thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Scientists Say Covid-19 May Become 'Endemic'. Here's What That Means

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The coronavirus outbreak was first referred to as an epidemic, then a pandemic. Now, you might be hearing scientists describing Covid-19 as ‘endemic’ in the UK.
In late April, Professor Sarah Walker, an expert in medical statistics and epidemiology at Oxford and chief investigator for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Covid-19 Infection Survey, said Britain had moved “from a pandemic to an endemic situation,” The Telegraph reported.
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Her statement came as figures showed a huge drop in symptomatic Covid infections linked to the success of the vaccination programme.
Analysis of Covid test results taken from 373,402 study participants between December 2020 and April 2021 found that 21 days after a single dose, the rates of all new Covid-19 infections had dropped by 65%.
Meanwhile symptomatic infections had decreased by 74% and asymptomatic infections dropped by 57%. Reductions in infections and symptomatic infections were even greater after a second dose – 70% and 90% respectively.
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What does endemic mean, then?
Where an epidemic refers to a disease that spreads rapidly within a community or region, a pandemic is an epidemic that has spread worldwide – crossing international boundaries and affecting a large number of people.
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The definition of endemic is a disease that is native to, or commonly found within, an area. The suggestion here is that Covid-19 becomes endemic in the UK, like the flu – with recurring outbreaks but hopefully at lower levels.
Last year, experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggested that Covid-19 was set to become endemic.
“The world has hoped for herd immunity, that somehow transmission would be decreased if enough persons were immune,” said Professor David Heymann, epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and chair of WHO’s strategic and technical advisory group for infectious hazards.
“It appears the destiny of SARS-CoV-2 is to become endemic, as have four other human coronaviruses, and that it will continue to mutate as it reproduces in human cells, especially in areas of more intense admission. Fortunately, we have tools to save lives, and these in combination with good public health will permit us to learn to live with Covid-19.”
Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies programme, agreed: “The likely scenario is the virus will become another endemic virus that will remain somewhat of a threat, but a very low-level threat in the context of an effective global vaccination programme.”
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What makes Covid-19 endemic?
In 2020, researchers Jeffrey Shaman and Marta Galanti, from Columbia Mailman School, identified key factors that would contribute to Covid-19 becoming endemic. These included: the risk of reinfection, how widely available (and effective) a vaccine is, as well as potential seasonality of the virus and interactions with other viral infections that may alter its transmission.
Their paper, published in the journal Science, explored a scenario where immunity to the virus diminishes within a year – a rate similar to another type of coronavirus that causes mild respiratory illness. At present, we know vaccine immunity lasts for at least six months.
If this were the case, there would be annual outbreaks of Covid-19, much like the flu, they said. But if immunity to the virus lasted longer, we might experience what seemed to be an initial elimination of Covid-19 followed by a resurgence after a few years.
Either way though, it’ll probably keep coming back – and with lots of new variants doing the rounds, that looks increasingly likely.
“Should reinfection prove commonplace, and barring a highly effective vaccine delivered to most of the world’s population, SARS-CoV-2 will likely settle into a pattern of endemicity,” the authors said.
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“Whether reinfections will be commonplace, how often they will occur, how contagious re-infected individuals will be, and whether the risk of severe clinical outcomes changes with subsequent infection remain to be understood.”
All Royalty-Free licenses include global use rights. via Getty Images
Will Covid-19 ever disappear completely?
Total eradication of the virus is very unlikely, but not impossible. Smallpox, a virus that was very contagious and often deadly (three in every 10 people who got it died), was eradicated in 1980 thanks to vaccination programmes.
Professor Hans Heesterbeek, an expert in theoretical epidemiology at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands, wrote in a piece for The Conversation that if vaccines are found to prevent clinical disease, strongly reduce transmission and cause long-lasting immunity to Covid-19, eradication of the illness is possible.
“But realistically this is unlikely,” he said. “Eradication is notoriously difficult, even for diseases for which we have almost perfect vaccines and permanent immunity. Endemic disease is therefore the most likely outcome.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Mince Pie Cereal Is Here For Christmas – We Put It To The Test

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Mince pies have inspired a whole load of festive food and drink products in the past few years – from mince pie gin, to mince pie flat whites. But ever considered eating them for breakfast?
Sainsbury’s has launched its Mince Pie Wheats – pockets stuffed with spiced raisin, with added flavours of cinnamon and nutmeg. Think of the cereal as your standard Shredded Wheat, with a mince pie filling.
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The cereal is vegan, high in fibre and has no added sugar – you can get a 500g box for £2 in stores. So is it worth it?
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‘Before I know it, the bowl is empty’
Natasha Hinde, life reporter: “I’m a big fan of a breakfast wheat – quite partial to the apricot ones, the blueberry ones aren’t bad either – and a massive fan of mince pies and Christmas in general, so I feel like I’m the prime target for these. When I open the bag, the waft of mince pie is strong. Initially, I’m not sure how I feel about such delicious morsels being confined to a breakfast cereal, but it doesn’t stop me from trying one... without milk. It’s good to be honest, I taste the raisin, cinnamon and nutmeg, and it does have that familiar mince pie flavour, but then the bitterness hits. Maybe they’ve tried to recreate those notes you get with boozy mince pies? The next morning I have the cereal for breakfast. When you add milk it diminishes the bitterness – you can still taste it, but not offensively, and once I get over the fact I’m eating mince pie cereal, I realise I’m very much enjoying these wheaties. Before I know it, the bowl is empty and I’m happily full. See you tomorrow, mince pie wheats. Love, your newest convert xox.” 4/5
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‘Subtle spiciness overtaken by sweetness’
Adam Bloodworth, features writer: “When I start eating the mince pie wheats I can’t stop wondering: who’s the target exactly? Christmas fanatics like Tash, and, I’m guessing, children – the latter hauled in on the basis that this is a new novelty sugary cereal. I’d imagine that for both of those groups, this cereal will receive the same reception as a piping hot mince pie itself. That is, it’ll split opinion. This cereal is sweet and sugary alright, and fair play, those are two certain qualities of the mince pie. But for me, the underlying subtle spiciness is overtaken by too much cloying sweetness, and that throws me a bit. I get through my bowl, but during and afterwards, it lacks the balance of a good mince pie, which leaves me with a fruity, buttery flavour, and not just sugar. I reckon I could just try adding a bit of cinnamon to my regular Shreddies next time. But if there’s one thing these’ll cause, it’s debate.” 3/5
HuffPost UK Supplied
‘This will cheer up some wintery mornings’
Amy Packham, life editor: “I’ve been used to trying weird and wonderful foods at Christmas since working a HuffPost, and often, the odd combos they put together just don’t work. I was expecting the same with mince pie cereal to be honest – but I was wrong. (I should mention that I’m a mince pie obsessive and get on the case as soon as they hit shelves in September). I cover these wheats in milk, let them soak a little, and take a bite. The filling really does taste like mince pie – sweet, with a slightly spiced taste, but it isn’t sickly at all and I pour more into my bowl as soon as I finish the last one. I assumed this cereal would be pretty bad for me, because it tastes so good, but the traffic light system on the front of the box is green green green, with an orange for sugars. This will definitely cheer up some wintery mornings in the lead up to Christmas.” 4.5/5
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--19 Parent Tweets That Sum Up The Dubious Joys Of Half Term

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Half term. No two words change their meaning quite so much from the sheer joy they brought you when you were a kid to the utter exhaustion they indicate for any parent out there, especially everyone working from home right now.
Thanks goodness for Twitter then, where parents are venting their frustrations using hashtags like #halftermfun, #halftermhell and #imaparentgetmeoutofhere.
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Because, yes, it helps to know you’re not the only one going through it.
The clocks going back is SO much fun
Me in my 20s when #ClocksGoBack: woohoo! Extra sleep! 😴🥳😴🥳
Me in my 30s, mother of a toddler, when #clocksgoback: what fresh hell is this, I love you tiny person but it is FIVE AM 😩🥱😵 — Amy Gray (@amyelizgray) October 25, 2020
Who else is THIS happy playing superhero adventures at 6am?? Defintely NOT me! 😞😴😫😴#parentlife #clocksgoback#DaylightSavingTime pic.twitter.com/97SDXOe14U — Jade Johnson OLY (@JadeLJohnson7) October 25, 2020
At least Halloween is keeping kids busy
Half term = craft term. As Wales is in lockdown no trick or treating but we can take the children decoration spotting instead. I’m pleased with our efforts so far! pic.twitter.com/kraLxCewYd — Alisha Newman (@alishaannnewman) October 28, 2020
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Until it isn’t anymore...
Me *trying and failing to carve pumpkins with kids climbing all over me*
Hubs: Children! Come here! I’m turning on the TV!
5 and 2: Show! Show!#problemsolved#parentlife — Amanda (@simplyamanda83) October 28, 2020
A little screen time is totally justified
Anyone else wish @netflix would stop being so judgemental?!?
YES, we're still watching
YES, it's the 900,076,652 episode of My Little Pony
NO, don't you dare turn off
How the hell else am I meant to work during half term with no childcare?!?!?
#halfterm #workingfromhome pic.twitter.com/ta2IDmznCl — Alex Kington (@AlexEMarketing) October 27, 2020
Just don’t leave your phone unattended
Six-year-old: Yessssss! My lego Star Wars game has finally downloaded!
Me: well done! What happened?
Him (without a smidge of guilt or regret): I deleted all of your other apps and games. #okaythen #halftermfun — Sara McCorquodale (@SaraCorquers) October 28, 2020
A special shout-out to anyone whose kids are self-isolating
Half term with a child that has to isolate is just plain hell! I'm going to need a holiday after this. pic.twitter.com/3DeIym0xSl — Fiona (@fiona_pod) October 27, 2020
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Quarantine has intensified as my 3 year old son is now hearing “isolation” as “ice lolly” so his immediate disappointment at the lack of treats devolves rapidly into tantrums. #imaparentgetmeoutofhere — Tom Angell (@tomjangell) June 10, 2020
And to anyone buried in DIY slime, we see you
Dear #HalfTermDad How do we stop the slime-making?! — Dr Emma Kell FCCT (@thosethatcan) May 28, 2019
You might think you want to escape right now
Me at 9am: hey guys let’s all have a family pyjama day! Yay! Fun times!
Me at 3pm:#halftermfun #rain #schoolholiday pic.twitter.com/Zx44jz89nH — Kate Wighton (@health_kate) October 28, 2020
But don’t get misty eyed about road trips
Oh good the dog has been sick an hour into our five hour car journey home. And I suspect the 8yo has changed the animal in guess the animal half way thro her go. #halftermhell #holidayisover — Lorraine Candy (@lorrainecandy) October 25, 2019
Halloween is all the more relevant during your morning shower
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And you realise how judgy kids can be
My son(age 26) is telling me off because I opened a bottle of #wine and drank half last night, but finished it tonight.
Who is the parent here?
Bloody hell, it’s half term!
Give me a break!#MondayMood #kids #adultkids #nopeace#wine #ineedadrink — Emma Davies (@EmmEDavies) October 26, 2020
Know that everyone’s *pretty* tired this year
Who’s winning here?
Because I thought I was, but now I don’t know what time it is, what I’ve promised, or if I can even stay awake long enough to get the tv on. #parentlife #parenting #Parenthood #kidsareassholes #ijustwanttowatchsometrashtv #goddammitpeppergotosleep — lovetravelchaos (@lovetravelchaos) October 25, 2020
Plus, spare a thought for the teachers
Never have I ever needed a half term more than this October week in 2020 #teachers #halfterm #2020 #tired — Miss_D89 (@Miss_D01989) October 25, 2020
Happy half term ✨ It was one hell of a ride (emotionally too) but so glad to be back at it. Spending the first day plant shopping and eating cake 🌿🌵 pic.twitter.com/rfvg5PMtZc — Miss Goodwin (@MissTLGoodwin) October 24, 2020
And if all else fails, this dad makes a nice point.
Just to remind everyone that when you come to the end of your days on this earth, you will not wish you’d spent more time in the office or regret not spending more time in the gym. Come the end of half term don’t regret not spending enough time with your children. #parenting — Andrew Plummer (@FatherSonDivide) October 25, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-29--Labour Must Become A Home For Jewish People Again – It Starts With Listening

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For five years, anti-Semitism has become ever more interwoven with Labour’s factional struggles. In the Labour Party, attitudes to anti-Semitism are now almost a symbol of political allegiance, a stand-in for someone’s views on economic policy or foreign affairs.
I’ve seen this first-hand. When I interviewed for a job with Labour in 2016, I assumed, perhaps naively, that while I did not agree with Jeremy Corbyn on things like foreign policy, and was uncomfortable with some of his past associations, different views would be welcomed because the point of political parties is work together to win power.
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It quickly became apparent that judgement was wrong. As I worked with Corbyn and his team, I became acutely aware that some saw me not just in terms of my political or policy beliefs, but in terms of my Jewishness.
This was clear in both what they did and did not do. It was clear when, after discovering I was Jewish, an aide spent a two-hour train-ride quizzing me about my views on Israel, not as an equal participant in a conversation about foreign policy, but as an employee being tested to see if my views on Israel were the predicable views of a Jew. It was clear when despite repeatedly pushing for swift, clear and heartfelt condemnations of anti-Semitism, I found the few condemnations that were issued were never swift, clear, or it seemed to me, heartfelt.
Like many forms of prejudice, anti-Semitism does not always involve discernible and conscious hatred. Nobody except Jeremy Corbyn will ever know what was in his mind while he led the Labour Party. But that was never the point. The point was that time and again, he failed to grasp attempts to build bridges with the Jewish community, and stood by as his supporters dismissed and derided Jewish people who were clearly under attack, hurting ... heck, even afraid. Under his leadership, Labour failed to apply the basic principle that those who experience prejudice are generally best placed to identify and describe it.
The upshot was this. I came to realise that Jeremy Corbyn and some of his aides felt their identities as anti-racist campaigners made them immune to Europe’s most enduring and persistent form of hatred, and viewed those who raised concerns about anti-Semitism as insulting, dishonest, even pathetic. I felt something all too familiar to those who are used to being stereotyped – self-conscious and defensive about who I am, as if I had to work doubly hard to defend what I believe because I am Jewish.
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Even though being Jewish was not my primary identity, I had to listen to Corbyn and his team as a Jew, to read his words and watch his inaction through this new lens of anti-Semitism. It was strange, disorienting, and sometimes painful, but it was also instructive, and perhaps strangely, made me more proud than ever to live in a democracy that protects basic rights and freedoms, and more determined than ever to change the Labour Party.
Progressive parties should be a place where complex questions of identity and experience can be discussed, openly, with a sense of common purpose. We should be able to talk about the similarities and differences between anti-Black and anti-Jewish racism, and explore what it means to be white, Black, South Asian, or Jewish, in modern Britain.
Our country’s diversity is among its greatest strengths. Whether Labour members who prefer Keir Starmer or Jeremy Corbyn, or voters who chose Labour or Conservative, Remain or Leave, as citizens of a diverse and plural democracy, we all have a vested interest in working out how to live as free citizens who forge our common future together. Labour’s failure to address anti-Semitism didn’t just put off Jewish voters, it made citizens across the UK doubt Labour’s moral compass.
Labour now has an opportunity to make anti-Semitism a cross-factional issue. The release of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report is a moment not just for Keir Starmer to continue to demonstrate he is serious about anti-Semitism, it is a chance for all of us to explore together what anti-Semitism means, and how it does and does not relate to other forms of racism. These issues matter not just for the Labour Party, but for the country.
In Labour, we have to start by listening to each other, making space not only for what others believe but for how they feel. When there has been so much hurt and distrust, we must all find the courage and respect to ensure we don’t slide into tired factional debates, and the energy and patience to share experiences and develop a common language. Those who refuse to talk and listen and engage should have no place in the Labour Party.
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Making Labour a home for Jewish people again will be a long and often uncomfortable road, but I believe it can and must be done. It will require Jews and non-Jews who have left Labour to engage with energy and determination, to do the hard civic work of repairing the damage that has been done – to attend meetings, to vote, and to run. Achieving that goal is not just a political imperative, but a moral one.
Josh Simons is a former Labour Party staffer who worked in Jeremy Corbyn’s leader’s office, and quit over anti-Semitism. He then worked in Labour HQ.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Boris Johnson Set To Announce National Lockdown For England, Reports Suggest

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England could be placed under a national lockdown from next Wednesday, two reports have suggested.
Boris Johnson will announce the new measures at a press conference on Monday, The Times and Daily Mail said.
It could see everything closed except essential shops and education until December 1, the reports suggested.
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However, no final decisions are believed to have been made, and tougher regional measures – such as the introduction of Tier 4 – are also being considered.
EXCLUSIVE with @elliotttimes
Boris Johnson is preparing to introduce national lockdown restrictions from next Wednesday
The restrictions could see everything except nurseries, schools, universities and non-essential shops close until Dec 1
PM presser on Monday https://t.co/8QY54ZI8Cd — Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) October 30, 2020
Boris Johnson to announce national lockdown next week pic.twitter.com/R4dMbaLP3d — John Stevens (@johnestevens) October 30, 2020
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth shared the Times newspaper front page, bearing the headline “national lockdown looms”, as he said on Twitter: “The virus is now spreading with ferocity.
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“Boris Johnson needs to show some actual leadership and get a grip of this crisis.
“He should have followed the advice of scientists and used the school half term for a time limited circuit break to push infections down and save lives.”
Johnson has so far resisted pressure to reintroduce nationwide restrictions, despite calls for a “circuit-breaker” to curb the rise in coronavirus cases.
But new data published on Friday suggested around 570,000 people per week are becoming infected with Covid-19 across England, prompting fresh calls from scientists for tougher restrictions.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey found cases “continued to rise steeply” in the week ending October 23, with an estimated 568,100 people in households becoming infected.
Scientific advisers at the top of government believe it is now too late for a two-week national circuit-breaker to have enough of an effect and a longer national lockdown is needed to drive the reproduction number, or R value, of the virus below one.
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All parts of England are on course to eventually end up in Tier 3 restrictions, they believe, while deaths could potentially hit 500 per day within weeks.
Government scientists are also confident that more than 50,000 new cases of coronavirus are now occurring every day in England.
Over the last week, deaths have averaged 230 a day while the latest ONS data suggests more than 50,000 cases a day.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--3,400 People Slept On London's Streets This Summer Despite Drive To 'End Homelessness'

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Two thousand people slept rough for the first time in London this summer, new figures reveal, as homelessness charities warn the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic could see more left without a roof over their heads.
They were among 3,444 rough sleepers in the capital between July and September.
At the start of the crisis, the government asked local authorities to house all rough sleepers and those in hostels and night shelters by early April as part of the Everyone In campaign.
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The drive to get people off the streets at the start of the coronavirus pandemic did see reduced levels of rough sleeping continuing even after lockdown was eased over the summer months, data published by the Greater London Authority on Friday showed.
And there was a 19% fall in street homelessness to 3,444 on average over July and September compared to the previous three months when it sat at 4,227.
But the number of people living permanently on the streets rose, and 55% of all rough sleepers during the period – about 2,000 – were doing so for the first time.
“The fact remains that 3,444 is a huge number of people to be sleeping on the streets of our capital at any time, let alone during a pandemic.” - Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis
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The figure of 3,444, collated by multi-agency database the Combined Homelessness And Information Network (Chain), is a drop of 14% compared to the same period last year.
Westminster recorded the highest number of newly homeless people on its streets at 434.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, said: “These figures show that the initial influx of people forced onto the streets at the start of the pandemic has not escalated at the pace we feared.
“However, the fact remains that 3,444 is a huge number of people to be sleeping on the streets of our capital at any time, let alone during a pandemic.
“That almost 2,000 of them are sleeping rough for the first time is alarming, with the risk of infection adding to the other dangers associated with not having somewhere safe to call home.”
He added: “As winter approaches, and with the second wave of the pandemic affecting much of the country, we could see many more people losing their homes as businesses and livelihoods are impacted.
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Mickey, 24, spent just over five weeks sleeping rough in London during a two-month period of homelessness after moving to the capital from Scarborough.
As a musician, all his work evaporated at the start of the pandemic, and by July he had moved to London. He said: “By then things had quietened down a bit, I don’t think people were as frightened as they were in March – but London was still a really strange place to be.
“There was still an absolute heap of people on the streets, and for most of them it was business as usual. The rest of the city was really quite quiet.
“I feel like Everyone In was a bit of a fallacy. Obviously the government did put people in hotels but I don’t think it was something that was readily available for everybody.
“If I had been in London at the start of the pandemic perhaps it would have been a bit easier to find somewhere, but by July that wasn’t really happening.”
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Mickey now has somewhere safely off the streets, but he described the collision of cold winter weather and Covid as “a perfect storm”.
He said: “You see so many people that are out there and it’s really difficult to watch. Personally I was very driven and I don’t drink or take drugs, but a lot of these people do.
“I’m not judging them for that, but it’s really worrying to see because I don’t think they believe anything can change and they’re carrying so much trauma that they don’t believe anyone cares.
“It’s so much deeper than just putting someone in a property. It’s about all these emotional belief systems that people are carrying. Add winter and Covid into that and it’s a really hard situation.”
Phil Kerry, chief executive of New Horizon – which helped Mickey find a way off the streets – and chair of the Young People Sleeping Rough sub-group of Sadiq Khan’s Life Off The Streets taskforce, explained that the stereotypes attached to rough sleeping meant many young homeless people may have been missed.
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He said: “Young people tell us that they tend to rough sleep in more hidden ways because they don’t want the stigma and they don’t feel safe, so they tend to shelter in doorways or stairwells in blocks of flats.
“They’re more likely to pick a hidden spot, even behind bushes in a park for example, to make themselves as invisible as possible. Because they’re not as visible they don’t get picked up by outreach services, which are typically adult-focused, and they get missed from the statistics.
“You then end up with this perpetual cycle of underinvestment in supporting them.”
Kerry also explained that lockdowns, particularly as they drag into the winter, could worsen street homelessness. Under tier 2 restrictions in London sofa-surfing has essentially been made illegal – cutting off many young hidden homeless people from their usual method of finding shelter and safety.
Responding to the findings Paul Brocklehurst, Centrepoint’s helpline manager, said: “London is increasingly ill-equipped to deal with the scale of young people we are seeing forced to sleep rough. Now, with local lockdowns looming, time is running out to ensure adequate, age appropriate provision is in place.
“The mayor needs to refocus his efforts and the resources he has at his disposal to address this rise in young people rough sleeping. Working with the boroughs, we need to see more services which recognise that young people coming off the streets need stability and tailored support but, in mixing them into services with older rough sleepers, there’s a real danger they’ll be exposed to further harm.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Robert Jenrick Gives Millions To Firms That Built Fire Risk Flats

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The government has handed millions of pounds to associations that rented out “fire risk” homes in its latest push to tackle rough sleeping.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick announced on Wednesday evening that £150m in funding had been allocated for 3,300 supported homes for rough sleepers, to be built by the end of March 2021.
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It comes five months after a similar announcement stated that the higher figure of £160m had been made available to build the same 3,300 supported homes – by the later date of May 2021.
Details of the funding allocation to different councils have been released, as well as a list of the registered scheme providers in London.
One such provider is Cromwood Housing Ltd, a development company focused on social housing, which has been allocated almost £9.5m.
The Guardian reported in 2018 that the group had been served with a notice from Croydon housing officers in November 2017 after a series of fire risks were found in a property.
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The notice was focused on a home that had been turned into four micro-flats, each of which measured around 10 square metres. Alongside another property developer, Cromwood also reportedly rented out “micro-flats” in an illegally-subdivided home in Brent so tiny they were deemed harmful to tenants.
In 2016 The Guardian also reported on another property partially run by Cromwood, this time in Hounslow, in which dozens of asylum seekers – including 15 children – were crammed into a filthy, overcrowded property.
At the time of the report Cromwood, and fellow developer Clearspring, passed up the opportunity to comment, instead deflecting blame to the Home Office.
A government spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “Providers are monitored extremely closely to ensure they meet required standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed.”
The Cromwood Group works with 15 local authorities across London, as well as Manchester City Council. The group’s CEO Moses Hirschler told the Big Issue in 2017: “We started because we wanted to help disadvantaged people in real need of housing.”
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He added: “We work hard, day and night, to find them a decent home.”
The Paragon estate in Brentford, west London, owned by Notting Hill Genesis, where residents of 1,059 flats were asked to evacuate over safety concerns while investigations were made Leon Neal via Getty Images
More than £4m has also been handed to Notting Hill Genesis (NHG), one of London and the south-east’s biggest housing associations.
NHG hit headlines just days ago when it emerged that all 858 residents of its Paragon Estate in west London had been told to evacuate immediately over fire safety concerns.
The association was not involved in the construction of the site, which was built by Berkeley First, but took ownership after the former Presentation Housing Association became NHG.
Inside Housing reported that concerns about the estate dated back to 2017, when the association was forced to spend £8m removing dangerous cladding and replacing missing fire breaks. It wasn’t until October 2020, however, that the complex was deemed too dangerous for continued occupation.
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Katie Bond, group director of sales and building safety at NHG, told the publication: “The buildings have been problematic for a number of years. It’s been quite a complex situation we’ve been working and we have put in various interim safety measures, including temporary alarms and a waking watch. But the most recent advice we have got from the consultant team is that it may be putting residents at risk if they were to stay, and they don’t feel the interim measures are sufficient in the long term.”
Chief exec Kate Davies said in an update to investors: “I understand that Paragon residents may feel angry or alarmed by this news, as they have every right to be. This is a very distressing time and we are genuinely sorry for the huge amount of disruption and uncertainty that this situation will cause.”
In a press release issued on Wednesday evening, announcing the funding awards, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced that 276 schemes across England had had cash allocated, including 38 in London to provide a total of 904 new homes.
Outside London, 238 councils have received approval to move to the next phase of development, encompassing 2,430 new homes. Adding that figure to the homes planned in the capital, the scheme amounts to 3,334 new units of supported accommodation.
Due to constantly shifting circumstances and flaws with the counting method is impossible to garner a true idea of how many people are street homeless, but the most recent official count – carried out pre-Covid in 2019 – found that there were 4,266 rough sleepers in England.
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Jenrick has declared that these 3,300 new homes, part of an overall package of 6,000, will be ready by March 2021.
A government spokesperson told HuffPost UK on Thursday that MHCLG was working with councils to get the new houses “online” “at pace”, but repeatedly failed to confirm whether any physical work had started, just five months out from the deadline.
The department’s press release, issued on Wednesday, bore a striking similarity to the announcement made by Jenrick in May, but this time the funding appeared to have dropped by £10m.
When asked what had happened to that money, a government spokesperson told us cash was only approved for schemes deemed to have a “positive impact” and offered value-for-money, with the leftover amount going to support other work to support rough sleepers.
The £150m will fund the first phase of the project, the 3,300 homes due by March 2021. No specific details about the schemes have yet been released, but the units are expected to be largely comprised of repurposed existing property that has been repaired and refurbished. A government spokesperson described the work as consisting of “acquisitions, repairs, refurbishments, leasing, and modular building”.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--James Corden Asks Obvious Question After Melania Trump’s Speech On Social Distancing

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Has Melania Trump been socially distanced from this speech until now?
At a recent rally in Tampa, Florida, the first lady gave a speech, which at one point touted social distancing as a group of mask-less Donald Trump supporters looked on.
“This president and his team are focused on not only destroying the virus and building back the economy. They’re focused on creating ways for people to safely stop isolating and start gathering with friends again on safe distances,” she said.
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After watching the clip, which, again, showed bare-faced, closely packed Trump fans, Late Late Show host James Corden picked his jaw up off the floor and put his face in his hands.
“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” he said. “That’s like giving a speech about social distancing at a rally where no one is social di— that is exactly what was happening.”
James then asked an obvious question:
“When does Melania read these speeches? Is she reading them in real-time?” Corden wondered. “Did no one there bother to look around and go, ‘Ah, this section might feel weird, no?’”
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Though, it wasn’t all bad. As the Late Late Show host notes, at least two people got the message.
“The only people at that rally who are socially distanced are Donald and Melania, and they were doing it before Covid,” James joked.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Donald Trump's Spitting Image Impersonator Reveals What He's Discovered About President

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Donald Trump’s Spitting Image impersonator has described the president as “intellectually insecure”.
Matt Forde, who voices Trump along with Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer, also revealed he believes the US leader is “always trying to prove himself,” after studying him for the satirical puppet show.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Matt said: “I think he’s really sensitive and I think he doesn’t feel he gets the respect he deserves and I imagine that’s quite a profound thing going back to his relationship with his father, he always feels like he’s not getting a fair deal.
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Donald Trump's Spitting Image puppet BritBox
“This guy is very rich, he’s the president of the United States, most people would feel like they’d achieved something.
“You get the sense he’s always trying to prove himself, so he’s very insecure, he’s intellectually insecure, so he’ll do that thing where when he’s just found out something, he’ll tell you it to impress you and you think, ‘Well, you’ve just found that out’.
“My main impression of him is that he’s deeply insecure.”
Revealing this little tics and mannerisms of Trump’s he has picked up on, Matt continued: “There are the big ones, the big hand movements and there’s a little facial thing that he’s been doing for years.
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“He does it at the end of a point, kind of like a half smile, a kind of ‘told you so’, but slightly vulnerable.
“He’ll say things like, ‘Everybody knows that Joe is corrupt and I’ve known that for a long time…’.
“He’s got lots of different tics and really he’s the only person that can fully do him so there’s always something more to find out.
“And of course people’s voices and mannerisms change over time, as his have even in the course of his presidency, so you have to constantly watch him looking for those little things.
“You can do a general impression but it’s when you really notice the detail, that’s when it becomes a masterpiece.”
Boris Johnson's Spitting Image puppet ITV/BBC/Britbox
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Comparing voicing Trump to voicing the prime minister, Matt said: “I guess in a way in the show they are both idiots, but different types of idiots, so Trump is malignant but thick and nasty and rude, whereas Boris is kind of bumbling and led by (Dominic) Cummings and weak and beholden and kind of slightly naive, daft, which is so much fun.
“This guy’s in charge of the country and here we are kind of highlighting him as a total fool, there’s something really cheeky and pleasurable about that.”
Spitting Image’s creator Roger Law has revealed there could be big changes to the show should Joe Biden win the election.
Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Mike Pence as depicted in Spitting Image BritBox
Speaking to Radio Times, he said: “Donald Trump is an absolute gift to a satirical show but on the other hand I would like to see him go, I really would.
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“If Biden wins I think we might have to remake him. The current puppet hasn’t got a blink; he’s got no eyes. The mouth is good but he wears a mask with, ‘Shut up, man!’ written on it.”
Spitting Image returned to screens earlier this month, with streaming service BritBox airing new episodes each week.
The show originally ran for 18 series between 1984 and 1996 and was watched by 15 million viewers in its heyday.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--How Joe Biden Could Offer Keir Starmer A 'Template' To Win

ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Look what happens when the Labour Party moves so, so far to the left,” Joe Biden said following Jeremy Corbyn’s election defeat in 2019.
Democrats in the centre of the party seized on Labour’s loss to Boris Johnson as proof Bernie Sanders could not beat Donald Trump.
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One year on, Biden is on the verge of capturing the White House having staged a dramatic comeback against the Democratic left in the primaries.
Now the lessons are flowing the other way across the Atlantic, says YouGov’s Marcus Roberts. The pollster’s director of international projects says the former vice president is offering Keir Starmer a “template” of how to win.
“Lesson number one is the candidate is the centre of gravity,” he says. “You need to be ahead on favourability, ahead on approval numbers, whether that’s best PM or best president. If your candidate leads on those things, that can buy you the space for lesson number two, which is policy can be radical if the candidate is reassuring.
“Biden is running on the most progressive and liberal platform that the Democrats have had since FDR, or potentially ever,” he says. “However everything about him screams normalcy.
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“He is there as the guarantor that nothing crazy is going to happen in America after the Democrats are elected — even as he is proposing some of the most far reaching economic and social reforms the country has ever seen.”
Roberts, who has worked for both Labour and the Democrats, sees a “lot of parallels” in personal style between Biden and Starmer. “They are not fire-breathers, they don’t naturally energise and inspire their party’s bases, but they do speak to the common sense values of the mainstream of their nations.”
The third lesson Roberts says the Democrats can teach Labour, is that if they win it will be because the Biden campaign correctly identified the “blue-collar Trump/Obama voters as the most important voters in the election”.
“If Starmer wins it’s because similarly he’ll have won not just the ex-Labour red wall/blue wall voters back, but voters who are like them across the whole of the UK, in Wales and in Scotland as well,” Roberts says.
There was, what Starmer aide Jenny Chapman described as “encouraging”, news for Labour today with the Ipsos MORI poll for the Evening Standard that showed the party had jumped to a five point lead over the Tories. Stamer holds a net personal satisfaction rating of +15% while Johnson has slumped to 26%, the worst rating he’s ever had with the pollster since he became PM.
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But the poll was conducted before Labour was found to have unlawfully discriminated against and harassed Jewish people. And before Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from the party for his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report.
On his media round this morning Starmer said there was “no reason for a civil war”, but it didn’t sound like he wasn’t willing to fight one. And he left open the possibility, while stressing it was not his decision, that Corbyn could be expelled. Starmer may have had one eye on last night’s YouGov survey showing the public backed the decision to suspend his predecessor by 58% to 13%.
There were signs today however of figures on the left publicly moving to try and stop the anger from Corbyn’s supporters spilling over into all out war.
John McDonnell said his advice as an “elder statesman” was to avoid the party “drifting towards a hell of a row over use of language, misinterpretation, followed by overreaction”. Jon Lansman added there needed to be more “diplomacy” from the left, “fewer war cries”, and “a lot more concern for the victims of racism”. And Len McCluskey, Unite’s general secretary, said while Corbyn’s suspension was “wrong” and “unjust”, “now is the time for some calmness”.
But Momentum, the grassroots campaign group, is tonight holding a rally in defence of Corbyn and said his suspension made a ’mockery” of Starmer’s pledge to unite a party that was now “more divided than ever”. Diane Abbott, Richard Burgon and McDonnell are due to speak.
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In the US, a civil war running into the general election was avoided and Sanders largely swung in behind Biden after a fractious left-right primary battle. And in October he resumed in-person campaigning for the former vice president in a show of party unity.
Whether that final lesson will be one Labour wants to learn remains to be seen.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Politics Is So Scary Now Kids Want To Dress Up As Politicians For Halloween

Supplied
No, it’s not even Halloween yet – though you’d be forgiven for thinking it was given the week of shocks we’ve had.
However, two kids are already vying for best dress-up of 2020 with their scarily accurate takes on two of our political leaders.
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Jacob Ferguson, seven, from Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, nailed such a spot-on impression of Nicola Sturgeon at one of her coronavirus press conferences that even the Scottish first minister was singing his praises.
“Ye were telt, stay in the hoose, nai parties, save lives,” Jacob as mini-Sturgeon says, in a video that has since gone viral – before hobbling off camera, complaining: “Och, my feet are killing me, where’s my clicky pen? Frank, get the door. I want a haggis supper, and make sure it’s deep fried.”
Our 7 year old son asked to be Nicola for hallowe’en. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all @NicolaSturgeon @JaneyGodley #nicolasturgeon pic.twitter.com/Kbhp8z3yDB — Alyson Welsh (@welsh_alyson) October 30, 2020
Jacob’s mum, doctor Alyson Welsh, posted the video of her son on Friday – dolled up in a blond wig and the kind of snappy look we’ve come to expect from Sturgeon in her regular Coronavirus briefings.
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“It’s all gone a bit crazy and we’re a bit overwhelmed!” Welsh told HuffPost UK.
Jacob has clearly been putting his classes at Glasgow’s UKTheatreSchool to good use. “The wig was the only item we had to buy. The dress is mine and the shoes belong to his cousin,” she added of his costume.
The Scottish first minister was quick to Tweet that the “wee star” had made her day, even suggesting they could “draft him in for the daily briefings”, while Scottish comic Janey Godley reshared the video, saying: “This is the best ever.”
Thank you @welsh_alyson - this has made me smile and given me a much needed laugh this morning. What a wee star - I think we might draft him in for the daily briefings! https://t.co/P4jvd3CGAZ — Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 30, 2020
A blond wig was also a key costume component for 10-year-old Milo’s Halloween look below – only, in his case, as he was dressing up as prime minister Boris Johnson, there was no need for a hairbrush.
Mum Jayne Cherrington-Cook, who lives in Kent, posted his picture on Instagram, along with her son’s pointed comments. “Most kids when asked to dress up in a terrifying Halloween costume for school: I want to be a witch/zombie/werewolf. My son: I want to be Boris Johnson – I mean is there anything scarier than that fool?“
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Supplied Milo Cherrington-Cook as Boris Johnson
Commenters suggested Milo also had Johnson’s trademark hand gestures down to a tee. “All his teachers asked for selfies with him,” his mum added.
“He did think of being Trump but didn’t want to have to wear orange face paint!!!”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--10 Showbiz Moments That Brought Us Some Much-Needed Joy This Week | Good Vibes Only

10 Showbiz Moments That Brought Us Some Much-Needed Joy This Week | Good Vibes Only
As Strictly Come Dancing’s live shows kicked off, there was one contestant who we could not stop talking about, while there’s also been a lot of chatter about the upcoming series of I’m A Celebrity – just who will enter the castle? There was also new music from Ariana Grande, Little Mix, Steps… but not quite yet from Adele. Meanwhile, This Morning and Family Fortunes also got us giggling with some very unfamily-friendly faux-pas.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Lady Gaga Recreates Her Most Iconic Looks (Including That Meat Dress) In Rousing Election Video

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Lady Gaga opened up her extensive dressing up box to recreate some of her most iconic looks in her latest election video.
The singer has been urging US citizens to use their vote in next Tuesday’s presidential election over the last few weeks, but pulled out all the stops for her latest efforts.
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Gaga could be seen donning a range of looks spanning her 12-year career, including that meat dress.
Lady Gaga revisits some of her most iconic looks Twitter/Lady Gaga
She begins the video dressed in the structured metallic dress she debuted on her Monster Ball Tour, following the release of The Fame Monster in 2009.
Gaga then switched things up by throwing on the blue swimsuit from the Poker Face video, before recreating her look from her Super Bowl set in 2017.
Then comes a simpler look from the ARTPOP era, which sees her in a long brown wig and plaid shirt, before she transforms into cowboy-hat-clad Joanne.
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There’s even a cameo from the oft-forgotten Cheek To Cheek-era Gaga, complete with curly black wig.
Gaga then showcases perhaps her most famous outfit ever – the meat dress, which she wore to the 2010 MTV VMAs.
We’re presuming she had a brand new one made especially for this video, as the original was submitted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, who paid a taxidermist $6000 (£4690) to preserve the dress – although it did have to be painted to look more like meat than what it actually is now… jerky.
The meat dress as it looked in 2011 after being submitted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the video, Gaga can be heard saying: “If you want to change this system, if you want this country to be different to what it is right now, you have got to participate in this election...
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“I believe anyone can find a reason to vote, but if you need one, let me help you.
“Vote in honour of someone you love, vote in honour of someone who loves you. Vote for someone you have lost, someone you know who would stand in line for hours at the polls but can’t because they are no longer with us. Vote in honour of all the voices that have less power. Maybe vote for the future children whose voices have yet to be heard, the future voices who will inherit this home.”
Gaga adds that people know who she’ll will be voting for (she is a vocal supporter of Democrat candidate Joe Biden), but urged everyone to vote no matter what their political allegiance.
She concluded: “I’ve never been shy to make my voice heard – I’ve said a lot of different things in a lot of different ways, wearing a lot of different outfits, makeup, hats, dresses made out of meat, jumping off of stadiums, screaming on stage. I may have seemed to shift and change, but one thing that has never changed is my voice, and what I believe.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Grimes Reveals Her Baby, X AE A-Xii, Has Some 'Radical' Hobbies

Perhaps following in X’s footsteps, Grimes also announced that her name has changed. She now goes by “c,” according to the Times, which is “a reference to the speed of light” (not to be confused with the first initial of her given name).
Names are constantly changing in the Grimes-Musk household, as the couple had to tweak their newborn’s moniker to X AE A-Xii after the state of California ruled that his original name ― X Æ A-12 ― didn’t comply with state naming guidelines.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Jack Whitehall Reveals He Found Out He Is Related To David Dickinson At A Funeral

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Just when we’d gotten over the sheer randomness of Pete and Sophie from Gogglebox being related to Paul Chuckle, another unexpected celebrity family connection has left us shook.
Jack Whitehall has revealed he is related to everyone’s favourite TV antiques expert David Dickinson.
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The comedian opened up about his connection to David during an upcoming appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show.
Jack Whitehall Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/Shutterstock
Jack explains how David married into his family when he wed wife Lorné Lesley in 1968, who is Jack’s second cousin.
What’s more, Jack only made the discovery while attending a funeral a few years back.
David Dickinson Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock
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″[David is] married to one of my second cousins,” Jack tells Jonathan.
“I saw him at a funeral, over the other side of the grave.”
After the revelation made headlines, Jack tweeted out a news article about it, writing: “And you thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder...”
And you thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder... pic.twitter.com/BMvdsKGROa — Jack Whitehall (@jackwhitehall) October 30, 2020
Of course, it is not the most shocking celebrity family revelation ever – that title still very much belongs to Danny Dyer, who found out he is a descendant of royalty, during an appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Chris Evans Says Donald Trump Refused To Be Part Of His Project To Make Politics More Accessible

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Captain America star Chris Evans has revealed Donald Trump turned down the opportunity to collaborate with him on his initiative to help Americans get more involved in politics.
Earlier this year, the Hollywood actor launched A Starting Point, a new online platform which aims to make politics more accessible to US citizens, and “create a bipartisan channel of communication and connectivity between Americans and their elected officials”.
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In a new interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Chris revealed that he approached the US president in the hope he would help out with the project, only to be turned down.
And it didn’t just happen once, either.
Hollywood star Chris Evans at the premiere of his film Knives Out David Buchan/Shutterstock
“You have to [ask the president to be involved], right? You have to… I shouldn’t say it that way,” Chris explained. “I asked him, and he said no.
“He said no twice, and so it’s like ’Well I did my part.”
The American talk show host then joked: “The president said no to Captain America. I just wanted to point that out.”
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Trump at a rally earlier this week Scott Hasse/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock
In recent weeks, the Marvel star has been among Trump’s most high-profile critics, repeatedly calling out the president with regard to how he’s navigated the coronavirus crisis.
When Trump told Americans not to be “afraid” of Covid, with the president having contracted coronavirus himself days earlier, Chris tweeted: “You’ve been under round-the-clock care by the best doctors using the best drugs. Do you really think everyone has access to that?!
“Sadly, I’m sure you’re aware of that disparity, you just don’t care. This is reckless to a shocking degree, even for you.”
Watch his full interview with Jimmy Kimmel below:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-30--Schoolgirl, 14, Charged With Murdering 24-Year-Old Man In West Sussex

Nimroy Hendricks was stabbed on Tuesday PA
A 14-year-old girl has been charged with murder after a man was stabbed to death in Crawley.
The victim has been named by police as 24-year-old Nimroy Hendricks. The teenage suspect cannot be named for legal reasons.
She is expected to appear in court on Friday afternoon.
Hendricks was found with stab wounds to the chest in Russell Way in the West Sussex town on Tuesday.
Hendricks was found with stab wounds in Crawley (file picture) Nickos via Getty Images
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Despite being treated by paramedics and an air ambulance doctor, he died at the scene.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Wolstenholme, from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: “The circumstances of this case are particularly challenging for everyone involved and will continue to be difficult as people come to terms with significant loss and grief.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Boris Johnson To Hold Downing Street Press Conference As Second Lockdown Looms

But new data published on Friday suggested around 570,000 people per week are becoming infected with Covid-19 across England, prompting fresh calls from scientists for tougher restrictions.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey found cases “continued to rise steeply” in the week ending October 23, with an estimated 568,100 people in households becoming infected.
Scientific advisers at the top of government believe it is now too late for a two-week national circuit-breaker to have enough of an effect and a longer national lockdown is needed to drive the reproduction number, or R value, of the virus below one.
All parts of England are on course to eventually end up in Tier 3 restrictions, they believe, while deaths could potentially hit 500 per day within weeks.
Government scientists are also confident that more than 50,000 new cases of coronavirus are now occurring every day in England.
Over the last week, deaths have averaged 230 a day while the latest ONS data suggests more than 50,000 cases a day.
On Friday, the government said a further 274 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, while a further 24,405 lab-confirmed cases were recorded in the UK.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Sean Connery, James Bond Star, Dies Age 90

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Sir Sean Connery, best known for his iconic portrayal of James Bond, has died at the age 90.
The death of the 90-year-old was confirmed by his family on Saturday.
Sir Sean’s son Jason told the BBC his father died peacefully in his sleep overnight while in the Bahamas, having been “unwell for some time”.
Jason said his father “had many of his family who could be in the Bahamas around him” when he died.
He said: “We are all working at understanding this huge event as it only happened so recently, even though my dad has been unwell for some time.
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“A sad day for all who knew and loved my dad and a sad loss for all people around the world who enjoyed the wonderful gift he had as an actor.”
Sir Sean Connery George Pimentel via Getty Images
The Scottish actor was the first to bring 007 to the big screen, appearing in seven of the spy thrillers.
His acting career spanned decades and his many awards included an Oscar, two Bafta awards and three Golden Globes.
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He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1988 for his role as an Irish cop in The Untouchables.
Sir Sean Connery will undoubtedly be remembered as the first – and some say definitive – James Bond.
His performance in Dr No in 1962 set the jobbing actor and former milkman on a path that would lead to Hollywood stardom and all its trappings.
Roles in Highlander, The Untouchables and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade helped seal his position as one of Britain’s best-loved stars, and his brooding good looks and distinct Scottish brogue won him legions of fans worldwide.
Connery never lost his much-imitated accent despite his many years living abroad. From his home in the Bahamas, he remained a fervent supporter of independence for Scotland.
Sean Connery as James Bond Rex
Thomas Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge area on August 25 1930. The elder of two boys, he left school at an early age and took his first job as a milkman, complete with horse-drawn cart.
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At 16 he enlisted in the Royal Navy but was discharged three years later on medical grounds after suffering with a stomach ulcer.
He has two tattoos from this time – one reading “Mum and Dad” and another “Scotland Forever”.
The keen bodybuilder then undertook a variety of jobs, including a stint as a bricklayer, a lifeguard and an artist’s model for the Edinburgh College of Art. Under the name Thom Connery he was placed third in the tall man’s division (he was 6ft 2in) of the 1950 Mr Universe contest.
The stage came calling when a friend suggested he try out for a production of South Pacific. He got a part in the sailors’ chorus and so began his acting career.
He was also a gifted footballer. While touring with the musical, he was offered a contract by former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby, who saw him play in a friendly against a local side.
His first major acting credit came in 1957 British gangster film No Road Back.
With his Indiana Jones co-star Harrison Ford Rex
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It was author Ian Fleming’s suave and sophisticated secret service agent that launched Connery to stardom.
Fleming was initially resistant to the idea of Connery playing his character. He thought the Scot was an “overgrown stuntman” who was not refined enough for the role.
He was later so impressed with his performance that he created a Scottish ancestry for the character in his subsequent books.
Connery played Bond in seven films – Dr No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Never Say Never Again (1983).
He quit the role after You Only Live Twice, frustrated by the repetitive plots, but was enticed back after his successor George Lazenby failed to make the grade.
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Most of his subsequent successes were as part of ensemble casts, in films such as The Man Who Would Be King, Murder On The Orient Express and A Bridge Too Far.
In the 1980s a slipping career was revived with The Untouchables (1987), with his role as a tough gang-busting Irish policeman winning him an Academy Award for best supporting actor. Future Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington were also nominated in the category that year.
Sean Connery with his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Untouchables at the 60th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, 11 Apr 1988 Elisa Leonelli/Shutterstock
He is also fondly remembered for his part two years later as the father of Harrison Ford’s whip-cracking hero in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, the third instalment in the hugely popular franchise.
Connery could by now command massive fees and gained a reputation as a ruthless contract negotiator. He hated the idea of being manipulated by the film industry and was regularly embroiled in lawsuits.
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In 1989 the US magazine People voted him Sexiest Man Alive, to which the 59-year-old replied: “Well, there aren’t many sexy dead men, are there?”
The 1990s brought performances in The Hunt For Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996) and Entrapment, the 1999 love story/thriller with Catherine Zeta-Jones, which Connery also produced.
By now he was firmly regarded as an elder statesman of the film industry and in 2000 was knighted by the Queen – an honour said to have been delayed by his vocal support for the Scottish National Party (SNP).
Connery, once voted the “greatest living Scot”, received the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, when he confirmed his retirement from acting.
Sean Connery, donning full Highland dress and wearing his medal after he was formally knighted by the Queen during a investiture ceremony, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. PA
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Throughout his career he remained relatively guarded about his private life but was forced to deny claims of domestic abuse made by his first wife, the Australian actress Diane Cilento, before her death in 2011.
He was plagued by criticism of remarks he allegedly made in a Vanity Fair interview in 1993 when he suggested there were women who “want a smack”.
Connery was reported as saying: “There are women who take it to the wire. That’s what they are looking for, the ultimate confrontation.”
He and Cilento were married for 11 years and had one son, the actor Jason Connery.
Connery is succeed by Jason and his second wife, French artist Micheline Roquebrune, whom he married in 1975 and who regularly accompanied him on the red carpet.
In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Edinburgh Napier University for the achievements throughout his career.
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He appeared relaxed and in good health during his last public appearance, when he turned out to support fellow Scotsman Andy Murray at the US Open in September 2012.
The tennis star was shocked when Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson gatecrashed a post-match press conference in New York and posed for pictures with him and his mother Judy.
As one of the most high-profile supporters of Scottish independence, many expected Connery to make an appearance on the campaign trail in the run-up to the historic vote on September 18 2014.
His words were used to galvanise support at the launch of the Yes campaign two years previously, when the star declared in a message: “The people of Scotland are the best guardians of their own future.”
Additional reporting provided by PA Media.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Whitehall Leak Inquiry Launched After Lockdown News 'Briefed'

The alleged “briefing” of the story to journalists sparked criticism from the chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, claiming it had increased pressure on the emergency services.
John Apter, head of the organisation which represents more than 120,000 rank-and-file officers, called for “clear communication” on coronavirus measures.
He tweeted on Saturday morning: “To those briefing selective media on a potential national lockdown please understand the impact this has.
“It creates a media frenzy, causes confusion and ahead of any official announcement encourages some to make the most of their pre-lockdown time. This is not a good mix,”
He added: “This can add immense pressure to the 999 services who are already struggling with the demand they have. Please be more responsible. Clear communication, not corridor briefings.”
The British Chambers of Commerce also called for “media briefings” to end.
BCC director general Adam Marshall said: “Yet again anxious businesses have to wait and worry. If the Government is planning another national lockdown it must say so immediately, rather than allow business and market confidence to be further eroded by speculation.
“The media briefings have to stop. The Government needs to speak honestly with the nation, setting out a clear plan, the evidence for its actions, and significant increases in the support available for businesses and employees facing the hardship of no demand or the crushing blow of closure.”
It is not the first time government communications have been criticised over the pandemic.
In September, the speaker of the House of Commons accused Hancock of “running this chamber ragged” by not giving Parliament details of changes in restrictions before the media.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs: “I accept that decisions have been taken in a fast-moving situation, but timings for statements are known to ministers.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Biden Reveals A Simple Way To Silence Trump’s Conspiracy Theories Once And For All

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Democratic nominee Joe Biden demonstrated how to silence Donald Trump’s climate change denials once and for all in a new ad Friday.
The spot begins with audio of Trump falsely claiming that the climate crisis is a hoax — but the sound of the president’s conspiracy theories get quieter and quieter as a pen fills in a circle to give a vote to Biden.
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“You have the power to silence him,” read the tweet:
You have the power to silence him.
Vote: https://t.co/eoxT07uII9 pic.twitter.com/zIJUQEWlyx — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 30, 2020
Trump has repeatedly called global warming “bullshit” and his administration has pursued an anti-environment agenda by slashing climate regulations and promoting the use of fossil fuels.
He has previously rejected conclusions from his own team of government scientists, stating that he didn’t believe their findings that climate change was worsening national disasters in the US, and pulled the US out of the historic Paris Agreement.
Biden, meanwhile, has called Trump a “climate arsonist” and has proposed transitioning America’s electricity grid off gas and coal by 2035.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Trump Claims Doctors Make 'More Money' When They Lie About Covid-19 Deaths

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Donald Trump defied logic at his Michigan rally Friday, claiming that physicians “get more money” when they falsely inflate the number of Covid-19 deaths.
And he repeated a story told earlier at a Wisconsin rally that, when asked by a friend recently to name someone more famous than he is, the only name Trump could come up with was Jesus Christ. The crowd went wild.
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Trump falsely insisted to his Michigan crowd that reports of Covid-19 deaths in the US inflate the actual toll because doctors, for some reason, collect more money from coronavirus fatalities – so they lie about them to boost the numbers.
“You know, in Germany, if you have a bad heart and you’re ready to die, or if you have cancer and you’re going to be dying soon, and you catch Covid... we mark it down to Covid. Our doctors get more money if somebody dies of Covid,” Trump said. “With us, when in doubt, choose Covid.”
The US has suffered more than a quarter of a million Covid-19 deaths, and cases are soaring to new records in a number of states. The total number of deaths this year is about 300,000 over the average, according to data, indicating that Covid-19 deaths have actually been higher than reported.
Dr Anthony Fauci testified before Congress in May that deaths from Covid-19 are “almost certainly higher” than reported. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said many victims die at home without a diagnosis and aren’t counted in the statistics.
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Trump: You know our doctors get more money if somebody dies from COVID pic.twitter.com/HBSTvXcdnh — Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 30, 2020
Health care workers and relatives lashed out at Trump’s accusation.
My daughter is an MD at a major hospital on the East Coast.
She’s dedicated to helping others stay healthy.
Unlike this POS, she’s not thinking about the next scam.
Over 1000 healthcare workers have died from the out of control COVID-19 his criminal negligence caused. — Christopher C. Alberto (@ChrisAlbertoLaw) October 30, 2020
As a doctor I struggle when someone I care for dies.
I struggle if I did everything possible.
I struggle to talk with their family.
I struggle with my own mortality and mental health.
I DO NOT struggle to maximize my billing,
POTUS you are evil to accuse me of this. It hurts. — Stephen H Anderson MD (@ACEPSteve) October 30, 2020
Claiming doctors make money from Americans dying of Covid is up there with the worst lies Trump has ever spouted. — Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) October 30, 2020
As for comparing himself to Jesus Christ, Trump explained that he demurred when a pal told him he was the most famous man in the world. Asked to name anyone more famous, the one Trump named was Jesus.
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Umm... Jesus was a socialist. Just saying — Lynn Schmitt (@LSchmitt50) October 30, 2020
All that soothes my soul is the amazing proverb
"Pride goes before a fall" — Erin (voted for Biden) 💙💙💙🌊🌊🌊#BlueWave (@LWitchgirl) October 30, 2020
Looking for that bolt of lightning. — Karen J. Guisbert (@KboothbyJ) October 30, 2020


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Katie Price Shares Graphic Images Of Her Broken Feet After She’s Accused Of Faking Severity Of Injur

Katie Price Shares Graphic Images Of Her Broken Feet After She’s Accused Of Faking Severity Of Injuries

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WARNING: This story contains graphic images
Katie Price has hit back after she was accused of faking the severity of the injuries she sustained on her feet following an accident on holiday in Turkey.
The former model broke both of her feet when she jumped over a wall in July and has since revealed it could take up to two years until she’s able to properly walk again.
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However some critics have questioned Katie’s claims after she was pictured snorkelling and out of her wheelchair whilst on holiday in the Maldives with her boyfriend Carl Woods earlier this week.
Katie Price and her boyfriend Carl Woods zz/KGC-305/STAR MAX/IPx
Katie responded to the accusations on Instagram on Friday, insisting her injuries are “life changing” and shared graphic images of both of her feet as well as x-rays that clearly show where she has had pins inserted.
She wrote: “For people who said I haven’t broken my feet or people saying I had a bunion operation (even though I’ve never had bunions) still won’t admit they wrongly accused me and speculated again saying I’ve made it all up, will now see I wasn’t lying to the point I’ve had MAJOR SURGERY to my life changing injuries and a MASSIVE THANKYOU TO THE INCREDIBLE SURGEONS who have made it possible for me to be able walk again in time and without them this wouldn’t have been possible.”
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In September, Katie revealed she had spent time at The Priory because of the impact her injuries had had on her mental health.
She explained: “My feet will never be the same again. I have to learn to walk again. I wouldn’t even have the strength to stand, even if I wanted to, because I’ve lost all my muscle through wastage.
“It’s literally learning to move my toes, trying to do the same with my ankle. I’ve been through so much mental stuff, you know.
“I was in The Priory at the beginning of the year and I came out a different person, then this happens. It’s just bad, it’s just shit. So mentally, it’s hard to cope.”
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Katie continued: “I am being treated in The Priory again because my mental health has been so badly affected. It’s hard to come to terms with not being able to walk across the room.
“People think I was faking it because I was still going out and about or still looking chirpy and happy. What the hell am I supposed to do, sit on the sofa and get mentally depressed that I can’t do nothing?”
Katie subsequently announced she would be taking a break from the spotlight to focus on her recovery.
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Useful websites and helplines
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
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CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Here's What We Know So Far About A Second National Lockdown

England is to go into a second national lockdown at one minute past midnight on Thursday morning, Boris Johnson has announced.
Here’s what we know:
What are the new rules?
All pubs, restaurants, hospitality venues and leisure facilities will close but nurseries, schools, colleges, universities and essential shops will stay open.
As during the shutdown March, takeaways can stay open but only for delivery services.
People should only leave their home for education, work, to shop for essential items, recreation outdoors, for medical reasons or to escape harm. When outdoors, they should only mix with people from their household or with one person from another household.
All other non-essential retail will close and there will be a ban on households mixing indoors as part of a bid to slow down the Covid-19 second wave.
Support bubbles for single-adult households are still permitted, and children who live between two different households will still be able to move between parents.
When could a second national lockdown end?
Johnson said he expects the lockdown to remain in for four weeks until December 2 – but those with longer memories will recall the March measures had an expected timeframe of at least three weeks.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday morning, Michael Gove said if the data on the spread of the virus doesn’t improve then the full national lockdown will continue.
The Cabinet Office minister said the government would be “driven by the data” when it came to making the decision but added it would be “foolish” to predict what would happen with the pandemic over the next four weeks.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--11 Historic Firsts That Changed The Political Landscape For Black Britons

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In 1987 Labour’s Bernie Grant, Diane Abbott and Paul Boateng became the first Black members of British parliament. But prior to that historical event very little is known or documented about the other Black Britons who helped shape the country’s political landscape.
As the UK’s Black History Month comes to an end, HuffPost UK celebrates 11 firsts that changed the political landscape for Black Britons.
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1. Ignatius Sancho – first Black person recorded to vote in a UK general election
Ignatius Sancho in a painting dated 1768 by Thomas Gainsborough ASSOCIATED PRESS
Charles Ignatius Sancho was a British writer and composer. Born in West Africa in 1729, Sancho was an orphan by the age of two. Taken to Britain, he was forced to work as a slave in a house in Greenwich, south-east London. During that time he befriended the 2nd Duke of Montagu, who encouraged his education and after the Duke’s death Sancho persuaded his widow to employ him as a housekeeper.
Sancho later met and married a West Indian woman. They started a family and went on to open a grocery store in Westminster. Sancho soon became a well-known cultural figure maintaining an active social and literary life.
As a financially independent male householder, Sancho became eligible to vote.
He made history by becoming the first Black person to vote in a British general election. Sancho also became the first Black person to have his obituary published in British newspapers after his death in 1780.
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2. Mary Prince – first woman to present a petition to parliament
Born in Bermuda in 1788, Prince was enslaved by a family who travelled to England in 1828, where she eventually ran away and found freedom.
As a free woman she campaigned tirelessly against the horrors of slavery and working with the Anti Slavery Society she made history by becoming the first women to present a petition to Parliament. She did so at a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote.
Prince was also the first Black woman to publish an autobiography, titled The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave.
3. Olaudah Equiano – abolitionist who helped establish the Slave Trade Act of 1807
Portrait of Olaudah Equiano Heritage Images via Getty Images
Olaudah Equiano was born in Nigeria in 1745 and sold into slavery at the age of 11. He eventually bought his freedom in 1766 and went on to write about his experiences as an enslaved man.
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He became a prominent figure associated with the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. He was part of the abolitionist group Son’s of Africa and in 1780 he published the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, which depicted the horrors of slavery. His book was the first influential slave narrative published and was instrumental in helping to establish The Slave Trade Act 1807 which abolished the slave trade.
4. John Stewart – first elected MP of African descent
Born the illegitimate son of Tory MP John Stewart and former slave Mary Duncan in 1789, Stewart is noted as being the first person of African descent to be elected as an MP in the UK, when he won the seat of Lymington in 1832.
After his father’s death he inherited his estate, which included enslaved people and sugar plantations in Grenada and Demerara (Guyana).
During his election he defended his record as a slaver and rebuffed arguments that slaves on his estates were treated cruelly. On winning his seat he presented a petition to the Commons against the abolition of slavery and often spoke in defence of West Indian plantation owners.
Although his ethnicity was never mentioned during his tenure as an MP, there were many references to him as “a man of colour” and the “first coloured Member of Parliament”.
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5. William Cuffay – first Black cofounder of a political party
William Cuffay HuffPost UK
William Cuffay was born in Chatham, Kent, in 1788 to an English woman and man who had been enslaved on the Caribbean Island of St Kitts.
Cuffay trained as a tailor and moved to London in 1819. He started to involve himself in politics after he lost his job when the New Tailors Union encouraged their members to go on strike.
Cuffay was convinced that the workers needed to be represented in parliament. In 1839 he helped form the Metropolitan Tailors Charters Association.
By 1842 he was elected as president of the London Chartists. During that time Cuffay was often referred to as “the Black man and his party”.
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In 1848 Cuffay was charged with conspiracy to lead an armed uprising against the government. He was convicted, found guilty and sentenced to be transported Australia for 21 years.
Three years after his conviction Cuffay was pardoned but chose to remain in Australia where he became involved in radical politics and trade union issues which included helping to amend the Master and Servant Law in the colony.
6. Allan Glaisyer Minns – first elected Black mayor
Allan Glaisyer Minns Crown Copyright 2008, Norfolk Record Office.
Born in The Bahamas in 1858, Mimms followed his older brother to the UK to study medicine at London’s Guys Hospital. He registered with the British Medical Association and moved to Norfolk shortly after.
There he became involved in many civic and political groups and made history by becoming the first Black person to be given a position on Thetford Town Council.
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A year later in 1903 he was voted the mayor of Thetford, becoming the first Black mayor elected in the UK. A first that was originally attributed to John Richard Archer who in 1913 was elected the first Black mayor of Battersea London.
7. Learie Constantine – first Black peer
Baron Learie Constantine of Tobago and Nelson at the House of Lords, as he took his seat as Britain's first Black life peer. PA
Born in Trinidad in 1901, Constantine was a cricketer for the West Indies, as well as a lawyer and politician. He made history by becoming the first Black person to be awarded a peerage in the UK.
After being called to the bar in Trinidad, he went on to become an MP and minister. He returned to the UK in the capacity of High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago in 1961, was knighted in 1962 and made a peer in 1969.
Lord David Pitt, the second Black peer, made history as being the longest serving Black parliamentarian.
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8. Valerie Amos – first Black female peer
Valerie Amos. Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment
Born in Guyana in 1954, Valerie Amos became the first Black woman to be given a life peer in 1997 and made history again when she was appointed secretary of state for international development, becoming the first Black woman to serve as a cabinet minister.
In September 2015 Baroness Amos became the first Black woman to lead a university when she became director of SOAS, University of London. In September 2020 Amos became the first ever Black head of Oxford College.
9. Bill Morris – first Black leader of a major British trade union
Bill Morris of the Transport and General Workers Union addresses the TUC annual conference. PA
Born in Jamaica in 1938, Morris came to the UK as part of the Windrush generation in 1954 and by 1958 he had joined the Transport and General Workers Union.
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Four years later Morris was elected shop steward. In 1973 he joined the union as a full time official. By 1986 he had been elected deputy general secretary.
When general secretary Ron Todd retired in 1992 Morris took over, becoming the first Black man in history to become a leader of a major British Trade Union. He remained general secretary until his retirement on his 65th birthday in 2003.
10. Diane Abbott, Bernie Grant and Paul Boateng – first Black MPs
Paul Boateng, Bernie Grant, Keith Vaz and Diane Abbott. PA
Even though John Stewart has officially been recognised as the first person of African descent to be elected a MP in the UK, in 1987 three would-be Black Parliamentarians made history by winning their seats and becoming the first Black elected members of parliament.
Born in London to Jamaican parents in 1953, Diane Abbott won the Labour seat representing the constituents of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, becoming the first Black woman to be elected as a MP.
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Born in Guyana in 1944, Bernie Grant came to the UK in 1963 and by 1975 he had joined the Labour party.
Prior to being elected MP for Tottenham in north London, Grant made history by becoming the first ever Black leader of a local authority in Europe when he was elected council leader of Haringey.
Paul Boateng, born in London in 1951 to mixed Ghanaian and English parents, came to prominence when he was elected to the Greater London Council. He then became part of history when he won his seat for Brent alongside Diane Abbott and Bernie Grant in the 1987 elections. In 2002 Boateng become the first male Black cabinet member when he was appointed chief secretary to the Treasury.
11. Eleanor Smith – first Black MP to win the seat once held by Enoch ‘Rivers of Blood’ Powell
Eleanor Smith, third from right with rosette, with other female Labour politicians including Diane Abbott, left, and Marsha de Cordova, centre. Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Born in Birmingham to Barbadian parents in 1957, Smith made history in 2011 by becoming the first elected Black female president of the trade union Unison.
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In 2017 Smith won the Wolverhampton South West Seat and became the first person of African Caribbean descent to ever do so.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--'They're Literally Starving Us' – Families Of Kids On Free School Meals Speak Out

Since the government voted not to extend the free school meals voucher scheme last week, the country has been embroiled in an emotive, polarised and often poisonous debate over the subject.
As communities and businesses across the country banded together to feed the nation’s kids, and politicians on both sides busied themselves with mudslinging, there is one perspective in the free school meals saga that has been noticeably absent: that of the families who need them.
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About 1.4m children in England were eligible for free school meals in January 2020, and a recent analysis by the Food Foundation estimates a further 900,000 children have sought free school meals since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the end of the furlough scheme mere days away, the number of families facing destitution will only rise as will the number of children at risk of hunger and malnutrition. For some, a free school meal could be their only meal of the day.
A domestic abuse survivor and single mother, Joanne* from Yorkshire, says the free school meals her two teenage children qualify are, quite simply, a “godsend”.
Joanne has been signed off work since 2015, after she developed severe mental health issues and agoraphobia following years of abuse and stalking from her ex-partner.
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To this day, he continues to exert power and control over her by refusing to pay child maintenance payments – leaving her and her children constantly teetering on the edge of poverty. “If my ex decides he doesn’t fancy paying and I don’t get free school meals, I’ve got nothing,” she told HuffPost UK.
For six weeks during the first lockdown, Joanne’s ex-partner stopped sending her money; he currently owes her £2,000 in child maintenance.
“Families like ours are not what we are made out to be.” - Joanne
Without these payments, she and her 13- and 15-year-old kids had to live on the £180 she receives each week from her Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
“I try my best like everybody, but I’ve got bills to pay,” she tells HuffPost UK. “If they get free school meals, then at least I know that they’ve got a decent meal at school.”
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Among the MPs who voted against the motion put forward by Labour in the House of Commons last week, several pointed to the Universal Credit (UC) system as a means to justify withholding cash for food during the holidays.
But many people – including Joanne – are still on the old-style benefits system and will likely not qualify until 2024.
Joanne was “absolutely fuming” when she first heard the government’s decision not to extend the free school meals scheme into this week’s half-term holidays and Christmas period. “They’re just lying. They say everybody’s on Universal Credit but I don’t get that extra £20 a week.”
Without that extra money and with the perpetual instability wielded by her ex-husband, Joanne lives each day with financial uncertainty. When the subject of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £500m Eat Out To Help Out initiative came up, Joanne’s only response was: “They’re literally starving us.” She hasn’t eaten out in a restaurant in seven years.
She says the political narrative surrounding free school meals has been “shocking” and “harmful”. “The lies that they tell really, really hurts. Can you imagine being told you’re a degenerate or you’re a druggie because you claim free school meals?
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“Families like ours are not what we are made out to be. They’re blaming us for not being able to budget but it’s their systems and their policies that are driving us into poverty.
“They’re treating us with utter contempt. It hurts to think there are people in power who can really change your life. They can cast you aside and blame you, make you feel unimportant. It’s just wrong.”
Few politicians have spoken with as much contempt for their own constituents of late as Ben Bradley, Tory MP for Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. In a now-deleted tweet, Bradley claimed free school meal vouchers for the children in his seat “effectively” went to crack dens and brothels.
Eight-year-old Esme Matthews is one of Bradley’s constituents and a pupil of St Edmund’s C of E Primary and Nursery School, whose headteacher responded to the MP with a full-throated defence of the community: “We know the truth about families who qualify for free school meals and it is nothing like what he suggests.”
Steve and Esme Matthews: "The vouchers meant we could all sit down to a family meal.” HuffPost UK
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Back in March, when the country was first plunged into a national lockdown and she was no longer able to go into school, Esme did not require free school meal vouchers. Her father, Steve, 55, moved into her and her mother’s house after he was furloughed in order to help with childcare and homeschooling.
But as the months went by, Steve’s savings began to dwindle and his work as a self-employed handyman completely dried up – he is now £1,500 in debt. During the summer holidays, free school meals made a “massive difference” to Esme and her family.
“Before that, I was going three, four days without food in a week,” Steve told HuffPost UK. “The vouchers gave us a little leeway. It meant we could all sit down to a family meal. Marcus Rashford is a saint.”
Steve describes his local MP as an “absolute nutter”. “I was very hurt [by his comments]. Esme doesn’t live in a brothel and she doesn’t live in a crack house. He’s supposed to represent the people of Mansfield! He doesn’t represent anyone.
“The government has got to wake up. We’ve got families that are starving, children growing up on one meal a day, but the politicians don’t seem to care.”
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Fellow Mansfield resident and single mother of three, Anna Street, is similarly furious at her MP. “It was totally out of order. There are some people who sponge off the benefits when they don’t need to, but he was basically tarring everybody in that situation with the same brush.”
Her youngest, five-year-old Izabella, relies on free school meals while Anna works part-time in a convenience store, which has stayed open throughout the pandemic.
To top up her £340 monthly salary, Anna receives Universal Credit which “just about” covers her bills and basic necessities, but money is tight and she is worried about being able to afford the rise in local council tax.
“You’re getting more money in one way, but they’re taking it off you in other ways, so you’re not really doing any better,” she says.
Anna and Izabella Street on Ben Bradley's comment: "It was totally out of order." HuffPost UK
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She was extremely disappointed by the decision not to extend free school meals into the half-term and Christmas holidays. “I was gutted because they do help a lot, especially when they’re at home.”
For many families in Britain, the free school meals Marcus Rashford successfully fought for that fed two-million-plus children over the six-month summer holiday period really did mean a lot.
“I was able to buy more fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables so they ate more healthily,” says Gemma*, 39, a single mother of two from Manchester.
A former primary school teaching assistant, Gemma says free school meals have been a “lifesaver” for her family while she finishes her degree at a local university centre.
“Not having to fork out the extra money for food helped me concentrate my budget elsewhere. For example, my daughter needed a new mattress and the vouchers allowed me to buy that – otherwise I would have had to ask friends and family for help.”
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As the temperature drops and the nation heads into ever stricter lockdowns, Gemma worries not having free school meals over the Christmas holidays will leave her with little to no money for food or heating.
“Not receiving it means I must try to stick to budgeting, which is difficult at this time of the year. Vouchers would help – there would be less worry about keeping the heating on because you have to concentrate your money elsewhere.
“I’ll have to make sacrifices with the food I buy – it means less fresh produce. My children understand there are many things I cannot afford to buy, or why we can’t have treats like eating out or a family holiday.”
She has also found the comments of some Tory MPs during this debate “disgusting and despicable”. “How many of them have actually experienced poverty?
“Providing free school meals should be a priority, not a burden. If you want to increase social mobility, empower families by showing us it’s OK to claim free school meals.
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“This is not going to eradicate poverty, but it could be a step in the right direction.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Matthew McConaughey Reveals The 3 Things His Kids Aren't Allowed To Say

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There are three major things that aren’t alright, alright, alright to say in Matthew McConaughey’s household.
The Dallas Buyers Club actor recently stopped by Oprah Winfrey’s new Apple TV+ program, The Oprah Conversation, to promote his memoir, Greenlights.
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He shared how he and model Camila Alves McConaughey parent their three children: Levi, 12, Vida, 10, and Livingston, 8.
The Oscar winner said that he and his wife “do demand respect and trust within the household” and discourage dishonesty, alongside a few off-limits phrases.
The McConaugheys attend the 2019 Texas Medal Of Arts Awards on Feb. 27, 2019, in Austin, Texas. Rick Kern via Getty Images
“We do not allow lying in the house. You cannot say the word[s] ‘I can’t’ and you can’t use the word ‘hate,’” McConaughey said, instantly breaking one of his own rules. “Those three words will get you in big trouble in our house. Lying, saying ‘I can’t,’ or saying ‘I hate.’”
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He also wants his kids to be humble but not shy away from their family’s success.
“If a kid at school ever tells you, ‘Oh, I bet you live in a big house ’cause your dad’s famous,’ don’t bow your head,” McConaughey explained. “Look up and go, ‘Yeah, we do actually live in a nice house. My dad works really hard to be as good as he can at his job.’”
Through all that, McConaughey said he hopes that his children “become autonomous, conscientious, competent young people in their life,” adding that they’re already kind kids.
While McConaughey spoke about being a parent, he’s also shared a lot about his own parents during his book tour stops.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show last week, the actor described being estranged from his mother, Kay, for almost a decade. The relationship broke down after she began sharing private things the two spoke about with the press.
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“I would have conversations, and then all of a sudden — whoop — what we’d talked about would end up in the paper three days later. I was, like, ‘Mom, that was between us!’” he said.
“We went through a time where I didn’t really share much with her,” the actor added. “She became a different person.”
Matthew McConaughey with his mother, Kay. Gregg DeGuire via Getty Images
But after setting some boundaries and finding forgiveness, the two are fine once again. “It was a strenuous relationship for eight years. We’re back completely now,” McConaughey said. It sure looks like it. Camila Alves McConaughey recently posted a sweet video of Kay enjoying one of Matthew’s book tour stories:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-31--Kate Garraway Reveals ‘Heart-Wrenching’ First Word Husband Has Said Since Being Admitted To Hospital

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Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper has said his first word since being admitted to hospital with coronavirus seven months ago.
The Good Morning Britain presenter says the former lobbyist and political adviser mouthed the word “pain” as doctors moved his body as she watched over video call.
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Kate also revealed that her husband’s tracheotomy tube has been removed and he is now able to breathe without a ventilator.
Kate Garraway and Derek Draper Can Nguyen/Shutterstock
Kate told The Sun: “It’s a case of trying to balance belief, hope, optimism with reality.
“But we have had a breakthrough which was both amazing yet heartbreaking.
“It happened when the nurses were moving Derek, as part of his treatment, to trigger the sensation of gravity because he’s been horizontal for so long.
“Right from the beginning, when Derek couldn’t even open his eyes, the doctors and nurses have always talked to him to be respectful, and to try to trigger a response.
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“As they were shifting him, they asked if he could feel anything — not expecting a response as he hadn’t previously. But suddenly he mouthed in a whisper, ‘Pain’.
“Obviously it’s so heart-wrenching that his first word was ‘pain’, but it is a huge breakthrough because it means he has been able to connect the feeling in his body to his brain and mouth.
“They called me straight after and I burst into tears. The staff told me later that they were so emotional as well.”
Derek and Kate in Australia last year, shortly after she left the I'm A Celebrity jungle James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock
Derek was admitted to hospital in March with coronavirus symptoms and placed in an induced coma.
Kate has shared regular updates on her husband’s health through social media and on Good Morning Britain.
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