thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Brexit Talks Suspended After Member Of EU Team Tests Positive For Covid-19

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Top-level talks on a post-Brexit trade deal have been suspended after a member of EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier’s team tested positive for coronavirus.
The two sides have been meeting in Brussels with time running out to reach a deal before the Brexit transition arrangements expire at the end of the year.
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Barnier, who has been leading talks with UK counterpart Lord Frost, said “we have decided to suspend the negotiations at our level for a short period”.
“The teams will continue their work in full respect of guidelines,” he said.
🇪🇺🇬🇧 update: one of the negotiators in my team has tested positive for COVID-19. With @DavidGHFrost we have decided to suspend the negotiations at our level for a short period. The teams will continue their work in full respect of guidelines. — Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) November 19, 2020
Frost said he was in “close contact” with Barnier about the situation. “The health of our teams comes first,” he said and thanked the European Commission for their help and support.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wished the member of the negotiating team a “speedy recovery”. She said work would continue “in full respect of” Covid-19 rules.
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UK officials in Brussels are working with the EU to discuss what will happen next.
A government spokesperson said: “The Commission has informed us that an official in their delegation has tested positive for Covid-19.
“We are discussing with them the implications for the negotiations.
“We have been, and will continue to, act in line with public health guidelines and to ensure the health and welfare our teams.”
The unwanted development comes with the negotiations at a crucial point.
The need for any deal to be approved by the European Parliament and member states means there is very little time left for negotiations.
The major issues in the talks remain access to UK fishing waters, the “level playing field” designed to prevent unfair competition on issues including state subsidies and the governance arrangements for any agreement.
Going into this round of negotiations in Brussels, Frost said there had been “some progress in a positive direction in recent days” but “we may not succeed” in reaching a deal.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--The Best (And Worst) Champagne For Christmas 2020

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Manuta via Getty Images
We’ve almost made it though 2020 – and that alone deserves a toast. And thankfully, popping the Champagne doesn’t have to cost a fortune this Christmas.
Morrison’s own-label fizz has won the top prize in the Which? annual festive taste test, priced at £18.
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Five of the country’s top wine experts scored this year’s offerings in a blind taste test of on-vintage Champagnes, priced up to £36.
They awarded Morrison’s Adrien Chopin Brut Champagne the highest score of 82%, describing it as a “golden champagne with stewed apple aromas, rich flavours and a hint of sweetness”.
Morrisons The winning bubbly
Waitrose’s Brut Champagne (£19.99) came in second place, with a score of 79%. The panel commended its “ripe red apples and apple blossom” character, which makes it an “ideal party fizz” (although we’re not sure we’ll be doing much of that this year).
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In joint third place was Moet & Chandon’s Imperial Brut Champagne, earning a score of 78%. It was described as a pleasure to drink due to its “candied notes, mellow aromas, crisp acidity, and a cashew-nut finish”. However, one expert called it a “little bland”, which might not get you popping for £36.
Also rated a solid 78% score was Sainsbury’s Landric Champagne Brut at £25. It pleased experts with its “lemon acidity and toasty, nutty aftertaste”. However, one critic felt it was short of fruit with a slightly bitter finish.
The cheapest Champagne tested, Lidl’s £12.50 Comte De Senneval Champagne Brut, didn’t fare too badly, scoring 74% and sharing joint fourth with the likes of Sainsbury’s and M&S.
But at the bottom of the table, Aldi’s Philizot et Fils Organic Champagne fizzed into last place. It was summed it up as “wishy washy” by one panelist and only managed a 67% rating.
“Your Christmas might be a bit more low key this year, but there is no reason to scrimp on the bubbly and we’re delighted that you can enjoy this season’s best fizz for only £18,” Harry Rose, editor of Which? Magazine, commented.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Priti Patel Struggles To Apologise – Again

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Priti Patel has said sorry if her behaviour “has upset people” amid a civil service bullying row in the home secretary’s latest questionable apology.
On Friday, the prime minister stood by his cabinet minister despite an internal investigation finding her guilty of bullying in the Home Office.
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It caused Sir Alex Allan, Boris Johnson’s influential adviser on ministerial interests, to quit after his probe revealed instances of Patel “shouting and swearing” and “behaviour that can be described as bullying”, and in turn failed to meet the ministerial code.
Patel issued an “unreserved, fulsome apology” and said there were “no excuses” for what happened – but stressed that her behaviour was not “intentional”.
In a statement, she said: “I am sorry that my behaviour in the past has upset people. It has never been my intention to cause upset to anyone.”
Home secretary Priti Patel at Westminster. POOL New / Reuters
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She later told the BBC that “any upset that I’ve caused is completely unintentional and at the time, of course it says it’s in the report, that issues were not pointed out to me”.
In a doubtless carefully prepared statement, Patel appears to be apologising for the “upset” she has caused and not the behaviour itself – a position that follows previous regretful remarks that could be classified as “sorry, not sorry”.
When faced with accusations in April that doctors were dying during the pandemic because of a lack of personal protective equipment, she said: “I’m sorry if people feel that there have been failings.”
When she apologised in 2017 after allegations that she broke ministerial rules by holding official meetings while on “holiday” in Israel, she at first said the foreign secretary Boris Johnson had known about it and then later admitted the Foreign Office was not informed. Again, the apology had caveats and emphasised how her actions could be “mis-read”.
“In hindsight, I can see how my enthusiasm to engage in this way could be mis-read, and how meetings were set up and reported in a way which did not accord with the usual procedures,” she said. “I am sorry for this and I apologise for it.”
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Her apology to the Windrush generation in March – after the publication of the long-awaited independent review of lessons learned – put the blame on “successive governments”.
While Patel’s style of apology is used by many people in public life facing scrutiny, the senior minister is a “serial offender”, behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings told HuffPost UK.
She continued: “In spite of saying she was making an ‘unreserved apology’, one without any conditions and usually used by the press or media, rather than an individual, this apology was anything but ‘unreserved’.
“Her apology, if that is even the right word for it – I think it’s more a defensive strategy – with its caveat of ‘if I upset people’ and numerous mentions of the word ‘unintentional’, indicates a complete lack of ownership of any wrong doing.
“Not only does it assume no responsibility it also implies that those who were distressed by her behaviour were probably not robust enough to do their jobs effectively.”
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She added: “It shows zero empathy and every suggestion that her colleagues were being weak, irrational and over-sensitive. In fact, it is quite the reverse of an apology, not only lacking any responsibility for her behaviour, but implicitly pushing blame onto those who were not robust enough to appreciate the pressure she was under.”
Hemmings says previous apologies have the same tenor – “sorry” that people felt that way, but that is their problem not hers.
She said: “It’s arrogant and driven by her thirst for power and superiority.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--'We're On The Glide Path': Cult Hero Jonathan Van-Tam Nails Another Metaphor

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Top epidemiologist Jonathan Van-Tam has burnished his credentials as the UK government’s best communicator after delivering another colourful metaphor to describe the progress being made to tackle coronavirus.
England’s deputy chief medical officer, who is often referred to as JVT, took part in Friday’s government press conference where ministers highlighted how the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines could begin before Christmas.
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Van-Tam has previously delighted his growing fanbase by warning “don’t tear the pants out of it” as lockdown was eased this summer, and deploying extended train and football metaphors when discussing vaccines.
The glorious JVT. Sky News
And he built on that reputation on Friday when essaying how to get an approved jab to the wider public.
“Do I believe that we are now on the glide path to landing this plane? Yes I do,” he said.
“Do I accept that sometimes when you are on the glide path you can have a side wind and the landing is not totally straightforward, totally textbook? Of course.”
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But he concluded: “I think we’re on the glide path. Over.”
Van-Tam was appearing remotely after revealing he was self-isolating due to a “household contact”, and his repeated use of a truck driver’s “over” to end his monologues was seized upon on Twitter.
Oh my GOD he’s gone for a plane metaphor! JVT actually thinks he’s a pilot! “Yes, I think we’re on the glide path... over” 👨🏻✈ — Kate McCann (@KateEMcCann) November 20, 2020
Why have we not all been ending every interjection in a Zoom call with “over” like JVT? Instantly sounds somehow urgent and official — Jess Brammar (@jessbrammar) November 20, 2020
Petition for JVT to end his comments with “Psych!” in future. — Mark Wallace (@wallaceme) November 20, 2020
"I think we're on the glide path. Over."
I live for JVT — Emily Ashton (@elashton) November 20, 2020
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And there may be an explanation ...


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--How Boris Johnson’s ‘Reset Week’ Turned Out Priti Awful

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It was supposed to be the week that Boris Johnson reset his premiership.
Dominic Cummings was gone from No.10, and was supposed to take with him the multiple, concurrent and arguably unnecessary wars with everyone from the media to civil servants to Tory backbenchers.
But it was a week that ended with the resignation of one of the government’s longest serving officials - his independent adviser on ministerial interests Sir Alex Allan - after he found Priti Patel guilty of bullying and breaching the ministerial code, but was overruled by Johnson so the home secretary could keep her job.
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The stalled relaunch was perhaps best exemplified by the PM’s new press secretary, Allegra Stratton, who was supposed to be at the vanguard of the Downing Street revolution, being forced to brief that Johnson “will not tolerate bullying”, despite having done just that.
And it was Stratton who also had to bat away questions about whether Johnson’s big reset had got off to a stuttering start, stressing that “the prime minister would like us all to look at this case alone”.
“I don’t think it’s helpful to try and draw dots or comparisons with anyone else,” Stratton added.
But it is difficult to escape those comparisons when Patel, like Cummings with his Barnard Castle eye test, has got away with breaking the rules.
The old Labour attack - one rule for us and another for them - is well and truly back, but it’s not just confined to the opposition.
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One Tory insider believes that like the Cummings case, the story is not going to go away.
“Patel needs to go, she needs to resign,” they told me.
“Keir Starmer if he’s smart is going to frame this as a condition of Johnson’s premiership - who do you stand up for? You’re a bully, you don’t care about the little guy.
“It’s the elitist thing - it’s Barnard Castle, it’s Priti Patel.”
Patel and Johnson in happier times Hannah Mckay / Reuters
Matters were made worse when it emerged that the PM texted Tory colleagues urging them to “form a square around the prittster”, which Stratton was again forced to defend by stressing Patel was going to have a “testing day” - that is true, and it’s because she broke the ministerial code.
There is a feeling among Tory MPs that this is “a Westminster bubble non-story” and that people may view this as a case of an “overly sensitive civil servant who couldn’t handle a fiery minister”.
And insiders think No.10 is so keen on Patel as home secretary precisely because she is combative, hardline and tough on issues like Channel crossings and crime, which they think puts her firmly in line with their voters.
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Sources tell me Patel is also performing well on her key task of fulfilling the election pledge to recruit 20,000 extra police officers, which has won her big plaudits in Downing Street
One said: “She’s such a strong ally of the prime minister, in No.10 they think she is a good cabinet minister, and when she’s in the Home Office she’s aligned with the whole country.”
But even if Patel has ridden out the initial storm she may have to deal with an angry Home Office, where I’m told there has already been an “incredible brain drain” and where officials may now be emboldened to leak damaging stories about their boss.
“The fact that Alex Allan has resigned sends a signal to the civil service that they’re not going to be protected,” an insider said.
“When you start going after them they go after you, remember Amber Rudd.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Coronavirus Vaccinations Could Begin 'Next Month', Announces Matt Hancock

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Matt Hancock has said the NHS could start vaccinating people against coronavirus “next month”.
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference on Friday, the health secretary said the government had “formally” asked the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to assess the suitability of the Pfizer vaccine.
“If the regulator approves a vaccine, we will be ready to start the vaccination next month, with the bulk of the rollout in the new year,” he said.
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“This is another important step forward in tackling this pandemic.
Hancock said the speed of the roll-out of a vaccine would depend on the speed it could be manufactured.
“We are heading in the right direction but there is still a long way to go.”
Hancock added that he has grown “more and more confident” that life will be closer to normal by spring.
The government said a further 511 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the UK total to 54,286.
Health secretary Matt Hancock during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus. PA
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Hancock’s comments came following reports all adults in England could start to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the end of January if supplies allow.
NHS England’s draft Covid-19 vaccine deployment programme, seen by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) and dated November 13, said every adult who wants a jab could be vaccinated by early April.
Pfizer together with its partner BionTech is expected to receive US approval for its vaccine within days.
The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer jab and expects 10 million doses by the end of the year.
It has also ordered 100 million doses of a vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which has shown promising results in clinical trials and is due to report before Christmas, and five million doses of a jab from US firm Moderna, which is not expected to arrive until the spring.
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The planning document from NHS England, according to the HSJ, relies on a range of assumptions including that there will be 75% take-up of the jab outside residential settings such as care homes and prisons, where 100% is expected.
The model also relies on more than seven million doses of a vaccine being available in December, with four to five million doses per week given to people, the HSJ reported.
The document, which was shared among senior NHS regional leaders on Thursday, comes as the head of England’s biggest NHS hospital trust said in a “best-case scenario” it could take until April to vaccinate enough people to make a difference to the pandemic.
The NHS England document sets out how those groups given priority for the vaccine could be vaccinated at the same time if stocks allow.
Interim guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the Government on jab priorities, has said older adults in care homes and care home workers should be vaccinated first.
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All those aged 80 and over and health and social care workers would be next, followed by anyone aged 75 and over.
People will then be vaccinated in descending order of age, taking into account high-risk adults under 65 and moderate-risk adults under 65.
According to the NHS England document, care home residents and staff and healthcare workers could be vaccinated from the beginning of December, followed by those aged 80 and over from mid-December.
Everyone aged 70 to 80 could be vaccinated from late December and those aged 65 to 70 from early January alongside all high and moderate-risk under-65s
Everyone aged 50 to 65 could then receive a jab from mid-January, followed by everyone aged 18 to 50 from late January, the HSJ reported.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Trump Is Rushing Through His Biggest, Most Dangerous Arms Deal. Congress Could Stop It.

President Donald Trump wants to spend the final weeks of his presidency transferring America’s most advanced fighter jet, a set of powerful armed drones and thousands of bombs and missiles to a Middle Eastern dictatorship that is deeply implicated in multiple civil wars and aggressively represses its own population.
A growing group of lawmakers and activists is mobilising to stop him.
Trump plans to wrap up a $23 billion weapons sale to the United Arab Emirates by the middle of December. It would put an exclamation point on a presidency that has focused more on arms deals than any since President Dwight Eisenhower first warned of the political power of the military-industrial complex.
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Before that happens, critics of the deal want both houses of Congress to pass resolutions disapproving of the transfer.
Their hope is that sending such a message in a bipartisan way, which would have to be the case for the bills to clear both the Democratic House and the GOP-held Senate, would pressure Trump to respect lawmakers’ reservations about how the belligerent UAE might use the weapons ― or would at least motivate President-elect Joe Biden to halt the transfers once he takes office in January.
On Wednesday, Republican senator Rand Paul joined Democratic foreign policy heavyweights senators Bob Menendez and Chris Murphy in sponsoring four resolutions of disapproval for the arms sales. Now those lawmakers and a coalition of influential activists from humanitarian, anti-war and human rights groups will spend the weeks ahead convincing Congress to support the legislation and pushing leadership in the two chambers to bring it to a vote, starting with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.
For a number of reasons, the activists face an uphill battle. Senators will not reconvene until November 30 and they are then only present and able to consider motions like these resolutions for a handful of days in December. It’s unclear exactly when the lawmakers’ statutory right to block the arms deals expires, but aides say that point should be on or around December 10. In that same period, Congress will be considering possible additional coronavirus relief and hammering out a bargain to keep the government open ahead of a funding deadline of December 11.
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The UAE also has a positive reputation in Washington, bolstered by its suave ambassador, Yousef Al Otaiba, and his large lobbying operation. Both representatives of the Emirates and Trump administration proponents of the deals are likely to emphasise how they align on two priorities that are broadly shared across Capitol Hill: supporting Israel and countering Iran.
Many members of Congress, among others, perceive the arms sales as a gift to the Arab nation for its agreement earlier this year to normalise relations with Israel. Al Otaiba is expected to play on Americans’ anxieties about Tehran and their sense that his country is uniquely moderate and pro-Western among Muslim-majority nations to win support for the deal.
Still, a dozen well-informed observers told HuffPost they are increasingly confident that a rare combination of progressives, hawks and more on Capitol Hill will send a big signal about changing US foreign policy to prioritise human rights and give less credence to bellicose, often unreliable dictators abroad.
“I expect quite a fight in Congress… a short and fierce fight,” said Philippe Nassif of Amnesty International, one of the groups opposing the sale.
UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba, pictured in 2009, is expected to play on Americans’ anxieties about Tehran and his country's positive reputation in Washington to win support for the $23 billion weapons sale to the Emirates. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The Case Against The Deal
The Trump administration calls the weapons sale an important affirmation of a key American partner, particularly as Iran lashes out against US pressure.
Critics of the deal generally cite one or all of a set of problems with the agreement, deploying different arguments based on whether their audiences are liberal or conservative, wonkish or more focused on matters beyond global affairs.
One major concern is that the president appears committed to rushing through the deals without discussing them with lawmakers over months of negotiations, as is customary with a deal of this magnitude. The foreign policy ramifications are enormous: Trump’s own State Department has concluded the deal would seriously change the balance of power in the Middle East.
Trump sent his official notification of the package to Congress less than two months after the UAE recognised Israel in a flashy ceremony at the White House as part of a set of deals known as the Abraham Accords.
Since then, the Trump administration has had rocky briefings to justify the game-changing move with lawmakers and their staff, congressional aides told HuffPost. A session between senior officials from the State and Defense department and House members on Thursday failed to satisfy sceptics, one Democratic staffer said. The administration has yet to schedule a similar briefing with senators, HuffPost has learned.
The haste is especially aggravating to Capitol Hill because it comes one year after Trump overrode Congress to fast-track shipments of bombs to the UAE and Saudi Arabia in a process the State Department’s inspector general criticised. That frustration now unites important legislators across partisan and ideological divides.
Another top complaint is that the sale could threaten the US and ally Israel, which the Trump administration says it deserves credit for bolstering through the UAE accord and other steps. Many more bellicose lawmakers ― the type that would rarely oppose a weapons sale to an American partner ― are worried that the UAE could permit China or Russia, with whom it collaborates closely, to gain access to sensitive information. That logic is especially compelling to strong supporters of Israel who might otherwise embrace the package as a way to guarantee continued ties between that country and the UAE.
Representative Josh Gottheimer is a good example. In an emailed statement, he told HuffPost, “there’s a growing number of unanswered questions about the sale — not just the impact of the sale on Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge” ― an advantage that the US is required to maintain by law ― “but also about the other elephant in the room, which is China.”
“The Administration better come to Congress with good answers about how they plan to ensure our most advanced military technology and hardware doesn’t end up in the hands of our leading adversary.” - Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.)
“China is increasingly active all across the region and would love to get a hold of the technology in our F-35 stealth fighters,” Gottheimer continued. “That’s why the Administration better come to Congress with good answers about how they plan to ensure our most advanced military technology and hardware doesn’t end up in the hands of our leading adversary. After all, if Beijing can access and reproduce the technology for the stealthiest, most advanced fighter jet in the world, and sell it to whomever, then that’s a direct threat to our own national security and to Israel’s.”
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It’s unclear that giving the UAE the F-35 is appropriate, said Brad Bowman, a former Republican Senate staffer who is now senior director of the centre on military and political power at the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
“Israel’s peace with the UAE is a historic and positive development, and the United States should take all reasonable steps to demonstrate the benefits for UAE in making peace with Israel. There are a number of ways to do that, including in the security sector, that have nothing to do with the F-35,” Bowman wrote in an email. He argued that the Emiratis receiving that aircraft would require the US to boost Israel’s own military power.
Such thinking could drive an unlikely partnership between traditional advocates for an assertive US presence in the world, including some Republicans, and more liberal figures ― as well as some libertarians ― who want sweeping change to rein in American militarism. It’s similar to the front that united against the UAE’s close partner Saudi Arabia over its role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Other opponents of the UAE. sale, like representative Ilhan Omar, are highlighting the country’s disturbing track record on human rights. “Besides their very well-documented war crimes in Yemen, the UAE has also been credibly accused of committing war crimes in Libya,” Omar said in a Thursday press release. She has introduced similar resolutions of disapproval in the lower chamber to those in the Senate.
“They’re also reportedly paying for child soldiers from the same militia that committed the Darfur genocide [and] badly undercutting the transition to democracy in Sudan. Amidst a deadly pandemic, we should be investing in our own communities here at home, not selling weapons to help dictators commit human rights abuses,” Omar continued.
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Even more centrist lawmakers are open to that argument because they know the UAE received a large number of bombs through Trump’s so-called “emergency” sales to them last year, a Democratic aide said. “They can’t possibly have exhausted their existing stocks.”
That prompts the question of what the Arab state plans to do with additional material, particularly given its ongoing support for brutal allied militias, including extreme groups, in Yemen and Libya.
Congress has demonstrated an unprecedented bipartisan level of concern over the devastation in Yemen, in particular, passing historic resolutions to try to end American support for the yearslong military campaign the UAE and the Saudis waged there. The moment before a friendly administration takes office hardly seems the time to give in, said Erica Fein of the advocacy group Win Without War.
“Our grassroots are fired up about that,” she added.
Getting To ‘No’
The next step to watch is how much support critics of the arms deal can build up from Republicans.
Many senators are likely holding off on taking a position until they receive the Trump administration’s briefing, which is expected to occur soon after Thanksgiving.
Should the president’s team fail to convince some in the GOP that they can preserve Israel’s edge and prevent poaching of US secrets by Russia and China, they could lose important votes, the Democratic aide predicted. The Republicans to watch are senators Todd Young, Jerry Moran, Lamar Alexander, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham, most of whom just last summer voted against weapons sales to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
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While many in the party remain wary of crossing Trump, those members have already shown a willingness to do so, and campaigners say it’s unlikely their calculus has changed significantly.
“I don’t think that after pushing back against the Trump administration for four years, they’re going to suddenly decide to shift and stand with the party against what is clearly a broadly supported policy that the Biden administration will take into office,” Scott Paul of Oxfam America said. “At this point, it seems like a question of the different ways Congress can demonstrate to the incoming Biden administration that, one, this is a ball they’ve carried for a long time, and two, they want to partner” with the new team in the White House to hold abusive regimes accountable.
He anticipated that lawmakers will find some way to show both Trump and Biden that they are leery of pumping more arms into the region, either through the resolutions or other means like must-pass defence funding legislation at the end of the year.
It’s also possible they will largely target one part of the huge UAE deal — the bombs and missiles — and a win a vote on two of their resolutions rather than all four, another Democratic aide told HuffPost. “People who support the Abraham Accords see the [F-35 jets and drones] as part of it, whereas the munitions is more, like, they got a bunch of them recently.”
The broadly shared desire to advance some kind of check is undeniable.
Nassif of Amnesty International, who said he has discussed the UAE’s activities with at least 35 congressional offices over the last two weeks, described increasing scepticism in Congress over the Arab country’s handling of US expertise, weaponry and support, particularly following reports of extremists obtaining arms through the Emiratis.
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“The tone on Capitol Hill has changed on the UAE and I think people are wanting to hold them accountable,” Nassif said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Trump Lost The Election Weeks Ago. Here Are The Dangerous Things He's Done Since

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It’s been almost three weeks since the US cast its ballots in the 2020 presidential election, and close to a fortnight since Joe Biden became president-elect.
In any normal year, preparations for the inauguration and ensuing new presidential new term would be well under way, but Donald Trump’s refusal to concede has created an unprecedented set of barriers to the new administration.
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Despite a strikingly empty calendar, the outgoing president has shaped an increasingly chaotic month in US politics – spreading lies about the election, launching fruitless lawsuits, and putting the lives of thousands more Americans at risk during the pandemic.
Here’s what the president has been doing since the election.
Actually very little publicly
His constant stream of tweets might give the impression of constant activity, but the reality is that Trump’s schedule has remained near-empty for weeks.
The president has barely been seen in public since his defeat, and has not taken questions from reporters for almost a fortnight.
As the days drag on his absence has become a focal point of the ongoing saga. Michael D Shear, White House correspondent for The New York Times, said: “I’ve been covering the White House for 12 years. Except for vacations, I can’t remember so little on a presidential calendar.”
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Here's a way of visualizing @realDonaldTrump's schedule since election day. I've been covering the White House for 12 years. Except for vacations, I can't remember so little on a presidential calendar. pic.twitter.com/dKvpozls7h — Michael D. Shear (@shearm) November 19, 2020
Today is the 12th day in 16 that Trump has had an empty official White House schedule. We just reached 250,000 COVID deaths, and he is hiding. — S.E. Cupp (@secupp) November 19, 2020
This is not typical for an outgoing president. Biden’s inauguration is still two months away, and in the meantime thousands of Americans are dying of Covid-19 each day.
Although he was not fighting for re-election, having already served two presidential terms, Barack Obama’s schedule in the days after the 2016 election shows a radically different approach.
Rather than adopting the “bunker mentality”, as one White House official described it to CNN, archive records of his calendar reveal a relatively busy schedule with public appearances made in the days directly after the Democrats’ loss.
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Withheld life-saving Covid vaccine plans
On Tuesday incoming president Joe Biden issued a stark warning: “more people may die” of Covid-19 if Trump refuses to concede and the transition process does not begin.
The Trump-appointed head of the General Services Administration has refused to acknowledge Biden as the president-elect, obstructing his team’s access to necessary funds, offices and personnel that would facilitate a smooth transfer of power.
An incredibly important part of that transition is the sharing of vital information from Operation Warp Speed, the current administration’s plans to facilitate the development, manufacturing and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
“It’s a huge, huge, huge undertaking to get it done, prioritise those greatest in need, and work our way through it – and also cooperate with the World Health Organisation and the rest of the world in dealing with this,” Biden said.
“If we have to wait until January 20 to start that planning, it puts us behind over a month, month and a half,” he explained. “So it’s important that it be done, that there be coordination – now, or as rapidly as we can get that done.”
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Also, to be clear, everyone in the medical community says that by not briefing Biden’s team about the state of the COVID fight and vaccine development more people will die. And yet, Trump just doesn’t care and I can’t for the life of me understand how this isn’t a huge scandal. — Sam Stein (@samstein) November 17, 2020
Donald Trump’s refusal to begin the peaceful transition of power is unwarranted and may slow down vaccine distribution, which could cost lives. President-elect Biden and his team need to be brought into the process immediately. There's not a minute to waste. Let's get to work. — Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) November 19, 2020
Despite Biden’s very public warning of the lethal implications that could stem from Trump’s refusal to concede, the president has still not budged.
Officials in the US have now recorded more than 11m confirmed cases of Covid-19, a million of them in the past week alone, showing the extent to which the virus has spiralled out of control across the country.
More than a quarter of a million people have died of Covid-19 across the US.
Launched up to 30 election lawsuits (and failed most of them)
Protesters at the "Million MAGA March" and the "Stop The Steal" on November 14. zz/DNT/STAR MAX/IPx
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Trump made it clear even before the election – if he couldn’t win at the polls he’d win in the courtroom.
Ballots were still being counted when the outgoing president’s lawyers mounted their first legal challenges, largely focused on key swing states that could help his electoral college total tip over the 270 number he needed to seize a majority.
Republicans have now launched up to 30 lawsuits in state courts across the US, with most cases revolving around baseless allegations either about the legitimacy of postal votes or the intricacies of ballot-counting.
According to NBC, as of Thursday evening 19 of those cases had been denied, dismissed, settled or withdrawn. None had yet paved the way to a turn in Trump’s electoral fortunes.
In fact, most experts say Trump’s chances of reversing the election are slim-to-none. But that doesn’t mean his constant repetition of empty claims isn’t doing significant harm to the result.
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Biden may be the legitimate winner of the election, but more than 73m people voted for Trump – the most committed of whom have already spent weeks attacking the Democrats’ win as somehow fraudulent.
Reportedly taken steps to directly interfere with electoral process
It emerged on Thursday that a lack of success in the courtroom had apparently pushed Trump to try even more drastic methods in his bid to overturn the election result.
Attention now appears to have been turned to the certification of results on a state-by-state basis, an essential part of the electoral college process.
If results are not certified, it means that state’s electoral college members are technically obstructed from attending the December meeting and casting their votes – the point at which the presidential victory is usually confirmed.
According to the Associated Press two Republican canvassers (responsible for certifying the election result on a local basis) in Michigan’s largest county have attempted to rescind their votes on Joe Biden’s win after Trump personally called them.
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Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, who represent half of the four-member Wayne County canvassing board, initially refused to certify the election results on Tuesday – an unprecedented move – despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud. They quickly backtracked, voting later that day to certify the results.
Trump reportedly reached out to Palmer and Hartmann later that night after the board certified the results. The two GOP canvassers now say they want to rescind their votes.
The president’s decision to call them and the canvassers’ efforts to walk back their votes drew swift backlash from some election and law experts, who raised questions regarding the legality of Trump’s alleged actions.
There is no precedent for the Trump team’s widespread effort to delay or undermine certification, according to University of Kentucky law professor Joshua Douglas.
“It would be the end of democracy as we know it,” Douglas said. “This is just not a thing that can happen.”
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NEW: Reports are not just that Trump "reached out." He personally called the Wayne County Commissioner. And THEN she sought to rescind her vote to certify the results.
This is an utterly brazen attack on our democracy. — Josh Douglas (@JoshuaADouglas) November 19, 2020
Tweeted many, many baseless conspiracy theories
The lost election has stopped almost every other element of Trump’s last few months in office from proceeding as normal, but it hasn’t stopped him from tweeting.
“Rigged”, “hoax” and “fraud” have all become central to the president’s rhetoric about the election, despite little or no evidence being supplied to back up his claims.
In a bid to halt the spread of baseless conspiracy theories, Twitter has taken the step of marking many of the president’s tweets with warnings – most frequently: “This claim about election fraud is disputed.”
We have great support on the Election Hoax! https://t.co/ChpkuZvc4s — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2020
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Eric Trump’s Warning About Rudy Giuliani Taking Down ‘Dirtbags’ Backfires

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Eric Trump faced ridicule on Twitter after he warned of “dirtbags” being taken down.
President Donald Trump’s second-eldest son tweeted Thursday that Rudy Giuliani ― his father’s personal attorney who that day hosted a conspiracy theory-laden press conference in a desperate bid to overturn Trump’s election defeat ― “took down the New York mob.”
“Hell take down these dirtbags as well...” Eric Trump added.
Reminder: @RudyGiuliani took down the New York mob. Hell take down these dirtbags as well... — Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 19, 2020
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Twitter users saw the post as a self-own.
They warned Eric Trump to be careful what he wishes for, reminded him how spelling and punctuation matters and mocked Guiliani over that controversial scene in the “Borat 2” movie.
More like drag you down with him @EricTrump
Also, punctuation is important. — Travis Bone (@TheRealTBone) November 19, 2020
Reminder: he almost took his pants down too. pic.twitter.com/Dr00WjeB0M — Kelly (@Kelbre_Griff) November 19, 2020
The funniest bit is that you are paying him to take you (the dirtbags) down. You are the dirtbags. 😂😂😂 — thechocolatetarte (@chocolatetarte) November 19, 2020
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Also took down his pants in Borat — Thom (@ohhithom) November 19, 2020
Agreed, he is doing a great job of taking down the Trump family. — Peter Curry (@peterlcurry) November 20, 2020
I hope so. P.S. One of them is your dad. — Extremely Over the MOON🌙 (@cestmoisal) November 20, 2020
Um....he misquoted my cousin Vinny and had hair dye running down his face, but.... You're right, what a formidable foe he is! — Suzanne Kilgallen 🇺🇲 (@suek81) November 20, 2020
Is Rudy taking Hell down or is Hell taking Rudy down??😂 — Chipmunk Whisperer (@ChipmunkWhispe1) November 20, 2020
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Does that mean you and your family too? Asking for a friend. — Melissa Neyrey (@neyrey_melissa) November 20, 2020
He took down his pants as well.... pic.twitter.com/PtMlT9IbdX — Leesy (@LeesyPeesy) November 19, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Rebekah Vardy Wins First Stage Of Libel Battle Against Coleen Rooney

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Coleen Rooney’s post accusing Rebekah Vardy’s Instagram account of being behind leaked stories about her private life appearing in the media “clearly identified” her as being “guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust that she alleges”, the High Court has ruled.
Last year, Coleen made headlines across the globe when she claimed Rebekah’s Instagram account was the source of fake stories appearing in The Sun newspaper.
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In her now-infamous Twitter post, Coleen wrote: “To try and prove [who was behind the stories being leaked to the press], I came up with an idea. I blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram stories except ONE account (those on my private account must have been wondering why I haven’t had stories on there for a while).
“Over the past five months I have posted a series of false stories to see if they made their way into the Sun newspaper. And you know what, they did!
“Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from. I have saved and screenshotted all of the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denies the accusations and is suing Coleen for damages for libel.
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Rebekah Vardy PA
In a judgment on Friday, Mr Justice Warby ruled that the “natural and ordinary” meaning of Coleen’s posts was that Rebekah had “regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Ms Rooney’s personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun newspaper of Ms Rooney’s private posts and stories”.
Announcing his decision, the judge said that the meaning he had determined was “substantially the same as the claimant’s meaning”.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Warby said Coleen’s message was “a considered post, using wording composed with some care”, adding: “It would be clear to the ordinary reader from the outset that it was meant seriously, and intended to convey a message of some importance.”
““I certainly do not think that the ordinary reader would take that single word (account), albeit repeated, to indicate that Mrs Rooney remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer was.”
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He also rejected Coleen’s contention that she simply referred to Rebekah’s Instagram account, rather than Mrs Vardy herself.
The judge ruled: “I certainly do not think that the ordinary reader would take that single word (account), albeit repeated, to indicate that Mrs Rooney remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer was.”
He added: “There is nothing in these words, apart from the word ‘account’, that in any way suggests that the behaviour of which Mrs Rooney is complaining might have been carried out by anyone other than the account holder, Mrs Vardy.”
Mr Justice Warby also ordered Coleen to pay Rebekah just under £23,000 in costs for Thursday’s hearing.
Coleen Rooney ASSOCIATED PRESS
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At that hearing, Rebekah’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC said Coleen’s posts were an “untrue and unjustified defamatory attack” which was “published and republished to millions of people”.
He added: “In fact, she did nothing wrong. Whatever leaks there were did not come from her.”
David Sherborne, representing Coleen, argued that it was “true” that Rebekah was “responsible for consistently passing on information about the defendant’s private Instagram posts and stories to The Sun”.
He said: “Mrs Rooney intends to defend these words as true in whatever meaning.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Andy Burnham Urges Government Not To 'Let Everything Loose' Over Christmas

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has urged the government not to “let everything loose” after it emerged that families could be allowed to meet for up to a week as part of a UK-wide relaxation of coronavirus rules.
Several families could be allowed to join a bubble and to mix between December 22 and 28, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Downing Street insiders have suggested that discussions on what Christmas will look like are still ongoing.
But Burnham said that while infection rates were dropping in all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester and other parts of the North West, the government should not “let everything loose”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I would also say to the government, don’t just go towards Christmas and let everything loose.
“What you need to do is keep a steady approach that will keep the numbers going in the way they are currently going in the North West and in Greater Manchester, and that will relieve the pressures on the NHS come January.”
On Friday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there were “substantial differences” in Covid-19 infection rates across England, with rates having continued to increase in London, the east of England and the South East, but decreasing in the North West and the East Midlands.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Man Rescued And Two Missing As Fishing Boat Sinks Off East Sussex Coast

A man has been pulled from the water and two are still missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of East Sussex.
HM Coastguard scrambled a search and rescue helicopter after receiving a distress beacon from fishing vessel Joanna C at 6am on Saturday.
The rescue helicopter based at Lydd, Kent, was deployed along with two RNLI lifeboats based in Newhaven and Eastbourne to try to find the missing boat.
The beacon’s signal put the vessel three nautical miles off the coast of Seaford, near Newhaven.
In an update at 10.30am, HM Coastguard said one man had been rescued from the water by the Newhaven RNLI lifeboat after being found clinging to a lifebuoy and has been transferred to hospital.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--'Lie' Told By Pizza Worker Led To One Of Australia’s Harshest Covid Lockdowns

Marshall reiterated it was still a “dangerous” cluster with 25 infections and about 4,500 close contacts in quarantine.
A security guard at a quarantine hotel, who also worked part-time at the Woodville Pizza Bar in the state capital of Adelaide, is believed to have been infected through a returned traveler from the UK.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Boris Johnson Accused Of Trying To 'Interfere' With Priti Patel Bullying Report

Meanwhile, The Times reported two unnamed senior Whitehall officials saying that the PM tried and failed to get Allan to tone down his report to find there was no clear evidence of bullying.
Downing Street did not deny the report, with a No. 10 spokesman instead saying: “As you would expect, the Prime Minister spoke to Sir Alex Allan to further his understanding of the report.
“Sir Alex’s conclusions are entirely his own.”
Shadow home office minister Holly Lynch said the “initial, unedited report” must be published in full and called for an independent investigation.
“These are serious allegations that suggest Boris Johnson tried to interfere with an investigation into bullying accusations against one of his closest political allies,” the Labour MP said.
Allan found Patel had not always treated civil servants with “consideration and respect” and concluded that her approach on occasions “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying in terms of the impact felt by individuals”.
He said Patel had “not consistently met the high standards required by the ministerial code”, though he said there was “no evidence that she was aware of the impact of her behaviour”.
The home secretary apologised and said there were “no excuses” for what happened but highlighted the report’s assessment of her awareness.
She told the BBC that “any upset that I’ve caused is completely unintentional and at the time, of course it says it’s in the report, that issues were not pointed out to me”.
Later on, Rutnam released a statement through the FDA union for civil servants saying that he was “at no stage asked to contribute evidence” to the investigation.
“The advice states that no feedback was given to the home secretary and that she was therefore unaware of issues that she might otherwise have addressed. This is not correct,” he said.
“As early as August 2019, the month after her appointment, she was advised that she must not shout and swear at staff.
“I advised her on a number of further occasions between September 2019 and February 2020 about the need to treat staff with respect and to make changes to protect health, safety and wellbeing.”
Johnson, who is the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code, judged that Patel did not breach the rules and continues to have “full confidence in her” and “considers this matter now closed”.
The chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Lord Evans of Weardale, said Allan’s resignation was “deeply concerning” and that his committee would look “urgently” at what had happened as part of its review of the ministerial code.
Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said: “The prime minister does personally take these allegations exceedingly seriously. He loathes bullying.
“He did say that he would not tolerate bullying. He hasn’t tolerated bullying. It is not his belief that Priti Patel is a bully.”
Downing Street has indicated that the full report into Patel’s conduct would not be published in order to protect those who gave evidence.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Wipeout Contestant Dies After Completing Obstacle Course On US Version Of The Show

A contestant on the American version of Total Wipeout has died after completing the gruelling obstacle course.
The man in his 30s was declared dead after being rushed to hospital on Wednesday, The cause of death has not been released, and the man’s name was being withheld until relatives could be notified.
The man had reportedly completed the entire Wipeout course and began complaining of chest pains soon after.
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Wipeout ABC
The show is the US version of Total Wipeout, which first aired on the BBC fronted by Richard Hammond.
The competition, in which contestants navigate an extreme obstacle course featuring giant balls and pitfalls that often result in spectacular crashes, ran on American TV network ABC from 2008 until 2014 and a reboot is currently being filmed.
Through a series of courses, one competitor is left at the end to claim the $50,000 (£37,122) prize.
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Two people close to the production told Associated Press that the man had completed the course on the show’s set in Santa Clarita, California, when he needed medical attention. He was helped by on-site medical staff until paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital.
The show, which requires all contestants to undergo a medical exam before competing, stopped production Thursday and Friday and has a planned week off next week.
“We are devastated to have learned of his passing and our deepest sympathy goes out to the family,” TBS said in a statement.
Production company Endemol Shine North America also released a statement saying, “We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and our thoughts are with them at this time.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Ruthie Henshall Stuns I’m A Celebrity Viewers With Tale Of Getting ‘P***ed’ At Balmoral And Drunk Si

Ruthie Henshall Stuns I’m A Celebrity Viewers With Tale Of Getting ‘P***ed’ At Balmoral And Drunk Singing For The Royals

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As well as being a well known West End star, Ruthie Henshall also happened to date Prince Edward in the early nineties, and boy does she have tales to tell.
The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star regaled her fellow campmate Shane Richie - and everyone watching at home - with some legendary anecdotes of her time dating the royal during Friday night’s show.
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It’s fair to say, we were perched.
As well as revealing that she “shagged” in the bedrooms of Buckingham Palace, Ruthie also recounted a brilliant story of her getting a little bit too tiddly before performing show tunes for The Queen, Princess Diana and other members of the Royal Family at Balmoral.
Ruthie Henshall ITV/Shutterstock
“There was Diana, the Queen, Margaret, the Queen Mother, Charles, Edward,” Ruthie began.
“Diana was lovely. I don’t remember a lot because Charles gave me my first martini. I’ve never tried it before so I was fairly… I had two of them and I was like: ‘Woah!’
“The Queen and Margaret start singing a hymn and Diana goes, ‘Sing us a song!’ Margaret then goes, ‘Yes sing us a song from that show you’re in’.
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“I must have changed key three times because I was so pissed on martinis.”
Ruthie also divulged that she once stole a coat hanger from Windsor Castle as a cheeky memento before sharing that the royals have “normal toilet roll” - without a “royal seal” as she expected.
Ruthie dated Prince Edward in the early nineties. PA
Les Misérables star Ruthie dated Edward for five years in the early 1990s. But she ended things when told she would have to give up her career to be a royal.
The pair met while Edward was working for Andrew Lloyd Webber as a production assistant after Ruthie landed the lead role in A Star Is Born.
She described him as a “lovely bloke.” “I genuinely fell in love with him,” she said.
She went on to marry actor and singer Tim Howar. The couple tied the knot in 2004, and welcomed two daughters together, before announcing their separation in August 2009.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Donald Trump Jr Tests Positive For Coronavirus

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Donald Trump Jr has become the latest member of the president’s inner circle to test positive for Covid-19.
The president’s son tested positive for the virus earlier this week, according to Bloomberg. He has been quarantining at a cabin since then, CNN reported.
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“He’s been completely asymptomatic so far” and is following medical guidelines, his spokesperson said in a statement.
Earlier this autumn, Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron Trump, all contracted the coronavirus after another White House event.
Don Jr’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive for the coronavirus in July.
The president was flown to a nearby military hospital for several days to receive treatment after falling ill, and faced significant criticism for failing to fully self-isolate after his return to the White House.
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The president has continually downplayed the threat of the virus, even as dozens of people surrounding the White House and several of his family members have been infected.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--The Chase Viewers Do A Double-Take After Contestant’s Name Appears To Say Something Very Rude Indeed

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Fans of The Chase were left squinting their eyes at the name board after a certain contestant appeared on the show this week.
Due to a combination of the font used and some very unfortunate spacing, some viewers of the ITV quiz show thought Clint was called something else entirely,
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Any guesses…?
The Chase ITV
It didn’t go unnoticed by viewers…
Is it just me or does Clint look like it says something else 🤔 🤣 #TheChase pic.twitter.com/Ze8zu91FQB — Louise Dempsey (@loudempsey85) November 19, 2020
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Clint not a good name when the font is like it is #TheChase pic.twitter.com/Tr2U1EZuQ3 — MIKE (@mikepriestley13) November 19, 2020
‘Clint’ on The Chase ...going by his name sign he’d like to be re-named 😂 — Millie (@MillieCEdwards) November 19, 2020
Unfortunate font for poor Clint this evening on The Chase pic.twitter.com/Erot4wmD9P — Rob Ford (@FordRob10) November 19, 2020
Considering changing my name by deed poll to Clint just so I can go on #TheChase pic.twitter.com/xFVzmNEbqE — Darren Upson 🚀 (@DarrenUpson) November 19, 2020
@MENnewsdesk think the chase could have put more space between his name .poor clint pic.twitter.com/ia1YcoxKVk — keith tyrer (@keithtyrer) November 20, 2020
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I think @ITV ought to change the font when someone called Clint is on @ITVChase... #TheChase pic.twitter.com/nvqIMuovzC — Lee Rodger (@LRodger501) November 19, 2020
This week saw The Chase welcome a brand new Chaser into the fold, with the introduction of Darragh “The Menace” Ennis.
The 40-year-old Oxford-based scientist who hails from Dublin will be fitting in his new TV commitments around his day job.
He is the sixth Chaser to appear on the ITV show, joining formidable quizzing pros Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan, Shaun ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Wallace, Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty and Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha.
Regular viewers of the show will remember him as a former contestant. He first took on Paul Sinha on The Chase in 2017, scooping an impressive £9,000 for his team, who later all took minus offers from the Chaser, meaning his overall total was depleted.
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The episode caused a stir online, with #JusticeForDarragh trending on Twitter after it aired.
The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Poorest Kids Denied Laptops As Covid Keeps 600,000 Off School

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The growing number of school children forced to remain absent due to Covid outbreaks has reignited concerns the nation’s most deprived pupils are being cut off from technology required for home learning.
The latest statistics, published on Tuesday by the Department for Education (DfE), paint a grim portrait of school attendance in the midst of the pandemic – with more than 600,000 pupils off last week.
Teachers and MPs have continually raised fears about poorer children falling behind their classmates without access to laptops and a stable internet connection – worries that are only growing as the autumn term goes on.
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One teacher described the situation to HuffPost UK as “an absolute joke” after they discovered how few laptops would be allocated to their school.
“I was fuming, absolutely livid. You can’t keep spouting off about ‘closing the gap’ and then not giving us the tools to actually close the gap,” Chris Dyson, headteacher at Parklands Primary School in Leeds, said.
Last week (November 9 to 13) one in six secondary pupils were not in school during that period due to coronavirus-related reasons. State school attendance across England was 86%, down from 89% the previous week.
Almost two thirds of secondary schools had pupils self isolating, an increase on the previous week, and the proportion of primary schools with pupils self-isolating doubled from 11% to 22%.
In some particularly badly-hit areas such as Hull, a quarter of children have been forced to miss school because of Covid-19, The Guardian reported.
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On the Thursday before October half-term, schools were told they had a legal duty to provide immediate access to remote learning for all state-funded pupils. The government had already announced that hundreds of thousands of laptops and other devices would be made available to help them do this.
The next day, headteachers across the country were sent an email by the DfE telling them that 100,000 extra devices had been secured.
Widespread confusion ensued when it transpired that many of the most desperate schools had seen their allowance slashed, a move the government explained as the result of “more effectively” targeting children who might need them.
Chris Dyson, headteacher at Parklands Primary School in Leeds, said his school had worked out that they would need 168 laptops if every pupil were forced to go home.
He told HuffPost UK how he’d been left “fuming” after being told his allowance of 67 laptops from the Department for Education (DfE) – already inadequate for every pupil’s needs – had been downgraded to just 13.
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He said: “Thirteen laptops. What an absolute joke. It’s the equivalent of putting a pack of biscuits in a staff room and expecting everyone to have one.
“I was fuming, absolutely livid. You can’t keep spouting off about ‘closing the gap’ and then not giving us the tools to actually close the gap.”
Dyson explained that he had recently been forced to close a small bubble of around 20 students, but still hadn’t been able to access the laptops he needed through the DfE website because the school does not complete the government’s new Covid-19 register every day, which is not mandatory.
He said only around 70% of schools were completing the register as it takes office staff more than an hour to fill out each day. Dyson reported the closure of the bubble to Public Health England (PHE), but said because he didn’t do so through the new register he was prevented from applying for the laptops by an automated message online.
The DfE told HuffPost UK it was untrue that the department had specifically told Dyson that he was unable to apply for the laptops as his school does not use the register, but did not comment on the automated message.
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Dyson also said that after turning to Leeds City Council for advice he was told it was “highly unlikely” he would be able to access their supply of laptops unless more than 50% of the school was shut. HuffPost UK has approached the local authority for comment.
“I don’t know anyone who’s getting these laptops yet apart from certain academy trusts, but the most deprived children who need these the most are just not getting them,” Dyson said.
“You look at the brilliant things they’re doing on the Oak Academy [a website offering free teaching and learning resources], but sadly it’s the disadvantaged children who have not got the technology to access it and therefore the gap will just continue to grow.”
In order to overcome the growing gap between children from different backgrounds, Dyson said, teachers gave students in the isolated bubble iPads and laptops owned by the school itself – but if larger bubbles needed to isolate this might not be an option.
He said: “They [the government] are absolutely clueless, they do not understand whatsoever what it’s like to work in a challenging school.
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“They sit in a lovely, warm, beautiful office in Whitehall, dictating these brilliant plans, but at the end of the day they don’t give you the ingredients to make the cake.
“They’ve got hundreds of thousands of laptops stuck in a warehouse somewhere that nobody can have access to, when schools like mine are desperate to have access to them.”
More than two months after schools returned, it’s clear that many students are still not able to access the equipment they need.
Labour MP and shadow minister Jess Phillips directly intervened on Monday, urging education secretary Gavin Williamson to help school pupils in her constituency get the laptops they need.
Just emailed @GavinWilliamson as 100s of kids from Yardley school are isolating & have between them been allocated 12 laptops. Given him til end of day to rectify, then I will do the job the effing government fails to from my living room! I did it with PPE because they failed. — Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) November 16, 2020
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Phillips told HuffPost UK: “Having spoken to all the schools in my constituency almost all have an allocation of computers that will not meet their needs.
“It should never take a local MP kicking off about an individual school with hundreds of kids isolating away from school for computers to be provided.
“There must be a system that ensures that schools can easily and without a fight fulfil their legal duty to offer online education. In the last few weeks thousands of children in my constituency, my own children too, have had long periods out of school.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The scale and speed at which the department has delivered laptops and tablets to children who need them over the past six months is unprecedented, with deliveries now set to total over half a million by Christmas.
“In the context of significant global demand, we have updated our allocation process to more accurately align orders with the number of students schools typically have self-isolating, ensuring as many children as possible benefit from receiving a device this term.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Cheltenham, Euro 2020 And The London Marathon: Here's What Major Events May Look Like In 2021

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, our 2020 calendars have remained depressingly bare.
Big fat crosses mark the things we had organised at the start of the year, while empty pages in the last few months show when we stopped trying to make plans.
But with news about potential coronavirus vaccines coming thick and fast in recent weeks, the prospect of big events returning to our diaries in 2021 seems more and more likely.
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We asked the organisers of some of the most iconic UK events whether they think they will go ahead next year – and what they might look like if they do.
Cheltenham Festival
Cheltenham Festival was one of the last major events to take place in 2020 when it went ahead in March, just before lockdown Dan Mullan via Getty Images
For horse racing fans, the Cheltenham Festival is a major event in the calendar, with thousands flocking to Cheltenham Racecourse every year for the four-day event.
In March 2020, just weeks before the UK was put into lockdown, more than 250,000 people attended the Festival. Some suggested it could have helped to spread coronavirus, though leaders insisted all official guidance was followed.
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Regional director Ian Renton said that the 2021 event is likely to look very different amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The suggestion by politicians and experts in late September that the current surge in Covid-19 cases – and the accompanying restrictions – is likely to last six months looms large in organisers’ minds, he explained.
“So we fear that even with mass vaccines that March is probably going to come a little bit too early to have anything approaching a normal festival,” he said.
“The worst scenario we anticipate is it being run behind closed doors, with owners present.
“We would then look at the possibility of having annual members, which can amount to 4,000 to 5,000 people a day and maybe a little bit of hospitality on top. That would be one stage.
Renton added: “There are all sorts of options if further testing and protocol come into play that could see those numbers increase a little, but we certainly don’t anticipate having anywhere close to our normal capacity in March.”
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Horse racing resumed in the UK at the start of June, but has been held behind closed doors, with fans not able to attend.
Chelsea Flower Show
The Duchess of Cambridge shows the Queen and Prince William around her 'Back to Nature Garden' garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2019 GEOFF PUGH via Getty Images
The Chelsea Flower Show was forced to go online this year, with lockdown rules making the usual show-stopping transformation of London’s Royal Hospital Chelsea impossible.
It was the first time since the Second World War that the show – which is regularly frequented by the Queen – had been cancelled.
But with six months to go until the 2021 Chelsea Flower Show, organisers – who have considered “every plan from A to Z” – have made a series of changes to make sure it can go ahead.
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Among the biggest is reducing the number of visitors from 168,500 to 140,000 and spreading them over six days, rather than the traditional five.
“We are approaching everything in a more dynamic fashion,” said head of shows development Katherine Potsides.
Changes will also be made to the site layout to encourage social distancing and closing sit-in restaurants in favour of cafes with outdoor picnic opportunities.
“Obviously, we know that things will change between now and next March – we’re just making sure that we’re ready to act upon any advice,” said Potsides.
“But we are confident that we have made the right changes to run a Covid-secure event next year.”
Euro 2020
Portugal players celebrate with the winners trophy during the UEFA Euro 2016 Final match between Portugal and France Craig Mercer - CameraSport via Getty Images
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Euro 2020 was never going to be easy to organise – even before the world was brought to a screeching halt by a global pandemic.
Unlike tournaments in previous years, the major football tournament was set to be held in 12 European cities – including Glasgow and London.
So it came as a surprise to no one when UEFA announced in March it was pushing back the competition by a full year, with the tournament due to take place between June 11 and July 11, 2021.
But with football fans still missing from stadiums in the UK, what will Euro 2020 look like? According to UEFA, it’s still too early to say.
In a statement, the football governing body said it wants to hold the tournament “in the format and venues confirmed earlier this year”, adding that is “working closely with all host cities on preparations”.
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“Given the uncertainties surrounding Covid – over which neither UEFA nor the local organising bodies have control – it is currently too early to say whether those games in June and July will have restrictions either on fans or even their staging.”
Organisers are still planning for the tournament to take place in all 12 cities, UEFA said. There are currently no plans to change any of the venues, but “decisions that run counter to that plan could be made much nearer the time if necessary”.
But speaking to The Sun last week, sports minister Nigel Huddleston struck a more positive tone.
“We want fans back in stadia as quickly as is safe to do so,” he told the newspaper.
“And the real progress we are making on testing and vaccines means that next year’s Euros are firmly in our sights.”
Glastonbury
View of the Pyramid Stage during the Killers headline set on day 4 of Glastonbury 2019 EMPICS Entertainment
2020 was supposed to mark 50 years of the iconic Glastonbury Festival – 50 years of muddy fields, toilets you would rather forget and incredible performances from some of the biggest music acts in the world.
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But celebrations were cancelled in March as the seriousness of coronavirus and its impact on the UK became clear.
With 135,000 people having already bought a ticket – which will be rolled over to 2021 – people are keen to know how – and if – Glasto will go ahead in June.
But organisers have remained pretty tight-lipped so far about how the festival might look in 2021.
When we asked them, they pointed us to towards this tweet sent by co-organiser Emily Eavis at the end of August.
For those who have been asking, we have no plans to move next year’s Glastonbury to September 2021 - we’re still very much aiming for June. — Emily Eavis (@emilyeavis) August 30, 2020
Wimbledon
2019 men's singles title winner Novak Djokovic during the final against Roger Federer Tim Clayton - Corbis via Getty Images
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Wimbledon – it’s a quintessential part of British summertime.
If you’re lucky enough to get tickets, it means strawberries and cream, Pimms and getting sloshed on Henman Hill. If you’re not, it means sneakily watching matches on your phone at work.
But in 2020, centre court remained empty as the Covid-19 pandemic raged on.
But organisers are hopeful that the 2021 Championships will go ahead – and have laid out three possible scenarios for the tournament, depending on the situation with Covid-19.
The first option is a “full capacity” tournament, like the ones held before the pandemic.
The second scenario is a “reduced capacity” Championships, while the third option is a “behind closed doors tournament” without spectators.
Which of these plans will go ahead will depend on the “status of government and public health guidelines”, organisers said in a statement online.
“Staging The Championships in 2021 is our number one priority and we are actively engaged in scenario planning in order to deliver on that priority,” said Sally Bolton, chief executive of the AELTC.
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London Marathon
Crowds of athletes take the finishing straight in front of the Buckingham Palace during the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon. NurPhoto via Getty Images
With 26.2 miles of road closures and tens-of-thousands of athletes and spectators to manage, an event like the London Marathon presents unique logistical challenges during a normal year – but 2020 forced the event to change drastically.
It was announced in March that the marathon as we know it would be postponed until October. When it became clear that the pandemic wasn’t going anywhere fast, the event – with the exception of the elite races which took place within a “biosecure bubble” – was moved fully online.
The entire logistics of the event changed radically, event director Hugh Brasher explained, with a new app developed in just eight weeks – technology that eventually allowed more than 39,000 people to take part across 109 different countries.
But what about the 2021 race, which has already been pushed from its traditional slot in April to October in the hopes of maximising the chance of all runners being able to take part?
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“I don’t want to go into specifics of all the different plans because invariably they’ll change, but we’re incredibly positive,” said Brasher.
“The news of the vaccine is incredibly positive and I think what everyone has to do is look for the positive but also deal with all the other scenarios, which is exactly what we’re doing.”
That doesn’t mean that trying to plan a huge event in the middle of a pandemic is easy, though.
“The government is in an incredibly difficult position, but I don’t think they’re covering themselves in glory through a lack of logical thought process,” he continued. “Everybody is in an incredibly difficult position trying to navigate through this.
“We’re talking about an outdoor event… scientists are trying to catch up and are saying ‘we need to follow the science’, but the problem is that science doesn’t know the answers, they are trying to find them out.”
Brasher added: “Events companies are fantastic at logistics, we understand how to move people around and we model that moving around. I think that what the world needs is better partnerships.
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“That’s definitely what’s happening in some instances, but I think that should be expanded further because it is only through pooling our knowledge and working together that we will find the right way through this.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--Could We Have A Mass Vaccine Rollout By Christmas?

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After a bleak year, the glimmer of light we all hoped for has appeared on the horizon in the form the coronavirus vaccine.
With more than 50,000 UK deaths so far, no one can argue that time is of the essence, and Matt Hancock announced on Friday that he had formally asked the regulator – the MHRA – to assess the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for use in the UK and it could be here next month.
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Hancock told a No.10 press conference the speed of the roll-out of a vaccine would depend on the speed it could be manufactured, adding: “If the regulator approves a vaccine we will be ready to start the vaccination next month with the bulk of roll-out in the new year.”
The first to receive the vaccine will understandably be the country’s most vulnerable – older adults in care homes and care home workers, followed by those aged 80 and over, and health and social care workers.
The health secretary has called the vaccine roll-out programme “one of the biggest civilian projects in history” and has confirmed volunteers are currently being trained to deliver it.
There are a number of vaccines on order at present, including one by Pfizer, which needs to be stored at -70C, thus bringing its own logistical issues.
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The UK is currently set to get 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the year, with another 30 million in the pipeline after that. Each vaccination comprises two doses to be injected three weeks apart, so the first 10 million doses will potentially cater to five million people.
Earlier on Friday the Health Service Journal exclusively revealed that the NHS plans for the whole adult population to begin receiving it before the end of January, with everyone who wants to being vaccinated by early April.
While applauding news of the vaccine, some medics have raised concerns about the speed at which this vaccination programme has been announced and the safety of using non-medically trained volunteers to distribute it – particularly the Pfizer vaccine.
Dr Lizzie Toberty Supplied
Dr Lizzie Toberty is a GP in Sunderland and a member of the Doctors’ Association UK, a doctor-led grassroots lobbying and campaigning group advocating for the medical profession and the wider NHS.
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Hurried
One of her main concerns is that the roll-out is being rushed.
She said: “We can do it, I believe that we can, but we need to be given the right support, we need to be given the right information and we need to be given the right resources and right now we’re lacking on all three.
“The way it’s been negotiated with NHS England and between the GP committee (GPC) at the British Medical Association (BMA) has been rushed. I think it was initially released two weeks ago and then the GPC had to make a decision and vote within 24 hours.”
Dr Toberty said there are still issues that need addressing around planning.
“The first group we want to deliver it to is the frail, over 85s,” she continued. “By definition that’s a lot of housebound and nursing home patients.
“We still haven’t got the specification for this vaccine, we still haven’t got the full safety data and for us to be able to plan the service and to advise appropriately to our patients, we need time to look at that and to absorb that ourselves.”
Logistics
Dedicated GP clinics being set up to deliver coronavirus vaccines across England will need to have fridge space available by December 1 and the capacity to administer at least 975 doses per week each, according to new documents.
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The logistics of administering the Pfizer vaccine in particular, are complex.
The vaccine must be kept at -70C and therefore require specialist freezers for storage. Once it is defrosted, it can be stored in refrigeration for five days. Each vial contains five doses, which must be reconstituted with saline before it is administered.
In contrast, Moderna’s vaccine needs to be stored at -20C for up to six months and kept in a standard fridge for up to a month.
Dr Toberty said: “Once the vial is open you’ve got two hours to deliver it. That’s fine if you’ve got four or five patients lined up in the surgery. If you’re a rural GP practice, serving farms for instance, that’s a logistical problem isn’t it?
“If you’ve got practice nurses, pharmacists and doctors having to draw this up and deliver it, what happens to their routine work?
“We’re already seeing excess mortality because of delayed presentations for heart attacks, strokes, cancer and NHS England are asking us to continue routine work. What’s happening is there are lot of places that are just saying: ‘We can’t do that.’
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“Yes, Covid-19 is a pandemic and we need to deal with that and that is the urgent issue, but we’re already seeing these excess deaths from non-Covid and that’s just as important in my mind. It doesn’t matter the reason that someone’s died, it’s just all of this is causing chaos and causing our health as a nation to go backwards.”
Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said he was “pretty sure” the logistical hurdles in terms of delivering any Covid-19 vaccine on a mass scale could be overcome.
Doctor wearing protective visor and surgical gloves holding patient's arm to inject flu vaccine (file picture) zoranm via Getty Images
Speaking about the implications for transporting vaccines across the country, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I shouldn’t think it will be too much of a problem in the UK because we do have quite a lot of cold storage and even ultra-low freezers in different regions.
“So you can imagine that the bulk stock might be held in hospital departments where they do have ultra-cold freezers and then sent out every Monday to GP surgeries where they do have well-regulated fridges that have been designed for the use of vaccines.”
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Asked about whether the right amount of kit was available, he added: “I think we have to manage public expectations – this is not an easy feat and there are many slips between cup and lip here.
“If you think about the challenge of scaling-up manufacture, running out of supplies, like vials that need to be filled or maybe carbon dioxide supply if we need to use dry ice to transport stuff.
“There are lots of different logistical problems that need to be overcome and it is a huge effort to get all this done but I’m pretty sure we can do it.”
Pharmacists and dedicated clinics set up in places such as sports halls are also likely to be used.
Safety
In anticipation of this, thousands of volunteers are being sought to help support the NHS as it prepares for the rollout.
St John Ambulance is leading a drive that hopes to take up 30,000 volunteers for a range of roles from delivering the vaccines, supporting roles and helping people who need one-to-one support in the process.
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Those who will be delivering vaccines will receive clinical training, including courses developed by Public Health England, and they will be given PPE. The charity believes it will have its first cohort ready in December.
But Dr Toberty told HuffPost UK she had “huge reservations” about using volunteers.
“Nurses, doctors, pharmacists, paramedics are all tightly regulated,” she said. “We’ve all been trained and this is a novel vaccine. We need to get it right. We owe that to our patients.”
Vaccines on order by the government 100 million doses of University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
40 million doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials (10 million to arrive next month)
5 million doses of Moderna vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
60 million doses of Novavax vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
60 million doses of Valneva vaccine – pre-clinical trials
60 million doses of GSK/Sanofi Pasteur vaccine – phase 1 clinical trials
30 million doses of Janssen vaccine – phase 2 clinical trials
Dr Toberty is particularly concerned about the safety aspect of asking non-medically trained volunteers to deal with a vaccine which does not come pre-filled, such as the flu vaccine, which needs to be drawn up and mixed with saline in precise measurements.
She said: “I think it’s fraught with difficulties, what happens if something does go wrong? This is a novel vaccine, when we’re not used to it and we’re not sure… until we’ve built our confidence with it, should we be relying on volunteers to roll this out?
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“I’m not saying that later down the line, when it’s prefilled, when we’ve got a good, solid training package that we’re confident in, absolutely, volunteers may well have a place.
Confidentiality
Volunteers delivering the vaccine are likely to need access to confidential patient medical records.
“Are our patients comfortable and happy that volunteers have got access to their records?” asks Dr Toberty.
“Those volunteers still need to have information governance training, they still need to have a police check, they still need to have check that they’ve got qualifications that are good enough to do this, that they’ve got character references, they still need to undergo training.
“When our health and economy is so dependent on the accurate and efficient delivery of this vaccine, surely we should be paying the people who are delivering it and having some sense of reliability there?”
Confidence
Dr Toberty feels that general practice has been side-lined throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It has not been involved in NHS Test and Trace and only recently have GPs been able to administer swab testing.
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Speaking at an online RCGP conference last month, University College London’s Professor Anthony Costello questioned why primary care had been “bypassed totally” in the government’s strategy to contain the virus and labelled its reliance on private contractors as “crazy”.
GPs’ “flexibility and innovation”, he said, made them suited to take on a key role in responding to the pandemic – insisting that the government should have mobilised and funded them instead.
Professor Costello argued patients would prefer to speak to a GP if they tested positive for Covid-19, emphasising the importance of strong relationships between practices and their communities.
Dr Toberty concurred: “We know our patients, we have got their full medical records so if there’s any stipulations over who should and shouldn’t have the vaccine, we are best placed to advise the patient on that and also hopefully the patient should have a level of trust in us as well.
“So it’s no good saying ’right today it’s been approved by MHRA, you’re getting a delivery of the vaccine today and you need to line up 975 patients to deliver it to… because we need to have that trust as well, that this is safe.
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“Can we give it to transplant patients? Can we give it to patients on immunosupressants? These are all going to be the patients that are first in line.
“We need time to absorb the detail and also we need the right support.”
Workload and costs
Practices will receive a £12.58 payment for each dose of a coronavirus vaccine, meaning they will receive £25.16 for each patient vaccinated in a two-dose course, the documents show.
However, as Dr Toberty points out, GPs stand to incur costs if there are problems with the supply chain.
She said: “If the vaccine doesn’t turn up you’ve got additional admin costs because you’ve then got to contact 975 patients and rearrange them.”
Recent communication upgrades mean GPs can text message patients from their desktops, but this could still leave problems for patients without mobile phones.
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Dr Toberty said: “We are being told all the costs have to be fronted up front by the GP partners themselves. We know from the flu vaccine there are problems in the supply chain, and that is something we’ve delivered every year.”
While Hancock is expecting 10 million doses by the end of the year, Dr Toberty believes there are too many variables to hazard a guess at how many vaccinations could practically be delivered by Christmas.
As well as supply practicalities, she believes uptake will depend on enough information being available to the public and clinicians so that people have confidence to come forward to have the vaccine.
She said: “These problems though, aren’t insurmountable.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--What The Hell Happens To This Year's Strictly Come Dancing If More Stars Are Exposed To Covid-19?

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But after a dramatic few weeks for the BBC ballroom competition, many fans have been left wondering what further complications could mean for the rest of this year’s run.
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Specifically, what if more of the contestants or professionals contract or are exposed to Covid-19?
Last week saw Nicola Adams and her partner Katya Jones axed from the show after the professional dancer returned a positive coronavirus test result.
Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were forced out of the competition after the professional dancer tested positive for coronavirus BBC
As per rules set out at the start of this year’s series, if either person in a couple tests positive for the virus, they both automatically forfeit their place in the competition.
This is because current government guidelines mean that anyone who has had contact with a Covid-postiive person must isolate for two weeks, even if they return a negative test result.
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Strictly rules have always allowed injured or sick stars have what is called a one-week ‘bye’ in previous years, but the current isolation period means that contestants forced to quarantine would be out of the competition for too long.
While the series has continued without Nicola and Katya, there has been concerns about what happens if more contestants are forced to withdraw.
However, you might not have realised that Strictly actually has a surplus of contestants this year.
This year's Strictly Come Dancing line-up BBC
While the number of celebrities was reduced from the usual 15 to 12 to account for a series that is four weeks shorter than normal, there was originally going to be five contestants in the final, which is due to take place on 19 December.
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Therefore, Strictly can essentially afford to unexpectedly lose another contestant before it impacts the finale. And while it certainly wouldn’t have been done before, the final could still even go ahead with two couples, perhaps with each pair asked to perform an extra routine to fill the space in the running order.
Four contestants reached the Strictly final in 2018 BBC
Another option open to producers should they wish to avoid such a scenario – or if even more stars are forced out due to Covid-19 exposure – is to have a week that doesn’t feature an elimination.
This already happens in the first week of the competition, with the couples’ scores from the judges rolled over to the following week, creating a mega leaderboard.
Admittedly, it would be another first for Strictly to do it again mid-series, but a roll-over elimination has been a familiar format point in many other reality shows, including RuPaul’s Drag Race and The Great British Bake Off in the past.
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With the challenges of bubbling, social distancing and pre-recording all of the group routines, it’s nothing short of a miracle that Strictly Come Dancing is on air at all this year.
But having successfully navigated these hurdles, the BBC appears determined to keep the show on air whatever happens.
The professional dancers isolated for two weeks before forming a household to pre-record all of this year's pro routines BBC
Speaking prior to the launch show, Strictly’s executive producer Sarah James insisted there is a “contingency plan for every eventuality”.
She said: “We kind of have been through quite a lot of it I think over the last few months and changed things regularly. Some things will have to change back and that’s fine.
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“We’re confident that we’ll still be able to put the show on and we’ll just be ready to make those changes where necessary.”
One scenario producers have ruled out, however, is allowing couples to return to the competition.
Following Nicola and Katya’s sudden exit, a spokesperson insisted “contestants are not allowed to miss more than one week” – although it has been confirmed they will return for one last, non-competitive dance.
“They’re not allowed to re-enter the competition after they’ve taken part in the first episode,” they said in a statement read out on ITV’s Loose Women.
They clarified that Jamie Laing was allowed to return this year after injuring himself in 2019 “because he was injured before he began training and appeared on the show”.
On these grounds, Nicola – and indeed any other contestant who is ruled out – will also be unable to return in subsequent years.
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“Nicola can’t come back because she will have an unfair advantage in the future as she’s now had weeks of training,” the rep added.
Nicola and Katya will not be able to return to the competition, even when they are out of quarantine BBC
A TV production source that HuffPost UK spoke to said that while Strictly bosses will undoubtedly be “pretty stressed” at the latest developments, they will rise to the challenge once again due to the way the industry has been forced to adapt and change.
Revealing how productions are navigating the pandemic, they revealed: “You always start at the worst case scenario, which in this instance is team members and talent catching and spreading Covid-19 and work your way backwards from that.
“I’ve just finished working on a production that did not allow any members of the team to travel on public transport, which meant everyone had their own individual car. It’s not cost effective but it’s necessary.”
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They continued: “As well as everything that’s obvious on screen – like social distancing – there will be will be so much going on behind the scenes. For example, how do you feed a hungry crew of 100 people lunch daily during a pandemic?
“Working in bubbles, one way systems, PPE and regular sanitisation of equipment are just a few of the extras that will now be part of everyone’s daily routine.”
They also urged viewers to welcome any further possible changes to this year’s Strictly, adding: “As much as we all want to produce and watch our favourite TV shows for a little normality, the health and safety of the team and the bigger picture is the priority.
“As we’ve seen with other programmes this year, there are ways to adapt the formats but viewers have to get used to the new versions of their old favourites.”
A BBC spokesperson had no additional comment to make about contingency plans for this year’s Strictly when contacted by HuffPost UK.
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Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.15pm on BBC One.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-21--16 Potato Side Dish Recipes That Aren't Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes have earned a perennial spot on the classic American Thanksgiving menu, and for good reason ― they’re creamy, buttery and relatively easy to make . They’re also make any good comfort meal better.
But thanks to the pandemic, 2020 is the year to change up the way you do spuds. Whether you hate peeling potatoes (hasselbacks!) or you’re a sauce fiend (scalloped!), and whether you’re cooking with your oven, stovetop, Instant Pot or slow cooker, we’ve got a selection of recipes below that’ll help you switch things up. Bon appetit!