thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--US Meat Bosses Accused Of Betting Money On How Many Workers Would Contract Covid-19

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A wrongful death lawsuit tied to Covid-19 infections at Tyson Foods’ largest pork processing plant accuses the US meatpacking giant of ordering employees to come to work while supervisors privately bet money on how many would get infected with the deadly coronavirus.
The family of Isidro Fernandez filed the lawsuit in August saying that Fernandez was exposed to the virus when he reported for work at the Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa. Fernandez died in April from Covid-19 complications, leaving behind a wife and children, according to the lawsuit.
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Fernandez was one of at least five Waterloo plant employees who died of the virus. More than 1,000 workers ― over a third of the facility’s workforce ― became infected, according to the Black Hawk County Health Department. The lawsuit, filed in Black Hawk County, claims Tyson is guilty of a “willful and wanton disregard for workplace safety” and accuses the company of endangering employees by downplaying virus concerns and covering up the outbreak in order to keep them working.
As first reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the lawsuit was recently amended to include new allegations against the company and plant officials. One of them is that supervisors at the Waterloo plant began wagering money on how many workers would get Covid-19.
The lawsuit reportedly accuses plant manager Tom Hart of organising a cash buy-in, winner-takes-all betting pool for supervisors and managers in mid-April to guess how many plant employees would test positive after being forced to report for work. According to the Capital Dispatch’s review of the amended suit, the reported betting pool occurred around the time that Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson visited the plant and said the working conditions “shook [him] to the core.”
Another new allegation reportedly details how upper-level plant manager John Casey explicitly told supervisors to continue showing up to work even if they were experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, referring to the deadly virus as a “glorified flu” and telling workers “everyone is going to get it.” According to the lawsuit, Casey stopped a sick supervisor on their way to getting tested and ordered them back to work, saying, “You have a job to do.” Managers reportedly allowed one employee who vomited on the production line to continue working and return to work the next day, according to the suit.
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Tyson Foods did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. The company has previously said that it denies the original allegations, moving the lawsuit to federal court on claims that it remained open because of President Donald Trump’s April order requiring plants to stay open in order to maintain the nation’s meat supply.
The Tyson plant eventually did close after reports that it fueled a massive coronavirus outbreak in Waterloo. More than 180 infections were linked to the plant at the time of closure, according to the Black Hawk County Health Department. The plant employs 2,800 workers.
Workers at poultry and meat processing plants usually work right alongside each other, but public health experts have been advising that people stay at least 6 feet apart. Employees in these plants, including Fernandez, are also predominantly people of colour and immigrants who are doing hard labour for low pay. Workers report a higher injury rate than the rest of the private sector, and advocates have said that the hazards are almost always worse than numbers suggest.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance at the beginning of the pandemic recommending that meatpacking companies put up physical barriers, enforce social distancing and install more hand-sanitizing stations, among other steps. But the guidance is not mandatory and is mostly unenforceable.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Nicola Adams And Katya Jones To Return To Strictly Come Dancing For Final Dance

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Nicola Adams and Katya Jones are set to return to Strictly Come Dancing for one final dance.
The pair were forced to leave the BBC ballroom competition last week after Katya tested positive for Covid-19.
They will now return to the show in the coming weeks for a non-competitive routine.
Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were forced out of Strictly Come Dancing BBC
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Nicola revealed the news during an appearance on spin-off show It Takes Two on Wednesday, saying: “Well as my saying goes I do like doing the most. Me and Katya will be coming back.”
Prior to the series, Strictly bosses had warned stars that they would be axed from the show if either person in their pairings tested positive for the virus.
Strictly rules have always allowed injured or sick stars a one-week bye in previous years, but the two-week isolation period means that contestants forced to quarantine would be out of the competition for too long.
The Olympic boxer, who is currently self isolating, admitted it had been strange watching the show from home.
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Appearing via video link, she said: “It was a bit weird not being part of the show but I have to say everybody did amazingly. There were 10s being thrown out and Anton did great as well.”
Nicola and Katya made history as part of Strictly's first-ever same-sex couple BBC
Nicola, who had made Strictly history with Katya as part of the show’s first-ever same-sex couple, also spoke of her frustration at having to exit the competition after scoring well with the judges.
She said: “It was a little bit frustrating not being able to continue when I had just got back into the swing of things and I was enjoying the dance and everything.
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“But the rules are in place to keep everybody safe so I’m doing my part.”
A Strictly spokesperson previously insisted the couple would not be allowed to return to the show in a competitive capacity.
“They’re not allowed to re-enter the competition after they’ve taken part in the first episode,” they said in a statement read out on ITV’s Loose Women.
“Nicola can’t come back because she will have an unfair advantage in the future as she’s now had weeks of training,”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.15pm on BBC One, while It Takes Two airs weeknights at 6.30pm on BBC Two.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Paul Hollywood Defends Great British Bake Off Finalist Laura Following ‘Disgusting Behaviour’ From T

Paul Hollywood Defends Great British Bake Off Finalist Laura Following ‘Disgusting Behaviour’ From Trolls

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Paul Hollywood has called out the “disgusting behaviour” from trolls who targeted Great British Bake Off contestant Laura Adlington after she made it through to this year’s final.
The 31-year-old digital manager from Kent faced criticism after narrowly avoiding being eliminated from the Channel 4 show on Tuesday, with fan favourite Hermine leaving instead.
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Although she specialised in French patisserie, the 39-year-old accountant from London struggled across three increasingly difficult challenges, despite being a clear favourite throughout the competition.
Paul, who judges Bake Off alongside Prue Leith, shared a post on Instagram, defending his decision to save Laura.
“I’ve heard of some sad people trolling Laura, it’s disgusting behaviour,” he wrote.
“Those of you who may not be aware how Bake Off works or new to the series may have missed what we have ALWAYS done on Bake Off judging.
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“Each week stands on its own!! It never matters what any baker has done in previous weeks.
“Even if you win 4/5 star bakers and then have a bad week you will be at risk of going sadly. It’s the rule that has been in place for 11 years!!
“Also I ONLY give out handshakes in signature not in Showstopper or technical, there was one exception 3 years ago… STOP trolling any of the bakers!!
“Remember Prue and I can actually smell and eat the bakes… Bring on the final X”
Luara and Paul Channel 4/Getty
Laura replied to his post, saying: “Thank you Paul that really means a lot to me.”
Hermine also took to Instagram asking viewers for “kindness” following the backlash against Laura.
“Please don’t be unkind in my name,” she wrote. “I am all about love and kindness. Honour my time in the GBBO by showing love and kindness.
“Behind what looks like characters on your tele are real people. Love.”
She followed it up with a statement on mental health and how cyberbullying could have a massive impact on the wellbeing of others.
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Laura had also previously called for “kindness” from the show’s viewers, after many voiced their upset at the result of this year’s semi-final.
The finalist – who has struggled with her bakes in recent episodes – tweeted on Wednesday morning: “It’s OK to be sad your favourite person didn’t go through, but please remember it’s not my fault. I don’t make the decisions.”
She added: “GBBO is all about kindness and I haven’t seen much of that on here.”
It's ok to be sad your favourite person didn't go through, but please remember it's not my fault. I don't make the decisions. GBBO is all about kindness and I haven't seen much of that on here. — Laura Adlington (@LauraAdlington) November 18, 2020
Following Paul’s post, a number of former contestants also shared their support, with 2018 winner Rahul Mandal commenting: “Thanks so much for clarifying this Paul. It means so much for all of us bakers. I hope people will understand and try to be kinder with bakers. Thanks again.”
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Like in previous years, the 11th series of Bake Off was pre-recorded over summer, although production was initially delayed due to Covid-19.
The bakers, presenters and others working on the programme formed a “bubble” in Down Hall Hotel near Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, throughout the duration of filming, after being tested for the virus and self-isolating.
Find out who wins this year’s Great British Bake Off, when the final airs on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
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).
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.
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The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--How The Oxford Coronavirus Vaccine Works

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A potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University has been shown to be 70.4% effective, it has been announced.
The jab is effective in preventing many people getting ill and it has been shown to work in different age groups, including the elderly.
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And one of the dosing patterns used by the scientists suggested 90% effectiveness if one half dose is given followed by a further full dose.
Here’s what we know about how it works:
How does the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine work?
The vaccine – called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 – uses a harmless, weakened version of a common virus which causes a cold in chimpanzees.
Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The virus is genetically modified so it is impossible for it to grow in humans, PA Media reports.
Oxford Vaccine PA Media
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Scientists have transferred the genetic instructions for coronavirus’s specific “spike protein” – which it needs to invade cells – to the vaccine.
When the vaccine enters cells inside the body, it uses this genetic code to produce the surface spike protein of the coronavirus.
This induces an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if it infects the body.
What about these different dosing patterns?
The top line figure of 70% effectiveness is an average of two different dosing regimens used in the trials.
When one full dose was followed by another full dose, it gave 62% efficacy.
But when only half a dose was given followed by a full dose, a much higher 90% effectiveness was achieved.
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The combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70.4%.
It’s not yet been confirmed why the half dose regimen gave better results, but it could have to do with the way in which different levels of the vaccine prime the immune system.
Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial at Oxford, said: “These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives.
“Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and, if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply.”
Vinicius Molla, a hematologist and volunteer of the clinical trial of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, examines a patient at a consulting room in Sao Paulo, Brazil July 9. Amanda Perobelli / Reuters
Does it differ to Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines?
Yes. The jabs from Pfizer and Moderna are messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines.
Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code.
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An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens.
These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
No virus is needed to create an mRNA vaccine. This means the rate at which the vaccine can be produced is accelerated.
What are the implications for developing countries?
Prof Pollard, the head of Oxford trial team, said the vaccine is being developed for distribution “everywhere” including places with limited infrastructure for the ultra-cold storage that some vaccines require.
The mRNA vaccines such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna will likely require being stored at extremely cold temperatures, around -70C.
This throws up a number of logistical challenges when considering how they will be transported en masse over long distances and to hotter parts of the world.
Because the protein-based Oxford vaccine will only require refrigerating at around 2C-8C, it will be far easier to transport and store worldwide.
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Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier this month, Prof Pollard said: “We’re really looking globally, we want to be able to get to every corner of the world if indeed the vaccine is shown to work.
“The thing that matters with vaccines is the impact it can have, and that is, can you get it to people and are they being vaccinated, so until you’ve got high coverage and you’re able to prevent the disease in those who are most vulnerable, we won’t get there.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has already begun a huge operation to have 520 million syringes stored in its warehouses across the globe by the end of the year, ready and waiting for the roll out of a safe vaccine.
But there are concerns poorer countries could be priced out of the Oxford vaccine in the future.
Moderna has already said it will profit from a successful vaccine while Pfizer said in the summer the company will “price our potential vaccine consistent with the urgent global health emergency that we’re facing”.
They added: “A vaccine is meaningless if people are unable to afford it.”
What about antibodies and T-cells?
The Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have been shown to provoke both an antibody and T-cell response.
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Antibodies are proteins that bind to the body’s foreign invaders and tell the immune system it needs to take action.
T-cells are a type of white blood cell which hunt down infected cells in the body and destroy them.
Nearly all effective vaccines induce both responses.
The Oxford vaccine induces robust antibody and T-cell responses across people of all ages, the data indicates.
Can the Oxford vaccine be manufactured to scale?
Yes. The UK government has secured 100 million doses as part of its contract, enough for most of the population.
The head of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, Kate Bingham, has said she is confident it can be produced at scale.
Experts hope the jab could be ready to go and rolled out shortly.
Can this vaccine help the elderly?
There have been concerns that a Covid-19 vaccine will not work as well on elderly people, much like the annual flu jab.
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However, data from the Oxford-AstraZeneca trial suggests there have been “similar” immune responses among younger and older adults.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Bobby Brown’s Son Found Dead At His Los Angeles Home, Aged 28

The son of US singer Bobby Brown has been found dead in Los Angeles, police have said.
Bobby Brown Jr, 28, was found at his home on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Bobby Brown Jr. (centre) with his brother Landon Brown (left) and father Bobby Brown. Maury Phillips via Getty Images
Officers had been called to a “medical emergency”. There is no suspicion of foul play, police told the PA news agency.
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No cause of death has been given. Brown Jr’s brother, Landon, shared a black-and-white photo of his late sibling to Instagram, writing in the caption: “I love you forever King.”
Brown Jr’s death follows that of his 22-year-old half-sister, Bobbi Kristina Brown, in 2015.
Bobbi Kristina was the daughter of Brown and Whitney Houston.
Houston and her daughter died in eerily similar circumstances three years apart.
Bobbi Kristina spent nearly six months in a coma after being found unconscious in a bathtub at her home in Georgia.
Whitney Houston (center), daughter Bobbi Kristina and Bobby Brown Lee Celano via Getty Images
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The I Will Always Love You singer, one of the best-selling artists of all time, died aged 48 in 2012. She accidentally drowned in a bathtub at a hotel in Beverly Hills. A coroner listed her drug use as a contributing factor to her death.
Brown and Houston had a tempestuous relationship and were married from 1992 to 2007.
As well as Bobby Jr and Bobbi Kristina, Brown has five other children. His hits include My Prerogative, Every Little Step and Rock Wit’cha.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Oxford Covid-19 Vaccine Produces Strong Immune Response In Older Adults - Trial Study

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The UK’s coronavirus vaccine has shown to produce a strong immune response in older adults – suggesting one of the groups most vulnerable to serious illness and death from Covid-19 could build immunity.
Early stage results from a study of the University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, published in the medical journal The Lancet, showed the jab triggered a robust immune response in healthy adults aged 56-69 and people over 70.
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The phase two research demonstrated similar immune responses from the vaccine – which is being developed with AstraZeneca – across all three age groups (18-55, 56-69, and 70 and over). This included antibodies and T-cells.
However, researchers said it was not yet clear if older people will need more booster jabs to maintain this good immune response, compared to younger people.
The study of 560 healthy adults – including 240 over the age of 70 – also found the vaccine is better tolerated in older people compared with younger adults.
Not only did those in older age groups experience fewer side-effects in the aftermath of receiving the jab, such as headaches, fatigue and nausea, but they were milder.
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But scientists involved in the trial said they did not think this correlated to a weaker immune response, as it does with some vaccines.
Volunteers in the trial received two doses of the vaccine candidate, or a placebo meningitis vaccine.
No serious adverse health events related to the vaccine were seen in the participants.
The results are consistent with phase one data reported for healthy adults aged 18-55 earlier this year.
Phase three trials are ongoing to confirm these results and the University of Oxford is expected to release data on the effectiveness of its coronavirus vaccine before Christmas.
UK authorities have placed orders for 100 million doses of the vaccine – enough to vaccinate most of the population – should it receive regulatory approval.
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Dr Maheshi Ramasamy, investigator at the Oxford Vaccine Group and consultant physician, said: “Older adults are a priority group for Covid-19 vaccination, because they are at increased risk of severe disease, but we know that they tend to have poorer vaccine responses.
“We were pleased to see that our vaccine was not only well tolerated in older adults, but also stimulated similar immune responses to those seen in younger volunteers.
“The next step will be to see if this translates into protection from the disease itself.”
Study lead author Professor Andrew Pollard, from the University of Oxford, said: “Immune responses from vaccines are often lessened in older adults because the immune system gradually deteriorates with age, which also leaves older adults more susceptible to infections.
“As a result, it is crucial that Covid-19 vaccines are tested in this group who are also a priority group for immunisation.”
Researchers say their findings are promising as they show that the older people are showing a similar immune response to younger adults.
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Dr Ramasamy added: “The robust antibody and T-cell responses seen in older people in our study are encouraging.
“The populations at greatest risk of serious Covid-19 disease include people with existing health conditions and older adults.
“We hope that this means our vaccine will help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, but further research will be needed before we can be sure.”
The authors note some limitations to their study, including that the participants in the oldest age group had an average age of 73-74 and few underlying health conditions, so they may not be representative of the general older population, including those living in residential care settings or aged over 80.
However, researchers said this would be addressed in phase three of the study.
It comes amid a welter of positive news about the vaccine.
The coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer – which is due to arrive in the UK before the end of the year – is 95% effective and works in older people, according to new data from the firm.
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The UK has secured 40 million doses in total of the vaccine, with 10 million due in the country by the end of the year if the vaccine is approved.
People will need two doses, meaning not enough vaccine has been secured for the entire UK population.
Another jab, from US firm Moderna, was shown this week in early data to be almost 95% effective.
The UK has ordered five million doses of that jab, and also awaits the results of the Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine study.
Changes to the Human Medicine Regulations announced in October will allow the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise temporary supply of vaccines, if one becomes available before 2021.
This means that if a vaccine is found to meet the safety, quality and effectiveness standards by the MHRA then vaccinations can begin without needing to wait for the European Medicines Agency.
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The health secretary Matt Hancock has said the NHS will be ready by December 1 to roll out vaccines and that the MHRA could approve a jab “within days” of a licence application.
Pfizer and BioNTech expect to be able to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion in 2021.
The vaccine needs to be kept at an ultra-low temperature, between minus 70C and minus 80C, until a few days before use when it can be transferred to a standard medical fridge.
If it is approved for use in the UK it will need to be stored in regional hubs – including wholesalers and hospitals – before being shipped to GP surgeries and vaccination clinics.
The Oxford vaccine, on the other hand, can be stored at normal fridge temperature, Professor Andrew Pollard said, with GP surgeries already supplied with vaccine fridges.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Brexit Endgame: No Deal Nerves Creeping In Among Tory MPs

So it comes to this. The Brexit endgame playing out in the middle of the economically devastating pandemic.
Negotiators are locked in talks expected to end next week and we will, hopefully, finally know whether the UK will leave the EU with a trade deal, or without.
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As EU leaders prepare to meet over the next few days, Whitehall sources and several MPs played down the idea that there are jitters in the cabinet and on the Tory backbenches.
But three MPs have told HuffPost UK there are increasing concerns among ministers and 2019 intake Tories that the economic impact of a no-deal Brexit could heap extra misery on top of the Covid crisis.
It is important to remember that most Tory MPs were elected last year on the promise to end the standstill transition period, deal or no deal, on January 1.
And most of them are relaxed about the negotiations and ready for Boris Johnson to make compromises, including a transition period over fishing waters and an agreement on state aid - two of the key sticking points halting progress towards a deal.
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But there are hints that some of the steely resolve to “get Brexit done” is starting to crack as talks enter their final high-stakes phase.
One experienced Tory says some 2019 intake MPs are “flapping” in WhatsApp group chats as they face up to the potential impacts on their constituencies.
“Their thoughts are only as deep as the Daily Mail,” they say.
“A lot of them don’t understand it in any case, it’s all the patriotism of coming out of Europe and what the public say, which is fine and it’s great and I sign up to that.
“But when it comes down to: what does this actually mean for us, they are fixated on what’s going on in their own constituencies on a microcosm level.
“The new intake are flapping because they’re the new intake.”
Brexit talks between UK chief negotiator Lord David Frost (left) and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier (right) are coming to a close ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the powerful 1922 backbench committee, has also detected “a little bit of nervousness” about the combined impact of Covid and Brexit without a trade deal.
The Cotswolds MP, who voted Leave, says he has seen first hand 2019 MPs who are “generally a bit nervous about where jobs and the economy are going basically”.
He also suggests those MPs are also worried about their constituencies being the hardest hit in a no-deal scenario.
It follows studies suggesting less well-off communities and particularly the so-called “red wall” the Tories took from Labour in December’s election would suffer the biggest impact.
“I think most of the new intake are fairly eurosceptic but I think it (concerns) stems from the fact that they are nervous about the damage to the economy done by Covid plus the fact that no deal would make trading more difficult and they are worried about unemployment and business,” Clifton-Brown says.
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Senior Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake, Michael Gove’s parliamentary aide, says there is apprehension “on the frontbenches as well”.
Government sources have denied reports that ministers and departments including the Treasury and business secretary Alok Sharma are privately pushing for concessions to get a deal.
But Hollinrake suggests: “There’s bound to be different views on this and different perspectives.
“That’s inevitable there will be slightly different approaches on these negotiations and what we do now but most people I speak up to are signed up to (the strategy).
“The more we look disunited at a time like this, the less likely we are to get a deal.
“I think it’s a case of all standing up to a game of brinkmanship.”
“I’ve probably had more people messaging me about Dominic Cummings going, with a concern we’re not going to do Brexit.””
However, several MPs reject suggestions that anxiety is creeping in as Brexit enters the endgame.
One 2019 intake MP acknowledges that businesses in their constituency are beginning to relay their concerns about the impact.
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HuffPost UK also understands that even Brexiteers are angry about the lateness of some of the preparation, as companies ask government bodies like HMRC what they need to do to get ready for January 1, and often receive no answer.
But the 2019 intake MP suggests voters in their constituency are more worried about Brexit being watered down after Vote Leave supremo Dominic Cummings was forced out of No.10.
“I’ve got quite a few people messaging me from businesses but are there any more than messaged me before about no deal? No, I haven’t seen a huge uptick, I’ve seen a couple of people,” they say.
“I’ve probably had more people messaging me about Dominic Cummings going, with a concern we’re not going to do Brexit.”
They also reject the suggestion that Johnson’s claims of an “oven ready” Brexit would lie in tatters without a deal, stressing voters understand the difference between the withdrawal agreement that took the UK out of the EU this year and the trade deal currently being negotiated.
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But they acknowledge that any economic has to be mitigated.
“The big ticket has come, we have left the EU, the rest is just leaving it up to politicians,” the MP says.
“Of course we’ll get people on both sides — ardent Remainers and ardent Leavers - who are always going to have these battles.
“Would I say it’s going to be a big vote winner or vote loser? No.
“Obviously if we get the economy wrong, that’s going to be a big vote loser.”
Hollinrake agrees: “Most of the new intake are Brexit supporters, I’d be surprised if they were too nervous about what’s going on.
“In terms of a tough line in negotiations — I campaigned heavily in Darlington in the general election and a tough line in negotiations was very popular at the time and I doubt that’s changed much.”
Another new colleague stresses that most of the intake are still optimistic about a deal and that compromises are “priced in”, including allowing the French to access UK fishing waters for a few years while that thorny issue is hammered out away from the pressure of wider trade talks.
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“Most of my intake were elected on a platform of: we’ll get the best deal we can, if we can’t get a deal then Australia,” they say. “Most of my intake came in on that basis.
“I suspect there’s a preference for a deal, but if the PM turned round and said we’d tried our best, we’ve negotiated this in good faith, we’ve spent a lot of time on this and it’s just not been possible to get a deal that’s acceptable - there won’t be any big issue with that.”
Fisheries have become a totemic issue in Brexit negotiations PA
Several MPs meanwhile indicate that the party will be willing to wear concessions, including on state aid, control of which was one of the key planks of a Cummings Brexit.
Clifton-Brown suggests that a deal could be done to keep the two sides happy on that issue, as long as Britain can eventually move away from the EU.
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“A time-limited arrangement on that would be perfectly acceptable,” he says.
“I think if it was forever more that would really mean we hadn’t quite left.”
Remainers and One Nation Tories are meanwhile seeing Cummings’ departure as a victory and a step closer to a deal, which could include at the “vexed” question of how the European Court of Justice interacts with any agreement resolved via a “complex fudge”.
“A lot of us have been very concerned at the prospect of a no-deal but I think the chances of that just got less,” one says.
The mere mention of fudging the European Court of Justice issue from that wing of the party may spark concerns among the hardcore Brexiteers on the European Research Group (ERG).
And it remains to be seen whether they can live without taking full control of fishing waters immediately.
But ultimately if Johnson gets a deal, few MPs predict that the hard Brexit it will usher is likely to spark much meaningful opposition from Tories.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--How Child Psychologists Deal With Their Own Children's Anxiety

Hill Street Studios via Getty Images Parents can play a major role in helping kids learn to cope with anxiety.
Anxiety doesn’t only affect adults. Many children struggle with feelings of anxiety, which can manifest in behavioual changes, regression, new sleeping and eating patterns, rumination, difficulty with transitions and more.
Child psychologists who have kids understand the important role parents can play in helping them deal with anxiety.
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“Parents are the first teachers in their child’s life,” said Claire Nicogossian, clinical psychologist, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and human behaviour at Brown University and author of Mama, You Are Enough: How to Create Calm, Joy and Confidence Within the Chaos of Motherhood.
“Day-to-day routines and schedules as well as interactions and coping skills, how stress and conflict are handled, all happen in the home,” she added. “And little eyes are most always watching, observing and taking in adult behaviours and situations. Parents set the stage and create the foundation for how a child manages and copes with emotions and feelings.”
So how exactly do child psychologists handle their own children’s anxiety? HuffPost asked Nicogossian and others to share their approaches.
They listen
“When my children experience anxiety from a nightmare, entering a new setting, or any other situation, I start by listening first. Not just listening to their words, but to their nonverbals, body language, all of it. You can learn a lot when you truly listen. The trick is to listen to themes underlying the words. What are they saying? What are they truly concerned about?” ― Ann-Louise Lockhart, paediatric psychologist and parent coach
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“As my children got older, I focus on just being very open to listening and not trying to jump immediately into a problem-solving mode. I make sure I’m listening to them, offering insights, but not telling them what to do, helping them develop the skills to address it on their own. The goal is to create self-reliant children so we’re there as guides, not supervisors or bosses.” ― Jillian Roberts, child psychologist and founder of FamilySparks
They put themselves in their children’s shoes
“I try to put myself in my teen’s shoes. It’s all too easy to react from my own perspective (‘Her young worries are so small compared to mine’ or ‘She’s such a drama queen’ or ‘I’m too stressed to deal with this now’), but taking her perspective gives me more empathy for her.” ― Abigail Gewirtz, child psychologist and author of When the World Feels Like a Scary Place: Essential Conversations for Anxious Parents and Worried Kids
They pay attention to their own anxiety
“Children learn about emotions in general ― and anxiety in particular ― by watching us parents deal with our own anxiety, by seeing how we react to their worries, and through discussions of fears. Our own (parental) anxiety can easily affect our children; they are astute observers of us. So when we need to help them deal with anxiety, we need first to regulate our emotions (taking a few deep breaths, for example, or grounding ourselves by feeling our feet in our shoes and our shoes on the floor) so we don’t end up reacting (emotion-driven) rather than intentionally responding. Once we have a handle on our own emotions, we can help our children identify and label their worries, validate them, and truly listen to their concerns.” ― Gewirtz
They acknowledge that anxiety is natural
“I have four daughters ― twins age 18, a 12-year-old and 10-year-old ― and I can share, in my almost two decades of parenting, the reality is that part of your child’s development from baby to toddler to child to tween and teen, will be filled with anxious moments and emotions. The key for you as a parent is to know when anxious moments are expected and understandable (e.g., at age 9 months and 18 months, with separation anxiety from mom/dad/caregiver, anxious about loud noises, to feeling anxious about a bad dream, to riding the bus or going to school for the first time, taking a test, trying out for a sport or play) that may come and go here and there and when anxiety begins to develop into a pattern that creates distress and impairs functioning at home, school or with peer relationships.” ― Nicogossian
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc via Getty Images It's very important to listen to children and validate their feelings.
They validate their feelings
“I try always to validate her worries. Sometimes she might just need me to listen, but often she really is seeking a solution. Rather than dispensing advice, I’ll try to elicit her thoughts about what might help, and then help her sift through options, weigh pros and cons, and come up with ideas I certainly wouldn’t have thought of.” ― Gewirtz
“Instead of saying something like, ‘You have nothing to be scared of,’ I say, ‘I’m sorry this is scary for you, let’s talk about why you feel this way.’ Listening helps give my kids space to express their feelings. I try to normalise but not over-emphasise the anxious feelings. Providing a lot of attention to the source of anxiety strengthens the anxiety feedback loop, thereby strengthening future anxiety. After my kids tell me about their anxiety, I reassure them by telling stories about times I and/or others they love have felt the same.” ― Cindy Graham, licensed clinical psychologist
They help them verbalise what’s happening
“I provide an empathic response utilising feeling words and somatic cues (‘You were so worried when you heard that strange noise outside and your heart started beating really hard inside of your chest’). In the middle of this, I find it very important to make connections between events, feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. That way, my children understand that their thoughts or feelings don’t just come from nowhere; there is a valid reason for all of it.” ― Lockhart
“At times my kids (ages 8 and 6), don’t always know how to express their anxiety. Children often do not have the insight to express why they are feeling anxious, especially when the fight-flight-or-freeze response triggers a freeze or flight response. I ask them to tell me how strong the anxiety is either by giving a 0 to 5 rating or by drawing a picture of a thermometer and marking off the level.” ― Graham
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They pay attention to behavioural changes
“Anxiety in children can be present behaviourally and physically with the following: problems sleeping, changes in appetite, irritability, racing thoughts or having a lot of worry thoughts and fears, difficulty concentrating, muscle aches, fatigue, clingy behaviour or not wanting to leave home or be away from parents, worrying about one’s safety as well as others, needing to be perfect and not make mistakes or ‘do things wrong,’ as well as signs of biting nails, skin picking, hair pulling. If you notice a trend or observe a pattern in your child, that anxiety is more than a passing moment to be expected and is impairing their functioning at home, school and with social relationships, please reach out to your paediatrician and health care provider for evaluation and support. This is so important to be evaluated to receive support and treatment.” ― Nicogossian
They empower them to come up with solutions
“When my kids are stressed out about something, I ask them: ‘Is there more than one way to approach this problem? How else can you manage this? Is there a different solution?’ ... The parent has to believe that their child has the ability to manage their own anxiety. A parent cannot be trying to fix the problem for the child, because then the child will never learn how to manage their own discomfort. Don’t tell kids what to do or what to try because if you’re giving them the suggestions, then they’re not figuring out the solution by themselves. Nobody likes being told what to do. A parent’s job is to give kids the opportunity to practice the skills that will help them build resiliency ― this is how they can overcome challenges and have stamina despite feeling emotionally upset. You can ask: ‘What can you do to feel better? How can you help yourself feel better?’ You’re teaching them self-care. Your child will become more resilient as they gain opportunities to ‘figure it out’ for themselves.” ― Jenny Yip, clinical psychologist and author
They encourage them to change their perceptions
“I validate what they are experiencing and don’t dismiss it or tell them they are fine. I then get them to recognise it’s their anxiety and that they’re having a false alarm. I try to prompt my kids to reframe their anxious thoughts and change their perceptions, even if their body is saying there is an emergency. Over time my kids have gotten very skilled at doing this.” ― Natasha Daniels, child therapist and creator of AnxiousToddlers.com
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They foster quality time together
“I see parenting as being about relationship and attunement to our children, so that everything you do with your children from getting them to cooperate to listening to you, flows from this secure attachment. I find that giving my daughter a few minutes of quality connection time at the start of each day, where I give her my full attention such as reading a few books or getting down on the floor and playing helps her to feel ‘plugged into’ me and helps the rest of the day go much more smoothly. I find she’s more likely to cooperate and listen to me when she feels she has had enough quality time with me.” ― Genevieve von Lob, psychologist and author of Happy Parent, Happy Child
asiseeit via Getty Images Being present for your child is key.
They prioritise self-care
“My main priority as a parent is putting my well-being and self-care first and ensuring that I am feeling calm, balanced and grounded. When I am feeling under pressure, I have noticed how much my daughter picks up on this and is more likely to respond by being more clingy or playing up. Children are like tuning forks and they pick up on our inner emotional state, even when we are doing our best to keep our true feelings hidden. My self-care regimen consists of breathwork, walks in nature, dancing to upbeat music and learning new skills. Above all else, the most crucial thing I practice is self-kindness, and giving myself permission to have a break or the odd duvet day. Like every parent, I inevitably have my off days when I am in survival mode and muddling through the day. No one is 100% calm and patient all the time and I try to always remind myself that I’m human.” ― von Lob
They share coping strategies
“Cognitive Behavioural Tools such as emotional regulation activities are very helpful. For example, a visual thermometer that shows colours that can be paired with levels of emotions are a great tool to use when your child is feeling anxious. Have your child show you by pointing to the thermometer where they are (red represents them feeling very overwhelmed ... to blue feeling calm). This helps your child self-identity and become aware of their own feelings. The more aware your child is of their own emotions, the better we are able to help them identify the early signs and triggers of anxiety. Using strategies to help cope will reduce anxiety attacks.” ― Reena B Patel, licensed educational psychologist, board-certified behaviour analyst and author of Winnie & Her Worries.
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“I have taught them a wide range of coping skills and activities (such as drawing, listening to music, reading helpful books, listening to relaxation videos or songs, using stress fidgets) and have these readily available to them to make it easier for them to use independently.” ― Graham
They collaborate
“I move into a collaborative joint solution (‘What do you think is a good solution for this?’ or ‘What do you need from me in this moment?’ or ‘When I feel super nervous, I take slow belly breaths while closing my eyes and focus my eyes on calming thoughts.’). Empowering, solution-focused parent language that instills a sense of autonomy and control gives your child the message that although they don’t know how to handle this situation right now, they now have the tools to handle it a little better in the future. In-the-moment tools are important too (belly breathing, muscle relaxation, imagery, yoga, journaling, calm-down jar, self-soothing activities), but I find they work best when they understand why they work.” ― Lockhart
They check in
“I would probably check in with the child and with all the important adults in the child’s life, like the teacher, dance teacher, piano teacher, to see if they observe a difference. When my second daughter was in grade one, I noticed a change in her, and after some careful investigating, I realised she was having a bullying experience at school. Sometimes children don’t want to burden parents. They don’t want to put their own problems on their parents’ plate. So it does sometimes require some sleuthing on the part of the parent to understand what might be going on.” ― Roberts
They give themselves grace
“Being an anxiety and OCD child therapist brings another complicated layer to this journey of raising anxious kids. It brings with it feelings of guilt and inadequacy. When my kids are having a rough time, insecurities pop up that I have to deal with. Thoughts like, ‘You’re a professional, your kids shouldn’t be struggling’ or ‘Why can’t you fix this faster?’ can weigh heavy on me and have to be reframed in my own mind. ... I know every anxiety theme, every possible trajectory of an anxious thought, every possible worst-case scenario. That can be a curse at times when your child is just having a mild anxiety theme and your mind goes to that dark place of where it can lead. The silver lining of being a child therapist is that you have all the skills and tools at your disposal. It’s hard raising anxious kids, and that upper hand can really help in the long run.” ― Daniels


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--33 Funny Tweets About Things Kids Say During Their Parents’ Zoom Meetings

Asked my son what he wanted for lunch and he said he wasn’t hungry, then 15 mins later I’m on a work call and he suddenly barges in and asks for lunch so I said, “TOO BAD, YOU BLEW IT!” and then I gave him the leftover pizza I was looking forward to because PARENTING IS BULLSHIT


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--How To Buy The Perfect Gift, According To A Pro-Present Buyer

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You can lose yourself scrolling through any retail website’s gifts section – and often come out none the wiser as to what to buy.
And that’s where we’re all going wrong when present-buying, according to Joanne Al-Samarae, who runs gift concierge and consultancy service Magpie and Co. “We go to Selfridges and ask what is in their gift shop, and we start to fit the gift to the person – and it’s the wrong way around,” she says.
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“We’ve become reliant on stores telling us what we should be giving, rather than using the giftee as the inspiration.”
Perhaps then, 2020 is the time to accept that we need a present giving overhaul – favouring fewer, more thoughtful gifts, rather than just panic-buying 10 random things that get shoved in a drawer.
It’s an affliction many of us have. A survey by TK Maxx last year found 75% of people gift on autopilot, habitually picking the same presents every year.
“This year especially, gifting is going to take on a more important role than it ever has,” says Al-Samarae. “It’s been a turbulent and stressful year, we’ve missed all those joyous occasions like births, weddings, anniversaries and celebrations. This year gifting is about showing you care and that you appreciate them.”
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Where to begin buying a gift
The prospect of Christmas shopping can be pretty overwhelming – especially when you’ve got more than one person to buy for.
It might be helpful to write down a list of the people you’re going to be sending gifts to, and how much you want to spend on them.
Al-Samarae is a big believer in setting a budget before you’ve even thought about what you’d buy them – “this year it’s going to be really important for people to keep a hold of their finances, so setting budgets at the beginning, before you even start looking at gifts, is really important,” she says.
Xsandra via Getty Images
Think about the personal stuff
Next, put some serious thought into what that person likes – and write it down. What are their hobbies, skills and interests? Did they pick up a new hobby in lockdown that could spark some gift inspiration?
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She offers the example that a friend took up baking in lockdown, specifically flatbreads, so she plans on buying them a really good quality olive oil.
“A lot of people worry that what they’re giving isn’t of value, but the success of a gift isn’t to do with its cost,” says Al-Samarae, “it’s really the thought that shows you have been listening and you really do know that person.
“Things don’t have to be expensive, they just need to be a bit thoughtful.”
Have a good think about what the person wants and needs – practical gifts are really having a moment. “People drop a lot of hints,” says Al-Samarae, “but often we don’t pick up on them.”
“This year gifting is about showing you care and that you appreciate them.”
How Covid is shaping our gift choices
If you don’t know much about their interests, or can’t really think what you’d buy them that’s hobby-related, think about the situation we find ourselves in this year – and the gifts that might resonate as a result.
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A personalised passport cover, for instance, might not be well-received seeing as travel is off limits for most of us. Even makeup or bling accessories may struggle to get an outing for a while. Something for the home might be more of a hit – because many of us are spending so much time there.
“This year I think we’ll see a shift in a few different areas,” says Al-Samarae. “Gifts for the house and home are going to be top of the list, more so than clothes or perfume or even jewellery. Our homes are our sanctuaries and we’re starting to spend time caring for them and improving them.”
She believes wellbeing and self-care gifts will also be top of people’s priority lists. “Start thinking about the small things people are doing to stay well,” she says. This could be yoga, meditation, cooking, painting, gardening – there are so many gifts that are appropriate for each of these areas.
More recently, Al-Samarae has seen a take up of more holistic gifts – with increased interest from clients in things like crystals, tarot cards and incense.
People care more about buying locally and also purchasing things that are of quality, rather than something that will break quickly – it’s a trend she’s seen growing over the past five years. This is especially relevant with more people on tighter budgets. Buy one great quality gift rather than three mediocre ones, she advises.
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For the person who has everything
There’s always that one person who appears to have everything they could possibly need. So you end up buying them novelty items, like a hat that holds beer cans or a self-stirring mug, that don’t actually mean anything.
Al-Samarae says it’s actually very rare that a person does really have everything, however if you’re really struggling, she recommends buying something that you love – rather than the recipient.
“What I’ve learned is relationships are about sharing, and when you gift them something you love that they don’t already know about, you’re inviting them in,” she explains. Team it with a handwritten card explaining why you gave the gift and it makes the present a lot more valuable, she adds.
Can you make it instead?
If money is tight or you’re looking to show off your newly-found lockdown skills, homemade gifts can be just as – if not more – impactful.
“If you can make something, it’s so much more personal,” says the gift expert, whose father loves woodwork and will often make her little wooden trinkets like trays or jewellery boxes.
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If you’ve got into baking in a big way, then perhaps you could bake some lovely gifts and make up your own hamper? If you’re an artist or a photographer, gift a piece of your work.
You can make homemade jams and chutneys, and package them up nicely, or write a poem and frame it. If you sew or knit, perhaps you could craft them a lovely throw for their sofa, so they can embrace the cosiness of winter.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--Dirty Stop-Ins: We've All Become A Bit Gross In Lockdown

Mukhina1 via Getty Images
You locate a top from the pile on the floor. It passes the ‘sniff test’ and becomes your outfit for the day. Your colleagues won’t notice – or even care. They’ve probably done the same thing.
With the majority of our interactions conducted via a screen these days, and only half our bodies ever on view, it’s hardly surprising so many of us have become sloppy with our grooming routines. Dare I say it, even a bit gross.
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So how – and why – are we letting ourselves go?
Basic hygiene by the wayside
HuffPost UK reader Kat, 35, and based in Tooting, south London, keeps forgetting to brush her teeth while working from home during lockdown.
“Some of my shifts start at 5 or 6am and I don’t really leave my desk much during that time, so it’s only when I finish that I remember I haven’t brushed my teeth,” she admits. “Sometimes that might be 2pm! I know it’s disgusting, but I don’t know where the time goes.”
Lauren, 24, from Hertfordshire, hasn’t bothered wearing underwear for three days and washes her hair about once a week, leaving it until it “resembles a greasy bird’s nest”.
“I’m usually the cleanest person ever!” she insists. “But I’ve come to a point where I just don’t care. Why not take it a bit easy and be a bit gross? It’s not hurting anyone as I can’t see anyone, except my boyfriend, and he can’t leave me now as we have a joint mortgage!”
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Deodorant has become a nice-to-have, not a must-have. “I’ve only got through one stick this whole year,” says Emily, 37, from Devon. “You do the maths.”
PeopleImages via Getty Images
Loungewear, yes. Laundered, no
Much as been made of the lockdown fashion for loungewear. Many admit they opt for the comfiest clothing to hand – even if it’s not freshly laundered. “You all can’t see but I’ve been wearing the same joggers for two weeks now, lol,” confessed one of our colleagues in our news meeting the other day. HuffPost UK reader Anna, 33, from London, says she’s been has been showering, then putting the same trackies and jumper straight back on, while Grace, 26, from Manchester, jokes: “I’ve managed to wear holes into my lounge pants. I don’t know anything that’s more 2020 than that.”
New-mum Lucy*, 32, from Dorset, can’t even find the energy for actual clothes. “Our newborn dresses better than us,” she laughs. “I wash, change my pants and get straight back into PJs. It’s become a ritual.”
bojanstory via Getty Images
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Tidy is as tidy doesn’t
During the first national lockdown, we couldn’t really be bothered to clean our houses. Eight months later, the nonchalance – or lethargy – has hit new levels.
“My kitchen is consistently covered in dirty dishes. My partner and I often both work late and we don’t have a dishwasher,” says Claire*, 32, from Essex.
“We are both working from home and are feeling a general sense of fatigue. And at the end of a long day, looking over at the never ending pile of dishes, we just do enough that we can clear a bit of the counter and carry over the remainders til the next day. And on and on and on.”
“I only tidy up when my partner visits, and he can’t right now because of the lockdown,” says Amna,* 39, from London. “I know I should keep hoovering and clean the shower for myself, but, honestly, it’s hard to find the motivation.”
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You have to feel keen to clean
So what’s going on to make so many of us develop these habits that would make Mrs Hinch – and our pre-pandemic selves – gasp?
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It may be that you’ve hit “pandemic fatigue”. Dr Sumera Shahaney, from health tracking company Thriva, previously explained to HuffPost UK that this can spark feelings of “inner weariness or worthlessness”. “Many people have now accepted that life has changed,” she said, “but we have lost resilience – we have no control over the future and are unable to see an end point.”
Or you may be lacking inspiration for a makeover – or basic cleanliness – because you’ve got so little inspiration around you. “We are not meant to live like this; we are social animals, albeit some more than others, and we gain energy and inspiration from experiences and convening with others, which we just aren’t getting right now,” Dr Peter Mills, from Cigna Europe, told HuffPost.
If this feels like your headspace, it might be worth trying some of these simple ideas to switch up your living space – and boost your mood in the process.
Of course, it could also be that you’re enjoying sitting in muck. After all, when have we ever had the excuse before? Whatever the reason, don’t be hard on yourself, because you’re definitely not alone. Sprucing yourself up might make you feel better, but if you really can’t be bothered, your secret’s safe with us.
*Some names have been changed to offer anonymity.
Covid-19 is more than a news story – it has changed every aspect of life in the UK. We are following how Britain is experiencing this crisis, the different stages of collective emotion, reaction and resilience. You can tell us how you are feeling and find further advice and resources here.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-19--I’m Trying To Transition During Lockdown. This Is How It’s Going

Orlagh Murphy via Getty Images
My name is Sophie.
It hasn’t always been. Most people – all of my family, many of my friends – still call me something else: the name I was given at birth. But even if I haven’t got around to telling everyone yet, Sophie is my name.
I’m 30 now, but I knew something was “wrong” as early as five. The existential sadness when you first realise there’s a difference between boys and girls, and that you somehow ended up on the wrong side of the line; the burning teenage jealousy at seeing girls become women while you hurtle towards manhood; the encroaching dread of growing old in a male body. I spent years telling myself it would one day blow over, but it didn’t.
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I started on the path to accepting myself almost three years ago. Drunk and inhibitionless, I stumbled onto an online transgender support group, where, desperate to put any notion of being transgender well and truly to bed, I bombarded people with questions. Could I really be trans? What were the odds that that word could describe me? Surely I was just a confused cis man with some stuff to work through?
They’d heard it all before. So, someone suggested an experiment: to try using a new name and pronouns. If I liked it, that probably meant something. And from the first name that walked into my head, Sophie came to life.
I quickly grew addicted to her. Each night I would spend hours furtively being her on the internet: typing her name into the box each time I logged on, responding as her when they greeted her and seeking support when she needed it. Meanwhile, I did everything I could to hide Sophie from the outside world. Even my partner had no idea I was cheating on her with another woman.
“The penny finally dropped. Were it not for the pandemic, the penny would probably still be suspended somewhere in mid-air.”
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This spring, I started therapy with a specialist. He called me Sophie without batting an eyelid, and told me my experiences were the same as every trans patient he’d worked with, all of whom had gone on to transition. That’s when the penny finally dropped. Were it not for the pandemic, the penny would probably still be suspended somewhere in mid-air.
With life behind closed doors now, I wasn’t forced to spend years on a static NHS waiting list before I could darken the door of a gender therapist. A couple of clicks here, an email or two there, and I could set up gender therapy within hours. I quickly signed up to a private medical service popular among transgender people in the UK. Within two days I was diagnosed with gender dysphoria; within three I was prescribed oestrogen. I was transitioning.
I came out to my partner in the summer. We’re just friends now, or at least I hope we’ll be. She showed me nothing but love and patience until the very end, and for that I’ll always be grateful. She reassured me that I wasn’t broken, I wasn’t weird and that there was nothing “wrong” with me. Through gritted teeth, she put me first: she took an interest in who I really was, what I wanted to wear, what skin I wanted to live in. She treated me like a person – just not the one she’d planned a life with.
I got a scholarship to move to a new city and retrain for a new career. Finally I’d have space of my own while I figured out how I wanted to look, who I wanted to be. But then coronavirus moved teaching online, my scholarship was decimated by the financial repercussions of the crisis, and I was forced to move back in with my parents.
My parents don’t know who I am. Nor do I want them to, yet. I can’t risk rejection as long as I’m reliant on them to put a roof over my head while, every morning and every night, I knock back a cocktail of different hormones to finally bring my body in line with my mind.
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“Until now I never realised that transition is more than just a set of hormone-induced physical changes – it’s about creating a whole identity that truly reflects you.”
I’m secretly transitioning in a home where I can’t be myself. I can’t try out new clothes. I can’t grow out my hair, or learn how to apply makeup. I can’t spend hours a week training my voice gradually upwards without alerting prying ears. Until now I never realised that transition is more than just a set of hormone-induced physical changes – it’s about creating a whole identity that truly reflects you.
Social gatherings are now conducted almost entirely on Zoom, and that means, three months into transition, I’m still forced to stare at my own face, in all its masculinity, hear my baritone reverberating around other people’s speakers, and spend my time among cis men who I wish I didn’t resemble and cis women I’ll never resemble quite enough. So I find myself back where I started, feeling like an impostor, my dysphoria no more assuaged than before I came out.
Going through transition in secret at home yet openly among my friends has left me with nothing material to pin my identity on. Sophie is currently nothing more than an online persona. She’s a username – she doesn’t yet exist in any material sense.
Transitioning in lockdown does mean I have the space to grow into my new identity, my real identity, without alerting anyone who I’d prefer didn’t know. Being Sophie without needing to change the way I present has helped me realise my identity is valid even without adding the cosmetic finishing touches. But as long as I’m locked away, unable to access the safe spaces in which I can hash out the details of my identity, Sophie will be a part of me that feels unreal and inauthentic.
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Sophie is a trainee barrister, writing under first name only as she is not out
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com
Useful websites and helplines:


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--UK Coronavirus R Rate Drops Again To Between 1.0 And 1.1. Here's What It Is Near You

The reproduction number, or R rate, of coronavirus transmission across the UK has dropped again to between 1.0 and 1.1, according to the latest government figures.
Last week the Government Science Office estimated the R rate was between 1.0 and 1.2, down from 1.1 to 1.3.
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R measures the number of people, on average, that each sick person will infect.
If R is greater than 1 the epidemic is generally seen to be growing; if R is less than 1 the epidemic is shrinking.
Boris Johnson is due next week to unveil what sort of restrictions will replace the four-week national lockdown in England when it ends on December 2.
The government has said the R rate will be one of the factors it takes into account when deciding how tough any new rules will need to be in the run-up to Christmas.
Regional R numbers across England
East of England 1.0 to 1.3 (down from 1.1 to 1.4)
London 1.0 to 1.2 (unchanged)
Midlands 1.0 to 1.2 (down from 1.1 to 1.3)
North-east and Yorkshire 1.0 to 1.1 (down from 1.0 to 1.2)
North-west 0.8 to 1.0 (down from 0.9 to 1.1)
South-east 1.1 to 1.3 (down from 1.2 to 1.4)
South-west 1.0 to 1.3 (down from 1.2 to 1.4)
On Thursday Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs the R rate in Scotland was “very slightly below one”, as it was last week.
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First minister for Wales Mark Drakeford said on Friday the 17-day “firebreak” lockdown had brought the case rate down.
On the R rate, he said: “Sage estimate that a week ago, the rate was somewhere between 0.9 and 1.2, so possibly already below 1 and since then we’ve had seven further consecutive days of numbers falling here in Wales.
“Our aim was to get it down to about 0.8, we’ll know in another week whether we succeeded in that but on the whole it’s looking promising.”
Last week Arlene Foster said the most recent estimate in Northern Ireland was the R rate was about 0.7. This week the first minister announced a strict two-week lockdown starting on November 27, saying: “The R rate has unfortunately not dropped as far, or for as long, as had been estimated.”
It comes as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it had found there were “substantial differences” in Covid-19 infection rates across England.
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Data from November 8 to 14 suggested infections are increasing in London, the east of England and the south-east, but decreasing in the north-west and the East Midlands.
Katherine Kent, co-head of analysis for the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey, said: “There are early signs that the national level of infections in England might be levelling off but this hides a lot of variation at a regional level.
“New increases appear to be driven by infections in younger people, with increasing levels in primary school age children.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Jeremy Kyle 'May Have Caused Or Contributed' To Death Of TV Show Guest, Says Coroner

TV presenter Jeremy Kyle “may have caused or contributed to” the death of talk show guest Steve Dymond, a pre-inquest review has heard.
Mr Dymond is suspected to have taken his own life after failing a lie detector test on the now-defunct ITV daytime show.
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Jeremy Kyle ITV
He took the test on the programme to show whether he had cheated on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan.
At the preliminary hearing being held into Mr Dymond’s death, coroner Jason Pegg said he has made Mr Kyle an “interested person” for the inquest, stating the presenter is someone “who may have caused or contributed to the death of Stephen Dymond”.
He added: “It might seem ludicrous not to have Mr Kyle to give evidence to give his take on the situation.”
Counsel for Mr Dymond’s family Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC told the Winchester hearing that Mr Dymond became “distressed” after he failed the lie detector test.
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She said Mr Dymond had gone on the show to “prove his fidelity”, and had said: “I pushed and pushed but it all went wrong.”
Ms Gallagher said after the result was announced during filming, the audience “booed and jeered” at him and he was “called a failure by the presenter”.
She said Mr Kyle was “in his face” and even when he was “at the point of collapsing, he was still being heckled”.
She said Mr Dymond sought to leave through a side door but found it locked, and she added: “He couldn’t escape the heckling. He was on his hands and knees because he thought he was going to pass out from the stress.”
The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed by ITV last year ITV/Shutterstock
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Ms Gallagher said his state of mind was known by the crew on the show, with a message sent on a WhatsApp group stating: “Just so you know, he’s still crying, he has just said he wishes he was dead. Just giving you the heads up.”
Ms Gallagher added: “While he was still on the programme, within minutes, he was talking about wishing he was dead.”
She said Mr Dymond called his brother as he was taken home by taxi from the show.
In a statement read to the hearing, Leslie Dymond said: “He seemed completely broken and frightened and told me he couldn’t go on living.”
The hearing was told Mr Dymond was originally turned down an appearance on the show but was accepted as a guest after gaining a letter from his doctor.
The inquest has heard he had been receiving mental health care from Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.
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The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed after a 14-year run following the death of Dymond, with Kyle saying he was “utterly devastated”.
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee later launched an inquiry into reality TV.
The hearing into Mr Dymond’s death continues.
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).
CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0300 5000 927 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Guys ‘N’ Dolls Singer Dominic Grant Dies, Aged 71

Singer Dominic Grant has died at the age of 71, his family has confirmed.
He was best known for being part of the pop group Guys ‘n’ Dolls, who found success in the 1970s.
Dominic died “suddenly” on Wednesday after suffering an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Dominic Grant has died at the age of 71 PA Media
A statement on behalf of his wife Julie Forsyth said: “It is with such great sadness that I have to tell you I have lost my darling Dominic, suddenly on Wednesday.
“He was an amazing husband, father, brother and brand new grandad. My heart is shattered.
“He was kind and strong and always the life and soul of the party. His distinctive, beautiful voice will live on forever – I couldn’t have loved him more and don’t quite know what our family will do without him… he was our shining star.”
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Dominic and his wife Julie – who is the daughter of late entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth – were part of Guys ‘n’ Dolls together.
Dominic was the son-in-law of the late Sir Bruce Forsyth PA Media
Their singles There’s A Whole Lot Of Loving and You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me reached the top 10 in the UK.
After the group split, the couple went on to perform together.
Away from music, Dominic was a passionate sculptor and also made the bronze bust of his father-in-law Sir Bruce that was placed at the London Palladium in 2005 to mark the veteran entertainer’s six decades in showbiz.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Millions Was Wasted On Useless PPE Instead Of Helping Single Parents With Childcare

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As the news of promising vaccines brings hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight, people across the UK are looking forward to getting back to normal.
But for the parents of young children, this optimism is tempered with anxiety; we are worried because, increasingly, it seems that this new “normal” will be one in which we are expected to return to the workplace without access to childcare.
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After eight months of lockdowns, confused and contradictory guidance and lack of financial support, nearly a quarter of the UK’s childcare providers now face closure, and many more have had to drastically cut back provision. Yet, despite repeated calls from the sector and worried parents, the government has utterly failed to respond.
Ask any working parent how they managed without childcare during the first lockdown and you are likely to hear a similar story of stress and frantic juggling.
As a divorced mum to a four-year-old who was in full-time day care when Covid hit, I was directly affected by nursery closures during the first lockdown. Those seemingly endless weeks of simultaneous childcare and work felt like some kind of sadistic endurance test.
The mental load of having to split myself into two people was overwhelmingly difficult and draining. On the one hand, the attentive home-schooling mother, making sure my daughter’s activities were educational, enriching and fun; on the other, the hard-working professional, teaching via blurry Zoom calls while trying to get a new business off the ground at possibly the most inopportune moment in living memory.
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Yet, I have the privilege of being able to work online and am fortunate enough to have a responsible co-parent and a supportive family. I had only a fraction of the load other women carry – those who have lost their jobs, are also caring for relatives, live alone or have partners who are abusive or shirk their responsibilities.
Even more so than usual, women have been expected to pick up the slack during the pandemic and inequalities in the workplace and the home have been brought starkly to light. This extra load has already taken its toll on the physical and mental health of so many mums. But while balancing childcare with working from home has been exhausting, balancing childcare with a return to the workplace will be simply impossible for many.
That’s why childcare must be at the heart of our economic recovery. Not only does the sector employ over a million people, it also supports the employment of parents in all other sectors of the economy. If the pandemic ends and the furlough scheme winds up without steps to rescue childcare, millions of jobs will be at risk.
But, although securing parents’ wellbeing, mothers’ access to employment and economic recovery are all persuasive arguments on their own, this is not just about those issues. It is also about the wellbeing of a whole generation of children.
It could be decades before the full impact of the pandemic on children’s mental and physical health, opportunities and attainment is understood. The media has so far largely focused on the disruption to schooling and exams (which is of course important), but the impacts of stressed parenting and isolation from other children their age may also have long-term consequences on their social and emotional well-being, particularly for young children who are still in the early, life-defining stages of development.
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We must not blame already overburdened mothers if their kids – like many others – continue to struggle after the strain of repeated lockdowns. Instead we must focus on the government, which has failed to appreciate the full impact of this crisis through a child’s eyes and has yet to provide the support required to facilitate healthy cognitive, social and emotional development as we move on from this crisis.
Proper investment in childcare is an investment in our children and our communities that is sorely needed if we really which to “build back better” and more equal. That’s why the Women’s Equality Party is calling on the government for a conditional bailout package, in which emergency funding is provided to small and medium sized childcare providers to see them through the rest of the pandemic in return for their commitment to avoid redundancies, pay a real living wage and ring-fence places for families using the free entitlement scheme. Such a bailout would support the childcare sector to deliver more of the flexible, affordable care that is so sorely needed.
If the government was willing to plough millions of taxpayer pounds into PPE that was unfit for use, there is absolutely no earthly reason why it can’t invest in our children -who are not only the future of our economy, but of our country as a whole.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Bill Bailey And Oti Mabuse's Strictly Come Dancing Routine Just Got A Big Thumbs Up From Actual Jane

Bill Bailey And Oti Mabuse's Strictly Come Dancing Routine Just Got A Big Thumbs Up From Actual Janet Jackson

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Bill Bailey already has plenty of fans from his Strictly Come Dancing stint, but it seems he is just as popular with A-listers too.
The comedian and his partner Oti Mabuse have got the seal of approval from none other than Janet Jackson.
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Yes, it appears actual Janet (Miss Jackson if you’re nasty) watches Strictly.
The singer gave Bill’s latest dance – a Street/Commercial routine to Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang – the thumbs up on Twitter, after it was pointed out it had a lot of stylings from Janet’s music video for her hit Alright.
Tweeting a clip of it on Friday, Janet complimented Bill and Oti, writing: “Nice! #GoinIN,” adding a flame emoji and tagging the couple.
Check out Janet’s video for Alright below...
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Of course, Janet wasn’t the only fan of Bill and Oti’s routine, as the Strictly judges scored them 27 points out of a possible 30, with Shirley Ballas even whipping out her 10 paddle.
Craig has since named him as the one to watch in this year’s competition.
“I am secretly actually loving Bill Bailey,” he told ITV’s Lorraine. “I adore him. He just shocks me.
“Every time I see him dance, I am surprised, amazed and delighted. I never thought for one moment he would be able to do it. He doesn’t look like the type or the type of character… I love him, I would love to see him in the final.”
“I think he is brilliant, the dark horse of the competition,” he added.
This week will see Bill and Oti performing an American Smooth to I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Frank Sinatra.
Find out how they get on when Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 7.15pm on BBC One.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Veganism Is The Green Revolution. Boris Johnson Must Realise That

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Laying out his 10-point, £12 billion plan for Britain’s “green industrial revolution” in the Financial Times, Boris Johnson described a future filled with electric cars, carbon capture and storage technology, wind turbines and hydrogen-powered ships.
This vision is heavy on the “industrial” and light on the “green”. What green there is may be undermined by other major sources of carbon emissions and environmental degradation in the UK, which are left unaddressed in the plan.
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Public transport will run on clean fuel, new cycle lanes will be built, and more low-traffic neighbourhoods will be established. But if people will really be encouraged out of their cars, then a logical next step would be for the government to cancel its massive £27 billion road-building programme and direct the money somewhere more useful.
Prime Minster Boris Johnson holds up a roll in the canteen during a visit to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading WPA Pool via Getty Images
A report by environmental consultancy Transport for Quality of Life found that the 4,000 miles of new roads that are supposed to be built in the next five years will release 20 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. This is incompatible with the government’s climate targets.
How exactly all that extra tarmac will impact the tree-planting and rewilding promised in Johnson’s green plan is yet to be explained. Roads impact wildlife and ecosystems in all sorts of ways, including animals killed by cars, light, air, and noise pollution, physical barriers to movement, and habitat fragmentation.
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Johnson has pledged 30,000 hectares of reforested land and 30,000 football pitches’ worth of rewilded land, but the Conservative government has a poor track-record of protecting the wildlife and natural spaces we already have. What guarantee is there that newly created habitats, let alone existing ones, won’t later be sacrificed at the altar of the electric car?
It will also cost a lot more money than the £80 million Johnson has pledged to help improve and expand Britain’s green spaces. The Wildlife Trusts are calling for £1 billion a year to help tackle species decline and restore habitats. Yet, it is doubtful whether the government would stump up more, given that it has cut the funding of its own environment body, Natural England, to the point that critical work to protect endangered species can’t be effectively carried out.
Sufficient investment in nature would do a lot to reduce the UK’s emissions so that we wouldn’t need to rely so much on carbon capture storage technology. Rewilding Britain estimates that with £1.9 billion to support the restoration and protection of native woodland, peatbogs, heaths, and species-rich grasslands over a total of 6 million hectares, 47 million tonnes of CO2 could be sequestered each year. The government claims to recognise the importance of such nature-based solutions, but doesn’t seem to recognise the scale at which it is needed.
Agriculture is another gap in the green plan. As advocacy group Sustain points out, Johnson makes no mention of tackling emissions from food production, which has a huge greenhouse gas footprint.
One of Sustain’s suggestions for how the government could address this issue is investment in local areas “via councils, to help them deliver solutions that benefit their communities including freeing up land for small-scale horticulture.”
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If it understood the urgency of the climate crisis, the government would also have to acknowledge the necessity of reducing meat consumption and introduce measures to help people move towards more plant-based diets, along with a plan to phase out intensive livestock farming. This would have the added bonus of helping us reduce the risk of a pandemic originating in our own back garden and save millions of animals from a life of suffering.
The omission of agriculture is particularly strange given that only last week, the government’s Agricultural Bill became law, ensuring that in future farmers will be paid for delivering “public goods” such as clean air and wildlife habitat. As it stands, Johnson’s green plan seems like a missed opportunity to build on that important change and encourage a more fundamental shift in how the country produces its food.
If the UK is going to do its part on climate and bring our embattled wildlife back from the brink, the prime minister will need to get better at connecting the dots and stop seeing objects made of metal and concrete as the primary way to go green.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-11-20--Priti Patel Keeps Job Despite Being Guilty Of 'Bullying' – So PM's Standards Chief Quits

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Boris Johnson’s influential adviser on ministerial interests has quit the government after the prime minister stood by Priti Patel – despite an internal investigation finding her guilty of bullying.
Sir Alex Allan walked out after advising Johnson that Patel’s approach towards Home Office staff, which included “shouting and swearing”, was “behaviour that can be described as bullying” and that the home secretary had therefore “not consistently met the high standards expected of her under the ministerial code”.
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Allan also said he was using the civil service definition of bullying as “intimidating or insulting behaviour that makes an individual feel uncomfortable, frightened, less respected or put down”.
But Johnson overruled his adviser and judged that the code “was not breached”, insisting that concerns about Patel were not raised at the time and that she was unaware of the impact of her behaviour.
Ex-MI5 boss Lord Evans, chair of PM’s committee on standards in public life, said Allan’s resignation was “deeply concerning” and “raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the current arrangements for investigating and responding to breaches of the ministerial code”, which he will address as part of an ongoing review.
The home secretary kept her job after saying she was “sorry that my behaviour in the past has upset people”.
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Later, Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said the PM had told staff on Friday that he “will not tolerate bullying” and that “it is not his belief that Patel is a bully”.
Stratton also confirmed that Johnson texted Tory MPs telling them to “form a square around the prittster”.
“He wanted her parliamentary colleagues to support her in acknowledging that this is a testing day for her,” Stratton told reporters.
Priti Patel arriving for a cabinet meeting in September POOL New / Reuters
A government statement said that Allan advised the PM that there were “difficult working relationships all round” between Patel and Home Office staff.
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His advice “found that the home secretary had become – justifiably in many instances – frustrated by the Home Office leadership’s lack of responsiveness and the lack of support she felt in DfID [the international development department] three years ago.
“He also found, however, that the home secretary had not always treated her civil servants with the consideration and respect that would be expected, and her approach on occasion has amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying in terms of the impact felt by individuals.
“He went on to advise, therefore, that the home secretary had not consistently met the high standards expected of her under the ministerial code.”
The statement went on to say that Johnson “is reassured that the home secretary is sorry for inadvertently upsetting those with whom she was working.
“He is also reassured that relationships, practices and culture in the Home Office are much improved.
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“As the arbiter of the code, having considered Sir Alex’s advice and weighing up all the factors, the prime minister’s judgement is that the ministerial code was not breached.”
But delivering his resignation, Allan, who has been a civil servant for decades, said: “I recognise that it is for the prime minister to make a judgement on whether actions by a minister amount to a breach of the ministerial code.
“But I feel that it is right that I should now resign from my position as the prime minister’s independent adviser on the code.
“The prime minister has full confidence in the home secretary and considers this matter now closed.”
In a statement, Patel said: “I am sorry that my behaviour in the past has upset people. It has never been my intention to cause upset to anyone.
“I am very grateful for the hard work of thousands of civil servants who help to deliver the government’s agenda.
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“I care deeply about delivering on the commitments we have made to the people of this country and I acknowledge that I am direct and have at times got frustrated.
“I would like to thank the prime minister for his support. The permanent secretary and I are working closely together to deliver on the vital job the Home Office has to do for the country.”
Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft said: “Sir Alex Allan’s findings make difficult reading, including for the civil service.
“The Home Secretary and I are committed to working together to improve the Home Office and build the strongest possible partnership between ministers and officials based on support, candour, safety to challenge, mutual respect and professionalism. Relationships between ministers and officials have improved considerably.
“Day in day out Home Office staff work tirelessly to keep the public safe, cut crime, and improve our immigration and asylum system, and we are determined that they should do so in a supportive environment that respects their wellbeing.”