thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Relationships: Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them

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Unless we live alone on a desert island, relationships are some of the most important elements of our lives. According to the Mental Health Foundation, those of us who are well connected socially to family, friends or our community are healthier - both physically and mentally; happier, and tend to live longer than people who are less connected.
This is the topic of our latest episode of Deal With It, brought to you by Corsodyl Toothpaste, who are on a mission to get us talking about the uncomfortable issues we choose to ignore – whether that’s bleeding gums or bleeding relationships!
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Oliver Burkeman chats to host Ellie Taylor on Deal With It. Also listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Relationships of all kinds are often central to our happiness and sense of wellbeing. That’s not to say that they are effortless (and the coronavirus pandemic lockdown has tested many of them to the limit) or free from conflict. As we’ll see, effective communication and keeping ourselves grounded in the real world can help us understand others and thrive in our relationships.
Host Ellie Taylor got insights from Oliver Burkeman, bestselling author and psychology columnist into some of the trickier 21-century relationship issues.
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Oliver Burkeman shares his insights
Dating in the digital age
Bumble, Tinder, Grindr, Hinge… the potential for finding friends, fun or perhaps your soulmate is sitting right there in your phone. But there are many pitfalls: the number of ‘fish in the sea’ can feel overwhelming; social etiquette gets lost online; contacts can be obnoxious. The chemistry of meeting someone in person is lost online: “It’s not always great to make connections on the basis of how someone chose to present themselves,” says Oliver. Self-esteem can take a hit with constant disappointment or rejection, and it’s important to remember that dating apps are designed for failure so people go back and try again. Better to keep a social balance of friends and family connections, with dating apps just one of several avenues to meet people.
Broaching personal grooming and hygiene
You’ve found that special person and things seem to be going well with your relationship. However, there are some aspects of them that are starting to grate on you. Perhaps you cringe when they tuck their shirt into tightly belted trousers, or insist on wearing comfy old trainers on date nights out. They let their nails grow too long and perhaps don’t floss their teeth, leaving something to be desired in the minty freshness department. What can you do? You don’t want to descend into a relationship of daily criticism, nagging and fights. The best advice is to focus on those issues that affect you personally: nails are scratchy but a tucked shirt cannot harm you. Bad breath because of poor oral hygiene affects you and everyone around and may be a sign of gum disease; gentle communication to brush teeth regularly (ideally with gum-loving Corsodyl toothpaste) does everyone a favour.
When it gets complicated: make up or break up?
When a relationship feels stale, under strain, or you have that uneasy feeling it might not be working, how do you make the decision that ending it is for the best? The benchmark for evaluating a relationship used to be how ‘happy’ it made you, but as Oliver points out, “you can’t just navigate through life on happiness because that might end up not making you very happy”. Rather ask, “is the relationship growing me as a person, or shrivelling me up from the inside?” Nine times out of ten, we instinctively know the answer and what we have to do.
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When you make the choice to break up, Oliver advises taking a mature approach, and no contact for the first months: “Make the break really clear and make sure the people you’re reaching out to for support are your friends and not the person you’re separating from.”
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All by myself: loneliness
Loneliness can increase your likelihood of dying by 26%. This startling statistic is usually accompanied by a picture of an elderly person, but in fact a third of millennials report feeling always or often lonely, making the social media generation the loneliest generation.
“It’s all bound up with social comparison, and the sense that everybody’s hanging out without you, and not only that, but that they’re having a really good time and doing things in a much more accomplished fashion, so you get this effect that it seems as if you’re missing out on a lot more than you are - FOMO” explains Oliver. The relentless nature of social media means you only get to see the highlights of people’s lives, not the humdrum normality that makes up 90% of the rest. It’s easy to compare and feel inadequate.
Loneliness is relative: gregarious people deprived of social contact will feel more lonely than natural introverts who are generally happy with their own company. Rather than craving a deep and meaningful relationship to combat loneliness, says Oliver, “we need human contact, but we don’t necessarily need the human contact you think you need… it actually really matters to deal with somebody at the Post Office or to chat over the fence for 30 seconds with a neighbour. These things count, they can really make a difference to your emotions for the day”. And while the advice to volunteer, or join clubs and societies and to meet more people is sound, it’s unrealistic to expect these to magically transform our social circles overnight. It’s the little interactions that have the greatest impact.
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Give yourself some slack
As well as being kind to others, we need to be kind to ourselves. Oliver leaves us with a final thought: ‘If we treated our friends how we treat ourselves, a lot of the time we would be incredibly bad, mean friends. A lot of people are generally a lot nicer to other people than they are to themselves.’


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Spending Watchdog Urged To Probe Government's £5bn PPE Contracts

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Dear Mr Davies,
Government’s handling of procurement of Covid-19 PPE
We are writing to request an investigation into the Government’s handling of procurement of Covid-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The Labour Party supports UK manufacturers of PPE playing their full role in protecting front-line workers and we have consistently encouraged the Government to engage with manufacturers and especially those in the UK textiles industries. Regrettably, there are many cases where this has not happened effectively and some of the decisions merit greater scrutiny.
We recognise that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a significant challenge to government, not least because of insufficient PPE stockpile to meet the demand of this pandemic. However, there is also real public concern at some surprising or seemingly irregular arrangements made between the Government and some suppliers. This could lead to significant waste, fraud or inappropriate contracts being awarded. Crucially, such occurrences would present missed opportunities to spend this public money in a better manner achieving a bigger impact from more suitable suppliers.
At the end of March 2020, Deloitte was chosen by the Cabinet Office to assist with the procurement of personal protective equipment for frontline NHS staff. The contract was awarded without competition after the suspension of usual procurement procedures, which require contracts with a value of more than £10,000 to be advertised and awarded after a competitive tender. There could be important lessons learned if Deloitte’s approach and effectiveness was examined in this crucial role.
The UK Government has used the single bidder emergency procurement process over 60 times in April and May 2020. It is notable that other European countries have used single bidder processes on far fewer occasions with Spain doing so on only 2 occasions, Italy and Germany on 11 and 17 occasions respectively. Some of this may rely on extreme necessity, but where this does not apply it is important that this does not become the default approach of Government departments in the months ahead.
It appears that some multi-million pound orders to supply PPE were placed with companies with little or no prior experience in this area. You will be aware that the Government faces a judicial review into the award of a £108m PPE contract to Crisp Websites Ltd (trading as PestFix). A number of other media reports raise compelling questions around the suitability of some businesses for these sizable contracts. Some appear to have had poor company histories or appear to have been dormant in the months beforehand. Others are seemingly linked to tax havens which while raising ethical concerns could also present unfair advantages over the many established businesses paying the appropriate levels of taxes to the UK. There is also concern at apparent links and over-familiarity between a number of outsourcing companies and Conservative politicians or advisers.
We believe an investigation would provide important scrutiny into whether contracts were fairly and appropriately awarded, matching the national interest with the expertise of providers, and it would help ensure that the integrity of public procurement decisions is maintained.
The transparency from Government has fallen significantly short of what is reasonably to be expected even in such demanding times. There is £1.5bn of PPE contracts published so far, yet according to the Financial Times the Government admitted in correspondence to the Good Law Project that there is likely to be around £5.5bn spent so far.
Full transparency is needed to reassure the public both in terms of the process but also to achieve the best outcomes. We want public money to protect those on the frontline who have endured so much during this crisis. A full investigation into the Government’s approach to PPE procurement could help explain recent decisions and ensure lessons can be learned ahead of the important challenges facing the country in the months ahead. Many MPs have been contacted by concerned constituents over these matters. The public would be reassured if their concerns were misplaced.
We therefore request the National Audit Office investigates this matter and publishes its findings as soon as is practicable.
Yours sincerely,
Rachel Reeves MP
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister
Justin Madders MP
Shadow Health Minister


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Kanye West Trudges On With Presidency Bid, Despite Rumours He'd Already Bowed Out

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It looked as though Kanye West’s bid to become US president was over before it began this week, after he failed to land himself on the ballot in Florida, and an insider claimed he was “out” of the running.
A member of the Grammy-winning musician’s campaign team told Intelligencer on Tuesday that he was in the process of “getting all our stuff cancelled”, insisting: “Any candidate running for president for the first time goes through these hiccups.”
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However, it’s now been revealed that Kanye is pressing ahead after all, and will appear on the ballot in Oklahoma, filing the necessary paperwork on the final day before the deadline passed.
The Oklahoma State Election Board confirmed in a tweet posted on Wednesday: “Independent presidential candidate Kanye West has qualified for the General Election ballot in Oklahoma.”
Independent presidential candidate Kanye West has qualified for the General Election ballot in Oklahoma. (Today is Oklahoma's deadline for Independent & Unrecognized Party presidential candidates to file statements of candidacy with their petitions or filing fee.) — Oklahoma State Election Board (@OKelections) July 15, 2020
This means Kanye will appear on the ballot in at least one state in the US election this November, where he’ll be running against Demoratic candidate Joe Biden and current president Donald Trump.
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Unfortunately for Kanye, the deadline has already passed in a number of other states, including North Carolina and New Hampshire, which have been described as “key battlegrounds” in the election.
He could still run in Wyoming, though, where he and his family currently live on a ranch.
The next step for Kanye would be filing a statement of candidacy, or FEC Form 2, which is filed when an individual has raised or spent more than $5,000 dollars (about £3,900) in campaign activity, which then trigger candidacy status.
No record of a Kanye 2020 FEC Form 2 appears online, according to PA.
Kanye West Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
Kanye first expressed that he intended to run for US president in 2020 five years ago, during an acceptance speech at the MTV VMAs.
In the years since, he has repeatedly alluded to wanting to run for president, and made headlines two weeks ago when he tweeted: “We must now realise the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Coronavirus Infects Half Of Incarcerated People At San Quentin Prison

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The deadly coronavirus outbreak at California’s San Quentin prison is growing at a devastating pace. More than half of the people incarcerated there have been infected with Covid-19 as advocates and officials continue calls for governor Gavin Newsom to release more inmates.
In late May, San Quentin prison had zero confirmed cases of coronavirus among its around 4,000 inmates. But after over 120 prisoners were transferred in from Chino, California — 25 of whom later tested positive for Covid-19 — an outbreak began.
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As of Wednesday, over 2,000 people incarcerated at San Quentin have been confirmed infected with coronavirus — including over 1,200 with active cases. Some 200 staff members have also gotten the virus. And 11 people have died so far, with the latest Covid-19 death reported on Wednesday. Meanwhile, only 36 of those infected have been released.
After advocates and local officials called for the release of people incarcerated in state prisons, California’s Democratic governor announced last week that some 8,000 prisoners across the state would be let out over the next few weeks, prioritising people with high-risk health conditions and those with less than six months left in their sentences.
It is unclear how many of those 8,000 will come out of San Quentin specifically. Since that announcement, dozens more prisoners have been infected there and four more have died.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
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There are 1,372 people in cages at San Quentin positive for COVID. 10 people have died! Over 1/2 have been infected. Releasing 7% of the prison population isn’t enough. It will spread. People will keep getting sick and die @gavinnewsom please do more. #StopTheSpread #CareNotCages pic.twitter.com/vUgMUE8ftZ — Brendon Woods (@BrendonWoodsPD) July 14, 2020
Brendan Woods, the public defender for Alameda County, across the bay from San Quentin prison, said Tuesday: “Releasing 7% of the prison population isn’t enough. It will spread. People will keep getting sick and die,” and called on Newsom to “please do more.”
State Senator Scott Wiener — who said the governor’s release announcement last week was “a solid step, but more work remains” — also tweeted Tuesday denouncing the growing outbreak at San Quentin, pointing to the state’s “disastrous mass incarceration policy.”
“When you pack people into prisons, bad things happen,” said the state lawmaker out of San Francisco. “We must move quickly & decisively toward decarceration.”
Earlier this month, 20 inmates at San Quentin went on a hunger strike to protest inhumane conditions there amid a pandemic, including dirty, cramped cells.
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The US continues to lead the world in Covid-19 cases, with more than 3.4 million confirmed cases and over 137,000 dead from the virus so far. California has seen an alarming increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, with more than 336,000 confirmed cases and more than 7,000 dead as of Tuesday. The state hit a seven-day average of over 8,200 new cases per day, according to the governor’s press conference Monday.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Donald Trump Is At War With Covid-19 Science

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At a roundtable at Louisiana State University on Tuesday, US Vice President Mike Pence paused to make what he clearly felt was a vital point.
“To be very clear,” he said, “we don’t want CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidance to be a reason why people don’t reopen their schools.”
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In other words, schools and universities, which the Trump administration is pushing to rapidly reopen despite surging coronavirus infections in many states, need not heed the advice of scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation’s premier public health agency, as they reopen amid an ongoing pandemic that has killed more than 136,000 people in the US.
Suggesting that schools ignore expert advice meant to keep kids, parents and school staff safe would, in a different administration, be shocking. But in recent weeks, Donald Trump and his team have led a brazen attack on Covid-19 science and scientists in a desperate effort to deny away a deadly pandemic that the administration’s incompetence has made far worse. That effort has included downplaying the ongoing threat, diverting crucial hospital data from the CDC, smearing infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, and casting blame on China, the World Health Organization and Americans from Northern states.
The Covid response is part of the Trump administration’s long war on all forms of science and expertise. The administration has cast out or discredited science that does not align with Trump’s fossil fuel-centric “energy dominance” agenda, his reelection campaign or, in some cases, that contradicts what the president said on Twitter.
The president himself has repeatedly denied climate change, questioned the science of vaccinations and invented weather forecasts for a hurricane. When hundreds of researchers from more than a dozen federal agencies warned in a November 2018 report that the world is barreling toward catastrophic climate change, Trump simply said of the findings: “I don’t believe it.” His anti-science beliefs have been made into policy by the ex-industry lobbyists appointed to run environmental and scientific agencies across his administration.
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President Donald Trump has worked to undermine science and scientists throughout his tenure. Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Trump on Wednesday travelled to Atlanta ― a current hotspot of the virus ― to speak unmasked at a UPS facility, where he announced a major rollback of one of the nation’s most important environmental laws, the National Environmental Policy Act. Among other things, the rollback fast-tracks oil pipelines, power plants and other major infrastructure projects by limiting the number that require in-depth environmental reviews, as well as allowing federal agencies to ignore how developments impact climate change. At the event, Trump thanked UPS drivers for continuing to deliver packages during America’s “battle against the China virus,” one of several racist terms he continues to use to describe coronavirus.
While much of Trump’s opposition to climate and environmental science is common among Republican presidents and lawmakers, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic shows how deadly this rejection of science can be. And his strategy heading into the 2020 election appears to be to convince Americans that the death and suffering happening around them isn’t really that bad, and certainly isn’t his fault.
Attacking The Messenger
While denial and finger-pointing have dominated Trump’s coronavirus response from the start, the assault on reality has escalated in recent weeks. Most alarming is the administration’s new effort to undermine Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the person a majority of Americans have come to trust during the pandemic.
The White House’s most direct effort began on Sunday when it distributed what looked like campaign opposition research to reporters listing Fauci’s perceived misjudgments about the pandemic before the virus spread was recognised. Stories appeared noting that the Trump administration was preparing an attack on Fauci, but these attacks were all attributed to unnamed administration officials.
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“Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.” - Peter Navarro, United States trade representative
By then, it had been more than a month since Fauci had spoken with the president, The Washington Post reported. The administration had stopped sending Fauci out for major media interviews as they were displeased that he did not endorse reopening the economy nor did he take part in Trump’s happy talk that the virus will “just disappear.”
“Dr Fauci is a nice man, but he’s made a lot of mistakes,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in a July 9 interview.
Fauci has continued to appear on podcasts and do interviews with online publications.
“[A]s a country, when you compare us to other countries, I don’t think you can say we’re doing great,” Fauci said on a FiveThiryEight.com podcast that aired on July 9. “I mean, we’re just not.”
The White House clearly decided that the nation’s leading infectious disease expert was out over his skis to speak plainly about the worst pandemic in a century. His concern about controlling a public health crisis had become a distraction from Trump’s effort to restart the economy, a central task of his reelection campaign.
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Fauci “doesn’t necessarily … have the whole national interest in mind,” Admiral Brett P. Giroir, assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “He looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view.”
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, wears a face covering during a Senate committee hearing in Washington, D.C., in June. AL DRAGO via Getty Images
The attacks on Fauci escalated when USA Today published an op-ed from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday in which he aired his grievances about the public health official. “Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on,” Navarro wrote.
The White House attempted to downplay Navarro’s falsehood-ridden attacks by asserting that he published the op-ed on his own without official approval. In prior administrations, this act would be a fireable offence. In this one, there’s little indication that Navarro will be punished at all.
Fauci told The Atlantic in an interview published Wednesday that he has no plans to step down and called the White House’s attack against him “bizarre,” “nonsense” and “completely wrong.”
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“Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that,” he said.
Passing The Buck
Trump has continually refused to take any blame for negligence or errors in his administration’s response to the pandemic.
“I don’t take responsibility at all,” he said at a now-infamous Rose Garden press conference on March 13, the day the nation began to go into lockdown.
It was instead former president Barack Obama’s fault, Trump claimed. Trump’s attempt to pass the buck to the previous administration came despite his disbanding of a pandemic response team at the National Security Council and his refusal to follow the plan used by the Obama administration to successfully respond to both the H1N1 and Ebola viruses.
More recently, Trump has claimed that former vice president Joe “Biden and Obama stopped their testing,” despite the coronavirus not existing until three years after they left office.
Trump has stuck to that narrative, claiming that his own excellent work prevented potentially millions of additional deaths. At an event Tuesday that was billed as a White House press conference but quickly devolved into a rambling campaign rally-style speech, Trump railed against China, for “concealing” and “unleashing” the coronavirus “upon the world,” and the World Health Organization ― a go-to move to distract from his own botched pandemic response.
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He dismissed the WHO as “a puppet of China” and a “terrible deal,” and bragged about cutting ties with the world body and redirecting the approximately $450 million the U.S. contributes to it each year.
“We’ve been I guess as tough as you can get on World Health,” Trump said Tuesday. “We withdrew our money, we told them we’re getting out. Doesn’t mean that someday we won’t go back in, maybe we will when it’s correctly run. But they made a lot of bad predictions and they said a lot of bad things about what to do and how to do it, and they turned out to be wrong.
It’s truly baffling stuff from the leader of a country that is among the most ravaged by the coronavirus, with 3.45 million infections to date.
Trump’s withdrawal from the WHO is not the only counterproductive policy change that he has pursued due to his need to control his image rather than abide by decisions informed by public health science.
The Real Damage
People wait in line for coronavirus testing at Dodger Stadium, July 14, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The president’s rejection of expertise, histrionic defensiveness and bizarre false statements are not simply utterances of an uninformed man. They inform the administration’s policies that are undermining efforts to control the virus’s spread, which means more Americans will die.
His administration was slow to fund testing across the country, failed to properly promote mask-wearing when it became clear it would help slow the virus’s spread, purchased tens of millions of reserves of Trump’s favourite unproven coronavirus remedy hydroxychloroquine and is now rerouting hospital data away from the CDC, in a seeming effort to keep the public in the dark.
“I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please,’” Trump told the crowd at an indoor campaign rally he hosted on June 20 that was likely the source of a surge in virus cases in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
On June 24, the administration announced it would close 13 federally funded COVID testing sites.
Trump has repeatedly claimed, falsely, that the only reason the country is seeing an increase in cases is because more tests are being conducted. Public health officials have countered this falsehood, pointing to the data on Covid-19 hospitalisations reported to the CDC.
But the administration announced on Tuesday that hospitals should cease reporting such data to the CDC and instead direct it to a private data collector that the Department of Health and Human Services has contracted. The move puts the data collection under the control of more partisan officials close to the Trump White House where it is not currently publicly reported. Already, Covid tracking sites report that the digital CDC data stream they relied on to provide public updates on the virus has stopped.
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In much the same way that denying and undermining climate science allows Trump to justify scrapping and weakening environmental rules to the benefit of polluting industries that helped bankroll his campaign, covering up and dismissing Covid-19 data is about protecting himself.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Sculpture Of Black Lives Matter Protester Jen Reid Removed From Edward Colston Plinth

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A sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester that was erected to replace a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol has been taken down by authorities.
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But just 24 hours after it was erected on Wednesday, the sculpture – entitled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) – was removed by Bristol City Council, who said it would be held at a museum until Quinn collected or donated it.
This morning we removed the sculpture. It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection. Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees issued a statement yesterday about the need for a democratic process where the people of Bristol decide the future of the plinth — Bristol City Council (@BristolCouncil) July 16, 2020
It comes after Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees said that it was up for locals to decide what should go on the plinth where Colston once stood.
“The future of the plinth and what is installed on it must be decided by the people of Bristol,” he said in a statement.
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“This will be critical to building a city that is home to those who are elated at the statue being pulled down, those who sympathise with its removal but are dismayed at how it happened and those who feel that in its removal, they’ve lost a piece of the Bristol they know and therefore themselves.”
In a tweet, Rees said that anything else put up on the plinth without permission would also be removed.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday, he said the decision was not about taking down a statue of Reid, describing her as a “very impressive woman”.
“This is about taking down a statue of a London-based artist who came and put it up without permission,” he said.
Rees said when he spoke to sculptor Marc Quinn, the artist was unaware that the toppling of the Colston statue also caused damage to the grave of Scipio Africanus – a memorial to an enslaved African man.
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“If you’re going to do something, you need to do it with awareness and a full knowledge of the context in which you’re doing it,” Rees said.
Jen Reid poses in front of her black resin and steel statue titled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020, by Marc Quinn, where it is installed on the vacant Edward Colston plinth in Bristol city centre. PA
On Wednesday, Reid – the subject of Quinn’s sculpture – said creating the piece was important “as it helps keep the journey towards racial justice and equity moving”.
Black lives matter everyday, she said.
“This sculpture is about making a stand for my mother, for my daughter, for Black people like me. It’s about Black children seeing it up there.
“It’s something to feel proud of, to have a sense of belonging, because we actually do belong here and we’re not going anywhere.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Coronavirus: Number Of Workers On Payrolls Drops By 649,000 Since Lockdown

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The number of UK workers on company payrolls has fallen 649,000 during the coronavirus crisis, official figures have revealed, with another 74,000 jobs lost in June.
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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said early estimates showed the number of paid employees fell by 1.9% year-on-year in June to 28.4 million.
It said the pace of job losses appeared to have slowed in June, with claims under Universal Credit by the unemployed and those on low incomes falling by 28,100 between May and June to 2.6 million.
However, the number of people claiming Universal Credit has more than doubled since March – soaring 112.2% or by 1.4 million – in a sign of the mounting jobs crisis.
A person visits the Government Gateway website to apply for Universal Credit online. Picture date: Friday March 27, 2020. Photo credit should read: Isabel Infantes/EMPICS Entertainment EMPICS Entertainment
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Meanwhile, unemployment figures painted a complex picture, with the rate of unemployment remaining unexpectedly unchanged at 3.9%.
But experts said this figure masked a sharp fall in employment, down 126,000 in the quarter to 32.95 million, with the rate dropping to 76.4%.
This decline was the steepest since 2011 and was driven mostly by a record fall in the self-employed, according to the ONS.
Meanwhile, with 9.4 million people on furlough classed as employed, the true impact is expected to only be shown after the current support scheme ends in October.
The data, which was released on Thursday, also showed that the number of job vacancies fell 463,000 between March and May to a record low of 333,000 as companies froze hiring in the face of the pandemic.
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female supermarket cashier in medical protective mask working at supermarket. covid-19 spreading outbreak Pixfly via Getty Images
Sara Wilcocks, head of communications at poverty charity Turn2Us said it was clear the UK was heading for an intense period of high unemployment.
“Without intervention this will lead to mass personal debt, rising homelessness and increasing numbers of families going hungry,” she said.
“The government introduced the furlough scheme to help millions of people keep their jobs at the height of the pandemic – they must now double down to protect people through the second phase of this crisis.
“We urge the DWP to increase social security spending, eliminate the five week wait for Universal Credit and ensure that benefit conditionality is flexible to claimant’s needs and opportunities in their area.”
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Mims Davies, the government’s minister for employment, said: “We know that people are worried about their livelihoods which is why we’ve put in place a Plan For Jobs.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Megan Thee Stallion Says She's Grateful To Be Alive After Suffering Multiple Gunshot Wounds

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Megan Thee Stallion said she was shot multiple times over the weekend in her first statement clarifying earlier reports about an incident at a Los Angeles house party.
The Houston-born rapper wrote on Instagram Wednesday that she “suffered gunshot wounds as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me,” explaining that she was never arrested despite reports claiming otherwise.
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TMZ had reported earlier this week that the Savage rapper and another woman were in a car with rapper Tory Lanez when he was arrested on a concealed weapons charge early Sunday morning.
Megan Thee Stallion Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
“I was never arrested, the police officers drove me to the hospital where I underwent surgery to remove the bullets,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I’m incredibly grateful to be alive and that I’m expected to make a full recovery, but it was important for me to clarify the details about this traumatic night. I’m currently focused on my recovery, so I can return back to my life and back to making music as soon as possible.”
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Earlier in the evening, according to TMZ, authorities responded to a disturbance at the house party where both Megan Thee Stallion and Lanez were reportedly in attendance.
Witnesses reportedly said an argument became violent after shots were fired outside the Hollywood Hills home. The two rappers left the scene in an SUV, but were later stopped by police, who were reportedly given a description of the vehicle.
Reports at the time claimed that Megan Thee Stallion cut her foot on broken glass inside Lanez’s SUV and was later treated at a hospital for wounds.
In her Instagram caption, the Hot Girl Summer rapper called the ordeal “an eye opener and a blessing in disguise.”
Lanez was later released from jail after posting his $35,000 bail, according to People. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 13.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--You May Be Using Hand Sanitiser All Wrong

Nodar Chernishev via Getty Images Your hand sanitizer may not be working as best as it should to ward off COVID-19.
Keeping your hands clean is a critical component of protection against the spread of the coronavirus.
Using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser is a convenient method of hand hygiene on the go, especially when soap and water ― the more effective way of getting rid of all types of germs ― is not readily available. But just because you spray or squirt some on your hands and give them a quick wipe doesn’t mean your sanitiser is working as best it should.
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Here are common hand sanitiser mistakes to beware of:
1. You don’t use enough hand sanitiser on your hands.
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention says you need to use enough sanitiser to cover all surfaces of your hands. This is a common mistake people make, said Dr. Zeke J. McKinney, the primary occupational and environmental medicine provider at Minnesota’s HealthPartners Riverway Clinic.
“The right way to use it is to basically make sure it covers both of your hands,” he said. “Often people don’t put enough on their palms to do that.“
Too much is better than too little. “If you’re worried about using too much, that’s not a problem,” McKinney said.
Once sanitiser is on your hands, take the time to cover every crevice. The World Health Organization said this should take 20-30 seconds, and it offers step-by-step instructions on the proper technique:
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World Health Organization This WHO graphic shows people how to rub your hands for proper hygiene. The agency also suggests that you should wash them when they are visibly soiled.
Thomas Russo, chief of the infectious disease division at the University of Buffalo in New York, said not covering your whole hand is the biggest risk with hand-sanitiser use.
“You get the palm side of your fingers. You’ll get your fingertips, but you won’t get the other side, or between the fingers and the outside of the thumbs,” Russo said. “You have to make sure you get all those other parts.”
2. You don’t wait for the hand sanitiser to dry.
The CDC says you should rub your hands together for about 20 seconds until they feel dry.
If you don’t wait for that, you can “essentially end up wiping it off on something, and then it’s not really doing its job,” McKinney said. The time that it’s sitting on your hands is when it’s working to inactivate certain bacteria and viruses, he added.
Russo said rubbing the hand sanitiser dry is good because it also encourages people to thoroughly rub it onto every surface of their hand.
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3. You’re only relying on hand sanitiser and not storing it safely.
You may be in need of clean hands after handling messy food or playing sports. But spritzing hand sanitiser should not replace thoroughly cleaning your hands with soap and water when there’s grit or grease on them.
If there is “dirt covering part of your hand, that hand sanitiser cannot really effectively get to the surface of your hand,” McKinney said. “The reason scrubbing your hands, like washing hands, is more effective, is because you get the mechanical action of getting off bacteria by virtue of scrubbing.“
Recognise that using hand sanitiser properly is an effective way to slow the potential spread of the coronavirus, but it should not be the only preventative measure you are taking.
“People think [hand sanitiser] is a reasonable replacement for washing your hands, but it definitely is not,” McKinney said. “Washing your hands is by far the best thing.”
Also keep in mind where you store your hand sanitiser. Russo warned that you should keep it away from children, citing a rise in cases of kids being poisoned from ingesting it.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Meet The Man Helping Broadcasters Overcome Critical Racism And Diversity Problems

One time while working as a TV producer, Adeel Amini was briefing a celebrity before a television appearance when they asked where his name came from. He told them he was born in Yorkshire and his parents are Pakistani. The celebrity paused, looked at Adeel and said: “That’s funny, you don’t sound Indian.”
“I just sort of stepped back and I had to laugh,” he says, recalling the moment to HuffPost UK. “I couldn’t really say anything - but it was wrong on so many levels. I didn’t even say I was Indian. How is somebody like that supposed to sound?”
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Another time at a commissioner meeting, Adeel was going through scripts for what he describes as a high profile show when he asked the three other people in the room to help him read lines out loud. The executive producer, who was white, then read out the script in a “full-on” Jamaican accent.
“It was completely horrific and not appropriate,” Adeel reflects. “The other people started laughing along and of course, me, being the only minority in the room, kind of had to move on without saying anything.”
Adeel didn't think he'd return to working in TV production when he left after suffering a breakdown HuffPost UK
Adeel has worked on shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? over an 11-year television career, but mental health challenges, compounded by the systematic racism he experienced at work, caused him to have a breakdown in 2016. He didn’t think he’d return to work in TV again.
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Having been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in the same period, Adeel says he was offered no support for his mental health, which was made worse due to being freelance, which can exclude workers from the mental health support available to permanent staffers.
“Just as with racism, you can’t talk about it openly as you’ll be labelled as a trouble maker,” he says. “With mental health, you can’t be seen to be anything less than employable so I had to just keep it in and carry on even though I was in quite possibly the worst place you could possibly imagine a person to be in.”
Adeel describes a general “suffocation of identity” when working in TV as an ethnic minority.
“You have to have a pristine exterior,” he says. “There’s always that thought that, ‘I might have to work with these people again, I can’t be seen to disrupt the status quo.’”
Having overcome the breakdown, Adeel was inspired to set up The TV Mindset Facebook page, which launched officially in January. He did it partly because of his own experiences, but also because of his work with the Looking Glass survey, which revealed frightening statistics about the disproportionately bad state of mental health for workers in TV and film.
Adeel is now advising some of the biggest broadcasters HuffPost UK
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The survey revealed that 87% of workers in the industry had suffered from ill mental health at some point in their lives, compared with the national UK average of 65%.
The TV Mindset page aims to offer mental health support to people who work in TV, and due to the wider conversations around diversity and racism in the industry because of Black Lives Matter, the timing of the group has felt extra pertinent.
Over the few months it has been live, the page has garnered over 3,000 members, and Adeel’s recent webinar about racism in TV has now been viewed by over 6,000 people.
Following the success of the page and webinar, broadcasters, charities and organisations at the heart of the British television industry are turning to Adeel to ask for clarity and consultation around their diversity policies.
He can’t name the organisations, but it’s clear from the rapid growth and lively conversations on the page that the group speaks to the drastic need for mental health support in a gruelling industry that has definitely got a racism problem.
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Alongside mental health support, Adeel and the group are spreading the simple message that a diverse workforce will also inevitably produce diverse content.
Adeel is one of the leading voices raising conversations around representation for people of colour working in TV and film. Other prominent voices include the four young women of colour that run the BAME TV Task Force, an organisation which sent an open letter to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden this week with almost 1,000 signatures proclaiming a “culture problem within television.”
The letter declares: “We need a diverse workforce in order to create diverse content.” The letter is still accepting signatures from minority groups and white allies.
“My greatest dream with The TV Mindset is to be able to shut it down"” - Adeel Amini
“My greatest dream with The TV Mindset is to be able to shut it down,” Adeel says now, five months on from its conception. “Because there’s no need for it anymore because the institutions that are in the industry are providing enough support that I don’t need to.”
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That point feels a long way off.
“You look back and you realise oh my god, how many times and how many instances were there where I just dismissed something for the sake of getting along, or just getting by?” Adeel asks.
“Now when I look back and just think how much I stayed quiet it makes me sad, but yeah, you just ignore it or laugh it off.”
The TV Mindset's racism seminar, featuring five minority voices which have experienced racism in the industry, and one sign language communicator HuffPost UK
A “culture of gratitude” encourages young people and vulnerable people such as those from minority backgrounds to make light of serious accusations of bullying in the workplace.
This culture of gratitude makes workers believe they’re lucky to be given a job, and that they should appreciate it in spite of the way they’re treated. From an early age, these negative experiences start to impact on mental health.
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Additionally for minority groups, this sense that they should be thankful can be compounded by well-meaning parents in other facets of life: the idea that it’s best to keep quiet and try to fit in amongst a majority white group at school or in the workplace is a familiar one for many people of colour growing up in the UK.
“People like me don’t normally get in the industry,” says Adeel. “I didn’t have any contacts down in London where I could have coach surfed, or parents who have got a place down there or any sort of fallback. I was so grateful to be there I would have done whatever I could just to hold on to this thing that I’d worked really hard for and ultimately a dream job for me.”
It’s a story that clearly resonates with others that are, or have been, in Adeel’s position. The producer says he receives hundreds of messages across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and email, thanking him for setting up the support page.
“The nicer ones I screenshot and file away for a rainy day in case I need a bit of support myself,” he says of the torrents of notes.
Why did now feel like the right time to personally speak out? Adeel says that eleven years in the industry, and the leverage that seniority brings, coupled with the lack of fear over leaving the industry meant he was in the unique position to establish the page and not fear repercussions.
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“It’s a little bit like therapy in a way now, talking about it,” he says, although he asserts that not everybody will have this experience due to the financial and personal constraints that keep people in jobs, and keep people from speaking out against prejudice. “I know that I’m one of the lucky ones,” he admits.
“I know that not everyone gets to get over their issues or at least be able to cope with them in the way that I do,” he says.
Now Adeel will continue to exploit his relative privilege to provide webinars on mental health, wellbeing, dismantling the culture of fear in TV, racism, disability and ableism in TV.
More webinars, which are free-to-attend, will be announced on the Facebook page.
Although the page is centred around the experience of working in TV, Adeel believes it’s likely minority groups from other industries will have watched the webinars and gained some useful feedback from the people of colour who have shared their stories.
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“Most of us in TV are here because we love the job,” Adeel surmises.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--You Know How My Daughter Kim Wall Died. I Want You To Know How She Lived

Kim Wall in Paris in 2008 Photo copyright: Joachim Wall
It’s been almost three years since Kim disappeared. More than a thousand long days and just as many – even longer – nights. Our lives changed forever on that day in August 2017 when our daughter boarded a homemade submarine in Copenhagen. Her task: finishing up a story before she and her beloved Ole moved to Beijing to start a new life together.
No one can imagine the pain and grief involved in losing a beloved daughter, sister, fiancée and friend. No one can imagine having to manage the pendulum between hope and despair for those twelve days it took before we got the dreadful news that Kim had been found. The search didn’t end until 111 days later. This changes you as a human being in a very fundamental way.
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Kim was a force of nature. She was curious, gifted, stubborn, decisive and very goal-oriented. Even as a child, she showed signs of these traits. When she thought the bedtime stories we read her were too few and too short, she taught herself to read on her own. When she was a teenager, Kim went her own way and decided early on that she would not give up in the face of obstacles – if she had decided something, that’s the way it would be. It didn’t always turn out the way she had planned, but her philosophy was that you had to at least try. She was often successful; knowledge paired with charm and deep interest for other people opened many doors for her.
During her years as a journalist, she travelled the entire world. As parents, we worried constantly that something would happen to her. A traffic accident, snapping power lines, natural disasters, crime – we knew anything at all could bring her to harm. Kim tried to soothe our fears by saying she knew what she was doing, and she made her way around the world without major incidents. Then came that sunny August evening in Copenhagen, a 45-minute trip from our home in southern Sweden.
“She was a journalist of the old school, one who left the newsroom to go out and meet people in their own environment. She read up thoroughly, took plenty of time and was a good listener.”
Kim was happy her last summer. She was on her way to success as a freelance woman journalist in the very male-dominated world of international reporting. “The editors are calling me back now – they know who I am!” she told us happily. The sun also shone on Kim’s personal life this summer. She and Ole had been a couple for a while, but for the most part, they had lived on different continents. Now they were finally going to create a home together in China, a country that Kim dearly loved. She was looking forward to it: “China is where everything is going to be happening in the future. There’s no better place for me on earth.”
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Kim was continuing her efforts to learn to speak Mandarin so that she could work unimpeded in China. This was typical for Kim’s work method. She was a journalist of the old school, one who left the newsroom to go out and meet people in their own environment. She read up thoroughly, took plenty of time and was a good listener. She said often, “if a person entrusts me with their story, I have to honour this responsibility.” She believed that every human being had something to say, and she was willing to listen.
This aptitude served Kim well in theatres of war in northern Sri Lanka, islands poisoned by atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean, survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, Cubans thirsting for the Internet, torture chambers in Uganda and enormous follies in North Korea. Kim was constantly on her way between two continents, eager to make the world a little better by means of her pen.
There will never be another article with the byline “Kim Wall”. Her pen has been laid to rest for good. For those of us left behind, it’s a solace that we can send out other young women journalists through the Kim Wall Memorial Fund to write stories in Kim’s spirit. To date, we’ve given grants to six women, and we will continue this work as long as we live. After us, Kim’s brother Tom will take over together with Ole.
“We are honouring Kim's memory by remembering her as the fantastic woman, daughter, sister, beloved and friend she was.”
The ideas for this fund and for a book about Kim were born on one of those first dreadful nights, when we didn’t know what had happened, but had a feeling that it was grim. We wanted to make sure that Kim wouldn’t be forgotten. And who, if not us, would be better suited to telling her story?
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Writing Kim Wall – A Silenced Voice turned into a journey with many stops where we both laughed and cried. It also became part of the process of managing the unfathomable. Going back and remembering those thirty lovely years we had with Kim was healing. Getting to write about the kind, loving reception we’ve had from those we know and those we don’t has also helped. We’ve learned the hard way that you don’t need much at all to paint a golden edge on a truly terrible day. A hug, a pat on the shoulder, a few friendly words – our grief doesn’t get any smaller for being shared with others, but it becomes a little easier to bear. We know we’re not alone – Kim’s friends are all over the world, and we’re united in the sorrow of having lost her. Now we are honouring her memory by remembering her as the fantastic woman, daughter, sister, beloved and friend she was – not as the victim she became.
Ingrid Wall is a journalist and author of A Silenced Voice: The Life of Kim Wall. This article was translated by Kathy Saranpa.
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--How Coronavirus Injected New Life Into The Anti-Vaxxer Movement

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Scientists hoped the battle against coronavirus would be won in the laboratory. According to the latest updates, a vaccine could be ready to roll out to the public in a matter of months.
“We anticipate if everything goes really well that we’ll get an answer as to whether it works by early next year,” professor Robin Shattock, who heads a team developing a coronavirus vaccine at Imperial College London, said this week.
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Already, approximately 15 volunteers have been vaccinated as part of the trial, and an additional 200 to 300 participants will be added in the coming weeks, Shattock said. The effectiveness of any coronavirus vaccine remains uncertain, he cautioned. But if the human trial proves successful, the vaccine could be rolled out to the public in the first half of 2021.
For many people around the world, the prospect of a coronavirus vaccine offers a beacon of hope and the fastest and cleanest route to a return to normality. Vaccines typically take years to develop, but amid the widespread suffering that the pandemic has caused, scientists are working to accelerate that timeline. The Imperial College London trial joins more than 150 other vaccine development efforts currently underway around the world. Another UK study, led by Oxford University, is even further along, and could produce a vaccine by the end of the year – possibly even as early as September.
Yet the unprecedented effort to develop a vaccine in record time risks being undermined by a revitalised anti-vaccination movement, which has been gaining strength worldwide since the start of the pandemic.
Conspiracy theories and misinformation, spread widely on social media platforms, have fuelled distrust of a coronavirus vaccine. As a result, regardless of when a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, an even bigger challenge may be getting the public to embrace it.
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Nearly one-third of Britons may refuse to take a vaccine for coronavirus, according to a poll released last week.
The survey, conducted by YouGov for the Center for Countering Digital Hate, found that 6% of respondents would definitely refuse a vaccine, and a further 10% said they would “probably not” accept it. Another 15% said they were not sure.
The survey also found people who relied on social media above traditional media for information were less likely to take a vaccine.
The survey shows there is a credible “threat to the ability of a vaccine to contain Covid-19,” the Center for Countering Digital Hate said.
A protester holds an anti-vaccination sign as Trump supporters rally to reopen California. David McNew via Getty Images
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Surveys in other countries have revealed similarly large swaths of the public are skeptical about a coronavirus vaccine.
Germany, for example, has long been a hotbed of anti-vaccination sentiment. Polls conducted by the University of Erfurt, in collaboration with the Robert Koch Institute and other public health organisations, have found that the percentage of Germans who would be willing to get a coronavirus vaccine has been declining – from 79% in April to 63% as of last week.
“Even with a perfectly functioning vaccine, this might not be enough for herd immunity,” lead researcher Cornelia Betsch told The Washington Post.
In the United States as well, a large percentage of Americans say they are unlikely to get a coronavirus shot. At the end of May, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that only about half of Americans would get a coronavirus vaccine, while 20% said they would refuse outright.
Skepticism about a coronavirus vaccine is particularly strong among Black Americans, the poll found. Only a quarter of Black people said they would get a coronavirus vaccine, while 40% said they would not.
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Many Black Americans harbour deep suspicions about the health care system, stemming from the country’s long legacy of racism and the medical establishment’s history of discrimination and mistreatment.
To achieve so-called herd immunity, scientists say that upwards of 70% of a population needs to be immune in order to protect people who have yet to be infected by a virus.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said recently that if a large percentage of Americans refuse to get the vaccine, it is “unlikely” the United States will achieve a high enough level of herd immunity to stop the coronavirus from spreading.
“There is a general anti-science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling among some people in this country – an alarmingly large percentage of people, relatively speaking,” Fauci told CNN.
“We have a lot of work to do” to educate people about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, Fauci said.
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A protester at rally in Stuttgart, Germany, wears a sign signaling opposition to a coronavirus vaccine, May 2, 2020. picture alliance via Getty Images
At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a hope that the rising global death toll and massive disruption of normal life caused by the coronavirus would put an end to the anti-vaccine movement.
“People were so eager to see a Covid-19 vaccine come out,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, told HuffPost. “What I thought was that people would see what it’s like to live in a pre-vaccine era where you have a real serious threat to you or your family by not having a vaccine, and that this would put a real dent in the anti-vaccine movement. I think it did for about a month, before they really figured out how to regroup and respin things.”
In the United States and other countries, the anti-vaxx movement has joined with far-right groups to protest lockdown restrictions, social distancing, and other anti-coronavirus measures – framing opposition to vaccines as an expression of freedom and liberty.
Government messaging about how quickly scientists are working to develop and approve a vaccine has also contributed to fears that researchers may be cutting corners, and that any eventual coronavirus vaccine won’t be safe.
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“We still haven’t addressed the anti-vaccine movement in a meaningful way,” Hotez said. “It is globalised, it is better funded, and rather than losing steam in the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve been able to exploit it and gain strength.”
A protester carries a sign with an anti-vaccination slogan during an anti-coronavirus lockdown demonstration in Hyde Park in London on May 16. JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images
If the battle to develop a vaccine is staged in the laboratory, however, the war to win hearts and minds is likely to be played out on social media, creating the biggest test yet of whether tech giants are serious about cracking down on misinformation.
In a new report released last week, the Center for Countering Digital Hate analysed more than 400 anti-vaxx accounts on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram with more than 57 million followers in the US and the UK.
These social media accounts were found to be publishing false conspiracy theories, including that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had created the coronavirus pandemic and that Covid-19 vaccine tests had caused women to be infertile.
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The study concluded the number of followers of these accounts had increased by 7.7 million since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“Our hope for a return to normal life rests with scientists developing a successful vaccine for coronavirus,” said Imran Ahmed, the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s chief executive. “But social media companies’ irresponsible decision to continue to publish anti-vaccine propaganda means a vaccine may not be effective in containing the virus.”
“The price for their greed is a cost paid in lives,” Ahmed said.
A Facebook representative said the company is taking steps to crack down on rumours, conspiracy theories and fake news.
“We are working to stop harmful misinformation from spreading on our platforms and have removed hundreds of thousands of pieces of Covid-19-related misinformation,” the spokesperson said.
As early as February, the World Health Organisation labeled the spread of misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak an “infodemic,” and pushed tech companies to take tougher action to stop it.
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In May, a documentary-style video called “Plandemic,” which promoted a range of conspiracy theories – including the false claim that vaccines make people more susceptible to Covid-19 – went viral online. Within a week, the video had been viewed 8 million times on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, according to a New York Times analysis. Even after the major platforms removed the video, it continued to circulate online.
The solution to coronavirus misinformation, therefore, isn’t merely a technical one. Scientists, doctors and public health officials say that just as researchers are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine, countries must step up their efforts to encourage people to embrace vaccination.
Overcoming anti-vaccine sentiment and a mistrust of government may mean thinking beyond official information campaigns and engaging celebrities, athletes, religious leaders, and other trusted members of the community who can speak to the importance of getting vaccinated.
Heidi Larson, an anthropologist and head of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, recently told Science magazine that there’s no time to waste.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--I’m A Millionaire, And I Want To Be Taxed More To Help The Economy Recover From Covid-19

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This week I added my name to an open letter, organised by organisations including Patriotic Millionaires and Oxfam, inviting millionaires and billionaires around the world to join our demand for higher and fairer taxes on the very wealthiest.
Over 80 of us, including Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield, film director Richard Curtis, former Blackrock managing director Morris Peal and film producer Abigail Disney, in what at first glance seems a strange move – none of us really means it when we say we want to pay more tax, do we?
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Yet I believe that a permanent, higher tax on millionaires and billionaires like us is not only fair but essential in the years ahead as our world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Even if we wanted to, returning to ‘business as usual’ isn’t possible. Instead, we need bold ideas.”
To be clear, I’m not talking about voluntary donations or philanthropy, but a higher tax for people like myself who are fortunate enough to afford it. We have all been affected by the pandemic, but we know it’s those that have the least who have been hit the hardest. The world has changed irrevocably overnight, lives and livelihoods lost and millions of people around the world pushed even further into poverty. It has been painful for me to watch events unfold, and so I’m determined to help play my part.
Governments are now looking at how economic policies are redesigned to face massive debts, higher unemployment levels, lower growth and renewed uncertainty. Even if we wanted to, returning to ‘business as usual’ isn’t possible. Instead, we need bold ideas which will help us deal with the fallout from the crisis while giving us all an even better chance of an equitable society.
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Even before the pandemic prompted governments to dramatically increase spending on healthcare, provide support to those unemployed or businesses which couldn’t operate, we were living in a dangerously unequal world. In many countries, poorer people pay a higher amount in tax as a proportion of their income or wealth compared to richer people like me. Meanwhile, wealth inequality has grown in many countries in recent times. The headline growth rates of recent decades have obscured the fact that many lower income households were hardly doing better before the crisis. Many of these people are worse affected by the crisis now – whether they are putting themselves at risk as key workers, being made redundant, or living with families that are less able to deal with the impacts of Covid-19.
“We feel it’s our duty to help make sure workers to have everything they need to do their jobs properly.”
Just as the crisis has made us more aware of the inequalities in our societies, it has given impetus to ideas about how to overcome these fractures. Governments have taken unprecedented action to assuage the health and economic impacts. We need them to build on the emergency measures taken, by investing in public services which provide healthcare but also deal with underlying inequalities too. This requires more sustainable funding. Part of the answer lies in better tax policies. Those of us who have signed the letter simply say we are prepared – indeed we want – to pay more tax.
I know most of us are not on the frontlines risking our health to look after, transport or provide basic services to those in need. But we feel it’s our duty to help make sure workers to have everything they need to do their jobs properly now and in the future. We know that our collective efforts in tackling the virus will need to be sustained if we want to both ensure our societies recover and that we build back a fairer, more just world.
Gary Stevenson is an economist and former trader. Follow him on Twitter at @garyseconomics
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--I'm Planning A Pandemic Wedding – These Tips Have Helped So Far

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We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Last week, I took a day off work to buy a wedding dress – for a wedding I’m not sure will even happen. I wore a face mask during the entire appointment because, like brides-to-be around the country, I’m planning a wedding during a pandemic. It’s not a sentence I’d ever imagined typing.
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The dress shopping itself was a surprise success, not least thanks to the wonderful shop owner, who diligently explained each dress is cleaned between appointments, before the (spotlessly clean) shop is re-sanitised. I could see her welcoming, smiling eyes behind her mask and visor, as she asked about my plans for the big day.
And my mum – my one and only permitted guest – ensured the day was fun, cracking jokes to help me laugh at the whole thing, then crying on cue when I found The One. The dress might be sorted, but I still have more questions than answers about other elements of the day.
How do you plan for a wedding when you have no idea what the government restrictions will be in advance?
Receptions are currently banned in England, and only socially distanced ceremonies of 30 people are allowed. We don’t know when that might change, so should you plan for the best case scenario, or get used to the idea of a more intimate affair?
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A lot depends on when your wedding is, of course. If it’s in the next few months and you’re simply adding the final touches, you might have already cut down your guest list. But if you have a 2021 wedding, it can be hard to know what to plan when you don’t know what restrictions will be in place then.
Unsure what to do myself, I turned to leading industry names for their advice, in the hope it’ll help brides and grooms facing the same conundrums.
Steven Ritzer / EyeEm via Getty Images
Should you play the waiting game?
It’s tempting to wait until the last minute to plan the finer details of your wedding day, to see what the Covid-19 situation is nearer the time. But Hamish Shephard, founder of the wedding planning app Bridebook.co.uk, cautions against leaving things too late.
“If you have a wedding due in the next few months, now is the time to work out how you’re going to adapt to the current situation,” he says.
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A popular option for couples having 2020 weddings is to go ahead with an intimate ceremony this year, but postpone the main party until 2021, he adds. If you choose this option, be aware that a big 2021 party isn’t guaranteed – it’ll all depend on a potential second wave, or the roll-out of a coronavirus vaccine.
If your wedding or reception is planned for 2021 anyway, Shephard recommends beginning your planning now to avoid disappointment.
“We’re seeing more people than ever getting engaged and 2021 looks set to be a bumper year for weddings,” he says. “We estimate a whopping 400,000 weddings and celebrations will take place next year, so it’s time to book in those suppliers before your ideal date gets filled up.”
What should you consider before booking a supplier?
Whether you’re chatting to a florist, entertainer, caterer or hairdresser, be sure to check their cancellation policies before booking, says Shephard.
“Check the contracts carefully to ensure you have something that suits your needs,” he says. “Some [suppliers] will cover if certain guests can’t make it, while others may be less flexible.”
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If you’re going ahead with a scaled-down event, remember that suppliers who need to stay on site will count towards your head count, adds Jennifer Claire Constant, founder of The Celebrant Directory.
You’ll also want to get wedding insurance if you didn’t do this at the time of booking your venue. “There are a lot of different types of wedding insurance, so each couple will need to check their policy details to see precisely what is covered by theirs,” Shephard says. Make sure you’re covered, should the event not be able to go ahead exactly as you’d planned.
Hinterhaus Productions via Getty Images
Is it time to uninvite some guests?
If it looks likely that you’ll need to postpone your wedding or brutally cull your guest list to 30 people, it’s best to let guests know as soon as possible, as some may be booking time off work or hotels for your wedding.
When choosing your shortlist, Constant recommends casting family politics aside. “Close your eyes and imagine who’s a big part of your life and, if they weren’t there on your wedding day, would be a really upsetting thing for you,” she says. “Also think about people who make you feel happy and have always been there and supported you.”
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Try to have the conversation in person or at least via a video or phone call, she advises, as a text feels less personable and is more likely to cause upset.
If your wedding is next year and you don’t yet know how many people you’ll be able to invite, tell your invited guests that if you need to cut the list down, you’ll let them know nearer the time. We’re in the grips of a pandemic, they’re bound to understand.
And remember, it’s likely that everyone will need to be happy to share their contact details with your venue, for track and trace purposes. “Be prepared to assist with the collection of this information,” advises Kelly Sinnott, owner of the private wedding venue Baddow Park House. “There are a few apps out there that are starting to offer this service whilst adhering to GDPR rulings.”
Should you move the whole thing outside?
Bread and Butter Productions via Getty Images
Emma Hla, founder of venue directory Coco Wedding Venues, says the site has seen a 9,000% increase in couples searching for a ‘garden’ wedding venue during the pandemic.
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Something to remember, though, is that mass gatherings are still banned – whether they’re inside or outdoors – so while the fresh air might make everyone feel more comfortable, it won’t necessarily fix the problem. For now, you’ll still have to keep things small.
“When planning an outdoor ceremony or wedding, it’s important to have the good ol’ British weather in mind,” adds Hla. “Ensure your chosen venue has a suitable plan B option that you’d be equally happy to use.”
Some venues may have a marquee in place you can use, but if you’re looking at hiring a marquee yourself, there’s a lot to consider – from power sources to nearby port-a-loos. Again, all these elements require people to set up and manage – which will eat into your head count.
Depending on where your venue is in the UK and its licensing, you also may not be able to get legally married outdoors, so do check this first.
What should you do about food?
The traditional wedding breakfast is banned right now, even for 30 guests. So if you’re getting married in the next few months, you’re best bet is to plan your post-ceremony bash with food later down the line.
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Hla says the bar-restaurant venue style category has seen a +151% increase on her site, indicating a more-relaxed, cost-friendly post-ceremony celebration. But current rules state you can only mix with two households indoors.
“A private dining room is a wonderfully intimate option post-ceremony – once the party element of a wedding is allowed,” adds Hla. If your wedding is next year and this sounds up your street, research relaxed dining venue options nearby, should the distancing rules be relaxed.
It’s hard to know what the future of food may look like at weddings, but experts say an option could be to have covered boxed meals, bento-style – designed to match your wedding decor. As ever, discuss with any potential caterer what their cancellation policy is before going ahead.
Oh, and it goes without saying that buffets won’t be making a comeback any time soon.
Is live music a no-go?
Under the current rules, singing, chanting and shouting are banned at weddings, as are instruments “that are blown into”. Will you want to go ahead with a band if it’s instrumental? Or is a DJ (or Spotify) a better option?
Organs and pianos are allowed (as long as they are thoroughly cleaned afterwards), so that might be the answer if you’re longing for some live music as you walk down the aisle. Again, check cancellation and postponement policies before paying any deposits and remember this will eat into your head count.
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“You can still create the romance through your favourite songs digitally,” reassures Constant. “Walking down the aisle to a song that is special to both of you can have the same effect.”
If all else fails...
Planning for two dates might be the safest option, says Sinnott.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-16--Your Dog May Find The End Of Lockdown Distressing. It Needn't Be

Carol Yepes via Getty Images Dogs are likelier now to experience separation anxiety than ever before, suggests dog behaviouralist Nick Jones
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“If we have a wonderful romantic two-week break with our partner, and go back to work on a Monday morning, we’re going to miss that person and the overall experience,” explains Nick Jones, dog behaviourist. “I think it feels a little like that for our dogs as well.”
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Lockdown has been nothing short of epic for dogs. Deeply social creatures that require and desire intense periods of bonding for their happiness and wellbeing, they’ve been spoiled by housebound owners marooned for weeks on the sofa.
Their loyal company has kept many of us humans sane too, as we morphed into new versions of ourselves, reliant on making the most of our lives at home.
But now lockdown is easing, and some of us are heading back into the office, that new (and blissful normal) is being disrupted, as dogs are inevitably being left for longer periods of time alone again. And according to Jones, who offers behavioural training for dogs across the UK, this whole period, particularly the transitioning from lockdown into post-lockdown life, is difficult for dogs.
Eva Blanco / EyeEm via Getty Images
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Enhanced separation anxiety may be the biggest challenge to face dogs and their owners right now, says Jones, but not every dog will experience stress or mental health challenges.
“There are two groups,” he explains,“young dogs which were acquired during lockdown and have never really been left, and then more mature dogs that may have been used to being left prior to lockdown.
“And now they’re having to re-familiarise themselves with that old routine, just as I did when I started going back to work. I love my job but it took me a week or two to get into the swing of it properly.”
While some dogs may be badly affected, particularly younger dogs that have never experienced pre-lockdown life, others will be unfazed by the transition.
“In very mild cases, dogs may just do a bit of whining initially when left, and probably those lower end case dogs could be placated if we offered them something interesting to chew on in their owners’ absence, to create a distinction between the owner being home and not being home,” says Jones. “In essence we’re distracting the dog from the owner not being present.”
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Conversely, warning-sign behaviour may include constant barking, soiling at home, and even trying to escape. “That’s when people tend to get more concerned about their dog and how they’re going to manage them,” he says.
Thitisate Thitirojanawat via Getty Images
Jones has some tips for helping dogs exhibiting symptoms of stress or upset – good to keep in mind if you’re a dog owner who fears their pooch may experience separation anxiety at some point over the coming months.
“The difficulty with canines is we can’t verbally reason with them and explain that they don’t need to worry, [that] the owner will be back shortly,” says Jones.
“But the good news is we can train dogs to be left alone for sensible periods of time ... gradual increments back towards the duration of how long we’re looking to leave the dog for.”
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If your initial aim is to be able to leave your dog for two hours (most dogs shouldn’t be left for more than four hours), Jones suggests “starting off leaving the dog alone for five minutes, then 10 minutes, then 20, 30, 45 and so on, so they’re building up the body of the time they know they can leave them for.”
Gentle steps like this will prepare them for when their owners properly leave the house to return to work for one full morning, afternoon or evening at a time.
This may sound distressing for owners and Jones says that he has experienced a spike in requests for dog training on separation anxiety.
But he quick to add that “it’s not the end of the world for most dogs”. It’s all about reintroducing the dog to the new routine.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-15--3 Ways You Can Tackle Your Own Loneliness In The Pandemic

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With the pandemic fuelling increased feelings of loneliness in some groups, it begs the question: is there anything we can do to stop it?
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A survey by the British Red Cross found two in five adults in the UK felt lonelier in lockdown. Just over a quarter (28%) of the 2,000 people polled worried that no one would notice if something happened to them, The Guardian reported in June. While a third feared feelings of loneliness would worsen in the future.
Loneliness is a “subjective and emotional response”, says Campaign to End Loneliness, and people tend to describe it using words like anxiety, fear, shame and helplessness. It can affect how we act, as well as how we anticipate and interpret our social experiences.
This can create a downward spiral where it causes someone to withdraw further from family and friends – and become even lonelier. So how can people tackle it?
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nadia_bormotova via Getty Images
Earlier on in the pandemic, the government pledged £5m to national loneliness organisations and launched an initiative to tackle loneliness in communities, sharing tangible actions people could take if they felt lonely.
It was a positive step, but it may not be enough to tackle the psychological impact of loneliness. Loneliness is not a mental health issue in itself, but mental health problems – particularly depression and social anxiety – can cause loneliness.
Today, Campaign to End Loneliness has released a report on the three psychological approaches that can help people who are feeling lonely. It’s calling on organisations to develop programmes that include them, as they have the most evidence for reducing the psychological aspects of loneliness.
“As a result of lockdown millions of people say loneliness is affecting their wellbeing,” said Kate Shurety, executive director of the campaign. “The subject has never been more relevant.
“As meeting physically has often been impossible, there has been an increased understanding of the role of psychology to deal with loneliness. This report hopes to help people tackle their own loneliness and support people to better understand the emotional impact of their thoughts and feelings.”
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1. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of therapy that helps you understand your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. A key part of it is identifying the negative thinking patterns you can feel trapped in, helping you break free from these and feel better.
In the case of loneliness specifically, CBT could help those who are experiencing difficulties forming connections with other people, the report said.
Some charities also provide sessions for free or at a reduced cost.
2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness can help you become aware of your thoughts during difficult times through meditation techniques – for example, focusing on your breathing. The experience of trying to concentrate in this way enables you to see that thoughts arise outside of your control. For most people, it also becomes clear how repetitive thought patterns tend to be.
In the context of loneliness, mindfulness can challenge the mind’s tendency to ruminate obsessively on fears about your ability to engage with others, which can undermine efforts to become more connected, says the report.
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Some ways to be more mindful every day include: noticing small things that happen daily such as the food you eat, the air moving past you as you walk, or the birds in the trees; prioritising mindfulness regularly (it might be helpful to pick the same time every day); trying something new like changing your walking route or visiting a different park or cafe; and naming thoughts or feelings when you start to experience them.
3. Positive psychology
Positive psychology uses techniques to promote positive emotions, with the intention that these will override negative emotions. It teaches you how to shift your perspective, and gain happiness from everyday behaviour.
There are lots of ways you can do this. Techniques are focused around challenging negative thought patterns, and addressing barriers to happiness – such as being biased towards negative thinking or comparing yourself to others.
One way to incorporate it in your life is to focus on what you have to be grateful for. It’s not always easy – try writing in a gratitude journal each evening, listing three things you’re grateful for at the end of each day. Or, have a go at gratitude forecasting – visualising simple pleasures you can’t access right now, and how happy you’ll be when you can experience them again.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-15--Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Kanye West Twitter Accounts Hacked In Bitcoin Scam

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High-profile Twitter accounts, including those of Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Kanye West, have been hacked as part of a widespread cryptocurrency scam.
And the social media giant temporarily halted verified accounts from posting in an attempt to stem the cyber hijacking.
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The accounts, which have large Twitter followings, were simultaneously hacked on Wednesday evening and a message posted encouraging users to send 1,000 dollars (£794) to a Bitcoin address.
In return, users are promised that their money will be doubled and returned to them.
Founder Jack Dorsey said: “Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened.”
The message read: “I am giving back to my community due to Covid-19! All Bitcoin sent to my address below will be sent back doubled.
“If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000!
“Only doing this for the next 30 minutes! Enjoy.”
Targeted accounts included Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Twitter has gone nuclear in the battle against the hack stopping all verified accounts from tweeting ( luckily I’ve never had a blue tick for this account) — Rory Cellan-Jones (@ruskin147) July 15, 2020
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i was loyal to the bluechecks in their absence and will be informing on all of you — Alex Kealy (@alexkealy) July 15, 2020
We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020
If you have a blue tick/verified account, RT this so that we know you’re safe. — Mr Roger Quimbly (@RogerQuimbly) July 15, 2020
All verified accounts are locked and can’t tweet. It’s our time to shine boys pic.twitter.com/LZIu3VX5gR — Stephen A. Smith Burner (@SASBurnerAcct) July 15, 2020
THE BLUE CHECKS HAVE FALLEN. I REPEAT THE BLUE CHECKS HAVE FALLEN — Non-Bluecheck Elite Jordylancaster (@jordylancaster) July 15, 2020
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Kanye West’s account was hacked twice in the space of an hour with the same message posted.
A number of company accounts, including that of Apple and Uber, were also hacked with the message posted.
Most of the tweets were deleted within a number of minutes, but many had been retweeted thousands of times.
In a statement posted online, Twitter said: “We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.”
Dorsey later added: “We’re diagnosing and will share everything we can when we have a more complete understanding of exactly what happened.”
On Thursday morning Twitter said most accounts should be able to tweet again, but that “functionality may come and go”.
Most accounts should be able to Tweet again. As we continue working on a fix, this functionality may come and go. We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 16, 2020
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Users reported that those with verified accounts, marked by a blue tick, could not send tweets for a brief period – with those who tried shown an error message reading: “Something went wrong, but don’t fret – let’s give it another shot”.
The hacked messages were posted after several high-profile cryptocurrency companies’ Twitter accounts shared malicious links earlier on Wednesday.
Tyler Winklevoss, who founded cryptocurrency company Gemini alongside brother Cameron, tweeted earlier today: “WARNING: @Gemini’s twitter account, along with a number of other crypto twitter accounts, has been hacked.
“This has resulted in @Gemini, @Coinbase, @Binance, and @Coindesk, tweeting about a scam partnership with CryptoForHealth. DO NOT CLICK THE LINK! These tweets are SCAMS.”
His brother Cameron added: “ALL MAJOR CRYPTO TWITTER ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-15--How Julian Lewis Pulled Off A Very British Coup To Chair The Intelligence And Security Committee

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Who he, Lewis? And the news
The look on Chris Grayling’s face said it all. The former minister had breezed into the first meeting of the newly convened Intelligence and Security Committee in the Macmillan Room in Portcullis House, fully expecting to be the only Tory name on the ballot paper.
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But it turned out that Macmillan’s ghost hovered over proceedings as much as his portrait, as the day of the short knives produced a spectacular shock. Grayling was a picture of incredulity and puzzlement as he saw Julian Lewis’ candidacy in black and white next to his, before the swift realisation kicked in that he had been outmanoeuvred.
The ensuing secret ballot yielded the inevitable result: 5 votes for Lewis (his own, plus three Labour and one SNP vote), 4 for Grayling (himself, plus three Tory MPs). The election of the person who now oversees MI6, MI5 and other UK security agencies was itself a masterpiece of cloak and dagger politics, precision timing and superior intelligence gathering. The Tory whips were furious, and No.10 more furious still at this very British coup.
Grayling had made clear his own intention to be chair two days ago, but Lewis had left it until the day of the committee’s first meeting to inform its clerk that he was putting himself forward. There was no prior notice for the government, as unlike select committees, the ISC picks its own chairman from its own members.
It was a moment of which Lewis’s old friend John Bercow would have been proud. Just as Bercow became Commons Speaker on the back of Labour votes, the veteran Tory backbencher clinched the chairmanship of arguably the country’s most important parliamentary watchdog thanks to Opposition backing.
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Lewis, 68, was undeniably better qualified to chair the ISC than Grayling. A former member of the committee from 2010 to 2015, a former defence select committee chairman and a former Naval reservist, he has long experience of security and intelligence issues. Even Grayling’s allies admit his closest involvement with security issues was when he was transport secretary (which does mean being on the emergency Cobra committee from time to time).
Lewis was so respected that he secured the nomination of the prime minister for the committee, which is unusual in parliament in that its entire membership requires the prior approval of No.10 in consultation with the leader of the Opposition. Although it is up to the Commons and Lords to then approve its membership, the sifting process - on grounds ostensibly of national security - makes it unique.
It is perhaps that prior approval that fuelled the strong sense of betrayal felt in Downing Street when the news came through. The decision to swiftly withdraw the whip from Lewis underscored the anger, with No.10 sources muttering that his “duplicity” had to be punished. Most embarrassingly of all, chief whip Mark Spencer had been caught cold on an issue where whipping was in theory not allowed - the statute that governs the ISC states expressly that the chair of the ISC is “chosen by its members”, not No.10.
Whips have been suggesting that Lewis had assured them he would vote for Grayling, only to renege on the promise. The MP may refuse to answer that charge if asked about it, but he and the Opposition members may have left no traces of collusion. The committee itself is shrouded in adherence to the Official Secrets Act, so the ironies are multiple.
Lewis is so idiosyncratic that he is the only one of 650 MPs in the Commons not to allow constituents to contact him by email, insisting instead that they use letter, fax or phone to do so. He is thought unlikely to have left an evidence trail of any plans for the committee chairmanship.
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Lewis’s security experience attracted him to the Opposition members, but it was his “fierce independence” and “consensual” approach that was the clincher. And throughout his career the New Forest East MP has certainly been no leader’s poodle. He was among the hardcore Brexiteers who consistently voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal, but he also voted against David Cameron’s bid to launch military action in Syria, and against the Lib-Con coalition increasing student tuition fees. Maverick is his middle name.
Yet Lewis also had early experience of pulling off audacious actions behind enemy lines. As a graduate research student, he managed to infiltrate the Labour party in the 1970s, helping ‘moderates’ recapture part of the Newham North East local constituency party where MP Reg Prentice was targeted by the Left. Ultimately, Prentice had the crucial vote that brought down James Callaghan and ushered in Margaret Thatcher’s 1979 victory.
There is little likelihood of Lewis ‘crossing the floor’ to join Labour as Prentice did to the Tories, but the stripping of the Tory whip means he is now as officially “independent” as an MP as much as he was figuratively. Some Conservative MPs are already speculating that the whole affair proves the need to axe Spencer as chief whip and perhaps move him in what is seen as a more likely reshuffle, possibly to Defra.
The decision by Johnson to remove the whip was also further evidence of his own ruthless approach to party management, last seen when former cabinet ministers like David Gauke and Philip Hammond were effectively booted out of the party over Brexit, despite their willingness to return to the fold.
The difficulty for No.10 now is just what next step to take. In theory it could take the “nuclear option” and oust Lewis from the committee by tabling a Commons motion of selection, replacing him with another Tory MP, and thereby allowing a fresh internal election of a new chairman of the ISC. A 90-minute debate would be needed, followed by a vote on the floor of the Commons.
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The danger is that would lay bare just how party political the chairmanship would be, itself seen by even some of the PM’s allies as a move that could undermine the committee and its relationship with the intelligence agencies - all of which need to be protected from any charge of party politics in their scrutiny.
The government would have to act very quickly too, and it may be too late to get any motion on the Order Paper in time. Tomorrow morning the ISC meets to discuss when to publish the ‘Russia report’, believed to cover donations to the Tory party among other issues. It is likely that the committee will recommend very swift publication.
In the latest James Bond movies, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee is Gareth Mallory, played by Ralph Fiennes. Mallory goes on to replace Judi Dench as ’M”. Few would consider Lewis to be as dashing as Fiennes’s character and he would make an unlikely spy. But no matter what happens to him next, the spectre of high-handed incompetence is again haunting Boris Johnson’s government.
Quote Of The Day
“Standing up every week saying, ‘It’s a stunning success’ is kidding no one.”
– Keir Starmer in PMQs
Wednesday Cheat Sheet
Boris Johnson has for the first time committed to an “independent inquiry” into the coronavirus pandemic, after being prompted by Lib Dem acting leader Ed Davey.
Helen MacNamara, the senior civil servant in charge of the bullying inquiry into the home secretary Priti Patel, is to leave her post next month, the Guardian reports.
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Downing Street couldn’t substantiate the PM’s claim that the UK’s test and trace system was “as good as or better than anywhere else in the world”.
Equalities and Treasury minister Kemi Badenoch has revealed she rejected a chance to lead a Downing Street coronavirus briefing amid concerns it would appear “tokenistic”.
The Treasury will not carry out any further analysis of the economic impact of the Brexit trade deal Boris Johnson agrees with the EU or the impact of negotiations collapsing, Rishi Sunak has said.
The public will not have to wear face masks in food takeaway shops when new rules kick in next week, No.10 said, sparing Michael Gove’s blushes in the process.
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