thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--Trump Tried To Give Himself A New Nickname. It Really Didn’t Go Well

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Donald Trump tried to give himself a new nickname Tuesday on Twitter.
In an all-caps tweet, he called himself “the lone warrior,” complete with an exclamation point on the end.
One of his sons agreed: Eric Trump wrote on Twitter, “you truly are” but added, “it’s why America loves and appreciated you.”
Advertisement
Trump’s “lone warrior” declaration comes amid allegations he knew for months about a Russian military unit paying bounties to Afghan militants for killing American soldiers. Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a G-7 meeting after he’d reportedly been informed.
Trump has also fashioned himself as a warrior against the coronavirus, in March declaring himself a “wartime president” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But with the virus surging, former US vice president Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Trump “has surrendered, waved the white flag and left the battlefield.”
Trump also avoided military service during the Vietnam War via medical deferments for bone spurs.
The president’s critics on Twitter were quick to remind of him that history:
THE LONE RACIST, INCOMPETENT, TRAITOROUS WARRIOR!
Fixed it for you @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/pKa8rf9iVT — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 30, 2020
Advertisement
You call yourself a wartime president, and the greatest battle you've been presented with is Coronavirus.
You're the worst "warrior" ever. pic.twitter.com/qHIZjGlmx0 — Rebecca D'sister (@rlmades) June 30, 2020
trump was a "lone Warrior" during Vietnam. He stayed at home "alone" while the real warriors served. Lone warrior, my ass. He is a damn coward. — American Veteran (@amvetsupport) June 30, 2020
Trump seems to be calling himself "The Lone Warrior," which doesn't make a lot of sense.
1. He isn't a warrior. He dodged the war with bone spurs.
2. Maybe he wants to be like "The Lone Ranger," but the Lone Ranger at least wore a f***ing mask. — Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) June 30, 2020
You have Russia and China. You’re not completely alone. — Scott Dworkin (@funder) June 30, 2020
Advertisement
He's never been in a war. Coronavirus doesn't even count because he kept telling Governors to take care of it.
Best I can tell he's the Lone Warrior of the Porcelain Throne and that's about it. — NancySara🌼🌱🌙✒ (@NancySara_78) June 30, 2020
The lone warrior hiding in his bunker. pic.twitter.com/hUvinqM9kM — Happy Canadian (@macarthur54) June 30, 2020
The reason Trump is THE LONE WARRIOR is that nobody in our military wants to follow a coward. — Derek Cressman (@DerekCressman) June 30, 2020
Advertisement
The Lone Warrior?! What does that even mean? — Ron Clements (@Ron_Clements) June 30, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--Cut Star Wars Scene Could Have Changed How You See Luke Skywalker

HuffPost is part of Verizon Media .
Click ' I agree ' to allow Verizon Media and our partners to @ @ @ @ @ to access your device and use your data ( including location ) to understand your @ @ @ @ @ measure personalised ads .
We will also provide you with personalised ads on partner products @ @ @ @ @ we use your data in our Privacy Centre .
Once you confirm your privacy choices @ @ @ @ @ changes at any time by visiting your Privacy dashboard .
Click 'Learn more ' to @ @ @ @ @ Media and our partners collect and use data .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
To Star Wars fans, Luke Skywalker is a kindhearted farm boy turned rebel who helps bring balance to the Force and definitely kisses his sister too many times. But according to Mark Hamill, in a galaxy not so far, far away, you could have seen Luke a bit differently.
While chatting on an episode of Russo Bros. Pizza Film School released on YouTube last week, Hamill discussed how Luke Skywalker’s original introduction in Star Wars was cut from the film.
Advertisement
In the final version, Luke comes into the story when he and his uncle are buying R2-D2 and C-3PO from the Jawas. But Hamill explains he was originally going to appear even sooner.
“As soon as the robots jettison off of the ship that Vader’s on, you cut to this kid in the desert working on a moisture evaporator. He sees a little thing up in the sky, takes out his micro-binoculars,” Hamill said.
That little thing is Leia’s ship being captured by Darth Vader’s, and Luke, very excitedly, heads off to the infamous Tosche Station to tell all the cool kids what he’s seen. Yes, the same Tosche Station he never makes it to later in the film after being denied a super fun trip to pick up power converters.
(Wow, Uncle Owen, could you be more of a Nerf Herder?)
“I’ve been ridiculed for all these years, ‘Did you ever get those power converters? Ha ha ha.’ Ah, never heard that before,” Hamill said.
The actor explained that in the cut scenes, after Luke arrives at the teen club at Tosche Station, there were different moments that could have added nuance to the character.
“Number one, he’s ridiculed roundly by his peers, so he’s not particularly cool or popular,” Hamill said, explaining that a character player by actor Koo Stark even called him “Wormie.”
The moment also shows Luke excited to run into Biggs Darklighter (Garrick Hagon), showing that they are old friends.
Advertisement
“He’s dressed in an Imperial uniform, and I’m going, ‘Wow, it’s so great. I can’t wait till I can get off this dump of a planet and join with you,’” said Hamill.
But Darklighter is not so keen on the Empire, telling Luke he’s going to jump ship and join the rebels.
“The only reason that’s interesting to me is that Luke has no political persuasion. He thinks it’s great he’s in the Empire. Luke wants to be in the Empire if it’ll get him off of the farm, so there’s no sort of — he’s completely pure in that he’s not politically motivated in any way, shape or form,” Hamill said.
The actor explained how the cut affected the rest of the film, saying the later death of Darklighter was Luke’s original motivation for turning off his targeting system when he destroys the Death Star.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--Richard Madeley Apologises Over Domestic Violence Advice Given In Agony Uncle Column

Richard Madeley has apologised after he downplayed a reader’s concerns that their neighbour could be suffering domestic violence in his newspaper advice column.
The former This Morning presenter, who writes an agony uncle column for the Telegraph, said he had misjudged the tone and content of the piece and was “so annoyed” with himself.
The 64-year-old added that he had since reached out to a number of people to apologise and would address the issue in his next Saturday column.
Advertisement
Richard Madeley Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
In a statement posted on Twitter, Richard said: “Hi everyone. My critics 2day are absolutely right – I misjudged this one, tonally and in content. SO annoyed with self.
“Have reached out this afternoon 2 various people to apologise+will address it in Saturday’ paper.”
He concluded his statement with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “through my fault”.
Hi https://t.co/2QCm7KNHsf critics 2day are absolutely right - I misjudged this one, tonally and in content. SO annoyed with self. Have reached out this afternoon 2 various people to apologise+will address it in Saturday' paper. Mea Culpa. — Richard Madeley (@richardm56) June 30, 2020
On Saturday, the broadcaster replied to a letter from an anonymous reader titled ‘What shall I do about my noisy nocturnal neighbours?’, in which they described hearing “bangs and crashes and shouting” coming from the neighbouring property “most nights”.
Advertisement
They also wrote: “Due to the strange nightly activity and fighting, I feel conflicted, as things just don’t seem right.”
They continued: “I worry that something could come to light in the future and I would feel guilty because I did nothing, despite a gut feeling that things are not right.”
In his response, Richard suggested that “if some sort of serious abuse was involved you’d have noticed it (in the form of black eyes, cut lips and the like, or late night visits from the police after drunken 999 calls)”.
He added: “You could try [that]; a polite, controlled ‘intervention’. But I’d stop worrying that things ‘aren’t right’. ’If they were going to kill each other, they’d have done it by now.”
Richard was criticised on social media, including by figures from charity groups including Standing Together Against Domestic Violence and Refuge after a photo of the piece began circulating on social media on Monday.
Advertisement
Richard Madeley's astonishingly dangerous and ignorant advice in the @dailytelegraph, where he tells someone not to worry about violent shouts and crashes from next door every night: "If some sort of serious abuse was involved you'd have noticed it." pic.twitter.com/z0Qls4ziRt — Dan Whitehead (@DanWritehead) June 30, 2020
This is appalling and dangerous advice @richardm56. Women live in fear of their partners across the country - many are isolated and alone; Literally trapped. Women’s lives depend on people calling out abuse. We support @GudrunBurnet to retract this ASAP https://t.co/IEfvxdykZR — Refuge (@RefugeCharity) June 29, 2020
Dear @dailytelegraph The terrible ‘help’ offered by your agony uncle is unqualified, ill informed, harmful & wrong. If anyone is at risk of domestic abuse or are worried about a neighbour - do not listen to Richard Madeley please do read this.
https://t.co/eBm9aPXK4J — Marion Lynch 💙RN RMN (@drmarionlynch) June 30, 2020
If you, or someone you know, is in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police. If you are not in immediate danger, you can contact:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--Three People Are Trying To Get Cummings Prosecuted – Including A Former CPS Chief

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
A former CPS chief is challenging the decision not to prosecute Dominic Cummings for allegedly breaching lockdown, while two members of the public are now pursuing legal cases against the PM’s top aide, HuffPost UK can reveal.
Advertisement
Former regional chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal, who lost his older brother to Covid-19 in April, is determined to see the prime minister’s special adviser held to account, and has instructed his lawyers to fight for a fresh investigation into his alleged breaches of lockdown rules.
Meanwhile, Martin Redston and his own legal team have applied for a judicial review of the CPS decision, with papers already filed at the High Court. Redston has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the case.
As first reported in HuffPost UK, law graduate Mahsa Taliefar had already started fundraising for a private prosecution of Cummings, claiming his actions were “like spitting in the face” of everyone who adhered to the coronavirus lockdown laws.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
It is just over a month since it emerged that Cummings took his family from London to Durham during lockdown at the end of March after his wife developed Covid-19 symptoms.
The coronavirus pandemic was at its peak at the time and the government had instructed the public not to travel – and to self-isolate completely if they or their families developed symptoms.
Cummings sparked further outrage when it was then revealed that he had also made a 30-mile trip to Barnard Castle – which he claimed was to test his eyesight before making his journey home to London.
Mahsa Taliefar, 25, a law graduate who has launched a fundraising campaign to privately prosecute Dominic Cummings Mahsa Taliefar
Law graduate Mahsa told HuffPost UK she was angered by Cummings’ denial that he had done anything wrong and the government’s defence of him, and launched a campaign to raise funds for a private prosecution to “hold the powerful to account”.
Advertisement
Redston’s lawyers have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions expressing concerns that no action has been taken.
On his Crowdjustice fundraising page, he writes: “I, like many other citizens, have fully complied with the government’s lockdown requirements at all times.
“Despite the police and the public having been made aware of Mr Cummings’ potential breaches of the rules since May 22, there has been no investigation into those potential breaches in London.
“The rule of law should apply for all persons, irrespective of any friendships in government.
“The public health measures which were put in place to protect us must be applied to everyone, including in particular those who helped to make the rules.”
Martin Redston Martin Redston
Advertisement
Redston said: “The rules were absolutely unambiguous – stay home, save lives, protect the NHS.
“We had no idea that a senior adviser to the government had left home and travelled to a second home.
“When I heard it, like everyone else, I was astonished.
“I kept to the lockdown and couldn’t see my children, my grandchildren or even the neighbours across the street. The rules should apply to everyone.”
To complicate matters, legal experts disagree over whether or not the coronavirus laws actually allow anyone to bring private prosecutions.
Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north-west England, told HuffPost UK it was “unlikely” a private case would be successful because of the way the act is worded – but Mahsa’s lawyers disagree and are continuing with their own line of action.
Afzal is taking a different approach, instructing his lawyers to pressure the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to prosecute Cummings and saying he believes the initial investigation was “rushed”.
Advertisement
Nazir Afzal Nazir Afzal
“Private prosecution of Dominic Cummings is unlikely,” he told HuffPost UK. “If you look at the law, the only people who can prosecute coronavirus breaches are the police and CPS.
“I think the law graduate and anyone else trying to privately prosecute Dominic Cummings have not read the regulations properly.
“Only the police and the CPS can prosecute. The regulations have been drafted in this way as otherwise anyone would be able to take their neighbour to court to prosecute them for alleged breaches.”
Afzal, whose older brother Umar died of coronavirus on April 8 while self-isolating at his home in Birmingham, feels strongly that Cummings should be thoroughly investigated and face the consequences of his actions during the lockdown.
Advertisement
He has instructed law firm Hodge Jones and Allen in London to pursue the case and investigate thoroughly the decision not to take action against Cummings for his behaviour during the coronavirus restrictions.
Afzal is supporting a crowdfunder on behalf of concerned citizens including families of coronavirus victims, survivors, doctors, nurses and scientists, to fund the case.
“What I want is to get the police and CPS to prosecute Dominic Cummings by asking all the right questions,” he told HuffPost UK.
“In my view, it was a rushed investigation and I don’t know if pressure was put on them from the government.
“My lawyers are writing to the authorities to make sure they have done their job properly and if they have not, to persuade them to look at it again.
Advertisement
“I want them to make sure they crossed the ’t’s and dotted the ’i’s.”
Afzal said his legal team is drafting documents for the authorities – including Durham Police, the Met, CPS and Police and Crime Commissioners for Durham and London – to ensure they have carried out the fullest inquiry and persuade them in the direction they should now move.
“Everyone needs to be assured the decision made regarding Dominic Cummings was correct and understand why they made those decisions,” he said.
Mahsa’s case rests on Regulation 6 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations England, which state that: “During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse”.
If such a conviction is won, the penalty would be an unlimited fine.
Afzal points to regulation 11 of the same law, which says: “Proceedings for an offence under these regulations may be brought by the Crown Prosecution Service and any person designated by the secretary of state.”
But Mahsa’s lawyers Benjamin Douglas-Jones QC and Nathaniel Rudolf said: “The regulation is not drafted with any precision. A literal, and absurd, reading would be that in the absence of anyone designated by the secretary of state, the CPS may not prosecute.
Advertisement
“It seems to us that by permitting the secretary of state to designate people who can prosecute, the section simply clarifies that this does not oust the ability of the CPS to do the same. It does not go further.”
Tasnime Akunjee, the solicitor Mahsa has instructed, told HuffPost UK: “If you look at other legislations which do stop private prosecutions, the wording is very clear that only a certain body can take action.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--The 15 Best Instagram Recipes From June 2020

Anyone who’s human is likely to get stuck in a rut once in a while. Maybe you’re in a recipe rut, making the same dinner night after night. Or maybe you find yourself scrolling through the same Instagram posts from the same influencers. As wonderful as all those recipes and influencers may be, sometimes you’ve got to change things up and let some fresh light shine in.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--The Science Behind Why Singing Could Spread Coronavirus

LOADING ERROR LOADING
We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Singing is off limits under the new government guidance for coronavirus-safe weddings. So why is it such a problem?
Advertisement
It’s thought that belting out a few tunes could spread the virus because when you sing, you expel droplets and aerosols from your nose and mouth. The virus can hitch a ride on these droplets, landing on nearby surfaces or infecting people in close proximity who breathe in smaller, infected droplets.
We also expel these droplets when we sneeze, cough, talk and breathe. But with singing, the volume of our voice tends to be louder and it’s been suggested we end up expelling more droplets as a result.
ioanmasay via Getty Images
A previous study investigating the role of singing in the spread of tuberculosis found the percentage of particles generated by singing is six times more than that emitted during normal talking.
Advertisement
It’s also been suggested droplets can travel further during singing – if you’re belting out a power ballad, you’re likely to be spreading droplets that travel further than six feet (or two metres).
But whether these particles will then go on to successfully infect others is debatable, as they can disperse in the air or drop quickly to the ground. It’s thought there’s a low risk of infection via aerosols for the average person.
That said, there have been various “super spreader” events involving choirs. In one choir practice in March – lasting 2.5 hours – 32 people (of 61 in total) ended up with confirmed Covid-19, and 20 had “probable” cases. Three patients were hospitalised and two died. Researchers said transmission of the virus was likely facilitated by close proximity during practice and augmented by the act of singing.
In Amsterdam, 102 of 130 choristers fell ill with Covid-19 following a performance right before lockdown. One person died and three ended up in intensive care.
Maskot via Getty Images
Advertisement
The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has linked transmission of Covid-19 to specific activities, such as singing in a choir or religious services, that may be characterised “by increased production of respiratory droplets through loud speech and singing”.
Some believe singing isn’t the problem – but rather, the close contact. Fluid mechanics expert, Professor Christian Kähler, of the American Military University, conducted a study of droplet spread at concerts and found singing to be “quite safe”.
He told The Guardian: “Air was only propelled about half a metre in front of a singer, and that is not far enough to cause the infection levels of these outbreaks.”
People in choirs may have caught the virus through their social behaviour instead, he suggested – through hugging and kissing, sharing snacks, and standing close by.
Kähler’s study suggests individual singers might want to use shields to limit droplets from landing on audience members in the future, and said when choirs return they should be seated 1.5m apart, in a staggered arrangement.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--This Virtual Lockdown Strip Club Wants To Overhaul The Sex Industry

LOADING ERROR LOADING
We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
“Lockdown has completely eradicated our ability to make income,” says Luna, 28, from London, sex worker and organiser of the Cybertease digital strip club. “As in-person sex workers, our work relies on various degrees of contact and being physically present, both of which are impossible during the lockdown.”
Advertisement
Sex workers have been disproportionately impacted, Luna adds. Not only are they unable to perform, but their work is not subsidised by the government.
“A wide variety of in-person sex workers have been subjected to a situation where they are no longer able to provide income for themselves, their families or dependents,” says Luna. This is why she set up Cybertease, spotting an opportunity to exploit lockdown to raise awareness of issues that doggedly persist sex work – as well as provide much-needed income for performers.
Cybertease rallies against the discrimination and exploitation that pervade the workplace for sex workers, Luna says. Its events also campaign against poor physical working conditions and a lack of unionisation in the sector – and aim to debunk some of the misconceptions prevalent about sex work.
“A job is a job. Work is work. This is capitalism and we all must survive.” - Luna, Cybertease
Advertisement
One myth is that all sex workers enjoy their work (or really, really don’t). This, Luna says, is clearly not true. While some view the job creatively, for others it is just that – a job. “Workers are not expected to find every aspect of their industry liberating in order to participate in it,” says Luna of other sectors.
“A job is a job. Work is work. This is capitalism and we all must survive. This is not to suggest that many of us do not enjoy what we do, but it should not be considered a prerequisite for our labour to be taken seriously.”
As Luna describes it, sex workers enter the industry for the same diversity of reasons they might arrive at any other job – “as a means of utilising their skill set, as a means of creative expression, as a job with flexible working hours that they may perform around other commitments such as studying, caring, parenting – or due to a lack of other work in their area.”
HuffPost UK Cybertease, the virtual online strip club.
Advertisement
The flexibility of digital sex work has particularly suited lockdown, says Luna, one of 10 performers who formed the Cybertease collective, all of them members of the UK-based United Union of Sex Workers.
The club night runs roughly ever two weeks, typically mid-week, and users can purchase performances ranging from a £5 spank to £10 oil pour and bra removal for £20. For £50, users can watch a performer shower. There are specials – on Wednesday July 1, the performance will be Y2K themed.
Cash is divvied out fairly between those performing and the stage hands that run around behind the camera preparing equipment – and audience members have the option of paying for a public show or booking a private slot.
The audience comprises a diverse mix of people – “activists, queer couples, heterosexual couples, singles, along with strip club regulars,” says Luna. “Everyone is welcome as long as they obey our safer spaces policy.”
Cybertease also opens its doors to anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable or welcome at a physical strip club – in Luna’s words “due to heteronormative conditions and access restrictions, imposed by mainstream and commercial club management and owners.” This is reflected in recruitment. The club currently has an open call for “all bodies, genders and sexualities; all backgrounds and identities; all abilities and ages (18+); and all global (+ intergalactic) locations.” Retired sex workers – or those on a break – are also invited to get in touch.
HuffPost UK Cybertease say its priority is reform for sex worker rights.
Advertisement
Performers don’t see, converse with or “consciously monitor” the audience that trickles through its virtual doors, but the collective are keen to stress this is merely what works best digitally, rather than being for the benefit of performers. Their priority is promoting sex worker rights – not a discourse of empowerment.
“Management within the sex industry actively tries to promote infighting and competition between workers in an attempt to weaken our collective power and increase their profits,” Luna says. “We refuse to let this happen and urge all workers marginalised or otherwise to stand together against corporate greed at the expense of the employees’ wellbeing.”
Beyond the obvious financial need for work during the pandemic, Cybertease was created as “a virtual space that embodies the kind of strip club the union is fighting to see in the physical world,” says Luna, “one that observes and respects its workers’ rights. It’s a beautiful and powerful fusion of sexual titillation, skilled performance, and political passion.”
Or as Cybertease’s Twitter account puts it, the perfect combination of “live erotic dance, sensual performance and smoking hot socialist politics.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--I Went To A Virtual Sex Party And Came To Terms With My Childhood Abuse

Isabella Carapella/HuffPost My husband and I thought we could get away on mute during a virtual quarantine sex party. Instead, I had to face one of my deepest shames.
Our intention was only to watch the virtual sex party.
I was working on a story about how sex clubs have transitioned to virtual parties during the coronavirus outbreak and, during my research, I was invited to one.
I would have to ask my husband to be there with me, so I’d feel more comfortable, but I was down to go. It would make the story much more interesting, and it sounded like fun.
Advertisement
I wish I could say that I was the type of woman who was so unapologetically confident in my sexuality that things like sex parties didn’t phase me — but I’m not.
The reality is that, for most of my life, my sex life, no matter how vanilla or wild, has always had a direct link to shame.
I grew up going to Sunday Mass in a Filipino-Catholic community where I learned very early on that premarital sex was the fastest way to hell.
That kind of religious education made this part much harder: I’d been molested multiple times before fifth grade and had virtually no guidance on how to process it. I probably had myself convinced that I, a child, was responsible for committing a grave sin.
Advertisement
But that was decades ago.
The 29-year-old woman sitting across a web camera with her husband on a Saturday night has had years of therapy and enough personal growth to attend a virtual sex party, and maybe even like it. So we logged on.
An hour into the party, my husband and I were playing truth-or-dare with a group of couples. We were kissing while fumbling my top off, at the request of a dark-eyed, long-haired woman wearing horns.
I moved awkwardly and felt embarrassed about it, but I also felt kind of powerful. The other people on the call gently encouraged us. My confidence grew as the night progressed.
The next morning, I woke up remembering the night before in a happy daze.
Then this thought immediately followed: “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Advertisement
The New Society for Wellness (NSFW) started throwing virtual play parties two weeks after New York City went on quarantine lockdown.
Daniel Saynt, the club’s founder, told me he had gone into a depression after the stay-at-home orders forced his club to shut down.
“When you host three to four sex parties a week, you have a certain amount of dopamine in your system and this general high-y-ness because you’re just, like, surrounded by this really positive sexual energy,” Saynt told me in a video call from a beach in St. Maarten.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, NSFW held its events at its headquarters, often billed by the media as a place of opulent, ultra-exclusive hedonism. It’s where kinky 20- and 30-somethings, who are carefully vetted and approved, gather to hang out, smoke weed and have sex in all ways conceivable.
An unnamed 29-year-old actor once described the club and its members as a “king’s court” to The Hollywood Reporter.
Advertisement
“There is literal, not figurative, star-fucking here,” she said.
The actual clubhouse, as I’ve seen in pictures, looks like a luxurious and sensual acid trip. Rooms are filled with velvety curtains, psychedelic art, chains, a bondage cross and a lot of red light.
Every member is required to take a course on, not just consent, but enthusiastic consent. It’s called, “How to Ask for Sex.” The club also offers educational workshops, including ones on tantra, the art of shibari (Japanese rope bondage) and how to be a proper dom and sub.
Two days after the virtual play party, Saynt told me that people have transformational experiences all the time at their headquarters.
“It could be a life-changing experience that puts you on a different course with a new partner or makes you realize that you’re more open ... or more curious, sexually, than you thought you were,” Saynt said.
It can make you “more interested in ropes all of a sudden, something you’ve never really pursued before but now you can, and now you have a community,” he added. “Life-changing experiences happen every week.”
Advertisement
I envy people who live life like that.
Not just because of the sex with famous people or erotic transcendence but because anytime I’ve embraced my inner hedonist and enjoyed it, I’d have anxiety the next day.
NSFW: Sneak a peek inside an elite, members-only sex club in New York City: https://t.co/hnHgri3ODL pic.twitter.com/I87ymtOmFa — ForbesLife (@ForbesLife) August 11, 2018
I didn’t realize just how much my abuse had affected my sex life until after I started going to therapy when I was 26.
In my first week, I learned that I had been experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder for a long time. It surprised me, but it made sense.
Advertisement
That explained my random urges to scream in my car anytime a memory of my molestation crept into my head. It explained why I, a generally happy person, could so easily dip into depression. It also explained why I always seemed to need a glass of something to enjoy any kind of intimacy.
That’s what two years of therapy and a round of a psychotherapy treatment known as EMDR did for me: It showed me patterns that I was good at ignoring.
It allowed me to see myself as a whole person, instead of a girl who had experienced something completely messed up as a child.
But no one tells you that when you start healing from sexual trauma, you start to think a lot about sex.
My husband was the first partner I ever felt comfortable enough with to talk to about my sexuality. I could talk to him about things like threesomes and being attracted to women without feeling any shame or judgment — or without first needing a drink to open up.
Advertisement
When it came to acting on those fantasies, however, I’d revert back to my old ways of being. I needed to relax into myself with a glass of wine and, almost always, I’d have anxiety the next day.
By the time I reached my second year of therapy, the memories of my abuse became less triggering and I was kinder with the way my body reacted to it.
I started to think often, “I forgive you for hurting me. I forgive me for hurting me, too.”
In the days after the NSFW party, my husband and I talked frankly about why I was so anxious about what we had done.
During those conversations, I asked him things I would have only asked my therapist. It felt like I was taking a deep, slow breath out.
We talked about why my legs sometimes tense up uncontrollably when we have sex, like a door wedged shut; why I need a fountain of wine to feel comfortable; why, even when I had a lovely sexual experience, I’d wake up the next morning feeling this way. That week, I finally got a chance to ask him, not my therapist, for help.
Those talks brought us even closer in our marriage. I understood what Saynt meant when he told me that “life-changing experiences happen every week.”
HuffPost US The author and her husband have been in a relationship since 2013.
Shannon Chavez, a sex psychologist in Beverly Hills, told me that people who have sexual trauma may experience a disconnection from their own pleasure “out of fear, fear of feeling those feelings.”
“Sometimes even a disconnect physically from your body,” Chavez explained. “Especially if there’s been a shutdown, numbness or dissociation” from the traumatic event.
Advertisement
Survivors can also have trouble trusting their own pleasure and, as a result, they won’t give themselves permission to have the experience of it. I dealt with that by drinking enough to enjoy myself without overthinking it and by punishing myself with guilt the next day.
“So much of that [pleasure] has been taken away through an experience of trauma that there’s a lack of trust and intuition of knowing what’s OK [to feel],” Chavez told me.
So what if you’re a woman who is still trying to heal from her trauma but who also wants to be a fully embodied sexual goddess?
I didn’t actually ask Chavez that question, even though I wanted to. She answered it anyway.
“[The trauma] may be a part of your life because you went through it and you coped with it — but it doesn’t mean that you have to identify with it,” she told me.
I wrote that down and read it over and over again.
“It doesn’t mean that you have to identify with it.”
CG-CREATiVE via Getty Images
Advertisement
Now that NSFW is hosting virtual parties, the barrier to attend events is much lower.
If you were the type of person who could fantasize about such erotic revelry but didn’t have enough courage to show up to a party, now all you had to do was sign into a chatroom from the comfort of your home.
NSFW’s club leaders still have to individually approve each new person. Saynt told me that he had to turn away about 40 people who wanted to buy a “traveler” (non-member) ticket to Saturday night’s event.
But, once you’re in, you become a 2-inch square among rows of squares filled with people in various areas of their homes dressed in lingerie or like they were at a night club, or maybe they were just a black square with a white name.
The experience can be as anonymous as you want it to be. Saynt encourages people to wear a mask or keep their cameras off if they’re shy about it. Voyeurs are welcome. There’s no pressure to perform.
Advertisement
After about 15 minutes of entering the party and listening to people talk about their favorite quarantine kinks, I pretty much said “fuck it” and turned on our webcam.
NSFW’s virtual parties are anchored by performances.
When I was there, a brunet woman was slowly stripping her lingerie off to moody music while playing with hot wax and squeezing juicy fruits into oblivion, then rubbing them over her body.
When she was finished, everyone showered her with praise (the show was freaking mesmerizing) and asked her what fruits she had been using (a pomegranate and blackberries).
As another show (a shibari demonstration) got started, the hosts sent out links to smaller themed rooms that guests could filter into.
I thought we could get by on mute in the couples room but, not long after we joined, the host, a woman wearing horns who was with a man in a captain’s hat, asked us to pick “truth or dare.”
Advertisement
In a panic, I said “truth” and froze up when she asked us what our secret fetish was. In another panic, I yelped, “Dare! Dare instead.”
I was nervous, but we complied with her request. All I needed was to see my husband smiling at me, and I felt safe and I melted into him.
Throughout the night, I could hear voices from the computer say my name, or “that’s beautiful” or, “I’m really loving the braid,” and I’d feel flush with confidence.
My husband and I went to sleep very happily that night.
Andrew Brookes via Getty Images
“Everything’s going to be OK,” my husband told me two days after the party. “Nobody’s mad at you. We had a good time.”
Advertisement
I was in a shame spiral. I had felt so powerful and bad-ass at the party, but now my heart felt tender, and I wanted to know why.
My husband is the only man in my life who’s ever listened to me ― patiently and without expressing anger or asking questions ― as I talked about my past.
When I was a kid, a person once made me and a boy my age assume sexual positions in a locked room. It was a game called “movie theater,” and we were told if we told anyone about it, this person would run downstairs and tell our parents what was happening and we’d be in big trouble for sure.
The day after NSFW’s party, that’s exactly how I felt: Like I was in really big trouble.
But I wasn’t. I knew I wasn’t. Right? There’s no way I’m in trouble. Why would I be in trouble? I’m an adult! I’m allowed to make my own decisions.
Right?
Again, my husband gently reminded me that we had done nothing wrong and that I was safe.
Silvia Otte via Getty Images
Advertisement
Sex clubs may seem like a world and a butt plug away from most people’s comfort zones, but according to Chavez, they can be the safest place for people to explore what sex means to them.
It’s a space where clear consent is typically part of the culture. It’s also a place where people can talk openly about real sex ― not the glossy version seen on porn ― and all things adjacent without being judged.
“We’re not born knowing how to communicate about sex. It’s like a language. We have to learn it,” Chavez said. “It takes practice, and we may fumble a little bit at first, but that’s OK.”
Shame is also a normal part of that process, and survivors of sexual assault may even find some solace from that by leaning into kinks.
Advertisement
“Maybe there are power dynamics at play,” Chavez explained. “You get to be in control and really work through that piece of violation ... that was part of what created that trauma response.”
A web camera and a chat room became that space for me.
I decided to be there because I wanted to. No one forced me. I didn’t need a glass of wine to accept the invitation. At the party, someone commanded me to do something, but I obliged because I wanted it.
There were no adults downstairs to threaten me with, no pressure to be silent about it. It was just me and my husband having a good time doing something we enjoyed.
We have since talked about going to a party in real life once the quarantine orders are lifted, and neither of us is ready to jump right in just yet.
For now, we’ll keep exploring what we like in places, including digital spaces, that feel hot and comfortable to both of us
Advertisement
This time, with a lot less shame.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--'I Lost So Much Blood At My Son's Birth, It Took An Hour To Sew Me Up'

LOADING ERROR LOADING
In HuffPost Birth Diaries we hear the extraordinary stories of the everyday miracle of birth. This week, Anna Malnutt shares her story. If you’d like to share yours, email amy.packham@huffpost.com.
When I think back to the moment my son was born, I remember there being lots of people around us in theatre. I think of my husband and I both wearing masks and full scrubs. And I remember it taking a long time. Not because of the baby. But because I was losing so much blood.
Advertisement
Getting furloughed from work in the late stages of my pregnancy had actually been quite nice. I was getting fed up there and finding it difficult to work, being tired and grumpy all the time. So in some ways, that bit worked out well.
Finding out that pregnant women were on the vulnerable list for Covid-19 was stressful though. We were careful about not going out in those last weeks and I made sure I read around to feel better informed.
There had been a few incidents of reduced movement from the baby during my pregnancy, so I had an early induction. That bit was impacted by coronavirus, too – my husband couldn’t be with me, so I had to go into hospital all alone.
Advertisement
Once there, I reacted strongly to the drugs and the contractions were consistent – and consistently painful – for hours. They were so frequent, in fact, that the doctors took the pessary out earlier than expected and moved me to a side room. Then they broke my waters. I was 2cm dilated and once they’d broken, my husband was able to come in. It’d been 24 hours since I’d last seen him.
I had strong contractions for another hour, but now they weren’t often enough. So I was put on a drip and offered an epidural. That was the best thing ever – I couldn’t believe it. I could barely handle the pain before, but the epidural changed everything. I was so relaxed and even managed to get some kip. Five hours later, I was checked again: 5cm. Four hours later: 8cm. Another hour: 9cm. Another hour: back to 8cm. Suddenly, I was swollen and my dilation was reducing. The best thing now, they told me, was to have an emergency C-section. I wasn’t worried. It wasn’t rushed and panicky. I consented to it all.
Supplied. Anna Malnutt and her husband and son.
My husband actually heard the midwife say to the surgeon: “Can I have the baby please?” My son has been born – but I was bleeding so much that the doctor had put the baby on my legs and forgotten to pass her to the midwife.
It took an hour to sew me up. They were struggling every time to put in a stitch, as I kept bleeding more. At one point, I could feel all the blood draining from my face. I thought I was going to die. I didn’t know what was happening. My husband had the baby and we were both stressed, but trying to play it cool.
After what felt like ages, the surgeon came round to see me. “That was certainly a bigger challenge than I’ve ever had before,” she said. All my vessels had swollen up, she explained, which was why the bleeding has been hard to stop. I lost over two litres in the end.
Advertisement
Once they’d sewn me up, I was sent to recovery and they put my son on my chest. We had skin-to-skin and he fed straightaway.
Supplied.
As soon as we left recovery, though, my husband had to go. I was taken to a high dependency unit because of the blood loss, and they treated both of us – me and the baby – for infections.
We were there for five days in all, having various drugs pumped into us. Babies were crying at different times, the midwives were constantly up and down corridors. It was really noisy. The midwives were great and supportive, but they were overworked, too. They did a brilliant job trying, but they clearly felt the lack of dads being there, who in normal circumstances would be helping out, too.
In all honestly, I found it torture. Absolute torture. I can’t think of any other way to describe it. Being completely alone, with no visitors, wasn’t how I expected my first few days with my son. I kept seeing people around me getting discharged, when I wasn’t. I was broken.
Advertisement
I didn’t properly feel myself until I got home. But seeing my husband again at the door, waiting for me on the other side of the ward, was the best thing ever. Just a huge relief.
As told to Amy Packham.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-01--Black British Women Have Our Own Needs To Be Addressed Right Now. Here’s Why

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Just two months before the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a whirlwind of public outrage, the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency medical technician, quietly made the rounds on Kentucky state news.
Police stormed the sleeping 26-year-old’s home, just after midnight, and fired at least eight rounds into her body. Despite the insidious nature of her death, Breonna’s name later faded out of public discussion after a few days. Her spirit went on to join those of the 1,251 other Black Americans who had met their ends at the hands of police in the last half-decade.
Advertisement
Thankfully, Breonna’s tragic story gained more traction in the wake of George Floyd – though one officer involved has been fired, none have been criminally charged. In the midst of this, I’ve been left wondering why it took Floyd’s murder to stoke this kind of public interest into Breonna’s.
Here, we have an example of just how anti-Black racism plays out in mainstream discourse. As a society, we perpetuate a trickle-down structure where the most privileged of an oppressed group become the face of the whole collective. Their stories and realities become the default, by virtue of their proximity to the white heterosexual male norm. In the case of Black people, it’s Black men. In the case of women, it’s white women.
“Why are British people so eager to look to American Black women to comprehend their own collusion in white supremacy?”
EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: A woman with mask at the Black Lives Matter protest in Holyrood Park (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images
Advertisement
Even when the spotlight finally shines on Black women, our experiences are typically expressed and consumed through an America-centric lens. The current haste to engage in ‘anti-racist’ work has thrust Black women such as Angela Davis, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker into the limelight. But why are British people so eager to look to American Black women to comprehend their own collusion in white supremacy, when some of the greatest Black female radical thinkers were – and still are – present here in Britain?
It’s with this understanding that I consider how I’ve been marginalised, as a Black woman in the UK, due to the sheer audacity of my existence. In high school, I will never forget being taunted for my afro-textured hair by peers at my predominantly white school. I recall a Year 10 maths lesson where two white boys spent the entire class insulting my hair, while I spent the rest of the time in class holding back tears. The other white students heard every single thing, and largely did nothing. The white female teacher heard every single thing that was said too, and did nothing either.
These simultaneously racialised and gendered situations are something neither a Black boy nor a white girl would go through. Whenever I tell this story to other Black women, I find my experience proves to be a shared one. These narratives are, in fact, so frequent they extend beyond the anecdotal to the realm of systemic. Multiple studies indicate that Black boys assimilate better into predominantly white schools than Black girls, with Black girls themselves citing the duality of gendered and racialised subordination as a critical reason for why they felt more ostracised by their peers.
“White supremacy is a multifaceted system of persecution... This rings especially true for Black women, who shoulder the full burden of white patriarchy.”
These findings would have resonated with me during my teen years as much as they do now. The only Black girl in my year, I not only endured alienation from white students but was also treated as a pariah by my fellow Black male peer. He would continually go out of his way to distance himself from me, going so far as to ignore my presence among other (non-Black) people. I cannot imagine going through this type of side-lining if I was not both Black and a woman in a white space.
Advertisement
This dichotomy of hyper-surveillance and invisibility is the common reality for many women like me, both in media and in our lived experience. Breonna Taylor’s is one of the most corrupt examples of this phenomenon: she became the target of violence by the white state, only to be later shunned into obscurity. It may seem outrageous to align my circumstances with Taylor’s, but they both fall under the same system of misogynoir, which serves to chastise those who occupy a space in Black womanhood.
Reflectively, it is interesting that I now see white people, even one of my aforementioned tormentors, posting Black squares and #BlackOutTuesday on their Instagram profiles. This is, of course, to show that they are part of the solution and not the problem. These are less than empty gestures which achieve absolutely nothing.
Your ‘allyship’ is performative at best, and institutionally violent at worst, when you take no steps to address your own complicity in anti-Black racism. Both non-Black people and Black people need to understand intersectionality and realise that not every Black or non-Black person of colour navigates racism the same way. White supremacy is a multifaceted system of persecution, which intersects many other dominating structures. This rings especially true for Black women, who shoulder the full burden of white patriarchy.
We hear you saying Black lives matter today. But did they matter yesterday? Will they matter tomorrow? The power is in your hands.
Hannah Uguru is a freelance writer
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Is Boris Johnson Serious Enough To Stem The Jobless Tide?

LOADING ERROR LOADING
You’re reading The Waugh Zone, our daily politics briefing. Sign up now to get it by email in the evening.
Booster or Wooster?
We waited for the line, but it never came. Setting out his ‘Build, Build, Build’ plan to drag Britain out of the coronavirus crisis, Boris Johnson was meant to say: “It sounds positively Rooseveltian”. But although the R-word was in the overnight trail of his speech, the phrase didn’t materialise.
Advertisement
Perhaps, given the huge rise in borrowing and some taxation suggested by his own ‘New Deal’ programme, he feared his Tory MPs would think it all sounded too negatively Rooseveltian. Always keen stress the upside not the downside of any project, Johnson notably ducked questions about tax rises just as he dived away from the tricky issue of the Leicester lockdown.
Perhaps too the PM realised how ludicrous it would be to actually compare today’s £5bn policy package (not even new money but fast-tracked from previous plans) to FDR’s massive injection of public money to fend off the Great Depression. An upgrade to the A15 on Humberside is not quite the same scale as building the Hoover Dam.
From schools to planning to hospitals, the BBC’s Reality Check website shredded most of Johnson’s boasts in a matter-of-fact fashion. Of course, the huge amount of support spent on combating coronavirus is separate from all this, but the PM did himself no favours by trying to spin his pre-corona plans beyond their limited nature.
And it was a yearning to go back to life before Covid, the heady days of a newly-minted election victory in December and of the UK finally quitting the EU in January, that seemed to be the dominant emotion powering the whole speech. Johnson himself began by admitting that it “may seem a bit premature to make a speech now about Britain after Covid” while the virus was still rampant across the globe - let alone resurfacing locally at home.
Advertisement
But betraying that impatience that always lurks beneath the surface, he said “we cannot continue simply to be prisoners of this crisis”. That was an odd choice of words, given that the people of Leicester may well be prisoners of their geography in coming weeks. As he spoke, Nottinghamshire police warned they would act if anyone tried to come to their county over the border.
As I’ve written before, amnesia is part of Johnson’s political modus operandi, a trick he pulls off time and again to distance himself from his own past and that of his party. It worked a treat last December and at times today he sounded like he was getting his excuses in first. A cryptic reference to “the parts of government that seemed to respond so sluggishly” to the pandemic sounded very much like a swipe at Whitehall or scientific advisers or both.
The PM talked, rightly, about using the “Covid lightning flash” to tackle deep-seated problems like social care and regional inequalities, and “the problems in our country that we [forgetting Tory rule since 2010] have failed to tackle for decades”. The real problem is the “thunderclap” after the lightning that Johnson himself recognised: the economic downturn caused by the disease.
When asked how many jobs his £5bn investment or other plans would create, the PM curiously had no answer. His trepidation was understandable after the ONS revealed this morning that the UK economy shrank by 2.2% in the first three months of 2020 – the sharpest decline in more than 40 years and 0.2 percentage points bigger than first estimated.
The better news was Bank of England economist Andy Haldane telling a webinar his forecast of the shape of the recovery: “It is early days, but my reading of the evidence is so far, so V.” But even Haldane pointed to new Treasury stats that 9.3 million people had been furloughed as part of the coronavirus job retention scheme, plus 2.5 million self-employed workers are claiming income support.
Advertisement
Boris Johnson giving a speech during a visit to Dudley College of Technology in Dudley. PA
Taken together, half the UK workforce is currently either unemployed or underemployed. Just get your head around that. That’s why the PM’s plan for an ‘Opportunity Guarantee’ of an apprenticeship or retraining needs much more detail - and yes money - than we’ve had to date. It is also why the Chancellor is under huge pressure to retain targeted furlough schemes for those in retail, aviation, the arts who can’t plant a shovel into the few ‘shovel ready’ plans unveiled today.
Today’s latest shocks were the threatened wave of job losses at Easyjet (1,300) and Airbus (1,700) and even shirtmaker T.M. Lewin (600). I remember growing up in the early 1980s recession and ITV’s News at Ten had a nightly ‘hotspot’ of redundancies on a map of the UK. Margaret Thatcher unsurprisingly loathed the impact it had on national morale. But we have barely started on unemployment impacts of Covid, it seems.
The air industry workers and pilots must have felt particularly queasy last week when the PM unveiled £900,000 on a paint job for his own plane. “I’m alright Jack” isn’t a great message for those receiving P45s, even if the Jack is a Union Jack. If ever the PM was guilty of boosterism, he didn’t sound particularly sorry today.
In many ways Johnson is just bad at building things other than his own political reputation. His ‘Boris buses’ were overpriced, overheated follies. His cable car over the Thames was another expensive construction, and his fabled garden bridge never got off the drawing board despite millions spent on it. His ‘jet zero’ plan today for a plane with zero emissions sounded more like a pun than a policy.
Advertisement
Many people would prefer his priority to be to build a properly functioning test and trace system that could at least act more effectively than it has so far in Leicester. Today is the last day for the PM to meet his target of a 24 hour turnaround for most tests. We may only find out if he’s ‘done a Hancock’ and miraculously fulfilled his promise tomorrow (in time for PMQs?) or later in the week.
The most notable thing about his speech today though was the way it veered wildly in tone from after-dinner knockabout (‘the zap and elan’, the ‘psychic energy’, ‘bottle it, swig it’) to the St Thomas Hospital deathbed conversion to seriousness (“the selflessness and the love of the health and the care workers and the charities”). He talked about mass unemployment as “mere bumps” in the road, and predicted we would “bounce forward – stronger and better”.
Being a tone-deaf economic booster is one thing. Being an incompetent Bertie Wooster is another entirely. But it’s possible that unless he grips the twin challenges of unemployment and of covid more fully, he could be remembered as both.
Quote Of The Day
“Yes of course we clap for our NHS but under this government we also applaud those who make our NHS possible, our innovators, our wealth creators, our capitalists and financiers.”
Boris Johnson suggests a ClapForBankers movement
Tuesday Cheat Sheet
Theresa May has blasted Boris Johnson for replacing top civil servant Mark Sedwill with an adviser who has “no proven expertise in national security”. Watch her shake her head at Michael Gove’s response.
Advertisement
The number of deaths registered in England and Wales over one week has fallen below the five-year average for the first time since before lockdown was imposed, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The PM faced fresh claims that the Tory party is doing favours for its “housing developer mates” after he unveiled sweeping planning reforms to allow high street shops to be turned into housing.
Keir Starmer has further entrenched his authority as Labour leader after the party’s ruling body agreed to reforms expected to water down the influence of left-wing activists.
Digital secretary Oliver Dowden suggested US sanctions due in September could change UK policy on Huawei. “Given that these sanctions... are extensive, it is likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a provider for the 5G network,” he said.
The EU announced that it would allow border entry from the UK as “safe” for Covid. But the US remains excluded.
Advertisement
The likelihood of the UK experiencing deadly 40C temperatures for the first time is “rapidly accelerating” due to the climate crisis, scientists have found.
What I’m Reading
Johnson Stumbles Blindfold Down A Hill - Gavin Kelly
Got A Tip?
Send tips, stories, quotes, pics, plugs or gossip to waugh.zone@huffpost.com.
Subscribe To Commons People


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Reopening Jobcentres 'Putting People's Health At Risk', Warns Union

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
Reopening jobcentres in England on Wednesday could create a “perfect storm” as staff and claimants face a “real risk” of coronavirus, according to the main union representing Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff.
Advertisement
A study by the PCS union showed widespread concerns among jobcentre staff over insufficient space in the workplace to ensure two-metre social distancing between staff and customers and a lack of personal protective equipment for staff.
Of the 1,764 jobcentre staff surveyed, 84% said they would not feel safe if front-facing activity with claimants was increased, while 65% said they did not believe there would be enough space in their workplace for two-metre social distancing rules to be implemented.
More than half (59%) reported they felt going to their workplace would put them in “serious or imminent danger”.
Jobcentres in England are set to reopen this week for face-to-face Universal Credit appointments and assessments. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
The DWP has said that “staff and customer safety is our priority” and that sites were being “adapted to ensure they are Covid-19 safe”.
It added it was fitting screens and social distancing signage, and providing masks and hand sanitisation facilities.
PCS union warned that the problem would be significantly compounded by the approximately 2.5 million new claimants of Universal Credit who will be “navigating a system that few of them have experience of”.
Real concerns about job centre reopening without proper safety checks combined with an ideological insistence on reintroducing sanctions at the same time - what could possibly go wrong? https://t.co/k0NqKjMSH6 — PCS Union (@pcs_union) June 30, 2020
They added their Black and minority ethnic members in particular had “real worries” and that they did not believe “all the safeguards required to make jobcentres safe are in place”.
Advertisement
In a statement, the PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The government have made little attempt to make jobcentres safe for staff or claimants.
“A survey of our members has shown clearly they know it is not safe, with over half saying they felt they were in imminent danger of catching Covid-19.
“Our members have been working flat out throughout the pandemic and want to see a humane social security system fit for these unprecedented times and a safe workplace where they can help claimants access the support they need.”
Jobcentres in England are set to reopen this week for face-to-face appointments and assessments for benefits including Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments.
Sanctions on benefits have also returned after a three-month freeze, despite calls from the Labour Party to extend the ban amidst the backdrop of an “unemployment crisis looming”.
Advertisement
Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey has said jobcentres will start "fully reopening" from July and rejected calls to extend the ban of sanctions. Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Although jobcentres have remained open during lockdown to provide services for people lacking phones or the internet, such as the homeless, DWP services have been running a significantly reduced service only for the vulnerable.
A representative of the welfare charity Turn2us told HuffPost UK they were “very concerned” that the reopening of jobcentres will “cause anxieties as well as putting people’s health at risk.”
Sara Willcocks, head of communications at Turn2us, said: “The health of our communities must be at the centre of any strategy to get back to business as usual.
“We urge the DWP to move forward cautiously with their plans to reopen centres and make sure they have put in place the necessary protection for jobcentre staff, social security claimants and the general public, before their doors open.
Advertisement
“We also ask that they extend the freeze on benefit sanctions and assessments. To do otherwise will only serve to detrimentally affect the most vulnerable among us.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Huawei 5G Deal In Doubt Amid US Sanctions On Chinese Firm

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Boris Johnson could be forced to rethink Huawei’s role in building the UK’s 5G network due sanctions imposed on the Chinese tech giant by Donald Trump.
Advertisement
The US administration tightened restrictions on the company in May amid fears it had close ties to the Chinese state.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the PM has been under increasing pressure from backbenchers to scrap the deal with the company to build “non-core” elements of the 5G infrastructure, with Tory MPs behind a Commons revolt saying it risks national security.
Now, culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) will conduct a review in light of the US sanctions, signalling the government could perform a U-turn.
It comes as the US imposed stricter rules around Huawei’s ability to buy semiconductor chips from firms which use US technology in their manufacturing.
Advertisement
Amid claims Dowden told MPs on the Commons’ defence committee that while the UK had been “clear eyed” about the security risks, the review will determine the “reliability” and viability of Huawei’s ability to deliver.
“Given that the US government has imposed sanctions on Huawei, given that those are focused on 5G, we do need to fully understand those and understand how that impacts on how much we can rely on Huawei equipment in the system given that it is subject to those restraints from the sanctions,” he said.
Dowden wants to see the playing field become more diverse so the UK is not dependent on a limited number of firms – currently just Huawei, Nokia and Siemens lead on 5G technology.
He added that it is the government’s ambition to remove Huawei from the network “over time” – but refused to set a timeframe for such a move.
An earlier review before the tougher sanctions were put in place concluded that Huawei would be allowed to have a reduced role in Britain’s 5G infrastructure.
Advertisement
However, the company was classed as a “high-risk vendor”, locked out of sensitive parts of the network and told it would be limited to no more than 35% of non-core areas of the network.
Prime minister Boris Johnson (left) and US president Donald Trump PA Wire/PA Images
Defence secretary Ben Wallace disputed suggestions that the US was bullying the UK into taking tougher action against Huawei.
“It’s not an American sanction against us, it’s an American sanction against the use of American IP (intellectual property) – not British IP – that seems to render part of Huawei equipment inoperable, so the United States are perfectly free to sanction whoever they want,” he said to the defence committee.
“If it was British IP being sanctioned by a third country, you might say you’re being bullied or pressurised but it’s not, my understanding it’s about chip manufacturers and things coming out of Taiwan using US IP and we would impose our view – and we still do – on IP that we own, so I don’t think it’s a matter of US bullying.”
Advertisement
It comes as the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially designated Huawei as a national threat.
Following the Tuesday’s session, Huawei vice president, Victor Zhang, said: “We are investing billions to make the prime minister’s vision of a ‘connected Kingdom’ a reality so that British families and businesses have access to fast, reliable mobile and broadband networks wherever they live.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Airbus Planning To Cut 1,700 Jobs In UK

Airbus Planning To Cut 1,700 Jobs In UK

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
Aerospace giant Airbus is planning to cut 1,700 jobs in the UK as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the company announced.
Advertisement
The news is a huge blow to its site at Broughton in north Wales, where wings are manufactured, and its other factory at Filton in Bristol.
The company is cutting 15,000 jobs across its global operations.
A company statement said: “Airbus has announced plans to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
“This adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions no later than summer 2021.
“The information and consultation process with social partners has begun with a view to reaching agreements for implementation starting in autumn 2020.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--The Best Socially-Distanced TV Gaffes Of Lockdown

The Best Socially-Distanced TV Gaffes Of Lockdown
Lots of jobs became slightly more difficult under the rules of lockdown and social distancing, including TV production. From kitchen fires, pantless interviews to Zoom calls timing out, here are some the best we’ve seen.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--This Is What It's Like To Own A Business In Leicester's Lockdown Zone

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Shaf Islam says he woke up on Monday with a spring in his step.
The owner of Chutney Ivy, a fine dining Indian restaurant in Leicester, had a busy few days ahead as he got ready to reopen at the weekend just like other establishments across England as part of the coronavirus lockdown easing.
“I was getting the restaurant ready, moving furniture around, ordering screens, masks and visors,” he told HuffPost UK. “I was looking forward to the week and then we got a phone call at 9am asking if I knew the restaurant might not be able to open.”
Advertisement
Islam’s restaurant is in the city centre and so falls in the area being kept under existing lockdown restrictions as authorities battle to get the local coronavirus outbreak under control.
Rising numbers of cases in the East Midlands city – 10% of all positive cases in the country over the past week – mean the planned easing of restrictions on Saturday will not take place, with people advised against all but essential travel.
“In March we suffered an earthquake and this has been a very delayed aftershock,” Islam added. “I think it’s very unfair, we’re almost being used as a guinea pig in Leicester.”
Advertisement
Countless bars, restaurants, cafes and hairdressers must remain shut for at least two weeks even as those elsewhere in the country welcome guests for the first time in months on Saturday.
We’re seeing extreme levels of traffic to our website, and you may struggle to access it. We’re really sorry. We’ve attached the map if you’re trying to see the lockdown area.
We’re working on fixing it. pic.twitter.com/UkVNM3QawZ — Leicestershire CC (@LeicsCountyHall) June 30, 2020
Stephen Hoskins, owner of The Ale Wagon, had decided opening on a weekend would be “mayhem” so was planning on waiting until Tuesday. A takeaway service over the last few weeks has just about kept him afloat but isn’t viable in the long term.
“I don’t know how long we can carry on like this – possibly another month,” he told HuffPost UK.
“It’s all very real for me because I lost my brother who was also my business partner in April to it, so I know how bad it is and up to a point I can see what they’re doing.
“But at some point everything’s got to open up otherwise everybody’s going to have to shut down.”
Other business owners are also unsure how the local lockdown will work. Azziza Burnham, owner of Roma bar and cafe, told HuffPost UK: “I find it quite strange that some restaurants not in the lockdown area have said they’re not going to take bookings from people in the city.
Advertisement
“How are they going to police that?”
Health secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News the government would bring forward a legal change “in the next couple of days” as some of the measures being put in place in Leicester “will require legal underpinning”.
“In some cases” the lockdown would be enforced by the police, Hancock said, while legal changes would be made so non-essential retail is no longer open.
When pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: “We’re recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules.
“Of course we will take further action including putting in place laws if that is necessary but I very much hope it won’t be.”
Advertisement
Adding to the frustration, Burnham had already taken bookings for next week and had a just a taste of what returning to normality would be like.
“As soon as I made the advert saying we were going to reopen people were emailing straight away,” she added.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--US Could Reach 100,000 Coronavirus Cases Per Day, Dr Anthony Fauci Warns

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Get the latest on coronavirus. Sign up to the Daily Brief for news, explainers, how-tos, opinion and more.
The US could see as many as 100,000 daily coronavirus infections if states where cases are surging don’t begin taking stronger measures to combat the spread, the nation’s top infectious disease expert has said
Advertisement
Dr Anthony Fauci issued the grim warning to a Senate committee on Tuesday while discussing president Donald Trump’s response to the deadly virus.
Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat senator, referred to comments Fauci made in March, when he theorised the US could see between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths from Covid-19, with millions more infected, before the end of the pandemic. As of late June, there have been more than 125,000 deaths in the US.
“Based on what you’re seeing now, how many Covid deaths and infections should America expect before this is all over?,” Warren asked.
“I can’t make an accurate prediction, but it is going to be very disturbing, I can guarantee you that,” Fauci replied. “Because when you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they’re doing well, they are vulnerable.”
Advertisement
States such as New York have seen a decline in cases, but others, including Texas, Arizona and Florida, are seeing a resurgence of infections as politicians have pushed to reopen businesses. At least 16 states have now paused their reopening plans amid the spike in cases.
“We can’t just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk,” Fauci said. “We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day, I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 cases a day if this does not turn around, so I am very concerned.”
Fauci previously warned that the US would have cases well into autumn.
THE LONE WARRIOR! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2020
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Starmer Wins Battle To Water Down Left-Wing Presence On Ruling NEC

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Coronavirus has changed everything. Make sense of it all with the Waugh Zone, our evening politics briefing. Sign up now.
Keir Starmer has further entrenched his authority as Labour leader after the party’s ruling body agreed to reforms expected to water down the influence of left-wing activists.
Advertisement
The National Executive Committee (NEC) passed plans to change the election of its own local party reps from first-past-the-post to single transferable vote, a move likely to ensure the presence of “moderate” activists.
The NEC elections – which allow members to pick nine of the 39-strong body – will also go ahead this year despite protests from some Jeremy Corbyn supporters and trade unions that they should be paused during the coronavirus pandemic.
The NEC voted by 19 to 12 in favour of the change, a larger victory than had been expected given fierce opposition among some on the Left.
Many on the Left of the party are feeling bruised after a week in which Starmer sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey from his shadow cabinet over her refusal to delete a tweet linking to an anti-Semitic trope.
Advertisement
Since he became leader on April 4, he has also acted swiftly to install a new general secretary David Evans and the change to NEC election was seen as a further test of his authority.
Some trade unions such as Unite, the Bakers’ Union, Aslef and Fire Brigades Union had backed moves by some activists to threaten legal action, claiming the full party conference should make the decision not the NEC itself.
Under the first-past-the-post system, all nine seats for constituency representatives were won in a “clean sweep” for Corbyn supporters under his leadership.
If proportional voting had been in place, representatives from the centre-left of the party would have won more.
The so-called ‘JC 9’ went on to become the standard bearers for Starmer’s predecessor, ensuring his own NEC majority. One member of their number, Pete Willsman, has been suspended since last year over anti-Semitism.
Advertisement
The change to STV has been seen by some in the party as a fair way to balance its different wings, and was championed by the Left when it felt it didn’t get fair representation under Tony Blair.
“It’s a victory for both Keir and Angela [Rayner] and hopefully ensures no one wing of party dominates membership section, as a broader range of views will be represented,” one NEC member told HuffPost UK.
During the meeting, the debate became “heated” as some union reps rounded on Rayner, telling her the change was “disgraceful”.
Left member Huda Elmi tweeted her anger afterwards, claiming the leadership was “waging war” on member democracy.
NEC have decided to wage war on member democracy. CLP’s only meeting virtually to nominate- no proper meetings/motions/AGM’s allowed. Only CLP section changing to STV, other NEC divisions untouched. No consultation, engagement or consistency (other internal elections deferred). — Huda Elmi (@hudaelmi_) June 30, 2020
Advertisement
Another of Left NEC member, Rachel Garnham expressed her own displeasure.
At today's NEC I proposed an amendment that CLPs should be allowed to meet formally online, as well as nominate for local govt selections and the NEC. It was defeated by one vote. Your new leadership does not want our CLPs meeting other than on its own narrow priorities. — Rachel Garnham (@LabourRachel) June 30, 2020
Nominations for the nine NEC places will take place this summer, with a ballot opening on October 19 and results on November 13.
The change means the Labour leadership will have a stronger presence before the next annual conference, which was postponed from September. Of the nine places for local parties, two are already held by ‘moderates’ and one or two more could be elected.
The meeting heard that the party’s membership now stood at 580,000 members, higher even than under Corbyn.
Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society said: “Labour’s move away from one-slate-takes-all should be the start of backing fair elections at Westminster - where every vote candidates, and no one has to ‘hold their nose’ by voting tactically.”
Advertisement
A spokesperson for the leftwing Campaign for Labour Party Democracy urged members to stay and fight. They said: “Many members will be deeply disappointed at this divisive decision by the party’s executive, to fiddle the methods of its own election.”
But Starmer also faced criticism early in the meeting over his remarks on Monday that Black Lives Matter was more a “moment” rather than a political “movement”.
#BlackLivesMatter isn’t just a moment, it’s a movement.
It was a pleasure to speak at @BLMWandsworth recently.
It's clear that if we want to see real change, it's going to take sustained pressure from below. pic.twitter.com/nUlUB4dn2o — Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (@BellRibeiroAddy) June 29, 2020
Several Black activists said they had been appalled at his comment, as well as the dismissive tone of his suggestion that calls to defund the police were “nonsense”.
NEC sources said that the Labour leader spent four or five minutes addressing the issue of Black Lives Matter directly.
Advertisement
Challenged by NEC member Huda Elmi, he stressed he did not see the BLM movement as a momentary event – rather that recent weeks would come to be seen as a momentous point in history.
Sources said that Starmer said that this was a ‘moment’ where more people than ever before are paying attention and getting involved in fight against racism and systemic discrimination and where a big shift in attitudes is possible.
He also said he would never ‘defund’ the police and reminded the NEC that Diane Abbott as shadow home secretary led the party campaign in the last two general elections on a platform of 20,000 more police and more money for fighting crime.
He said supporting the police did not prevent the party from also supporting more mental health, youth and other services.
Labour MPs such as Bell Ribeiro-Addy and other activists attacked Starmer on Monday after his remarks on Black Lives Matter and some of their demands made in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in the United States.
Advertisement
Asked about defunding the police, the process whereby funds are diverted from law enforcement into other areas such as social care and rehabilitation, he had said: “Nobody should be saying anything about defunding the police.
“I was director of public prosecutions for five years. I’ve worked with police forces across England and Wales bringing thousands of people to court, so my support for the police is very strong.
“It’s a shame it’s getting tangled up with these organisational issues, with the organisation Black Lives Matter, but I wouldn’t have any truck with what the organisation is saying about defunding the police – that’s just nonsense.”
Starmer then sparked further anger with his reference to BLM as a “moment”.
“There’s a broader issue here. The Black Lives Matter movement – or moment, if you like – internationally is about reflecting something completely different. It’s reflecting on what happened dreadfully in America just a few weeks ago and showing or acknowledging that as a moment across the world.”
The Labour BAME Staff Network and parliamentary and constituency Bame group demanded a meeting with Starmer earlier, saying that his “zero tolerance” approach to anti-Semitism should apply to all forms of racism.
Advertisement
“Without this, the party risks forming a hierarchy of racism in which different forms of discrimination are treated differently”.
Others said that he also refused to engage when asked by NEC youth rep Lara McNeill to take action against shadow cabinet minister Rachel Reeves for her own praise of Nancy Astor. Astor was the UK’s first woman MP to take her seat but has been heavily criticised for her views on Jews and Nazism.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Seeking Asylum In Britain Finally Let Me Live As The Gay Man I Am

Seeking Asylum In Britain Finally Let Me Live As The Gay Man I Am
Nadim Uddin grew up in Bangladesh, but realising he was gay, felt that he couldn’t lead the life he wanted in the country. He came to Britain to study, finding a society that let him express himself and be who he wanted to be, leading to him seeking asylum to live the life he never felt possible.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Criminal Inquiry Launched Into Deaths Of Mothers And Babies At Hospital Trust

The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is one of the sites run by Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust. Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
Police have launched an investigation into an NHS trust at the centre of the one of the worst maternity scandals in the health service’s history.
West Mercia Police confirmed it is probing claims made about Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust, which is already facing an independent inquiry into hundreds of alleged cases involving the deaths of babies and mothers stretching back to 1979.
Advertisement
Police confirmed that they met Donna Ockenden, who is leading the separate inquiry, and representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Improvement on Tuesday.
In a statement, assistant chief constable Geoff Wessell said a police investigation will explore whether there is evidence to support a criminal case “against the trust or any individuals involved”.
He said: “Today, June 30, 2020, we have met with NHS Improvement, the Department of Health and the independent reviewer to discuss complaints made against Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust in relation to maternity services and provision. The independent review is ongoing.
“We can confirm that a police investigation will be conducted to explore whether there is evidence to support a criminal case either against the trust or any individuals involved.
Advertisement


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--What To Expect When Schools Reopen

What To Expect When Schools Reopen

What To Expect When Schools Reopen
The government is keen for children to return to school en masse in September, to reduce the damaging effects the lockdown has had on education inequality and to allow parents to go back to work full time. Here’s what schools may look like when they welcome students back.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Why Coronavirus Cases Are Spiking Around The World

July 4 is being hailed as its own sort of British Independence Day – a “Super Saturday” when many of the UK’s remaining coronavirus lockdown restrictions are being lifted or relaxed. The end of the country’s “long national hibernation,” Boris Johnson said last week, will be marked by the reopening of pubs, restaurants, hair salons, hotels, museums, theatres and other venues. Social distancing measures are being softened, and individuals will be allowed to spend time in the company of more people.
“Frankly I can’t wait to go to a pub or a restaurant,” Johnson said at a news conference last week. “I think people need to go out, and I think they need to enjoy themselves, and rediscover things that they haven’t been able to do for a long time.”
Advertisement
Even as Johnson and other world leaders declare victory, however, the virus has delivered a series of unsettling reality checks. There have been increases in cases recently in Germany, South Korea, Italy, China and New Zealand. In the United States, the number of coronavirus cases has been surging in many states. On Monday evening, the UK government introduced its first local lockdown, isolating 330,000 people in Leicester from the rest of the country after the number of cases there spiked.
“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organisation, said on Monday.
“Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up,” he said.
It’s tempting to blame irresponsible individuals for the spiking infection rates. Since the beginning of the pandemic and the ensuing national lockdowns, social media has been filled with posts shaming people for congregating in parks and other public spaces, milling about in front of bars and restaurants without regard for social distancing, or failing to wear face masks.
Advertisement
Certainly, after so much time spent in confinement, the warm summer weather has brought with it a sense of release. In the UK, thousands descended on the beaches of Bournemouth last week, on the hottest day thus far of the year, forcing officials to declare a “major incident.”
The easing of lockdown restrictions, combined with rising summer temperatures that lure more people outside, creates a “perfect storm” that can easily overwhelm popular tourist destinations and contribute to the spread of the coronavirus, UK officials say – a situation that played out in the United States when young people attended spring break festivities in Florida and Mexico despite growing public health warnings.
Now, as countries in Europe reopen their borders to tourism, foreign visitors may spark a rise in infections. In Greece, for example, more than one-third of new coronavirus cases over the past week have been from foreign tourists. In Spain, Fernando Simón, director of the Center for Coordination of Alerts and Emergencies, warned this week that cases were likely to rise in the country as travellers are encouraged to return to the country to help its economic recovery.
Beachgoers enjoy the sunshine as they sunbathe and swim on Bournemouth Beach in southern England on June 25. GLYN KIRK via Getty Images
Advertisement
Many of the recent outbreaks have nothing to do with tourists enjoying their holiday or young people partying the night away in some field or former warehouse, however.
In Germany, two cities in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia were placed on lockdown last week after more than 1,500 workers at a meat processing plant tested positive for Covid-19, raising fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections.
The coronavirus has hit minority and low-income communities particularly hard. In Berlin, more than 300 households were placed under quarantine in the Neukölln neighbourhood after an outbreak in an apartment complex that is home to many low-income and immigrant families.
“The people being affected right now are those who can’t even afford an apartment that’s big enough for their family,” Neukölln’s district mayor Martin Hikel told Deutsche Welle.
Advertisement
In Italy as well, the government has deployed soldiers to help quarantine a residential complex in the town of Mondragone, near Naples, that is home to a community of Bulgarian farm workers, after 49 people tested positive for Covid-19.
And Bartolini, one of Italy’s major delivery companies, was recently forced to close its warehouse in Bologna after dozens of employees contracted coronavirus.
“Logistics setting remains highly risky in terms of new outbreaks: These places present a high volume of people interchange and easy crowding,” Fabrizio Pregliasco, a virologist at the University of Milan, told HuffPost Italy.
The situation in Mondragone is similar to that in North Rhine-Westphalia, he said. “The professional risk there was grafted onto a potentially explosive social element, specifically the housing conditions of exploited workers, forced to rest in dormitories with dozens of people. Such a context makes social distancing impossible.”
“We should take into account that there are sectors of the population that do not have all the tools to fully understand and to access adequate information on what needs to be done,” he added.
Advertisement
Parisians dance in the street in the 6th Arrondissement as Paris celebrates the first day of summer with Fete de La Musique with bands playing across the city on June 21. Kiran Ridley via Getty Images
In Leicester, there have been news reports of crowds outside of restaurants as well as an outbreak at a local food production plant, but public officials have said that multiple factors are likely to have contributed to the spike in cases.
“I don’t think at the moment we’re seeing a single cause or single smoking gun on this,” Ivan Browne, the city’s public health director, told the BBC, “so we really need to try to dig down and find out what is going on, and it’s likely to be a combination of factors.”
Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, health secretary Matt Hancock suggested that poverty and higher-density housing may have contributed to the outbreak.
Presenter Dan Walker also mentioned the fact that Leicester is more ethnically diverse than other areas, with some people in the community perhaps facing language barriers in accessing public health information.
Advertisement
“We are still doing the work to understand exactly why the outbreak has been so bad in Leicester,” Hancock said. “But lots of the reasons that you mentioned just then are familiar to me, and people will find them intuitive.”
Shops in Oxford Circus in London celebrate the further easing of Britain's lockdown restrictions, aimed at reviving the economy, June 23. NurPhoto via Getty Images
Overall, despite the hand-wringing on social media about people not following government guidelines, scientific evidence suggests that most people have been adhering to the restrictions.
“All the government evidence shows widespread adherence to the public health measures,” John Drury, a professor at the University of Sussex and one of the country’s leading behavioural psychologists, told The Guardian recently.
Most examples of people failing to follow social distancing measures are not evidence of individual selfishness, he said, but rather of the hardships that many face and the failure of public officials to offer clear guidance or provide for their needs.
Advertisement
“Despite media campaigns to vilify some people as selfish and thoughtless ‘covidiots,’ the evidence on reasons for non‐adherence shows that much of it was practical rather than psychological,” Drury and his colleagues wrote in a recent paper in the British Journal of Social Psychology. “Many people had to cram into Tube trains to go to work because they needed money to survive and government support schemes were insufficient. People were told they could go out to exercise, but those in urban areas had limited public space. And some employers failed to provide the support for social distancing and hygiene. Those with less income and wealth also live in more crowded homes.”
Now, with Boris Johnson encouraging people to eat, drink, and be merry – and the decision to relax restrictions further on a Saturday seems designed to facilitate just that – it’s no wonder that the public seems to be adopting a looser stance toward the coronavirus.
But it remains the government’s responsibility to make sure that the lifting of lockdown restrictions doesn’t result in a second wave of infections. Many health officials have looked on with dismay as the UK and the US press ahead with reopening plans despite the lack of robust testing and tracing systems that would allow them to identify and isolate new outbreaks quickly, before they spread throughout the community.
“Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine,” remained the central message from the World Health Organization, Tedros said on Monday.
“With 10 million cases now and half a million deaths, unless we address the problems we’ve already identified at WHO, the lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity and the divided world which is actually helping the virus to spread ... the worst is yet to come,” he said.
Advertisement
“I’m sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and conditions we fear the worst,” he said.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--A Minute Of Kindness: Leaving Notes For Neighbours

A Minute Of Kindness: Leaving Notes For Neighbours
When lockdown was just kicking off, this lady sprung to action for the vulnerable people of her cul de sac. Heading to the shops for their basic supplies and essential prescriptions, the neighbourhood got to know each other like never before and keep each other afloat at the time.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-06-30--Boris Johnson's Bargain Basement New Deal Hits A New Low

LOADING ERROR LOADING
We’ve grown used to Boris Johnson’s Boosterism – talking up every initiative as “world beating” or setting a “blistering pace” for others to follow, only to see the detail fall well short.
But his “Rooseveltian New Deal” on infrastructure spending hits a new low. The sums involved are derisory, the ambition non-existent. The great American president must be turning in his grave at the hijacking of his name for such a paltry, bargain basement plan.
Advertisement
The point about Roosevelt’s New Deal was that it was visionary – for the 1930s. Ninety years on, we face a very different challenge in the climate and nature emergency. We don’t need a dressed up “new deal” – we need a Green New Deal, and this isn’t it.
There is nothing here which suggests that the prime minister has understood the size and the scale of the transformation that’s needed at this pivotal moment. Nor that he’s listened to the overwhelming majority of people who want change – only 6% say they want a return to business-as-before in the wake of coronavirus.
He talks about generational fairness and issues which have been neglected for decades, but fails to make the clear link that the greatest inter-generational injustice is ignoring the climate and nature crises, so irreparably damaging the planet we are handing on to our children and grandchildren.
If record flooding in the UK last winter, and temperatures of 38C in the Arctic in June, aren’t enough to wake up this government to the scale of the crisis, then what will? The climate emergency is accelerating and all we are seeing is Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
Advertisement
This is the moment when we will set our country’s path for the next generation. The nature of infrastructure spending could not be more significant. Either we lock ourselves into high carbon dependency for the next few decades – and essentially say goodbye to any chance of avoiding the worst of the climate catastrophe – or we lay the foundations now for a greener, safer, fairer future.
“The fixation with the pursuit of GDP growth is driving the climate and nature crises. It can no longer be the key measure of progress.”
The number and range of voices calling for a Green New Deal is growing louder by the day, and they are coming from across the political spectrum. Today, thousands are lobbying their MPs calling for climate action. Only last week, the Committee on Climate Change provided a list of investments urgently needed to put us on the path to net zero, from retrofitting homes to reskilling workers from high-carbon to low-carbon jobs. The prime minister was silent on all of these.
As we begin to emerge from the peak of the coronavirus crisis, we urgently need to invest in our future, in a way which will create jobs in a resilient, green economy. A Government-led transition to net zero – which we need to achieve far sooner than the 2050 target date – could create millions of jobs in home insulation, nature restoration, renewable energy projects and more.
Creating cycle lanes and upgrading and electrifying railways would also create more jobs and offer better value for money than the Government’s eye-watering £27 billion road-building plan. With pollution from traffic a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, we should be building a transport and planning system that makes car-free travel for shorter distances the norm for the majority.
Advertisement
But we need to go further and completely change our approach to managing our economy. This is not a new idea – it’s been a principle of the Green New Deal group, which I co-founded back in 2007, before the financial crisis. Its moment is now. Coronavirus has exposed for all what many of us already knew – some of our most important workers have barely enough to live on, and millions are condemned to financial insecurity, inequality and food poverty.
On top of this, the fixation with the pursuit of GDP growth is driving the climate and nature crises. It can no longer be the key measure of progress.
The success of our economic recovery programme should instead be measured by its impact on the health and well-being of people and nature – a point I have made in an amendment to the Finance Bill, currently going through Parliament.
The economic rulebook has already been discarded during this crisis. We should go further and take this opportunity to rewrite it, to prioritise the things that matter the most in our lives: mental and physical health, income security, community resilience and the health of our environment. Other countries are developing well-being economies – we should do the same.
That is the way to create a society which would stand the test of time – for everyone.