one viewer won a trip to Edinburgh as part of a phone-in competition, only for it to emerge she already lived in the Scottish capital.
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-02-06--Love Island's Casa Amor Twist Has Been Especially Ridiculous This Year – Here's Why

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While Love Island’s Casa Amor twist is famous for delivering on the drama front, this year’s series has also seen plenty of moments that have been memorable for other reasons too.
As we prepare for what is likely to be a shocking recoupling (we’re looking at you, Callum), here’s some of the more ridiculous scenes that have been just the injection this series has needed...
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Let’s start with the best one – the moment Jess got a Skittle stuck in her eyelash while trying to flirt...
Jess on Love Island ITV
When Finn demonstrated his foot fetish with millions of people watching at home...
When Mike very nearly ended up in the pool...
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When Ched like, literally, like struggled to like, find his words, like
Gonna tell my grandkids this was Shakespeare #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/0lzGmk1i8f — Love Island (@LoveIsland) February 4, 2020
When the boys had a collective pump-up at the prospect of meeting six new girls...
When you try and get fit precisely five minutes before your lads holiday 💪 #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/GtFxCkH01h — Love Island (@LoveIsland) February 3, 2020
When George invented the concept of mustard on toast and made us a little bit sick in our mouths (not to mention his terrible attempts at grafting)...
George is really giving Demi the full factor 50 treatment #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/QgxbUmLbE5 — Love Island (@LoveIsland) February 4, 2020
When Demi did this to her face...
ITV
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When newbies Jade and Jamie seemed to go AWOL and apparently no-one noticed...
Apparently there are girls known as “Jade” and “Jamie” in Casa Amor this year? Has anyone seen them, can we file a missing persons report #LoveIsland — Patrick Swayne (@pswayne7) February 6, 2020
When Josh asked Shaughna “where her hat was at” rather than where her head was at...
Shaughna’s reaction to the boys’ departure was iconic...
Shaughna on Love Island ITV
See also...
"I bet they effortlessly wear the sexiest pyjamas" 😂 #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/YsESAlaB9a — Love Island (@LoveIsland) February 4, 2020
Love Island airs from Sunday at Friday at 9pm on ITV2.
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