thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-18--I've Worked In University Admissions For 10 Years – I've Never Seen Chaos Like This

Students protest the A-level grading system PAUL ELLIS via Getty Images
It takes a specific skillset to thrive in an admissions office at a university.
You need to possess a shedload of empathy, the hide of a rhinoceros and adaptability in the face of constantly changing priorities.
With over 10 years of admin experience behind me, I thought I’d seen it all. Then the A level results were released, and all hell broke loose.
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I’m part of a team of eight who processes undergraduate entries to one of the most prestigious medical schools in the world.
We adjusted to working from home after an abrupt shutdown, which saw us locked out of buildings with barely time to collect our belongings.
We cobbled together home offices and carried on with dealing with a slew of admissions enquiries with guidelines which seemed to change hourly, not daily.
But none of that prepared us for the events of the past week.
“I knew there would be an eventual U-turn. But that didn’t help us last week when we had to follow protocol and reject students who were screwed over by an algorithm, students who are now qualified for a place that’s been taken by someone else.”
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The emails and phone calls are unrelenting. As soon as I open my laptop at 9am, the ping of new mail starts and doesn’t stop until I log off.
I tried muting the sound, but I still hear it. I even hear it when I dream. Although official office hours are 9-5, I regularly stay on email until 9pm, scared to leave too many unanswered messages until the morning.
In the past few weeks, my team and I have fielded around 30,000 frantic emails and calls from students, parents and teachers.
Some are begging, some abusive and most tearful. We’ve had threats of legal action and several students have said they will harm themselves if they don’t gain access to the programme.
We escalate the most distressed students to a manager and I now include the details for the Samaritans in my email signature, in the hope that someone who needs it will seek help.
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As soon as the A-level results were released, I knew there would be an eventual U-turn.
It seemed inevitable after the Scottish Government scrapped downgraded results. But that didn’t help us last week when we had to follow protocol and reject students who were screwed over by an algorithm, students who are now qualified for a place that’s been taken by someone else.
Being told by the government that we need to lift our cap on number is useless when there is only space on four undergraduate degree programmes out of the almost 400 the university offers.
There is no way to physically increase the quotas in the medical school, we simply don’t have the teaching staff, buildings and student housing to accommodate this.
Even if there was a massive financial injection it would be impossible to employ new lecturers and find more teaching space with less than five weeks until the start of semester.
“It feels inevitable that one of us will have a complete breakdown with the stress of the job.”
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There’s a constant feeling our performance is being monitored and our team will be downsized if we’re deemed to be overstaffed.
Just last month, an all-staff email from our Principal outlined a series of cost cutting measures to mitigate the impact of Covid on university finances, including redundancies.
Agency staff that were holding departments together were terminated and zero-hours contractors were let go. We’re having to do the same job with fewer resources and it’s exhausting.
Admissions staff are almost at the bottom of the university food chain but are bearing the brunt of the government’s incompetence. Many of us would look for work elsewhere but feel trapped due to the economic uncertainty and current job market.
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We stay because on a good day it’s an amazing job – you get to make people’s dreams to study a reality. But the bad days are outweighing the good just now.
It’s impossible to switch off from work, even at the weekends. I had to delete my profile picture from the university website as students and parents were tracking me down on social media and sliding into my DMs asking for help. I deleted my LinkedIn for the same reason.
Every member of my team has taken time off to deal with mental health issues in the past five months.
It feels inevitable that one of us will have a complete breakdown with the stress of the job.
I haven’t slept properly in a month. It’s impossible to settle my mind when I can still hear the phantom email notifications long after I’ve turned my laptop off for the day.
An algorithm may be to blame for the admissions chaos but remember, it’s humans having to clear up the mess.
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-18--Donald Trump Lashes Out At Michelle Obama's DNC Speech With String Of Baseless Claims

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President Donald Trump lashed out at Michelle Obama on Tuesday with a series of baseless claims after the former first lady described him as being “in over his head” and the “wrong president for this country” during her widely praised Democratic National Convention speech.
“Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama,” the president wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, hours after Obama slammed Trump’s “utter lack of empathy” in her speech.
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She also warned that “if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can” and urged people to support presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the November election “like our lives depend on it.”
Trump raged in his tweets that the Obamas’ support of Biden was “merely an afterthought.”
Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama. Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for that very late & unenthusiastic endorsement..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020
He also tried to spin his administration’s catastrophic mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and repeated his unfounded claim that the Obama White House spied on his 2016 campaign, which he called “Treason.”
“Thanks for your very kind words Michelle,” Trump concluded.
....My Administration and I built the greatest economy in history, of any country, turned it off, saved millions of lives, and now am building an even greater economy than it was before. Jobs are flowing, NASDAQ is already at a record high, the rest to follow. Sit back & watch! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020
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Looking back into history, the response by the ObamaBiden team to the H1N1 Swine Flu was considered a weak and pathetic one. Check out the polling, it’s really bad. The big difference is that they got a free pass from the Corrupt Fake News Media! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020
The ObamaBiden Administration was the most corrupt in history, including the fact that they got caught SPYING ON MY CAMPAIGN, the biggest political scandal in the history of our Country. It’s called Treason, and more. Thanks for your very kind words Michelle! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020
Critics were quick to fact-check the president:
The bigger difference was that N1N1 killed about 12,000 Americans; Covid has killed 167,000 so far. https://t.co/saE2q6NtS1 — Greg Miller (@gregpmiller) August 18, 2020
Can think of a 170,000 differences. https://t.co/oSwP5SKao1 — Matthew Moore (@mattmoorek) August 18, 2020
The weird thing is he clearly believes this, despite having passed almost no decent economic measures (other than an unproductive tax cut for the wealthy). https://t.co/7vSDqSW16r — James Ball (@jamesrbuk) August 18, 2020
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Here is Trump once again taking credit for shutting down. Incredibly. He surely doesn't really believe that he saved millions of lives. Surely not. https://t.co/4mX6EVC3Va — Jeffrey A Tucker (@jeffreyatucker) August 18, 2020
More than 5.6 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and 173,000+ have died. A strong (more than 23 million unemployed at the highest in April?) economy isn't the only sign of presidential worthiness. https://t.co/wKW9GN9sdT — Luke Cooper (@luke__cooper) August 18, 2020
No, the "big difference" is that H1N1 killed around 12,000 Americans while covid-19 has killed, at a minimum, 170,000 Americans, with around 1,000 more dying every day because you continue to do nothing other than shift blame. https://t.co/1KhMJl78d5 — Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) August 18, 2020
@realDonaldTrump exuding the same grace and class that we've become accustomed to. Prepare to leave the White House with that tail between your legs. https://t.co/WZi1nMjusC — Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) August 18, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--How I May Destroy You Should Open The Door For More Groundbreaking TV Shows

With its depictions of period sex, stealthing, sexual assault and the mental health fallout, I May Destroy You explored tough subjects in ways that felt unfathomable for TV only a few short months ago.
But as well as dark and sobering, the BBC series proved to be enjoyably stylistic – it is hard to think of any other drama centred around sexual assault that had language this poetic and scenery this beautiful.
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That balance is testament to its creator, writer, director, producer and lead actor Michaela Coel, who crafted a piece of groundbreaking television that resonated with so many.
As a result, other writers and commissioners will have been inspired to tell bold and brave new stories, using I May Destroy You’s formula as a springboard for their ideas.
Nadia Fall, the theatre director who gave Coel an early break in National Theatre show Home, reflects on why the show felt so pertinent.
“I May Destroy You moved my family, my friends, people who don’t give a shit about art,” she says. “They’re teachers, supermarket check out people, my mum: people who aren’t in the arts were also moved by it. So it’s not pretentious. I’m sounding like an insane fangirl, but I am…
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Fall continues: “Moon cups, periods... as women we don’t even talk about [the issues brought up in the show]. That’s how deep it goes.”
Michaela Coel acted in, co-directed, executive produced and wrote I May Destroy You Natalie Seery/HBO
Ita O’Brien, intimacy coordinator on I May Destroy You, following her work on shows including Sex Education, was tasked with honouring Coel’s brave writing on screen. She worked to ensure each taboo-smashing scene felt as literal as it did in Coel’s script.
Take the assault scene featuring Paapa Essiedu’s character Kwame, where he is abused by a man during a hook-up that began consensually. O’Brien and Coel were keen to make the scene as realistic as possible to how the situation might play out in real life.
With gay male sex, says O’Brien, historically it is shot from behind, but in the show the two man are face-to-face. “To see that connection as opposed to the disconnect from behind, and then making sure we’ve got that position right... As a woman I went to have legs turned out, and they said, ‘uh uhh, legs parallel.’
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“Getting the detail right… It takes time to penetrate, it takes time to withdraw, for me it’s when you get that detail.”
Intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien was responsible for converting the reality of Coel's script into the scenes Supplied
Coel and her team had complete creative control over the I May Destroy You shoot, having turned down a $1m contract with Netflix that may have encroached more on her autonomy.
Coel chose to go with the BBC because commissioner Piers Wenger allowed her to tell her story, based on her own experiences, in the exact way she requested, without trying to cram her idea into a more conventional format.
“When she first pitched the series as 12 half-hours, it was the first time we had committed to that particular shape to a series,” says Wenger.
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“I had a moment of wondering how Michaela was going to sustain the story across 12 separate sittings. But as it turns out she was absolutely right – and that new shape proved to be the perfect vessel to carry the scale of her ideas.”
Coel convinced the BBC to allow her to shoot the show in 12 separate half-hour episodes, a new format for the broadcaster Natalie Seery/HBO
Alexia Skinitis, drama editor at Radio Times, believes I May Destroy You has the boldest female narrative ever seen on BBC One and hopes the show’s realistic depictions of sexual assault and menstruation will inspire a new generation of female writers to find their own voice as Coel did.
“What made I May Destroy You truly unique and special is that it felt completely authentic and true to Michaela’s voice and vision – unadulterated, unashamed and brilliant,” she says.
“To believe in the importance of their experiences and the value of sharing them.”
And the more people that write from diverse perspectives, the more authentic and representative of different life experiences our TV landscape will be as a whole – but audiences have their part to play, too.
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“By watching and expressing our enjoyment of series like I May Destroy You, audiences can also influence channels to provide more varied dramas, not just the usual period, crime or bestselling novel adaptation hits they rely on,” urges Skinitis.
“When you see something that moves you and rocks your world, of course, a whole generation is going to try and be inspired by it, and some will try and copycat it” - Nadia Fall, director who worked with Coel on Home at the National Theatre
In an effort to create more truly representative drama, writers may attempt to copy the style of I May Destroy You, believes Nadia Fall. These spin-offs may be clunky or they may be great, but she calls imitation “the highest form of flattery”.
“That’s what art has always done,” she says. “When you see something that moves you and rocks your world, of course, a whole generation is going to try and be inspired by it, and some will try and copycat it. That’s just how it is in every art form, and that’s alright.
“There will be some good things that ricochet from this, there might be some terrible pastiches that never quite get it right but that’s just flattery, that’s great.”
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Michaela Coel previously wrote and starred in Chewing Gum Getty
So what might new boundary-pushing shows look like? Skinitis from Radio Times reminds us that even though there will be inevitable copying there’s always room for more fresh and innovative perspectives.
“Just when you think you’ve seen everything on screen, there’s always something that comes along and feels taboo,” she says. “There will always be something new that will shock and surprise viewers - but the whole point is that we don’t know what that is yet!”
The important thing is that groundbreaking scenes – such as the one where a blood clot is discharged during sex – give new writers the confidence to pen scripts about other topics we haven’t seen on TV before.
This type of brave new writing speaks to communities of people, or certain experiences, that many of us are living through in silence, and through the power of art, we can start to break down these stigmas in real life too.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--How America’s Alt-Right Is Fuelling Europe’s Anti-Mask Protests

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Protesters across Europe have taken to the streets in recent weeks to promote conspiracy theories about the pandemic, and rally against face masks and other health safeguards.
“I will not be masked, tested, tracked or poisoned,” read a sign at a protest in Hyde Park last month.
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On August 1, about 20,000 people attended an anti-mask “Day of Freedom” rally in Berlin, demanding “freedom” and “resistance” and declaring the pandemic a hoax.
And on Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered in Madrid to protest the mandatory use of face masks in every public space in Spain, a requirement the government announced on Friday along with a ban on smoking in outdoor areas when keeping a safe distance is impossible.
People at the demonstration were seen holding placards reading “no to the muzzle” and chanting “freedom” to demand that face masks be voluntary and that they have the right to choose whether to get a potential Covid-19 vaccine.
Many of the protesters denied that the coronavirus exists and chanted: “There are no new outbreaks.”
Spain recorded almost 3,000 new cases on Friday, about double the average in the first 12 days of August, bringing the cumulative total to 342,813 – the highest in western Europe.
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On Tuesday, the president of the Spanish Society of Immunology, Marcos López Hoyos, warned that the coronavirus situation in the country could worsen “at any time”.
“Although we cannot say that there is a second wave, everything indicates that at any moment the situation could return to the scenario of March and April,” Hoyos said.
Protesters in Madrid rally against the mandatory use of face masks and other measures adopted by the Spanish government to prevent the spread of coronavirus Marcos del Mazo via Getty Images
Similar demonstrations have been held in Madrid in recent months. In May, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in the city’s wealthy Salamanca neighbourhood to protest continued lockdown restrictions.
The latest rally was promoted on social media by the Spanish singer Miguel Bosé, a leading proponent of coronavirus conspiracy theories. He has called the pandemic “a big lie” and has launched a campaign against an eventual coronavirus vaccine, claiming it is simply an excuse for international governments to implant microchips or nanobots into people and control them via 5G cellular networks.
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“Once they activate the 5G network, key in this global domination strategy, we will be sheep at their mercy,” Bosé wrote on social media in June.
Many of the protesters who attended Sunday’s rally in Madrid learned about the event through social media and messaging platforms like Telegram, which allows users to create groups of thousands of people.
HuffPost Spain obtained access to a Telegram group with more than 50,000 members that has become a central place for people to share coronavirus conspiracy theories, organise protests and suggest slogans for upcoming demonstrations.
In videos and messages shared on the platform, users accused the media of lying about the pandemic and said that the Spanish government and opposition parties are “united to bring about the ruin of Spain and our families”.
Spanish singer Miguel Bosé, pictured here on May 3, 2019, has been a leading promoter of coronavirus conspiracy theories. NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Some messages suggest that the pandemic is a conspiracy against Donald Trump, and that chemtrails are responsible for the increased number of people experiencing respiratory problems.
“The pandemic is over. There are and never have been any viruses. People have gotten sick from the flu vaccine that contained a toxic blood clotting agent,” one message claims. “Quarantines, masks, gloves and alcohol wipes are illegal. All this is the plan of Bill Gates, bankers, laboratories and politicians for the reduction of the world population. The mask is unnecessary and goes against human rights.”
As Kathryn Joyce has reported for HuffPost and Type Investigations, billionaire Gates has become a central focus of coronavirus conspiracy theories.
Much of the news shared via the Spanish Telegram group comes from Breitbart News, the conservative website that has long served as a central clearinghouse for the alt-right’s ideology.
In the United States, protesters rally against lockdown restrictions outside of the capitol building in Lansing, Michigan, April 30. Seth Herald / reuters
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And many of the group’s actions and protest signs take inspiration from right-wing anti-lockdown protests in the United States. Photos of protests in America are shared frequently in the Spanish Telegram group.
A common theme of the Telegram messages is “don’t be fooled”. Yet it is the protesters who are fooling themselves by spreading falsehoods about the pandemic and efforts to address it.
“These movements [...] are based on a denial. In other words, if something hurts or scares us, the easy thing is to deny it,” Guillermo Fouce, a professor of social psychology, told HuffPost Spain.
According to Fouce, the pandemic environment of vulnerability and uncertainty has allowed conspiracy theories to thrive.
“Since science cannot provide all the answers,” he said. “There are those who take advantage of this lack of information by offering easy solutions.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Dynasty's Emma Samms Describes Effects Of Coronavirus She's Still Feeling Six Months After Falling I

Dynasty's Emma Samms Describes Effects Of Coronavirus She's Still Feeling Six Months After Falling Ill

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Former Dynasty star Emma Samms has revealed she’s still feeling certain after-effects of Covid-19 almost six months after first contracting the virus.
The actor fell ill in March of this year, and during an interview on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain, revealed she’s still experiencing what she has described as “panic-inducing levels of fatigue” long after getting over the disease.
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Speaking to presenters Adil Ray and Kate Garraway – whose husband contracted Covid-19 in April and is still in intensive care – the 59-year-old star explained that she was denied a test when she first started showing symptoms, as at that time they were only being offered to people who needed hospital treatment.
“I had shortness of breath, chest pains and various other symptoms but they sent me home and said, ‘Come back if it gets any worse’,” she explained.
Emma at the British Soap Awards in 2018 zz/KGC-247/STAR MAX/IPx
Emma noted that she now has “good days and bad days”, saying: “[When I was first ill, doctors were] saying ‘it’s two weeks and then I’m going to feel better’, and I just didn’t.
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“There would be a good day, and then I’d get back out in the garden and try and do some gardening, and then the next day I’d be completely wiped out.”
She continued: “I do want to stress, though, obviously, I’m still one of the very lucky ones. You know, I wasn’t hospitalised and I wasn’t in [intensive care]. Relatively speaking, even with these ongoing symptoms, I haven’t got little kids to look after, so I do consider myself still very lucky.
“It’s just very frustrating that there’s not much awareness out there, both in public and in the medical world, of what ‘long Covid’ is. Doctors have not known about it when I have seen them. So I’ve tried to tell them about it.”
Emma Samms appearing on Good Morning Britain ITV
When asked whether there was a “danger” she could fall ill again, the actor said: “Nobody knows. This is the thing. I’m assuming that eventually I will get better, but nobody knows.
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“And weirdly enough, the doctors who I’ve spoken to who say ‘we just don’t know, this is a new virus’, those are the ones that I trust the most.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--You're Wearing A Mask Every Time You Use A Public Toilet, Right?

Михаил Руденко via Getty Images
We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Mask-wearing is mandatory in most settings nowadays, but it’s not *technically* the case in public toilets. Yet, you should probably wear one anyway.
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A group of researchers from Yangzhou University in China say flushing public toilets can release clouds of virus-laden aerosols for you to potentially inhale. And flushing urinals does the same, possibly even more violently.
Previous studies have shown transmission of Covid-19 could occur through faeces, so it’s not great news that public toilets could be flinging germs up into the air – especially as some loos don’t even have seats you can put down.
What’s the solution to staying safe, then? “Wearing a mask should be mandatory within public restrooms during the pandemic, and anti-diffusion improvements are urgently needed to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” said study author Xiangdong Liu.
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In June, Yangzhou University researchers said toilet flushing “creates a great deal of turbulence”, after computer modelling suggested droplets may be carried to a height of nearly three feet (0.9 metres) from the ground, where they might then be inhaled or settle on surfaces.
“One can foresee that the velocity will be even higher when a toilet is used frequently, such as in the case of a family toilet during a busy time or a public toilet serving a densely populated area,” said co-author Ji-Xiang Wang.
The study didn’t show the likeliness of catching coronavirus in this way. The most common form of transmission is still known to be droplets from coughs and sneezes – but it’s certainly food for thought.
A new piece of research from the same university, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, found flushing a urinal causes a spread of aerosol particles to be released. Researchers simulated and tracked these particles, and found the trajectory of them ejected by flushing a urinal “manifests an external spread type, with more than 57% of the particles traveling away from the urinal”.
When men use urinals in a public toilet, these tiny particles can reach their thigh within 5.5 seconds when compared to the toilet flush, which takes 35 seconds to reach slightly higher, computer modelling showed.
Particles from urinals “show a more violent climbing tendency,” Liu said. “The climbing speed is much faster than toilet flushing.”
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beckyblanton via Getty Images
Whether people actually catch Covid-19 from public bathrooms remains to be seen. Dr Julian Tang, honorary associate professor in respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester, points out that urine is “actually sterile in otherwise healthy people – and very little or no SARS-CoV-2 is generally shed in urine”.
“It is the sample type in which SARS-CoV-2 is least commonly detected, so this should not be much of a risk,” he says.
Faecal-oral transmission may still be possible with this virus, he says, but it’s probably quite rare compared to other respiratory transmission routes. That said, “we still need to be aware and remain vigilant about this possibility,” he adds. “We know that the earlier SARS-CoV-1 was the cause of a large community outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003 from a leaking sewer pipe.”
Should you wear a face cover during a toilet pitstop, then? Absolutely, says Dr Bryan Bzdek, research fellow at Bristol Aerosol Research Centre, University of Bristol. “A face covering will help to reduce exposure to aerosols and droplets produced by toilet and urinal flushing,” he tells HuffPost UK. “In addition, you should always wash your hands after using the toilet.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Sudanese Teenager Drowns In English Channel Trying To Reach UK

The teenager's body was found washed up on Sangatte Beach (file picture) PHILIPPE HUGUEN via Getty Images
A 16-year-old Sudanese boy has drowned in the English Channel while trying to reach the UK.
The discovery of his body followed a huge search and rescue effort. French authorities say they were notified at 1.09am that a migrant suffering with hypothermia had been found on the beach at Sangatte.
He was taken to hospital and told authorities that he had been on a makeshift boat that had capsized.
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His companion, who could not swim, might still have been in the water, he said.
At 8am border police were informed of the discovery of a body on Sangatte beach.
Marlène Schiappa, France’s citizenship minister, tweeted that she felt “immense sadness” after the teenager’s body was found on Wednesday morning.
“A 16-year-old Sudanese migrant who disappeared at sea last night has been found dead on Sangatte beach this morning,” she said.
“This unbearable tragedy moves us even more with [French interior minister] Gérald Darmanin against smugglers who take advantage of the distress of human beings.”
Migrants making the perilous crossing of the English Channel have been a focus of the UK government amid a record number of journeys.
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The official resettlement scheme has been closed since March 30, giving refugees no safe or legal route into the UK. The programme was announced in September 2015 by prime minister David Cameron, in response to a national and international outcry over the global refugee crisis.
Home secretary Priti Patel spoke of an “upsetting and tragic loss of a young life”.
This is an upsetting and tragic loss of a young life.
This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people.
Working together we are determined to stop them. https://t.co/ARZovx8RUf — Priti Patel (@pritipatel) August 19, 2020
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said on Twitter of the 16-year-old’s death: “Utterly heartbreaking. By closing safe routes to seek asylum we are pushing desperate people into dangerous situations with devastating consequences.
“Our govt must make protecting and saving lives a priority in their approach to English Channel crossings.”
Laura Padoan, of UNHCR, said: “It is absolutely tragic to hear that a 16 year-old has drowned trying to cross the Channel. This shouldn’t have happened and we have been warning that saving lives should be the priority.”
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Utterly heartbreaking. By closing safe routes to seek asylum we are pushing desperate people into dangerous situations with devastating consequences.
Our Govt must make protecting and saving lives a priority in their approach to English Channel crossings. https://t.co/cnzuxAzcAu — Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) August 19, 2020
Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action, said it was “devastating” to learn of the death, and called it “horrifying but wholly expected”.
She added: “We have repeatedly warned Priti Patel it was only a matter of time before her toxic policy to deny safe and legal routes to the UK would cost lives.
“This death lies firmly at her door. She should consider her position.”
We knew this would happen, and now it has.
Things need to change. We need a way for people's asylum claims to be fairly heard without them having to risk their lives. We need this before someone else dies. — Care4Calais (@Care4Calais) August 19, 2020
It was revealed this week that vulnerable asylum-seeking children arriving by sea are being held in a Border Force processing centre after Kent’s council reached capacity.
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Large numbers of children reaching the UK have led to an “unthinkable” situation where Kent County Council says it “cannot safely accommodate any more new arrivals”.
Clare Moseley, founder of charity Care4Calais, said: “We can only imagine the fear he felt and our hearts go out to his family.
“These young boys in Calais are our friends. They are fun to be with despite the horrors they have been through. Some are cheeky, some are smart, some like football, some like books. None deserve to be here and none deserve to die alone in the sea.
“This young boy’s death starkly demonstrates the total failure of our government to do anything to help these children who are in such desperate straits. Their failure to implement the Dubs amendment; their failure to negotiate for family reunion; their failure to do anything for the people here who are simply asking for our help.
“Things need to change. We need a way for people’s asylum claims to be fairly heard without them having to risk their lives. We need this before someone else dies.”
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Labour shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the government’s response to the situation in the Channel has been “lacking in compassion and competence”.
“Ministers urgently need to step up work with international partners to find a humanitarian solution to this crisis, which is costing lives,” he added.
Charity worker Bridget Chapman, of the Kent Refugee Action Network, said: “This death was completely avoidable. Along with many other migrant and refugee organisations we have been calling for safe passage for some time now.
“Meanwhile the government’s response has been both chaotic and callous, and utterly against the proud British tradition of offering refuge to those in need.
“The government needs to step up to its humanitarian responsibility immediately and ensure safe and legal passage so that we avoid any more unnecessary deaths.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Revealed: Who Profited From The Government’s Coronavirus Spending Boom

The coronavirus pandemic brought about an unprecedented peacetime public spending boom in the UK as the government pumped billions into trying to fight Covid-19.
But an investigation by HuffPost UK has led to renewed calls for an inquiry into government spending amid “scandalous and shocking” revelations about the way taxpayers’ money was handed out.
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HuffPost UK has investigated which companies have profited from the pandemic that has killed 45,000 Brits and left millions at risk of redundancy.
We found deals involving “eye-wateringly large” sums of money that have proved highly controversial.
Revelations have already hit headlines about large PPE and testing contracts awarded to firms that ultimately supplied unsuitable products – such as Ayanda Capital Ltd and Randox – which has placed a spotlight on the government’s use of emergency procurement powers.
Now HuffPost UK can reveal other areas of government spending that raise further questions about how suppliers were selected and how these deals were arranged.
We found that PPE contracts worth £186m, the second largest amount spent with any PPE supplier, went to UK logistics firm Uniserve Limited, whose multi-millionaire owner is listed as a speaker for the influential pro-Brexit lobby group Prosperity UK. Other speakers listed on the site include chancellor Rishi Sunak and cabinet minister Michael Gove.
Another two large PPE contracts worth £49m in total went to a company, Initia Ventures Ltd, with assets of only £100. Companies House records list it as dormant.
Of the 10 companies that were handed the highest value deals to supply the government with PPE, we found that five had no apparent record of procuring PPE previously.
One firm told HuffPost UK its plan to manufacture face masks in the UK for as little as 10p a unit was turned down by government, despite its offer to make 75m masks a month at no profit at the point when the NHS need for PPE was at its most dire.
Smaller UK testing companies also told HuffPost UK the process unfairly excluded them from winning orders and may have deprived the UK of vital tests at the peak of the pandemic.
We found consultancy firm KPMG was paid almost £1m for three months’ work on one Nightingale hospital in Harrogate. This is the first time any information has come into the public domain about spending with top consultancy firms on the Nightingales. The government and NHS has faced criticism for its secrecy over the issue.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of any of these companies.
In many cases, the thousands of firms that won Covid-19 contracts from government were at the forefront of the national effort to tackle the virus.
But these deals and others revealed in the data raise questions about how the government, moving at speed and during a period of incredibly intense global demand, decided which companies should be appointed as suppliers.
Under the guidelines that are in place under emergency Covid-19 procurement powers, known as Regulation 32 powers, government and other public authorities do not have to go out to competitive tender due to the need to appoint suppliers with “extreme urgency”.
However, it is unclear how the government sought to achieve best value for money without the usual checks and balances in place – for example, how the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) would have selected a dormant company such as Initia Ventures Ltd, which has no history manufacturing PPE, as a supplier when it was not carrying out tendering processes.
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A laboratory technician holding test tubes containing live samples taken from people tested for the novel coronavirus at a laboratory in Glasgow ANDREW MILLIGAN via Getty Images
“There must be an inquiry into the way government has handled the crisis and into the way public money has been spent,” said MP Rosie Cooper, who sits on the health and social care committee.
“It is scandalous and shocking that eye-watering sums of money appear to have been spent with companies that don’t have a track record in this field, such as PPE and test and trace.
“Disgracefully, companies with experience were ignored, and government needs to explain how nearly £50m can be spent with a dormant company. Who authorised that and why?
“Why were smaller testing companies ignored while contracts were placed with large companies who failed to deliver? Who took each decision and why needs to be made public.”
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She said taxpayers needed answers, adding: “It’s their money and they’re likely to be paying for these decisions for many years to come.”
A government spokesperson said proper due diligence was carried out for all contracts and collaborations with the commercial sector had strengthened the pandemic response.
“As a result of public and private sector organisations working together at pace, we were able to protect our NHS and strengthen our response to this unprecedented global pandemic,” he said.
But shadow health minister Justin Madders MP said significant questions remained about government accountability over this spending, with scrutiny vital because of the intense pressure coronavirus has placed on public sector finances.
“When we’ve got nurses, who have literally put their lives on the line for the last six months, protesting on the streets because they haven’t had a decent pay rise for a decade, you’ve got to ask whether all the money that’s been put into this has been spent wisely,” he said.
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“And of course when a government is faced with decisions like that, it’s only right that every item of government expenditure is closely examined.”
Spending on personal protective equipment
HuffPost UK analysed data on all public sector spending under emergency Covid-19 procurement powers from March to July this year, to find out which firms won out in the government’s pandemic spending boom.
The data provided by Tussell, a company that publishes information on UK government contracts, shows industries supplying products and services vital to battling the pandemic – such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing – have seen the highest level of spending.
The contracts issued to buy PPE in particular have proved highly controversial, already causing a mounting political row. The data show 471 PPE contracts were published from April to July, totalling £2.6bn.
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HuffPost UK found firms who, on paper, appeared to have no record in manufacturing or supplying PPE were among those awarded huge contracts worth in some cases hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.
Five of the 10 PPE suppliers with whom the government spent the most money – £709m in total – were companies that had no apparent background in supplying PPE.
One of those firms was Upminster based logistics and global trade management company Uniserve Limited, which won five contracts in April worth £186m – the second highest amount paid to any one company for PPE. The contracts were to supply gowns, gloves, aprons, face masks, face shields, and protective goggles.
Questions have been raised about Uniserve’s connections to central government.
In 2018, the firm was appointed as a UK government adviser on tech and customs, according to its website, and its owner and founder Iain Liddell is listed as a speaker for the influential pro-Brexit lobby group Prosperity UK, which is linked to a number of leading Brexiteer MPs.
Other Prosperity UK speakers listed on the site include chancellor Rishi Sunak, former business secretary Greg Clark, former Brexit secretary David Davis, and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove.
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The government said ministers were not involved in the awarding of contracts, so any connection through Prosperity UK had no bearing on the Uniserve deal.
Uniserve did not comment.
Contracts worth £49m also went to a company called Initia Ventures Limited, which is listed as having assets of only £100 and in January 2020 was marked as dormant on Companies House.
HuffPost UK could find no website for the company, which is registered at the address of its accountant in Finchley, north London.
Despite the firm having no apparent trading history or background supplying PPE, DHSC awarded it one contract for isolation suits worth £32.6m on April 19 at the peak of the pandemic, and then another worth £16.3m just five days later on April 24.
The company’s director Amogh Kalyanpur said it had provided “various levels of security and de-risking to the DHSC along with a highly credible manufacturer”, which he believes allowed it to win the contracts.
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“Yes, we did not have a history in the UK but the track record is in the businesses and manufacturers we are working with in China, Thailand, Hong Kong and India – which is where the goods are manufactured and which is also the bottleneck for logistics,” he said.
“None of our shipments have faced any of these issues or quality issues. And this is down to the team we have on the ground and the credibility of the manufacturer – with whom we have had an exclusivity for representation in the UK from the outset.”
He said the bid was made directly to the procurement team for the Covid-19 response and not through any contacts, political or governmental.
HuffPost UK asked DHSC how the Uniserve and Initia Ventures contracts were agreed.
The government said both companies had responded to a public call to action over PPE and went through the same due diligence as all suppliers who made bids.
“My wife’s a GP and she managed to get Covid because their [health] trust were told to just go out and buy whatever they could. They shouldn’t be expected to be doing that”
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But other companies that missed out in this process have questioned the efficacy of the system.
One firm that offered the government the opportunity to manufacture Type IIR surgical face masks, which have the highest level of filtration, directly in the UK for only 10p a unit says its bid was rejected despite the NHS experiencing desperate shortages of PPE at the time.
Market prices for this type of mask were averaging 59p to 64p a unit in April, according to government.
Total Productivity Solutions Ltd bid in early May to set up a UK manufacturing plant to produce face masks, guaranteeing that it had the equipment and necessary raw materials to do this.
The company says its proposal would have allowed the government to produce 75m masks a month cheaply, quickly and without paying manufacturers’ profit, and the facility would have been up and running within six weeks if the bid had won approval, guaranteeing supply.
The pitch went in at a time when the government was agreeing riskier deals with companies such as the £253m contract with Ayanda Capital Ltd, an investment firm that had no PPE experience, which resulted in the purchase of 50m masks that were unusable.
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Nik de Villiers, senior partner at Total Productivity Solutions, said: “If you compare our solution, for the same money that was spent you could have actually manufactured a billion Type IIR masks. So on paper it’s really not comparable.
“Had we been given the go ahead back in May, we would have been up and running a serious production facility now that would be producing British-made masks of the highest quality that would be good enough for the NHS,” he continued.
“My wife’s a GP and she managed to get Covid because their [health] trust were told to just go out and buy whatever they could. They shouldn’t be expected to be doing that – they should be given the right tools to carry out their jobs.”
The company is now in talks with Amazon about taking the proposal forward, but says its preference would have been to supply the NHS.
“Amazon has indicated to us that our proposition will be by far the cheapest that they’ve seen that actually fits the standard of quality that they require,” said de Villiers. “But our preference has always been to do it for the government.”
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DHSC did not comment on the bid but said its focus was on working with companies that could have the biggest immediate impact on protecting frontline workers.
Rachel Reeves is one of a number of Labour MPs who have demanded an inquiry into government spending under emergency Covid-19 powers Leon Neal via Getty Images
The data also shows that DHSC awarded contracts worth a total of £755m to 41 companies with “caution” or “high risk” credit indicators.
These include three of the highest value contracts with Ayanda Capital; P14 Medical Limited, which is owned by a Conservative councillor; and confectioners Clandeboye Agencies Ltd. All three have credit indicators of “caution”.
The sheer volume and variety of companies providing PPE revealed in the data points to the intense pressure the government was under to secure supplies as it looked outside of established supply chains at the height of the pandemic.
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It also raises questions about why more PPE had not been stockpiled earlier and crucially whether lives might have been saved had the proper equipment been available sooner.
The Labour Party has now formally requested a probe by the National Audit Office into contracts awarded under emergency Covid-19 powers that bypassed competition rules due to urgency.
Rachel Reeves MP, shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “There is concern from the public but also from within the business community at some of the peculiar procurement decisions made by the Conservative government without goIng out to tender.
“Labour has called for the National Audit Office to investigate the government’s approach to procurement so that there can be transparency, public confidence and a more effective approach taken in the crucial months ahead.”
Spending on Covid-19 testing
The data on testing contracts handed out by Whitehall paints a similar picture about the government’s preparedness.
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From March to July this year, 109 testing contracts worth £1.5bn have been published across the public sector.
In marked contrast to the PPE deals, the government has relied largely on established big pharma companies to provide testing, with three firms owned by US pharmaceutical giants featuring on the list of top suppliers.
HuffPost UK found some of the largest deals were awarded by DHSC, which has contracted out £646m in testing services since early March, and has relied heavily on multinationals.
The highest value contract, worth £151m, went to Hologic Ltd for the supply of coronavirus tests to laboratories across the UK. The Manchester-based company is ultimately owned by US pharmaceutical giant Hologic Inc in the US, which is expected to see bolstered revenue growth from testing sales this year.
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Contracts worth £68m were issued to Life Technologies Limited, which is ultimately owned by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc – another pharma giant in the States. The US firm reported that its quarter two revenues for the year have soared by 10% driven by pandemic demand.
A £28m contract went to the UK firm Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, which won a deal to supply test kits, training material and support.
The company was founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the University of Oxford. It is now one of a tiny group of what are called “unicorn” start-ups because they are rare in having grown to a value exceeding $1bn.
Swiss pharma giant Roche also won contracts worth £34m with Public Health England through its UK arm Roche Diagnostics Limited. Its machines and kits are used to process coronavirus tests in laboratories.
But smaller UK-based testing companies claim they were unfairly left out of the process, with the government being unduly reliant on large multinational companies to the detriment of supply.
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Pro-Lab Diagnostics Ltd manufactures test kits and reagents. It won contracts worth £6.1m to supply kits to NHS labs – but its general manager Mark Reed said lots of other small and medium sized businesses felt locked out of the process.
Reed, who sits on the board of industry group the British In Vitro Diagnostic Association, told HuffPost UK: “I do know that some of my friends in the industry have been extremely vocal about how they felt it was unfair that competitive tenders weren’t issued and evaluations were done behind closed doors.
“Now, we were fortunate because we positioned ourselves very well and we did get awarded a contract. But as time has moved on, there does seem to be a bit of a lean towards: ‘Let’s talk to the big boys first, and then we’ll talk to the medium-sized companies.’
“You can’t deny that there does seem to be a bit of favouritism towards these huge multinational corporations.”
It has caused even greater anger within the industry as there have been issues with some of the bigger deals – such as a £133m contract with Randox Laboratories Ltd. Last month the government ordered a pause on the use of Randox test kits saying some may not meet required safety standards.
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The test kits produced by Pro-Lab Diagnostics Ltd, which says it has never reached its full supply capacity despite demand from NHS labs Pro-Lab Diagnostics
Pro-Lab said it hasn’t reached full capacity of manufacturing a million tests a week, never getting above 400,000, and that it is now in a position where NHS labs are wanting to place orders but a block is occurring because of the bureaucracy of the central system.
Charlotte Duncan, the firm’s technical director, said: “It is very frustrating and it does feel very much like you’re just permanently banging on doors. The drive is coming very much from our customers.”
HuffPost UK found the largest single testing contract issued was by the Treasury, which awarded £750m to the Office for National Statistics to set up a Covid-19 infection survey.
The survey is being carried out to try and understand how many people in the UK have Covid-19 and the ONS has alerted the market to the fact that it will award one or more commercial contracts to work on the survey.
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No further information is yet available about which firm, or firms, have been or will be appointed, and the ONS did not comment when asked by HuffPost UK.
But this could potentially end up being one of the largest set of contracts with the private sector under the emergency Covid-19 spending powers.
Another of the largest deals was the huge £108m NHS Test and Trace contract handed to outsourcing giant Serco, which has announced its profits soared by 53% in the first six months of the year.
The data also reveal the well publicised contract awarded to Amazon to provide postal services to deliver coronavirus tests was worth £8m.
Spending on the Nightingale hospitals
Another area of significant public spending under emergency Covid-19 powers is on the NHS Nightingale hospitals.
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The pop-up hospitals were constructed inside existing buildings in the first weeks of lockdown so the NHS would not be overwhelmed by the pandemic, and were the flagship policy in the government’s early response to Covid.
Contracts published to date show NHS England awarded £346m to hospital trusts to set up the Nightingales, but no information is yet available about the private firms that were paid in turn to actually build the hospitals.
Using hospital trust spending records, HuffPost UK has established that the consultancy firm KPMG was paid £923,000 over three months for what are described as “audit fees” related to the construction of just one of the Nightingale hospitals in Harrogate.
KPMG says it did all Covid-19 contract work at cost price. NHS England did not comment on the deal.
But questions have gone unanswered about the role that consultancy firms played in the building of the Nightingales and in July the powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which holds the government to account over spending, slammed the lack of transparency.
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The PAC said: “We are concerned by the scarcity of information on contracts and costs. When asked, NHS England and NHS Improvement was unable, or unwilling, to provide any estimate of the cost of private sector capacity or the Nightingale hospitals.”
The PAC said it was “imperative” the DHSC and NHS provide information about costs and “how the Nightingales have been used and will be used in coming months”.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock at the opening of the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel centre in London in April POOL New / Reuters
HuffPost UK reported on secrecy surrounding these contracts, and calls for the government and NHS England to be more transparent, in June.
The figures that are available show the Nightingale West Midlands hospital in Birmingham cost almost twice as much as any of the other hospitals to build, at £109m.
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The contracted costs for the other Nightingale hospitals varied from £20.3m for the Devon and Cornwall hospital to £55.8m for the Nightingale Excel in London.
NHS England has not commented on how much it will cost to keep the facilities – which are based in privately owned buildings such as the Excel conference centre in the capital’s Docklands area, and the NEC in Birmingham – open and operating.
The government says the Nightingale hospitals will be repurposed as cancer testing centres, with most only ever having admitted a handful of coronavirus patients.
Why is this important?
Procurement experts acknowledge there was a need for the emergency Covid-19 spending powers, which relaxed competition rules due to the urgency of responding to the pandemic.
But this does not reduce the need for the government to be accountable for its decisions, which is why there have been mounting demands for an inquiry.
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Experts say the perception of fairness and transparency in how large public contracts are awarded is vital in maintaining public confidence in government.
Duncan Hames, director of policy at Transparency International UK, said: “It is incumbent on the government to prove it is delivering value for money, not just giving money to those it values. Allegations of cronyism can do untold damage to public confidence in its response to the pandemic.”
The amount spent by the public sector through emergency Covid-19 procurement has been colossal – with 1,188 contracts published from March to July totalling £5.8bn of taxpayers’ money.
Critically, every extra pound spent on PPE or testing contracts that could have been won at cheaper or more competitive prices also leaves less in the public purse at a time of significant spending pressure on the NHS, schools, and the welfare state.
To put some of the huge figures in context, chancellor Rishi Sunak allocated £25bn just for PPE and the government’s Test and Trace scheme in his coronavirus budget in July. This sum almost equalled the £30bn allocated to kickstart the UK’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
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The £755m the DHSC spent buying PPE from companies with caution or high-risk credit indicators was more than the £750m committed by the chancellor to support all frontline charities in the UK to keep delivering services during the coronavirus outbreak.
Dr Wanda Wyporska, executive director of The Equality Trust, said the revelations over some of the Covid-19 emergency spending would exacerbate the perception of one set of rules for government and another for everyone else.
“Many people face huge levels of conditionality for the money they receive as welfare payments. If they were late for appointments or failed to turn up at the job centre then they would quickly see payments docked,” she said.
“This has tipped many into poverty, homelessness and debt. However, it’s a different story when vast amounts of taxpayers’ money is being handed out to big companies without much conditionality or even checking.
“As Covid-19 exacerbates the already damagingly high levels of inequality in the UK, we must really ask what plans the government has for fulfilling its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 – reducing inequality.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--We Need To Crack Down On MPs' Second Jobs. Sajid Javid's Latest Appointment Proves That

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid leaves his home in London, Britain February 14, 2020. REUTERS/Simon Dawson Simon Dawson / reuters
When Sajid Javid resigned from his position as chancellor in February, the move was unexpected to say the least.
Six months on, in another surprising twist, he has returned to the company where he first began his career as an investment banker: JPMorgan.
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Alongside his full-time job as an MP for Bromsgrove, Javid will now also serve as a senior advisor to the US bank’s advisory council for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The bank has not disclosed Javid’s salary but when JPMorgan appointed former prime minister Tony Blair as an adviser in 2008, his salary was reportedly £2million a year.
Though Javid’s may not be on the same scale, it is safe to say he will be earning more than the £77,000 he does as an MP.
MPs are forbidden from being “paid advocates” but there are no rules prohibiting MPs from seeking other forms of employment as long as they declare their paid employment outside Parliament in the Register of Members Financial Interests.
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The appointment was approved by an advisory committee who cautioned that Javid’s “privileged access to information” as former chancellor means the move does carry risks, but there are certain rules to attempt to limit these. The contentious issue of MPs working second jobs is not new; a study in 2018 found that one in five MPs have regular paid work outside of Parliament.The issue is even less new for former chancellors.
After George Osborne was sacked as chancellor in 2017 he was appointed as as advisor to Blackrock, the world’s biggest fund management firm, on a salary of £650,000 a year. This was in addition to his role as the editor of the Evening Standard, his position as a full-time MP for Tatton, and three other jobs.
The public outcry over the clear potential conflict of interests prompted an inquiry from the Committee on Standards in Public Life into MPs’ outside interests, which concluded there was a “significant concern...that MPs are breaching the principle of selflessness by using their public role for personal benefit by utilising their skills, contacts, influence and experience in Parliament for their personal financial gain.”
“The public need to trust their elected representatives – now more than ever. Changing the rules to prevent them having high profile second jobs is just one place to start.”
There is a clear confluence between the realms of politics, finance, and media and it is high time to change the rules for MPs working second jobs in these sectors where their position as MPs can clearly inform their other roles. An LSE study looking at the value of political-corporate connections found that 46% of the top 50 public corporations have connections with a serving MP, and connected companies form 39% of market capitalisation.
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Therefore, it seems beyond parody to believe that the man who was in charge of Britain’s finances six months ago is now a senior advisor at the world’s most powerful investment bank and will not use any information he acquired in his former position to inform his role. It flies in the face of the democratic role an MP should have and one can’t help but speculate that his interest in in his own wealth and wellbeing rather than that of the public.
There is a distinction between politicians being able to benefit from their outside knowledge in careers outside parliament and these helping inform their perspectives as MPs for the better, broadening their horizons beyond the Westminster bubble.
Take Rosena Allin-Khan for example, the MP for Tooting who undertook a few shifts as an A&E doctor at the height of the pandemic. Clearly, this gives her more firsthand insight to speak about the working conditions in the NHS and inadequacies with testing as she did earlier this year. For those in professional occupations who are required to practice a certain number of hours to maintain registration, it is a different situation.
Given the chaotic and hectic nature of government at present it seems shocking to believe that a full-time MP would have the time to take on another full-time job on top of his constituency duties. Or rather, be able to pay due diligence to their role as an MP in addition to their advisory duties.
Further, at a time when we are in the worst recession in history, a Tory MP taking a role at one of the world’s largest investment bank to proffer his salary as an MP while unemployment is rife doesn’t sit well and correlates exactly with the concerns of the report.
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In Javid’s own constituency of Bromsgrove, where he was elected as an MP, the latest figures show youth unemployment claims increased by 159% since the beginning of lockdown. Surely any spare time he has accrued since leaving his post as xhancellor should be concentrated on helping his constituents at this pressing time not on his own additional remuneration.
MPs should not be allowed to work in realms such as finance or the media where their parliamentary knowledge can so unfairly inform them.
This does not bode well for the public’s dwindling trust in politicians either. An Ipsos MORI survey from June found that only 19% of Britons think MPs in general tell the truth most or all of the time; is it any wonder when such a high percentage accept highly paid second jobs?
It feels more as if MPs use their high status jobs paid by the taxpayer to benefit themselves rather than their constituents, which should be their main priority.
When the now Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote a column for The Daily Telegraph he earned £275,000 in addition to his MPs salary.
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In giving evidence to the committee in 2018 Lord Blunkett encapsulated the issue perfectly: “How can it be right for a public servant, paid £74,000 – nearly three times the average UK wage – to sideline their duty to their constituents in order to take on other work?”
The public need to trust their elected representatives – now more than ever. Changing the rules to prevent them having high profile second jobs is just one place to start.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Jeremy Corbyn Says Government Discussed Herd Immunity At 'Bizarre' Early Covid Briefing

Former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The government has again denied it attempted a “herd immunity” strategy in the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis after fresh claims made by Jeremy Corbyn.
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The former Labour leader has said he was invited to a government briefing on the virus earlier this year, when he was still leader of the opposition.
He said it consisted of a “lecture” on herd immunity – an approach that allows a population to build up resistance to a disease by allowing more people to contract it – which he branded “absurd”.
Speaking to author Grace Blakeley’s new podcast A World To Win, he said: “I distinctly remember [shadow health secretary] Jon Ashworth and I going to a meeting at the Cabinet Office where we got a lecture about herd immunity.
“The last time I discussed herd immunity had been when I worked on a pig farm 40 years ago. It was absurd: that you’d build up herd immunity by allowing people to die. And so, while the government was going into eugenic formulas of discussing all this stuff, they were not making adequate preparations.”
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The former Labour leader said that “many people lost their lives needlessly because of government policy” and a lack of preparedness.
Corbyn was succeeded as Labour leader by Keir Starmer in April.
The government flatly denied herd immunity was its strategy.
“It is categorically wrong to suggest herd immunity was the government’s aim,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday. “Our goal is to reduce the impact of coronavirus – protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring our NHS and social care system has capacity to cope while leading the world on scientific research into therapeutics and a vaccine.”
The government’s chief scientific officer Patrick Vallance had openly discussed herd immunity as a concept, but later apologised and said it had never been the government’s actual plan.
Speaking to the Commons’ health committee in May, he said: “I should be clear about what I was trying to say, and if I didn’t say this clearly enough then I apologise.
“What I was trying to say was that, in the absence of a therapeutic, the way in which you can stop a community becoming susceptible to this is through immunity, and immunity can be obtained by vaccination, or it can be obtained by people who have the infection.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Bouncers May 'Walk Around Keeping People Apart' When Nightclubs Reopen

ArtistGNDphotography via Getty Images
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You may have your temperature checked upon arrival when nightclubs reopen, and have to become accustomed to security staff enforcing social distancing.
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That’s according to Peter Marks, chief executive of The Deltic Group, the UK’s largest club and bar operator, which runs 53 venues across the country.
On Wednesday, Marks renewed calls for nightclubs to reopen, detailing safety precautions the chain is planning to take.
“We will temperature check people, we can do track and trace 100% because we have security, we can have people walking around keeping people apart,” he said on BBC’s Today programme. “We think, with other protocols that we’re working with scientists on right now, we can come back as safely as any other part of hospitality.”
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Marks claimed it’s “illogical to allow pubs to reopen when clubs can’t”, saying that both face “similar challenges”.
“We always accepted that we were going to be last back, but we do think that it’s driven by PR,” he said. “We shouldn’t be shutting a sector down, we should be keeping things local.”
Marks’ comments come after lockdown restrictions were eased further in England, with bowling alleys and soft play areas permitted to reopen.
Not everyone in the nightlife sector is confident clubs will reopen anytime soon. Bill Brewster, DJ and co-author of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, previously told HuffPost UK: “I don’t expect clubs to be open properly until spring next year, perhaps longer.”
“The current regulations would not make it financially viable for many to open unless there’s a substantial open air space,” he added. “Yes it will return in some way, but almost certainly not the same as it did before the pandemic.”
Club promotor Tom Hoyle added that while the closures have “devastated ” his livelihood, he doesn’t want clubs to reopen until it’s absolutely deemed safe.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--British Journalism Awards Announces Historic New Category For BAME Reporters

Barbara Blake Hannah (right), with Irish radio and television presenter Eamonn Andrews and British reporter Jane Probyn at Thames Television's 'Today' programme, 29 July 1968. Larry Ellis via Getty Images
The British Journalism Awards has launched a new category aimed at recognising up and coming ethnic minority journalists, named in honour of the UK’s first black on-screen TV news reporter.
Barbara Blake Hannah has given her name to this new award in the hope that it will help inspire other journalists to break through barriers in the way that she did.
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Responding to the news on Tuesday, Blake Hannah tweeted: “Honoured to have a British Press award named after me. Thanks to all those who made this possible and opened the door further for Black journalists.”
Never thought I'd ever be a headine story in the Daily Mail! Honoured to have a British Press award named after me. Thanks to all those who made this possible and opened the door further for Black journalists. https://t.co/N2d2SzKyvK — Barbara Blake Hannah OD (@BBlakeHannah) August 19, 2020
This comes as part of numerous measures announced by the Press Gazette – which produces the annual awards – geared at helping the industry reflect the diversity of the UK.
In 2019, no Black journalists won an award in any of the more than 20 categories. Two journalists of Asian descent won prizes.
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In addition to the new category, entrance to the British Journalism Awards will be free this year for journalists from ethnic minority backgrounds, for women and for journalists with a disability, if they do not work for a news organisation which is able to pay for their entry.
This move is being funded though sponsorship from Google and is hoped to cover the cost of at least 100 new entrants to the awards.
This year, for the first time, there is a 50/50 gender split on the 76-strong judging panel. A Press Gazette analysis found that over the eight years of the British Journalism Awards, 740 finalists have been male versus 300 female.
Lack of racial diversity in UK newsrooms has been a key point of discussion across the industry for some time.
Following the global discourse regarding racism in the wake of recent Black Live Matter demonstrations, the Press Gazette revealed that young Black journalists are leaving the media industry after just a few years because of bullying in newsrooms.
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Meanwhile, the most under-represented group within UK newsrooms are Black Britons, who make up approximately 3% of the British population but just 0.2% of working journalists, according to research by the Reuters Institute.
Similarly, Asian Britons represent approximately 7% of the UK population but account for just 2.5% of journalists.
In December, more than 100 Black and minority ethnic journalists wrote to UK editors denouncing a lack of diversity that has led to “a long litany of inadequacies in newsroom coverage of race and how stories about non-white people are covered”.
Barbara Blake Hannah Supplied
Blake Hannah became the first Black person to appear on British TV in a non-entertainment role in 1968, after securing the role of on-camera reporter for the daily evening show Today With Eamonn Andrews on Thames TV. Here, she interviewed Prime Minister Harold Wilson and actor Michael Caine, among others.
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Born in Jamaica, she emigrated to England in 1964, having trained as a journalist.
She wrote for a monthly news magazine established by her father Evon Blake who, incidentally, had founded the Press Association of Jamaica in 1940.
Blake Hannah told Sky News that she credits her father with her giving her “a love of both reading and writing” and a “revolutionary spirit”.
However, racist viewers deemed it “inappropriate” to have her on screen, and she received hostile treatment by her colleagues and predominantly white audience.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Car Crashes In Berlin Were 'Islamist-Motivated Attack', Say German Authorities

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A series of car crashes on a Berlin motorway that left several people injured is being treated as an Islamist terror attack, German authorities have said.
“According to the current knowledge, it was an Islamist-motivated attack,” an official was quoted as saying.
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Six people were injured, three of them severely, when a motorist drove into vehicles on a stretch of the German capital’s motorway on Tuesday night.
A police officer investigates the scene of a series of allegedly deliberate car crashes on highway A100 in Berlin, Germany, August 19. REUTERS
Police arrested a man at the scene after a device in his car, which the man said was dangerous, turned out to be a tool box. There are indications that the 30-year-old was suffering from psychological problems, Reuters reports.
Shouting by the suspect at the scene suggested that his actions could have been Islamist-motivated, authorities added.
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A general view shows police officers investigating the scene of a series of allegedly deliberate car crashes on highway A100 in Berlin, Germany, August 19. REUTERS
A spokesperson for the Berlin public prosecutors was not available for comment


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Kate Garraway Fights Back Tears As She Discusses Challenges Of Marking Husband's Birthday

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Kate Garraway fought back tears on Good Morning Britain as she discussed how she and her family marked husband Derek Draper’s birthday over the weekend.
On Wednesday, Kate returned to GMB after a few days off, but admitted to co-presenter Adil Ray that it had been a “challenging” time for her, with Derek still in intensive care after contracting coronavirus earlier this year.
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“I did a swap with Charlotte this week,” she said, explaining her absence for the first two shows of the week. “It was Derek’s birthday on Saturday as well, which was obviously a challenging one under the circumstances.
“We managed to FaceTime him and sing happy birthday, and we had a cake, which we had on FaceTime. So we tried to mark the moment.”
Adil Ray and Kate Garraway ITV
When Adil questioned whether it had been a difficult day for the couple’s two children, Kate told him: “It’s very challenging, they’re doing brilliantly with it, though.
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“We managed to do it with Derek’s family as well, we managed to technically hook up and sing happy birthday and just hope that the love seeps through.”
She added that she’d received a rose bush as a present from fellow GMB star Charlotte Hawkins, pointing out that the specific flowers were called the “rose of hope”.
Becoming emotional, Kate added: “It actually came to flower on Saturday.”
Following Derek’s initial diagnosis, Kate took a number of months off from her presenting duties, but returned to GMB in July, explaining that while her husband was now “Covid-free”, the illness had caused a lot of serious damage to his body.
Derek and Kate in Australia last year, shortly after she left the I'm A Celebrity jungle James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock
Last week, Kate spoke candidly about returning to work while Derek is still in hospital, admitting she found it all a “difficult balance”.
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“I feel conscious of not [talking about it on air],” she said at the time. “I know everybody’s been so lovely, and is really concerned for him, and it’s difficult, isn’t it? Because there’s so many people out there with people who are sick, that you don’t want to talk about it on Good Morning Britain all the time because then it’s, like, not cheering up everybody that’s trying to cope with Covid.
“But on the other hand, last week when we were having fun and games, you feel almost bad, because you think ‘oh, I’m laughing and he’s still there’, you know? In a kind of minimally conscious state. And it’s a difficult balance.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Strictly Come Dancing To Pay Tribute To Caroline Flack In Upcoming Finals Special

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Strictly Come Dancing will pay tribute to Caroline Flack in an upcoming special, the BBC has confirmed.
The show will remember the 2014 champion in a compilation episode showcasing the best of the live finals over the years.
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Caroline – who won the BBC ballroom competition with professional dancer Pasha Kovalev – took her own life in February.
Caroline Flack won Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 with partner Pasha Kovalev BBC
The Love Island presenter set a record when she competed in the 2014 final, becoming the first contestant in Strictly history to score full marks for all three of her routines.
Caroline’s emotional showdance, set to Robbie Williams’ Angels, was previously mentioned in tributes from her Love Island colleagues Iain Stirling and Laura Whitmore following her death.
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Strictly bosses also paid tribute to Caroline in a statement at the time, saying they had been “heartbroken to hear this incredibly sad news”.
“Caroline had an infectious energy and passion for dance, she shone brightly in “the Strictly ballroom every week and became an incredible champion,” it read. “Words cannot express our sadness, she was simply one of a kind.”
The BBC revealed plans to honour Caroline on screen as it announced the Strictly The Best Of The Final episode on Wednesday.
Caroline took her own life in February Eamonn M. McCormack via Getty Images
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The episode will air in addition to three previously-announced specials, which will celebrate the best routines from the competition’s Blackpool, Movies and Musicals Weeks.
A special Christmas countdown has also just been confirmed, which will reveal the 25 most memorable dances of all time voted for by viewers.
It has been reported that this year’s actual festive edition of Strictly – which usually airs on Christmas Day – has been axed due to logistical reasons related to the coronavirus pandemic, but this has yet to be officially confirmed.
Bosses have already shortened the length of this year’s series by a month due to the pandemic, with the competition not set to kick off until October.
It is expected the Best Of specials will air in the autumn, in the lead up to the new series.
Useful websites and helplines
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
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CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0300 5000 927 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.


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

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


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Holidays Hope As Hancock Hints Covid-19 Testing At Heathrow Could Cut Quarantine Period

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A new Covid-19 testing facility being developed at Heathrow Airport could cut the mandatory quarantine period for people returning from abroad, Matt Hancock has said.
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Arriving passengers will be able to book swab tests and have results sent to them in seven hours under the proposal, which is being used in Germany and Iceland.
Travellers can do a second test at home a few days later and then leave quarantine early if they pass both checks, according to reports.
The health secretary said ministers are working with the London airport to find a way for the testing to reduce the quarantine period.
Heathrow executives hope those testing negative could leave quarantine five to eight days after landing, though the airport’s programme needs government approval before it can begin.
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Hancock told Sky News: “We’re working with Heathrow and with other airports on this project.
“The challenge is because the virus can incubate inside your body without coming forward and without therefore a test being positive even if you’ve got it. The challenge is how to do that testing in a way that we can have confidence enough in to release the quarantine.
“But absolutely it’s a project we’re working with Heathrow on because clearly I understand the impact of quarantine in so many people’s lives. It’s not something anybody would want to do so I hope this project can bear fruit.”
It came as health officials also announced plans to ramp up the coronavirus infection survey across Britain. The Office for National Statistics research aims to increase to include 400,000 people – up from the current 28,000.
Meanwhile, data from official agencies across Britain shows that more than 57,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have been registered in the UK.
Hancock has said ministers are “working as fast as we can” to achieve the “moonshot” of population-wide coronavirus testing to ease restrictions.
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He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is a really, really important drive that we have across government to bring in mass testing, population-wide testing.
“The new technologies for testing that are coming on stream now are incredibly important. At the moment you have to send off a test to a laboratory and get it back, and all the logistics of that takes time; it’s also quite expensive.
“We’re testing some of these right now in Porton Down, in our scientific labs, and the mass testing, population testing, where we make it the norm that people get tested regularly allowing us therefore to allow some of the freedoms back, is a huge project in government right now with enormous support.”
When pressed, Hancock declined to say when mass testing would be available.
“We’re ramping it up over the remainder of this year. I’m not going to put a firm deadline on it. The answer is we’re working as fast as we can,” he said.
“This moonshot to have testing ubiquitous and available to reopen all sorts of things to reduce the burden of the quarantine arrangements, which nobody wants to have in place, to allow us to reopen parts of the economy, that is an incredibly important project within government right now.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Whoopi Goldberg Reveals Why Sister Act 3 Is Still Yet To Happen

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Sister Act and its sequel are two of the most beloved films of all time, but so far, a third outing for Deloris and the rest of the convent is yet to happen.
And while star Whoopi Goldberg is as desperate as the rest of us for it to happen, it seems the people in charge are not as convinced.
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In an interview with Radio Times, the actor has revealed why a third film hasn’t yet come into fruition, despite her calls.
Whoopi Goldberg in 1992's Sister Act Suzanne Hanover/Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock
She said: “I keep asking, but they keep telling me people don’t want it.
“I say, “I think you’re not asking the right people because people do want it.
“I’ll keep asking,” she promised.
The original comedy film, released in 1992, saw Whoopi star as Deloris Van Cartier, a singer who goes undercover at a convent after being put in a witness protection programme.
It went on to become one of the highest grossing films of the early 1990s, earning $232 million (£177 million) after its release.
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Maggie Smith appeared alongside Whoopi as Mother Superior Moviestore/Shutterstock
A sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit debuted in 1993, while a stage musical of the original opened in London’s West End in 2009, spawning a Broadway production.
Whoopi was due to reprise her role as Deloris in a revival of the West End show this year, alongside Jennifer Saunders as Mother Superior.
However, the shows at the Hammersmith Apollo were postponed until July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When the show was initially announced, Whoopi said of getting back in the habit: “The original Deloris is back, a little older, a little seasoned, but really still kind of out there.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Rail Fares To Increase By 1.6% From January

Rail passengers face an increase in season ticket prices of 1.6%, despite people being urged to return to their workplaces following the coronavirus lockdown. Dan Kitwood via Getty Images
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Rail passengers face an increase in season ticket prices of 1.6%, despite people being urged to return to their workplaces following the coronavirus lockdown.
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Rail fares are usually increased every January, with the rise set by the previous July’s Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which was announced by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
The increase applies to regulated fares, which will include season tickets, anytime urban tickets and off-peak long-distance returns.
There is speculation ministers are considering delaying January’s rise at a time when passenger numbers have plummeted because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Passenger watchdog Transport Focus called for a major shake-up of rail fares to encourage passengers back to the railways.
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Chief executive Anthony Smith said: “Our research tells us almost two in three former rail commuters expect to work from home more so we will probably now travel less for work, both commuting and on business.
“The government must go above and beyond a fares freeze and get train companies to offer a combination of cut-price deals, carnet-style ‘bundles’, flexible season tickets for commuters and better-value-for-money fares across the board.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Brad Pitt And Jennifer Aniston Are Reuniting For A Live Table Read

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The last time Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston reunited (the absolute thrill of that wrist grab remains unmatched) it forced a nation to look in the mirror and ask themselves: Should I send that risky text to an ex?
Hopefully, cooler heads prevailed, but it’s far more likely to happen amid a global pandemic. So prepare your mind, body and soul for the blondest and most famous exes around to play with your heart once again, as they both are set to appear at a virtual live table read of Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
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While Brad and Jen were not part of Amy Heckerling’s classic 1982 high-school comedy, a new all-star cast, including Julia Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, Henry Golding and Shia LaBeouf, has assembled to celebrate the film’s 38th anniversary.
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston backstage at the SAG Awards in 2019. Emma McIntyre via Getty Images
But, of course, you couldn’t do it without Sean Penn, who played the loveable stoner in the film, as he’ll also be on hand for the event on Friday.
Hosted by comedian Dane Cook, the Feelin’ Alive charity live-reading will raise funds for Sean’s emergency relief nonprofit CORE, supporting at-risk communities amid the Covid-19 crisis, as well as the prison reform organisation REFORM Alliance.
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Sean said he will not be reprising his role as Jeff Spicoli (Brad, this is yours for the taking) but was “very confident in the new guy”.
“I’m always game for a giggle. So, to gather remotely for a night of laughs with so many talented folks while providing CORE with much-needed resources to continue our vital work, then consider us fully onboard to play!” he added in a statement to Deadline.
It all goes down on CORE’s official Facebook page and TikTok on Friday night, with Amy Heckerling and screenwriter Cameron Crowe opening the event with a special introduction.
Brad and Jen, of course, were married from 2000 to 2005 before splitting, remarrying and then divorcing a different set of famous spouses. Fans, however, have kept the flame alive ever since then.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Ben Cross, Chariots Of Fire Star, Dies Aged 72

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Ben Cross, best known for his starring role in Chariots Of Fire, has died at the age of 72, following a short illness.
The actor played British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film, which won four Oscars including Best Picture.
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News of his death was confirmed on Monday evening, with his representatives saying in a statement: “Ben passed away suddenly today following a short illness.
“He had just finished shooting The Devil’s Light for Lionsgate and later this year will be seen in Last Letter From Your Lover in a leading role.”
Ben Cross pictured in 2012 Jon Furniss/Invision/AP
A post on his Facebook page, which said it was written by his daughter Lauren, said Ben had a “rapid decline” in the last week.
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It said: “I am utterly heartbroken to share with you that my darling father died a few hours ago.
“He had been sick for a while but there was a rapid decline over the past week.
“The press will be announcing his death soon, I just wanted you all, his most loyal and loving fans, to hear it from us first.
“Thank you for all your support over the years. He really enjoyed interacting with you.”
Ben was born Harry Bernard Cross in London in 1947.
In 1970, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada) aged 22, and after graduating from he appeared in a minor role in 1977’s A Bridge Too Far alongside Sir Sean Connery and Sir Michael Caine.
The same year he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in Privates On Parade.
He found wider success in 1978 appearing in the play Chicago as Billy Flynn, the lawyer representing murderer Roxie Hart.
That performance is widely believed to have earned him his role in Chariots Of Fire, which was based on the true story of two British men racing for Olympic gold in 1924.
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Ben played British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film Chariots Of Fire 20th Century Fox/Allied Stars/Enigma/Kobal/Shutterstock
In the intervening years, he appeared as Malagant in 1995’s First Knight and Sarek in the 2009 Star Trek reboot.
James Bond star Colin Salmon, who worked on The Devil’s Light alongside Ben shortly before his death, was among who paid tribute.
Ben Cross and I were working together on#DevilsLight 12 days ago before he headed off to Vienna. It was good working with him, seeing his twinkle & his craft. He wrote songs for the Sinatra of Bulgaria, had so many stories & spoke in Bulgarian and German on set. Go Well Ben RIP. — Colin Salmon (@colinsalmon24) August 18, 2020
At the beginning of my career, I met #Bencross while casting a feature. We shot a screen test at Pinewood Studios. I went to his home for dinner with his family. Ben Cross was a lovely man and talented actor. That movie never got made. But... what a classy guy. #RIP pic.twitter.com/slLAsXSAqH — Todd Holland (@ToddHolland3) August 18, 2020
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The magnificent Ben Cross as Harold Abrahams in ‘Chariots of Fire’ captured the burden of being an outsider, the hostility toward his Jewish antecedents & how even success is isolating: “With 10 lonely seconds to justify my existence.” You won gold - now rest from your running. pic.twitter.com/Wjene9yKxQ — Martin Bashir (@MartinBashir) August 18, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Joe Biden Officially Nominated As Democratic Candidate For President

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, his wife Dr Jill Biden, and members of the Biden family, celebrate during the second night of the Democratic National Convention. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Joe Biden has been formally nominated as the Democratic candidate for the US presidency on the second night of the party’s national convention.
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The 77-year-old former vice-president became his party’s nominee in a virtual roll call vote from delegates in all 50 states and seven territories.
“Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart,” said Biden in a live video link. “It means the world to me and my family.”
His candidacy received endorsements from prominent political figures who warned Donald Trump was an “existential threat” to America who had failed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Former president Bill Clinton said in a video: “You know what Donald Trump will do with four more years. Blame, bully and belittle. And you know what Joe Biden will do. Build back better.
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“It’s Trump’s ‘us versus them’ America, against Joe Biden’s America. Where we all live and work together.
“It’s a clear choice. The future of our country is riding on it.”
Biden also received the backing of George W Bush’s secretary of state, General Colin Powell, who said: “Today, we are a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it stays that way and keep us that way.
“What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul.”
Throughout the evening, Democratic leaders contrasted Biden’s experience with what they described as Trump’s deadly mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak.
The second night of the Democratic National Convention opened with actor and convention moderator Tracee Ellis Ross, who gave a nod to the Biden’s vice-presidential running mate Kamala Harris.
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The keynote address was given by Biden’s wife, Dr Jill Biden, who described meeting him after he had lost his wife and daughter in a car crash in 1972.
“I never imagined, at the age of 26, I would be asking myself: how do you make a broken family whole?” she said.
“We have shown that the heart of this nation still beats with kindness and courage. That’s the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now.”
Barack Obama is due to speak on Wednesday along with 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and senator Harris.
This is Biden’s third White House bid – he has previously run in 1988 and 2008. He will formally deliver an acceptance speech on Thursday at the conclusion of the four-day convention.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-08-19--Trump Claims Covid-19 Is God Testing Him After He Built ‘Greatest Economy In History’

Donald Trump claimed Monday that the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 170,000 Americans is God’s way of testing him.
While boasting about the “economic miracle” he claims to have achieved before Covid-19 disrupted life across America, the president described having a conversation with God about his track record as president.
“We built the greatest economy in the history of the world, and now I have to do it again,” he said, repeating a debunked claim about his administration’s economic successes during a campaign stop in Mankato, Minnesota.
“You know what that is?” Trump asked. “That’s God testing me. He said, ‘You know, you did it once.’ And I said, ‘Did I do a great job, God? I’m the only one that could do it.’’’
According to Trump, God wasn’t too pleased with his boast.
“[God] said, ‘That, you shouldn’t say. Now we’re going to have you do it again,’” he said as his audience broke into laughter.
“I said, ‘OK, I agree. You got me,’” he said. “But I did it once. And now I’m doing it again.”