thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--Fears Millions Of Pints Of Spoilt Beer From Locked-Down Pubs Could Overwhelm Sewage Network

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Lockdown is forcing pub owners to pour tens-of-millions of pints of booze down the drain, prompting fears that the deluge could overwhelm the sewage system and harm the environment.
Pubs up and down the country were fully stocked with thousands of pounds worth of perishable food and drink in anticipation of hundreds of Sunday lunches for Mother’s Day when – just 48 hours before one of the busiest days of the year – Boris Johnson announced they would have to close immediately, alongside bars and restaurants.
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The fate of staff, huge rent bills and the unexpected blow that they weren’t covered by their own business interruption insurance were all significant challenges that had to be dealt with almost immediately – but perhaps the most immediately obvious problem was the massive quantities of food and drink rotting away in real time in the cellars below.
The Guardian reported in May that some 70m pints of beer had been poured down the drains following pub closures. The destruction of beer usually has to be overseen by someone from the brewery itself but, in times of social distancing, the responsibility has fallen to publicans to dispose of their stock.
In some cases, breweries have offered to collect unopened barrels of spoilt stock, but many pub owners have been left with no option but to pour out-of-date booze down the drain.
Publicans are expecting to get a partial refund on their spoilt stock in the form of Beer Duty back from HMRC, but the process is a lengthy one and many pubs have not yet received a penny. Many pub owners are holding onto expired stock, still unsure what exactly to do next.
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Citing the official guidance, made public on May 1, a spokesperson for HMRC said: “With immediate effect, wine/made-wine and cider producers will be able to arrange for the destruction of wine/made-wine and cider without needing to physically send an Approved Company Representative to oversee the process. This will enable them to reclaim duty on spoilt product while assisting in compliance with social distancing rules during Covid-19 if they comply with the other existing conditions as set out in Notices 162 and 163.
“Publicans will now be able to destroy product remotely without the need for an Approved Company Representative being present if they gain permission from the original duty payer. They will need to comply with all health and safety conditions as well as any set by local authorities.”
The government has specifically advised publicans to film themselves disposing of stock, but there are real concerns that the easiest way to do this – pouring gallon after gallon down the drain – could have serious implications for the environment and could overwhelm the sewage system.
Landlord and spokesperson for Campaign For Pubs Ian Locke said: “I know publicans who have got thirty or forty barrels of beer and lager sitting in their cellar – that’s £4,000 to £6,000 pounds’ worth that they haven’t been able to use.
“We’ve been told to list everything we have and then film ourselves pouring it down the drain. The problem with that is that the water companies can only cope with so much beer going down into the sewer system.
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“It affects their ecosystem. There are going to be tens-of-thousands of pints going down the drain all over the country.”
A spokesperson for Severn Trent Water told HuffPost UK that they had been working with pubs in their area to ensure that spoilt stock was correctly disposed of, adding that there was no risk to the water supply due to the fact the sewer system is completely separate.
But that doesn’t mean that gallon upon gallon of out-of-date beer won’t cause problems for the way our waste systems function.
The spokesperson added: “There are some risks associated with tipping large quantities of beer into the sewer system.
“We need to make sure that there is no overwhelming of the network if there are large quantities being disposed of, and that there is no impact on the running of our sewage treatment works.
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“We also need to make sure that nothing gets into the wider environment.”
Pubs covered by Severn Trent Water have been asked to contact the company first for advice before pouring their pints away.
Water UK, which monitors the nation’s water companies and works to protect the environment, said it was “important that wasted beer is dealt with properly, because it contains material that kills marine life and the bacteria used to break down sewage.”
“It can stop sewage works from operating and damage the environment, and that’s why beer disposal is strictly controlled. We’re doing everything we can to help, while still keeping safety our top priority, and we’ve offered to make disposal applications simpler, cut bureaucracy and waive fees.
“We believe these big changes should allow pubs to open safely soon, and we’re looking forward to that as much as anyone.”
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said they were “in discussions” with both pub and brewery representatives and water companies to ensure beer is destroyed “safely and appropriately.”
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They added: “We would recommend that any pub with out of date beer talk to their brewery and water company.”
Close up of served beer in Sydney pub, Grant Faint via Getty Images
But expired stock isn’t the only issue faced by publicans across the UK. From rent to the furlough scheme, social distancing rules to government grants, there are serious questions about how the entire industry will function in the coming months.
To say the pub industry itself is complicated would be an understatement. The way in which the system is structured causes real difficulty, particularly for smaller pubs, even in normal trading times.
The consensus among many people passionate about preserving locals up and down the country is that Covid-19 is only exacerbating the usual problems.
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Rent is one of the most significant challenges faces by pubs, whether they are free houses or tied. Some large pub companies have suspended rent and suggested a staggered return to full repayments, but most publicans have been left facing rent bills running into the tens-of-thousands of pounds and have no idea how they’ll meet the rising costs.
The #NoPubNoRent campaign started on social media towards the start of lockdown, and the hashtag has been used by dozens of publicans calling for answers on why they are being forced to pay any rent at all when their revenue has fallen to zero.
“Many of the biggest companies are charging rent through this period of closure,” explained Greg Mulholland, campaign director for Campaign For Pubs.
“That’s already making it impossible for some pubs to survive, and some tenants are already being forced to walk away.”
Some pubs have had their rent reduced or cut altogether throughout the lockdown period, but have been told that the special measures will be lifted once the government gives pubs permission to reopen.
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Many venues, especially those with smaller buildings or without outside space, fear that social distancing rules mean it’ll be impossible turn a profit even once they are technically allowed to reopen – meaning they’ll fall inevitably fall behind on rent anyway.
The government is facing intense pressure to relax its two-metre social distancing rule in a bid to help the hospitality industry survive the pandemic. While The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that the rule had been left out of draft guidance, there has so far been little evidence that pub-goers will be able to stand closer than two metres together.
Rob Star runs six pubs, each with a different freeholder, in London, and is facing rent debts running into hundreds-of-thousands of pounds as the coronavirus crisis wears on.
“We’re still liable for rent every quarter, which is rent I’m paying for a building I can’t open for business and have actually been ordered to close by the government,” Star told HuffPost UK.
“The government really needs to step in and do something about this issue – at the moment it’s almost like a game of poker between landlords and tenants. Ideally I would like a rent free period, but landlords obviously don’t want that as they have their own costs and expenses.
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“The reality is that I don’t have hundreds-of-thousands of pounds sat in the bank for when the government decides to close my pubs. Rent is by far the biggest cost we’re liable for as a business, and that’s the case for most pubs.
“The government needs to come in before the end of June, when the next quarter of rent is due, and try to mediate between the tenants, the landlords and the banks to try and come up with a solution that works for everybody.”
Some pubs face even starker financial concerns as a result of their ineligibility for government grant schemes – an issue that, paradoxically, is disproportionately impacting some of the country’s most successful pubs.
The reason for this lies in the rateable value of a business, which is worked out differently for pubs than it is for other businesses. While most businesses – for example, shops – have their rateable value worked out on the basis of their open market rental value, rates are worked out for pubs and other licensed premises in terms of their expected annual level of trade.
Businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000 – whatever industry they’re based in – are not eligible for the government’s Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund. That means that a very successful pub, still facing the intense pressures of rent and other business outgoings, could get no financial help from the government while another, less successful pub, could get £25,000 in grants and potentially ride out the pandemic while the other is forced to close.
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This is exactly the position that Claire Alexander, who runs two highly successful pubs in the Cotswolds, has found herself in.
She explained: “We’ve got higher costs, higher wage bills, we pay more VAT, we pay more National Insurance Contributions, we pay more in tax than any of the pubs that got access to the grants.
“But our profitability is exactly the same as the pubs that got the grants, and so we’re effectively being penalised.
“This is affecting more than 9,000 pubs in the UK currently, around 20% have fallen through the gaps. It’s absolutely unjust – I don’t think I’ve had a decent night’s sleep since we were forced to close.
“They [the government] really need to rectify this issue because it means that some of the best pubs in the UK aren’t actually even going to be able to open when the lockdown is over.”
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Tens-of-thousands of people up and down the country are employed by the hospitality industry, with many working in pubs. For months, the vast majority of these workers have been placed on furlough, but with the chancellor Rishi Sunak announcing in May that businesses would start to pay into the scheme in August, before it tapers off entirely in October, there are still serious concerns about the fate of their jobs.
While there has been discussion of some pubs being able to open in July, no one really knows when they’ll be able to welcome back customers or what it will look like once they do.
There are real fears that even by October pubs could still only be able to admit a fraction of their usual customers, which means they’ll have no need for their pre-Covid levels of staffing. With no furlough scheme to support these surplus workers, pubs will be forced to let them go.
Damon Horrill runs Cornerstone Inns in Cheshire, a small group of pubs believed to be the UK’s first employee ownership trust pub company. He said he, and other in the industry, had anticipated for more tailored help for the hospitality industry to be announced by Sunak at the end of May, but had been left “stunned” by the way in which all businesses had been “lumped together”.
“How can it be the same for us all?” he asked. “It’s as though they said: ‘I’m sorry, you can’t go back to normal and 80 to 90% of your business isn’t going to be there, but in a couple of months’ time – although we can’t tell you whether or not you’ll be back to normal by then – we’ll be expecting you to find money from somewhere to pay this percentage of your staff wages.’”
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“There’s no regard for different circumstances in different businesses. We don’t make the rules, but you’d think that the people who are would recognise the differences between sectors.”
A Treasury spokesperson said: “Our job retention scheme has helped a million employers and protected 8.7 million jobs across the U.K. We have extended it until October - meaning it will have been open for eight months and will continue to support businesses as the economy reopens and people return to work.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--'Black British History Is Barely Covered': How The Curriculum Could Be Decolonised

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As the Black Lives Matter movement has gained traction and support in the UK following the killing of George Floyd by police, so has the realisation that the education system is often sorely lacking when it comes to teaching children about anti-racism.
Many people are also now asking whether the curriculum accurately depicts Britain’s colonial and imperial past, or reflects the achievements and contributions of Black people.
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A petition to expand the GCSE English reading list to include books about race and racism has been signed more than 400,000 times, while almost 220,000 people have backed a petition to teach children “about the realities of British imperialism and colonialism”.
On Wednesday, the National Education Union added its voice to calls for the curriculum to be changed, saying educators “must lead the way in breaking down the barriers caused by racism”.
But what should a new curriculum look like? We asked activists from three different education campaigns about the changes they want to see.
Activists from the initiative The Black Curriculum Supplied: The Black Curriculum
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Black British history is “barely covered at all” in schools at the moment, said Eleshea Williams, a campaigner from the initiative The Black Curriculum. “And if it is, it’s only in the capacity of slavery.”
“We believe there is so much more to Black history than just slavery,” Williams said. “It predates slavery, it predates colonial times, it predates the Windrush generation, but it’s just not something that is represented at all.”
The current white-washing of history gives pupils a “damaging” and distorted view of the past, she said.
In a bid to correct this, campaigners from The Black Curriculum – which was founded by young people in 2019 – go into schools to teach students about Black history.
In a recent series on the group’s Instagram account, campaigners highlighted Black British women such as political activist Olive Morris, nurse Mary Seacole and Lilian Bader, one of the first Black women to join the armed forces.
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Activists from The Black Curriculum want Black British history to be taught in schools Supplied: The Black Curriculum
Now, the group is calling on education secretary Gavin Williamson to make Black history a compulsory part of the curriculum.
“The students that we have taught have really benefited from seeing themselves in positive roles – seeing that Black people were in Britain and had a huge presence in Britain,” Williams said. “That it wasn’t just slaves.
“We know that a lack of positive role models definitely has a negative impact on self-esteem, sense of belonging, sense of identity.
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“So we believe that implementing Black history as a mandatory aspect in the curriculum will help with these things.
“And it gives a fair view of history that’s not distorted to say: ‘It was just the white people who did good things.’”
Campaigner Pran Patel has called for the UK curriculum to be 'decolonised' Denise Brady Photography/ TEDx NorwichED/ Flickr
“"It isn’t about simply including Black people. It’s about including and exposing our pupils to the beauty and richness of world knowledge. Because if we don’t, we deny them."”
For former assistant principal Pran Patel, founder of the Decolonise The Curriculum campaign, it’s not just history lessons that need to change. Students should be taught a “more authentic truth” across subjects, he said.
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He first realised the failings of the UK education system when he started university – and discovered he “couldn’t name a single person of colour who had added to the sum of human knowledge”.
“So I went to the library,” he said. “There I found out that the maths that we did in quantum mechanics lectures was based on an Indo-Arabaic system. It’s Indian – the basis of our mathematical system is Indian.
“Can you imagine how easy it would have been easy to teach me or tell me that? It just didn’t happen.”
People of colour and anti-racist scholars should be involved in the conversation about what a new decolonised curriculum should look like, he said.
“You can’t talk about poetry and not talk about Shakespeare’s sonnets, I agree. But equally, you can’t talk about poetry and not talk about Rumi. Everyone loses out there.
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“So decolonisation isn’t about simply including Black people. It’s about including and exposing our pupils to the beauty and richness of world knowledge. Because if we don’t, we deny them.”
Patel asked: “Why was I 35 before I met Rumi and was moved by his words? It’s an abomination when you think about it like that.”
He added: “The curriculum that we all go through impacts on every aspect of school life. From assessment and outcomes to the pastoral care for our pupils – it impacts on everything.”
But for Sue Schofield, who works for anti-racism education charity Show Racism The Red Card, changes to the curriculum must be about more than just expanding pupils’ frame of reference. They must actively be taught about anti-racism as well.
Show Racism The Red Card Supplied: Show Racism The Red Card
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The charity wants anti-racism lessons to become a compulsory part of the PHSE curriculum. Campaigners also offer teachers training on the subject.
“Some people can be taught the facts, which is absolutely vital, but it still doesn’t have an impact on their behaviour,” Schofield said.
“In the PHSE curriculum, it’s compulsory to teach relationship education, sex education and health education, but there’s no statutory requirement to teach anti-racism education work.
“What we do is about encouraging pupils to be good citizens and not be scared to challenge something they see and think is wrong – whether that is racism, or just treating another person unkindly.”
“We get fantastic feedback from our training,” Schofield said. “We’re shifting values and we’re shifting attitudes.
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“Teachers will respond and say they have noticed a huge difference in the culture of the school and classroom and that people are much more thoughtful.”
She added: “The key thing is that our workshops are anti-racist. There’s a well-known saying: ‘It’s not enough to be not racist, you have to be anti-racist.’
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Racism in all its forms is abhorrent and has no place in our society. Schools already play a significant role in teaching children about the importance of having respect and tolerance for all cultures.
“Black history is an important topic which schools can teach to children of all ages as part of the history curriculum.
“Schools can utilise resources from a range of organisations and sources to support teaching Black history.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--What Happened To Matt Hancock's Coronavirus Contact-Tracing App?

Kat Hall, The Bureau Of Investigative Journalism

At the height of lockdown, a contact-tracing app was presented to the British public as their greatest hope of freedom. One mobile phone app would safely and securely track those with whom you came into close proximity, and automatically alert you if any of them became infected with Covid-19 so you could get tested, or self-isolate.
Provided enough of us – a hefty 60% of the population – used it, it could bring a return to normality. By downloading it, the health secretary Matt Hancock told breakfast television viewers, you would be “doing your duty”, helping to save lives.
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Over the course of two months, that thumping rhetoric grew quieter. The app would come in mid-May, officials said. Then the end of the month. Now, in June, the UK’s test and trace operation has launched with no sign of the vaunted app. Dido Harding, the telecoms executive brought in to lead the UK’s test and trace operation, now says the app is the “cherry on the cake”, not a key part of the strategy.
(Update: On Wednesday, a health minister admitted the app may not be ready until winter. Lord Bethell told the Commons science and technology committee: “We’re seeking to get something going before the winter, but it isn’t the priority for us at the moment.”)
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, speaking to those in and around the app’s development, reveals how a data-hungry approach, an attempt to defy Apple and Google, intra-agency bickering and a glitchy test run on the Isle of Wight took the contact tracing app from a ministerial boast to a near embarrassment. The Bureau understands that different versions of the app have been developed by different companies – and it is still unclear which, if any, will eventually be released.
A person on the NHS coronavirus contact tracing app in the Isle of Wight. Steve Parsons - PA Images via Getty Images
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The agency responsible for commissioning the app was NHS X, the technology body launched by Hancock, a longtime digital enthusiast. Matthew Gould was brought in as chief executive, having previously worked with Hancock at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
But one insider, who did some early work around the contact-tracing app, said that from the start NHS X appeared to be building something for themselves rather than for the British public. Instead of simply creating an alert system for those who were potentially infected, NHS X instead tried to build a tool that could map information from the app alongside data from a separate symptom-tracker app to view hotspots.
Although NHS X was acting on the advice of epidemiologists, there was a sense from some insiders that it was also keen to maximise its access to data. “I think there are a bunch of people pushing this in NHS X, not just the boffins,” said one. “The tech folks will love the idea of a big central database... Others will be thinking of all the other things that they can track and trace.”
Plans to retain the data collected after the pandemic raised concerns among campaigners, who argued the app would not work without public trust. MPs and peers also called for a legal requirement to delete the data, but Hancock refused to adopt a bill drafted by the Joint Human Rights Committee to do so.
An NHS employee using the app to trace contacts with people potentially infected with the coronavirus disease on Isle of Wight last month. Isla Binnie / Reuters
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Going it alone
The decision to collect data centrally so it could be fed into NHS databases had wider consequences, putting the UK at odds with Apple and Google.
The tech giants, concerned about the privacy of their users, have developed a decentralised model for contact tracing, keeping data on individual devices with alerts only travelling between handsets via a bluetooth “handshake”. The companies have also set limits on their software. Most countries building contact-tracing apps have opted for the route set out by Apple and Google.
The UK did not. The developers decided that contact data gathered via bluetooth signals would be stored on a central database. One early rationale given publicly for this approach was that a centralised approach would catch hoaxers entering fake data to cause panic – particularly as the app was expected to use self-reported symptoms.
From a technical perspective, this meant having to implement several complex workarounds, essentially bypassing the Google and Apple technology, to make the app function as required. But soon enough, the idea of basing the wider tracing programme on self-reported symptoms was abandoned in favour of a test and trace model.
NHS X subsequently hedged its bets in early May by awarding a £4m contract to Zuhlke, a Swiss firm, to explore a decentralised model. The Department of Health confirmed to the Bureau that Zuhlke would now support the live service “once the NHS Covid-19 app is ready to be launched”.
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The agency had already awarded nearly £2m to Pivotal, a subsidiary of VMWare, to develop the original centralised data version of the app. According to insiders a large part of the work Pivotal had been doing was recently transferred to another company commissioned by NHS X. Asked about this transfer, a spokesman from VMWare said only: “We continue to work closely with NHS X to build the app.”
Some doubt the usefulness of any contact-tracing app as a key tool in fighting the pandemic – not least because this is untested technology. Australia rolled out its Covidsafe contact-tracing app in April – also on a centralised model – but so far it has been found to have minimal use. As of May 23 just one person was said to have been identified using data from it.
Ellen Broad, from the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University, is sceptical. “A key learning for us is nothing can replace manual contact tracing,” she said. “One of the problems we can fall into is assuming technology can automate or replace a human role.”
Hancock arrives in Downing Street, earlier this month. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trial…and error
Following a short trial on the Isle of Wight, the app was supposed to have been launched in mid-May. It has been repeatedly delayed, and the results of the pilot have not been released.
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On May 15, Bob Seely, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, said that between 50,000-60,000 of the 141,000 islanders had downloaded it. (Previous reports of 73,000 included downloads from outside the island, according to the County Press). That falls short of the 60% required to make the app effective.
Residents who spoke to the Bureau said they had uninstalled the app after experiencing glitches. Darren Hopkins said his phone was bombarded with notifications directing him to the home page symptom questionnaire. “I cannot tell you the stress of being sat there and having the phone constantly pinging,” he said.
Another resident said there had been false positives, such as neighbours of NHS workers alerted about “close contact” through a shared wall.
Jon Crowcroft, of Cambridge University’s computer laboratory, helped to build the FluPhone app during the 2011 H1N1 epidemic and believes NHS X has come a long way in making the technology work. “But no one I’ve spoken to believes it will reach the 60% uptake,” he added.
He said the government had back-pedalled on the importance of the app once it was realised that lifting lockdown had to involve large scale testing and human contact tracers phoning, texting or emailing people who may have been exposed to the virus. When the test and trace programme was launched on May 27, Hancock’s only reference to the app was to deny it had been delayed due to technical issues.
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Crowcroft believes the app could play a role in helping to target testing, but said it was just one piece of the puzzle. He expects a greater technological challenge lies ahead if NHS X wants to integrate the app’s back-end database with Public Health England’s test and trace system.
The number of different public agencies, senior executives, and outsourced developers working on various aspects of the app and the wider test and trace programme have led to disagreements and headaches, insiders told the Bureau.
“A lot of people have raised concerns that nobody has been looking at the whole view of triage, tests, contact tracing and then what happens after,” said one source.
NHS Digital, an agency that predates NHS X and which manages many NHS technical systems day-to-day, is attempting to bring teams together across agencies to think about these issues “in a more holistic way”, they said.
The muddle of different projects and agencies – Public Health England, NHS X, NHS Digital and others – means there is no coherent message. “The scripts for [the contact tracers] have been designed in complete isolation to the app,” a source said.
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Another source felt that since the arrival of Dido Harding – the former CEO of TalkTalk, which was notoriously hit by a huge user data breach during her tenure – divisions had deepened between developer teams and those working on policy. “The tech people think the tech works,” they said. “The policy people don’t think it does.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “We have prioritised security and privacy in all stages of the NHS Covid-19 app’s development … The DHSC and its agencies work closely together on all aspects of the NHS test and trace service.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--It’s Official – This Is The Summer Of Nostalgia

You’re reading our series Summer’s Not Cancelled, where we celebrate summer in this new normal. From rediscovering nature and cherishing time with friends and family, to virtual festivals and unforgettable staycations – summer’s still here, it’s just different.
This isn’t how summer was supposed to be.
Summer Solstice, marking the middle of summer, is upon us. But instead of feeling elated at the potential for fun in the sun, many of us are feeling confused and boxed-in.
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The lockdown has shut down all the IRL events we love, and even some of the TV we turn to for escapism can’t be relied on. Beloved shows like EastEnders are coming off air for the first time since 1985 with the last of the pre-lockdown episodes airing in mid June.
So what can we do to keep spirits high and stay entertained now that it’s summer and the pubs are still closed, and there’s no hope for concerts or festivals this side of 2021?
When there’s less to do in the present, it makes sense that we naturally turn to the past: we’re watching more nostalgic shows, and turning to our favourite hits, to get our kicks.
Viewing figures for Only Fools and Horses have risen during lockdown BBC
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Viewing figures confirm that nostalgia TV has surged under lockdown, as the general public attempt to “escape from reality”, according to research by Thinkbox, as shows like Only Fools and Horses and Last of the Summer Wine have experienced dramatic ratings spikes.
According to psychologist Dr Jane Harvey from the University of Newcastle, having more free time and a lack of plans means we’re more likely to experience unusually strong feelings of nostalgia. It’s hardly a surprise, given how we’re yearning to see all our friends and family again, for something more adventurous than a walk around the block.
And summer, the season most of us associate with socialising and going to big outdoor events, is likely to make us feel even more misty-eyed, as we recall intense memories of past summers at Glastonbury, Wimbledon or Pride events across the country.
So programmers have been responding by commissioning nostalgia across the board and the message is clear: nostalgia is definitely what it used to be.
Programmers are earmarking the dates of cancelled events with televised celebrations Julia Garan via Getty Images
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“We have had a fantastic reaction to our recent nostalgia collections, both in terms of our classic soap offerings and the recent Euro 96 repeats,” says Jake Williams, Manager of Programme Strategy at ITV Hub.
“Both have served the ITV Hub audience with an opportunity to take a trip down memory live and relive some vintage TV moments. Both soaps and sport bring the nation together in a way like no other, and particularly in light of these difficult times, it’s always comforting to give our audience a portal to look back on some of the TV moments that have helped shape culture.”
“Soaps and sport bring the nation together in a way like no other.”
And the ever-increasing mix of channels available is well suited to lockdown, offering us seemingly limitless entertainment options as we each seek to experience nostalgia in different ways.
Although there is one particular style of show that works better than any other, reveals Karl Warner, Controller at E4.
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“I think during uncertain times people look to stories and TV shows that are familiar and in turn comforting,” Karl says. “In some cases, they take you back to a time when things felt more secure, optimistic even.”
“I’ve stopped watching as much news and started watching more drama,” he adds. “Loved Last Dance and Selling Sunset on Netflix. And unsurprisingly, I’ve been watching more comedy than ever. New episodes of Rick And Morty (obviously), Friday Night Dinner and I binged After Life.”
The channel Britbox have noted similar trends. They have noticed an increase in subscribers watching The Vicar Of Dibley and Only Fools And Horses, two of the most classic and celebrated British shows that remind viewers of pre-lockdown life.
The Vicar of Dibley has also experienced a ratings spike under lockdown, as viewers seek more nostalgia BBC
Reeman Saakan, Brand Officer at Britbox called these shows “comforting choices that transport us to simpler days.”
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“In these unusual times many of us are turning to in-home entertainment and especially TV box sets to escape,” he says. “We are bringing even more series from the BBC and ITV storehouses of loved shows onto the service to ensure we keep up with demand and keep the British public suitably entertained.”
And as summer starts properly, the opportunity to attend events vicariously will be ever-present on screens.
A nostalgic weekend of Glastonbury coverage from years gone by will pepper the final weekend of June’s scheduling, while Wimbledon repeats will run in place of the real thing one week later. And historical Olympics coverage will be shown in commemoration of the postponed Tokyo event in July and August.
The BBC will air throwback Glastonbury coverage this year in place of the real thing AmyLaughinghouse via Getty Images
As programmers attempt to commission as much variety as they can throughout lockdown, Dr Harvey, an expert in nostalgia from Newcastle University, has revealed one particularly interesting rhythm of cognitive behaviour she says contributes to how each of us develop feelings of nostalgia: it’s common to feel nostalgia for events which happened exactly one decade ago, or two decades ago, and backwards in decades, she says.
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And thanks to TV, we can also feel nostalgia for times before we were born, a phenomenon Dr Harvey believes is unique to our generation.
For instance, we may turn on a black and white 1930s film, and feel nostalgic not for the movie, but for the memory we have of watching that movie with our grandparents.
“Those films are not nostalgic for people who are alive, they pre date that,” says Doctor Joan. “So the only way you’d know about them was if your Granny had shown you them. Because we have now got stuff on TV going earlier than people being born, so it makes nostalgia something different. At one point it didn’t exist, but now it does.”
For those of us over 25, the age when it’s believed we start developing feelings of deep nostalgia for the first time, throwing back to the past has been an obvious means of escape from the long and arduous lockdown.
And as summer begins properly and the ghosts of cancelled events lie before us, more of us than ever will be tuning into shows that lean into the events we’re so desperately missing in real life.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--It's Been Months – And The Sex Ban Is Now Over For These Couples

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It’s been almost three months since couples who don’t live together were told they should either move in together – or risk spending months apart. But thanks to the easing of lockdown restrictions, sex is back on the menu... for some.
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From Saturday, people who live alone are allowed to form “support bubbles” with another household. While some couples living apart might have made exceptions and seen each other anyway, it marks the end of sex ban for those who’ve stuck to the lockdown rules.
Of course, single people living alone can also choose a “seksbuddy”, as the Dutch put it, for their support bubble, too – as long as it’s mutually exclusive.
“Is it inappropriate to use the phrase ‘absolutely gagging for it?!’” jokes Beth*, 41, from Liverpool. “I cannot bloody wait. It feels a bit like the virginal wedding night fairytale.”
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Beth has been with her partner for just under a year. The pair are “starting again, after long marriages” and – because her partner has children – they’ve stuck strictly to lockdown rules and “cold turkey-ed it” when it comes to sex. Beth is excited for that to change, though.
“Lockdown has been sound for our ability to communicate and frankness in doing so, but oh my God I cannot wait to match all the chat with actual, er, action,” she says.
James, 31, from Essex, says he’s looking forward to the day with “nervous excitement, but mainly excitement”. It’ll be the first time he’s stayed at his boyfriend’s house – and been within two metres of another human being – for three months.
The pair got together just before lockdown and while they both have friends who have broken the rules, they’ve stuck to them as James is a key worker. Instead, they’ve survived off video calls and walks in the park.
“I hope we pick things up where we left off, but there’s a tiny doubt that Saturday won’t be as great as we hope, because it’s been so built up,” says James.
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Katie, 29, from London who met her boyfriend on The Intro app during lockdown, will be forming a “bubble” with him this weekend, meaning they’ll be able to have sex for the first time. “After our video date we texted a lot and started going for walks, not quite as socially distanced as they should’ve been,” she jokes. “But neither of us went to each other’s flat.”
Having sex for the first time this weekend “doesn’t feel too different to other relationships” she’s had in the past, she says – “although it’s probably been a little longer than I’d normally wait, so there’s some additional, pent-up excitement.”
“I cannot bloody wait. It feels a bit like the virginal wedding night fairytale.” - Beth*, 41, from Liverpool
Alice 25, from Cornwall, and Yousif 26, from London, met on the dating app Badoo a few months before lockdown – and they remind us this weekend’s reunions aren’t just about sex. The pair have decided to cook a romantic meal together and get dressed up so it feels like a proper date, rather than the video dates they’ve become used to.
“When the news broke about the new ‘support bubbles’ we were on the phone chatting for ages about what we’ll do this weekend,” says Alice.
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“We both live alone, so I am going to Yousif’s house in London so I can stay the night, which is really exciting as we’ll get to spend the whole weekend together. Lockdown has made me appreciate things I took for granted before, like a hug or sharing moments together. I know when we’re finally able to hold each other it will be an amazing moment.”
Despite many excited couples gearing up for a reunion, there are still some who can’t – because neither of them live alone. Sherice*, 24, from Hampshire, has been with her boyfriend for three years. The pair both live with their parents, so won’t be spending the night together any time soon.
“We’re in a long distance relationship so meeting up just for the day isn’t very practical,” she explains. “While I’m happy for people living on their own, I’m disappointed couples who live with their parents or housemates have been forgotten. We’re in our 20s and can’t afford to live alone through no fault of our own.”
Going without sex for three months has been tough, says Sherice, but it’s “the loneliness and lack of intimacy or touch” that’s been harder to deal with.
“It’s certainly having a severe impact on my mental health,” she says. “Friends in the same situation have opened up about their mental health struggles with this, too. It’s become harder since the new rule was introduced, seeing people say the ‘sex ban’ is over when it isn’t for everyone.”
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Sherice and her boyfriend have agreed to stick to the rules – for now. “If I’m honest I would consider breaking the rule if they don’t change it in the next month or so,” she says.
“Many of my friends have broken the rule and I don’t blame them at all.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--Our Family Are Playing 'Wait-And-See' With School. Here's The Reality Of That

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In retrospect, mentioning yurts was a mistake. We’d been debating whether or not to return our kids to school now lockdown was easing, and I was just starting to nudge my husband over to my way of thinking, when I said the word “yurts” and threw my whole argument in the bin.
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Stupid yurts.
Ever since Boris Johnson passed his decree that schools across England would reopen in June (from which he’s since backtracked, of course), I’ve been sceptical. The high R number and crowded beach combination, the wildly varying official advice between England and Scotland, the very existence of Dominic Cummings – they all pointed toward the wisdom of extending lockdown and forgetting about schooling until at least September. It’s not as though GCSEs are looming for our children, who are just five and two.
My husband’s approach is more: “it’ll probably be fine; let’s wait and see; our kids need to socialise.”
Ada Yokota via Getty Images
Two weeks into June, and both our boys are still at home, sitting agape in front of some incomprehensibly dull Minecraft playthrough video on YouTube. School has yet to announce when Reception kids can return, and at our toddler’s nursery, the ceiling has caved in. “Why don’t we homeschool through the summer, instead?” I ask my husband.
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I’ve read that family groups can share tutors; that kids can establish secure friendships and learn outdoors, at their own pace. I paint my husband a blossom-strewn picture of a creative, outdoorsy forest-schooling summer schedule of bug hunts, beachcombing, rockpooling, and woodland trails.
But I go too hard, too fast. Maybe the kids won’t even want to go back to school in September, I suggest. And maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe, given the embarrassing disarray of our government, we should sell up as a family, go off-grid, and become self-reliant.
We could change our names. Call both kids Sorrel. Never cut our hair again. We could be like the family in Paul Theroux’s The Mosquito Coast, except without all the madness and murder. Instead of the Central American rainforest, we could move to, perhaps, rural Scotland. We could buy an RV. Or – hey! – a yurt.
This is when I lose him. When the veil falls, and my husband sees me in my full conspiracy theory-addled, tinfoil-hatted crazy glory. Very gently and non-judgmentally, he asks how I’m going to achieve this educational forestry when I hate the heat, have incapacitating hay fever, and have been known to sprint away from my baby buggy if chased by a wasp.
Plus, he asks me – again, gently – when do I think we’ll have time to implement this amazing homeschooling routine? I want to tell him about my fantasy where one of us magically makes enough money for the other one to quit work altogether and become a full-time parent – probably him, because he’s the better cook and has the driver’s licence.
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Having already gone full-yurt, I’m reluctant to get shot down again. I suggest we get a new childminder. My husband outright refuses, making the decent point that our kids would find a stranger’s house as confusing as socially-distant school. Instead, he proposes continuing as we have done.
“We work for half a day, and parent for half a day, seven days a week. It’s not ideal,” He shrugs. “But I can cope. Can you cope?”
Ada Yokota via Getty Images
I don’t know what my face is doing when my husband asks this, only that, while looking at me, he falters on that last word. Can I cope with parenting tiny active kids for half a day, and working for half a day – with no respite, very little downtime – for seven days a week throughout the summer and beyond?
To be quite frank, I barely feel I’m coping now.
This is evident from the out-of-control lockdown hair I never get around to detangling; by the way I keep humming and picking at my hormonal acne and eating exclusively from the “caffeine” and “sugar” food groups.
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I feel as though I should be able to cope, but the idea gives me The Fear, and – on the back of that – a horrible case of the ‘You’re A Terrible Persons’ with a small side of ‘Why Are You Even A Mum?’
It takes a rare FaceTime with my best friend, later that day, to set things straight. She, also gently (everyone is being so gentle with me lately!) reminds me that I already had a few too many projects on the go and was entering a depression, anxiety and chronic illness spiral before lockdown even began. And that was back when our boys were in school full-time and nursery part-time.
Perhaps, she suggests, my feelings are understandable. She also reminds me – yet more gently if such a thing were possible – that my mother died. In April. In a care home, of Covid-19.
I hadn’t forgotten this, exactly, but aside from two weeks in bed that I don’t remember, directly following her death, lockdown meant having to jump straight back into constant working and parenting – only more sadly, and less ably.
All this considered, says my friend, perhaps an inability to cope and a fondness for tinfoil hats and yurt dreams is understandable. And that maybe we can find a third way to take some of the pressure off. I then go off and have a more reasonable chat with my husband.
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Anyway, that’s the story of how I’m taking a “wait and see” approach with the schools reopening and, instead of shopping for a yurt, I’m now looking for a part-time nanny for the summer. A nanny who’s fond of forests, flower crowns and, crucially, not so afraid of wasps.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--America Forced Me To Have 'The Talk' With My Black Child Before I Was Ready

Photo Courtesy Of Shanida Carter "I am raising my children in a world that may write them off by color before they even open their mouths. Or worse," the author writes.
Every night, my husband, son, daughter and I join hands in a prayer circle before bedtime. We made this a habit every night since the Covid-19 outbreak placed us in quarantine. Each of us says a prayer out loud.
“Lord, Black Lives Matter. And please keep us safe from police.”
That was the prayer of my nine-year-old daughter, who asked God for protection from those whose primary responsibility is to keep us safe.
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My husband and I wait until the kids go to sleep to watch the news. We have every childproof safeguard in place to monitor what our daughter sees online. How does she know what’s happening?
My daughter was playing the popular online game Roblox this past weekend while 12,000 demonstrators peacefully marched in our home city of Newark, New Jersey. Her competitors are friends she knows in real life whose accounts we’ve vetted. One player posted “Black Lives Matter” in the chat feature during the game, which started a discussion that she showed me right away. Some kids agreed. Others wrote that they didn’t care.
It was time for the talk. I planned to have discussions with my children at some point about what it means to live as citizens of colour in America and how to respond when various threats arise. I just didn’t anticipate having the talk at that moment, especially when I’d just had to have a separate discussion about the coronavirus and why we haven’t visited grandma in more than two months.
We’re raising our children to have a strong sense of self and knowledge of their Caribbean, Hispanic and Asian ethnicities. But I didn’t think I would have to broach this subject — how the colour of their skin could work against them despite their rich cultural heritage — so soon.
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“I asked my daughter what her first thoughts were about police. She said they were going to arrest her. When I asked why, she said she didn’t know, but that’s what they do.”
But my daughter needed to know why mommy has been getting teary-eyed more than usual lately. I needed to hear what she thinks and how she feels about the little bit of exposure she’s had to what’s happening. Her innocent prayer signaled that it was time.
I found myself ill-equipped for having the talk with my children. Like many parents, I went to the internet for strategies on how to engage and educate them. Based on what I found and what I was comfortable with, my husband and I decided that the best approach would incorporate a non-hostile message of honesty, love and grace. In addition, we recognised that we needed to identify support resources (such as counselling or therapy) should our children need them.
My daughter’s school, led by a Latina principal, set the table for the discussion. The school canceled homework and all other virtual activities to give families a Mental Wellness Day on June 1. Her class has been reading the autobiography of Ruby Bridges for the past few weeks, so that was a perfect and heartbreaking starting point. The events that happened when Ruby Bridges integrated a white school in New Orleans are still happening right now. Today, Ruby Bridges is 65 years old.
I explained that Black people in America and around the world have been treated unfairly for centuries. Many people who look like us feel angry and tired. We just want to be treated as what we are. Humans. That’s why many people are in the streets with signs. That’s why we have to speak up and demand civil rights. Instead of listening and trying to understand, some people who are not Black and many people in power are dismissing and trying to suppress what we have to say.
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Nickelodeon also helped with our intimate talk. That same day, the children’s cable station disrupted programming and listed a Declaration of Kids’ Rights on screen. When my daughter asked why the disruption was for eight minutes and 46 seconds, I took a deep breath and told her the truth in one sentence. A police officer put his knee on another man’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds until he couldn’t breathe anymore. Her face scrunched with disbelief and disgust.
I asked my daughter what her first thoughts were about police. She said they were going to arrest her. When I asked why, she said she didn’t know, but that’s what they do. I explained that there are good police and bad police. The discussion about changes needed in the law enforcement and justice system will come later. This conversation was just the first of many.
To help us lay the foundation for our discussions, it’s important for me to continue planting the seeds of self-worth, self-knowledge and cultural awareness. Those seeds are watered by reading books that talk about cultural differences and celebrate them, giving my children creative outlets like art that reinforce self-love, and watching kid-friendly television programs with them, like Sesame Street, which hosted a town hall on racism for kids on June 6.
I will also continue to take my kids into the voting booth with me so they understand the importance of civic engagement and how their vote is one of the most important tools they have to share their voices.
My friends of colour are also struggling to bring up the topic of race and the nation’s tense climate with their little ones. How early is too early to bring this ugly truth about America to their innocent minds? How can I make this conversation age-appropriate?
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“My son will need to know that people may not treat him fairly. He may not be seen as beautiful, intelligent or equal. He may even be perceived as a threat without having said or done anything.”
My five-year-old son is just grasping the concept of addition versus subtraction. How am I supposed to explain what he should do if he sees someone following us around in a store? How do I get him to understand that, no matter how successful he is, there will be people who will feel threatened by him because he is a Black male? It’s my priority to protect my children not just physically but mentally. He’s too young to break that fragile wall of innocence.
I thought about all of this as I watched my 5-year-old take his first swing on the playset my husband and I built in our backyard. Playgrounds remain closed due to Covid-19. We’ve tried to make life as enjoyable for our kids now as it was before quarantine.
My little boy laughed and swung so long that he fell asleep on that swing. As he sat there peacefully napping, I couldn’t help but wish that I could keep him in a protective bubble forever, but I can’t. I will have to have a discussion with him and my daughter about what to do if they are ever confronted by police.
My son will need to know that people may not treat him fairly. He may not be seen as beautiful, intelligent or equal. He may even be perceived as a threat without having said or done anything. And the worst part is that some won’t even acknowledge their part in a widespread system that will hold him back from being the amazing human God put him on this Earth to be.
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I am raising my children in a world that may write them off by colour before they even open their mouths. Or worse. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer while playing in a park with a toy gun in 2014. Seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot in the head by a Detroit police officer during a raid on the wrong house in 2010. Gianna Floyd is missing her father. During a recent TV interview, her mother said she had told Gianna that Daddy died because he couldn’t breathe. George Floyd’s daughter is 6 years old.
The night following our talk, my daughter thanked God for her life, her family, her friends of all colours and her right to be heard.
Amen.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--UK Black Pride’s Lady Phyll On What It Means To Be An Ally To Black People

UK Black Pride’s Lady Phyll On What It Means To Be An Ally To Black People
As the Black Lives Matter movement spreads around the world, UK Black Pride co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah talks about how best you can be an ally to Black people. Also known as Lady Phyll the activist speaks from personal experience about what it means to be proactively anti-racist. After George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis conversations around systemic racism and allyship have increased both in the UK and abroad.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-12--'Levelling Up': Covid Deaths Data Leaves Boris Johnson With Nowhere To Hide

Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street. ASSOCIATED PRESS
You’re reading The Waugh Zone, our daily politics briefing. Sign up now to get it by email in the evening.
Stand and deliver
Many will remember the last day of campaigning in the 2019 general election for one thing: Boris Johnson hiding in a fridge.
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Aside from the desperate attempt to avoid Piers Morgan’s difficult questions not exactly being the PM’s finest hour, it also undermined his eve of poll message to the electorate.
Johnson had wanted photographers to snap him at the Yorkshire dairy preparing for the milk round, as a leader that can deliver (geddit?) on his pledge to “level up and unite” the country.
Tomorrow will mark six months since Johnson romped home to victory with an 80-seat majority.
Former Labour voters - many for the first time in their lives - backed the Conservatives in their droves.
They wanted to “get Brexit done”, yes, but they were also assured that long-standing inequalities, not least in health and education, would finally be tackled.
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Coronavirus has, of course, turned the world upside down since December.
But data released by the ONS on Friday starkly underlined how vital it is for the PM to keep to his word.
The coronavirus mortality rate is more than twice as high in the most deprived areas of England compared to the wealthiest (on average 128 deaths vs 58).
Outside of London, the north-east, where Johnson won four new ‘red wall’ constituencies, had the highest death rate.
Speaking at the daily Downing Street briefing, transport secretary and northern powerhouse minister Grant Shapps said “more always needs to be done to tackle health inequalities” but said little else to address the point.
The ONS had little good news for the government, revealing that GDP fell by an unprecedented 20% in April - the first full month of the lockdown.
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Pressed on the threat of unemployment those figures point to, Shapps replied that “in common with the rest of the world we have an enormous battle on our hands”.
The same story of inequality is true of education. According to the Sutton Trust, two-thirds of children have not taken part in online lessons during the lockdown, and pupils at private schools are more than twice as likely to get daily online tuition.
Tory backbenchers are anxious that the shine is coming off Johnson’s “new government”, and understandably so.
Not only because predictions of gloom for the UK economy are widespread (the OECD thinks the UK could be the worst-hit industrialised nation in the world) but because the Conservatives have competition.
In fact, a new Ipsos Mori poll on Friday said Labour’s new leader Keir Starmer is the most popular opposition leader since Tony Blair, with a net satisfaction of +31%.
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Although Starmer is still trailing Johnson for “most capable prime minister”, by 43% to 38%, the personal approval rating puts the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service level with Blair’s 1994 ratings.
While the next election may be another four years away, Johnson needs a recovery plan that delivers on those election pledges.
Or soon there will be nowhere to hide.
Quote Of The Day
“She has attended them many times before. I notice that at the top of the No 10 Twitter feed I see one of her tweets pinned,” transport secretary Grant Shapps, when asked if chief nurse Ruth May had been barred from the daily briefing for refusing to support Dominic Cummings.
Friday Cheat Sheet
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has confirmed the UK Government will not extend the Brexit transition period, despite the first ministers of Scotland and Wales calling for the government to do so.
He tweeted: “I formally confirmed the UK will not extend the transition period & the moment for extension has now passed. On 1 January 2021 we will take back control and regain our political & economic independence.”
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Tens of thousands fewer students could start university this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Ucas has predicted.
In a worst-case scenario, up to 46,000 fewer domestic students will start courses this autumn compared to last year, a blog from the admissions service estimates.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said remembering face coverings should become part of daily routine as they become mandatory on public transport in England from next week.
Anybody taking a bus, train or Tube from Monday can be refused travel if they are not covering their nose and mouth.
The Sun has said it did not intend to “glorify” domestic abuse after it was criticised over a front page story featuring JK Rowling’s ex-husband.
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The story was headlined “I slapped JK and I’m not sorry” and featured quotes from the Harry Potter author’s first husband, Jorge Arantes.
What I’m Reading
India’s coronavirus agony: ‘I did everything to save my wife and baby’ - the Guardian
Got A Tip?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--MPs And Police Express Anger After Man Pictured 'Urinating' Next To PC Keith Palmer Memorial

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MPs and police have expressed their anger after an image of a man appearing to urinate next to a memorial to PC Keith Palmer emerged amid violent clashes between far-right protesters and police in central London.
Palmer was killed during the 2017 Westminster terror attack after being stabbed by Khalid Masood. The 48-year-old was protecting parliament at the time of the attack.
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The memorial to Palmer was unveiled outside of parliament’s Carriage Gates in February 2019.
Tory MP Tobias Ellwood – who gave first aid to the police officer after he was fatally stabbed – said the image of the unnamed man appearing to urinate next to Palmer’s memorial was “abhorrent”.
Absolute shame on this man.
Of all the images to emerge over these few testing days I find this one of most abhorrent.
Please help identify him. pic.twitter.com/8ydcNmTWrN — Tobias Ellwood MP (@Tobias_Ellwood) June 13, 2020
“Absolute shame on this man,” Ellwood wrote on Twitter.
“Of all the images to emerge over these few testing days I find this one of [the] most abhorrent. Please help identify him.”
Retweeting Ellwood’s comments, Labour’s Jess Phillips wrote: “The man saying this was an actual soldier for our nation who ran towards danger to try to save Keith Palmer, who also served to protect our country.
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“The man in the picture claims to care for our country but he is just pissing on us all.”
Home secretary Priti Patel also shared the image on social media, tweeting: “Shameful”.
Senior Tory MP Robert Halfon told the PA news agency that the incident was “just so horrific”.
“I hope they find this individual and lock them up and throw away the key,” he said.
“This is not the kind of country we are. I feel every possible good wish to the family of PC Palmer, who did so much to keep us safe.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Ken Marsh said the man in the image should be sent to prison.
Police officers at the unveiling of a national memorial outside the Carriage Gates in memory of Pc Keith Palmer, who was killed during a terrorist incident in Westminster in 2017 PA
“It’s horrendous,” he told PA. “The man urinating next to Keith Palmer’s memorial is disgusting.
“How can a human being behave like that? I don’t get it, it’s beyond belief.
“A faction of people today only had one intention – to be violent and unlawful, they didn’t come here to protect the statues, it’s just disorder and unruliness.
“I suggest serious custodial sentences in relation to assaults on police and others, criminal damage and urinating next to the memorial of heroes.”
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Another Met Police officer tweeted: “I refuse to RT the picture of the moron urinating on the memorial of a colleague killed defending us from a terrorist. Words fail me.”
The incident involving Palmer’s memorial came amid a protest organised by far-right groups, including Britain First, which claimed they wanted to protect statues such as Winston Churchill from vandalism.
But fights erupted in areas near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square, as demonstrators repeatedly assailed officers with foul-mouthed chants and missiles, smoke grenades and flares.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--Parts Of Beijing Under Lockdown After Coronavirus Outbreak Linked To Market

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An outbreak of coronavirus linked to a Beijing market has sparked fears of a second wave of Covid-19.
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An area of China’s capital has been put into lockdown – with 24-hour guards in place – after dozens of people tested positive for coronavirus.
Out of the 517 people tested for Covid-19 at the Xinfadi market in Beijing – one of the biggest wholesale markets in Asia – 45 tested positive, Reuters reported.
The BBC said the cluster of cases was the first time any Covid-19 cases had been reported in the city in more than 50 days.
The entire Xinfadi market was shut down at 3 am on Saturday after two men working at a meat research centre who had recently visited the market were reported to have the virus.
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It was not immediately clear how they had been infected.
Beijing now plans to test 10,000 people from the market to detect any further coronavirus infections.
An area official told reporters that the southwestern district of Fengtai, which is home to the market, was in “wartime emergency mode”.
Sports events have been suspended and tourists from other parts of China have been banned from entering the city.
Meanwhile, the city government said it had dropped plans to reopen schools for children in grades one to three on Monday because of the new cases.
To date, more than 7.66 million people around the world have tested positive for coronavirus, while more than 420,000 have died.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--UK Records 181 More Coronavirus Deaths In 24 Hours, Bringing Total To 41,662

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The number of people who have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus has risen to 41,662 – an increase of 181 over 24 hours.
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The figures cover the period up to 5pm on Friday.
As of 9am 13 June, there have been 6,624,676 tests, with 188,794 tests on 12 June.
294,375 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 12 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 41,662 have sadly died.
More info:
▶ https://t.co/xXnL3FU15k pic.twitter.com/w624eAYaT9 — Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 13, 2020
The Department of Health and Social Care reported that another 1,425 people had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK total to 294,375.
It comes after the number of people who have died in hospitals across the UK, as well as care homes in Wales, after contracting the virus rose by 80 in 24 hours.
That increase consisted of 67 people in England, five in Scotland, six in Wales and two in Northern Ireland.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-13--Hundreds Of Far-Right Protesters Gather In Central London

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Hundreds of far-right protesters gathered in central London on Saturday to counter Black Lives Matter activists and “defend” statues and memorials.
Video footage shared by journalists at the scene shows protesters clashing with mounted police in front of a boarded-up statue of Nelson Mandela and shouting at officers just metres from the Cenotaph.
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The Metropolitan Police said six officers had suffered minor injuries after “pockets of violence” during the protests.
Boris Johnson said anyone attacking the police “will be met with the full force of the law”.
“Racist thuggery has no place on our streets,” the prime minister tweeted.
“These marches and protests have been subverted by violence and breach current guidelines.”
Racist thuggery has no place on our streets. Anyone attacking the police will be met with full force of the law. These marches & protests have been subverted by violence and breach current guidelines. Racism has no part in the UK and we must work together to make that a reality. — Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 13, 2020
Scotland Yard said that, as of 5pm, they had arrested five people for offences including violent disorder, assault on police, possession of an offensive weapon, being drunk and disorderly and possession of Class A drugs.
Anti-racism protests were due to gather in Hyde Park at 1pm today, but were called off after Sadiq Khan warned Black Lives Matter organisers that far-right groups, including Britain First and the Democratic Football Lads Alliance were planning to hijack the rally.
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Confrontation of far right with mounted police in front of Mandela and Gandhi statues a few minutes ago. Imagine the scene if they were not boarded up. pic.twitter.com/dXUofcoVxJ — Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) June 13, 2020
The Metropolitan Police imposed a number of conditions on the protests, including telling attendees that they must disperse by 5pm on Saturday.
At around 1pm police on horseback were seen pushing demonstrators back from the other end of Parliament Square, near the boarded-up statues of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi.
Several bottles, including a large vodka bottle, and cans were thrown at the officers, with a device emitting dark smoke into the crowd. Some of the demonstrators were also seen blocking others in their group from the police horses.
Crowds could also be seen running through Trafalgar Square, while protesters reportedly threw fireworks at police officers during violent clashes in the city centre.
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Whitehall is now blocked off by police. This happened moments ago: pic.twitter.com/RDaIAbNUUB — Dominic Casciani (@BBCDomC) June 13, 2020
Other protesters gathered near the Cenotaph, and could be heard chanting Lee Rigby’s name – despite the murdered soldier’s family urging people not to use his name or image to counter Black Lives Matter protests.
A demonstrator from South London, who gave her name as Victoria, was in the square with a banner reading “All lives matter”.
Statue defenders sing God Save the Queen in front of the Cenotaph. pic.twitter.com/O7SySDewu8 — Oli Dugmore (@OliDugmore) June 13, 2020
Discussing controversial statues, she told PA: “It’s the past. You’ve just gotta learn to live with it, they’ve done what they’ve done but it’s still in the records they did good things.
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“I’ve got things I don’t want to remember, but I wouldn’t go smashing things up because of it.”
“Winston Churchill, he’s one of our own.” pic.twitter.com/CwXHcLgwG6 — Oli Dugmore (@OliDugmore) June 13, 2020
Daisy, a 26-year-old from Pimlico, passed demonstrators in Parliament Square as she went for a run at around 10.30 on Saturday morning and claimed many were already drinking alcohol.
“They were all drinking beers and there was already loads of cans lying round on the floor treating it like it was some sort of football away-day,” she told PA.
“It was a really tense and hostile atmosphere. I didn’t stay too long… it was really uncomfortable.”
Violence erupts in Parliament Square as people gathered erupt and charge at police and a cyclist, throwing bottles and swearing, but no fighting. pic.twitter.com/uu2HZex9Ll — Nick McAvaney (@nick_mcavaney) June 13, 2020
As the scene became more hostile, home secretary Priti Patel tweeted: “[Thoroughly] unacceptable thuggery.
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“Any perpetrators of violence or vandalism should expect to face the full force of the law. Violence towards our police officers will not be tolerated.
“Coronavirus remains a threat to us all. Go home to stop the spread of this virus & save lives.”
On Parliament St, in front of the police cordon 100m from the Cenotaph pic.twitter.com/Rd72kXofnh — Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) June 13, 2020
There were similar protests in other parts of the country.
Several dozen people, many of them clad in motorcycle gear, met in front of the Cenotaph in Bristol on Saturday morning just metres away from where slaver Edward Colston’s statue stood before it was torn down during a Black Lives Matter rally on Sunday.
An ‘All Lives Matter’ protest is currently taking place around the Cenotaph. pic.twitter.com/fLNXsUHQ3y — Martin Booth (@beardedjourno) June 13, 2020
They were later joined by several hundred demonstrators who were filmed pulling up placards at the base of the Colston plinth and stuffing them into a bin bag.
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Vans were filmed delivery pallets of beer to attendees, and several men climbed onto the platform where the Colston statue once stood, with one holding a Union Jack up in in front of the crowd.
Unrest in the centre of Bristol with 300-400 people gathered. Police beginning to move into the crowds. Video from @TraceyJ_Miller. More @bbcpointswest at 17.45. pic.twitter.com/xg5DSFwz3b — Andrew Plant (@BeebJournalist) June 13, 2020
Several hundred people also gathered outside City Hall in Belfast in Northern Ireland to protect war memorials.
The Northern Ireland Cenotaph Protection Group (NICPG) issued a statement saying its aim is to protect war memorials amid attacks on statues of historical figures across the UK in recent days.
“We are not a counter protest, we do not have a political message. For those of us who served we served beside men and women of all cultural backgrounds, and those veterans that have been in combat know, above all else, regardless of what colour you are, we all bleed red,” it said.
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Several demonstrators wore British military uniforms while Union flags and Ulster flags were draped over the railings of City Hall.
While most demonstrators wore masks there was a lack of social distancing.
Officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland attended the demonstration.
Hundreds of people also flocked to George Square in Glasgow to “protect” a war memorial.
In an event organised by a group called the Loyalist Defence League (LDL), people congregated to stop vandalism to the Glasgow Cenotaph, erected to commemorate the lives of those who died in the First World War.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-14--Boris Johnson Failing To 'Show Leadership' On Race Inequality, Says David Lammy

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Boris Johnson has failed to show leadership in tackling racism, David Lammy has said as he branded the PM’s tweets about Winston Churchill’s statue a “deflection”.
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The shadow justice minister has urged the prime minister to “have some substance” in his response to the widespread Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests across the UK.
More than 100 people were arrested on Saturday at a far-right protest in London which Johnson condemned as “racist thuggery”.
The demo turned violent after hundreds of self-proclaimed “statue defenders” took over areas near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square and hurled missiles, smoke grenades, glass bottles and flares at police officers.
In a series of eight tweets the day before, Johnson said to take statues down would “be to lie about our history”
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The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny. 1/8 — Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 12, 2020
But Lammy, who conducted a review into the justice’s system’s treatment of black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups, said rather than wading in on protests, the PM should be bringing forward new policy to combat inequality.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, the Tottenham MP said: “Boris Johnson sent out eight tweets, I think it was, on Friday on Winston Churchill and statues.
“He’s never tweeted eight times in a day on coronavirus, he’s never tweeted eight times in a day on the Windrush review or what he’s going to do about it, or on the review that David Cameron asked me to do on disproportionality in the criminal justice system and what he’s going to do about it.
“This feels to me like a bit of a deflection. Let’s get to the action, let’s have some substance, let’s do something about these historic injustices that still exist in our country.”
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, told Sky News that he had experienced racism when he was younger but added that it is “not something which is common” and that the UK is a “tolerant country”.
Of the widespread BLM protests, which also led to a small number of arrests the previous week, he said: ″I can see that people are upset and they are angry and they want change but change comes slowly and real change doesn’t come from wanton destruction or violence - that is wrong and it will always be wrong.”
"They sting in a way that other things don't...there's something about that that cuts to your core" says @RishiSunak about racist incidents he's experienced.
He tells @SophyRidgeSky "there's more to do" but "real change doesn't come from wanton destruction or violence".#Ridge pic.twitter.com/e0AK8ZMYeB — Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) June 14, 2020
The violent scenes in Westminster on Saturday contrasted with peaceful demonstrations that took place at Hyde Park and Marble Arch by anti-racism protesters in support of the BLM movement.
A 28-year-old was arrested on suspicion of outraging public decency after a man was photographed apparently urinating next to the memorial dedicated to PC Keith Palmer, the officer who was stabbed to death in the 2017 terror attack in Westminster.
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Six police officers suffered minor injuries in violent clashes as several hundred demonstrators, mostly white men, attended the protest organised by far-right groups, claiming that they wanted to protect statues such as that of Churchill from vandalism.
"I wouldn't support Winston Churchill's statue coming down"
Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy tells #Marr "many great figures in history are also flawed and we ought to be able to have that debate as well"https://t.co/jZgmjdzkFp pic.twitter.com/QbcA1Ze7O3 — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 14, 2020
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said he was “extremely disturbed” by the “completely unacceptable” scenes of violence on the streets on Saturday.
He also called for Johnson to take “concrete steps” to address “the inequality and racism that still sadly exists in our country”.
The Torfaen Labour MP told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday show: “The prime minister needs to come forward, show that he understands the hurt and the anguish of the stories that black people in our country have spoken about so movingly in recent weeks, and also to set out the concrete steps that his government now intends to take to address that.”
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Many of those present in London on Saturday were drinking, and there were a number of clashes with police in riot gear as crowds chanting “Tommy Robinson” and “England” while raising their arms and surging towards lines of officers.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-14--Spike Lee Apologises After Comments In Defence Of 'Friend' Woody Allen

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Filmmaker Spike Lee has issued an apology after his comments about fellow director Woody Allen in a recent interview.
Over the weekend, the BlacKkKlansman director appeared on WOR 710’s In The Morning show, when the subject of Allen – and the accusations of sexual misconduct that have been made against him, which he has always refuted – came up in the conversation.
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Sharing his thoughts, Lee said: “I’d just like to say Woody Allen is a great, great filmmaker and this cancel thing is not just Woody.
“And I think when we look back on it we are going to see that — short of killing somebody — I don’t know that you can just erase somebody like they never existed.”
Spike Lee at the Oscars earlier this year David Fisher/Shutterstock
Referring to him as a “friend” and “fellow Knicks fan”, Lee added that Allen is “going through it right now”.
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After facing a backlash, Lee posted a tweet that night saying he “deeply apologises” for his comments about Allen.
“I Deeply Apologize. My Words Were WRONG,” he wrote.” I Do Not And Will Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment, Assault Or Violence. Such Treatment Causes Real Damage That Can’t Be Minimized.”
He ended his tweet with the message: “Truly, Spike Lee.”
I Deeply Apologize. My Words Were WRONG. I Do Not And Will Not Tolerate Sexual Harassment, Assault Or Violence. Such Treatment Causes Real Damage That Can't Be Minimized.-Truly, Spike Lee. — Spike Lee (@SpikeLeeJoint) June 13, 2020
Allen has always maintained his innocence in light of repeated accusations from Dylan Farrow that he molested her when she was a child.
In 1992, he was investigated over a claim that he had sexually assaulted her at the family’s Connecticut home, though prosecutors did not charge him over the allegations, which he claims had been fabricated by his former partner Mia Farrow.
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Woody Allen Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
While many of Allen’s past collaborators, including Greta Gerwig and Timothée Chalamet, have expressed regret over working with him, others have spoken out in his defence.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-14--Atlanta Police Fatally Shoot Black Man Who Was Sleeping In His Car

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The chief of Atlanta Police has resigned after officers shot and killed 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, at a Wendy’s restaurant on Friday night.
The police were responding to a call about someone sleeping in his car, which was parked in the drive-thru at the restaurant.
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Police said that Rayshard Brooks, 27, resisted arrest following a failed sobriety test. But video posted to social media showed Brooks running away from police before he is shot off-screen.
“I do not believe this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer,” the city’s mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference on Saturday.
The Georgia NAACP had called for Atlanta’s chief of police Erika Shields to be fired prior to her resignation.
CNN reported that the officer who shot Brooks was fired on Saturday, while his partner was placed on administrative duty.
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On Friday night, two officers found Brooks in the vehicle and gave him a field sobriety test, which they said he failed. While attempting to arrest Brooks, police said he resisted.
“After failing the test, the officers attempted to place the male subject into custody,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) spokesperson Nelly Miles said in a statement. “During the arrest, the male subject resisted and a struggle ensued. The officer deployed a Taser.”
Witnesses said Brooks grabbed the Taser from the officer before being shot, according to the GBI.
Brooks was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The GBI said it’s now investigating the incident.
Video posted to social media shows people gathered in the Wendy’s parking lot condemning the shooting. Witnesses said Brooks was not armed.
Angry protesters set a fire at the Wendy’s where Brooks was shot shortly after 9.30pm Saturday, local Fox News-5 reported. The blaze was started after windows were smashed and fireworks were hurled inside, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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An Atlanta fire department representative told the newspaper that the blaze grew because it wasn’t safe to get to the restaurant when the fire began. He estimated there were 1,000 protesters near the building. Firefighters finally began to battle the blaze around 11pm, but by then a section of the interior appeared to be engulfed in flames.
Earlier, protesters set fire to cars parked outside Wendy’s — and shut down part of Interstate 75/85, a major city thoroughfare.
Late last month Shields fired two city police officers for roughly dragging two young Black people from a car and apparently shocking them with stun guns as anti-racism protests erupted across the nation. Brooks’ death comes amid nationwide protests over the death of African American George Floyd during a brutal arrest in Minneapolis.
Protesters are burning a bush outside of Wendy’s. @ajc pic.twitter.com/b9TqBHwcF7 — Sarah Kallis (@SarahKallis) June 14, 2020
The Wendy's where #RayshardBrooks was fatally shot in the parking lot last night is now in flames. Photos from Ben Gray pic.twitter.com/dfvibL5JcC — Jennifer Brett (@Jennifer__Brett) June 14, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-14--Rishi Sunak Confirms 'Comprehensive Review' Of 2m Social Distancing Rule

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed Boris Johnson has ordered a “comprehensive review” on the two-metre rule on coronavirus social distancing.
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Confirming any cut to from two metres to one would “ultimately” be “for ministers” to decide, he said the government was now looking at the issue – seen as crucial to the restarting the economy – “in the round”.
Scientists and health experts advising the government have urged caution but industry and Tory backbenchers say if two-metre rule is not scrapped millions of job losses in the hospitality and retail sectors could follow.
Asked if chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific officer Patrick Vallance would have to back changes, the chancellor said: “Not necessarily, no”.
Speaking on both Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday and BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, Sunak also stressed it it “safe” for the public to go shopping on Monday as non-essential retail prepares to open shops for the first time since the lockdown was announced.
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Underlining the “impact it has on business”, Sunak said the two-metre rule was “the difference between maybe three-quarters and a third of pubs opening”.
The World Health Organisation recommends maintaining a distance of once metre, but many experts in the UK think the move could pave the way for a second spike in infections.
#Marr: Would Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance have to agree before you relax the 2m social distancing rule?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak: "Not necessarily, no"#Covid_19 https://t.co/0NXTQG3H2T pic.twitter.com/EdHMdneWiO — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) June 14, 2020
Chancellor Rishi Sunak arrives in Downing Street, London. PA
The review will involve economists and government advisers, he said.
He told Sky News: “Obviously many other countries around the world use a different rule. We have seen a couple of countries recently – Norway and Denmark – have moved from two metres to something less.
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“It is important that we look at it comprehensively, in the round, and that is what we will do urgently.”
Speaking to BBC presenter Andrew Marr, Sunak, whose government has repeatedly said it is “guided by the science”, admitted that “ultimately” ministers would decide on the guidance.
“Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance throughout all of this have provided advice to ministers,” he said.
“Ultimately it is for ministers. We are the people who are elected to make decisions in this country. People should hold us responsible and accountable for making those decisions.
“I think that people are comforted and have confidence in those decisions if they know that we are taking advice from our scientists.”
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Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds, meanwhile, said the two-metre social distancing rule should only be relaxed if the science backs such a move.
He told Sky News that public health and the economy were not “in conflict” but rather go hand in hand.
“If it did move to one metre without there being scientific advice backing that you would end up with a second peak, which would cause even greater economic damage,” he said.
“My message to the government is to be vigilant, be cautious, approach this in a structured way and publish the evidence so we can all see it, and we can get that restoration of confidence in the public health advice that the Dominic Cummings affair did so much damage to.”
Chief inspector of Ofsted Amanda Spielman, meanwhile, said “a reduced distance expectation will flow through to a greater capacity in schools”.
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"A reduced distance expectation will flow through to a greater capacity in schools."
Ofsted chief inspector, Amanda Spielman says a reduction in the two-metre rule will lead to greater capacity for pupils to return.#Ridge
Live analysis: https://t.co/s0vjwhnxAT pic.twitter.com/CjKXIjfKSF — Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) June 14, 2020
It comes amid much criticism that the government has been unable to reopen schools to all pupils, with many worrying about the impact on disadvantaged children.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-14--Amnesty International Calls Government U-Turn On Trans Self-ID Plans 'Extremely Worrying'

A leading human rights organisation has described government plans to scrap proposed legislation that would allow trans people to change their legal gender via self-identification as “extremely worrying”.
Measures drawn up under Theresa May’s government to enable trans people change their birth certificate without a medical diagnosis have been ditched by Boris Johnson’s government, according to The Sunday Times.
In the wake of the news, human rights charity Amnesty International said the U-turn would “send a chilling message that the UK is a hostile place for trans people” and send the nation plummeting down the LGBTQ equality rankings.
The organisation’s Women’s Rights programme director Chiara Capraro said: “Reports that the government intends to scrap plans to bring gender recognition laws in line with human rights standards are extremely worrying.
“More than two years ago, the government rightly set out a plan to reform the out-of-date Gender Recognition Act - a U-turn on this would send a chilling message that the UK is a hostile place for trans people.
“Perpetuating wrong stereotypes of trans women as a danger to other women is dehumanising and wrong, and risks further inciting hate crimes against trans people.
“The UK is already slipping further and further down the European rankings for LGBT equality - falling from 3rd to 9th place over the past three years. The proposed move would no doubt see the UK plummet even further.
“The UK has always prided itself on being a champion of LGBT equality – if it’s serious about this, it will update the Gender Recognition Act to ensure trans people can enjoy their rights, free from discrimination.”
The BBC reported in June 2019 that hate crimes against trans people had risen by 81% in the space of a year in England, Scotland and Wales.
A study conducted by Stonewall in 2018, which surveyed more than 800 trans and non-binary people in the UK, found that half of trans people had hidden their identity at work for fear of discrimination
The Sunday Times also reported that ministers plan to announce a ban on “gay cure” therapies, in what was described as an attempt to placate LGBTQ campaigners.
At the same time, the government was said to be preparing to set out new safeguards to “protect” female-only spaces, including refuges and public toilets.
The details were said to be contained in a leaked paper setting out the Government’s long-delayed response to a public consultation on the Gender Recognition Act.
The Sunday Times said that the paper was “basically ready” and was being slated for publication by the equalities minister Liz Truss at the end of July before MPs break for the summer.
A No 10 source told the PA news agency that the details of the response were yet to be finalised, and the Prime Minister would have the final say on the recommendations.
According to The Sunday Times, around 100,000 responses to the public consultation were received – with around 70% in favour of allowing people to self-identify as a man or a woman.
However, officials were said to believe that the results had been “skewed” by an “avalanche” of responses generated by trans rights groups.