thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-26--Ex-Investment Banker Dan Rosenfield Is Boris Johnson's New Chief Of Staff

Dan Rosenfield Dan Rosenfield
A former Treasury official and top investment banker for Bank of America will run Downing Street for Boris Johnson, it has been announced.
Dan Rosenfield has been appointed as chief of staff at Number 10 and is expected to begin work on December 7.
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Rosenfield’s most recent role was as head of the strategic advisory firm Hakluyt and, as managing director for investment banking at Bank of America, he could have valuable insight as Britain bids to close the US-UK trade deal.
But it is his previous career, spanning more than a decade, in the UK civil service, which will attract attention.
Rosenfield spent three years as principal private secretary to Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, between 2007 and 2010, as the UK grappled with the fallout of the 2008 global financial crisis.
He also served Darling’s successor George Osborne, until 2011.
The appointment comes after Johnson’s most senior aide Dominic Cummings and director of communications Lee Cain dramatically resigned earlier this month.
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It followed a power struggle after Cain’s promotion to chief of staff was rejected by those around Johnson, including his partner Carrie Symonds.
The exit of the two Vote Leave veterans, who many credit with Johnson’s victory in the so-called red wall former Labour seats, was welcomed by most MPs.
Johnson is attempting to refresh his premiership and earlier this month underlined the government’s objectives for this parliament and set out a ten-point plan on climate change.
The appointment is part of a wider shake-up at Downing Street, with Johnson’s new press secretary, the former Guardian and ITV journalist Allegra Stratton, set to begin on-camera briefings with journalists on the government’s work.
The 12 months since the election have been almost entirely dominated by internal political wrangling and the Covid-19 crisis.
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Ed Lister, the current interim chief of staff, a long-term ally of Johnson’s since his days as mayor of London, is expected to stay on in an advisory capacity.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-26--Tory Backlash As 99% Of England Placed In Tier 2 And 3 Lockdown

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Boris Johnson is facing a major Tory backlash after putting nearly 99% of England into tough tier 2 and 3 coronavirus restrictions.
The government placed more than 23m (41.48%) people into the toughest tier 3 restrictions on Thursday, with more than 32m (57.25%) in tier 2, which has been made more stringent during the current lockdown.
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Cornwall was the only place on the English mainland to fall under tier 1, joined by the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly, with the three areas covering just 713,573 people – or 1.27% of the population.
The decision was met with a backlash from the prime minister’s own MPs, who went as far as describing the measures as “authoritarian” and demanded the publication of a cost-benefit analysis of the restrictions.
In the Commons, health secretary Matt Hancock faced a litany of Tory critics, with only a handful at best expressing support.
The West Midlands’ Tory metro mayor Andy Street called for “clear epidemiological evidence” as to why hospitality must close in tier 3.
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Tier Three for the WM is very disappointing, but we must now focus on getting out ASAP. The trajectory is good, and our stay should be short-lived if people stick to the rules. However more support is needed whilst in T3, particularly for the hospitality and live events sectors. pic.twitter.com/0iJkg2EI82 — Andy Street (@andy4wm) November 26, 2020
Street described the decision to put his combined authority in tier 3 as “very disappointing, particularly given the personal sacrifices people have already made and the economic impact it will have on our towns and cities”.
The mayor also said the £3,000 monthly grant scheme was “insufficient” for small- and medium-sized firms forced to close, particularly in hospitality, and called for more financial support including business rates relief for the conference and exhibition sector.
Damian Green, the former cabinet minister who leads the “one nation” group of moderate Tory backbenchers, questioned whether the current four-week national lockdown had achieved anything, given that areas including Kent and Bristol had been placed in harsher tiers than they were in before.
I’m hugely disappointed that the whole of Kent has been put into Tier 3. Before lockdown we were in Tier 1 so what has lockdown achieved? We need the full analysis made public. #RoadToRecovery — Damian Green MP (@DamianGreen) November 26, 2020
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Mark Harper, the former chief whip who chairs the 70-strong lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of backbench Tories, criticised the government for failing to publish a cost-benefit analysis of restrictions “in full and in time” ahead of a vote on the measures on Tuesday.
“Early next week”? The vote is on Tuesday.
In order for MPs to vote responsibly on these new severe restrictions, we must have the cost-benefit analysis & data for each, setting out the impact on reducing spread of Covid & the impact on non-Covid health and the economy 1/2 https://t.co/B7Akk5Zw94 pic.twitter.com/vxE4rsKV9v — Mark Harper (@Mark_J_Harper) November 26, 2020
The group’s vice chair Steve Baker meanwhile described the measures as “authoritarian”.
Senior MPs William Wragg, Tobias Ellwood and Sir Robert Syms were among those who signalled they would vote against the measures.
Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, meanwhile said it was “completely wrong” for the government to provide no additional business support to areas in tier 3, where hospitality is ordered to close for all but takeaways.
🗣 "This will cause real hardship for people whose jobs will be affected and risks the loss of many businesses."
Andy has responded to Government's decision to place Greater Manchester into Tier 3 restrictions next month.
Read more 👇https://t.co/aAIUhpAsJl pic.twitter.com/rVCVpD4RXs — Mayor Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) November 26, 2020
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--UK Coronavirus R Rate May Have Dropped Below 1 For First Time In Weeks

The reproduction number, or R rate, of coronavirus transmission across the UK may have dropped below 1, according to the latest government figures.
According to an estimate from the Government Science Office (GSO) published on Friday, the R rate sits at between 0.9 and 1.0.
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Last week the Government Science Office (GSO) estimated the R rate was between 1.0 and 1.1, down from between 1.0 and 1.2.
It is the first time the R rate has been below 1 since September 4.
R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
The figures published by the government on Friday also include regional R numbers for England.
According to the estimates, all regions apart from London and the South East may have an R rate below 1.
East of England: 0.9-1.1
London: 1.0-1.1
Midlands: 0.9-1.1
North East and Yorkshire: 0.8-1.0
North West: 0.7-0.9
South East: 1.0-1.2
South West: 0.9-1.1
It comes after Boris Johnson announced which areas of the country will be placed into which tier from December 2.
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London, which has an estimated R rate of 1.0-1.1 is in tier 2, whereas Manchester, which is in tier 3, is in a region with an R rate of 0.7-0.9.
Nicola Sturgeon said on Thursday the R rate in Scotland remained unchanged at just below one
The latest coronavirus rates for Wales, for November 20, was estimated to be between 0.8 and 1.0. An update is expected later on Friday.
The R rate in Northern Ireland is currently sitting just below 1.
Almost 99% of the English population will be placed into the two highest tiers.
More than 23m (41.48%) people will be under tier 3 restrictions, with more than 32m (57.25%) in tier 2, which has been made more stringent during the current lockdown.
Cornwall was the only place on the English mainland to fall under tier 1, joined by the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly, with the three areas covering just 713,573 people – or 1.27% of the population.
The prime minister is facing a serious rebellion from Tory MPs over the plan, and may have to rely on Labour votes to get the measures through parliament next week.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--15,000 Jobs Could Be At Risk As Philip Green’s Arcadia Group 'On Brink Of Collapse'

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Arcadia Group, the owner of high street fashion brands including Topman, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, faces collapse in just a matter of days, according to reports.
Up to 15,000 workers could lose their jobs if the company – which is owned by owned by one of the country’s richest men, Sir Philip Green – goes under.
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There was anger from staff this morning, many of whom found out from the press before hearing from their own employer. Arcadia’s response was to email employees a generic statement about “media speculation” it had also sent to the press, despite two major outlets having independently stood the story up.
Sir Philip Green has owned the group since 2002 PA
“I think the worst thing is that it was on the news before we were told anything,” one worker told HuffPost UK. “It’s been all over the work WhatsApp all morning. Some staff members saw it before even management did. That email doesn’t really tell us much either. People are certainly panicking.”
They added: “It would be a nightmare [if thousands of people lost their jobs] there won’t be enough jobs to go round, a lot of the shops in this town have closed as well, I have already started looking and jobs in fashion retail just aren’t there. I think a lot of people will look at supermarkets instead.”
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Arcadia Group became part of Taveta Investments, owned by Sir Philip and his family, in 2002. It is expected to appoint administrators from Deloitte as soon as next week, Sky News and the Press Association reported.
Sir Philip’s retail empire embarked upon a major restructuring process last year to cut costs.
Since the start of the pandemic, 500 jobs have been lost at the mogul’s company.
A spokesperson for Arcadia said: “We are aware of the recent media speculation surrounding the future of Arcadia. The forced closure of our stores for sustained periods as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a material impact on trading across our businesses.
“As a result, the Arcadia boards have been working on a number of contingency options to secure the future of the group’s brands. The brands continue to trade and our stores will be opening again in England and ROI as soon as the government Covid-19 restrictions are lifted next week.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Sugababes' Keisha Buchanan Shares Amazing Throwback Photo As Band Celebrates Big Anniversary

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Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan has shared an incredible throwback photo of herself and her bandmates in honour of the 20th anniversary of their debut album.
On Friday, Keisha marked 20 years since the release of One Touch with a snap of herself and bandmates Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy on the day they signed their first record deal.
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“20 Years ago today our debut album One Touch was released! Can you believe it?!” she tweeted. “We are super proud of the album all these years later. Thanks for all the support still to this day. We’re excited to celebrate an album that changed all of our lives.”
She then posted a photo of the trio as teenagers, commenting: “Throwback Friday… The day we signed our record deal... literally babes.”
20 Years ago today our debut album “One Touch” was released!
Can you believe it?!🤯
We are super proud of the album all these years later. Thanks for all the support still to this day. We’re excited to celebrate an album that changed all of our lives x pic.twitter.com/96SRL6T0qf — Keisha Buchanan (@keisha_buchanan) November 27, 2020
Throwback Friday ❤ The day we signed our record deal.. literally babes 👶🏾👶🏽👶🏻 pic.twitter.com/ugmGTmRP8A — Keisha Buchanan (@keisha_buchanan) November 27, 2020
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Of course, it’s been well-documented that in the years that followed One Touch’s release, the band went through numerous line-up changes.
Siobhan was the first to quit the group, after which Heidi Range took her spot.
Five years later, Amelle Berrabah joined Sugababes in place of Mutya, while Keisha was later replaced by Jade Ewen.
The original members of the Sugababes appearing on Graham Norton last year Isabel Infantes - PA Images via Getty Images
In 2012, shortly after the release of Sugababes 4.0’s final single Freedom, the original three members reformed under the new name Mutya Keisha Siobhan, releasing the single Flatline.
After several delays to their album release, things went quiet for the band in the years that followed, although 2019 saw them debuting a new song under the Sugababes name, releasing a cover of Sweet Female Attitude’s Flowers in collaboration with DJ Spoony.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--I'm A Celebrity's Victoria Derbyshire Recalls 'Excruciating' (And Very Rude) Jeremy Hunt Slip-Up

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Victoria Derbyshire has recalled the “excruciating” moment she got former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s name wrong live on air.
And you can guess exactly what she called him.
Last year, while hosting her BBC current affairs show, Victoria suffered a slip of the tongue and accidentally dropped the c-bomb while attempting to refer to Hunt.
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“I’m so sorry, Jeremy Hunt,” the broadcaster immediately clarified, adding: “I’ve never said that before in my life. It’s usually men who say that, so I really, really want to apologise. I’m sorry.”
During a discussion with her I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! campmates in Thursday night’s highlights episode, Victoria detailed the experience while the stars shared their tales of “worst days” on the job.
“I mispronounced his name,” Victoria said. “It was excruciating, it was awful, I buried my head in my hands.”
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Fellow contestant Giovanna Fletcher later said: “It’s quite comforting knowing whoever you are or whatever you do, we all have those days where it’s just not going your way.”
Victoria Derbyshire in the I'm A Celebrity castle ITV/Shutterstock
During the same conversation, Radio 1 presenter Jordan North shared the time he brought up Yungblud’s former relationship with Halsey during an interview, despite being specifically instructed not to.
Meanwhile, Sir Mo Farah discussed the moment he fell over during an international championship, only to pick himself up and start running in the wrong direction.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--The Chase's Anne Hegerty Reveals New Chaser's Arrival Means She's Taken A Pay Cut

The Chase star Anne Hegerty has revealed she and her fellow Chasers have had their pay slashed following the latest addition to their quizzing line-up.
Last week, the ITV game show welcomed a sixth Chaser to the ranks, with former contestant Darragh Ennis making his debut appearance as an expert.
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In an interview on the YouTube series The Lewis Nicholls Show, Anne – known to fans of The Chase as The Governess – revealed that the team gaining a new member was something of a double-edged sword.
Anne Hegerty on the set of The Chase ITV/Shutterstock
Asked whether she was happy at the prospect of a new Chaser, Anne explained: “This is a tricky one, because a lot of the public imagine that we are on the same sort of deal that Hollywood stars are in the 1930s.
“They got paid a salary per month, per year, and they were salaried employees at the studio and the studio would find them things to do for that salary. That isn’t actually how that works.
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“We, The Chasers and Bradley [Walsh], we get paid a flat fee for every [show] that we do. So, any show that I’m doing, is a show for which I’m being paid and the other Chasers aren’t. And that applies to all of us.”
She added: “If you’re going to divide the shows by six rather than five, then, you know, do the maths.”
The most recent line-up of The Chase, prior to Darragh's arrival ITV/Shutterstock
Anne added that Darragh’s arrival comes at a time when fewer episodes of The Chase were already being filmed, due to presenter Bradley Walsh’s packed schedule.
“Because he’s so in demand and so good, so superb at everything he does and can do so many different things... and so of course he’s massively in demand, and there’s about ten other things he’s doing besides the daytime Chase. A lot of the time we’ll find, ‘you know that filming block that was booked in, we are not filming that week after all’,” she said.
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“It turns out, Bradley was doing another gameshow or something like that. And that’s a period of time where we aren’t working.
“Then obviously you add in a global pandemic and last year, because Bradley was still doing Doctor Who, we only recorded 93 shows. And we should’ve recorded twice that already.
“This year we were hoping to make up for it and do 150, 160, and then well that didn’t happen. So we hoped we will catch up in the spring but then again it all depends on whether Bradley’s available, it depends on a lot on whether one of these vaccines work out.”
Anne joined The Chase in 2010, and more recently appeared on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and hosted the quiz show Britain’s Brightest Family.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Boris Johnson Defends Tiered Lockdown Following Tory Backlash

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Boris Johnson has said he understands people are “frustrated” at being placed in new strict coronavirus lockdown tiers, following a significant backlash from Tory MPs.
Defending the new tiered system that will come into force from December 2, the prime minister said it would bring “simplicity and clarity” and was needed to suppress the virus.
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Such is the opposition on the Conservative benches, the prime minister might have to rely on Labour votes to get the measures approved when they are voted on in parliament next week.
Senior MPs William Wragg, Tobias Ellwood and Sir Robert Syms were among those who have signalled they will vote against the plan.
Almost 99% of the English population will be placed into the two highest tiers.
More than 23m (41.48%) people will be under tier 3 restrictions, with more than 32m (57.25%) in tier 2, which has been made more stringent during the current lockdown.
Cornwall was the only place on the English mainland to fall under tier 1, joined by the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly, with the three areas covering just 713,573 people – or 1.27% of the population.
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Shadow health minister Justin Madders said Labour would wait to see the detailed regulations before deciding which way to vote.
He suggested the government could be forced to make concessions on some of the tiering decisions if it was to get through.
“I think that that’s part of the debate we’re going to have about making sure that the public has got confidence that this is the right thing to do,” he told Times Radio.
Speaking at a Public Health England laboratory on Friday, Johnson said: “We’ve got to get the virus down.
“I know it is frustrating for people when they are in a high-tier area when there is very little incidence in their village or their area.
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“I totally understand why people feel frustrated.
“The difficulty is that if you did it any other way, first of all you’d divide the country up into loads and loads of very complicated sub-divisions – there has got to be some simplicity and clarity in the way we do this.
“The second problem is that, alas, our experience is that when a high-incidence area is quite close to a low-incidence area, unless you beat the problem in the high-incidence area, the low-incidence area I’m afraid starts to catch up.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Jude Law Says Contagion Scientists Warned Him Real-Life Pandemic Was A Case Of 'When Rather Than If'

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Jude Law has revealed that scientists on the set of Contagion gave him a stark warning about a potential real-life pandemic, almost a decade before the coronavirus crisis.
In 2011, Jude played a conspiracy theorist in the film about a fictional virus which swiftly leads to a pandemic.
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Reflecting on the experience of making the film, the British star revealed that the team consulted with many scientists and medical experts, who warned that an actual pandemic was a case of “when rather than if”.
Speaking to GQ, he explained: “There was absolutely the sense that this was going to happen.
“The great scientists on set with us who had worked with Scott Burns, the writer, and Steven [Soderbergh, its director] were very learned and experienced individuals who knew what to expect and they all said to us that this was going to happen, and it was a case of when rather than if.”
Jude Law Roy Rochlin via Getty Images
Jude continued: “The way they described it, which is exactly as it has happened, just made sense. What’s scary is you learn in a set like that because you’re being advised by experts, but it doesn’t necessarily sit.
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“When 2020 started and we heard about what was initially happening in China and what fast became apparent around the world, it rang alarm bells.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t hugely surprised.”
Jude in character in Contagion Moviestore/Shutterstock
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter over the summer, Jude’s Contagion co-star Kate Winslet also spoke of how the film had helped her prepare.
“People thought I was crazy because I had been walking around wearing a mask for weeks, going into the grocery store and wiping everything down with isopropyl alcohol and wearing gloves,” she said
“Then all of a sudden March 13 came around, and people were like, ‘Fuck, where do I get one of those masks?’”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--45,000 Asylum Seekers Waiting More Than 6 Months For Home Office Decision

More than 60,000 asylum seekers are waiting for the Home Office to decide on their applications – and three in four have been left in limbo for more than six months while living on £5.66 a day.
Campaigners have warned the delays are taking a “horrendous toll” on the mental health of some of society’s most vulnerable people.
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While waiting for a decision from the Home Office, the vast majority of people seeking asylum are not allowed to work, and are expected to live on less than £40 a week.
“While more people are waiting ever longer for a decision on their asylum claim, they are forced to live on just £5.66 a day,” explained Emma Birks, a campaign project manager for Asylum Matters.
“People are trapped sometimes for years living on this meagre amount, as they are effectively banned from working.”
Data published by the government on Thursday revealed that, of the 60,548 people waiting for an inital asylum decision at the end of September, 46,108 – more than three-quarters – had been waiting more than six months.
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It represents a 76% year-on-year increase in the number of asylum seekers left in the lurch for more than half a year about their future, up from 26,125 in September 2019.
Home secretary Priti Patel NIKLAS HALLE'N via Getty Images
This comes despite an 8% annual decrease in the number of asylum applications, as of the end of September.
Stephen Hale, chief executive of the charity Refugee Action, condemned the delays.
“It’s appalling that more than three in four people are now waiting longer than six months for a decision on their asylum claim,” he said.
“Forcing people to live in limbo on a measly allowance of just £5.66 a day for sometimes years on end can take a horrendous toll on their mental health.”
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““Forcing people to live in limbo on a measly allowance of just £5.66 a day for sometimes years on end can take a horrendous toll on their mental health.”” - Stephen Hale, Refugee Action
Home Office data also showed that the number of people waiting for their initial asylum claim to be processed had increased every single quarter except one since March 2017, rising from 27,048 to 60,548 in three-and-a-half years.
Another 2,861 cases were awaiting further review at the end of September.
Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said that vulnerable people were suffering as the “mismanagement of the Home Office goes from bad to worse under this government”.
“This scale of backlog in dealing with cases is unacceptable, especially as we know many asylum seekers are confined in intolerable conditions,” the Labour MP said.
“Ministers should commit to a rapid turnaround of all cases and a removal of the backlog as an urgent priority.”
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Andy Hewett, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, echoed Abbott’s call.
“Despite extensive media coverage suggesting the contrary, 2020 has not seen a surge in asylum claims. In the year to September 2020, asylum claims fell by 8%, and no refugees were resettled,” he said.
“Clearly, the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the asylum system, with pre-existing systemic problems, such as the asylum case backlog, worsening and causing tens of thousands of people to be stuck in the asylum system for months on end, unable to plan for the future and struggling to survive on £5.66 per day.
“The government urgently needs to address the growing backlog of cases, and grant people waiting more than six months the right to work.”
In a statement, home secretary Priti Patel said the need for change in the UK’s asylum system “has never been clearer”.
“With over 48,000 asylum cases stuck in this broken system, I will bring forward new legislation next year to ensure vulnerable people get the support they need instead of being stuck in the system waiting for a decision and unable to get on with rebuilding their lives.
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“This also means ending abuse of the asylum system,” the Tory frontbencher said.
“Our new legislation will introduce a new firm system to expediate removals of foreign criminals, stop people coming here illegally and instead prioritise those most in need who play by the rules.”
The Home Office is currently facing a fresh row over its plan for a charter deportation flight to Jamaica on December 2.
While the government has insisted all the people set to be on the flight are “foreign national offenders”, campaigners say non-British nationals are being punished twice for their crimes.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Courteney Cox Treats Friends Fans To A Recreation Of Iconic Turkey Scene In Honour Of Thanksgiving

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Courteney Cox got into the Thanksgiving spirit this year by recreating one of her most memorable Friends scenes.
However, it sounds like she might have done it rather begrudgingly.
In a video posted on her Instagram, Courteney told her followers: “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you’re having a great day.
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“I’m feeling so thankful. And also… if I get one more goddamn gif with a turkey on my head, dancing like a ******* fool, I’m just going to snap.”
Courteney, of course, is referring to an infamous moment during the fifth season of Friends, where Monica puts a turkey on her head (as well as some novelty sunglasses and a fez) and does a bit of dancing in an attempt to cheer Chandler up.
In fact, let’s just remind ourselves of the moment in question…
Truly iconic.
In the 22 years since it first aired, the scene has become ubiquitous at this time of year, but it seems the actor has had enough of seeing it – which is perhaps why she felt like updating it for 2020.
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“So anyway,” she added. “Since I’m the symbol of Thanksgiving, here you go. Hope it makes you happy.”
The post caught the attention of Courteney’s co-star Lisa Kudrow, who joked: “You DID THAT!”
It was announced earlier this year that the cast of Friends would be coming together for a one-off special, but it’s been delayed multiple times as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Exclusive: No.10 'Demanded UK Flag Be Printed On Oxford Vaccine Doses'

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Downing Street has attempted to get doses of the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine labelled with Union Jacks.
HuffPost UK understands No.10′s newly-formed “Union unit”, tasked with fighting calls for Scottish independence and other campaigns to break up the UK, wanted injection kits to bear the flag.
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It asked the government’s vaccine task force to insist manufacturers of the vaccine – developed by Britain’s top university alongside pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca – use the UK flag.
No.10 said there were no plans for the Union Jack to be on doses, but did not deny that the request – said by insiders to have strong backing from health secretary Matt Hancock and business secretary Alok Sharma – had been made.
A government spokesperson said: “Manufacturing for some of the leading potential vaccines is already underway so they can be rolled out quickly if approved.
“Manufacturers are well-versed in the best way to package products like this.”
It came as Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC she would seek a second independence referendum “in the earlier part” of the next Scottish parliament.
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The SNP continues to dominate the political landscape north of the border having held the vast majority of Westminster seats since 2015.
A medical syringe and a vial seen in front of the Union Jack SIPA USA/PA Images
It is also on course to win the 2021 Holyrood elections, a victory that follows the party holding the balance of power in Edinburgh since 2007.
While Boris Johnson’s Scottish secretary Alister Jack said there should not be a second referendum for “25 to 40 years”, ministers are privately concerned about the spike in support since Covid-19.
There is steadily growing support for a vote on Welsh independence and fresh debate on Irish unity post-Brexit, due to the threat of a hard border.
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Health secretary Matt Hancock on a video call this year. Hancock's office contains a large portrait of the Queen by Damian Hurst PA
It is thought Boris Johnson’s aides hoped underlining the British success of the Oxford vaccine would boost affection for the Union and, abroad, “Global Britain” as the UK prepares to break from the EU to trade around the world.
One Whitehall official told HuffPost UK there had been an intensification in recent months on shoring up support for the Union.
“There has been a renewed interest on the impact of policy decisions on the union, and ensuring it is in no way detrimental to the devolved nations,” she said.
“It is something we have to constantly be mindful of. They are trying hard to keep the union intact.”
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Others inside Westminster think using the GB brand would instil public confidence in the vaccine, amid fears the anti-vaxxer movement is gaining ground online.
Scientists had expressed doubts about the robustness of results showing the shot was 90% effective in a sub-group of trial participants who were accidentally given a half dose followed by a full dose, instead of two full doses. The difference was caused by a manufacturing error.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Piers Morgan Is No Doubt Loving The Fact Comedian Munya Chawawa Has Named His Debut Single After Him

Internet comedian Munya Chawawa has unveiled his debut single, and it’s one we think could well capture the attention of a certain controversial daytime host.
The name of the track? Piers Morgan.
After signing a deal with Atlantic Records, Munya debuted his first single on Friday, under the guise of one of his comedy characters, Unknown P, “the UK’s first ‘posh’ drill rapper”.
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While the song’s music video features a set very reminiscent of the Good Morning Britain studio, Munya (or should that be Unknown P) is heard rapping: “Sipping on tea, pass me a bourbon, had to run a man down in my wellies, now I’m telly, Piers Morgan, Susanna Reid I’m adorin’.”
Munya Chawawa as Unknown P Munya Chawawa
We can only imagine how thrilled the man himself is to make it into a rap song – even if it is one recorded by a comedy character.
A press release for Piers Morgan (the song, not the man, obviously), explains: “Written over a booming drill beat, the track itself documents a day in the life of Unknown P and nods to his daily consumption of morning television and the divisive figure that is Piers Morgan.”
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Announcing the track earlier this week, Munya joked on Twitter: “@PiersMorgan, I suggest you start writing your reply now.”
It's coming, marndem!
The debut single from Unknown P - 'Piers Morgan'. 🧐🔥
Pre-order it here: https://t.co/UN6rIcXx1x@piersmorgan, I suggest you start writing your reply now 😉 pic.twitter.com/IPXHoTyp1a — Munya Chawawa (@munyachawawa) November 25, 2020
On Tuesday, it was announced that Munya had been nominated for a Mobo Award, in the new category of Best Media Personality, alongside Clara Amfo, Maya Jama, Mo Gilligan and KSI.
Watch the Piers Morgan music video in full above.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Trump Flips Out At Reporter: 'Don't Ever Talk To The President That Way'

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Donald Trump lashed out during a Thanksgiving press conference at a reporter who pushed back against his false claims of election fraud, calling the journalist a “lightweight” and telling him, “I’m the president of the United States.”
Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason asked Trump if he will concede when the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
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“Well if they do, they made a mistake, because this election was a fraud,” Trump replied, before launching into a tirade about the number of votes Biden got compared to former President Barack Obama.
When Mason interrupted this lengthy digression, Trump snapped, “Don’t talk to me that way.”
″You’re just a lightweight. Don’t talk to me that way. I’m the president of the United States. Don’t ever talk to the president that way,” he added.
JUST IN: President Trump snaps at reporter objecting to the President's false claims about the election: "You're just a lightweight. Don't talk to me that way. I'm the President of the United States. Don't ever talk to the President that way." pic.twitter.com/RbTKItjs9L — The Hill (@thehill) November 26, 2020
This tone typified much of the press conference, in which the president evaded questions about whether he will attend Biden’s inauguration, persistently alleged widespread voter fraud, attacked election officials, and complained that his successor shouldn’t be allowed to take credit for a Covid-19 vaccine.
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The president’s outburst sparked much chatter on Twitter from other members of the press. Trump has often insulted and demeaned journalists who ask questions that he doesn’t like.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--BBC Journalist Ben Hunte Targeted With Racist And Homophobic Abuse After Laurence Fox Tweet

BBC journalist Ben Hunte has said he’s been hit with a wave of homophobic and racist abuse following a social media post by Laurence Fox.
Earlier this week, Fox shared a screenshot of the reporter’s Twitter profile, commenting: “So glad I’m not paying for this anymore.”
The tweet appears to have since been deleted.
Hunte – the corporation’s LGBT correspondent – said on Thursday: “My family and I have been sent racist and homophobic abuse following the below screenshot of me being posted. I am fine – but I will let the police take over.”
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My family and I have been sent racist and homophobic abuse following the below screenshot of me being posted. I am fine - but I will let the police take over. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Bw8GMfeMOH — Ben Hunte (@BenInLDN) November 26, 2020
He continued: “If you disagree with my job, or with the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines, or with wider LGBT-related decision I am not involved in, please do not contact my family with hate. Please use the BBC’s complaints process.
“I am doing my job to the best of my abilities. I am proud of being a journalist and so grateful to those who share their experiences with me.”
If you disagree with my job, or with the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines, or with wider LGBT-related decisions I am not involved in, please do not contact my family with hate. Please use the BBC’s complaints process. 2/3 — Ben Hunte (@BenInLDN) November 26, 2020
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I am doing my job to the best of my abilities. I am proud of being a journalist and so grateful to those who share their experiences with me. Thank you ♥. 3/3 — Ben Hunte (@BenInLDN) November 26, 2020
A tweet from the BBC later said: “We won’t tolerate abuse and threats aimed at our journalists.
“They all stick to the BBC’s editorial standards – meaning they need to include a wide variety of viewpoints and voices in their reporting. This should never lead to personal abuse.”
We won’t tolerate abuse and threats aimed at our journalists. They all stick to the BBC’s editorial standards – meaning they need to include a wide variety of viewpoints and voices in their reporting. This should never lead to personal abuse. (1/2) — BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) November 26, 2020
If you have complaints to make about any BBC editorial decision, start here: https://t.co/4MV2mIbKql We won’t hesitate to report abuse and threats to the police. (2/2) — BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) November 26, 2020
In a tweet addressed to Hunte, Fox tweeted on Thursday evening: “Saddened to hear you have had abuse. It’s horrible and I know exactly how you feel. My view is that the BBC is increasingly identitarian and divisive and should be defunded. I believe in people, not acronyms.”
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He signed off the tweet, “Loz”.
Hey Ben, saddened to hear you have had abuse. It’s horrible and I know exactly how you feel. My view is that the @BBC is increasingly identitarian and divisive and should be defunded. I believe in people, not acronyms. Loz x #DefundTheBBC https://t.co/c3w4zQz4eI — Laurence Fox (@LozzaFox) November 26, 2020
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of a tweet posted earlier today relating to an allegation of abuse on social media.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Unthankful Trump Refuses To Say If He Will Attend Biden Inauguration

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Donald Trump refused on Thanksgiving to say if he will attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, didn’t rule out a run for the White House in 2024 and said the Electoral College will make “a massive mistake” if it formally votes for Biden on December 14.
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede, because we know there was massive fraud,” Trump said, repeating false claims in comments to the press after a teleconference with members of the military. “This was a massive fraud, this should never take place in this country. We’re like a third-world country.”
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The president said he wouldn’t comment on his attendance at any inauguration event on January 20, adding: “I know the answer to that, but I don’t want to say it yet.” When pressed by reporters, Trump said that he would leave the White House in January.
“Certainly I will. … Certainly I will, and you know that,” Trump said before adding, “There will be a lot of things happening between now and January 20th, a lot of things.”
EARLIER: Amidst making false claims about the 2020 election, President Trump refuses to confirm if he'll go to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, though he says, "I know the answer." pic.twitter.com/ydfR2kzj0C — The Hill (@thehill) November 26, 2020
Trump and his surrogates have lost virtually all of their court challenges to the results of the presidential election in the key battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
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Biden won more than 80 million votes in the election, a historic number, and currently leads the president by more than 6 million votes.
“I know one thing, Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes,” Trump said without evidence. “This race is far from over.”
Electors will meet on December 14 to cast their votes in their respective states, a move that constitutionally determines the next president.
Biden holds 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. Congress counts and certifies the results on Jan. 6. Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Trump on Thursday demeaned Republican election officials in Georgia and said he “didn’t lose” in the state despite a hand recount that confirmed Biden led in the state by just over 12,000 votes. That recount, Trump said, was “meaningless.” (It is not.) He said his loss in the Electoral College would be “fraud,” a statement not supported by any evidence.
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“If they do, they’ve made a mistake,” the president said, referring to the Electoral College certifying Biden as the winner next month.
Trump also blasted efforts by the president-elect to prepare to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Americans shouldn’t “let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines,” he said.
“Don’t let him take credit, because the vaccines were me, and I pushed people harder than they’ve been pushed before,” he said, a statement not supported by the facts about the vaccines currently under development.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Pope Francis Urges Solidarity In A Covid-19 World In Rare Op-Ed

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Pope Francis called for solidarity in a world gripped by the coronavirus, praised health care workers and chastised governments and individuals who selfishly thought only of themselves during a global pandemic, writing in a New York Times op-ed published on Thanksgiving.
Francis remembered the nurses who helped save his life from severe pneumonia at the age of 21 and praised both science and the “goodness and wisdom of others.”
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“In lockdown I’ve often gone in prayer to those who sought all means to save the lives of others,” Francis wrote. “So many of the nurses, doctors and caregivers paid that price of love, together with priests and religious and ordinary people whose vocations were service. We return their love by grieving for them and honouring them.”
Most governments across the globe acknowledged the hard work of health care workers and put the well-being of citizens first and foremost, Francis said. But he had less charitable words for “governments that shrugged off the painful evidence of mounting deaths, with inevitable, grievous consequences,” and for individuals who “protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions.”
The pope did not name names, though his words could easily be seen as a criticism of countries such as the U.S. “It is all too easy for some to take an idea — in this case, for example, personal freedom — and turn it into an ideology, creating a prism through which they judge everything,” Francis stressed.
“The coronavirus crisis may seem special because it affects most of humankind,” Francis added. “But it is special only in how visible it is. There are a thousand other crises that are just as dire, but are just far enough from some of us that we can act as if they don’t exist.”
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Chief among the “unseen viruses” and “hidden pandemics of this world” are climate change, the plight of refugees and world hunger — all tragedies that affect the entirety of humanity, Francis wrote.
The pope urged individuals and governments alike to reconsider their priorities as the coronavirus pandemic continued. He stressed that the political and economic systems that proved ineffective in a COVID-19 world need to be changed.
“We need economies that give to all access to the fruits of creation, to the basic needs of life: to land, lodging and labor,” Francis wrote. “We need a politics that can integrate and dialogue with the poor, the excluded and the vulnerable, that gives people a say in the decisions that affect their lives. We need to slow down, take stock and design better ways of living together on this Earth.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--People Can’t Believe Donald Trump’s Tiny Desk For His Thanksgiving Rant Isn’t A Joke

The best part about the tiny desk is this is where he got mad at a reporter and snapped “I’m the president of the United States. Don’t talk to me that way.”
A cartoonist couldn’t have imagined it better.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Gemma Collins Pens Heartbreaking Open Letter To Meghan Markle About Her Own Pregnancy Loss

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Gemma Collins has penned an open letter to Meghan Markle about her own pregnancy loss, after the Duchess Of Sussex shared her recent experience of miscarriage.
Writing in the New York Times earlier this week, Meghan recalled: “After changing [Archie, her son’s] diaper, I felt a sharp cramp.
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“I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.”
Meghan Markle pictured in 2018 Shutterstock
“Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few,” Meghan said later in the piece.
“In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage.”
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The Duchess Of Sussex won a wave of support following her candid New York Times piece, which inspired Gemma Collins to share her own account of pregnancy loss in an article for The Sun.
Addressing Meghan directly, the reality star wrote: “Your sadness and grief leapt out of the page, along with your desire to comfort other women who have been through the same heartbreak.
“I am one of those women. Because like you I also had a miscarriage in July – one of the ten or twenty women in a room of a hundred that you wrote about who will know the particular pain of losing a longed-for baby.
“I’ve not talked about this before, but it was my third, each one a devastating loss on my longed-for journey to motherhood. I’ve been trying to have a baby for nearly a decade now, only to have my hopes dashed time and again by first one miscarriage, then another.”
Gemma Collins phootgraphed during an appearance on This Morning last year Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
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Gemma explained that at the time she was unaware that she had been pregnant, only discovering this to be the case after days of severe cramps led her to call a doctor.
She said: “I was on my own at the time, like many of us in lockdown, and for days I just tried to push on until one day I broke down on the phone to my sister and she forced me to ring a doctor.
“The doctor sent me to hospital where they told me that I’d had a miscarriage. In a single instant, I learned that I’d been carrying a baby and lost it, meaning that once again I found my longstanding dreams of motherhood shattered into pieces.”
Gemma said at the time of her first two miscarriages she “drew a veil over” the experiences, noting: “No-one would ever have guessed that I was grieving, and even among close friends I didn’t talk about it much.”
“That’s why I think it’s really powerful that you’ve shared your experience. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the public eye or married to a Prince, miscarriages don’t discriminate, and the pain is the same for us all,” she continued.
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“I know my heart, like yours, will never repair from the loss of my babies, the sweet souls who never made it to earth.
“But I also know that this is not the end of my dreams of motherhood, or your dream of giving Archie a baby brother or sister.”
The former The Only Way Is Essex personality ended the piece by insisting she “won’t give up” on her dream of becoming a mother, sharing her hopes to raise a family “a world away from the world of ‘GC’, the larger-than-life character that most of the public know”.
“Thank you again for your brave honest words,” she wrote.
“It meant a lot to me to read them and I know it will mean a lot to all the other women who are members of a club no-one would ever want to join.”
Read Gemma Collins’ full article on The Sun’s website.
Useful websites and helplines:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--10 Entertainment Stories You Need To Know This Week | Good Vibes Only

10 Entertainment Stories You Need To Know This Week | Good Vibes Only
This week, the Grammy nominations were announced, Beverley Callard is quickly becoming a national treasure, The Mandalorian had their “coffee cup” moment and we have a Bake Off winner.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--NHS To Trial Blood Test That Checks For 50 Types of Cancer

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A simple blood test that could detect more than 50 types of cancer will be trialled by the NHS.
More than 165,000 people in England will be offered the Galleri blood test, which can spot early-stage cancers years before diagnosis.
The test, developed by the US company Grail, is designed to detect molecular changes caused by cancer in people with no obvious symptoms.
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It may be able to identify cancers that are difficult to diagnose early, such as head and neck, ovarian, pancreatic, oesophageal and some blood cancers.
The large-scale pilot is due to start in mid-2021 and if the test works as expected for people without symptoms, it will be rolled out more widely.
Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said the test had the potential to “save many lives”.
He said: “While the good news is that cancer survival is now at a record high, over a thousand people every day are newly diagnosed with cancer.
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“Early detection – particularly for hard-to-treat conditions like ovarian and pancreatic cancer – has the potential to save many lives.
“This promising blood test could therefore be a game-changer in cancer care, helping thousands more people to get successful treatment.”
Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “We are building a world-leading diagnostics industry in the UK – not just for coronavirus but for other diseases too.
“This exciting and groundbreaking new blood test from Grail will give us another tool to give more people the very best chance of survival, demonstrating how the UK continues to lead the way in using the latest innovative treatments to help patients.
“Many of us know a loved one who has battled against cancer and have seen first-hand the impact of this deadly disease.”
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Diana Jupp, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK, also welcomed the news. “It’s fantastic to see investment in such a large-scale pilot with the ambition to improve early diagnosis, not just for well-known cancers, but also for devastating diseases like pancreatic cancer that have been overlooked for so long,” she said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Matthew Perry Announces Engagement To ‘The Greatest Woman On The Face Of The Planet’

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Matthew Perry has announced his engagement to girlfriend Molly Hurwitz.
The 51-year-old, best known for his role as Chandler Bing in Friends, revealed the big news to People magazine.
He said: “I decided to get engaged.
“Luckily, I happened to be dating the greatest woman on the face of the planet at this time.”
Matthew Perry PA
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The US magazine reports that Matthew and the 29-year-old literary manager started dating in 2018.
The actor has recently joined the star-studded cast of Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet and Meryl Streep.
The film, directed by Adam McKay, boasts one of the most glittering ensemble casts in recent Hollywood history.
Don’t Look Up tells the story of two low-level astronomers who go on a media tour to warn mankind of an approaching asteroid that will destroy planet Earth.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--6 Useful Tips For Anyone Grieving Their Pre-Pandemic Life

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Grief is commonly linked to the experience that comes after losing someone we care deeply about, often through death. However, there are different kinds of grief and many of them have nothing to do with dying at all.
In fact, experts believe the coronavirus pandemic has plunged the world into a sort of collective and chronic grief, as we mourn jobs, relationships, holidays, normalcy and other tangible and intangible losses.
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“Chronic grief is being experienced in many ways: through feelings of hopelessness; a sense of disbelief; avoidance of any situation that may remind someone of the loss; or loss of meaning and value in a belief system,” said John Sovec, a grief counsellor. This grief “can be stressful because you don’t have time to properly grieve one loss before experiencing the next.”
During this time, a lot of people are also experiencing a shift in identity, which is its own form of death in a way, according to writer and grief coach Breeshia Wade.
“[People are] taking a look in the mirror and not recognising themselves ... Maybe their identity was tied to a job they no longer have, or maybe our nation’s racial reckoning is causing them to see their participation in anti-Blackness,” Wade said. “They may not like what [they] see. There is grief in forming a new identity after the loss of an old one.”
This not only takes an emotional toll, but a physical one as well, added Julie G. Kays, manager and clinical counsellor at the Counseling Center at Stella Maris.
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“Sometimes we feel grief in our bodies before we feel it anywhere else,” she said. “Our bodies might experience more pain — headaches, stomach aches or intensifying chronic pain — or might feel depleted and numb in response to grief. Grief is exhausting, it impacts our overall ability to function and we may find ourselves distracted, forgetful and unable to focus. We may lack energy and not find pleasure in many things, even those things that used to give us joy.”
The continuous emotional and physical onslaught of grief can then lead to long-term problems. This may include “huge upswings in depression and anxiety as well as a deep emotional fatigue that is affecting people’s ability to cope with their daily emotional maintenance,” Sovec said.
This insurmountable grief is to be expected given all that we’ve endured this year. But it’s important to find healthy coping mechanisms to help you deal with it ― and they might not be the same ones you’d use to cope with a death. Here is some expert-backed advice that may make managing these specific losses a little bit easier:
Allow yourself to feel the grief.
Don’t brush off what you’re feeling or diminish it. Diana Concannon, a licensed psychologist and dean of the California School of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University, said it’s necessary to allow yourself to feel your emotions without trying to dictate them.
“Grief is primitive, and although it can be managed, it resists being tamed or controlled,” she said. “When overcome by powerful emotions — which can arise unexpectedly while grieving — it is often most healing to breathe into these feelings, presume they are part of our grief process, and allow them to dissipate naturally.”
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lechatnoir via Getty Images
Share your grief.
Because of the stigma associated with grief, it can often feel like an isolating experience. But you’re absolutely not the only one feeling this way.
Express to your family that you’re extremely upset about not being able to see them for the holidays. Tell your friends you feel a lack of purpose without a job. Being vulnerable is scary but it will help ― and perhaps it will also encourage others who might have been worried about speaking up, too.
“Identify what you’re feeling and know that you’re not alone,” said Jennifer Teplin, a licensed clinical social worker and the founder and clinical director of Manhattan Wellness. “When experiencing grief, things can feel extremely isolating. By sharing with others and being curious about their own experiences, we will immediately feel less alone.”
Try to not compare your experiences to other people’s experiences.
As you share your journey and struggles with those around you, avoid stacking yourself up to them. Just because someone is coping with not being able to see their family differently doesn’t make it wrong or right. Just because someone had more loss this year doesn’t mean your losses don’t matter. We all handle grief in our own ways, and everyone’s losses are valid.
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“The comparison can have detrimental effects on the natural grief process and reactions, as it suggests someone is not doing it right and this contributes to feelings of shame and guilt that stunt healing,” said Maggie Tipton, director of psychological services at Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania.
Find new rituals that provide you with a sense of routine.
“Figuring out new ways to add cadence and structure to your life with intentional rituals ... can help you integrate losses in a meaningful way,” said Abigail Nathanson, a licensed psychotherapist in New York City.
This is especially important if you’re struggling with the loss of “normality” right now (and, really, who isn’t?). We don’t have control over a lot that’s going on in the world, so finding areas where we can introduce some stability can be grounding. Try waking up at an earlier time every day, adding a daily workout to your afternoons or setting Fridays aside for takeout and Netflix.
The Good Brigade via Getty Images
Try reflective journalling.
Journalling has a host of mental health benefits and can be extremely useful in the grieving process. Reflective journalling, in particular, can help you examine the losses you’re experiencing more closely, said Patricia Celan, a psychiatry resident at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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“Create a narrative around what happened, why it may have happened and how your life has been changed for both the worse and the better,” Celan said. “In this case, create a storyline around how your life has been impacted by the pandemic.”
While journalling, you could also take a moment to list a few things you are currently grateful for in your life, which can also help your mental health.
Dive deeper into self-care.
During this time, self-care has never been more important. (And no, we’re not just talking about slapping on a face mask and opening a bottle of wine.)
Sovec said it’s important that you are taking care of your body as well as your emotions during the grieving process. That means nourishing yourself, moving your body, sleeping, setting boundaries and allowing people to help you. And if at any point you’re struggling to function or do these basic things, it might be worth speaking to a mental health professional.
“Often the last things that people focus on when grieving is taking care of themselves and this lack of self-care can exacerbate the emotional overwhelm that can accompany grief,” Sovec said. “When our tank is empty, it is even more challenging to process deep emotions.”
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Grief “is not always a predictable journey,” he added. Some days you’ll wake up feeling OK and others you’ll feel pummelled by the weight of it all.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Boris’s Blustering Language Was Always Boring. Now It’s Deadly

The strange thing about Johnson is that he assumes himself to be the heir of Churchill – a great man with seemingly pre-ordained purpose – but actively contrives to speak in pastiche. Even in the most serious moments, it is almost as though he wants to sabotage himself. The self-consciously staccato “ers” that punctuate any sentence sound less like a grand statesman than a mechanic starting an old car.
Nobody is asking Johnson to become the doomster and gloomster he so despises. What people do need, however, is empathy and transparency – a leader who speaks at a register suited to the moment and in language they themselves use every day. Jacinda Ardern is an exemplar of this, using the language of team-work, shared purpose and optimism, while still delivering sober advice. Scotland has fared less well than New Zealand but Nicola Sturgeon, too, has enjoyed stellar approval ratings – because she explains policies clearly, constantly empathises with people’s sacrifices, and offers an optimism that is grounded in cautious hope, rather than short-term boosterism.
Like an embarrassing uncle at the Christmas table, Johnson has no sense of what is appropriate and when. That is not motivated by a lack of awareness but a profound narcissism, in my view. He needs to deploy his bombast at every occasion to remind us that he will do this his way and he doesn’t care. The problem is that the people he has been elected to serve do care – and over the coming months many more will die.
Jonathan Lis is deputy director of the pro-EU think tank British Influence, and a political writer and commentator.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Yes, Mulled White Wine Is A Thing. Here's How To Get It Right

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Tis the season for mulling it over, wrapping up warm, and enjoying a hot drink (or two, we don’t judge) on your winter walk. We can’t visit Christmas markets as we normally would, but we can still get that comforting taste at home.
Nothing says festive quite like the heady aroma of mulled wine stewing in a saucepan with cinnamon sticks, nor the instant warming feeling of that first sip. But when it comes to mulled wine, red isn’t always the answer.
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Warwick Smith, founder of east London winery, Renegade Wines, has been getting creative and brewing white mulled wine for thirsty Londoners. The very idea has us equal parts horrified and intrigued, so we had to find out more.
“We like to look at wine and winemaking from a different angle. If you can mull red, why not white?” Smith tells HuffPost UK. “The biggest draw to mulled white wine for me is that it’s a nice change. It’s light, refreshing, warming, and zesty. It’s less spicy and full-on than a heavily mulled, big red.”
Renegade Wines Patrick Marriott of Renegade Wine making mulled white wine
Just because white wine isn’t as intense doesn’t mean it’s bland. You can go quite bold with citrus and spices – as when it all combines, the taste will soften.
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“Avoid adding too much sugar. Remember, you can always add, you can’t take away,” Smith advises. “We’ve gone citrusy and fresh in our approach, so we’ve only added lemon, orange, vanilla, cloves, ginger, and a little sugar.
“We wanted subtle so that the wine was the star. But I’d recommend playing around and adding what you like. There are no real rules.”
Mulled white wine
Serves: | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30 mins Ingredients:
3 bottles of Sauvignon blanc (or use another fresh, aromatic, zesty wine) 1 orange, sliced 1 lemon, sliced 30g caster sugar per bottle (90g in total) In mulling pouch: 6 cloves 1/4 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out into the mull and pod coarsely chopped 1/4 inch fresh ginger, coarsely chopped Method: Bring up to around 60°C, mull for around 30 mins, very gently. Don’t boil. Drink and adjust. You can leave spices in or take out depending on what you fancy.
Renegade Wines Mulled white wine
Don’t like the sound of it? Then try mulled cider instead. While mulled wine is rich and aromatic, mulled cider has the lightness and freshness of fresh apple combined with the comforting warmth and sweetness of baked apple.
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Danny Elston, Taproom manager at Sandford Orchards in Devon, believes the key to a good mulled cider starts with, well, good cider. “Cider made from fresh juice, not concentrated, is a must, as it has a more intense apple taste which will not be overpowered once the rest of the ingredients are added,” he advises.
“Choose a good quality cider that has a hint of acidity to balance out the sugar, otherwise you’ll end up with a drink that’s too sweet.”
Calvados (apple brandy) is the perfect addition to give a kick, while intensifying the delicious apple flavour, he says. Other spirits that work well are rum and sloe gin, “which bring a lovely sweetness and warmth without overpowering.”
It’s easy for these hot cocktails to creep into the overly sweet or blow-your-head-off too spicy territory. There’s a fine line to balancing everything out.
“Spice wise: we use slices of orange or apple, or a whole apple or orange studded with cloves,” says Elston, who also includes star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh slices of ginger in the mix. “Taste as you go, start off drier and you can always add some sugar or honey to sweeten it up.”
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Try out the recipe yourself below. Or, that all sounds like a bit too much hardwork, Sandford has made life easier with a mulled cider kit, here.
Mulled Cider
Serves: 4 | Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30 mins
Sandford Orchards Mulled Cider. Recipe from Sandford Orchards.
Ingredients:
1.5 litres of Devon Mist Cider
400ml of cloudy apple juice
A clove-studded apple
A couple of star anise
The zest of an orange
A tablespoon of allspice berries
A cinnamon stick
A good glug of Calvados or Brandy if you want to give it an extra kick
Method:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Can This Relationship App Improve Your Love Life? We Put It To The Test

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You’re reading Relationships DIY, a series full of tips, tricks and perspective on keeping your relationship healthy and happy during the pandemic.
In school, we’re taught maths, science, languages and even the (absolute basics) of heterosexual sex – but we’re never really taught how to have a good relationship.
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Most of us learn from those around us – our parents or family members. And, as we grow older and form our own romantic relationships, we then learn from our mistakes (of which there are many).
Unsurprisingly then, when it comes to our relationships and sex lives, silence prevails. Six in ten UK adults in a relationship admit they don’t speak to anyone for relationship advice, according to a YouGov survey, commissioned by the Open University and new relationships app Paired.
Paired is born from a need for us to open up about our relationships – especially when so few of us get help from experts for issues relating to our love or sex lives. The same survey found just 1% of people would seek couples therapy or counselling for problems within their relationship and only 5% would get professional help for problems with their sex life.
On the app, partners ‘pair’ with each other on their individual phones and answer daily questions and quizzes to learn more about each other. You can also listen to tips on how to build healthy relationship habits from experts.
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But is an app the solution to this void of information that so many of us have in our lives? Three HuffPost UK staffers put it to the test for a week.
‘Some of the topics that came up were things we’d never discussed before’
Angela and Tom have been together for 11 years and live together.
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Once paired with your partner, the app itself is pretty straightforward to use (which means a lot coming from a technophobe grandma like myself).
There are daily tips from the therapists, which are great conversation starters to prompt couples to talk about important issues that matter in relationships such as commitment, conflict, money, intimacy and more.
Some of the topics that came up were things Tom and I had never discussed before, which made us see each other in a different light. Although, it was pretty revealing when we’d come up with different answers – like when he said he didn’t want to be my colleague because he thought I worked chaotically and he liked things in a certain way (uh, rude!).
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My only issue is that some of the advice offered was a little corporate and cookie cutter-esque, where one piece of advice doesn’t fit all. I feel Tom and I are pretty open in terms of talking things through, resolving conflict and being there for one another, so this app didn’t really change much, but I’d definitely recommend for other couples to try out and test one another.
‘The first night we used it, we had a huge row’
Ramzy and David have been together for 13 years, lived together for 10, and married for four years.
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We’ve taken to calling Paired “the divorce app” – partly in jest – but also because on the first night we used it, we had a huge row about whether or not we respected each other that lasted into the next morning. Some of the things it brought out needed to be said so in that sense it was helpful, but it also dredged up a lot that we needed to work through at a time that might not have been ideal given everything else happening in our lives.
It delivered a few uncomfortable truths, but I can’t blame the app for that. All I would say is, don’t download it hoping for a bit of fun – do it as though you were going to a therapist, prepared to hear difficult things and to feel challenged.
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The app itself is relatively easy to use, though it took a little while to work out where alerts lived and what we were meant to do. I’d have found it helpful if it prescribed us a diet of quizzes, tips, videos, rather than relying on us to navigate around and find them on our own.
I’m not sure I’d pay for it. The discussion points from therapists didn’t factor into the discussions we ended up having because they weren’t responsive to our specific problems – only to the basic ratings we’d given our happiness in different areas.
Most of our problems stem from capitalism – that is, how much time I spend at work, and our differing views within the very similar space on the political spectrum that we occupy. In that sense, I don’t think we learned much about each other, but maybe it was a reminder to listen more, and it did prompt us to recognise that we can treat each other as symbols of different ideologies to be criticised – rather than as people once we get going in an argument.
‘I realised we aren’t very good at taking things seriously’
Tasha and Dan have been together for almost six years and live together with their two cats.
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I had doubts an app could teach me much about my relationship – so I was surprised when it sparked conversations that we’d never had before.
When we started answering questions in the Daily Conversations section, I realised we aren’t very good at taking things seriously – especially Dan. He answered: how can your partner best support you in your work? with, ‘by making lots of teas’ – then said our biggest strengths as a couple are ‘our cats’ (which, to be fair, did make me laugh a lot).
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But when we got into the swing of it and took it a bit more seriously, it was insightful. The daily quizzes sparked conversations we wouldn’t normally have had around work/life balance (mainly mine being terrible), household responsibilities (the unequal distribution of chores), as well as how connected we’ve felt during the pandemic. You rank how happy you are in relation to various statements and it then prompts discussions, especially if there are discrepancies between the two of you.
There were parts that also reminded me of how great Dan is – one question asked what’s your favourite thing your partner ever did for you to mark a special occasion? It reminded me of the incredible effort he’s often gone to to make birthdays special. You can easily forget that stuff, or push it to the back of your mind, unless something prompts you to think about it.
We both found the app quite difficult to navigate. For example, when I’d answer a question, Dan couldn’t find where my answer lived if he didn’t immediately click on the notification. It took me a while to find this, too.
I had to force myself to listen to some of the therapist tips and workshops as part of the app – not because I didn’t want to, but because I was more drawn to the quizzes and questions, and the conversations that came out of them. If the tips were offered at the end of quizzes, perhaps I’d be more inclined to listen.
Some tips were great, though. One of them, from couple’s therapist Judith Lask, said we often stop saying “thank you” to our partners, when we would say it to our friends and family. I could definitely be better at saying “thank you” to Dan. “Grateful couples are more likely to stay together, feel closer, and show more commitment to their relationship,” said Judith.
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There’s lots more to be discovered on the app – and for people feeling like there might be something missing in their relationship, or those who want to start tricky conversations, it could be a handy starting point.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--We Tried Pret's Dinners – Here's What We Thought

Adam Bloodworth Two of the Pret meals I tried: the mac and cheese with pigs in blankets, and the red chicken curry hot rice bowl
Much like walks in the park, meetings that overrun and waiting in queues on automated phone lines, Pret has always been firmly associated with lunch.
Providing reasonably priced and cheerily colourful sandwiches, as well as breakfast bowls and porridges, daytime food has been what they’ve done best. Until now, perhaps. The chain has launched a new Dinners range, hoping to branch out into evening meals, too.
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Right now Pret’s Dinners are only available in London, with 30 outlets working until 9pm to create the new hot food options. There are curry and rice bowls, focaccia and hot bakes, and wraps. Delivery is available from Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat.
As a keen fan, I wanted to see what they were like. Are they enough to fill you up, a valid dinner choice? I tried a few dishes available – here’s what I thought.
Supplied Pret's Dinners range features the Thai Red Chicken Curry Hot Rice Bowl
The Thai Red Chicken Curry Hot Rice Bowl is the most dinner-y thing I try, whereas the other bits could arguably be called more lavish lunches.
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It’s rich, with a boisterous red Thai sauce that isn’t so spicy it’d scare anyone away. Pret’s penchant for veg can be tasted even within meat dishes like this, with the roasted sweet potato providing more of a texture kick than the chicken, which is ripped more thinly, but still has its say.
Priced at £8.95, it’s hearty, but leaves me wanting a tad more. Overall, I’d give it a 4/5. Not bad.
Next up is the Prosciutto and Mozzarella Focaccia Pizza and the Tomato, Mozzarella and Pesto Focaccia Pizza. They’re both good fun – soft and deep, but still with a good textured cheesy crunch. And ingredients aren’t spared on top, which is always a plus.
They’re £7.95 each, but I’d say they’re best shared with a side if you’re eating for dinner – which makes them a little on the spenny side. In fact, the menu is probably best viewed as an opportunity to share, if you’re partial to wanting a little more winter comfort. But still, the quality is really good. It’s a 4/5 for me.
Supplied Pret's Dinners range: two of the focaccia options from the menu
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I also try one of Pret’s side orders: the appropriately seasonal Pigs In Blankets Mac and Cheese Bake. It passes the ‘is this just a novelty or not?’ test, with barrels of strong cheese, al dente pasta and juicy pigs to offset the creamy cheese. Delicious and well priced at £5.99, but definitely best as an indulgent side rather than main.
So, I may have been a little piggy myself having ordered the side dish, but hey – it’s Christmas! And given how cheesy pasta has been awarded the number one comfort food dish this winter by online cake shop Jack and Beyond, I thought, sod it, I’m going in.
Supplied The cute packaging that some of the dishes arrive in.
There’s more I didn’t try, of course – you can view the whole menu online. For vegetarians, there’s a Sticky Aubergine and a Sweet Potato Chilli Hot Bowl, which I’d imagine would follow a similar path of generous veggie portions, with the on-brand colourful smattering of herbs and spices. I’ll be trying them next.
My thoughts? There’s an approach you need to take with this menu: don’t just order one thing. The quality’s there, but ordering one alone may leave you peckish. And anyway, ordering a fun side adds a lift to the spread when you unpack it at home.
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Plus, the focaccia and the mac and cheese come in satisfyingly slidy packaging, revealing the dish slowly and dramatically like an iPhone box. On the lockdown scale of fun things to do, this ranks pretty high.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--How To Have The Tricky Conversation About Where You're Spending Christmas

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Who will you spend Christmas with this year? At the best of times, it’s a tough one to answer and can involve some serious dancing around loved ones’ feelings.
But this year, Covid-19 throws another spanner (or five) into the mix. Under new rules, families across the UK will be able to form “Christmas bubbles” from December 23 to 27, meaning three households can be together for five days.
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This leaves a few questions to answer. How do you choose certain households over others, and let them down gently? How can you tactfully let loved ones know you’ll be staying home for Christmas? And how do you address safety if your loved ones are inviting more households than is allowed into the mix?
While many will be grateful to be given the choice to mix or not, others will be thrown headfirst into making difficult decisions. “It’s really hard,” says Counselling Directory member Pam Custers. “I haven’t got a magic wand here, but I think it’s about asking: who do we prioritise?”
For example, people who live alone or who have found this year to be difficult mentally would be more of a priority to bubble up this Christmas than, say, a happily married couple with kids.
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You might have a huge family that usually piles into one house on December 25 – but this year is going to be different. And if there are lots of generations coming together, it could be tricky – not to mention dangerous.
Vasia Toxavidi, a psychotherapist and member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), urges large families to come together ahead of Christmas – virtually or via phone call – to figure out what is best for the group, ensuring you don’t leave anyone out of the conversation.
“The secret to success is for it to be negotiated in such a way that nobody feels left out of the negotiation and their voices have been heard,” adds Custers.
The whole family needs to find the way forward, says Toxavidi, and if that’s not possible, it’s about compromise. Ask yourselves: what are the options? What is going to have the least impact on everyone? And how are we going to stay safe in the process?
She urges caution, though. If, for example, you have four sets of adult siblings and their parents discussing coming together over Christmas, one of those siblings might offer to not be part of the celebrations so everyone else can go. But that in itself can fuel resentment, which might later have an effect on the family dynamics.
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Getting a clear picture of what Christmas will look like if you’re visiting a relative or friend is also important, as Custers points out, people have varying levels of social responsibility. You don’t want to turn up at a sibling’s house on Christmas Day to find they’ve invited five other households over for dinner.
“I think if people are honest and open and transparent about how to do it, you’ve got more chance of finding a way through it,” says Custers.
Some people might decide they don’t want to leave their homes this Christmas at all – which can mean having tricky conversations with family members who would like them to visit.
If this resonates, therapists suggest having a clear line of communication with the household you’re speaking to – preferably via phone call or FaceTime.
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Never break the news you’re not going home for Christmas via text message or Whatsapp.
“People have to be able to say: ‘I feel unsafe, it’s a pandemic. It’s not that I specifically don’t want to see you, it’s about how I feel’,” says Toxavidi. If you focus on using I, rather than you, in your conversation, it feels a lot more personal and less like you’re trying to lay any blame on them, she adds.
If discussions do start to heat up, Toxavidi urges people to “respond, not react” in conversation, so you’re not coming across as defensive if they say something you don’t agree with. “If you don’t react and you respond, you can create an answer that’s about saying how you feel, not using blame,” she says.
And, if the situation allows for it, she recommends using humour to diffuse tension, as well as forcing the other person into your shoes: “If the other person gets really upset and is saying things like: ‘how could you say that? Why won’t you come?’ Instead of the person justifying their actions, they can ask the other person: ‘If you were me and you were afraid, what would you do?’”
Sometimes, the conversation may reach a road block. At that point, it’s worth taking a step back and saying: “Let’s talk about this when we’re both calm,” and ending the call (but let them know first, don’t just hang up!).
Christmas doesn’t have to be ruined because of Covid-19, but we do need to make compromises. “Yes, this Christmas will be difficult, and challenging, but if we do it in the right way we don’t have to destroy relationships,” says Custers, who recommends people focus away from “trying to win” and instead on co-constructing the best possible solution.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Isolating With My Friend With Benefits Should Have Been Fun. Covid Had Other Plans

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You’re reading Sex Diaries, a HuffPost UK Personal series about how we are (or aren’t) having sex. To share your story, get in touch on ukpersonal@huffpost.com.
I like being single.
No, really, I do. I enjoy my own independence, and frankly I don’t have the time for a relationship right now. Juggling a part-time job, university and freelance writing could be enough to break down even the strongest relationships.
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Enter James, my ex-turned-friend with benefits. Our agreement means less commitment with the same (if not more) care and respect – and, let’s be honest, hotter sex.
The pandemic and our varying work locations and university schedules have often made our ‘relationship’ long distance, though we are no strangers to exchanging saucy messages to keep things fresh.
But even the most seasoned and independent nomophobes among us crave the comforting physical touch and presence of another human being at times – and so earlier this month, with the impeding doom of another national lockdown, we jumped at the chance to be together one last time.
After a month of being alone, I was desperate to get my hands on him. One evening when we were messaging back and forth, I decided to take the plunge and send him a risky “come over?” text message. No later than 24 hours later he was outside my door – and we couldn’t get our clothes off fast enough.
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Things started off great, as they always do. Despite being on-and-off for a bit (about four years, but who’s counting?), passion is not normally something we fall short on. James was only meant to stay a few days, a week maximum. But Covid-19 had other plans.
“It wasn’t until the next day when I lost my taste mid-way through a love affair with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s that I clocked what was happening.”
One night while we were snuggled up in bed, James was charmingly planting gentle kisses on my neck and back in the usual sure-fire way that gets a girl going. That would be, if I didn’t have a serious case of the shivers. Instead of begging him to go faster, I was begging him to fetch me more blankets.
It wasn’t until the next day when I lost my taste mid-way through a love affair with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s that I clocked what was happening. A quick trip to the local test centre confirmed my suspicion: “Your coronavirus test result is positive.”
You’d think that being in lockdown with someone I’ve spent nearly four years with would mean they’d nurse me back to health. But no. James’ idea of looking after me was a “scientific experiment” of putting hot sauce in my Lemsip to see if I could taste it. Before you try this cruel prank on your partners and call it a TikTok challenge, here are the results: I couldn’t taste it, but I could feel a persistent burning in my already sore throat. After using what little voice I had left to shout at him, I was feeling particularly sorry for myself.
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So, what was I to do for the next two weeks with a man I find as devastatingly attractive as I do annoying? Cue the sexy playlists on Spotify, of course.
But this initial booty call turned two-week long isolation period soon took a toll on our sex life. When he was fired up, I was burning up with a fever. When I felt less hot, and a little more hot and heavy, he’d had enough of my constant sneezing and sniffling. And when we both felt like it, there was only so long I could go before needing to catch my breath, which regularly forced us to give up and call it quits.
“I could feel it putting a strain on our ‘relationship’. Were we coming to the end of what I thought was an incredible sex life?”
I would be lying if I said it wasn’t disappointing, because it really was. I wasn’t used to my body – something I loved, respected, and James worshipped – to now fail me, and cause his excitement to totally disappear. This was a new lockdown-low for us, and I could feel it putting a strain on our ‘relationship’. Were we coming to the end of what I thought was an incredible sex life?
Being the proactive woman I am, I decided to do something about it. I tried all the typical spice-enhancers in the bedroom: using sex toys on each other, watching porn together, dressing up in sexy, skimpy outfits. But nothing worked. I don’t blame him – James had endured a lot more than he bargained for when we agreed to hook up for the night. But the experience still left me feeling deflated and somewhat self-conscious about my body, even though he was now trying as best he could to look after me and make me feel beautiful.
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It wasn’t all bad, though. Outside of sex, I have always enjoyed his company, and we spent many days exchanging excerpts from articles we were working on, and many evenings snuggled on the sofa watching crap TV.
Before long, our isolation was soon over. However, I was determined to try one more time, for old time’s sake. It took reaching for an unexpected bottle of, ahem, back-door lube to give us the sheet-clenching, screaming climax we both desperately needed after days of frustration.
A few days later, James left to resume his normal, single life, our mind-blowing sexcapade still fresh in our minds. The prospect of another post-lockdown lust session promised by the clothes he left in my drawers, and the kiss he planted on my lips when he left.
But for now, I’m thankful for all my body has carried me through during this ordeal. And I managed it all while embracing a new kink, and getting my mojo back.
Gabriella Ferlita is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter at @Gabriellaf_17
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--English Hospitals Told To Prepare For Covid Vaccine In 10 Days – Report

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Hospitals in England have been told to prepare for the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine in as soon as 10 days, it has been reported.
According to The Guardian, hospitals could receive the first deliveries of a vaccine created by Pfizer/BioNTech between December 7 and December 9.
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This vaccine, which reported early results suggesting the jab is 95% effective, needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures.
The newspaper said one senior hospital executive had been told to expect the vaccine on December 7 to give to staff during the following week.
But this timeframe will depend on if and when the jab is approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The PA news agency understands no date has been confirmed by NHS England for the rollout of the jab as there are still several steps to go through – including MHRA approval.
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However, it is also understood that 10 days would be a reasonable time frame should the vaccine be approved soon.
On November 20, the Health Secretary said he had formally asked the medicines regulator to assess the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for use in the UK.
Matt Hancock hailed it as “another important step forward in tackling this pandemic”.
But he said while the regulator’s approval would see a rollout ready to start next month, there is “still a long way to go”.
The MHRA confirmed on Monday it had received the necessary data to progress its review into whether the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine meets the required standards.
The Guardian also reported the Pfizer vaccine will be given to NHS staff first due to its short shelf life and the logistical difficulties transporting the jab.
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From the moment the Pfizer vaccine leaves the factory in Belgium it can only be taken out of minus 70C four times before it is injected into a patient’s arm.
Interim guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) prioritised older care home residents before health and social care workers, who were on equal footing with the over-80s.
However, the JCVI’s guidance also stated the final decision on how health and social care workers would be prioritised would depend on the vaccine’s characteristics.
The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer jab and expects 10 million doses by the end of the year.
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The UK has also ordered 100 million doses of a vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which does not need to be kept at such low temperatures.
The Oxford jab has also been sent to the MHRA for approval.
Senior health officials previously said GPs in England will be given 10 days’ notice before any Covid vaccine rollout begins.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-27--Elton John Shines A Light On How Pandemic Has Affected LGBTQ+ People In LGBT Awards Speech

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Sir Elton John used his acceptance speech at the British LGBT Awards to shine a light on how the events of 2020 have specifically affected people in the LGBTQ+ community.
He and husband David Furnish were awarded the Global Impact award for their work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation during this year’s ceremony, which took place online.
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Other winners on the night included Radio 1 presenter Adele Roberts, Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander, the Netflix series Sex Education, drag superstar Pabllo Vittar and former rugby star Gareth Thomas.
Accepting the Global Impact award, Sir Elton said in a pre-recorded video message: “This has been an unprecedented year, and we know that some of the hardest hit individuals and communities are those in the LGBT community who are isolated, living in fear or living with violence, because of who they are and who they love, and this is unimaginably tough.
“We believe more than anything that you deserve the right to choose who you love and to love yourself for who you are, no matter where you are in the world – and I’ve always believed in this, and it’s why I gave a founding donation to Stonewall back in the 1980s.”
David Furnish and Sir Elton John British LGBT Awards
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“We’re with you, this whole community is with you, you are not alone,” David added.
Turning their attention to the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s work, David continued: “We have been fighting and pushing for more accepting and inclusive rights for LGBTQ+ people for over 28 years.
“Starting at a kitchen table in Atlanta with Elton and friends, our foundation has grown into an internationally-recognised organisation for HIV care and prevention. We’re proud to be the second largest HIV philanthropic funder of LGBTQ populations globally.”
Sir Elton then said: “Since we began we have funded every single HIV/AIDS initiative in the UK. From refurbishing HIV hospital wards and provision of palliative care when HIV was a death sentence, to supporting the National Hardship Fund, services from key organisations like Terrence Higgins Trust and, more recently, partnering with the National AIDS Trust to make sure PrEP is available through the NHS.
“And right now, our social impact bond in South London finds people living with HIV who aren’t aware of their status, through HIV testing in A&E departments and GP surgeries.”
“Thank you so much for tonight’s recognition and honour. And we promise that we won’t stop,” Sir Elton added. “Say it loud: I’m gay and I’m proud. Thank you.”
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The full list of winners at the British LGBT Awards is as follows: