thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--MPs Must Vote On 'Draconian' Lockdown Laws, Demands Tory MP

LOADING ERROR LOADING
A former Conservative minister has said the failure of government to give MPs a vote on coronavirus lockdown laws could be the death of “liberty”.
Steve Baker is one of at least 40 Tory rebels who are pushing the government to give MPs a chance to debate and vote on Covid-19 rules before they come into force.
Advertisement
Speaking to Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday programme, Baker said: “MPs should be sharing in the dreadful burden of decision in these circumstances and not just retrospectively being asked to approve what the government has done.”
He said there were “plenty” of MPs who would back the amendment, and that he thought it would be selected by the Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
Baker described the coronavirus rules as “draconian”, and said he and colleagues were putting forward a “very modest proposal” that they should vote on law before it comes into effect.
He added: “How do people think that liberty dies? It dies like this with government exercising draconian powers, without parliamentary scrutiny in advance, undermining the rule of law by having a shifting blanket of rules that no-one can understand.”
Advertisement
But culture secretary Oliver Dowden said it was important the government has the power to “move quickly” in introducing new rules during a “crisis”.
And he told Sky News people had to stick to the current coronavirus rules to avoid further restrictions.
“It really is in the power of everyone watching this show to make sure they abide by those rules and prevent further draconian restrictions,” he said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Sarah Harding's Fans Thrilled As She Shares First Social Media Update Since Cancer Diagnosis

HuffPost is part of Verizon Media .
We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through @ @ @ @ @ similar technologies , to display personalised ads and content , for ad and content measurement @ @ @ @ @ development .
Your personal data that may be used • Information about your device and @ @ @ @ @ IP address • Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps Find @ @ @ @ @ use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy .
To enable Verizon Media @ @ @ @ @ your personal data select ' I agree ' , or select 'Manage settings ' for @ @ @ @ @ your choices .
You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy @ @

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Sarah Harding has been keeping a low profile since she went public with her cancer diagnosis, but treated fans to an upbeat social media update over the weekend.
Advertisement
On Saturday, a month after sharing the news of illness, she posted her first update on social media, uploading a short clip of herself on Snapchat.
In the 30-second video, a very smiley Sarah is seen listening to The Velvet Underground, laughing while a friend does her hair.
Sarah has uploaded a video on snapchat 💖 @SarahNHarding pic.twitter.com/VCXUzHh5Hp — Sarah Harding Fans 🎗 (@SarahAddicts) September 26, 2020
Sarah’s fans were over the moon to see her looking so happy, with one commenting on Twitter: “Glad to see her in such good spirits.”
Advertisement
Another added: “Awww she’s looking well… stay safe Sarah.”
Awww she's looking well ❤ stay safe Sarah — Vicky ✌ (@McalouderMixer) September 27, 2020
Glad to see her in such good spirits 💕 — Kid A (@Free_Xone) September 26, 2020
So good to see her smile 🥺 https://t.co/QJBhfrF0As — joe ✨ (@joealoud) September 27, 2020
There is nothing better than hearing her laugh. ❤ https://t.co/gs2KcfttrU — Daniel Bird (@dddanadine) September 26, 2020
Sarah’s post last month came as a shock to fans, with the star writing at the time: “My amazing mum, family and close friends are helping me through this, and I want to say a thank you to the wonderful NHS doctors and nurses who have been and continue to be heroes.
Advertisement
“I am doing my very best to keep positive and will keep you updated here with how I’m getting on. In the meantime I hope you’ll all understand and respect my request for privacy during this difficult time.”
Sarah is best known as a member of the Brit Award-winning band Girls Aloud, who rose to fame on Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and went on to score four UK number one singles.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Game Of Thrones Stars Kit Harington And Rose Leslie Are Expecting Their First Child

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Game Of Thrones stars Rose Leslie and Kit Harington have announced that they are expecting their first child together.
The couple met on the set of the hit fantasy show – where Rose played Ygritte for three series, and Kit portrayed Jon Snow – and got together in 2012.
Advertisement
Since then, they have kept a low profile when it comes to their relationship, with Rose choosing to reveal she’s expecting in an understated way, in a photo-shoot with Make magazine, in which her pregnancy bump is visible.
The magazine’s fashion editor Ursula Lake shared one such picture on Instagram, writing: “So wonderful working with the beautiful Rose Leslie for the cover story of Make magazine out now!
“A very special all-woman team photographic shoot capturing Rose at this wonderful time as she prepares for motherhood for the first time!”
Advertisement
In the accompanying interview, Rose spoke about her home with Kit in the English countryside, saying she was looking forward to raising a family there, after years of living in New York.
“What a glorious thing to be able to run to the countryside and recoup,” she said.
“It’s a great privilege to be surrounded by greenery, birdsong and hedgerows, and our delightful neighbours. It’s so peaceful.”
Rose Leslie and Kit Harington at the premiere of Game Of Thrones' final series Mike Coppola via Getty Images
They eventually tied the knot a year later at Rose’s family’s castle in Wardhill, Aberdeenshire, with former co-stars Maisie Williams, Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke and Sophie Turner all in attendance.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Trump Formally Nominates Amy Coney Barrett To Supreme Court

LOADING ERROR LOADING
President Donald Trump on Saturday formally nominated Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, with about five weeks left until Election Day.
“I looked, and I studied, and you are very eminently qualified for this job,” Trump told Barrett as he made the announcement. “You are going to be fantastic.”
Advertisement
Barrett, a 48-year-old judge on the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, follows an extreme brand of conservatism that makes her a particularly polarising choice.
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Trump praised Barrett’s credentials, which included a clerkship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and noted that her confirmation would make her the first mother of school-aged children ever to serve on the Supreme Court.
“This should be a straightforward and prompt confirmation. Good luck,” Trump said. “I’m sure it will be very quick.”
Barrett said she was ”truly humbled” by the nomination and pledged to ”be mindful of who came before me” if confirmed. Ginsburg, Barrett said, led a “great American life” in which she “won the admiration of women across the country and, indeed, all over the world.”
Advertisement
Ginsburg’s final request was that her seat is filled by the winner of the November 3 election ― a request Trump falsely portrayed as made up by Democrats.
Polling shows that a majority of Americans side with Ginsburg, believing that the vacancy should be filled after the election.
Barrett and her would-be predecessor share few similarities. Trump’s pick is widely viewed as a threat to abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act, based on past comments and details about her personal life.
In 2016, Barrett indicated during a talk at Jacksonville University that the Supreme Court could still make it easier for states to restrict access to abortion, particularly late-term procedures. In 2017, she argued in a law review article that the Affordable Care Act went against a textual interpretation of the Constitution.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden decried Barrett’s nomination based largely on her opposition to the Affordable Care Act. He urged the Senate in a statement to wait until after the election to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.
Advertisement
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that Barrett could “turn back the clock” not only on health care but also on women’s, LGBTQ and immigrants’ rights.
President Donald Trump walks with Judge Amy Coney Barrett to a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
“President Trump and leader McConnell are doing what no Senate has done before: shamelessly rushing to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat less than 40 days before a presidential election,” Schumer said.
Barrett’s peers reportedly described her as a constitutional originalist for whom the words in the Constitution mean what they meant to the Founding Fathers in the 18th century. As Barrett herself put it Saturday: “I love the United States and I love the United States Constitution.”
She is also reported to be a member of a secretive Catholic group called People of Praise, whose members believe that, in marriage, husbands are decision-makers and should wield power over their wives. People of Praise also follows practices drawn from evangelical Christianity, such as faith healing.
Advertisement
The group is based in South Bend, Indiana, where Barrett lives with her husband and seven children. Critics worried that its ideology may influence Barrett’s decisions, a perspective conservatives regard as anti-Catholic bigotry.
Barrett gave a 2006 commencement speech at Notre Dame Law School in which she said that lawyers should view their work through the lens of religion. She expressed the hope that each graduate would “fulfill the promise of being a different kind of lawyer.”
“And that is this: that you will always keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end, and as Father Jenkins told you this morning, that end is building the kingdom of God,” she said. “You know the same law, are charged with maintaining the same ethical standards and will be entering the same kinds of legal jobs as your peers across the country. But if you can keep in mind that your fundamental purpose in life is not to be a lawyer, but to know, love, and serve God, you truly will be a different kind of lawyer.”
In her 2017 confirmation hearing for the circuit court, however, Barrett assured senators that she would be capable of separating her personal views from her work as a judge.
“If you’re asking whether I take my faith seriously and I’m a faithful Catholic, I am,” she said at the time. “Although I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear in the discharge of my duties as a judge.”
Advertisement
Trump’s decision to press forward with the confirmation process so close to the election has triggered nationwide alarm. The Supreme Court may wind up adjudicating cases related to the outcome of the election, as it did in 2000.
Democrats are particularly angry that Republicans are proceeding with Barrett’s nomination even though they refused to move ahead with President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. At that time, Republicans cited a supposed tradition against filling a Supreme Court seat during an election year.
Scalia died 269 days before the 2016 presidential election; Ginsburg died just 46 days before the 2020 election.
OLIVIER DOULIERY via Getty Images
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell also argued in 2016 that the results of the midterm elections, which favoured Republicans, proved that American voters were dissatisfied with incumbent leadership and should make “their voices heard” before a new judge was put on the bench.
Advertisement
In the last week, however, McConnell attempted to fend off accusations of hypocrisy by arguing that the situation now differs from 2016 because the White House and the Senate are now controlled by the same party. He has apparently remained silent on the results of the 2018 midterms, which favoured Democrats.
McConnell called Barrett an “exceptionally impressive jurist” in a statement Saturday.
Few Senate Republicans have criticised Trump’s actions to fill Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court. So far, only senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine have said the seat should be filled by the winner of the November 3 election.
Trump’s nomination now goes to the Senate, where it appears to have just enough votes to squeak by.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--'A One-Off Test Is A Folly': The Truth Behind Covid False Negative Covid Results

When Sarah found herself suffering sudden bouts of breathlessness in May, she took herself to hospital.
But after her Covid-19 swab test came back negative, doctors said she was probably anxious, and sent her home.
Advertisement
Despite this, Sarah’s symptoms continued to worsen. A week later, she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Paramedics told her that based on her clinic observations, she should be in a coma.
Then came more surprising news: She had tested positive for coronavirus.
A doctor explained her first test had been a false negative – a result that comes up despite the patient having the virus, and possibly being contagious.
As a clinically vulnerable Covid-19 patient with a chronic illness, I have had frequent contact with hospitals and healthcare systems during this pandemic. I have also been told by doctors that the potential for false negative results is high, so I decided to find out if this was true.
The answer, according to the experts I spoke to for this article, is a resounding yes.
There are concerns the rate of false negatives could increase with the introduction of rapid testing. Tetra Images via Getty Images
Advertisement
Sarah’s story – given to a patient safety charity under a pseudonym – is one that resonates with Dr Claudia Paoloni.
Paoloni, president of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, detailed another case in which a patient tested negative twice: once when she was first admitted to hospital and once later in her hospital stay. She finally tested positive on her third test – by which time she was on a ventilator in intensive care.
““To use as a one-off test in any capacity to exclude someone from having Covid-19 is a folly.””
Paolini believes Covid-19 swab tests produce a troublingly high rate of false negative results, and the problem lies in the reliance on a single test.
“To use as a one-off test in any capacity to exclude someone from having Covid-19 is a folly.”
If you want to exclude someone from having the virus, Paoloni said, you must do multiple tests and collect multiple negative results.
Advertisement
“If the test and tracing system is not working, which is the case here, transmission will continue unabated in the community.”
Paoloni also warns this could get worse as the government tries to introduce rapid testing.
A study from Imperial College London published earlier in September put the sensitivity rate of rapid testing between 94% and 100%. That’s one in 20 people with Covid-19 who will almost definitely get a negative result.
The current rate of false negatives in the UK was originally estimated at 30%, she explained. Things have improved since then, but it’s still around 8%, she said, which is almost two in 20.
The most recent data published by the Office for National Statistics says the test’s sensitivity - which it says can tell us how likely it is to return a false-negative result, may be somewhere between 85% and 98%.
It's not just the quality of the test, but how it's carried out, that is causing some alarm. Drazen Zigic via Getty Images
Advertisement
Dr Steven Woloshin, the co-director of the Center for Medicine and Media at The Dartmouth Institute, decided to investigate the level of false negative Covid-19 results because he, too, was concerned about people who believed they were not infecting returning to the community. The research he published in August, he said, was borne out of worry for his elderly mother.
He believes some negative Covid-19 results should be “taken with a grain of salt”, citing research showing that the true false negative rate could be anywhere between 2% and 29%.
But the quality of the test itself isn’t the only reason we could be getting high rates of false negatives, experts said.
Dr Deenan Pillay, Professor of Virology at University College London and member of Independent Sage, a group of scientists providing transparent advice during the crisis, said a significant number of self-administered tests could be coming back negative for people who do in fact have the virus.
“The single biggest reason why a swab from someone who has Covid-19 comes up as negative is the quality of the swab that is taken,” Dr Pillay said.
Advertisement
“Swabbing your nose and throat in a way that will pick up the virus means really scraping down the side of the wall of the nose or back of the throat to get cells from the lining of the throat. That’s not a pleasant thing to do.”
“The way the system is developed at the moment, outsourced to private companies ... is just woeful,” - Dr Deenan Pilla
Pillay believes the importance of having a test administered by a well-trained professional is often trivialised, but it could be damaging our ability to contain the virus.
This is of course true for at-home testing, which relies on the patient or a family member to collect the swab. But it could be true at testing centres, too.
Tom, a 29-year-old from London whose name has been changed for this story, said there were no medical staff on site when he visited a Covid testing centre in London. The only people he interacted with were staff from a third-party contractor paid to carry out testing.
Advertisement
“The man simply handed me a test, read out the instructions to self-administer the test, and asked me to do it myself,” he said.
Tom believes he was unable to get a good sample due to the difficulty of the testing technique.
Pillay agrees that testing methods are likely to have an impact on false negative results.
“I have seen the documentation given out at testing centres and it is very confusing,” he said. “Centres often expect you to administer the test yourself or get someone else in your car to administer it for you, all of which creates difficulties.”
According to figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), around two thirds of the 571,400 people who were newly tested for Covid-19 between September 3 and September 9 were tested either at home or at testing centres.
A spokesperson for DHSC told HuffPost: “The tests are reliable and effective according to health experts, independent inspectors and international peer reviewed evidence. This includes self-swabbing for Covid-19 being just as effective as clinician-administered swabbing.”
Pillay believes the solution lies in having medically trained staff at testing centres.
“The way the system is developed at the moment, outsourced to private companies like Deloitte and Lighthouse Labs, is just woeful,” he said.
“The whole system is failing at the moment. And it’s happening just as the numbers of infections are starting to rise,” Dr Pillay said.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--'They Care More About The Money Than Us': Students Lash Out At Government For 'Neglecting' Them

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Students have warned of widespread mental health issues amid fears they will be asked to stay at university over the Christmas break.
With the vast majority of lectures moved online, strict rules around socialising and reports of outbreaks in halls across the UK, students are facing months of isolation.
Advertisement
Following the push to physically return to campus, students have also accused their universities and the government of caring more about money than their welfare.
The concerns around the dire situation facing hundreds of thousands of young people – many of them away from home for the first time – came to a head on Thursday, when health secretary Matt Hancock said he could not rule out speculation that students may be asked not to go home over the Christmas break in order to prevent spreading Covid-19 to their families.
The suggestion was met with outrage, with students and parents expressing their frustration that after being urged to return to university – paying a significant sum of rent along the way – thousands of people were able to do little more than log onto lectures from their rooms.
I know there are worse things happening atm but can we all take a moment to appreciate how shite it is to be a student right now? they're paying exorbitant fees but doing all lectures from home, will be no doubt shafted when it comes to jobs and can't even go to the pub. https://t.co/lUcn7MdZUl — Susie Beever (@SusieMayJourno) September 25, 2020
Advertisement
maybe dehumanising is a bit strong a word but forcing students to stay away from their support networks after insisting everyone go back into schools and unis at £9,250 a pop is really sending a clear message to young people that this govt does not care one bit about them https://t.co/cKo6gT8bPw — zoe (@zoyoudidnt) September 24, 2020
Amid complaints about the financial strain and near-zero social opportunities, mental health – already a significant issue amongst the student population – concerns were also shared by those confronted with isolation and uncertainty about their grades.
Are they going to waive accommodation fees and provide extra mental health support to students then?
You’re expecting young people who are potentially away from home for the first time to stay away from family during Christmas?
Govt setting up to shift blame on to students. https://t.co/cUhxk21WWx — Maliha (@malihaeza) September 23, 2020
Sophie Anderton, 20, a second year business management student at the University of Chester, lives in a studio flat in halls. She said her cohort were encouraged to return to the city, but all teaching is currently being run online and with the one communal area in her residence closed, students are struggling to socialise.
“My initial reaction was anger, because I know a lot of us were concerned about coming back to uni in the first place. My mum is in the high risk category so I know I wouldn’t be able to go home as much as I did last year,” she said.
Advertisement
“It’s frustrating to be told that we needed to come back, even though everything so far has been online. It feels like they care more about the money than they do the students, because we’re all here to pay rent but the only thing we can really do is stay in our rooms.”
Sophie Anderton, a second year student at the University of Chester. Sophie Anderton
Even if students were asked to stay at university, Anderton explained, it was unlikely that the entire student population would comply.
“I think most people would go home to be honest, a lot of us are feeling very neglected by the government at the moment. Even when the guidance came out about schools and colleges there was nothing really said about uni students.
“I don’t think anyone is in a position to listen to something so outrageous as being alone at Christmas.”
Advertisement
Anderton continued: “There’s no real reason to be on campus at the moment, with everything online I’m really missing that motivation. I think a lot of people will start staying in their rooms and get quite depressed.
“We’re coming up to the winter months and seasonal depression is obviously a huge thing, especially in young people. If you add on top of that the anxieties around everything going on at the moment, I think it’s going to be such a difficult season for a lot of people.
“I think a lot of students will be hanging on to go home and see their parents and have some familiarity. If that’s taken away from us at Christmas and people are forced to stay at uni then I think a lot of people are going to suffer so greatly.”
Chloë Hyde, a third year English literature student at the University of Birmingham, lives in private accommodation in Selly Oak – an area of the city popular with students who don’t live in halls.
With her exams cancelled at the end of her second year due to Covid-19, her results from her third year of studies could account for almost her entire overall grade – but says concerns about timetables and library have left students confused and worried.
Advertisement
“There is a range of online and off campus teaching which will go ahead, although with Birmingham being a high-risk area, I’m not sure how long we will be able to access in person seminars,” she said.
“For me, this year is very important since it could effectively account for 100% of my degree as my exams were cancelled due to Covid, but I’m worried about the lack of resources for my dissertation.
“As it stands, we have to book slots in the university library in advance, and currently it’s only open until 4pm. With the changing timetables too, it’s hard to be able to plan ahead since nothing seems to be accurate.”
Chloë Hyde, a third year student at the University of Birmingham. Chloë Hyde
Like Anderton, Hyde emphasised how important the Christmas break was to students, adding that students were unlikely to comply
Advertisement
“I’ve never spent a single Christmas away from my family, and it’s really special knowing I get to have a break and spend time with them at home away from university because by that time of year with assessments I’m usually quite burnt out.
“Being able to see family is so important, and I can’t actually believe the government is considering this at all. Mental health was hardly considered once the government started to ease lockdown, with car showrooms opening before support bubbles were an actual concept, so I really don’t think students would obey the government even if it was made a rule.
“It’s selfish on their behalf, and completely inconsiderate, it’s very easy for Matt Hancock to suggest this as an option when he’s not the one who would be mentally affected by it – meanwhile hundreds of thousands of students would be. This is especially pressing considering we have been told that we should definitely return to university.”
Tom Madders, director of campaigns at YoungMinds described 2020 as a “challenging year for young people”, drawing attention to the isolation and anxiety around social events being cancelled and learning moved online – as well as potentially traumatic events such as bereavement.
He said: “Young people have told us that they have fears about the future, so thinking about Christmas might feel really daunting and bring up a lot of worries. It’s important if you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything that’s happening to limit the time you spend checking the news, finding activities that make you feel calm or talking to someone you trust about how you’re feeling.
Advertisement
“Universities can support student wellbeing by ensuring that there are clear and accessible resources on looking after your mental health... they must also make sure that students are aware of how to access early support for their mental health.
“We also want to see the government commit to making early intervention a priority by investing in a package of emergency support, both now and in long term, so that all young people get support as soon as they need it”.
A spokesperson from Student Minds said conversations around Christmas can be "distressing" for students.
They added: "We question the helpfulness of speculating on students’ ability to return home over the winter holiday period three months ahead of time as this can create unnecessary distress for students and their loved ones.
"The circumstances of the pandemic can shift very quickly, and there are far too many variables to make a reliable prediction as to what things will look like in December.
Advertisement
"There is a risk that the discussion around this topic will needlessly amplify feelings of uncertainty by asking questions which cannot possibly be answered at this moment in time."
The spokesperson added that a policy move forcing students to remain at university could be detrimental to student mental health, preventing them from accessing their own coping strategies such as being with friends or family.
They said: "It is essential that the government and universities have a clear plan for how they are going to support students through these uncertain times and prepare for all eventualities.
"It is crucial to balance the potential harm to student mental health against the very real threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic... Policies and guidelines made about students should always be made in meaningful co-production with students and experts in student mental health, and we expect that any decisions made regarding the winter holiday period meet this standard."
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 UK and Ireland (this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
Advertisement
You can call Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Student Minds has recently launched Student Space, which is dedicated to helping students deal with the Covid crisis. For free resources and confidential support, click here.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Don't Tell The Bride's Biggest Disasters, 10 Years After The Infamous Vegas Wedding

LOADING ERROR LOADING
For the last 13 years, we’ve been watching Don’t Tell The Bride through our fingers, as a parade of hapless grooms do their best (most of the time, at least) to give their cherished fiancées a wedding they’ll remember.
And while all of them have succeeded in making their big days memorable in some way or another, not all of the on-screen weddings stood out for the right reasons.
Advertisement
One that is frequently cited as being one of the most shocking episodes in the show’s history is that of Simon and Kaleigh in 2010.
Kaleigh, you may recall, wanted a family-oriented wedding near their home, but ended up being flown across the world to Las Vegas, where Simon put together a flash wedding he could only actually afford to send a select few of their friends and family to.
It’s now been 10 years since the infamous episode aired, and to mark the not-so-glamorous (but probably quite fitting) tin anniversary, we’re looking back at the most shocking, cringe inducing and just plain wrong weddings to ever feature on Don’t Tell The Bride...
10. The darts wedding (Chelsey and Liam, 2018)
Advertisement
Over the years, plenty of grooms have been guilty of prioritising their own passions over the couple’s shared interests when it comes to a wedding theme, and that’s exactly what happened when Liam decided to plan a darts-themed bash for his fiancée, Chelsey.
Not only did the bridesmaids’ dresses consist of oversized dart board t-shirts, it was darts legend Bobby George who conducted the ceremony. When he finally turned up on time, that is.
9. The Thorpe Park wedding (Kayleigh and Steve, 2011)
Fair play to Steve, he did actually have good intentions when he decided to host his and Kayleigh’s wedding at Thorpe Park – the place they’d had one of their earliest dates, and he’d realised that she was the one for him.
Still, though. Expecting your bride – who, by the way, hates thrill rides – to go on the park’s scariest rollercoaster on her own IN HER WEDDING DRESS was always going to be a tall order. Even if it wasn’t raining.
Advertisement
8. The elf wedding (Georgia and Liam, 2020)
A recent addition to the Don’t Tell The Bride vaults, poor Georgia was already in tears when she saw the wedding dress that had been picked out for her, complete with its festive red bow, and that was before she’d even seen what her bridesmaids would be wearing.
“I’m not getting married if you’re all dressed like this,” she warned the bridal party, after her emotional mum admitted that she felt Liam had made them all “look stupid”. She wasn’t wrong, to be fair.
7. The skydive wedding (John and Jackie, 2012)
Do you ever get the feeling someone has literally only agreed to go on Don’t Tell The Bride just so that Channel 4 will pay for them to do a skydive? Even though their bride-to-be absolutely heights?
Advertisement
To give John some credit, Jackie not only went through with the skydive, she ended up loving it (sort of… she did still say she felt like punching her new husband “for making me do this on our wedding day”).
6. The cruise wedding (Kelly and Mark, 2015)
Children’s entertainer Kelly (who, fun fact, became Kelly Kelly after she got married) wanted a glamorous, princess-esque wedding day, to take her out of her normal life.
What she got was a sparsely-attended ceremony in a cruise ship theatre, which opened with her new husband doing a Frank Spencer impression.
And let’s not even talk about that hotel overlooking a petrol station Mark booked Kelly and her family in ahead of the wedding...
Advertisement
5. The pig wedding (Steph and Billy, 2017)
This was so obviously a bad idea we can’t believe that no one along the way stepped in to get Billy to reconsider.
The red flags were there when Billy splurged two grand on his stag do and sent Steph on a night out to their local pub – but our favourite part was when the bride (who’d always maintained she didn’t want her wedding to be “a joke”) first clapped eyes on her porcine wedding guests.
“I thought you liked pigs,” Billy offered, sparking the immortal line: “Yeah but not this much.”
4. The Ibiza wedding (Alex and Luke, 2016)
One of those rare moments we do end up feeling sorry for one of the grooms, Luke picked Ibiza as the venue for his and Alex’s wedding, because that’s where they met when they were both working out there.
Advertisement
Unfortunately, he didn’t quite think things through.
Alex hated her dress, Luke left their UK-based registry office service halfway through with no explanation, and despite guidance from a very level-headed best man, Luke let planning the big day get to his head, leading to an Ibiza-based emotional breakdown.
Still, Alex eventually ended up enjoying her beach-based ceremony, even if it wasn’t exactly what she had in mind.
3. The wedding that Channel 4 pulled the plug on (Chanise and Yanis, 2019)
Channel 4
Chanose and Yanis made history in 2019, after producers found out that she had gone directly against the show’s rules by finding out information about what was being planned for her wedding.
While it meant that we were deprived of the usual wedding, the episode did turn the cameras on the show’s production team, treating viewers to a peek behind the curtain of how Don’t Tell The Bride works.
Advertisement
2. The wedding that wasn’t (Sofia and Craig, 2018)
Over the course of this episode, Sofia changed her mind multiple times about whether she’d even be going ahead with her wedding, first based on the dress (which she threatened to change out of at a KFC), and later when she found out the reception was Oktoberfest-themed. She didn’t even drink beer.
In case you were wondering, a message at the end of the episode revealed: “At the time of making this programme Craig and Sofia had decided not to make their wedding legal and were working together on their relationship.”
Ouch.
1. The big one (Kaleigh and Simon, 2010)
It could have been so different. Before settling on Vegas, Simon took a trip to a local casino, and let the roulette wheel decide whether he’d be taking the trip to the bright lights of Sin City, or staying local, as Kaleigh wanted.
Advertisement
Suffice to say, Las Vegas won out.
There were plenty of tears when Kaleigh found out where the wedding would be going ahead, and even more when she discovered how few of her family would be coming with her (her sister, who was supposed to have served as made of honour, refused to come, because of the snub to her brother).


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Honour Is ITV's Latest Real-Life Crime Drama – Here's What You Need To Know

ITV
Following White House Farm and Des, ITV continues its run of dramas about real-life crime this week with Honour.
The two-part series was first announced last summer and was originally set to air earlier this year, but was pushed back due to the pandemic.
Advertisement
Ahead of its debut on Monday night, here’s what you need to know about it...
What is Honour about?
Honour focuses on the aftermath of the real-life murder of Banaz Mahmod – a 20-year-old London woman who was killed on the orders of members of her own family in an “honour killing” in 2006. They believed she had dishonoured them when she ended a violent and abusive forced marriage, and started a new relationship with someone of her own choosing.
Her killer, her father, uncle and two cousins were later convicted of her murder, and this drama tells the story of how they were brought to justice after a police investigation led by Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode.
Banaz Mahmod was killed in 2006 PA Archive/PA Images
DCI Goode found Banaz’s body buried in a suitcase in the back garden of a house in Birmingham three months after she was reported missing, and was tasked with finding out what happened to her in her first case as a senior investigating officer.
Advertisement
Goode discovered that Banaz had been to the police five times to report threats to her life from members of her own family, and was appalled that her own colleagues had missed multiple chances to save her life.
She was later given the Queen’s Police Medal for her investigation into Banaz’s death.
The drama has already attracted criticism
Upon its announcement last year, Honour faced controversy, with many – including Banaz’s own family – criticising the decision to centre the story on Keeley’s character, claiming it perpetuates a white saviour narrative.
ITV have announced a drama about Banaz Mahmod. An Iraqi Kurdish Muslim woman who was the victim of a so called “honour” killing. It shifts the story from being about her to the white detective who “got her justice”. The project has a white lead, writer and director. — Furquan Akhtar (@furquan) June 24, 2019
Banaz’s sister Payzee Mahmod told the BBC she agreed with this criticism, saying: “It doesn’t really sit too well with me that that’s the angle they chose to go with because that’s not Banaz’s story, that’s somebody else’s story.
“This is about somebody who lost her life very tragically and it’s not about somebody getting to tell their story. I don’t believe that it’s honouring Banaz.”
Advertisement
In response, an ITV spokesperson told the BBC that writer Gwyneth Hughes had been in contact with Payzee “to give her the assurances she needs”.
However, some members of Banaz’s family were involved in the development of the series
Honour has been in development for several years, and according to executive producer Liza Marshall, she and writer Gwyneth Hughes spoke to Banaz’s sister Bekhal, Caroline Goode and Banaz’s late boyfriend Rahmat prior to his suicide in 2016.
She said: “We realised that since Banaz’s death, honour-based abuse has been rising and convictions have been falling.
“We became more determined than ever to make the drama - to keep Banaz’s memory alive by bringing the story of the police investigation to as wide an audience as possible.”
They also worked with Karma Nirvana, a charity supporting victims of honour-based abuse and forced marriage, and women’s rights organisation IKWRO.
Advertisement
Honour was also made in association with Keeley Hawes’ production company Buddy Club.
The drama is Buddy Club’s first big project and Keeley – who also plays DCI Goode – said she felt responsible to get the story right.
Keeley Hawes plays DCI Caroline Goode ITV
She said: “Obviously everything I do is important to me but there is a huge, additional responsibility that comes with this particular drama. Not only playing a real person and representing all of the people in the story but the main responsibility is because it’s about Banaz and keeping her memory alive.”
Writer Gwyneth Hughes described Honour as “a tribute to a lot of courageous people, first among them Banaz herself”.
She said: “I particularly want to salute her sister Bekhal, who risked her own life when she chose to stand in the witness box and give evidence against their father. And I will always remember my meeting with her beloved Rahmat, who never really recovered from her loss.
Advertisement
“Ultimately our story is about these two brave young people, their love for Banaz, and their inspiring refusal to accept a destiny of oppression.”
Who is in the cast?
Buket Komur plays Banaz Mahmod, while Rhianne Barreto plays Banaz’s sister Bekhal Mahmod. Moe Bar-El also appears as Banaz’s boyfriend Rahmat Suleimani.
Buket Komur as Banaz Mahmod ITV
Rhianne Barreto as Bekhal Mahmod ITV
Moe Bar-El as Rahmat Suleimani ITV
Advertisement
As mentioned, Keeley Hawes appears as investigating officer DCI Caroline Goode, while Michael Jibson and Amanda Lawrence play DS Stuart Reeves and DC Sarah Raymond.
Keeley Hawes with co-star Michael Jibson as DS Stuart Reeves ITV
When is Honour on?
Honour airs as a two-part mini-series, beginning on Monday 28 September at 9pm on ITV, concluding the following evening.
Watch the trailer...
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article had incorrectly attributed quotes from writer Gwyneth Hughes to actor Buket Komur.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--These Queer Students Have Some Advice For LGBTQ People Starting Uni

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Jordy Delight graduated from their MA from Edinburgh College of Art during the pandemic. Studying under lockdown as a queer person was tough, says the 25-year-old. In 2018, when they started, art school was an amazing way to meet other LGBTQ artists, pushing them towards achievements, such as the winning the Young Scot Arts award 2020.
“Those students gave me a sense of artistic development,” says Jordy, “but that was all drastically changed when Covid-19 interrupted my studies.”
Advertisement
Jordy believes the queer community will struggle with the return to university. “Many friends have told me their teaching is either online, or part-time,” they say. “It’s events like fresher parties and social nights that will [be missed] – and societies not having space to discuss being queer and student life.”
Due to Covid-19, students starting uni this autumn face fresh challenges, as social distancing wreaks havoc on traditional ways of campus life. But for LGBTQ students, who are more likely to experience mental health issues than their straight counterparts, starting university could be harder than ever.
Supplied Jordy
So, what do we actually know so far about how life on campus will change? Parties are banned, no overnight guests are allowed, and most lectures and society meet-ups seem to be taking place online. Some campus events, where they can be safely socially distanced, may happen for students who wish to attend – but that’s all subject to change, along with the government guidelines.
Advertisement
Without the option to mix with other social circles – away from your flatmates – does this mean queer freshers may be worse off? Rachel Charlton-Dailey, 31, reckons so. She left Northumbria University in 2015, where she says she had many of her formative queer experiences. “I realised I was bisexual in college, but my university experience gave me the confidence to come out,” she tells HuffPost UK.
“My university’s LGBTQ+ society played a big part in me accepting my sexuality and making friends and meaningful connections in the queer community – some of them are still my close friends now. It makes me sad thinking about all the queer young people starting uni this year wont have that and as a result won’t learn how to become as comfortable in themselves as I did.”
David Levingstone via Getty Images LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ people of colour, are statistically more likely to experience feelings of loneliness
Emily Garside, 36, from Cardiff, agrees. She graduated from her MA in 2008 from King’s College University of London and remembers the thrill of LGBTQ meet-ups on campus. “Coming out isn’t a one-off event, it’s a process,” she says. “And it took all four years of university, of being surrounded by that community, to really embrace my identity and be ‘out’”.
Garside says without that physical community – those spaces to learn and grow – she worries for today’s students losing a vital element of growing into themselves. But students are trying to stay positive. Ryan James Broadhead, 18, from Liverpool, is starting his degree at The Arden School of Theatre in October. He’s trying to get his head around the ways his university experience will differ from freshers of bygone years.
Advertisement
“My uni have really put out drastic measures to ensure the safety of everyone,” he says. “Being told you have an online class for a singing lesson is so strange.”
FG Trade via Getty Images
Ryan is confident with his sexuality, but fears others less comfortable with expressing themselves may have a tough time. “If I was in that position, I’d feel way more empowered and less afraid if I was surrounded around people who I could relate to,” he says.
“I feel for the people who might not have the chance to meet other LGBTQ people. I think with the government changing the rules every minute it’s going to be so much harder to socialise with anyone, including the LGBTQ community.”
Will Reed, 18, a youth advisor from Bristol for Boys In Mind, is taking a gap year due to the pandemic. “One thing I’ve spoken about is how difficult it has been for LGBTQ people during lockdown, as they’ve perhaps been in homes where it’s unaccepting, or they don’t feel comfortable to be themselves, so online support has been so important for many,” he says.
Advertisement
Through his work, Will has seen a spike in LGBTQ people struggling in the pandemic, but says organisations have upped their support. Boys In Mind, Pride Inside, Stonewall and Queer House Party are a few LGBTQ bodies that have run virtual events and offered support for queer people to help them maintain a sense of solidarity.
“We’d encourage LGBT people to get in touch with their University’s LGBT student society to see what remote or socially distant activities they are hosting.”
There are ways students can make their freshers experience a little less daunting, says Jessica Holden, senior policy officer at LGBTQ charity Stonewall. “University should be an exciting time where all students, including LGBTQ people, can learn, grow and enjoy their independence, but the Covid-19 pandemic means things will be very different this year,” she said.
“We’d encourage LGBTQ people to get in touch with their University’s LGBTQ student society to see what remote or socially distant activities they are hosting, so they can immerse themselves in their new life and meet others.”
Regardless of the distancing rules, Jake, 18, who preferred not to share his surname, says starting at Coventry University will give him the chance he needs to fully explore his sexuality, having only recently come out.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Michelle Ackerley: Grief Reared Its Head Again In The Pandemic

Macmillan/Getty
In What Works For Me – a series of articles considering how we can find balance in our lives – we talk to celebrities about wellbeing and self-care.
It’s been two years since Michelle Ackerley received a call from her father’s hospice to say he’d died during the night, but The One Show presenter says the global pandemic has renewed her grief.
Advertisement
“It feels like the grief has reared its head again, because a lot of us have got more time to reflect on things,” says Michelle, who recently joined the Loose Women panel. ”I think people assume at two years you’ll be over it and back to normal, when actually, grief can come in so many different waves. I personally feel like I’ve found it harder recently.”
Michelle’s dad, Marcus, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in summer 2017. He died in March 2018.
The diagnosis came as a huge shock to the family. “I remember us being taken into this really lovely room in the hospital with calming wallpaper, soft furnishings, beautiful pictures on the walls and a box of tissues on the table,” says Michelle. “I suddenly felt cold and thought: ‘This is serious.’”
Advertisement
Michelle Ackerley Michelle Ackerley with her dad, Marcus.
The news floored Michelle, who says she experienced shock, sadness and anger all at once. “It was so much information to take in, I just went a bit numb,” she recalls. “It’s like a computer programme in your brain that just doesn’t work when you’re feeling so many emotions. I remember walking out of the room and I broke down in the corridor.”
Michelle had two tactics for looking after her mental health while her father received treatment to prolong his life: stay practical and stay present.
She busied herself by learning everything possible about chemotherapy –speaking to doctors about how her dad was likely to feel after each round and how to best support him. That day-by-day, step-by-step pragmatic approach helped her avoid thinking “my dad is going to die”, she says.
When her dad was well enough, the pair would spend whole days sitting outside coffee shops chatting. Being present in those moments was a vital coping mechanism, says Michelle.
“We both knew time was of the essence, so it was about really appreciating those moments,” she says. “And not just spending time with my dad, which I did a lot of anyway, but learning to enjoy sitting in the chair, tasting the tea, and recognising the way the sun feels on your face.
Advertisement
“We always feel like time is running away from us and we’re on a countdown – but sometimes I almost felt like the diagnosis was the opposite of that. It helped me to appreciate time.”
Although Michelle cut down her working hours to spend time with her father in the hospice, she continued to travel to London to film The One Show at his insistence.
Michelle Michelle Ackerley with her dad, Marcus.
“He was such an advocate of my career and he’d really look forward to those days when I was filming,” she says. ”He was the one pushing me to do things. That gave him a focus as well, because it gave us something exciting and different to talk about the next morning.”
Was it hard to keep up the show’s jovial, light-hearted tone with so much going on at home?
“It’s a funny one because on the one hand, it felt like part of my life was falling apart, but on the other, having some kind of structure in my life was good,” says Michelle. ”With live television, you’ve got to be very present in that moment. It allowed me to have that half and hour where I was very focussed on the chat I was having, or the interview I was doing. It was a bit of a sense of normality.”
Advertisement
Michelle Michelle Ackerley with her family.
Working on the show also provided Michelle with the opportunity to talk about her feelings with someone outside of her family – something a Macmillan nurse at the hospice had recommended. She bonded with one of the make-up artists, who’d lost both her parents to cancer.
By this point, Marcus had made friends with other residents and they, alongside the Macmillan nurses at the hospice, would regularly gather around his bed to watch Michelle on TV. “I’d say: ’If you watch I’ll tap my left ear at a certain point and that’ll be me saying: ‘Love you dad!’” she says.
The news her dad had died was “very difficult”, but the immediate aftermath where friends and family descended en masse to offer support and share happy memories gave her a lot of comfort. It was weeks later, when people started to “go back to their normal lives”, that the grief really hit.
“I went through a period of thinking about all the traumatic things that happened during dad’s passing: seeing him so terribly ill, losing weight and crying – all those things were flooding my memories,” she says.
Advertisement
“One of my friend’s said: ’Let’s try and write down five things you can think about that make you smile when you think about your dad, because you don’t want to only look back on the [traumatic memories].’”
Michelle found the concept useful and still keeps a gratitude diary to help her stay positive. The loneliness of lockdown and a lack of routine during the pandemic has renewed some of the harder emotions, though.
“There’s a big life-changing moment that’s happening with us all at the minute and I keep thinking: ‘Gosh, I can’t believe all this has happened in the world and dad’s not here to experience it,’” says Michelle. “It makes him feel like part of the past.”
The first step in dealing with this, she says, is simply to acknowledge and accept that some days will be easier than others.
“Some days I can listen to a piece of music he liked and it’ll make me smile or laugh and I’ll feel so grateful that although he’s not here anymore, I’ve had that amazing person in my life,” she says. “Other days I’ll feel the complete opposite. I’ll feel upset and lonely and like there’s nothing anyone can say that will take that sense of loss away.”
Advertisement
ITV/Shutterstock Michelle Ackerley on the Loose Women panel.
Exercise has formed a key part of Michelle’s self-care routine when these harder days hit, as she’s learned that curling up under a duvet doesn’t work for her. She’s currently in Cardiff filming The Crimewatch Roadshow, so she’s been hitting the gym in the afternoon to keep her spirits up.
When she’s at home in London, she’ll head out for a walk to Richmond Park. Her favourite spot is a bench by the duck pond, where she’ll take a breather and watch dogs charging into the water.
“Some of them will be playing with other dogs or the owners will start throwing balls in,” says Michelle. “It’s such a simple thing, but having that distraction, connecting with nature and watching that simple play is brilliant. It really puts a smile on my face and has helped me no end.”
By the time she gets home after her walk, Michelle says the “big knotted web of thoughts” in her head becomes unravelled.
Advertisement
It’s taken a long time to develop these strategies for dealing with grief, though. Michelle’s advice for anyone recently bereaved is not to rush the process. “Don’t put a time limit on how you feel about things, because I started to do that this year,” she says. “Saying: ‘It’s been two years, you should be over it now, you shouldn’t be so consumed by it’ doesn’t help.”
She also advocates talking about your feelings with a bereavement counsellor or someone you trust, if you feel unable to open up with friends and family.
“Grief, it’s like the word ‘cancer’ – people think it’s so negative and don’t want to talk about it, but sharing grief can make you feel a bit more comforted, supported and make you feel a bit better in that moment,” she says.
Whenever you take part in Coffee Morning this year, you’ll be helping millions of people living with cancer, who need us more than ever. Find out how you can still get involved at coffee.macmillan.org.uk
HuffPost UK


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--How Often Should You Wash And Replace Your Pillows?

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Content warning, this could turn your stomach:
Viewers have been left horrified after a woman filmed herself deep cleaning her partner’s “nasty” pillows after he refused to clean or replace them for 10 years.
A TikTok user by the name of Margaret documented the process of stripping the three stained and yellowing pillows while her boyfriend was at work, and the end results were incredible.
Advertisement
Firstly she soaked the filthy pillows in a bathtub with two dishwashing tablets and Borax (a natural mineral found in many detergents and cosmetics) before adding bleach to the mix.
After some prodding and swirling in an attempt to wring out the dirt, Margaret got “impatient” and placed the pillows in the washing machine and then dryer for 54 minutes.
The video has racked up more than 1.7 million views and people are understandably repulsed.
“I don’t know why I feel like I’m witnessing a crime right now,” one TikToker wrote.
“Replace the whole boyfriend,” commented another while others posted about his hygiene, causing Margaret to explain she bought new pillows but he won’t use them because “he’s attached to these.”
Advertisement
Olga Nikiforova via Getty Images The good news is that there are moves you can make to extend the life of your pillows when it comes to hygiene, the first being washing your pillow case every week.
So, how often should we wash and replace pillows?
Experts say pillow cases should be washed weekly, and the pillow itself should be replaced every three months.
The concern is less about the pillow breaking down and more about the host of critters and debris that can be found in the pillow you lay your face on night after night.
Dirt, oil and dead skin cells get trapped there, which may lead to acne. Dust mites, which belong to the spider family, also like to hang out in the crevices of your pillow.
“You can’t see them, but they’re concentrated in things like bedding and carpeting,” says Mark R Neustrom, DO, of Kansas City Allergy and Asthma Associates.
Advertisement
Dust mite accumulation can cause very real health problems, namely unpleasant reactions in people who are allergic to the bugs. Neustrom says that of all people with allergies, around two thirds of them may be allergic to the types of dust mites that congregate indoors.
TikTok @itsamemargieo A TikTok video of a woman washing her boyfriend's pillows for the first time in 10 years has gone viral, fetching 1.7 million viws
And unlike allergens like cat dander, the protein that triggers reactions to dust mites isn’t typically airborne, he says, so symptoms that are particularly strong first thing in the morning is a good sign the problem might be your pillow. Anyone with year-round nasal symptoms also might want to get tested for a dust mite allergy, he says.
“Always change your pillowcases weekly when you strip the bed. Changing and washing pillowcases may need to be done more frequently if you have an eye infection, or other lesion on or around your face/head,” Mary-Louise McLaws, Professor of Epidemiology in Health Care Infection and Infectious Diseases Control toldHuffPost Australia.
“Weekly changing of pillowcases extend the life of the pillow and keeps dirt/infection from entering your skin.”
Advertisement
The deep cleaning and soaking process of “stripping” has gone viral on social media platforms recently with audiences realising a quick round in the washing machine doesn’t always cut it to remove tough grime.
Stripping pulls out hidden gunk from clean clothes using a concoction of detergents. People have been left shocked by the dirty water left over in the tub after washing their already “clean” clothes.
Follow cleanfluencer Go Clean Co’s method below to try out stripping.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--My Boyfriend Of Three Years Suddenly Ghosted Me. Here’s Why I’m Grateful It Happened

Malte Mueller via Getty Images Woman relaxing in armchair listening to music with headphones and smart phone
“What would you do if you knew you would never get married?” my therapist asked me.
“I’d probably kill myself,” I blurted, and was immediately shocked at both what I’d said and at its truthfulness. An unpartnered life seemed at that moment to be not worth living, even though I was in my mid-40s and had spent more of my adulthood single than not.
I’d started seeing my therapist again because my boyfriend of three years had suddenly ghosted me. After a highly emotional discussion about our future together, he stopped returning my phone calls or texts. I’d hoped we were headed toward making our connection more permanent, at least by moving in together.
Advertisement
As I desperately tried to figure out what was going on and save our relationship with tactics culled from Googling mental health and dating websites, I was barely sleeping and spent my waking hours in a kind of feral panic.
Unable to eat much, I lost 14 pounds in six weeks. I didn’t want to believe my ex could consciously treat me this way, so I decided he must have been having some sort of breakdown. I didn’t recognize that I was on my way to having one myself.
I’d always assumed I would get married eventually. Despite my long identification as a feminist, I thought marriage — the right marriage — would make life easier, an idea I picked up on from my mother. She was expecting to be a good Catholic wife and mother who’d stay at home with the kids. Unfortunately, she married her alcoholic high school sweetheart — charming, smart and handsome, but an undependable mess — and instead she ended up divorced and responsible for supporting two small children in the early 1970s.
Back then divorce was not as common as it is now, especially in our well-to-do Chicago suburb. I was acutely aware that my mom was the only divorcée among my friends’ parents and that we were the only ones who lived in a small apartment rather than a big house from which the dad set off to work every day.
Advertisement
While we never wanted for food or other basics, money was tight. An undercurrent of anxiety colored my childhood as my mom went out on dates and pined after a wealthy, emotionally unavailable boyfriend who took us out for ice cream in his Alfa Romeo and for trips on his boat.
Once, going through her purse for some reason, I found a scrap of paper on which she’d doodled her married name with the boyfriend. She grabbed it away, angry and humiliated.
“Don’t get married too young, but don’t wait too long — the men will be picked over,” she once told me.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that I would be living a much more diminished life ... if his actions, as cruel as they were, hadn’t forced me to wake up.”
My boyfriend’s abrupt exit and my subsequent near-breakdown forced me to do some soul-searching. I had to grapple with the increasingly likely possibility that I would not, in fact, ever get married, or at least not anytime soon. So what did I want my life to look like instead?
Advertisement
I was ashamed that I couldn’t even answer the question. I came to realize I had been using the goal of a partnership as a way to avoid taking responsibility for my own life.
I’d always been beset by feelings of anxiety and inadequacy at my jobs and in my writing. By hitching my cart to a man’s, I wouldn’t have to fully face them. I wouldn’t have to take as many risks, or the risks would be lessened because I’d be in a place of greater economic and emotional security. Or so I thought.
So I started asking myself what I wanted to do. Immediately, I knew I wanted to travel more. For my first post-breakup trip, I went to Tulum, Mexico, by myself. It was a little weird to be on my own in that extremely romantic place, but I truly relaxed, lying for hours in a hammock or on a lounge chair on the beach while waiters brought me margaritas.
When I showed up at the hot restaurant where advance reservations were a must, I scored a seat at the bar because I was on my own. I was often the only single traveler on snorkeling trips and other outings, but no one seemed to think it was that odd, or if they did, they were impressed rather than pitying.
Over the next few years, I went to Puerto Rico, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Turkey and all over the U.S. — almost always by myself.
Advertisement
In the meantime, Donald Trump was running for president, and his pussy-grabbing comments, allegations of sexual assault and history of insulting women were in the news every day. At the same time, the Me Too movement was gaining steam.
I became increasingly angry at the way too many men failed to show empathy for the harassment and unequal treatment women suffered, excusing Trump’s behavior and saying the Me Too movement had gone too far, just as powerful men started to be held accountable. I was horrified at how many white women voted for Trump, a candidate who represented a gendered status quo that I naively thought had been crumbling.
Suddenly, remaining single didn’t seem like bad luck or a personal failing ― it seemed like a valid choice and even an enviable status, something that more than one married person at my 30th high school reunion made sure to tell me.
While a committed relationship can undoubtedly enrich the lives of the people in it, as more friends divorced and broke up, I realized that all too often it requires sacrifices I wasn’t sure I was willing to make. And even when it’s good, the going can be just as tough as single life.
“You seem to think marriage makes everything great,” a friend who is in probably the best partnership I know of said to me at one point. “It doesn’t.”
Advertisement
So I stopped feeling ashamed and embarrassed about being one of the only older women in my large extended family who had never gotten married or had a kid. I stopped feeling helpless and alone when something went wrong with my condo or my car. I earned a master’s degree and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. And when I got laid off from my job, I had the confidence to go freelance so I could start living the life of greater freedom that I’d dreamed of — even knowing I’d still face those old feelings of fear and anxiety.
A love and dating coach whom I followed for a while in my doomed effort to get my ex back often counseled her heartbroken followers, “Someday you’ll be grateful to your ex for dumping you.”
There’s no doubt in my mind that I would be living a much more diminished life— and probably making the same mistakes with men over and over again, a dating version of Groundhog Day ― if his actions, as cruel as they were, hadn’t forced me to wake up.
One could argue I’ve gone too far the other way. I have pretty high standards for how I spend my limited free time, and, for the most part, the men I’ve met haven’t cleared the bar. Family members still occasionally make cat lady jokes. But I lived the first half of my life trying to fit myself into a mould to attract and keep a man. I think I’ll spend the second half trying to live the life that pleases me.
If that brings me a loving partnership, I’ll be very happy. But I’ll still be very happy if it doesn’t.
Advertisement
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Ed Davey To Warn Lib Dems Voters See Party As 'Out Of Touch'

JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images
Too many voters think the Lib Dems are “out of touch”, Ed Davey will warn party members on Monday.
In his first speech to the party’s conference as leader, Davey will say “listen to what people are really telling us” and “change”.
The Lib Dems went into the 2019 election with high expectations of picking up a significant number of seats on the back of pro-Remain sentiment.
Advertisement
Jo Swinson, who led the party into the election, claimed she has a realistic chance of becoming prime minister. In the event, Swinson lost her seat and the party dropped from 12 to 11 MPs.
Davey will tell party members: “We have endured three deeply disappointing general elections, in five tough years.
“At the national level at least, too many people think we’re out of touch with what they want.
“The answer is to listen to what people are really telling us. And to change.”
He will use his speech to be the voice of the UK’s nine million carers, drawing on his own life story.
Davey will talk about being a teenage carer for his mother as she battled bone cancer after his father died when he was four, as well as the challenges of caring for his disabled son, John.
Advertisement
He will tell parents of disabled children and young people caring for their parents: “I understand what you’re going through, and I promise you this: I will be your voice.”
And he will also speak of caring for his grandmother, and the challenge of getting her into a good, affordable home to “make her last few years as comfortable as we could”.
The speech, which will be delivered online, will criticise Boris Johnson’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying the government has not “risen to this challenge”.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--10 Million People Download NHS Covid-19 App (And The Test Result Glitch Has Been Fixed)

LOADING ERROR LOADING
More than 10 million people have downloaded the NHS Covid-19 app since it launched on Thursday, the Health Secretary has said.
Matt Hancock said on social media it was an “absolutely fantastic” response so far, and urged more people to download it.
Advertisement
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that six million people had downloaded the app the first day it launched, and this had since risen to 10 million by midday on Sunday.
The app needs a minimum of seven million people to be using it for it to be effective.
More than 1.5 million venue check-ins were recorded on Saturday while more than 460,000 businesses have downloaded and printed QR code posters that can be scanned by the app to check-in to premises, it added.
These QR codes allow contact tracers to reach multiple people if an outbreak is identified in a venue.
Carl Recine / Reuters
Advertisement
Hancock said: “The enthusiastic response of over 10m people downloading the app in just three days has been absolutely fantastic.
“This is a strong start but we want even more people and businesses getting behind the app because the more of us who download it the more effective it will be.
“If you haven’t downloaded it yet I recommend you join the growing numbers who have, to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Absolutely fantastic response to the @NHSCOVID19app: over 10 million people have downloaded the app in just three days.
A strong start - if you haven’t already, I recommend you download it now — Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) September 27, 2020
His comments come a day after an issue preventing users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England logging a positive test result was resolved, but people who book a test outside the app still cannot log negative results.
Advertisement
Concerns were expressed when it emerged people tested in NHS hospitals or Public Health England (PHE) labs, or those taking part in the Office for National Statistics infection survey, could not enter their results on the newly-launched app.
The app has been available for download across England and Wales since Thursday, but the problem existed only in England.
A tweet from the official app account on Friday confirmed that certain test results could not be recorded, after a user tweeted to say he was being asked for a code – which he did not have – in order to enter his result.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Students Locked Down On Manchester Campus Claim They Are Being Falsely Imprisoned

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Students caught in a Covid-19 campus lockdown in Manchester have claimed they are being falsely imprisoned, with a number of legal experts backing them on social media.
Lawyers at a chambers which specialises in human rights and civil liberties have also questioned the legality of security staff enforcing the 14-day isolation of 1,700 students at two accommodation Manchester Metropolitan University blocks.
Advertisement
And a Liverpool-based law firm appealed through social media to students at Birley campus and Cambridge Halls to seek its help “pro bono”, PA Media reports.
Students described being scared and confused as their accommodation was locked down on Friday after 127 people tested positive for coronavirus.
Bosses at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) told students that following discussions with Public Health England and Manchester City Council, the decision was “deemed necessary” to prevent the spread of the virus to other students, staff or the local community.
The university added: “We appreciate this self-isolation period will present difficulties for you, especially coming so soon after your arrival at the university.
Advertisement
“We are here to support you, and our staff are working hard with local partners to make this period more manageable for you.”
The university has since announced that students are free to leave their accommodation but “trust they will do the right thing” and continue to self-isolate.
On Sunday, Dominic Waddell, 21, a first-year filmmaking student, told the PA news agency: “I have heard people mentioning claims of false imprisonment.
“There’s a great deal of anger, people aren’t very happy with how the university’s run it, considering we’re the ones that allow them to keep running because we’re the ones that give them this money and now they’re locking us in the homes we’re paying for so it’s very frustrating.
“People are trying to make the most of it, playing board games and watching TV with your flatmates but I don’t really see how long we can keep that up with all these new people that you barely know – it’s going to be pretty difficult to keep a lifted spirit.”
Advertisement
Adam Wagner, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, said he was “dubious to say the least” about the possible legal basis of the student lockdown.
He tweeted: “If there are students (or parents of students) who are being detained in their accommodation blocks by security staff, I would suggest urgently requesting confirmation of the precise legal authority they think they are acting under.”
If there are students (or parents of students) who are being detained in their # accommodation blocks by security staff I would suggest urgently requesting confirmation of the precise legal authority they think they are acting under. See thread 👇 https://t.co/LvIzMHVuds — Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) September 27, 2020
His colleague, fellow barrister Rabah Kherbane, tweeted: “The idea of an immediate notice, large-scale effective imprisonment of first-year students, with 24-hour enforcement by accommodation security, is slightly surreal. The LA (local authority) has not clarified powers/conditions met.
″@ManMetUni please inform your students they can seek legal advice.”
The MMU branch of the University and College Union (UCU) said they had “nothing but sympathy” for the students and their families.
Advertisement
In a statement issued on Sunday, it said: “As a union we warned senior managers that the outcome of returning to campus in the manner they proposed would be the situation we are now seeing unfold.
“We have said this repeatedly in formal and informal meetings, and in writing. Our warnings went unheeded.”
The university says it has stepped up food deliveries in partnership with a local supermarket but said the self-isolating students were not permitted to travel to a nearby Covid-19 testing centre in Denmark Road while it works with local health services to provide alternative arrangements.
Professor Malcolm Press, vice-chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, told HuffPost UK: “The physical and emotional wellbeing of our students is paramount. Discussions with Public Health England and Manchester City Council on Friday led to the decision to ask students living in these halls to self-isolate at short notice.
“The reason for this decision was the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 127 students testing positive for the virus, and the need to protect our wider community.
Advertisement
“I recognise the impact that this situation is having on our students, particularly given the extremely short period of time we had to inform them of the decision. Many of them are away from home for the first time and still finding their feet. Their welfare is our top priority and that is why we have been working hard with organisations around the city since Friday evening to put in place support to help during this 14-day period.”
monkeybusinessimages via Getty Images
Press said the university is “urgently” preparing a care package which they hope will ensure students will have the essentials they require in halls, plus financial support to assist them through this challenging period.
“We expect students to follow the guidance for self-isolation set out by the government and Public Health England,” he said.
“Our staff are on hand 24 hours a day to provide support, guidance and deal with concerns. We are unable to prevent our students from leaving the halls, but our students are bright young adults and we trust that they will do the right thing.”
Advertisement
The vice-chancellor added: “The government places a high priority on universities staying open and delivering high quality education. Students tell us that they value the mix of online and face-to-face education and it is important that we do what we can to deliver this in a Covid-secure way. It would be unfair to expect students to put their lives on hold.
“We have switched all of our Foundation Year and First Year students to online learning for the next 14 days, and are reviewing the situation regularly. Other year groups will continue to learn in a blended way.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Croydon Police Shooting: Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Supplying Firearm

Sgt Matt Ratana PA
A man has been arrested in connection with the investigation into the murder of a Metropolitan Police sergeant, as tributes were paid to the “extraordinary” officer.
Sergeant Matt Ratana was shot by a handcuffed suspect in the early hours of Friday at a custody suite in Croydon.
Advertisement
A man was arrested in the early hours of Sunday in Norwich, Norfolk, on suspicion of supplying a firearm.
Officers investigating the murder of Sgt Matt Ratana in #Croydon continue to work around the clock as part of a detailed and thorough investigation. A man has been arrested in the early hours of 27 Sep on suspicion of supplying a firearm.https://t.co/QenAu4LQvf — Croydon MPS (@MPSCroydon) September 27, 2020
The suspect for the shooting has been named as Louis De Zoysa, 23, who remains in a critical condition in hospital. Police said they have not yet been able to speak to him.
Ratana, 54, was remembered on Sunday by friends and teammates at East Grinstead Rugby Club where he was head coach.
Advertisement
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick also paid tribute to him as an “extraordinary person” who was “very good at his job”.
Leading tributes to fallen officers on National Police Memorial Day (NPMD), which was held remotely due to the pandemic, Prince Charles said the officer’s murder is the “latest heartbreaking evidence” of the daily risks officers face.
Addressing the annual service in a video message, he said: “The dreadful incident in Croydon on Friday is the latest heartbreaking evidence of the risks faced by our officers daily.
“I would like to send my deepest sympathy to the families of each of these officers who have given their lives.
“These are losses we can never replace, sacrifices we can never repay, but of which, as a society, we can only strive to be worthy.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-27--Third Wave Of Coronavirus 'Entirely Possible', Explains Sage Expert

LOADING ERROR LOADING
A third wave of coronavirus is “entirely possible”, with lockdowns only deferring the problem, an expert has warned.
Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said that while strict measures stop the immediate crisis and quickly reduce transmission, they do not make the virus go away.
Advertisement
Speaking on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday he said that modelling had previously shown it was “entirely possible” that a second lockdown would be needed in September.
When asked if there could be a third wave of coronavirus he said: “That’s entirely possible.
“The scenario I mentioned earlier does actually include this possibility and this is just another demonstration of what I was saying earlier that lockdown doesn’t solve the problem, it defers its.
“That’s why we need some kind of cavalry on the horizon or alternatively, if you think that vaccine is not going to be available in six months or 12 months or two years or whenever, it means that we do need alternatives.
“The alternatives that have been mentioned so far are things like the Moonshot programme of mass testing.”
Advertisement
Woolhouse, who is a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M), a subgroup of Sage, said that while a vaccine could be available in six months it was unlikely that it could be rolled out at a mass scale in that time period.
He said that Sweden had shown that the virus could be controlled without a “strictly enforced lockdown” and that restrictions needed to be sustainable in the long-term.
He added: “I’m afraid I don’t see a way through this in the coming months and even years where we don’t have some restrictions in place. This is the new normal.”
When asked if the government had modelled any other options to a national lockdown at the start of the pandemic, Woolhouse said “basically no”.
He also said he did not know of any modelling on the effects of closing pubs at 10pm.
He added: “Models don’t have that sort of granularity. You can’t explore in detail different closing times of pubs or even different versions of the ‘rule of six’ we have, the differences between indoor and outdoor transmission.
Advertisement
“So these sort of things have to be judgment calls based on the public health evidence rather than the modelling.”
But culture secretary Oliver Dowden told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday there was “definitely science” behind the 10pm curfew for pubs, bars and restaurants.
Dowden said: “There is definitely science behind it, that’s why we’re requiring people to be seated in pubs and restaurants, so that stops the flow of them to and from the bar.
“We are reducing the closing times to stop people staying later and drinking. And the point about all of this is that everyone has their part to play. If we all play by the rules, we can ensure that there are not further, more draconian restrictions.”
Infectious disease modelling expert Professor Graham Medley said on Saturday he did not recall the curfew being discussed by Sage.
Advertisement
Woolhouse also said that outbreaks at universities were “entirely predictable”.
His comments come as the government came under pressure to guarantee young people are not confined to their halls of residence over the festive period because of Covid-19 outbreaks on campuses.
Thousands of students are currently self-isolating in their rooms following a surge in cases at institutions including Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan and Edinburgh Napier.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-28--This Morning Welcomes Back 81-Year-Old Iris For Another Chaotic Interview

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Cast your mind back roughly 300 years to January, and you may recall a truly iconic daytime TV moment when 81-year-old Iris Jones stopped by This Morning to discuss her romance with her 36-year-old partner, Mohammed.
As presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield interviewed Iris about her relationship, things took a rather graphic turn as Iris began sharing intimate details about the romance.
Advertisement
And yes, that included the “whole tube of KY jelly” she went through on their first night together.
Well, it’s been eight months, and Iris has finally done the world a favour and given a second interview to the ITV show, this time with Mohammed by her side.
And things were every bit as chaotic the second time around, we can assure you.
Iris returned to This Morning on Monday, this time with her partner Mohammed at her side ITV
Speaking live from Cairo, Iris first updated the hosts on where things were at with their impending marriage, after which Mohammed got a few things off his own chest, in particular the way their relationship had been spoken about online.
“I found [when we met] that Iris understood me… love doesn’t know any difference between religion, between age, between countries,” he said. “This is our life. Iris chose me and I chose Iris. That’s all that matters.
Advertisement
“And I want to say something… for all the people [that] attack our love… it’s not your business, focus your lives. Go to hell, that’s all!”
“He’s very passionate about his feelings,” Iris interjected.
Mohammed continued: “I am angry, please listen to me, I am angry about saying on [the] media. You are saying and other people are saying ‘toyboy’. I am not a ‘toyboy’. I am a man. I am a man, OK? I am not a game, please don’t say that again.”
Iris then said: “Because ‘toyboy’ means a game. Our life is not a game. Normally Mohammed is very, very shy when he’s speaking. He’s not shy in bed.”
Mohammed called out This Morning and other media outlets for referring to him as a "toyboy" ITV
On that note, Holly questioned whether Mohammed had “had a bit of a word” with Iris after her first appearance on This Morning, to which she responded: “He asked ‘why was I so graphic?’. I said, ‘because I speak the truth’. I mean, I brought KY jelly with me this time [in Cairo], but we didn’t open it. We haven’t used it, I might take it back to the shop and get my money back.”
Advertisement
“Iris, I told you not to say that,” Mohammed then laughed, before apologising to the hosts.
At the end of the interview, Iris addressed the nation, asking if there were any job opportunities for Mohammed – or herself – in TV.
Iris' second interview on This Morning was certainly eventful ITV
She explained: “I would like to say, Mohammed is open to offers. You’ve only got to look at that face and that hair… and he’s got a perfect six pack if he keeps his stomach in. He’s available for television work.
“And if anyone wants an 81-year-old woman for a fashion shoot, I’m your woman. I’m here, waiting. We could do with the money, because we’ve been spending like there’s no tomorrow! And we’re both broke.”
While we’ve got you, shall we all just revisit Iris’ original This Morning appearance in all its couldn’t-walk-the-next-day, felt-like-I’d-been-riding-a-horse, saddle-sore-wasn’t-in-it glory?
Advertisement
Truly majestic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-28--No.10 Rejects Call For 9pm Ban On Shops Selling Alcohol

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Downing Street has rejected calls for a nationwide ban on shops selling alcohol after 9pm.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, warned on Monday the new 10pm curfew on bars was “doing more harm than good” as people were now holding house parties once the pubs shut, risking a greater spread of coronavirus.
He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme something needed to be done to “prevent the rush to shops once the pubs have closed”.
Advertisement
“I received reports that the supermarkets were absolutely packed out to the rafters with people gathering,” the Labour mayor said.
But asked if the government would consider a 9pm ban on takeaway alcohol, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said: “There are already existing rules in relation to licensing.
“Plus there is a requirement for all shops to ensure that any sale of items including alcoholic drinks is done in a Covid-secure way.
“In terms of what people are doing elsewhere, the rule of six is in force in terms of meetings among households.”
Advertisement
And the PM’s spokesperson also rejected calls for the 10pm curfew itself to be ditched.
“The decision to reduce time to 10pm was based on the fact it had been in operation in the local lockdown areas and had been considered to strike the right balance,” they said.
No.10 also said it was too early to tell whether the recently introduced “rule of six” had failed to suppress a rise in infections.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to be able to say that. I think it takes a minimum of two weeks to be able to start to see the impact of measures which we have introduced,” the spokesperson said.
But they did not rule out introducing further restrictions to limit the spread, including imposing a two-week “circuit break” and a ban on social mixing.
It comes as parliament abandoned plans to allow alcohol to be served after 10pm in its bars and restaurants.
Advertisement
Infectious disease modelling expert professor Graham Medley said on Saturday he did not recall the 10pm curfew being discussed by the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).
But Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, on Sunday told the Andrew Marr Show there was “definitely science” behind the policy.
Following photographs and film of large crowds gathering in city centres after closing time, professor Robert Dingwall, a sociologist who also advises the government, said it was another example of “patrician policymaking”.
“When were any of those involved in making this decision last in a city centre pub at closing time? The disdain for the night-time economy reflects the puritan streak in public health that has marked so many interventions,” he said.
“Anyone with a basic knowledge of sociology, anthropology, socio-legal studies or criminology would have predicted the transport chaos that Andy Burnham has described – and the street parties that we have seen elsewhere.”
Advertisement
John Apter, national chair of the Police Federation, said police had difficulty dispersing large crowds that gathered with only limited numbers of officers available.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-28--No.10 'Expects' University Students To Be Allowed To Go Home For Christmas

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Downing Street has said it “expects” that university students will be able to go home for Christmas despite coronavirus outbreaks on campuses.
It marks an apparent relaxing of the government’s position after culture secretary Oliver Dowden could only say he wanted students to be able to return home if Britons follow Covid-19 restrictions and get the virus under control.
Advertisement
“We would expect all students to be able to go home at Christmas,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson told reporters on Monday.
The prime minister is facing pressure to address the situation in universities after warnings from the National Union of Students (NUS) that people are being “trapped” in their halls of residence in “disgusting conditions” due to self-isolation rules.
Thousands of students are self-isolating following a surge in cases at universities including Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan and Edinburgh Napier.
Students at Manchester Metropolitan on Sunday claimed they were being falsely imprisoned, with a number of legal experts backing them on social media.
Advertisement
The university later said it could not stop students under Covid-19 lockdown leaving their accommodation, but that it expected them to follow self-isolation guidance.
Signs posted on a window at Manchester Metropolitan University's Birley campus, on Monday ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NUS president Larissa Kennedy told Good Morning Britain: “I’m hearing from some students across the country where there are security guards outside of these blocks where students are being kept, stopping people from leaving, coming and going, where students are being discouraged from getting deliveries and told by the university that they’ll deliver food, and that delivery has not arrived, and so they’ve gone for the day without food.
“I’ve heard from other students who, they’ve turned up with an amount of toilet roll, told with no notice that they’re going to be locked down and wondering where the next roll of toilet roll is coming from.
Advertisement
“It just feels like these are disgusting conditions for students to have been trapped in.”
She said people should follow public health guidance but questioned the legality of keeping students “cooped up in that way without that access to the things that they need”.
Asked if universities have the power to lock students in halls, the PM’s spokesperson said: “The laws for students are the same for the rest of the public.
“Universities can issue advice to their students and I believe that’s what’s been happening in recent days.
“Students follow the same rules as other people living locally and therefore would be subject to the same rules in relation to localised lockdowns.”
Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator in England, said it would be “looking very closely” at the quality of education being provided by institutions.
Advertisement
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said institutions must be clear with students on what teaching conditions they can expect and if this changed.
“What we can’t have is a situation where students don’t know what’s going on, that they’re locked in their halls of accommodation, and can’t get hold of food,” she said.
She said students had “legal rights as consumers” and could raise complaints with their university and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.
Asked if students should receive a refund of tuition fees she said it was “a question for government”.
But Johnson’s spokesperson said: “Universities are autonomous and they set their own fees.
“What we would expect is that they continue to deliver a high quality curriculum to their students.”
Meanwhile, the University and College Union urged the PM to ensure online tuition at universities “becomes the norm”.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-09-28--Have I Got News For You: 15 Things You Didn't Know About The Show As It Celebrates 30 Years On Air

LOADING ERROR LOADING
For the last three decades, Have I Got News For You has been on hand to offer a sideways look at the week’s headlines, with no politician or celebrity safe from the acerbic wit of Ian Hislop and Paul Merton.
The satirical panel show’s enduring popularity has meant it is now celebrating its 30th anniversary, with its 60th series due to kick off later this week.
Advertisement
To mark the milestone, we’re delving into the HIGNFY history books to bring you some surprising facts and figures you may not have known about the show...
Have I Got News For You team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton BBC
1. There have been 524 episodes of Have I Got News For You, spread out over 59 series since its debut episode on 28 September 1990.
2. There have now been more episodes hosted by guest presenters than by the original host Angus Deayton, who left in 2002.
Advertisement
Angus hosted 198 episodes of HIGNFY, while 326 episodes have been fronted by others.
Angus Deyton was the original host of Have I Got News For You BBC
3. Across those 326 episodes, 115 different people have sat in the host’s seat.
4. Alexander Armstrong holds the record for most guest host appearances on the show, at 34. He is followed by Jo Brand, who has guest hosted 24 times.
5. Andy Hamilton holds the record for most frequent guest, with 24 appearances on the panel.
Alexander Armstrong has guest hosted the show the most BBC
6. Team captain Ian Hislop is the only person to have appeared in every single episode of Have I Got News For You.
While fellow team captain Paul Merton has been with the show since the start, he took a break from series 11 of the show in 1996 – although he did make an appearance as a guest during the series, where he was a panellist on Ian’s team.
Advertisement
7. Despite this, Paul has won the majority of the series by a significant margin – he has triumphed in 44 of them, with Ian only winning five. Ten series ended up as a draw.
8. Even when you break it down into individual episodes, Paul still holds the record for the most wins, boasting 332 triumphs to Ian’s 167 – 25 were drawn.
Jo Brand has been a HIGNFY regular BBC
9. The famous revolving back panels of the set have featured an incredible 2,623 different people.
10. The panels used to revolve with the help of three crew members winding a bicycle chain by hand. Nowadays, this function is carried out by two crew members.
11. US president Donald Trump is one of those wanted by Ian Hislop to guest present the show.
“I have an awful feeling this may not happen,” he said.
12. Jeremy Clarkson once threw a biro at Ian during a recording of the show, which hit him in the face and he started bleeding. Ian claimed they had to stop filming the show but “Jeremy insisted that it wasn’t blood but red ink from the biro”.
Advertisement
Ian continued: “He later apologised but said that he was only doing so because ‘his wife told him to’.”
Jeremy Clarkson has hosted Have I Got News For You on a number of occasions BBC
13. One of Paul’s personal highlights of the last 30 years was when the late Bruce Forsyth sat in the hot seat.
“He was my favourite guest host,” Paul said. “He brought so much fun to the set and made it so unlike any other episode for its light entertainment values.
“I find it funny that the show I liked the most is probably the one Ian hates the most!”
14. The show has been recorded in four different studios over its 30 years.
Its home for the majority of those three decades was at The London Studios on the capital’s Southbank prior to its closure in 2018. It subsequently moved to Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, and its upcoming series will be the first to record at the newly reopened Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.
Advertisement
In 2001, it also recorded a one-off election special at the old BBC Television Centre in White City.
The last series of Have I Got News For You was recorded virtually BBC
15. The upcoming 60th series will see the reintroduction of a studio audience after the last run was filmed virtually.
The audience in the studio will be socially distanced and at a reduced capacity. There are also plans for a second socially-distanced audience to watch the record from a separate screening room, with their live reactions being used to recreate the impact of a full audience.