thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-29--BBC News Presenter Uses N-Word During Morning Broadcast About Racist Attack

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A BBC News reporter shocked viewers by using the N-word uncensored during a Wednesday morning report about racist abuse in Bristol.
In the segment, aired just after 10.30am, Fiona Lamdin said: “Just to warn you, you are about to hear highly offensive language. Because as the man ran away they hurled racial abuse, calling him a n*****.”
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The incident she was describing occurred in Bristol last week when two men drove a car into a man before running off and shouting abuse at him.
BBC guidance states “the strongest language” must not be shown before the watershed at 9pm, but the N-word itself is generally deemed too offensive to be aired at any time.
An Ofcom report about public perceptions of such language in 2016 deemed it to be “highly unacceptable at all times”, but said that if it is to be used then “strong contextualisation [is] required”.
In 2007, a Big Brother contestant was kicked off the show for using the word, and BBC News coverage of the eviction used it “sparingly” but only after the watershed.
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A clip of the news segment has been retweeted thousands of times on Twitter with hundred of people expressing their shock at the use of the word.
Na... hold on. Where is the outrage for this because there needs to be one. — adreyn. 🇯🇲🇯🇲 (@IAMADREYN) July 29, 2020
I'm in disbelief it's 10am and she said this. Two black people don't even say this on pro live TV wtaf — #DDGOUT (@_ELN_02) July 29, 2020
the only thing I can do at this point is kiss my teeth — suave jin-woo (@selectasuave) July 29, 2020
A spokesperson for BBC News told HuffPost UK in a statement: “This was a story about a shocking unprovoked attack on a young Black man.
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“His family told the BBC about the racist language used by the attackers and wanted to see the full facts made public. A warning was given before this was reported.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-29--Black Women Were Tortured To Develop Gynaecology Methods. Midwives Want Them Remembered

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Anarcha Westcott was a teenager who had just given birth for the first time when she was forcibly separated from her baby and subjected to brutal experimental gynaecological surgery without an anaesthetic.
Her torturer, Dr James Marion Sims, is widely regarded as the “father of modern gynaecology” – but the trauma through which he put Westcott and other unconsenting, enslaved Black women while developing his techniques has been largely forgotten.
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Now modern-day midwives have launched a campaign to commemorate Sims’ victims, who between 1845 and 1849 endured some 30 procedures as Sims perfected his method of fistula surgeries.
Heidi Downes, a midwife in London, is lobbying for a monument to be dedicated to these women as Black Lives Matter campaigners topple slaver statues around the country.
It is hoped the tribute will be placed at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London.
“The campaign started a year ago. My colleague Sam attended a conference and heard the wonderful Dr Amali Loukgamage talking about obstetrics and gynaecology, where she mentioned Anarcha, [and two of the other women] Lucy and Betsey. She then came back and told me,” Downes told HuffPost UK.
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“I was shocked that I’d never heard of them in all of my years of practice and decided to start the petition.”
However, support has been relatively slow.
“I was shocked that it didn’t take off at first,” she said. “I thought: ‘Where are midwives? Where are the people disgusted with this?’ If I’m honest, i’ve found that along the way.
“I remember speaking to a friend who said: ‘It’s not a pretty subject. People don’t want to discuss this.’ This was before the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests. For me, because it wasn’t in all of the newspapers, or headline news, people haven’t really picked up on this campaign with it.”
“I remember speaking to a friend who said: 'It’s not a pretty subject – people don’t want to discuss this.'” - Heidi Downes
In his autobiography The Story of My Life, Sims describes in vivid detail how he treated Black women as medical guinea pigs.
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“I made this proposition to the owners of the negroes: if you will give me Anarcha and Betsey for experiment, I agree to perform no experiment or operation on either of them to endanger their lives, and will not charge a cent for keeping them, but you must pay their taxes and clothe them.”
He also bragged, in his memoirs, that “my patients are all perfectly satisfied with what I am doing for them” – which is doubtful, given that they were slaves who were stripped of all autonomy and viewed as property.
There was also belief at the time that Black people did not feel pain, or indeed function, in the same way as their white counterparts.
Despite his inhumane practices, Sims perfected his operations on Black women and later established a women’s hospital where he performed procedures on white women – only this time with their consent, and the use of anaesthesia.
He also invented the modern speculum, Sims’s position for vaginal exams, which he first used on slaves and which has gone on to be used widely within healthcare. As such, Sims is viewed favourably by many historians and has several worldwide monuments, despite his brutality.
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Parks Department workers place a harness over a statue of James Marion Sims before it is taken down from its pedestal at Central Park and East 103rd Street on April 17, 2018 in New York City. Spencer Platt via Getty Images
That said, in 2018 New York officials removed a sculpture of Sims from Central Park following eight years of sustained protests from Black activists. It had been there for 80 years.
“I have been a midwife for nearly six years and prior to this trained for three years. In this time I did not know of Anarcha and the suffering she and the other enslaved women endured but I was aware of the Sims speculum,” Downes wrote on the Change.org campaign page.
“How was this crucial part of obstetrics history not part of the national curriculum and how was it not passed onto myself and my fellow colleagues and students? Anarcha and the other women who were treated in this barbaric way deserve to be put on the same pedestal that Sims, rightly or wrongly, has been placed upon.”
Downes said she had discussed the campaign with the president of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Edward Morris, as well as Dr Christine Ekechi, an NHS consultant in early pregnancy and acute gynaecology. Both have shown interest in supporting.
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James Marion Sims Universal History Archive via Getty Images
Downes, who is white, has passionately driven the campaign forward, speaking about it regularly and writing a double-page feature in support of the cause for the British Journal of Midwifery.
In this spread, she wrote: “The Nursing and Midwifery Council code asks that those receiving care from us are treated with respect, that their rights are upheld and that any discriminatory attitudes and behaviours towards those receiving care are challenged.
“I feel that, as a profession, we have let down a group of women and left them in the shadows of time, never to be honoured as they deserve.”
Still, Downes told HuffPost UK: “Even after my article was published in October 2019 [...] that still didn’t get the petition numbers up! Sometimes you need to keep pushing – you can’t just sit back. I’ve spoken to students at universities, spoken on podcasts.
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“As a white woman who has never had to deal with racism personally: it’s not just the job of Black women to push for this statue. Yet all I’ve come across, when I look at all the other amazing women who have come before me campaigning for representation, are Black women! I feel like this is wrong – we should be out there together.
“I’m someone who’s just appalled by something. Why has this not been done before? Why are we still fighting for this in 2020?”
The midwife, who worked at an NHS trust up until April, approached white colleagues for support and said she was disappointed with the lack of support – something she puts down to lack of racial diversity in the organisation.
“It’s not just the job of Black women to push for this statue.” - Heidi Downes
“We need more Black women in management in midwifery. If this is my very small experience of going to someone and not being listened to about this campaign, what’s it like for Black women who may suffer actual racism in the NHS and have no one to go to?” she said.
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Heidi Downes Supplied
HuffPost UK has approached the NHS for comment.
A spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists told HuffPost UK: “We are making plans to develop a new exhibition to recognise women’s involvement in the history of obstetrics and gynaecology.
“This will include many courageous women who contributed willingly, and sadly also women such as Anarcha who were not in a position to give consent to medical research.
“We also hope to offer an events programme, and digital resource through our website, that can highlight some of these important yet rarely recognised contributions from women.
“Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has delayed our work, but we hope to make progress over the coming year to ensure the stories of these women are not forgotten.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--'The Clit Test' Is Here To Rate Female Pleasure In Film, TV And Books

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Listen to our weekly podcast Am I Making You Uncomfortable? about women’s health, bodies and private lives. Available on Spotify, Apple, Audioboom and wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Watch a sex scene on TV and – more often than not – it’ll be painfully heteronormative and focus on penetration, with the woman orgasming easily after two minutes of wham, bam, thank you ma’am.
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In real life, female pleasure rarely occurs that way. So, to encourage more accurate (and feminist) representations of pleasure in pop culture, two women have created ‘The Clit Test’ – think of it like the Bechdel test, for sex scenes.
The Clit Test celebrates TV shows, films, books and music that acknowledge the clitoris, not the vagina, is the source of orgasm for at least 80% of women and people with vulvas.
Normal People/BBC Normal People
Frances Rayner, 34, from Glasgow, created the test out of frustration with sex scenes she’d seen on screen, which often imply women are always able to orgasm through penetrative sex. Irene Tortajada, 25, from London, joined her, as she felt little progress had been made to help her generation understand female pleasure.
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“Growing up, I was entirely clueless about my own pleasure because no one had told me about the clitoris,” Rayner says. “From a young age, I knew about blow jobs, penis in vagina sex and male masturbation, but nothing I consumed taught me how women’s bodies worked beyond periods and pregnancy.
“This misleading ‘sexual script’ is one of the main reasons women and girls who have sex with men have alarming rates of disappointing, bad and even painful sex.”
A ‘Clit Test pass’ occurs any time the clitoris is acknowledged, say Rayner and Tortajada. This could be a head or a hand disappearing under the covers, a mention of women masturbating or even someone expressing disappointment with sex that was only penetrative.
Recent passes include Olivia Wilde’s teen film, Booksmart, Michaela Coel’s TV comedy, Chewing Gum, and Bernardine Evaristo’s Booker Prize-winning novel, Girl, Woman, Other.
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Chewing Gum/ Netflix Chewing Gum
The campaign is supported by two leading academics on the female orgasm: Professor Elizabeth Lloyd, author of The Case of the Female Orgasm, and Dr Laurie Mintz, author of Becoming Cliterate.
Emmy and Golden Globe-winning star and co-creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom, has also shown her support, as have bestselling writers Holly Bourne and Wednesday Martin.
Sex Education/Netflix Sex Education
The Clit Test campaign launches on Friday July 31, to coincide with National Orgasm Day. To mark the day, the women behind the Clit Test are calling on members of the public to share their favourite sex scenes that pass the test, and thank the people who made them.
You can share your passes and fails on social media using the hashtags #ClitTestPass and #ClitTestFail.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Unwinding Furlough Scheme Risks Mass Unemployment, Labour Warns Sunak

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak is being warned he risks making a “historic mistake” when he unwinds the jobs furlough scheme this weekend amid fresh claims that the UK’s welfare system is ill-prepared for a spike in unemployment.
Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds will say the government has “24 hours to save British jobs” before the Treasury starts cutting back support on Saturday for workers paid to stay at home during the pandemic.
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Their plea came as it emerged that a new plan to help the long-term unemployed - trumpeted by Sunak in his Summer Statement - may not be ready until 2021.
The chancellor outlined moves to get what he called “urgent support” to those who would be hit by the new wave of unemployment, doubling the number of work coaches in Job Centres and increasing a support fund.
But HuffPost UK has been told that Sunak’s line that the government was “developing a new scheme to support the long-term unemployed” may not actually materialise this year.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is still working out the nature of the extra system amid uncertainty over just how many jobs will be lost in coming months.
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From this Saturday, employers will have to pay National Insurance and pension contributions for their staff.
And in September, companies will have to pay 10% of furloughed employees’ salaries – rising to 20% in October.
The furlough scheme has supported 9.5 million who have kept 80% of their wages, at a cost of £31.7 billion to date, but ministers say the cost cannot continue indefinitely.
Some employer surveys have shown that nearly half of them are likely to start making people redundant as soon as they are asked to foot the bill themselves for keeping people at home.
Dodds said the move could result in a “python-like” squeeze on jobs in some of the sectors - such as high street retail and hospitality and creative industries - that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Ahead of a visit to Peterborough, where the party will launch its nationwide jobs campaign on Friday, Dodds said: “The Chancellor’s refusal to abandon his one-size-fits-all withdrawal of furlough is a historic mistake.
“The reward for months of hard work and sacrifice by the British people cannot be a P45. It’s not too late for the Chancellor to see sense, change course and support the businesses and sectors that need it most.”
Labour wants the furlough scheme to be reformed rather than wound down completely, with a focus on key sectors. It is calling for a £1.7 billion “fightback fund” to prevent firms going under and additional support to areas forced into local lockdowns.
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SNP Treasury spokeswoman Alison Thewliss also warned that changes to the furlough scheme are “dangerously premature”.
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A Government source said that the furlough support had been “comprehensive and generous” and hit back at Labour’s claims.
“The furlough scheme is unprecedented and has so far supported the wages of 9.5 million people, at a cost of £31.7 billion and will run for eight months in total,” they said
“It is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy, it is the most comprehensive and generous version of support that can be provided. The Labour party seem to be very good at calling for things, but repeatedly fail to put forward any realistic or detailed plan on how they can be delivered.
“We are yet to hear for example who they think should be left out of this ‘targeted support’ and why. As the economy reopens, we are adjusting the support provided to ensure people can get back to work and we can rebuild our economy.”
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The government must pull back from the brink and continue giving a helping hand. People’s livelihoods depend on it.”
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Unite boss Len McCluskey added: “If we are to avert the jobs’ loss tsunami that we fear will sweep through our communities this summer, we need the government to act and to do so urgently.”
The DWP, as well as the Treasury, has been praised by the prime minister for the rapid way in which it provided extra support to those forced onto Universal Credit as a way of making up for income lost during the crisis.
But Sunak’s reference to the development of a “new scheme” for the long-term unemployed - classed as those out of work for more than a year - has not yet been backed up with any detail.
It is unclear whether existing schemes will be tweaked or whether a brand new support programme will be rolled out, but no time frame has yet been set for whichever route is chosen.
A spokesperson for the DWP said: “Our Plan for Jobs will create, support and protect jobs, and our immediate focus is on supporting people back into work quickly which is why we’re getting 4,500 new Work Coaches in place for this autumn.
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“Meanwhile, officials are working round the clock to get new support for the long term unemployed in place and we will announce further detail including its start date in due course.”
Many of the public are for the first time encountering the Tories’ flagship welfare system, which unifies six different benefits into one payment.
Critics have claimed its level is set too low and that it only offers loans not grants to those in most urgent need.
A cross-party parliamentary report into Universal Credit published on Friday was also highly critical, claiming the system was “failing millions of people”.
“The temporary increase in the standard allowance in response to the Covid-19 pandemic shows that the previous level of awards was too low. The increase should be made permanent,” the Lords economic affairs committee concluded.
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The committee said the “punitive nature” of UC “punishes the poorest by taking away their sole source of income for minor infractions” and needs rebalancing.
Committee chairman Tory peer Lord Forsyth of Drumlean said the committee agreed with aim of UC, but its implementation needed change.
“In its current form it fails to provide a dependable safety net. It has led to an unprecedented number of people relying on foodbanks and not being able to pay their rent.”
But Minister for Welfare Delivery Will Quince MP said: “The case for Universal Credit has never been stronger.
“The system defied its critics in unprecedented and unforeseeable circumstances, processing more than 3.2m new claims at pace since mid-March and paying more than a million advances worth hundreds of millions of pounds to those in urgent need within days.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Extra Lockdown Restrictions To Be Imposed At Midnight For Parts Of Northern England

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Extra lockdown restrictions have been imposed in large areas of northern England as part of “immediate action” to keep people safe, Matt Hancock has said.
People from different households in Greater Manchester, parts of East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire are banned from meeting each other indoors.
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The rules apply in:
Greater Manchester
Blackburn with Darwen
Burnley
Hyndburn
Pendle
Rossendale
Bradford
Calderdale
Kirklees
The rule also applies to Leicester which has already been under separate restrictions for a number of weeks.
The health secretary said “households gathering and not abiding by the social distancing rules” was a reason for the stricter rules.
He told the media: “We take this action with a heavy heart but unfortunately it’s necessary because we’ve seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rising rate of coronavirus and we’ll do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe.”
1/4 We're constantly looking at the latest data on the spread of coronavirus, and unfortunately we've seen an increasing rate of transmission in parts of Northern England. — Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) July 30, 2020
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4/4 We take this action with a heavy heart, but we can see increasing rates of covid across Europe and are determined to do whatever is neccessary to keep people safe. — Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) July 30, 2020
There was some confusion over what the new rules actually mean and Andy Burnham the mayor of Greater Manchester, tweeted his understanding of them as of 11pm Thursday.
Lot of people asking for clarity on the Government’s announcement. Our understanding is:
▪ no visitors to your home or garden from tonight
▪you can go to the pub but stay within your household/bubble
▪further openings planned for 1/8 on hold
Everything else remains as is. — Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) July 30, 2020
He also added “by not acting selfishly” the measures could be removed more quickly.
He added: “Over recent days, there has been a marked change in the picture across Greater Manchester with regard to the spread of Covid-19.
“We have gone from a falling rate of cases in nearly all of our boroughs last week to a rising rate in nine out of 10 affecting communities across a much wider geography. In Rochdale, the one borough where cases have fallen, they are still too high.
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MP for Oldham, in Greater Manchester, and shadow transport minister Jim McMahon said there needs to be more clarity over what the government is doing to support those in areas affected by new lockdown restrictions.
He tweeted: “On the face of it, for Oldham borough residents this is the same restriction announced already this week, replicated in further areas.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Prominent Trump Backer Who Refused To Wear A Mask Dies Of Coronavirus

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A former Republican presidential candidate and staunch supporter of Donald Trump who refused to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic has died of the disease.
Herman Cain learned of his diagnosis on June 29, nine days after attending a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he and many others crowded together without wearing face masks.
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He spent most of July in an Atlanta-area hospital, Reuters reports.
Just before announcing his diagnosis on July 2, Cain posted support for not mandating masks at a July 4 event at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota that Trump was planning to attend.
“Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!” he tweeted.
The tweet has since been deleted.
Someone deleted the following July 1 tweet from Herman Cain's account:
“Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump. PEOPLE ARE FED UP!” — Pé (@4everNeverTrump) July 30, 2020
Many Trump supporters have rejected the advice of public health experts and refused to wear face masks, which can prevent the spread of the virus, making their defiance a type of political statement.
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“We’re heartbroken, and the world is poorer: Herman Cain has gone to be with the Lord,” a statement on his website said.
Messages of condolences poured in from prominent conservatives, while some liberals used the occasion to promote the wearing of masks.
“Herman Cain will be missed, he was one of the greatest conservative voices of all time. I’ll never forget his smiling face,” Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, said on Twitter.
Herman Cain (C,L) and supporters of Donald Trump "Black Voices" listen to him speak during at the Tulsa rally. NICHOLAS KAMM via Getty Images
Cain, who called himself an ABC man - “American Black Conservative” - had just started hosting a new show on Newsmax TV and hoped to play a role in the 2020 presidential election campaign, the statement said.
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He made his fortune as chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza and led some polls early in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, buoyed by his signature 9-9-9 proposal for a flat 9% corporate, income and sales tax.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, he became a supporter of Trump, who last year planned to nominate Cain to a seat on the powerful US Federal Reserve Board, which sets benchmark interest rates.
The potential nomination faced immediate resistance, even within the Republican Party, as critics expressed concerns about Trump loyalists serving on the traditionally nonpartisan board.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Revealed: Five Fire Engines Were Left To Cover 500 Square Miles During Bolton Inferno

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Two million people within 500 square miles were left with just five fire engines to protect them because so many had to be diverted to the Bolton student tower block blaze in November last year.
It has led to calls from the region’s mayor Andy Burnham for an end to fire service cuts.
The alarming revelation was made as Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service published a report into the inferno that consumed The Cube on November 15 – started by a discarded cigarette.
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Around 130 firefighters battled the blaze.
The 217 residents, students at the University of Bolton, were all accounted for after flames spread rapidly across the block, which was clad with high pressure laminate cladding of a different type from that involved in the Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017.
Witnesses to the Bolton blaze said what appeared to be a small fire ripped across and upwards within minutes, “crawling up the cladding like it was nothing”. One resident had to be rescued from the sixth floor with a cherry picker, her flat vanishing into smoke and flames just minutes later.
A report published on Thursday by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) into the blaze concluded flames spread rapidly and posed a real risk to residents’ safety.
The Grenfell Tower disaster put so-called “stay put” policies – where residents are asked to remain inside their own properties as the buildings are designed to stop fires spreading – into sharp focus.
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Many living in Grenfell Tower had been told staying put would keep them safe from the encroaching blaze, but tragically became trapped in their homes.
The GMFRS report into The Cube fire states: ″The recognition early into the incident that the building was failing to contain the fire, multiple fire spread patterns and the loss of integrity of the protected stairwells resulted in the IC [incident commander] realising the need for an immediate and full evacuation of The Cube.
“NWFC’s [North West Fire Control] subsequent and clear change of advice to callers from ‘stay put’ to ‘evacuate’, it is considered, contributed to the reduction of injury and allowed all persons to safely leave the building.”
As it happened, The Cube did in fact have an evacuation strategy, which meant occupants were meant to clear out at the sound of the alarm – so it is not clear why anyone might have been advised to “stay put” in the first place. Usually 999 callers are asked to comply with whatever they believe their fire policy to be, but it is not clear whether all the students knew this. Some were already leaving the building when the brigade arrived, but they weren’t doing so quickly enough.
The evacuation, once fire chiefs sped it up, is thought to have saved many lives.
Tony Hunter, assistant chief fire officer for GMFRS, said: “The decision at this incident was made through the incident commander calling the immediate evacuation.
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“It made very clear that building had to be evacuated and therefore any calls received by North West Fire Control would have supported that higher message.
“Therefore resident calls up, says ‘smoke near my flat’, they would have been told to evacuate there and then.
“Obviously the circumstances from this fire were significantly different from the Grenfell inquiry with regards to the change from ‘stay put’. This had an evacuation strategy, it had a full alarm system, and evacuation was already under way when we got there.
“The incident commander rightly noticed that it wasn’t going as quickly as it should have been and the fire was developing in a way that it also shouldn’t have been doing.”
On the night in question, 27 fire engines from across Greater Manchester were in attendance at the fire in Bolton town centre, and 18 fire engines from other services also had to be called in to attend.
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At one point during the incident there were just five pumps left to cover the entire region. On a normal evening that figure would be close to 50.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said he would be writing to home secretary Priti Patel to draw attention to the way the region’s resources “were stretched to the very limit”, calling for an end to cuts to the service’s budget, greater regulation of student housing and urgent intervention to address the unsafe cladding that continues to encase thousands of buildings across the UK.
A graph presented during the meeting highlighting the levels of government funding compared to council tax income. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
The report published on Thursday explicitly focused on the response of the fire service, and did not examine the way the fire spread or its cause – beyond the probable conclusion that it had initially sparked from a discarded cigarette.
A full report into the fire – particularly the role the cladding played – is expected to be published soon.
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David Greenhalgh, leader of Bolton Council, said: “The discussion around resources has to be tackled through building regulations.
“If we get the building regulations right it will have a natural impact on the sheer spread of the fire on that night, which is not what should have happened to a building that passed all the regulations.
“It simply should not have been the case – it failed. Therefore there’s something completely wrong with the regulations and the criteria. I personally watched a walkway melt before my eyes that night.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--'Black Lives Clearly Don't Matter' As Museum Ignores Public Vote And Keeps Slave Trader Statue

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A museum in east London has decide to go against the wishes of a public consultation it commissioned and retain the statue of a controversial slave trader above its doors.
The monument to Sir Robert Geffrye at the Museum of the Home honours a 17th century merchant who made his fortune trafficking Black people with the East India Company and Royal African Company.
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In the wake of the renewed Black Lives Matter protests this year, the museum’s board of trustees decided to “acknowledge the legacy of colonialism and slavery within our history” and ask the local community what should be done with the statue.
Then it ignored them.
“Black lives clearly don’t matter to that board of trustees,” singer, activist and Hackney resident Jermain Jackman told HuffPost UK. “They clearly had their own agenda. I’m completely gobsmacked.”
Hackney is one of the most diverse places in the country. Known for its cultural and Black history with links to Windrush
For a museum in this same borough to refuse to remove a slave trader statue despite the majority of response saying otherwise is disgusting and unacceptable https://t.co/UQQ824Fcfr — JermainJackman🇬🇾 (@JermainJackman) July 29, 2020
EMPICS Entertainment
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The Museum of the Home announced their decision on Wednesday in a press release in which it acknowledged that “overall, the response [of the public consultation] was in favour of removing the statue”.
It added: ”However, feedback showed that what to do with the statue is a complex debate, full of nuance and different opinions.
“On balance the board has taken the view that the important issues raised should be addressed through ongoing structural and cultural change, along with better interpretation and conversation around the statue.”
Human rights activist Toyin Agbetu, who lives near the museum, slammed the decision, describing it as “morally abhorrent” and “anti-democratic”.
He told HuffPost UK: “This statue is a symbol of enslavement, of glorifying a crime against humanity.
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“It makes a mockery of everyone who spent time feeding back into that consultation and more importantly, sets the institution up as a place that can’t be trusted.”
The statue will remain, pride of place, above the doors of the building, looking out at an area of London rich in Black history and activism.
“There are a couple of trees in Hackney Downs that represent the people who died in the New Cross Fire,” says Jackman.
“Bob Marley visited Dalston, just up the road from where the museum is. The first female Black MP in the country is here.
“One of my asks of the board of trustees – none of whom are Black, by the way – is to reverse that decision and to understand the community that they’re in.”
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The board of trustees has NO BLACK people on their board! How can you even begin to understand the upset, anger and pain many of us feel as this statue still stands in a public space like that! @MuseumoftheHome will you reverse this decision? — JermainJackman🇬🇾 (@JermainJackman) July 29, 2020
Both Jackman and Agbetu can’t understand why the statue can’t be removed to another part of the museum.
“Everyone’s talking about education but we weren’t being educated when that man was up on there,” says Jackman.
“Let’s have it in a corner, with a little interactive board where you can find out about what he did.
“But we don’t need to celebrate him and we don’t need to push it into the faces of people.”
Hi Jermain, the Chair of the Board has made a commitment to improving the diversity of the Board and making it more representative by July 2021.
There are no immediate plans for a review of the decision regarding the statue. — Museum of the Home (@MuseumoftheHome) July 30, 2020
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On Thursday the museum responded to Jackman’s request for a review. In a tweet, it said: “The chair of the board has made a commitment to improving the diversity of the Board and making it more representative by July 2021.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Prince William Reveals The One Gift That Kate Middleton Has ‘Never Let Me Forget’

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Prince William once bought Kate Middleton a pair of binoculars and “it didn’t go well,” the royal admitted in a new interview.
The Duke of Cambridge surprised the Duchess of Cambridge with the field glasses during the early days of their relationship, he revealed in the latest episode of former England player Peter Crouch’s podcast.
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But Kate, who William began dating while studying at St. Andrews University in Scotland, was apparently bemused.
“She’s never let me forget that,” claimed William.
“I wrapped them. They were really nice,” he recalled. “I was trying to convince myself about it. I was like, ‘But these are really amazing, look how far you can see!’”
Prince William, left, once bought Kate Middleton, right, a pair of binoculars and “it didn’t go well,” the royal admitted in a new interview. PAUL FAITH via Getty Images
“She was looking at me going, ‘They’re binoculars, like, what’s going on?’” William continued. “It didn’t go well. Honestly, I have no idea why I bought her a pair of binoculars.”
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William recorded the interview for “That Peter Crouch Podcast” at Kensington Palace shortly before the coronavirus pandemic forced the country into lockdown in March.
Elsewhere in the chat, William explained why he supports Aston Villa and revealed he saw no problem with Prince George one day potentially signing for the club.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Donald Trump Just Hinted He Wants To Delay The US Election

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Donald Trump has suggested delaying November’s US presidential election which he claimed will be “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT election in history”.
In a typically bombastic tweet, the president said it would be “a great embarrassment for to the USA” before adding: “Delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
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With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote??? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020
Can he do that?
First things first, Trump does not have the power to postpone the presidential election.
It is technically possible to change the law to accommodate it but it would require the approval of both the House of Representatives and Senate.
Democrats are currently in charge of the House and there is absolutely no chance of them going for it.
So what’s he playing at?
Trump is trailing in the polls to his Democratic rival Joe Biden, and trailing by a lot.
His presidency has been upended by the coronavirus crisis. One person in the US died about every minute from Covid-19 on Wednesday as the national death toll surpassed 150,000, the highest in the world.
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Statista
Trump has already stated that he might not accept the result of the election if he loses and he has singled out one aspect of the election which he is targeting with the very same kind of disinformation US authorities have warned foreign adversaries could use to foment doubt in the voting process.
What’s that then?
Mail-in voting.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, mail-in voting is seen as a one of the safest ways to conduct polling.
For weeks now Trump has tweeted multiple times, unfounded claims that it will lead to a “RIGGED ELECTION” as foreign countries try and hijack his presidency.
RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
Will it?
No.
There are multiple safeguards in place and mail-in voting has been used for decades without any problems.
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Hello again, Mr. President. I co-wrote the book “How to Rig an Election,” so I know a bit about election rigging. Every claim in your tweet is a lie. Mail-in voting, also known as no-fault absentee voting, has long been a feature of US elections without issue. Stop lying. https://t.co/AXmuwCxKej — Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 30, 2020
So why does he keep calling it out?
Possibly because he is afraid he’s going to lose and is preempting his own defeat.
“It’s a way of trying to turn the foreign interference claims that have been made on their head,” said Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine told PA Media.
“Typically we’ve heard that the Russian government and others were working to help elect Trump, and here is Trump using fears of foreign interference as a way of bolstering his own side.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--NHS Ad Campaign Pushes Free Covid Tests As Number Of Cases Rise In UK

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A new advertising campaign will urge the public to take up free NHS coronavirus tests following concerns within government that some minority ethnic Britons wrongly believe they have to pay for the service.
Amid growing fears of a second spike of the disease, NHS Test and Trace launched the TV and online publicity drive to encourage everyone to get a test as soon as they get symptoms.
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The move came alongside a new target to expand daily testing capacity to 150,000 by the end of August and as Boris Johnson said that Britons “don’t delude ourselves that somehow we are out of the woods”.
The fresh push to get more people tested came as new statistics showed that the numbers of positive cases has increased for the second week running across the UK, ending months of falls.
The latest NHS Test and Trace statistics showed that for July 16 to 22 the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 was 4,128, up from 3,953 the previous week and 3,818 the week before that.
The advertising campaign follows unease within government that the UK’s fall in cases has levelled off and it could be heading for a fresh spike.
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On Thursday, the compulsory self-isolation period for people with symptoms of Covid-19 has been extended from one week to 10 days with immediate effect, the UK’s chief medical officers announced.
Government insiders confirmed that only about 35% of total symptomatic cases were being tested and contacted, according to data from the Office of National Statistics.
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Part of the reason for the low take-up of free tests was the perception that only NHS and care workers were eligible, but a significant proportion stems from perceptions among some Asian communities that the test would cost money.
HuffPost UK understands that the NHS has had feedback from community groups that the fear stems from relatives overseas being charged a fee for covid tests and that particularly older minority ethnic people are not clear that healthcare is free in the UK.
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In recent weeks, 40% of confirmed coronavirus cases were in people from Asian backgrounds.
The government has been working with council chiefs in Leicester, Blackburn, Oldham and Rochdale to improve translation services for people with English as a second language.
But earlier this week the Doctors for the World charity joined town halls in criticising the “absolute lack” of communication from Whitehall on the issue.
An online contact tracing platform is only available in English, though this may change in future,
NHS Test and Trace said its aim was to increase public awareness of the NHS Test and Trace service to 80% by October to increase the number of people who come forward.
NHS Test and Trace advert
The government announced its 60-second ‘Let’s Get Testing – Let’s Get Back’ TV advert along with plans to make it easier to access tests, with 500 mobile testing sites in English towns and cities now planned for the end of October.
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The new 150,000 tests a day capacity target by September 1 is a stepping stone towards Boris Johnson’s 500,000 daily target for October 31.
Health secretary Matt Hancock set a target of 100,000 actual tests conducted per day by the end of April. The figure was achieved but the government faced criticism from the statistics watchdog that it had included swab kits posted out rather than returned.
The current capacity for testing as of July 26 was 127,500 for so-called ‘Pillar 2’ tests, those done in the community such as through mobile test units and regional test centres. ‘Pillar 1’ tests, done in NHS hospitals for those with a clinical need and health and care workers, have a capacity of 80,985.
Greater laboratory capacity in the NHS and with private sector firms will be used, and the hope is that the increase will allow flexibility to do more asymptomatic tests. At present companies with workers at higher risk of the disease, such as taxi drivers and cleaners, are trialling the regular testing.
Dido Harding, executive chair of NHS Test and Trace, earlier this month described herself as “the Grinch of Covid” in that she wants the number of people testing positive to increase if that shows the system was capturing more of the population.
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Harding said: “The NHS Test and Trace service is a vital part of enabling us to get back to safely doing the normal things we love, and will become ever more important as we approach winter.
“By working in partnership with local public health and local authority teams we are already helping stop the spread of coronavirus across England, by reaching over 200,000 people who may have been at risk of passing it on.
“I urge everybody to get a free test as soon as you experience coronavirus symptoms and to follow the advice you’re given if you are contacted by the service. If we all continue to play our part, then together we can stop the spread of this virus.”
The test and trace system showed progress in that 81.4% of cases referred to the service were reached, up from 79.7% the previous week.
But the percentage of “close contacts” - defined as anyone within 2 metres for more than 15 minutes - then reached had fallen week on week to
75.1% from 78.4%.
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Since the launch of Test and Trace, 184,703 close contacts of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 have been reached through the tracing system and asked to self-isolate.
Speaking on a visit to Yorkshire, the prime minister - who only recently predicted life would get back to normal by Christmas - struck a newly worried tone.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--The End Of The Argos Catalogue Has Us Feeling Nostalgic For Christmas

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“Put a circle around the things you like, and a star next to three things you really, really like.”
That was the clear instruction my mum gave my sister and I each November, as we perched above the Argos catalogue, pens in hand, eyeing up our potential Christmas presents.
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The system was faultless; we annotated the pages in our designated colours, although our mum was probably fully aware which sister had opted for the arts and crafts (me) and which the Scalextrics (my sister), almost without fail.
By December 25, we’d have forgotten our choices completely, in the way that children do, and ripped open the gifts with genuine surprise. We never asked how Father Christmas got access to our scribbles, because why would we? Such magic doesn’t need to be questioned.
“The annual catalogue flick-through pre-Christmas was a ritual in our house, too,” says one of my colleagues, while another goes misty eyed at the memory of “ringing round all the stuff I wanted with a highlighter. Proper nostalgic!”
But kids across the country will no longer feel their legs go numb as they sit with the giant book sprawled across their laps – because Argos has announced it plans to stop printing its famous catalogue after almost 50 years.
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By January 2021, those afternoons of innocent excitement will be no more.
The next generation of children will miss out on unpeeling pages that have stuck together when the precious book has been left in the sun, or trying to decipher the precise product names and codes when someone has spilt their squash.
They won’t get to squabble with their sibling when a (rare) cross-over of interests occurs and they both want to circle the same item. And they’ll not get that incomparable whiff of Christmas excitement a whole month in advance.
Most Argos stores have gone digital-only too with tablets available to browse items and only a few branches still offering the catalogue – or “laminated book of dreams” as comedian Bill Bailey affectionately refers to it.
Argos says that online shopping offers “greater convenience” than flicking through a catalogue, but what could be more convenient for parents than allowing your children to choose their own gifts, without moving a muscle?
Sure, you could plonk little Timmy in front of an iPad screen, but it’s a risk; the choices on the internet are too vast, the prices too variable, the ‘Buy Now’ buttons too clickable.
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With the catalogue, expectations could be contained. As we got older and started to eye up the jewellery and electronics pages, my mum knew it was time to quietly hide the catalogue away. She was no fool.
Admittedly, it might make sense to ditch the catalogue in 2021, as many people strive for a greener lifestyle and online shopping has become even more second nature post-lockdown. But who wants logic when it comes to Christmas?
The end of the catalogue marks the death of a simpler time, when a pen and paper held endless possibilities and could unite two sisters in an hour of quiet concentration.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Cheap Fruit And Vegetables Won't Help Britain's Obesity Crisis

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This week the government released a report that is its starting point for a new obesity strategy. In summary: you’re probably overweight, especially if you’re poor.
The report reads: “Children in the most deprived parts of the country are more than twice as likely to be obese as their peers living in the richest areas,” which surprised a total of zero people.
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For most it confirmed one of two things; if you’re poor you’re to be patronised: clearly you don’t understand that pot noodle isn’t a vegetable. Or they’re to be pitied: they can’t afford the nutrients they need.
And it’s true, if fruit and vegetables were cheaper more people would have access to them, but they’ll never be a treat.
“The government’s obesity plan treats food as something only to keep you going, rather than something to be enjoyed.”
Being on a beach drinking a cocktail from a hollowed-out pineapple is a treat – a pineapple isn’t a treat.
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The problem is not only that nutritious food is expensive and that junk food is cheap, it’s that people live with such limited resources that the only treat they can afford is something from the confectionary aisle.
We’d often eat pizza for dinner when I was growing up, sometimes twice a week. The pizza was 99p and depending on how much change was left in “the tin” in the kitchen I’d have a whole one to myself or it would be halved and shared.
The pizza was frozen with spongy dough thick as two fingers, the tomato sauce was thick and tasted like tomato puree and when the cheese melted it set again with an unnatural sheen like condensation on a window. It was what you would expect a 99p pizza to taste like, but it was a treat, nonetheless.
Your appetite for nice things isn’t suspended when your credit card is. And, if you’re a parent with no money you spend more time than you’d like telling your child, no, they can’t have those nice things either.
My parents gave me £1.60 for a portion of chips so often that the owner of the shop, an avuncular man who wore a white lab jacket, told me he’d be giving me extra chips, because I was a regular. They would have preferred to take me to Disneyland, or bought me toys to play with for an afternoon before they were replaced with more toys, but that wasn’t an option.
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Instead they gave me food laced with sugar and ingredients that sound like they belong on the periodic table. They could have bought me a courgette, but they wanted to give me something that would make me feel like I was lucky, something that felt like a treat.
But it’s not only poor children who are obese, the government report tells us. “Obesity prevalence is highest amongst the most deprived groups in society.” The government’s response, of banning adverts for junk food before 9pm and buy-one-get-one-free deals misses the point. It treats food as something only to keep you going, rather than something to be enjoyed. And if you’re near broke, why would you deprive yourself of one of the few treats you can afford, when for £1 you can enjoy the luxury of a pack of Fox’s Chocolatey Ring Biscuits, just like everyone else.
Your appetite for nice things isn’t suspended when your credit card is. Jonathan Knowles via Getty Images
The response to the report was predictable. Annunziata Rees-Mogg, of the multi-millionaire Rees-Mogg family, tweeted that a bag of Tesco 1kg potatoes is 83p, while 950g of crisps were £1.35, this was in response to another tweet suggesting vegetables are too expensive for low income households. The suggestion is unclear – make your own crisps, invest the 52p you’ve saved (presuming there are no other costs) and become rich like her?
What Annunziata’s tweet and others like it show is that if you’ve got no money you’ve got to defend wanting anything other than basic sustenance. Why eat crisps, when you could eat a sack of boiled potatoes? Eat up son, if you don’t finish your spuds, they’ll be no turnip for dessert.
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When my dad finishes a 12-hour shift, tired and underpaid, he doesn’t want a salad. He can’t afford a holiday to watch his weight for, and he wants something tasty – a treat – so he orders a combo meal from the chicken shop.
He’s just not going to be convinced to switch to a healthy alternative through government messaging. My dad isn’t obese, however, living in a low-income area his neighbours likely are. If poverty and obesity are going to be untangled it won’t be with the window dressing that has been proposed. There are bigger, structural issues, that have gone unaddressed.
Having the time and resources to think about living a healthier lifestyle is a privilege. If you’re poor you’ve got stuff on your mind: you’re more likely to likely to live in insecure housing, be in insecure employment and more likely to die from Covid-19.
When someone is struggling to put food on the table is it any wonder, they’re unconcerned with what’s on the plate?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--GP Consultations Should Be Online Or By Phone, Says Matt Hancock

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Matt Hancock has said all future GP consultations should be done over the phone or by video unless there is a “compelling clinical reason” for a face-to-face appointment.
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In a speech on Thursday, the health secretary said it was wrong to “patronise older people” by not believing they were capable of using technology.
“So from now on, all consultations should be teleconsultations unless there’s a compelling clinical reason not to,” he said.
“Of course, if there’s an emergency, the NHS will be ready and waiting to see you in person – just as it always has been.
“But if they are able to, patients should get in contact first – via the web or by calling in advance.
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“That way, care is easier to manage and the NHS can deliver a much better service.”
Hancock said this change would be particularly useful in rural areas where it could save long travel times for doctors and patients.
But Mencap, the learning disability charity, said moving away from in-person consultations could “seriously exacerbate the health inequalities that already exist”.
Edel Harris, the charity’s chief executive, said: “The UK’s 1.5m people with a learning disability should be offered face-to-face consultations automatically – without needing to ask for them.
“This is a reasonable adjustment and we will be asking NHS England to ensure this happens – starting with annual health checks.”
Speaking at the Royal College of Physicians, Hancock also said he wanted the NHS to have “leaders at all levels” who have a mentality like Admiral Nelson and his fleet.
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“When the British Navy was heavily outnumbered at the Battle of Trafalgar, it was Nelson’s approach to leadership, the ‘Nelson touch’, that proved to be decisive,” he said.
“Admiral Villeneuve, whose fleet was defeated by Nelson, said it best. He said to any other nation the loss of Nelson would have been irreparable, but in the British fleet every captain was a Nelson.
“This is the mentality that we need. I want an NHS and care system that is full of leaders, leaders at all levels.”
Hancock’s speech came shortly after an analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed England had the highest levels of excess mortality in Europe across the first half of 2020.
It is the first time the ONS has compared mortality rates in different countries to measure the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke Found Guilty Of Sexual Assault

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Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke has been found guilty of three counts of sexual assault.
The 49-year-old, who represented Dover from 2010 to 2019, was accused of sexually assaulting two women.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court dismissed his claims the accusers were lying, instead believing victims who gave tearful evidence during a three-and-a-half week trial.
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The first count related to an incident in Elphicke’s London home in summer 2007, when he is alleged to have kissed and groped a woman in her 30s while his wife, Natalie Elphicke, was away for the night.
The complainant, who cannot be identified, said Elphicke then chased her round his home, chanting: “I’m a naughty Tory.”
The second complainant, a woman in her 20s who also cannot be identified, alleged Elphicke tried to kiss her then groped her after they shared a drink in Westminster in April 2016.
He allegedly told her afterwards: “I’m so naughty sometimes.”
The same woman alleged Elphicke ran his hand up her thigh towards her groin in a separate incident.
Elphicke told jurors he was under a “misapprehension” when he kissed the first woman in 2007, and stopped the moment it became clear she did not welcome his advances.
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He denied groping and chasing her.
Elphicke told jurors he wanted an affair with the younger woman, but denies sexually assaulting her, telling the court he had not touched her inappropriately.
Charlie Elphicke, Conservative Member of Parliament for Dover in Kent. PA Archive/PA Images
The father-of-two was accompanied to court each day by his wife, his successor as Dover MP in 2019, but told jurors he is struggling to save his marriage.
He told jurors he had an affair with a woman in her 20s between 2015 and 2017. She also cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Elphicke sighed and looked at his lawyer as the unanimous verdicts were returned today.
The former MP was told he will be sentenced on September 15.
The judge, Justice Whipple, said: “All options remain very much on the table, including the possibility of an immediate custodial sentence.”
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Elphicke became a government whip under David Cameron’s premiership in 2015, but returned to the back benches when Theresa May came to power the following year.
He had the party whip suspended in 2017 when allegations of sexual assault first emerged, but it was controversially reinstated a year later for a crucial confidence vote in then-prime minister May.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Brian Blessed's Sweary Message To Covid-19 Wasn't Daytime TV Friendly, But It Sure Was Funny

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Brian Blessed has summed up the thoughts of the nation after telling Covid-19 virus to “bugger off” – the problem is, he did it on daytime TV.
The actor appeared on ITV’s Lorraine on Thursday to discuss the 40th anniversary of Flash Gordon, but he got rather impassioned when speaking about coronavirus.
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After telling host Christine Lampard about how thankful he was to the NHS for the treatment and care his wife received before recovering from cancer, pneumonia and heart problems, he sent a stern message to the virus.
“This Covid virus – I really want to say one swear word – bugger off!” he shouted, with his trademark bellow.
Brian Blessed on Thursday's Lorraine ITV
“We will beat it, it will go away, I believe in the human spirit and we are showing immense courage in this country, but thanks to the NHS,” he added.
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An amused Christine swiftly issued an apology for Brian’s outburst, saying: “It has been the most extraordinary time, I’m sure some of us would use even a stronger word than that, but obviously we can’t and we will apologise for any bad language.”
As Brian apologised, she added: “Oh no, don’t worry, I think we’re all feeling it.”
During the interview, the 83-year-old also discussed his wish to be the oldest man to visit the moon and how he keeps fit and healthy.
He revealed: “I did training at Space City in Moscow. I did 800 hours there and then worked with NASA in the Pacific. I’m a fully qualified cosmonaut. I just love it.
“I say to people that nature does not cheat. There is no-one like you. We have all got something that nobody else has got. And you have got to be allowed to fulfil your dream for don’t let people stop you fulfilling your dreams. I think you must just go for it.”
He continued: “I am totally fearless. I train everyday, not out of vanity, but because of the expeditions I want to do. I bench press 300 pounds. I’m 83 years of age, I do five-mile runs. We all have these special qualities.”
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Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--England Had Worst Excess Mortality In Europe During First Half Of 2020

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England had the worst level of excess mortality of any country in Europe during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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The report published on Thursday morning states that, across the UK, the deaths were geographically widespread – every local authority area experienced excess mortality between the week ending April 3 and the week ending May 8, 2020 – while other western European countries saw more localised mortality.
While England didn’t have the highest peak mortality, it did have the longest continuous period of excess mortality of any country compared.
This results in England having the highest levels of excess mortality in Europe for the period https://t.co/5B8d8MFy2g pic.twitter.com/WhLRx1zsy0 — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 30, 2020
While England did not have the highest peak mortality, it took longer to get back to lower levels, resulting in the longest continuous period of excess mortality of any country in Europe included in the comparison. Up to June 12, its excess mortality figures were worse than anywhere else.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, described the official confirmation of the figures as “a devastating moment”.
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“Every life lost is a tragedy and leaves behind grieving families. We can no longer hide from the fact the government has not handled this crisis well and needs to urgently learn lessons from its mistakes,” he said.
“Boris Johnson must now take responsibility for why we were so badly prepared. As we start to see a resurgence in other parts of the world, ministers need to urgently outline the steps they are taking to better protect people and save lives in the months ahead.”
A closer look at the data shows that England’s relative cumulative age-standardised mortality rates (rcASMRs) – the measure used to compare mortality rates between nations – stood 7.61% up on the average annual mortality rates between 2015 and 2019, for people of all ages and genders.
The UK as a whole came second only to England, with the rcASMRs up by 6.94% on the average. To put that in context, the next highest nation was Spain, which had a rcASMRs increase of 6%.
The data makes clear that it is England that pulled the UK’s total excess mortality rate up so high – though the three other nations did also measure increases. Scotland was up by 5.09%, Wales 2.81% and Northern Ireland 1.91%.
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Dr Veena Raleigh, senior fellow at The King’s Fund, said the figures raised fears that the UK could “slide even further down the life expectancy league tables”.
“The priority for the UK is to control the pandemic and learn lessons ahead of a potential second wave, but it is also essential to tackle the underlying reasons for stalling life expectancy in recent years – many of which contribute to poor Covid-19 outcomes.
“This requires increased effort in prevention and public health, action to tackle the underlying socio-economic inequalities driving much of the preventable ill health, and a cross-government strategy to reduce health inequalities.”
The government has previously warned against comparing the UK’s coronavirus death rate with that of other nations, as there are some major discrepancies in the way in which different authorities count the toll.
TOLGA AKMEN via Getty Images
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The ONS release is the first time excess mortality figures – regarded by many as the most reliable way to measure the true impact of Covid-19 – have been compared across Europe in the context of the crisis, giving a much more stable view of how the nations compare.
However, the ONS has noted that data for the UK are based on date of registration rather than date of death, while most other European countries are based on date of death. That means the UK’s figures may in fact be even worse than they appear here.
While England’s death tally was highest cumulatively, other nations saw much more pronounced peaks in localised regions.
Looking at major cities, the highest peak excess mortality was in Madrid at 432.7% (in the week ending March 27) while in the UK, Birmingham had the highest peak excess mortality of any major British city at 249.7% (in the week ending April 17).
The highest peak mortality in England was in Brent, which measured 357.5% in the week ending April 17.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--The Muppets Fans Baffled By Kermit The Frog's New Voice On The One Show

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The Muppets are usually always guaranteed to bring joy wherever they go, but some fans were left feeling something was a little off during their latest TV appearance.
As everyone’s favourite amphibian appeared on The One Show alongside Miss Piggy on Wednesday night, Kermit didn’t sound quite like his usual self.
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Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy appeared on The One Show via video link BBC
Viewers noticed that his voice had a much deeper tone as he spoke to hosts Alex Jones and Michael Ball.
Opening the show tonight with one of the most stylish, talented and influential couples in the world...No, it's not Posh and Becks, say hello to Miss Piggy and @kermitthefrog! 🐷🐸
If you'd like to share anything about tonight's show post it below or email TheOneShow@bbc.co.uk. pic.twitter.com/LIlv4Dhi3L — BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) July 29, 2020
The realisation was too much for many to handle...
Kermit is on the One Show and HIS VOICE IS WRONG. — Mazeltov Cocktail (@NicoleBurstein) July 29, 2020
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clearly the real voice actor couldn't kermit pic.twitter.com/PHTqpFAy6q — Andrew (@_A_n_d_r_e_w_s) July 29, 2020
Just when you thought 2020 couldn't get any worse.
Kermit the Frog's voice has changed.
Disastrous.#theoneshow pic.twitter.com/kDVusUjneu — Daisy Bennett (@DaisyAmeliaBee) July 29, 2020
Watching The One Show.... What’s happened to Kermit’s voice?! — Joanne Grange (@JoanneGrange) July 29, 2020
There is a Kermit imposter on @BBCTheOneShow. I was an avid muppets fan as a child and that is not the correct voice for Kermit! — Joanne Thornhill (@Jothornhill) July 29, 2020
Watching #TheOneShow with Kermit on. What's happened to his voice?!!! My childhood memories are ruined! Awful. — nerdbird (@nerdsnerdyland) July 29, 2020
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this kermit voice is beyond appauling what happened lmao https://t.co/ISykJONEr1 — Kate (@HeckinKate) July 30, 2020
God I HATE the new Kermit the Frog’s voice. I get that no one can be Jim Henson but at least the last guy was a pretty good voice match. The new guy just feels like a weird knockoff. Idk how Disney of all companies can’t find a better fit. — Josh Erion (@josh_erion) July 30, 2020
What is up with Kermit the frog’s voice on #TheOneShow?! He doesn’t sound anything like Kermit! — HelloSutherland (@HelloSutherland) July 29, 2020
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Muppet fans were right in thinking there had been a change – Kermit got a new voice back in 2017, when Matt Vogel took over the role from Steve Whitmire.
Matt previously voiced the likes of Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Count von Count, and Kermit’s evil doppelgänger Constantine in the 2014 film Muppets Most Wanted.
Matt Vogel is the current voice of Kermit The Frog Alberto E. Rodriguez via Getty Images
Steve had served as the voice of Kermit after taking over from Muppets creator Jim Henson in 1990, following his death.
However, Steve was fired by Disney after 27 years in the role, with a spokesperson for The Muppets Studio saying at the time: “The role of Kermit the Frog is an iconic one that is beloved by fans and we take our responsibility to protect the integrity of that character very seriously.
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“We raised concerns about Steve’s repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years and he consistently failed to address the feedback.
“The decision to part ways was a difficult one which was made in consultation with the Henson family and has their full support.”
Steve Whitmire voiced Kermit for 27 years until he was fired in 2017 Lawrence Lucier via Getty Images
Following Whitmire’s sacking, Jim Henson’s daughter, Cheryl, said Steve’s performance of Kermit “has strayed away far away from my father’s good hearted, compassionate leader of the Muppets”.
She said: “Steve performed Kermit as a bitter, angry, depressed victim. Worst of all, in the past few years he had not been... funny or fun. Recasting Kermit is long overdue. Let’s get back to [the] true spirit of Jim Henson’s Kermit.”
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Jim Henson was the original voice of Kermit The Frog Nancy Moran via Getty Images


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--I'm A Celebrity 2020 Line-Up: All The Rumoured Contestants So Far

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The new series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! is just days away, meaning there’s not long to wait until we find out which stars have signed up for the show this year.
After plenty of rumours about how the show could work in 2020, ITV is taking a different approach this time around, swapping the jungle for a “ruined castle” in the Welsh countryside.
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With plenty of names already linked to the series – and new rumours coming in thick and fast – we thought it was a good time to check in on all the celebrities tipped to be competing to become the first King or Queen of the Castle...
Giovanna Fletcher
SOPA Images via Getty Images
Giovanna has been a big name in the parenting world for a long time now with various books, podcasts and vlogs, but The Sun quoted a source as saying she feels the time is right to “embrace the limelight” by signing up for the show.
Of course Giovanna already has some famous connections, as she is married to McFly star Tom Fletcher, her brother is Mario Falcone from TOWIE and her best friend is Big Brother host Emma Willis.
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Jordan North
Dave J Hogan via Getty Images
Radio 1 DJ Jordan was the final name rumoured for the show this year.
The Sun claimed he had bagged a place on the line-up after becoming the last celebrity to sign up.
Shane Richie
SOPA Images via Getty Images
Best known for his long-serving role as Alfie Moon in EastEnders, Shane Richie was reported in late October to have started a two-week quarantine before heading to Wales for the new series.
The Sun quoted an “insider” who claimed that he’d been on producers’ wishlist for a number of years, but finally decided to say yes because of the change of location.
Sir Mo Farah
Stuart C. Wilson via Getty Images
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The four-time Olympic gold medalist is reported by The Sun to be receiving a hefty fee for his involvement in this year’s series of I’m A Celebrity, with ITV seemingly upping their budget due to the pandemic.
According to a “telly insider”, Sir Mo has “been a big fan of the show for years and was just waiting for the right time in his career to do it”.
Victoria Derbyshire
David M. Benett via Getty Images
Victoria Derbyshire was one of eight celebrities reportedly spotted leaving an I’m A Celebrity photo-shoot in October, prompting speculation she’s one of the stars on this year’s line-up.
She previously hosted The Victoria Derbyshire Show on the BBC, which came to an end earlier this year as a result of budget cuts.
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Vernon Kay
PA
The former Family Fortunes and T4 presenter has been quietly hosting Formula One coverage for the last few years, and was one of the earliest stars rumoured for the series.
Like Victoria, he was also seen at the I’m a Celebrity photo-shoot, all but confirming his place on the line-up.
If he were to enter, Vernon would be appearing on TV at the same time his wife, Tess Daly, is hosting Strictly Come Dancing.
Jessica Plummer
Karwai Tang via Getty Images
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Another of the eight stars seen at the I’m A Celebrity photo-shoot, soap fans will know Jessica for playing Chantelle Atkins on EastEnders.
Her character was killed off in traumatic scenes earlier this year, following a hard-hitting domestic violence storyline.
AJ Pritchard
Karwai Tang via Getty Images
The former Strictly Come Dancing pro’s name has been mentioned in the same breath as I’m A Celebrity ever since he stepped down from the BBC dance show earlier in the year.
He recently swerved questions about I’m A Celebrity during an interview with The Sun, in which he also said he’d left Strictly as the show wouldn’t allow him to pursue other opportunities he was interested in.
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Beverley Callard
PA
The soap legend is known to millions as Coronation Street’s Liz McDonald. She left her role as the former Rovers Return landlady earlier this year.
After undergoing a hip operation earlier in the year, it was thought she may have had to drop out of I’m A Celebrity, but she was also seen at the photo-shoot for the upcoming series, so it seems she’s been given the go-ahead to take part.
Russell Watson
Scott Garfitt - PA Images via Getty Images
Russell Watson came as a surprise to many when his name cropped up on the list of stars who attended the I’m A Celebrity photo-shoot, but it looks as though the famous tenor is indeed castle-bound.
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Like AJ, he dodged questions about appearing on the show during a recent interview on Steph McGovern’s Channel 4 show.
Ruthie Henshall
Tim P. Whitby via Getty Images
The stage star is known for her work in musical theatre, starring in a plethora of West End productions including Cats, Les Misérables, Chicago and Billy Elliot.
She previously served as a judge on Dancing On Ice.
Hollie Arnold
Bryn Lennon via Getty Images
Hollie rose to prominence at the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio, where she earned a gold medal for Javelin-throwing, and was later awarded an MBE.
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She was the eighth celebrity seen at – you guessed it! – the infamous I’m A Celebrity photo-shoot, so it’s a fair bet we’ll be seeing her on the ITV reality show in a few weeks.
Carole Baskin
Carole Baskin Netflix
It’s hard to believe that less than a year ago, most of us had never heard of Carole Baskin. But now the Tiger King star is one of the biggest names that has been linked to I’m A Celebrity.
The Sun claimed bosses had approached her with a big money offer, but given travel restrictions – and the fact she recently appeared on Dancing With The Stars in the US – it looks as though these plans may have fallen through.
Jessie J
PA
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Pop star Jessie J is no stranger to TV audiences, having served as a judge on The Voice both in the UK and Australia, but it seems bosses are hoping to get her to swap spinning chairs for creepy crawlies.
The Sun reported that Jessie had been offered “good money” to take part in I’m A Celebrity, but quoted an unnamed source who claimed she wasn’t sure the show “was for her”.
Paul Merson
PA
The ex-Arsenal midfielder’s name was mentioned in the same report linking Jessie J to the show, with The Sun suggesting that he was keen to relaunch his TV career after seeing football boss Harry Redknapp win the show in 2018.
John Barnes
PA
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In fact, Paul is just one of a few former footballers who have been rumoured for the show.
England legend John Barnes threw his own hat into the ring during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show back in March, alongside aforementioned King Of The Jungle Harry Redknapp.
John – who has previously been a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother – said: “From the point of view of eating anything, I eat everything and anything, so from that point of view I would do it.
“Lying around doing nothing much, I quite fancy so I’d probably look at it as a bit of a holiday.” He added: “I would do it, yeah.”
Eric Cantona
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Another big footballing name said to be taking part in I’m A Celebrity is former Manchester United star Eric Cantona.
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This came after executive producer Richard Cowles named Eric as his dream signing for the show, telling The Sun: “I just like the idea of Eric Cantona talking in French and coming up with really profound things. That would be good.”
The Vivienne
PA
Drag performer The Vivienne is still riding high after winning the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK last year, and it was rumoured one of the big TV offers she’d received was I’m A Celebrity.
When asked about the reports during a recent interview on ITV’s Lorraine, The Vivienne seemed more than up for the challenge, telling the presenter: “Do you know what, I’ve never even thought about it really but what an absolutely amazing opportunity that would be!
“I’m petrified of spiders but get me to that jungle, I’d do it! What a great life opportunity that I’m never going to get again... I am all for that!”
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Matt Baker
PA
Matt signed off from a 10-year stint presenting The One Show back in the spring, and while he’s still got commitments with Countryfile, he was tipped to get used to a whole new outdoor environment on I’m A Celebrity, after being named as a potential contestant by bookies.
While random suggestions from bookmakers aren’t usually the best indication of who will eventually end up taking part, he didn’t completely dismiss the idea during an interview with Hello magazine.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Malik B., US Rapper And Founding Member Of The Roots, Has Died, Aged 47

Malik B., US rapper and founding member of The Roots, has died at the age of 47.
The band announced the news in an Instagram post on Wednesday evening.
“It is with heavy hearts and tearful eyes that we regretfully inform you of the passing of our beloved brother and long time Roots member Malik Abdul Baset,” they wrote.
“May he be remembered for his devotion to Islam, his loving brotherhood and his innovation as one of the most gifted MCs of all time.”
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The cause of death has not been disclosed.
The rapper’s cousin, Don B, was one of the first to pay tribute, writing on Twitter: “He was so talented and had a huge heart. I still remember when he and The Roots were starting out. He’d give me and my dad their cassette tapes to listen to. I miss you already, Malik.”
The rapper Blueprint also paid tribute: “Rest in Peace to Malik B of The Roots. Step into The Realm’ from Things Fall Apart was always one of my favorite performances from him. One more classic verse from Malik B from “Distortion to Static.” “Now go get your dictionary and your dictionary...” RIP”.
Malik B joined The Roots in the Nineties alongside founding members Questlove and Black Thought.
While a member of the band, The Roots released four albums. He left the band in 1999 to pursue a solo career, releasing the album Street Assault in 2005.
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He would go on to make guest appearances on future Roots albums such as Game Theory and Rising Down. In a 2015 interview, Malik stated that he was never fired from the Roots and did not quit the band.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--UK Coronavirus Self-Isolation Period Extended To 10 Days With Immediate Effect

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The compulsory self-isolation period for people with symptoms of Covid-19 has been extended from one week to 10 days with immediate effect, the UK’s chief medical officers have announced.
Until now those with symptoms of the virus – a high temperature, a continuous cough, or loss of taste or smell – have been told to quarantine themselves at home for seven days.
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Under the new guidance, that period will increase by three days following a fresh look at the latest scientific evidence.
HuffPost UK understands that there has been no specific change in evidence that triggered the change, but the medical officers decided to act now while prevalence was low and want to prepare the country for a second spike in the autumn or winter.
All four medical officers in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales considered that they had to be “ultra cautious” given the “low but tangible possibility” that patients are infectious between seven and nine days after the onset of the illness.
Those without symptoms but who test positive for the virus should also self-isolate themselves for 10 days.
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The change in advice brings the UK into line with the World Health Organisation’s global recommendation on home quarantine, which has already been adopted by many countries for months.
The guidance from the NHS states that people must self-isolate for 14 days if they live with, or are in a bubble with, someone that has symptoms or has tested positive or they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
That two-week period will remain unchanged.
In a joint statement, the medical officers said: “Evidence, although still limited, has strengthened and shows that people with COVID-19 who are mildly ill and are recovering have a low but real possibility of infectiousness between 7 and 9 days after illness onset.
“We have considered how best to target interventions to reduce risk to the general population and consider that at this point in the epidemic, with widespread and rapid testing available and considering the relaxation of other measures, it is now the correct balance of risk to extend the self-isolation period from 7 to 10 days for those in the community who have symptoms or a positive test result.
“This will help provide additional protection to others in the community. This is particularly important to protect those who have been shielding and in advance of the autumn and winter when we may see increased community transmission.”
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The statement was agreed by Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty and his counterparts Dr Michael McBride in Northern Ireland, Dr Gregor Smith in Scotland and Dr Frank Atherton in Wales.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--Gasp! Hamilton Star Phillipa Soo Just Explained Eliza's Gasp

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How can we say no to this?
Ever since Hamilton joined Disney+ earlier this month, the meaning behind Eliza Hamilton’s mysterious gasp at the end of the musical has been a much-debated topic.
Is she seeing the ghost of her husband, Alexander Hamilton? Could she be seeing the audience’s reaction to the show? Did she catch a glimpse of the queue for the loos in the theatre?
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In an interview posted online Wednesday, actor Phillipa Soo, aka Eliza Hamilton herself, joined SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show and explained some of the motivation behind the cryptic gasp.
(Gasp!)
Soo first wanted to hear what Cagle and his co-host, Julia Cunningham, thought of the gasp, and they each offered somewhat different takes. Cunningham believed that Eliza was breaking the fourth wall and seeing the reaction of the audience, while Cagle believed she was seeing Alexander and realising she told his story.
And they’re both right, according to Soo.
“I would not be able to tell you precisely what I was thinking in that moment [in 2016] when that shot was taken and what exactly was going on in my brain.
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“But I can say that it was definitely night-to-night different — but a mixture of, yes, the character of Eliza sees Hamilton or sees that legacy or sees the orphanage ... or sees her kids telling her story,” Soo said. “It was an exploration for me every day, because you do a show eight times a week for a year and you find new things every single time.”
The actor added that sometimes the fourth wall would break, which Soo believes is how the show originally found that moment.
“Once we got in front of an audience, it wasn’t until then that I realised I could literally just look out and see all of these beautiful faces and acknowledge the story that we had just all taken a ride to witness,” she said.
Soo called it a culmination of all of the ideas, and she also got more specific about the gasp in the Disney+ version.
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“I can imagine in my mind, because we shot the film a couple of weeks before I had left the show, that a lot of that that you’re seeing is not only that show or that performance, but it’s that year and that moment in time and the hope and the potential that lived in that moment when we were all in that room and seeing that show and being a part of it,” Soo said.
The actor previously opened up about the gasp to Build Series in 2015, saying that the moment didn’t always exist, and though it can mean many things, there’s a constant theme of transcendence.
“I think that idea of transcendence is present in all of that, whether it’s in Eliza’s mind or in Phillipa’s mind, they’re both one in the same,” the actor said.
So there’s the answer. No need to wait for it, wait for it, wait for it any longer.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--As A Disabled Person, I Love Bondage. Here's Why

Courtesy of Sara Youngblood Gregory The author (right) and their partner.
It’s a typical Saturday at 7pm. My partner takes out 25 feet of rope and tells me to lay down.
Half an hour later, I am face-down, fully clothed and completely calm, with my arms and hands bound tightly behind my back. My body is buzzing pleasantly and tingles run up and down my spine. My partner reclines in bed, drinking Red Bull, every so often checking my fingers to ensure my blood is properly circulating. These little checks are careful, consistent, verbal and nonverbal. We’re relaxed. Quiet. For the first time all week, I am exactly as immobile as I want to be.
When I’m ready to move again, my partner unties me, sliding the ropes along my skin and over the fabric of my t-shirt. I lean my full weight against her as the final knot is undone. She holds me upright for a moment, then lets me go. Gently, I roll out my shoulders, my neck, back muscles all the way down to wrists and fingers. There are cracks and pops and laughter.
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I sleep really, really well on Saturdays.
These weekend ceremonies aren’t what people typically imagine when they hear the words “rope play” or “tie me up, baby.” Depictions of bondage in the media usually go like this: secret sex dungeons, hidden habits, men in business suits pulling out fluffy pink handcuffs with nervous laughter.
The media will have you quickly believe that rope play is only about sex, pain or exerting control over others. Sometimes it is. But for me, rope is a tool for crip empowerment.
Since the age of 21, I’ve fluctuated on a continuum of mobility impairment that even doctors can’t seem to pin down. Some days, I walk without issue. Other days, I’ll limp around all morning while watering plants, or maybe just when I’m tired at night, having stood too long. On easy days, I skip and play and go into the woods next to my house. On hard days and for big events, I use a wheelchair.
“The media will have you quickly believe that rope play is only about sex, pain or exerting control over others. Sometimes it is. But for me, rope is a tool for crip empowerment.”
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With my body, the only certainty I can expect is uncertainty. Disability is unruly, unpredictable. It doesn’t look any one way, and for many people like me, disability is on a spectrum of visibility and severity. Pain and mobility issues affect every aspect of my life ― how I engage socially, personally, and how I can show up politically. I’m in a relationship with pain ― as a condition, as a lived reality, as a trauma, as an idea, as a politic ― in a way I’ll never be with another person.
I never know when I go to sleep if it’s thunder or pain that will wake me up. Writing to you now, I’ve had six long, hard weeks of consistent pain and rock-bottom stamina. Rainy days can stiffen up my joints and send shockwaves through my knees. But rain can also just be rain ― cool, refreshing, stunning to sleep to.
I will likely struggle with mobility for the rest of my life. To be restrained as a disabled person ― to have my mobility enthusiastically taken from me ― may seem like a contradiction. I am already restrained by the fact of my body, and more consequentially, by the institutions that ignore me, the medical establishment that wants to “fix” me or even venues that refuse to accommodate me. Given this reality, why would I choose to further limit my movements for fun?
My partner and I initially met for an interview. This was a year ago, and I was working on an interview series about queer spoonies ― a term for chronically ill or disabled folks ― and how they build networks of care and community via social media. The cafe’s AC was broken that day, and summer heat pumped through the windows and propped-up door. We sat across from each other over a shiny plastic table, sweating. Our conversation quickly turned from social media toward other tools of crip empowerment and connection. Carefully, she asked about rope. I took a sip of hot coffee.
“With rope, I turn toward not only my own body, but also toward the body of my disabled partner. This simple exchange is liberating.”
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Rope play and bondage, for me, had always been linked to sexuality and pleasure. Before my disability, I experimented with bondage, but it felt more like foreplay ― something to get my blood pumping. After, I learned to think about rope play in terms of my mobility, the way it would fluctuate, the way I could begin to embrace those changes, and the way I might heal myself.
Now, getting tied up lowers my heart rate. My body and joints lean into cotton cords and I can feel a slow, slow pulse pounding in my body. To go beyond playful bondage toward a more intentional practice deepened my appreciation for the unpredictable, wild body I have. With rope, I turn toward not only my own body, but also toward the body of my disabled partner. This simple exchange is liberating.
It took that conversation over coffee, and eventually, to be tied up by another spoonie, to connect all the dots of my life: injury trauma, chronic pain and the bodily autonomy I was missing and what it sounded like.
“Tonight I need my hands and forearms tied together.”
“That sounds good. What parts of your body do I need to be careful with?”
“Don’t put any weight on my hips this time ... Could you do that a little bit looser?”
“How does that feel?”
“It’s perfect.”
I didn’t get to choose my mobility impairment. That choice was made for me by a distracted driver and an unlucky collision.
With rope, I do get to decide. I get to call the shots about how my body feels. I get to reclaim my own immobility by deciding when, where and how it happens. I get the privilege to experience everything I am otherwise denied: physical relaxation, predictability and steady expectations of ability.
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These are novel, sacred experiences for me as someone who can never consent to how much pain I’m in or how far I can walk. In this way, rope becomes my tool of agency. The act of giving my limbs over to my partner becomes ceremony. When my body melts against rope, the sensation of restraint transforms into rest.
This article first appeared on HuffPost Personal


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-07-30--My Narcissist Ex Still Casts A Shadow Over My Life. But I’m Healing

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Content warning: this article contains description of emotional and domestic violence
Although there were red flags in our relationship from the start, I ignored them.
When Adam* teased me for having a flatter chest, being less pretty and less adventurous than his ex-girlfriends, I saw this as me needing to up my game. When he questioned why I had never watched porn and when he coerced me into a threesome with his mate, he reasoned that he was fun and I was frigid.
I bought his excuses then, just as I bought them when he quit one job, then another, blaming his colleagues. I thought he was ambitious, not incapable of holding down work.
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I also confused his control for charm. He’d boast about his achievements, but stop me from speaking about my successes, explaining how he was trying to prevent me from appearing arrogant. Slowly, surreptitiously, he began to manage most aspects of my existence. He didn’t like where I lived, or where I worked. Looking back, I know it’s because I was a success and he wasn’t – but soon he pressured me to quit my job, and follow him overseas for another pie in the sky project. By the time that failed too, Adam had succeeded in isolating me from the people and profession I loved. I was dependent on him.
Of course, it wasn’t all bleak. If it had been, I might have seen the relationship for the disaster it was. It was a rollercoaster. We travelled extensively, had epic sex, partied hard, had a busy social life which revolved around his work and friends, where he would show me off as though I was some kind of trophy. Our break-ups were intense, our make-ups even more intense.
“Our break-ups were intense, our make-ups even more intense.”
When I got pregnant because my pill had failed, Adam insisted I have an abortion. I was intimidated, isolated, and insecure – but from the moment I discovered I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to be a mother. When I refused, he insisted we get married – he didn’t want a ‘bastard child’. Blame the hormones, the fact I was far from home, or his insidious coercive control, but I agreed, and married him shortly before giving birth.
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When our baby was five months old, my new husband physically assaulted me for the first time. Witnessed by a passerby, Adam threatened me, saying if I told anyone he would lose his job. When he assaulted me again, he told me no one would believe me.
I imagined leaving Adam many times. But his words had burrowed into my brain. I believed what he said: that I was deluded, a bad mother, that he was the only man who would ever love me, that I would never survive without him. I remember the exact words he hissed at me the night I decided to leave, and how in that moment I realised if I didn’t escape soon, I might never leave alive.
Ezrena via Getty Images A line drawing of a woman sitting in bed alone.
I escaped with my baby and my life – but although I survived, his abusive narcissism continues to take a huge toll on my existence. Because my leaving him undermined his control, Adam has sought to destroy me since. His behaviour has taken a toll on my new marriage, on my health, on my friendships and my relationship with my children.
When I became pregnant for the second time, he began alienating our child from me and my family, telling them I was having the new baby as a replacement. There were days when I heard his exact words being echoed by our child. I know our child loves Adam as a father, but it’s hard to see him weave a web of lies and false promises; hard to see him project his narcissistic tendencies on to this vulnerable being; hard to see how this might hurt our child’s ability to form healthy relationships in the future.
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“His behaviour has taken a toll on my new marriage, on my health, on my friendships and my relationship with my children.”
For my part, I was recently diagnosed with PTSD, a diagnosis I took a long time to seek out because of the shame Adam had made me feel and because he had sought to paint me as insane when in fact he was largely responsible for my mental ill health. My PTSD symptoms include acute anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, as well as a catalogue of other physical and psychological symptoms. I am jumpy and distrustful. I catastrophise situations and worry whenever I am away from my children that something awful will happen to them. By the time I accepted the diagnosis, I was making a recover and I knew my PTSD was largely a result of the hurt he caused me. If Adam had broken my leg, it would be his fault not mine. I also know now that the legacy of domestic violence can take an extreme emotional toll on survivors, and it makes me sad that this is not recognised more widely.
Healing from something like this takes time, especially since many of the decisions I have made in my personal and professional life were informed by the traumas Adam inflicted on me. I know my recovery will take time, but I also know that Adam has controlled me for too long and now I am taking back some control after living for far too long under the shadow of my narcissistic ex.
Tess Mills is a journalist, writing under a pseudonym. *Names changed for anonymity.
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