thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Keanu Reeves Was Unaware The Matrix Was A Trans Allegory, But He's All For It

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Keanu, who starred in the science fiction franchise where humans are imprisoned in a simulated reality, told Yahoo Entertainment he was unaware of the original meaning before Lilly Wachowski, who co-created the franchise with sister Lana, recently endorsed it.
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Though Lilly never told Keanu about a deeper trans story in the films, the actor said: “I think The Matrix films are profound, and I think that allegorically, a lot of people in different versions of the film can speak to that.”
He added: “And for Lilly to come out and share that with us, I think is cool.”
Keanu Reeves during The Matrix Reloaded premiere Gregg DeGuire via Getty Images
Yahoo then asked whether that message will manifest itself more in the upcoming Matrix 4, to which Keanu replied, “I don’t know. I think it’ll be open to interpretation.”
Following Lilly and Lana Wachowski coming out as trans women (in 2016 and 2012, respectively), fans and critics began to analyse the franchise more and more through a trans lens.
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In a video earlier this month for Netflix Film Club, Lilly spoke about that interpretation, saying, “I’m glad that it has gotten out that that was the original intention.”
The filmmaker said she loved how meaningful the films had become to trans people, adding, “When you talk about transformation, specifically in the world of science fiction, which is just about imagination and world-building and the idea of the seemingly impossible becoming possible, I think that’s why it speaks to them so much.”
For those interested in the deeper meaning behind the films, Netflix also tweeted an in-depth breakdown.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--10 No-Cook Dinner Recipes That Are Delicious

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If you want to spend less time in the kitchen, we’ve got 10 no-cook dinner recipes – perfect, too, for hot days. They’re made with fresh ingredients and zippy flavours, and they require very little effort. If you can give a quick chop and open a can, you’re nearly at the finish line.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--'My Baby Was So High Up, She Got Stuck In My Pelvis'

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In HuffPost Birth Diaries we hear the extraordinary stories of the everyday miracle of birth. This week, Verity Palmer shares her story. If you’d like to share yours, email amy.packham@huffpost.com.
I had a textbook pregnancy, it was simple and easy. The last 10 weeks were quite strange, as the pandemic hit, but I wasn’t too concerned. At my 40 week check-up, doctors said my daughter was high up, slightly on the side, but head down. It wasn’t the best position, they said. But we’d make do.
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I went one week and four days over my due date. I was due to be induced on the Thursday, but went into labour at 3am on the Tuesday morning. I woke up in pain, but they tell you to sleep it off if you can, so I went back to bed. 10 minutes later, my contractions were coming every one to three minutes – strong and fast. I called the hospital who told me to go in to get checked over.
In triage, they examined me – that was the worst bit, because it was boiling hot! My husband couldn’t be with me, either, so I stayed on my own in that small room for three hours, yet ended up only at 1cm dilated. I decided to go back home to spend longer with my husband.
My contractions were getting stronger and stronger at home, I couldn’t do anything. I wanted my husband and mum (who was also at our house) to eat. I remember saying to them: you guys have lunch, and after that, we’ll go back to the hospital. But things were getting worse – 10 minutes later, I was like, screw that, wrap your sandwiches in tin foil, we’re going.
I howled like an animal all the way back to hospital.
My husband was able to stay this time, as I was 6cm dilated. I had gas and air – it was liquid gold. Just amazing. Things went well for a while. I was in my own big room with a birth pool, it was calm, and the midwife was lovely. But around four hours later, when gas and air was no longer working, I was checked again. I hadn’t increased from 6cm at all.
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I had an epidural around 5pm. That afternoon, I was contracting hard, and got to 8cm. I was calm, though, now the pain had gone. But I didn’t get to 10cm until 2am the next morning. Exhausted is an understatement.
They tried to turn the baby at this point, as she was in a slightly odd position, so they wanted to lower her. But it didn’t quite do the trick. At 4am, I started pushing. I was doing it for what felt like ages, but I remember no one saying: “You’re doing great, nearly there!”. It felt like it wasn’t working.
An hour later, a surgeon came in and uttered the word C-section. I was so surprised, after all that. She explained my baby was high up, stuck in my pelvis, and wasn’t getting anywhere. It’s exactly what I didn’t want, but the whole team was so calm and reassuring. I had an all-female team in theatre!
They still tried forceps (my husband’s face was a picture), just in case they could get her head, but she wouldn’t budge. So they went in for the C-section and my daughter came out – she was humungous! My scan showed she’d be about 7-8 pounds, but she was 9 pounds 9 ounces! The doctors soon realised why she got stuck...
We had to stay in for five days, as she needed antibiotics. It was a bit of a whirlwind – we came home, but on the third day I got an infection in my womb lining and had to go back in. They treated the infection to prevent sepsis, but I had to stay in for two more nights.
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When we finally got home for good, it was lovely. It was great to be in our little bubble, just three of us. It was hard work in the best sense, figuring it all out together and starting our new life.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--How The Recession Will Actually Affect Your Day-To-Day Life

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Recessions aren’t pretty and, in August, we found out the UK is in a big one – the largest one on record, to be precise, after the coronavirus pandemic sent the economy plunging by 20.4% between April and June.
A recession is defined as two successive quarters of decline in gross domestic product (GDP). We’re facing that because lockdown has meant many businesses have had to shut up shop for a long period of time.
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In November it was reported that Britain is set for a “double dip” downturn after the second lockdown resulted in business activity shrinking again.
The closure of leisure and hospitality saw the sector, which is said to be four-fifths of the economy, record its worst decline since May, according to IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI).
Statista
But what do all these percentages and graphs actually mean? Rather than stats, you probably want to know: what does a recession mean for me?
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We’ll break it down for you. (You might want to grab a brew.)
Your job could take a hit
The impact of the recession has already been felt by tens of thousands of people in the UK who’ve lost their jobs since the pandemic hit. Some industries have been totally decimated, with people forced to look for jobs in different fields due to not knowing when their industry will return – if ever. The jobs market is also incredibly competitive, as thousands apply for the same roles.
Dr Kemar Whyte, a senior economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), tells HuffPost UK most of the impact from the recession will be on people’s jobs and incomes.
“When there’s a recession, there will be a lot of job loss,” he says. “It’s also quite unlikely you’ll have people getting salary increases and promotions. So our finances will be affected by this.”
With incomes affected across the board, this is likely to have a knock-on effect on everything else. “A lot of life hinges on the money that we earn and this is where all of the issues will stem from,” he says.
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Your living situation could be affected
Loss of income can have repercussions on the housing sector, because tenants may no longer be able to pay rent, which will affect access to housing, says Dr Whyte. This can also lead to landlords selling up, rather than facing the prospect of fronting up costs themselves. If that doesn’t happen, a recession can also see the price of rent go up, points out Adam McKay from The Tenants Voice, a website offering expert advice and support for renters.
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There’s already been talk of young people – and even people in their 30s – moving back in with their parents due to loss of income or lack of job opportunities because of the pandemic.
While the government’s stamp duty holiday has given people impetus to move, the recession might mean that house prices ultimately drop because there are more houses on the market and less demand as people lose their jobs. So, if you’re selling, your property might not sell for as much as you’d hoped. But if you’re buying, you might get a bargain.
Taking out a mortgage might be harder as banks will want to lend less money overall – this means you could be asked to stump up a bigger mortgage deposit than usual, but would also mean your monthly mortgage payments should be lower. If you’re looking to buy, now’s the time to speak to a mortgage broker as they can help you navigate the trickiness of it all.
Prices might actually rise
Usually, inflation tends to fall during a recession, so things become a bit cheaper as there’s less demand in the economy for goods.
But the pandemic has altered this. The rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation lifted to 1% in July from 0.6% in June – partly due to rising fuel costs, but also because there have been fewer sales in retail since shops reopened, PA Media reported. On top of that, prices for private dental treatment, physiotherapy and haircuts have increased with the need for PPE (personal protective equipment) contributing to costs.
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In August, Dr Whyte said as more businesses reopen, we might see prices go up because companies are trying to claw back the money they lost during the prolonged period of being closed. “We might have some cost push inflation because firms will face higher costs and firms will try to make up what they’ve lost during this,” he says. “From personal experience, when my barber reopened he immediately told me it would be £10 extra for my haircut.”
Dr Whyte says when lockdown measures are fully eased and social distancing becomes a thing of the past, it’s likely prices would’ve risen anyway.
But ultimately prices might drop again. Professor Ratula Chakraborty, an expert in business management at the University of East Anglia, said: “Indeed, we could see deflation for some goods as consumers become reluctant to spend money when fearing they’re at risk of losing their jobs,” she says.
The exception might be where Brexit creates problems, she suggests, with international trade and increases in transport costs and delays. This could mean some fresh food prices might rise, and we might also see higher prices on medicines where importing goods becomes more expensive.
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Taxes will go up
Nobody likes to talk taxes, but the reality is that to pay off the huge debts the UK has accrued during the pandemic, taxes will inevitably rise.
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“It has to [rise],” says Dr Whyte. “But not immediately, because right now there’s a lot of pressure on businesses and consumers alike. I think it’ll come next year.”
In November, it was reported that the government will need to find up to £27bn worth of spending cuts or tax rises by 2024 to put the public finances on a “sustainable footing”, according to the Treasury’s spending watchdog.
Prof Chakraborty expects to see stealthy tax changes rather than blatant ones, such as increasing “sin taxes”, like on alcohol and tobacco, on the justification of supporting public health measures.
Low-paid workers and young people will be hit hardest
“What normally happens in a recession, and it’s very likely in this particular recession, is that the impact isn’t normally felt equally across income levels,” says Dr Whyte. “It’s usually those lower-skilled or lower-paid workers that are normally more affected by a recession. This will obviously then exacerbate the inequality issue that’s currently present in the UK – and worldwide.”
It’ll also impact young people disproportionately, as we saw from the recession in 2008. “Recessions have a lasting impact on those affected in terms of lost income and lost job opportunities for career progression,” says Prof Chakraborty, “and we can expect this particular recession to be especially hard on young adults seeking their first jobs or at risk of losing their jobs in service sectors greatly affected by lockdowns and travel restrictions.”
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Are there any positives?
It’s pretty easy to feel disheartened by all of this, but it’s worth noting recessions can also be places where people find their feet – for example, if they find a gap in the market with a business idea or offer a product that’s in high demand.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Here's How To Claim For The Second And Final Self-Employment Grant

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When the country went into lockdown, many businesses were forced to furlough their full-time staff. However, millions of self-employed people, who make up 15% of the UK’s workforce, also found themselves out of, or unable, to work. As they were ineligible for furlough, they were given a financial lifeline through the Government’s Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
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The first grant launched in March and individuals could apply for it until July 23. It saw £7.8bn in taxable grants claimed by 2.7 million people. Now the second and final grant has become available, so here’s everything you need to know.
What is the self-employed grant and when can I claim it?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on July 14 that he would be extending the ‘lifeline’ so that self-employed people could claim a grant from August onwards.
Those eligible will now be able to claim the second and final grant worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits – up to a maximum of £6,570.
Applications, which can only be made by the claimant are open until October 19, with the money paid into your bank account within six working days of completing a successful claim. More information on how the grant works can be found here.
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Who is eligible for the self-employed grant?
You can apply for a grant if you are a self-employed individual or member of a partnership. Those who have submitted their self-assessment tax return for the tax year 2018-19, have done self-employed work in the tax year 2019-20, or planning to do self-employed work in the tax year 2020-21 are eligible.
Those operating as limited companies, PAYE freelancers, or those in a trust fall through the cracks and are not able to apply for the government scheme.
The eligibility criteria remain the same as for the first grant, with people needing to confirm their business has been adversely affected by coronavirus. At least half of your income needs to have come from self-employment, and you can have average trading profits of no more than £50,000.
Those eligible will need to apply via the official government claims portal with your self-assessment unique taxpayer reference, national insurance number, and a Government Gateway user ID and password – if you don’t have one, you can create one when you make your claim. You’ll also need your UK bank account details including the address linked to your account.
Crucially, you must personally apply, because fraud alerts could be triggered if a third party such as an accountant or a financial advisor claims on your behalf.
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SeventyFour via Getty Images
How much money will you receive?
Those eligible for the scheme will get a taxable grant which will be 70% of the average monthly profits from the tax years (where applicable) 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, and 2018 to 2019. To work out the average, HMRC will add together the total trading profit for the three tax years then divide by three and use this to calculate a monthly amount.
The grant will be up to a maximum of £6,570 in total and will be paid directly into your bank account, in one instalment.
How do you apply?
Applications for the second and final grants are now open. If you are eligible and your business has been adversely affected on or after July 14, you can make your claim for the second grant on or before October 19. You can claim a grant through the SEISS here.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--I’m Agoraphobic. This Is How I’m Coping With Lockdown Ending

HuffPost UK Courtesy of the author
Agoraphobia is a scary word.
For me, it conjured itself in stock images of individuals shrouded behind curtains, catching a fleeting glimpse of the outside world that they were too afraid to be a part of; people a mere shadow of their former selves, lonely and sad and without escape from their fears.
This wasn’t me, or at least I didn’t perceive it as me. So, when I was diagnosed with agoraphobia in January this year, I felt an immediate sense of panic.
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Anxiety has always played a large part in my life. As a child I had been labelled ‘a worrier’ – shy and somewhat withdrawn. I hated any sort of change, be it a family holiday or even just a slight alteration to my simple routine. As I got older, I was diagnosed with chronic anxiety. I began to self-soothe by controlling my own routine, only accepting invitations when I really wanted to.
However, I became somewhat of a hermit. I still lived at my parents post-university, and I was single, so the only people I really interacted with were my colleagues during work and my immediate family. I would force myself on the occasional date, but these were often accompanied with such strong physical symptoms that I either couldn’t force myself out of the door, or the date would be centred around frequent trips to the bathroom until I felt I had stayed long enough to be able to call it a night.
“Social situations and trips out still remained a challenge. And then I finally got the diagnosis that shocked me.”
Eventually I met my partner, and I was able to find another person that I could truly be myself around. But the social situations and trips out still remained a challenge. And then I finally got the diagnosis that shocked me: agoraphobia.
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The doctor that diagnosed me described the condition as ‘an anxiety disorder that perceives an environment to be unsafe or lacking escape’. With that definition it made sense, but it certainly wasn’t a label I was comfortable wearing. So I set about ways to unpick it from the fabric of my personality.
I accepted practically every social occasion I was invited to. It didn’t matter that I didn’t really want to go, it was good for me, so I did it. I went to the odd party (something that ordinarily I would have avoided like the plague), I attended family get-togethers, I went to evening dinners. My social life was actually somewhat busy for the first time, and it felt good, if a little exhausting, to be doing something.
And then lockdown happened, and everything changed.
At first, I felt a strange wave of relief slide over me. I felt scared of the future, but in another way, I was released from my self-imposed punishment of daily outings and social occasions. I now had to stay inside – there was no other alternative, and I relaxed a little knowing this.
But as lockdown began to ease, I felt that sense of pressure building up. It was like I was back at square one, like I’d made so much progress and I was having to start all over again. When I really thought about it, how much progress had I actually made?
The reality is accepting every social occasion when you have agoraphobia is exhausting and unsustainable. Throughout early 2020, I was met with daily panic attacks, nausea, dizziness, and constant fatigue. The anxiety was still there, fighting against me – but as long as I was out, I thought I was beating it, like the label that had attached itself to me was starting to come loose.
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“Here we are, post-lockdown, ready to tackle agoraphobia again. But this time I’m taking a different approach.”
Lockdown taught me that I don’t have to do it all to ‘beat’ agoraphobia. I don’t even have to completely overcome it if that’s too much to face right now. I’ve likely had this condition for years, and to think that I can get rid of it, break a lifetime of habits and behaviours, in a matter of weeks, isn’t going to work. It needs to be gradual.
And so here we are, post-lockdown, ready to tackle agoraphobia again. But this time I’m taking a different approach: I’m learning to recognise when I want to go out, and when I feel I have to. And if I feel I have to, I don’t do it. When I do go out, I set myself time limits to help relieve some of the pressure. The odd hour here and there is a lot more manageable than a day out. Most of all, I’m attempting to relieve the pressure I place on myself. Being hard on myself was not helpful, and only added to the anxiety that centred around any occasion.
Agoraphobia has many different extremes, just like any mental health condition, and having a setback is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s difficult to estimate how post-lockdown will affect me, but this is the case for all of us, mental health condition or not. Lockdown has shown us that nobody really knows what’s going to happen next, and with that, I must relinquish any sort of societal control I thought I had.
For now, it’s a slow process, and I’m content with knowing that things may take time. We could all afford to move a little slower.
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Catherine Earnshaw is a freelance journalist


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Like Tess Holliday, I'm Fat And I Just Want To Live My Damn Life

E! Entertainment via Getty Images Plus-size model Tess Holliday posted a plaintive comment on Twitter last week: "It would be cool to have just one day where hundreds of people don’t tell me how much they hate me or how disgusting I am."
I am in bed with my husband and our dog, both of whom are sleeping soundly. I, on the other hand, am wide awake thanks to chronic insomnia. I try to zone out by scrolling through Instagram, when I see a post from the plus-size model and activist Tess Holliday. She’s shared a series of screenshots of a recent Twitter thread she started about how exhausted she is from dealing with fatphobic bullshit for over a decade.
“It would be cool to have just one day where hundreds of people don’t tell me how much they hate me or how disgusting I am,” she writes.
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I am exhausted & emotionally drained. 10 years of constantly having to defend my right to happiness as a plus size woman on the internet is something else. It would be cool to have just one day where hundreds of people don’t tell me how much they hate me or how disgusting I am🙃 — Tess H🍒lliday (@Tess_Holliday) August 11, 2020
She talks about how hating fat people is essentially a hobby in the U.S. (though it’s hardly limited to this nation), and how because of this, all of her successes in her professional or personal life are constantly diminished by people.
As I read her words, I feel a rush of understanding. My emotions are jumbled, but I try to find the words to show my support and empathy. Finally, I write: Fwiw [for what it’s worth], you’ve made a major difference in my life and in the lives of so many others I know. I know it’s exhausting to be fat in this world and being a public figure, it’s bound to be worse.
I have a small online platform. I am not a “public figure” by any means, though I am “public,” and I do write about my life as a fat person (including in another HuffPost Personal piece published earlier this year.
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I knew when I started to write about my experiences as a fat person just trying to live her damn life, I’d be subjecting myself to this kind of BS, and I was not wrong. The comments on my HuffPost piece itself were particularly rough, with very few people stepping in to show support. I ignored most of them but tried to respond to some people who seemed to perhaps be misinformed or even genuinely curious. I especially tried to engage with the people who posted positive comments. Eventually, though, it became too exhausting.
Most of the assholes had clearly not even read what I wrote in its entirety, so what was the point of trying to engage them? As strong as I may be, I’m not invincible. My mental health is something I’ve worked too hard on to sacrifice it to trolls.
As I laid in bed unable to sleep, I kept thinking about Tess’ words. The reality is, one doesn’t have to be a public figure to be subjected to this kind of hatred or scrutiny. Every fat person who lives in a thin-centric, diet-obsessed culture will endure some degree of this.
The more we defy cultural norms, the more we challenge the status quo and dare to simply live our happiest, diet-free lives, the worse it gets. Clearly, we’re all supposed to be good fatties, trying to shrink ourselves to fit the world’s standards! Otherwise, we deserve to be victims of hatred and abuse, for doing nothing other than living our lives in a body you don’t like.
The words of strangers have never had much bearing on my life or mental health. I’m lucky to be hardwired to not really give any fucks. Even my classmates who bullied me when I was a kid, right down to the girl who didn’t want to walk next to me (because ew, fat) in our 8th-grade graduation didn’t really bother me so much as they bemused me.
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Here’s what did bother me.
I am a very small child and I hear everyone in my mother’s family belittle my very fat father. My mother’s family has real reasons to dislike my father. But all they say is that he’s fat. He broke a (very old) couch. He ate all the mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. I’m not even five years old and have learned that being fat is a terrible thing. I am told constantly how I look just like him. In my mind, that means I’m also bad. I start to fear breaking chairs or falling through floors.
I am eight years old and put on my first diet by my father’s biggest critic, my mother’s older sister Jayne. She makes sure I know she doesn’t want me to be like my father: a big fat loser. The diet is the catalyst for my eating disorders (ED), which haunt me to this day.
I’m 13, and I have some black hairs on my belly. They upset me, because when do we ever see women with body hair anywhere, let alone on their bellies? I show Jayne. She tells me I am “turning into a man” because my “hormones are out of whack” from gaining weight. In reality, I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and this was one of the earliest manifestations of the condition. She doesn’t suggest anyone take me to a doctor. I would go undiagnosed for another decade-and-a-half and ultimately be unable to have children (complicated by endometriosis).
I’m 14, and my friend Toni has tried to set me up with a guy whose name I can’t remember. We talk on the phone for hours, and he tells me he loves me. We arrange to meet in person. He knows I am fat (though neither of us use that word, as it’s taboo to call yourself fat!). She goes with me to meet him. He takes one look at me and literally rides away on his bike without saying a word.
I am 15 and in the hospital for depression, suicidal thoughts and an ED. The therapists are insistent that my “fatness” is a “shield” of some sort. That I’m fat on purpose. That it’s because I want to “hide” my body ― my real body, that is. The thin one hiding under the fat I’ve forced upon it. They refuse to believe I haven’t been sexually abused. I must have used food to force the memories down.
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It does not occur to them that I am fat because of a hormonal imbalance, because of genetics or because I’ve spent almost half my short life yo-yo dieting. I am just a few weeks out of treatment when the social worker I hate, and have been forced to see for several years, says, “So when are we gonna start to see some of the weight come off you?” I never go back to her.
I’m 20 and have been talking to a guy I met on a telephone dating line. We get along great. We agree to meet in person. I think he’s sweet and, bonus, he’s gorgeous. We make out for two hours. He tells me he wants to lose his virginity to me and I’m flattered. I’m excited… until he makes it clear I can never meet his friends. That they wouldn’t understand. Because, fat girl. I don’t sleep with him because as insecure as I am, somehow I realise he doesn’t deserve to lose his virginity to me.
I’m 22 and dating Thomas, whom I’d later marry. He falls in love with me, despite not wanting a serious relationship at the time. He doesn’t care that his friends won’t understand (though he acknowledges that they won’t) because he actually loves me. All of me. I will spend years in therapy trying to reconcile the trauma of my past... to believe I am worthy of his love. Almost 22 years later, it’s sometimes still a struggle.
I’m 25, living in NYC, and some random stranger screams out his window, “What’s in the bag, fatty? Ice cream?” And I cringe, because it is what’s in the bag. Ice cream I’ve been saving my Weight Watchers “Points” for all damn week long. Ice cream I plan to share with Thomas. I still flip him off. I don’t remember if I ate the ice cream.
I’m 28 and a newlywed. I’m half-naked on an exam table getting a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm PCOS. The specialist chooses this moment to tell me if I ever want kids I should have weight loss surgery. He hasn’t even formally diagnosed me yet.
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I’m 35 and have commented on a Mary Lambert video, defending her against trolls. One tells me my husband must be gay because he clearly can’t actually want or love me. Another tells me to just kill myself and spare my family the misery of my inevitable early death, which seems contradictory, but… okay.
I could keep going, but I have a word limit.
“All I want is for the world to let fat people live our damn lives in peace. Don’t try to steal our successes. Don’t doubt our lovers want us.”
Every fat person in our culture has experienced this kind of trauma. Its impact may vary, depending on the source and where we are in our relationships with our bodies at the time, but it’s still abuse. It’s still hard. It’s still inexcusable bullshit.
All I want is for the world to let fat people live our damn lives in peace. Don’t try to steal our successes. Don’t doubt our lovers want us. Don’t make assumptions about our dietary habits or health. Don’t try to erase our existence. Don’t diminish our pain. Don’t doubt our lived experiences, and don’t presume to know you understand a single fucking thing about being fat if you’ve never actually been fat.
Furthermore, if you have been fat but now aren’t, don’t assume that because x thing “worked” for you that it will work for everyone. That’s not how bodies work. Believe me when I say that I tried everything ― including stomach amputation ― and I’m still fat.
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No one owes you thinness. No one questions the idea of being “naturally” thin, so why is the idea of being “naturally fat” so hard to accept? I’m done fighting my body, because my mental health matters more. Because I want to just LIVE my life, not obsess about every morsel of food I put into my mouth. Because it’s hard enough to live with an ED without you projecting your fatphobic bullshit on me.
Because, just like Tess Holliday, I am fucking exhausted.
So for Tess ― and every other exhausted fat person ― I am asking you to please just stop. I’m not asking YOU to be fat. I don’t give a shit what size your body is, what you eat or how healthy you actually are, because I don’t measure the worth of a person based on any of these factors.
However, I will measure your worthiness based on how you treat fat people. And as Tess says, “if you can’t be nice to a fat person, you’re the pig, not us.”
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal
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--2020-08-19--These Pupils Are Threatening To Strike If Next Year's A-Levels Aren't Made Fairer

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Pupils in England due to take their A-levels next year are threatening to strike unless changes are made to their exams, claiming they have been “ignored and forgotten” by the government.
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Year 12 students who missed out on months of face-to-face teaching this year are demanding a fresh consultation on the 2021 A-levels, saying the government sidelined them when it reduced the GCSE syllabus but not theirs. They want reduced content in exams, and better guidance on what will happen if there is a second outbreak and further closure of schools past September.
Protests have been planned across the country – in London, Cornwall, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol – with numbers expected to match or even exceed those that took place following the catastrophe of last week’s A-level results.
And participants say they won’t go to school at all if the situation isn’t resolved.
Since her school was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Aisha, 17, from Leicester, has found it “extremely hard” to study at home. “I definitely feel like I have suffered academically,” she told HuffPost UK.
“There was definitely a constant lack of resources as I don’t own my own laptop or printer. I was coping with my family, my chores, my school work and deadlines whilst fasting during Ramadan.”
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Although her college and form tutor have been supportive, she says “lockdown has been one of the worst periods of life”. So when changes to the 2021 A-level exams were first announced, she hoped the fact that pupils had missed several months of classroom education would be taken into account.
Instead, the exam regulation body Ofqual said in its decision that “A-level students could be expected to be more effective independent learners who would be more motivated to keep on top with their studies”. “They’ve argued we are old enough to teach ourselves,” she said.
the statistics speak for themselves... have @ofqual or @GavinWilliamson even bothered to consult the youth? the people who are literally taking the exams?? #alevels21strike #alevel21strike pic.twitter.com/kXviGzstOY — A-Levels 2021 (@alevels21strike) August 12, 2020
Aisha believes Ofqual is wrong to expect so much from Year 12s just because they are a year older than Year 11s.
“Not everyone was lucky enough to receive the same quality of teaching across schools [during lockdown], which will lead to an unequal starting point in September,” she said.
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Working-class students, in particular, will be at a “severely unfair disadvantage” to their more wealthy peers when term starts. “They have had a lack of resources, lack of space – perhaps even a lack of family support.”
“I don’t just *feel* my year has been ignored – I *know* we have.”
The government has also completely failed to acknowledge the mental health impact of the pandemic on her generation, she added. “They have not done enough to support the future of this country and the education that they are solely responsible for giving us.”
Aisha and her friends, Amy-Lee and Julias, came together to create the #alevels21strike campaign. Within a few days, the hashtag was trending on Twitter.
HuffPost UK spoke to more than 40 Year 12 pupils from across England who shared stories of struggling to study through lockdown. “It was a constant battle, not because I didn’t want to, but because of my mental wellbeing,” said Anna, from Leeds. “We weren’t in known territory – everywhere I looked all I saw was the thousands dying every day.”
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Some pupils said they had little to no contact with their school since March, or faced difficulties accessing the classroom resources. “I have a really slow internet connection which meant that I couldn’t attend the few live lessons,” Dylan Paterson, from County Durham, said. “It also made it difficult to access online quizzes and almost impossible to view pre-recorded video lessons.”
Others said they had received an “astonishing” level of support from their teachers, colleges and family, but still struggled mentally and academically. “They created an idea that, as sixth formers, we are able to tackle this like adults and so we should be able to get through the content ourselves,” said Nikki Mieze, from Coventry.
“It led to more anxiety and insecurity in myself because I thought that I was the odd one out and struggling at stuff people my age in another class or school are succeeding at.”
Sammy Rowkins, from Bedford, Huw Vicary, from Bristol, and Taylor Wilson-Radcliffe, Halifax, are among the pupils supporting the A-level strike HuffPost UK
Many of these young people described the impact of lockdown on their feelings isolation and loneliness. “My mental health suffered a blow,” said Taylor Wilson-Radcliffe, from Halifax. “That affected my motivation and ability to do my work. My grades have definitely suffered.”
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As a student who struggles with mental health issues, Connor Shaw – from Hampshire – was forced to miss almost a month of learning even before schools were closed. “At some times I thought: ‘What’s the point in trying when my future is already ruined?’” he said.
“I didn’t know what to do to get myself out of the hole I had dug myself.
“I feel like my teachers have done their best to try but I spoke to one of my teachers who said that the government hadn’t given colleges any guidelines or assistance in how to switch to online learning. I think it’s disgusting that our year is expected to sit the same exams as students who would have had a full year of learning.
“There’s people in homes with three people to a room. There’s people with learning disabilities. There’s people with mental health issues and there’s people in abusive households who all might not have been able to keep up with the online learning. I don’t just feel my year has been ignored – I know we have.”
Chantelle Houghton, from Cornwall, believes Year 12 students are “potentially the hardest hit by this pandemic in terms of our education”.
“We have missed significant teaching time but also guidance for things such as Ucas or apprenticeship applications,” she said. “Many of us are having to make life-changing decisions without having visited any universities or Ucas fairs.”
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“These exams will basically control our future and it feels like the government just doesn’t care.”
Chloe Wilson, from Nottingham, said: “I don’t feel it is fair. I’ve been struggling but also know there are students who have had it worse and nothing has been done to help them.
“We have been saying for months how hard it is and how we have been affected and yet nothing has been done to help. So many of us have suffered over lockdown, especially mentally, and nothing has been done to help. If anything more stress has been added which will just make things worse.
“The aim isn’t to cancel our exams. It is to get the change that helps us – whether that’s reduced content, flexibility with university application, added coursework elements or the option to choose our highest grade from either mocks or exams. We also want to know what will happen if there is a second wave and schools close again.
“These exams will basically control our future and it feels like the government just doesn’t care. We just want to be listened to. We are tired of being ignored.”
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Aisha said she was happy about the government’s U-turn on A-level results on Monday but that the “damage has been done”. “Some people haven’t been able to get into their firm or insurance and it’s not fair.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Government Insists End Of Evictions Ban Next Week Is 'Important Step' To 'Protect Landlords'

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The government has doubled down on its insistence that the evictions ban will end from Monday as the move is an “important step” towards ending lockdown and “protect landlords’ important right to regain their property”.
Ministers have been urged to act to prevent a “homelessness crisis” with up to a quarter of a million people at risk when a ban on evictions is lifted.
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The protection against evictions in England and Wales – aimed at preventing tenants losing their homes during the coronavirus crisis – expires on August 23.
But the Westminster government is refusing to budge, despite ministers in Scotland hinting at an extension north of the border.
In a response to a written parliamentary question, housing minister Lord Greenhalgh said courts beginning to process possession cases again was “an important step towards ending the lockdown and will protect landlords’ important right to regain their property”.
A Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government spokesperson has confirmed this remains the position.
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They said: “The government has taken unprecedented action to support renters, preventing people getting into financial hardship and helping businesses to pay salaries – meaning no tenants have been forced from their home.
“We will give appropriate support to those particularly affected when proceedings start again and we have changed court rules so landlords need to provide more information about their tenants’ situation when seeking an eviction – with judges able to adjourn a case if they don’t.
“Legislation introduced in March requiring landlords to give all tenants three months’ notice will remain for possession cases, including section 21 evictions, until at least September 30.’’
Renters have for weeks been served eviction notices despite the government’s promise to protect people from a wave of homelessness.
In a letter to housing secretary Robert Jenrick, Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire urged the government to act now “to avoid more chaos of its own making” when evictions are allowed to resume.
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The shadow housing secretary asked what action he was taking “to prevent a self-made homelessness crisis at the worst possible moment, as the furlough scheme winds up and we face the risk of growing infections of coronavirus”.
Labour wants the abolition of Section 21 “no fault” evictions and reform of Section 8 evictions – where the terms of a tenancy have been broken – to protect people whose livelihoods have been hit by the pandemic.
Debbonaire said: “(Homelessness charity) Shelter estimates that nearly a quarter of a million people are at risk of eviction because of Covid economic impact.
“Veering from crisis to crisis is no way to run a country.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--BTEC Grades Pulled At Last Minute In Latest Exams U-Turn

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The UK’s exams fiasco has deepened as schools and colleges have been told not to issue BTEC results to students on Thursday following a last-minute U-turn on grading.
On Wednesday – with less than 24 hours to go until results day – exam board Pearson asked schools and colleges not to publish level 1 and 2 results in the vocational qualifications to give them more time to recalculate the grades.
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It follows the announcement that GCSE and A-level students would this year be able to receive grades based on their teachers’ estimates.
BTEC students’ grades were not included in the original announcement, but now Pearson has said it will be regrading BTECs awarded last week – as well the grades that were due to be released tomorrow.
Last week, HuffPost UK revealed the grades of entire law classes taking BTEC Nationals – vocational qualifications that can be taken in place of A-levels – were scrambled, meaning failing students got the best marks and vice versa.
It comes after education unions and the Labour Party called on the government to provide clarity on why BTEC students had been left out of Monday’s grading U-turn.
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A spokeswoman for Pearson, the provider of BTECs, said: “Following Ofqual’s announcement that A-level and GCSE students are to receive centre-assessed grades, we will be applying the same principles for students receiving BTEC results this summer.
“We will be regrading BTECs to address concerns about unfairness in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and ensure no BTEC student is disadvantaged.”
She added: “We know this could cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this.
“Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students and we will work around the clock to provide revised grades as soon as we can.”
Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “This latest chaos is totally unacceptable.
“For some young people to find out less than a day in advance that they will not be receiving their grades tomorrow is utterly disgraceful.
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“It’s appalling that thousands of young people should face further confusion and uncertainty because of the Government’s incompetence.
“This repeated chaos is simply no way to run a country. The Government must urgently set a clear deadline for every young person to receive their grades.”
On Tuesday, exams regulator Ofqual said its moderation algorithm used in A-levels and GCSEs was not used in the majority of vocational and technical qualifications (VTQ) – including BTECs.
But in a statement on Wednesday night – just hours before results were due to be published – England’s exams watchdog said some exam boards, including OCR and Pearson, will “need more time” to recalculate results.
It said: “OCR have said that their Cambridge National results will issue next week.
“Pearson, which initially did not think there would need to be significant changes made, has now decided to revise its arrangements to ensure that students’ qualification-level results better reflect the unit-level results that students have already secured through internally assessed units.”
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Ofqual added: “Everyone is working as quickly as possible to confirm results as soon as possible, recognising the impact that delays are having on schools, colleges and students.
“No learner’s result will go down as a consequence of regrading.”
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The timing is worrying, because thousands of students were due to get their results in the morning and others have already got results which we know will not go down, but which might improve.
“So it is vital for students that this is sorted in days rather than weeks so that students have the chance to celebrate and to plan their next steps. It is a stressful time and this delay will extend the uncertainties.”
He added: “Those students wanting to move onto further or higher education will be most worried about losing out on places.
“We are in close communication with DfE, Ofqual and Pearson to particularly make sure that BTEC students applying for universities can still be treated fairly.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Hugh Jackman Reacts To His Wolverine Audition 20 Years Later

He may be a superhero, but even Wolverine has embarrassing home videos.
During a recent interview on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon broke out some of Hugh Jackman’s old photos and videos, which included footage of his original audition for the part of Wolverine.
“A little more magician than Wolverine,” Hugh joked after seeing one particular gesture from his tape.
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Check it out for yourself in the video above, from around the 7:30 mark.
Hugh reacting to old footage of himself NBC
Hugh debuted as the character in X-Men two decades ago, back when Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was an assistant who drove him to dinner and the airport.
But he vividly remembered the story of what he called his Hail Mary 1999 audition.
Hugh said the whole thing lasted about 20 seconds and he was “pretty sure” he wasn’t going to get the part.
The highlight, however, is Hugh’s reaction to the audition video. The clip is old enough to be buried deep in the Wolverine archives, but this little cringe is forever.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Brad Pitt Denies Rumours He And Harry Styles Are Set To Appear In A New Film Together

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Brad Pitt has denied speculation that he and Harry Styles are to appear in a new film together.
On Wednesday, a listing on the film distributor Vértice Cine’s website began doing the rounds online, sparking rumours that the former One Direction star would be making a return to the silver screen.
The listing named Faster, Cheaper, Better as an upcoming movie starring both Brad and Harry, as well as claiming Dan Gilroy – who previously helmed Nightcrawler and the Netflix offering Velvet Buzzsaw – would be directing it.
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Understandably, the rumours sparked a big reaction from Harry’s die-hard fans, who were all rather excited about the prospect of seeing the star back on the big screen…
Well this would be awesome! Sounds like a cool movie and of course a huge bonus If @Harry_Styles is casted. https://t.co/K2ZOQLgNxo — Amy Colleen ¹ᴰ❤²⁸ ×͜× (@l0vingkind28) August 19, 2020
we're really getting Harry Styles and Brad Pitt on the same screen pic.twitter.com/F1Blghkqk2 — Mila⁹¹🦕 (@mrloverman91) August 19, 2020
HARRY STYLES AND BRAD PITT YALL THIS IS THEBBEST COMBO!!!!! — blacklivesmatter (@simplyyafter) August 19, 2020
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im sorry, but harry styles and brad pitt in the same movie and u expect me to not die?!??? — 𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒉𝒂 loves edward cullen ᵇˡᵐ (@TBSLGUCCI) August 19, 2020
sooo harry styles and brad pitt ? yes please — 𝕫𝕒𝕝𝕒¹ᴰ (@1_dbabie) August 19, 2020
Brad Pitt and Harry styles in a movie together is so powerful tbh — 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐬¹ᴰ (@mads_tpwk) August 19, 2020
HARRY STYLES AND BRAD PITT IN THE SAME MOVIE WAT? — 𝔅𝔢𝔞 (@aicraGcriss_) August 19, 2020
but can you guys believe the collapse that we’ll actually go through if it’s confirmed?? HARRY STYLES AND BRAD PITT??? IN A BRAND NEW MOVIE??! THIS SCREAMS ICONIC — ruby (@tbonlyangel) August 19, 2020
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HARRY STYLES IN A MOVIE WITH BRAD PITT! pic.twitter.com/mO3F0jzZnQ — 𝐸.// 𝐵𝐿𝑀 (@finelinex1d) August 19, 2020
harry styles and brad pitt potentially in a movie together??? promo interviews with both of them joking around with each other??? red carpet harry??? actor harry content??? I’m fucking ready. — rachel🦋 (@canyonmoonblu) August 19, 2020
harry styles playing a dirty trucker in a movie with brad pitt pic.twitter.com/WEdUvHh7Jk — 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 (@treytylor) August 19, 2020
a brad pitt harry styles collaboration is the last thing I ever expected but this year is already so goddamn crazy, WHY THE HELL NOT pic.twitter.com/KYj9QJrd1C — oomf’s flop era (@HOTPRlEST) August 19, 2020
However, it didn’t take long for Brad Pitt’s rep to shoot down the reports, confirming to ET Canada that they are “false”.
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HuffPost UK has also learned that rumours of Harry Styles’ involvement in the film are not accurate.
Harry Styles Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock/David Fisher
If nothing else, the film Faster, Cheaper, Better does exist, though, with Dan previously speaking about the project in an interview with Deadline, describing it as being “a big multi-narrative film, set over two decades in multiple locales”.
Vertice Cine’s site suggested the film focuses on “great and inevitable changes that are coming in the trucking industry”.
Harry Styles made his film debut in the 2017 Christopher Nolan war epic Dunkirk, an ensemble piece which also starred Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy and Fionn Whitehead .
More recently, the Watermelon Sugar star was tipped to play Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, though it was later claimed he’d ultimately turned down the role.
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Meanwhile, Brad last appeared in the Quentin Tarantino offering Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which earned him his second Academy Award, and his first for acting.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--She Called Muslims ‘Savages’ And Islam A ‘Cancer.’ Now She’s A GOP Nominee.

Anti-Muslim extremist Laura Loomer waits backstage during a "Demand Free Speech" rally on Freedom Plaza on July 6, 2019, in Washington. Loomer this week won the Republican nomination for a Florida congressional seat. Stephanie Keith via Getty Images
An anti-Muslim extremist who once said she didn’t care about the mass murder of Muslims won a Republican congressional primary election in Florida on Tuesday, and received a late-night congratulations from the president.
Laura Loomer, a 27-year-old far-right operative whose bigotry is so vile she’s been kicked off multiple social media platforms, beat out five opponents to capture the GOP nomination for Congress in Florida’s 21st District.
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The district includes Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and the president took time Tuesday night to send Loomer some words of encouragement.
“Great going Laura,” he tweeted a little before midnight. “You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!”
Loomer will face Democratic incumbent Rep. Lois Frankel in the general election in November in a race Loomer is widely expected to lose. Frankel won the heavily Democratic district by 30 percentage points in 2018.
But Loomer’s primary win underscores the degree to which explicit anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t just tolerated in the GOP, but rewarded.
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It’s hard to overstate her hatred for Muslims. Loomer — whose long extremist resumé includes stints as a writer and correspondent at far-right operations including The Rebel, Project Veritas and InfoWars — has called Muslims “savages” and described herself as a “#ProudIslamophobe.”
She’s stated that she doesn’t want “another Muslim entering this country EVER AGAIN!”
Last year she called on her 112,000 Instagram followers (she’s since been kicked off the platform) to “rise up” against Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whom she falsely accused of being a terrorist who was “pushing for another 9/11.”
“Islam is a cancer on humanity and Muslims should not be allowed to seek positions of political office in this country,” Loomer wrote in another Instagram post about Omar.
The next month on Telegram, Loomer demonstrated her utter disregard for Muslim lives.
Laura Loomer uses social media (Telegram) to make it clear that she cares more about social media than she does the 51 people brutally massacred by a white nationalist terrorist who sounded a lot like Laura Loomer on social media. pic.twitter.com/sZmMdYR8QF — Luke O'Brien (@lukeobrien) May 17, 2019
“Nobody cares about Christchurch,” Loomer wrote, referring to the 2019 white nationalist massacre of 51 Muslims inside two mosques in the New Zealand city. “I especially don’t.”
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“I 👏 DON’T 👏 CARE 👏 ABOUT 👏 CHRISTCHURCH,” Loomer wrote in another Telegram post.
Loomer, according to a report from Right Wing Watch, also works closely with a Florida-based organization called United West, which is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group.
Loomer, who is Jewish, also has frequented white nationalist circles and once posed for a photograph with fascist figurehead Richard Spencer.
As noted by Right Wing Watch, the white nationalist website VDare supported her candidacy for Congress.
Loomer’s bigotry has earned her bans from many tech platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, PayPal, GoFundMe, Venmo, Uber, Lyft, and Uber Eats.
But it hasn’t stopped her from gaining support of those in the MAGAverse. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, endorsed Loomer. So did Rep. Paul Gosar and Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro.
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At the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year, HuffPost spotted Loomer — who was not allowed inside the event itself — talking with white supremacist Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).
“Text me,” King, who lost his GOP primary this year, could be heard saying to Loomer.
Walked past white supremacist congressman Steve King talking to anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Laura Lo*mer at CPAC. Didn’t hear what they were talking about, but they exchanged numbers and at the end King said “text me.” pic.twitter.com/pV7F4b7Me5 — Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) February 27, 2020
Loomer raised over $1 million for her congressional campaign, according to The Daily Beast. She hired Karen Giorno to lead her campaign. Giorno worked as an adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Loomer earned 42% of the vote in Tuesday’s crowded primary field.
She celebrated her victory at a party alongside prominent far-right extremists, according to the Palm Beach Post. Among the party guests were longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, convicted last year of witness tampering and lying to Congress; disgraced former Breitbart columnist Milo Yiannopoulos; and Gavin McInnes, the founder of the neo-fascist street gang the Proud Boys.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Slams NBC’s ‘Unacceptable, Disappointing' Tweet About Her DNC Speech

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But a misleading tweet from NBC News made it sound as though she had snubbed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, sparking confusion online and a furious protest from Ocasio-Cortez.
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“So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for?” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter early Wednesday after the network issued a clarification for the initial tweet. “Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn’t it.”
NBC removed the initial tweet to prevent its further spread, but provided a screenshot “for the record.” The network said it should have included more detail on the nominating process.
Editor's note and clarification (1/2):
This tweet should have included more detail on the nominating process.
We have deleted the tweet to prevent its further spread, but it can be seen here for the record. pic.twitter.com/txXo4CCMOt — NBC News (@NBCNews) August 19, 2020
“Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders’ nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention,” NBC wrote in its clarification. “Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches.”
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The news outlet also published an article with the headline “AOC backs Sanders for president — ignores Biden in brief remarks.” It was updated to say “AOC symbolically nominates Bernie Sanders in 60-second DNC speech.”
The progressive Democrat, who endorsed and campaigned for Sanders in the Democratic presidential primaries, said she’d vote for Biden after Sanders dropped out of the race in April. Sanders, too, has endorsed Biden.
The DNC nominating procedure served as a tribute to Sanders, the only other Democratic candidate who won enough delegates to be formally nominated at the convention. However, some viewers, evidently unaware of this tradition, expressed confusion online, thinking Ocasio-Cortez was challenging Biden’s candidacy.
Not long after the address, Ocasio-Cortez provided an explainer for those who were confused and extended her “deepest congratulations” and support to Biden.
Several hours later, after NBC clarified its original message, Ocasio-Cortez said the network’s tweet was “completely unacceptable, disappointing and appalling” and noted media were made aware of the “procedural purpose” of her “routine” remarks well in advance.
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This is completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling.
The DNC shared the procedural purpose of my remarks to media WELL in advance. @NBC knew what was going to happen & that it was routine.
How does a headline that malicious & misleading happen w/ that prior knowledge? — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
She accused the network of waiting hours to correct the “obvious and blatantly misleading tweet,” which she said sparked vitriol, misinformation and confusion.
“All to generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion,” she added.
So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for?
Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn’t it. https://t.co/zf6Wqiotvv — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
NBC did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on whether it would take further action.
In a lengthy statement on Facebook about her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez said that while Sanders didn’t win the nomination, the issues and injustices he fought against are still very real. She made clear in her address that she’ll continue to fight for systemic solutions to progressive causes.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--‘Big Fan Of Yours!’: Trump’s Old Fan Mail To Vladimir Putin Revealed

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Donald Trump reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin several times in the years prior to running for election, according to new documents released by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The messages do not reveal collusion between Trump and Putin over the 2016 election. The links between his campaign and Moscow were detailed elsewhere in the report. But they do show Trump repeatedly flattering Putin, including one letter congratulating the strongman on being named Time’s “Person of the Year” in 2007.
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Trump told Putin: “You definitely deserve it.” He added: “I am a big fan of yours!”
Fascinating artifact from Senate Intel report: old fan mail from Trump to Putin pic.twitter.com/ijjhZweTHK — Mike McIntire (@mmcintire) August 18, 2020
Trump also sent letters inviting Putin to the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013, calling the event a “great tribute to Moscow and Russia.” Trump wanted Putin to be his “Guest of Honor” and wrote: “I look forward to seeing you”:
Trump's letters to Putin. Beautiful letters! Most perfect letters! Or, as Trump would put it, "He begged like a dog." pic.twitter.com/Zh3oRvfNY6 — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) August 18, 2020
Julia Davis of the Daily Beast noted that Putin wrote back saying, “I regret that we weren’t able to meet as planned.”
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But not all of Trump’s attempts at reaching Putin were private. Trump has also repeatedly praised Putin on Twitter, including around the same time as some of those letters:
Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2013
In reality, Trump had long been trying to strike a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who’s currently serving a 3-year sentence for lying to Congress and campaign finance violations, has said Trump was pursuing such a deal as recently as during the 2016 campaign, then lying about it in public.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--45 Funny Tweets About MLMs And Pyramid Schemes

Phone scams that change their number to look like yours are operating on the false belief that I won’t think a number from my hometown is scamming me when in reality every girl from my high school is now involved in a pyramid scheme.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--A Minute Of Kindness: The Hot Pink Fridge Feeding A Community

A Minute Of Kindness: The Hot Pink Fridge Feeding A Community
Concerned by the food insecurity in her area, Software Designer and Doula, Tatiana Smith, set up a community fridge on her own doorstep in Jersey City. The colourful fridge is stocked by Smith, local businesses and its own patrons. She invites anyone to "take what you need, leave what you can". It’s just one of a number of similar grassroots initiatives helping communities across the US.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Gavin Williamson Admits Ofqual Drove A-Levels U-Turn – After Taking Credit Himself

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Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Under-fire education secretary Gavin Williamson has admitted regulator Ofqual was behind the scrapping of England’s disastrous A-level algorithm – after days of trying to take credit himself.
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The minister has been accused of failing to take responsibility for the fiasco, and is facing calls to quit.
Teachers and students were furious when results decided by a computer algorithm downgraded almost 40% of students last week and hit poorer students’ outcomes hardest – as well as boosting private schools’ share of the top grades.
When the grades were binned and replaced by teachers’ original assessments of their students, widely seen as a fairer measure, Williamson claimed credit saying: “It became apparent to me over the weekend, we needed to do more, and I made the recommendation that we needed to make the move to [...] teacher grades.”
But a statement from the Department for Education on Wednesday admits that Ofqual drove the decision, not Williamson.
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“We have full confidence in Ofqual and its leadership in their role as independent regulator and we continue to work closely with Ofqual to deliver fair results for our young people at this unprecedented time,” a spokesperson said.
“The decision they took to move from moderated grades to centre assessed grades was one that we agreed with.
“Our focus remains on working with Ofqual to ensure students receive their final GCSE, AS-level and A-level results this week so that they can move on to the next stage of their lives.”
Despite a torrent of criticism aimed at Williamson, he continues to enjoy the backing of No.10.
When asked if Williamson should be removed, health secretary Matt Hancock said it would “distract” from the issues facing education, including schools reopening in September after the Covid-19 lockdown.
He told Sky News: “These are unprecedented circumstances and I think everybody is working their hardest and trying to do their best in very difficult circumstances and I know that is true of Gavin Williamson as it is of all members of the government.
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“The big focus is on getting schools back and open at the start of next month, an incredibly important task. I don’t think we should be distracted from that task now. We need to absolutely focus on it.”
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems have called for the government to publish all correspondence between Williamson and Ofqual.
Their education spokesperson Layla Moran said: “It appears that the decision to scrap the deeply unjust grading by postcode system came from Ofqual, not Gavin Williamson. Yet just days ago the education secretary claimed credit for this U-turn and attempted to throw the regulator under the bus.
“The government has serious questions to answer over what looks like a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. Enough of the smoke and mirrors – we urgently need clarity. All internal correspondence between DfE and Ofqual on this matter must to be published.
“Ultimately, if Gavin Williamson has been dishonest as well as incompetent, the prime minister will have no choice but to accept his resignation. It is time Mr Johnson stops letting down young people by backing his Tory cronies.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--EastEnders Spoilers: 11 Hints About What To Expect From Soap's September Return

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You don’t have to be the biggest EastEnders fan to notice that the TV schedules have been a little emptier over the last few months without the long-running soap.
EastEnders fell off the air for the first time in its 35-year history back in June, after running out of episodes pre-recorded before the coronavirus pandemic shut down production in March.
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With filming having resumed since resumed, the the show is finally set to our screens on Monday 7 September, for what has been dubbed “series two” by fans.
But we will not be picking up with the Walford residents where we left them, with the soap adopting a time jump to accommodate the period that has passed in between episodes.
As we rejoin the action, the characters will be emerging from lockdown and adapting to their “new normal”, but this being EastEnders, their “new normal” will, of course, still be suitably dramatic.
With that in mind, we’ve rounded up all the hints, clues and spoilers of what to expect...
Ian leaves the Square
BBC
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Ian has been harbouring a rather large secret from his best mate Sharon over the last few months, but it seems like the truth about his involvement in Dennis’ death is about to come spilling out.
Bosses have confirmed that actor Adam Woodyatt is taking a break from filming to tie in with a storyline, and while bosses are keeping tight-lipped as to exactly what prompts Ian’s on-screen departure, many fans believe it is linked to his deadly secret.
When we were last in Albert Square, Dotty was still threatening to expose Ian after learning the truth some months earlier, and with Ian and Sharon now living and working together as the Vic’s new owners, is she about to seize her moment?
Chantelle and Gray’s abuse storyline reaches a head
BBC
EastEnders is set to explore the topical issue of domestic abuse in lockdown through Chantelle and Gray.
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Gray has been abusing his wife since the couple arrived on the Square, but his treatment of Chantelle has worsened during the time they’ve been forced to spend together at home, mirroring the experience of many domestic abuse victims during the pandemic.
A determined Chantelle plans to leave her husband and end her ordeal once and for all, even consulting a divorce lawyer. But will she succeed in getting away with her children, or will Gray rumble her plot?
Stacey makes her long-awaited return
BBC
Fan favourite Stacey Fowler is finally making her way back to Walford, with actor Lacey Turner having returned from maternity leave.
Stacey was driven out of town by Ben Mitchell last year following her attack on his dad Phil, and when we last saw her during a fleeting guest appearance last year, husband Martin lied to her claiming he’d had an affair with ex-wife Sonia, in a bid to protect her and stop her returning home. But when Martin later discovered Stacey had moved on with a new man, he slept with her best friend Ruby.
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Sexual tension between Martin and Ruby has bubbled away since, and when we next see them, they will have just spent the whole of lockdown together, paving the way for some explosive scenes when Stacey discovers her ex and her best mate are now an item…
Kat Slater is also back in town
BBC
Kat made an abrupt exit from Walford earlier this year when actor Jessie Wallace was temporarily written out.
However, Jessie has since resumed filming, and during a recent appearance on Secrets From The Square, Davood Ghamdi – who plays Kat’s boyfriend Kush – revealed the couple have spent lockdown together with Mo, Jean and Kat’s children at number 31.
Denise faces a blast from the past
BBC
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Having been involved in some huge EastEnders storylines over the last 14 years, Denise has plenty of things from her past that could remerge at any moment, and actor Diane Parish has teased that exactly that is set to happen in the coming weeks.
During an appearance on Secrets From The Square, Diane said: “I do know that some dark things from her past are going to resurface and there are going to be some challenges there for Denise.”
This Morning’s soap expert Sharon Marshall recently presented a theory that it could have something to do with the son she put up for adoption in 2017, following a one-night stand with Phil Mitchell, while it has also been reported Denise will be involved in a “disturbing accident”. Other fans think it could have something to do with her murderous ex-husband Lucas.
Either way, there are some tough times ahead for this Walford stalwart.
And Kim is on her way home too
BBC
Walford hasn’t felt quite the same since Kim upped and left for a new life in Scotland last year. Little did fans know at the time, but actor Tameka Empson had actually gone on maternity leave, but she is now set to return as Kim in the coming months.
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She won’t be back on screen straight away, but something tells us Denise is going to need her sister’s support, which could pave the way for the character’s homecoming.
Mick is getting a big story
BBC
With the Carters having sold the Vic to Sharon and Ian in the final episode before the break, Mick and Linda are facing a future that doesn’t involve pulling pints.
But those worried that the characters could fade into the background now that they do not live at the centre of the action need not be concerned – Danny Dyer has teased that Mick is about to be involved in his biggest storyline since he joined the soap in 2013.
Speaking on Secrets From The Square, Danny said: “I think when we come out of lockdown I could potentially have the best story I’ve ever had on the show.”
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Kellie, who plays Linda, added that there are “some testing times ahead for Mick and Linda”.
There’s no reunion for Sharon and Phil
BBC
With Sharon just having bought the Vic from under Phil’s nose, we’d place money on the fact he’s not too happy with his ex right now.
And things don’t look like they’re about to get better any time soon either, as Letitia Dean – who plays Sharon – hinted a reunion isn’t on the cards from the former Walford power couple, following her affair with Keanu Taylor.
She told Stacey Dooley on Secrets From The Square: “I think they’re going to be going their separate ways for… well, indefinitely.
“I think things have gone too far now. He’s accused her of killing her own son. In many ways, it’s just too much.”
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Romance for Kathy?
BBC
After years of thanklessly serving up tea and sticky buns in the cafe, Kathy finally looks set for a bit of happiness in her life, as actor Gillian Taylforth has revealed there’s a new love interest on the scene.
“Kathy is going to go on a dating app,” she said on Secrets From The Square.
“She is older now and has been looking after everyone else, it’s about time she was looked after and had a bit of love in her life.”
Taylor family secrets are exposed
BBC
There’s some further tough times ahead for the Taylor brood, with actors Lorraine Stanley and Zack Morris revealing Karen and her kids will be facing some “challenges” relating to their past.
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Zack said on Secrets From The Square: “It’s going to really expose the Taylor family and expose some dark secrets that have been going on.”
However, things are looking brighter for Keegan and wife Tiffany, as Zack also revealed the couple have moved back in together after some troubles prior to lockdown.
Although he did tease that “it’s EastEnders though so there will be something to test them”.
More trouble for Ballum?
BBC
Anyone hoping that Ben and Callum’s romance would be more straightforward after lockdown can think again, as the couple look like they will still be at odds over Ben’s recent criminal dealings when the show returns.
The couple have spent lockdown apart, with Ben isolating with dad Phil, which could have an impact upon his relationship with Callum, who is more intent than ever to have a successful career in the police.
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“He doesn’t want that derailed by Ben trying to impress his dad again,” Tony Clay, who plays Callum, teased on Secrets From The Square.
Max Bowden added of his character: “[Ben is] not in a personally good place.
“He’s kind of gone back to a life of crime while Callum’s going completely the other way.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Boris Johnson's Plan To Move Parliament To York Effectively Rejected

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Boris Johnson’s proposal to move parliament to York while the Palace of Westminster is refurbished has been effectively rejected.
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The prime minister had asked the body responsible for the multi-billion pound refurbishment of the crumbling palace to explore the possibility of moving parliament to York while work is carried out.
But like the so-called “Boris island” airport in the Thames estuary and the garden bridge across the river he backed while London mayor, the PM’s latest eye-catching big idea looks to have fallen by the wayside.
Last month Johnson said the idea would “make sense” as he works to establish a government hub in the historic Yorkshire city.
The Tories had also previously touted the idea of moving the House of Lords to York as the party looks to cement its December election gains in former Labour areas in the north and Midlands.
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The PM wrote to the Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority, asking it to “consider a possible location outside London” while the Palace of Westminster is refurbished.
"We might, it's one of a range of things we are looking into." @JamesCleverly tells @SophyRidgeSky the House of Lords might be permanently moved to the north of England, saying a "whole range of options" are being looked at.
Follow #Ridge live: https://t.co/BzsNffg7Rl pic.twitter.com/SUXFiK3ygO — Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) January 19, 2020
But the body said it is for MPs and peers to decide where they should sit and that it will not form part of the review of the works.
The repairs body said Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and lord speaker Lord Fowler told it that “as the location of the Houses is a matter for parliament, it does not form part of the programme’s scope, and consequently would be inappropriate for us to explore further”.
In a letter to the prime minister, sponsor body chief Sarah Johnson and delivery authority head David Goldstone said there are “constitutional implications” for moving MPs and peers outside London “which makes this a matter for both Houses to determine rather than for our review”.
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“This option will not, therefore, be considered as part of the scope of the strategic review,” the letter added.
MPs and peers agreed in 2018 to a plan that would see both Houses move to temporary facilities near the existing site – a “full decant” – to allow essential repairs and upgrades to be made to the Victorian palace.
But amid concerns about the cost – estimated at almost £4bn in 2014 – a review of the plans is being carried out by the sponsor body.
The letter to the prime minister noted the “full decant” – rather than a partial move which would see peers and MPs vacate parliament in turn – had been judged as the “quickest, cheapest and least risky delivery option”.
But the review will consider “whether circumstances have changed so significantly as to warrant reconsidering these options”.
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Number 10 sources said Johnson had made his views clear that it was a matter for parliament to decide, but MPs and peers “should also consider options outside SW1” if they need to leave while the restoration work is carried out.
A spokesperson for parliament’s restoration and renewal programme said: “The Houses of Parliament are falling apart faster than they can be fixed.
“As the prime minister made clear in his letter, the current situation is unsustainable given the serious risk of a major fire and the need to upgrade services throughout the building.
“The restoration and renewal programme was set up in law, accountable to parliament, to tackle this urgent work and is currently reviewing how the programme is delivered.
“The option of locating parliament outside London has constitutional implications, and as the speakers of both Houses have stated, this means it is a matter for both Houses to determine rather than for our review.
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“In line with best practice, we remain committed to developing a business case that will set out in detail the options for restoring parliament, including cost estimates and timescales.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--The Crown Creator Clears Up Speculation About Whether Meghan Markle And Prince Andrew Will Be Depict

The Crown Creator Clears Up Speculation About Whether Meghan Markle And Prince Andrew Will Be Depicted In Final Series

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The Crown creator Peter Morgan has cleared up speculation about whether future series will depict more modern royal subjects involving the likes of Meghan Markle and Prince Andrew.
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However, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the writer has insisted the show will remain rooted in the past, as he believes subjects become “so much more interesting” as time passes.
Peter Morgan Michael Kovac via Getty Images
“Meghan and Harry are in the middle of their journey, and I don’t know what their journey is or how it will end,” he explained.
“One wishes some happiness, but I’m much more comfortable writing about things that happened at least 20 years ago.”
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Peter added that he has a “20-year rule” when it comes to The Crown, claiming: “That is enough time and enough distance to really understand something, to understand its role, to understand its position, to understand its relevance.
“Often things that appear absolutely wildly important today are instantly forgotten, and other things have a habit of sticking around and proving to be historically very relevant and long-lasting.
“I don’t know where in the scheme of things Prince Andrew or indeed Meghan Markle or Harry will ever appear. We won’t know, and you need time to stop something being journalistic.
“And so I don’t want to write about them because to write about them would instantly make it journalistic. And there are plenty of journalists already writing about them.”
Prince Andrew, pictured in 2016 zz/KGC-42/STAR MAX/IPx
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He added: “To be a dramatist, I think you need perspective and you need to also allow for the opportunity for metaphor. Once something has a metaphorical possibility, it can then become interesting.
“It’s quite possible, for example, to tell the story of Harry and Meghan through analogy and metaphor, if that’s what you want to do. Because there’ve been so many examples in the past, whether it’s Wallis Simpson or Edward VII, or whether it’s Diana and Prince Charles.
“There have been plenty of opportunities in the past where there have been marital complications. There’ve been wives that have been married into the royal family that have felt unwelcome and that they don’t fit in. So there are plenty of stories to tell without telling the story of Harry and Meghan.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Karwai Tang via Getty Images
If Peter does intend to keep the events of The Crown to a minimum of 20 years away, it looks likely the show could come to an end in 2002, when the Queen celebrated her 50th year on the throne with her Golden Jubilee.
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Olivia Colman’s second and final series at the helm of The Crown is yet to debut on Netflix, with the team completing production just before the UK went into lockdown this year.
The cast for the show’s fifth and sixth seasons has slowly been announced over the last few months, with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce succeeding Olivia and Tobias Menzies in the lead roles of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
Lesley Manville will take over from Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, while it’s also been revealed that Elizabeth Debicki – soon to appear in the new Christopher Nolan film Tenet – will be playing Princess Diana.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Thousands Of Homeless People To Get Free Smartphones

Homeless people will be given free smartphones and laptops to help them stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic. Yui Mok - PA Images via Getty Images
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Homeless people will be given free smartphones to help them stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic.
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A two-year partnership between Tesco Mobile and the homelessness charity Crisis will see homeless people given £700,000 worth of smartphones and internet data.
The connectivity drive is aimed to help homeless people during the Covid-19 outbreak, making it easier for them to access public health guidance and support, look into housing options and keep in touch with friends and family.
Crisis has already provided 1,000 mobile phones to homeless people since the beginning of lockdown, and plans to provide 2,500 homeless people with phones in the first year of the connectivity drive.
It is urging the public to donate their old smartphones.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said the lack of digital connection during the pandemic has become a “huge challenge” and that addressing this will support charities’ work during a “really difficult and dangerous time”.
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He said: “It’s really clear to us that, as well as the obvious things of not having a house or being able to afford a place to live, which are really awful things that people face when they’re homeless, there’s this sense of isolation and loneliness and the lack of connectivity that people feel as well.
“And that’s always been there, that’s something which is really important, certainly to our services – as well as helping people find somewhere to live and a job, we’re also looking at helping to connect them and the resilience that brings.”
The pandemic has “shone an even brighter light on that issue,” Sparkes said. With people being urged to self-isolate in order to protect themselves from the coronavirus, “the fact that they’re not able to connect has become even more important.”
Tom Denyard, chief executive of Tesco Mobile, said: “We believe passionately that everyone has the right to be connected and that mobile connection brings us all closer to other people, to society, and provides access to essential services.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-20--Miriam Margolyes Admits She's No Fan Of Harry Potter, Despite Playing A Hogwarts Professor

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The always-candid Miriam Margolyes has raised eyebrows once again, admitting that she has no interest in Harry Potter, despite playing a Hogwarts professor in the film adaptations of the books.
The actor – known for her outspoken (and frequently off-colour) remarks, recently joined the video-sharing website Cameo – where fans can pay £83 to receive a personalised video message from the star.
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In one such video, she introduced herself to two Harry Potter fans as “Professor Sprout”, her character from the film’s series, before going on to confess that she’s certainly no fan of the Wizarding World herself, despite appearing in the film franchise.
“I understand you and Chris are huge Harry Potter fans,” she said at the beginning of the video (via Metro). “Here’s the thing, I’m not.”
Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout in Harry Potter Warner Bros
She continued: “I’m not against it, I’m just not interested. I’ve never seen a film. I’ve never seen the books, I’ve never read them. I just pocket the money when it comes and I’m very grateful for it.
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“I think that JK Rowling is a terrific writer and I’m sure Harry Potter’s world is a good world. But it’s not my world.”
Miriam appeared in two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets and the final instalment in the saga, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2.
Miriam during one of her infamous appearances on The Graham Norton Show Isabel Infantes - PA Images via Getty Images
Last month, Miriam spoke out after JK Rowling’s comments aboutgender identity, insisting she feels differently to the author.
“She has a rather conservative view of transgender people,” Miriam told The Times. “I don’t think I do.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-20--Six Questions Gavin Williamson Still Needs To Answer About The Exams Fiasco

It’s been more than a week since the alarm was first sounded over England’s disastrous handling of exam results, and the government is desperate to move on.
None of the senior Tories HuffPost UK spoke to on Thursday morning was willing to talk about the scandal or the future of Gavin Williamson, the embattled education secretary.
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To recap: with students unable to take exams because of the coronavirus lockdown, it had been decided that their grades would be decided using a combination of their predicted grades, teachers’ rankings, and an algorithm based on schools’ previous results.
This meant 40% of predicted A-level results were downgraded and thousands of pupils missed out on places at university. Students in less-advantaged areas were the hardest hit, while private schools enjoyed the biggest jump in the percentage of top grades.
On Monday, under huge pressure from basically everyone, Williamson announced a huge U-turn in government policy, saying A-level and GCSE students would be given the grades their teachers had predicted.
The government may want to leave the row behind, but there are several key questions it still hasn’t answered.
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1. When did Gavin Williamson find out that the grading system would give thousands of students the wrong results?
Students marching to the constituency office of Gavin Williamson on Monday, before the government's U-turn was announced ASSOCIATED PRESS
It’s a key question in this whole fiasco – did the education secretary know what was going to happen before the first A-level results envelope had been opened on Thursday?
According to an exclusive in The Times, Williamson was warned at the beginning of July by Sir Jon Coles, the former director-general of the Department of Education, that Ofqual’s results algorithm would only be 75% accurate, at best.
A government source told the newspaper that Williamson had raised the concern with the exam board after speaking to Coles, but was given reassurances.
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Yet on Monday, when he announced the U-turn over grades, Williamson said the disparity in results had only become clear to him “over the weekend”.
“Over the weekend it became clearer to me that there were [...] a number of students who were getting grades that frankly they shouldn’t have been getting and should’ve been doing a lot better,” he said.
If this is the case, it raises a further question about how he could have been so ignorant of the crisis for a full two days.
Labour has now demanded that Williamson publish all his correspondence about the algorithm.
2. Was the grading algorithm lawful in the first place?
The Labour Party has called for Williamson to publish the legal advice he was given about the exam results algorithm, with opposition ministers – including the shadow attorney general Charlie Falconer – insisting that the formula was “unlawful”.
In a letter to the education secretary and Ofqual, Labour said the weight given to schools’ previous results had caused “a mass of discriminatory impacts”.
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“It is bound to disadvantage a whole range of groups with protected characteristics, in breach of a range of anti-discrimination legislation.”
3. Why were BTec results left out of the U-turn on grades – and then included at the very last minute?
A student collecting her GCSE results in London – but BTec students will not get their grades on results day PA
When it was announced that students’ A-level and GCSE grades would be awarded on the basis of teachers’ predictions on Monday, there was no mention of BTec pupils’ results.
On Tuesday, Ofqual said its moderation algorithm was not used in the majority of vocational and technical qualifications (VTQ) – including BTecs.
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Then on Wednesday, just hours before students were due to pick up their results, exam board Pearson asked schools and colleges not to publish BTec results to give them more time to recalculate grades.
A spokesperson for Pearson said the BTec results would be regraded “to address concerns about unfairness in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and ensure no BTEC student is disadvantaged”.
It came after education unions and the Labour Party called on the government to provide clarity on why BTEC students had been left out of Monday’s grading U-turn.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The awarding organisations have decided to take more time in order to make absolutely certain no student is inadvertently worse off due to changes in how grades are assessed.”
They added: “Ofqual, Ucas and the relevant awarding organisations are also working to ensure students seeking entrance to university are not disadvantaged, and we are working with colleges and other further education providers to make sure students looking to continue into further education can still do so.”
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But why did it take so long to decide to review BTec results? And what was wrong with the grades that meant they did, eventually, need changing?
4. Will the university places crisis roll over into 2021?
A lecture theatre filled with students skynesher via Getty Images
On Thursday, the government revealed it had agreed to lift the cap on the number of places on medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and teaching courses following the U-turn on A-level grades.
It came after HuffPost UK spoke to a number of aspiring doctors who were left without a place at medical school following the exam results fiasco.
A number of universities had already said they would have to give students places on courses in 2021 just to honour all their offers to study.
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Durham University has promised a bursary and guarantee of accommodation for everyone who defers until 2021 due to “capacity issues”, the BBC reported.
But the government has yet to address how this could affect students finishing their A-levels next year.
Will the cap on university students remain lifted? Or will they be fighting for fewer places on courses, with a number already taken up by this year’s school leavers?
Moreover, what will universities do about courses that have limited space because of practical elements, and the risk of breaching staff-student ratios that could see their courses lose accreditation and become worthless?
5. Will the government have to make further changes to A-levels?
smolaw11 via Getty Images
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Pupils in England due to take their A-levels next year are threatening to strike unless changes are made to their exams, claiming they have been “ignored and forgotten” by the government.
Year 12 students who missed out on months of face-to-face teaching this year are demanding a fresh consultation on the 2021 A-levels, saying the government sidelined them when it reduced the GCSE syllabus but not theirs.
They want reduced content in exams, and better guidance on what will happen if there is a second outbreak and further closure of schools past September.
Protests have been planned across the country – in London, Cornwall, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol – with numbers expected to match or even exceed those that took place following the catastrophe of last week’s A-level results.
And participants say they won’t go to school at all if the situation isn’t resolved.
But the government has remained silent, leaving questions hanging about what will happen to the syllabus and next year’s exams.
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6. Who is actually to blame?
Education minister Nick Gibb insisted the model was "fair" EMPICS Entertainment
It’s the question on everyone’s lips – at whose door does blame lie for the absolute chaos of this year’s results season?
Or – more specifically – who is responsible for the algorithm that saw thousands upon thousands of students’ grades downgraded?
On Thursday, education minister Nick Gibb insisted that the Department for Education and exams regulator Ofqual “worked very closely” on the exam-grading algorithm.
He told the BBC’s Today programme: “We worked very closely with the independent regulator in developing the model.”
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The Tory MP insisted that the model was “fair” – but that it was implemented incorrectly. In fact, Gibb went as far as to say the algorithm was “very popular”.
Ministers wanted a system that would ensure young people from disadvantaged backgrounds did not see their grades moderated more heavily than anyone else’s, he said.
“There was about a 2% difference [in the extent of the downgrading between the richest and poorest], that’s broadly what we saw in the national results last week, in contrast to what we saw in Scotland, where there was a big gap between disadvantaged pupils.
“And that’s because in this country we had more data about the prior attainment of young people that was built into the model.
“So the model itself was fair, it was very popular, it was widely consulted upon.
“The problem arose in the way in which the three phases of the application of that model – the historic data of the school, the prior attainment of the cohort of pupils at the school, and then the national standard correction – it’s that element of the application of the model that I think there is a concern.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-20--Trump Wanted To Swap Puerto Rico For Greenland, Former DHS Chief Claims

Elaine Duke, former acting secretary of homeland security, made a similar claim last month, saying the president asked about “selling” Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Trump has publicly berated local leaders and the public multiple times, tweeting that the island is corrupt and ungrateful to him.
Taylor, who worked as Department of Homeland Security chief of staff to then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen from 2017 to 2019, previously spoke of Trump’s “terrifying” behaviour via the group Republican Voters Against Trump and also in an opinion piece for The Washington Post.”
“The president wanted to exploit the Department of Homeland Security for his own political purposes and to fuel his own agenda,” Taylor wrote in the op-ed, arguing that Trump was vindictive, favoured “ripping children away from their [migrant] parents” at the border and had attempted to cut off federal support for California following the 2018 wildfires — simply because the people in the state didn’t support him politically.