thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Exclusive: UK’s First Hijab-Wearing Mayor To Sue Labour After Quitting Over Racism Claims

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The UK’s first hijab-wearing mayor is threatening legal action against Labour after she quit the party citing racism, HuffPost UK can reveal.
Rakhia Ismail announced she was resigning after her year-long stint as Islington mayor ended last month. Writing on Twitter at the time, she described her move as an “escape” from the “oppression” of Islington Council leader Richard Watts and the “discriminatory behaviour” of some councillors.
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Somalia-born Ismail, who had been a Labour councillor for eight years and now represents Holloway ward as an independent, told HuffPost UK she was pursuing a legal claim against the “dysfunctional” Labour leadership team at the council.
She is also calling for their resignation and says she was “shouted” at by a colleague for raising awareness of a knife crime issue in her area.
“I feel that they marginalised me – my voice and concerns as a Black, Muslim woman weren’t taken into consideration at any point,” she said.
“By speaking out, I want to let members of the public know what’s going on. Labour members also need to know this and scrutinise their own members. People need to be tried and tested. There should be accountability in every level, and no one should be mistreated at all.
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“Above all, the leadership of Islington Council need to resign.”
Islington Labour said it was “committed to making the borough a fairer and more equal place to live” and that it had a “long history of fighting racism in all its forms”.
A spokesperson told HuffPost UK the allegations made by Ismail had been investigated and dealt with.
Following Ismail’s departure, Labour has 45 out of 48 seats on the council. She stressed her issue is with Cllr Watts and his executive team, not all councillors or the council as a whole.
She added: “The more we speak up – the more we make the change and people will realise and then all the unconscious bias will be dealt with. But if we keep quiet then we are actually supporting discrimination; that’s my view. With the Black Lives Matter movement currently ongoing, we all need show responsibility.”
(Front, left to right) Rakhia Ismail with then-Labour leader and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn and Islington Council leader Richard Watts at the Armistice Day Commemoration at Islington Town Hall last year. Leon Neal via Getty Images
The letter Rakhia Ismail received with the word "Somalia" printed on it. Supplied
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It was around 2015 that Ismail “sussed that something wasn’t right” in her party – the problems ranged from being reduced to tears when told to be quiet in a white-majority group meeting to being shouted at by a colleague for flagging the issue of knife crime in the area to journalists.
The issue continues to blight the lives of many local residents in the area and Ismail is regularly contacted by worried mothers appealing for help – but the offended colleague accused her of “tarnishing” the area’s reputation.
Ismail raised a grievance about the incident to Labour management – but over a year later it remains unaddressed. Islington Labour said all grievances that were raised have been settled.
“This has been brewing for five years flat,” she continued. “Being the first female Somali to become a mayor, I just didn’t feel like I wanted to walk out at the first hurdle. I told myself: ‘Be patient’ and that things will change. But after five years flat I don’t think anything is going to change without speaking up.
“There are times when I’d take the longest route to walk home after a Labour group meeting to calm down and clear my head, as I don’t want my children and husband to see me unhappy.”
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In February 2019, Ismail received an invite to Labour’s first national women’s conference. On it, beneath her address, was printed the word: “Somalia”. This came as a horrible shock to her.
“When I received the letter, I thought. ‘A: I’m a British subject. B: What does my postcode got to do with Somalia?’ Am I not welcome here? This clearly shows discrimination,” she said.
Ismail also claimed that Islamophobia among some colleagues was behind the decision by the council not to organise an event to mark the Muslim festival of Eid in 2019. Cllr Watts said at the time that a proposed park celebration didn’t take place due to community organisers failing to submit paperwork, such as food hygiene certification, on time.
An Islington Labour spokesperson said the party was “deeply saddened” by Ismail’s resignation.
They told HuffPost UK: “Rakhia has served our borough and the wider community admirably, both as mayor and as a councillor.
“While we are saddened that Rakhia has taken such a step, the allegations she has made were not pertaining to new or recent events. They had already been investigated and resolved in line with party procedures.
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“Cllr Ismail attended a number of meetings as part of this process and many steps were made to support her in her role as a Labour councillor.
“We are sincerely sad that Cllr Ismail felt she was unable to continue as a Labour councillor despite resolution being reached.
“Islington Labour is committed to making the borough a fairer and more equal place to live, and we are proud of our long history of fighting racism in all its forms.”
During an interview with LBC on Tuesday, Labour leader Keir Starmer promised to meet Ismail, who had been a Labour member for more than 12 years before leaving the party.
“If Rakhia feels that notwithstanding all of that she has not been heard in this, then what I would say back to her on-air is I’ll meet her and talk it through with her,” he said.
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Responding to this, Ismail told HuffPost UK: “I can’t say I’d meet with Keir Starmer; I’ve already left the party. I have to consider that... but it was very positive of him to say that.”
The Labour leader said in the interview that he has worked closely with the Somali community, both locally and nationally, and “listens a lot”.
However Ismail, who is vice-chair of the Labour Somali network, suggests his comments couldn’t be further from the truth.
JOHNGOMEZPIX via Getty Images
“Keir Starmer is not interested in listening to people like me. I have contacted his officer after the leadership election and nothing has ever come back to me. I wanted to meet him. (...) I wanted to talk about numerous issues – not just to do with Somali communities,” she explained.
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“I work with everyone and I also see constantly that the white working class are left behind, for example; so many communities are. I’m also a member of a large network of councillors and members of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) activists and so many are annoyed because Starmer is not meeting them, he’s not listening to them. Some feel that the party is not actually democratic.”
Ismail herself read our exposé and said it resonated with her.
“I found it really interesting; I’ve suffered similar things. Clearly there is racism and Islamophobia given [the HuffPost UK report] on it, as well as my own experiences. What is Labour going to do and what actions have been taken since the exposé and arrival of new party leadership?,” she asked.
“In a big establishment, you will find problems but you need to really zoom in and make a commitment to tackle important issues. It needs to be addressed inclusively and those within the party who are marginalised need to be supported. Why did it take me resigning for my people to be prepared to listen to me, for my voice to be heard?
“Labour is making the same mistakes as the last leadership and being very tribal; that’s not how to run a party.”
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A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “We regret Cllr Ismail’s resignation, especially coming so soon after her term as mayor of Islington, having served the borough admirably through an incredibly challenging time.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Nicole Kidman Was Rejected For Iconic Rom-Com Role For Not Being 'Talented Enough'

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Once upon a time, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman was just a young actor standing in front of a casting agent asking to let her star in Notting Hill.
But unlike that film’s happily-ever-after ending, she said she was rejected from the role that eventually went to Julia Roberts, who starred opposite Hugh Grant in the now-classic 1999 rom-com.
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Nicole Kidman SIPA USA/PA Images
Kidman finally got to act alongside Grant in the twisty new HBO limited series The Undoing, which premiered this month. She revealed their past missed connection in a conversation the pair had with Marie Claire.
“I really wanted the role that Julia Roberts played in ‘Notting Hill,’” Kidman told a shocked Grant, who responded, “Did you?”
“Yeah, I did! But I wasn’t well-known enough and I wasn’t talented enough,” Kidman somewhat self-deprecatingly said.
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“Don’t be a fool,” Grant said in return, with Kidman then expressing her pleasure that their paths “finally aligned.”
The Big Little Lies star, however, wasn’t exactly starving for roles at the time. She had appeared in Practical Magic and Eyes Wide Shut in the late ’90s, and major projects such as Moulin Rouge and The Others were on the horizon. She also had already won a Golden Globe for playing a small-town TV reporter in the 1995 film To Die For.
As for Roberts, portraying the world’s biggest movie star, Anna Scott, in Notting Hill who falls for Grant’s bookshop owner, would become one of the most beloved performances of her career.
And, according to producer Duncan Kenworthy, she was the “one and only person we thought of” for the part.
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Notting Hill Working Title
“Whenever you’re asked about casting your film ... there’s always a fiction that whomever you cast was always your first choice, but I have to say that Julia Roberts was the one and only person we thought of for the part of Anna,” he said. “I remember saying to (director Roger Mitchell), ‘Let’s offer it to Julia.’ And Roger said, ‘We’ll never get her.’ So when Julia’s agent said it was the best romantic comedy she had ever read, I thought that was a good sign.”
In the Marie Claire conversation with Grant, Kidman also revealed that she auditioned for another one of his classic films.
“I think there was something where I think I really wanted a role ... maybe I was gonna do a small role in Love, Actually at one point.”
As for other roles Kidman might’ve played in another universe, she turned down starring in Wonder Woman as Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons and mother of Princess Diana, due to scheduling conflicts with Big Little Lies.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--35 Parents Reveal The Funniest Names Their Kids Have For Things

JGI/Jamie Grill via Getty Images Kids have a knack for putting a creative spin on everyday terms.
Kids are generally still learning the English language, so they’re bound to make a few mistakes. But some of those malapropisms and alternate descriptors are actually quite hilarious or even better than the correct terms.
We asked members of the HuffPost Parents Facebook community to share the funny names their kids have for various things and received an overwhelming number of responses. Read on for a delightful sample.
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1. “My son calls grated parmesan cheese ‘spaghetti sprinkles’ and now our whole family calls it that. It makes spaghetti sound so much more fun and festive!” ― Jess Marshall
2. “My 5-year-old calls aprons ‘baking capes.’” ― Katherine Quinn
3. “My 6-year-old claims her 8-year-old brother gives her ‘migrating headaches.’” ― Shae George
4. “When my son was maybe 7 or 8, he asked me, ‘Why do I always see signs that say ‘penny saliva’ everywhere?’ I had no idea what he was talking about until he pointed one out to me. We live in Pennsylvania.” ― Erica Graham
5. “Detergent is ‘laundry sauce.’” ― Tara Borisow
6. “My 3.5-year-old started calling watches ‘time bracelets.’ And she’s really onto something.” ― Claire Plank Gahler
7. “My kids called the washing machine the ‘wetter’ ― as in the opposite of the dryer.” ― Emily Brooke Sharp
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8. “My daughter loved salad when she was little. Every time we went to a restaurant she’d order ‘leaves and dip.’” ― Melody Estes
9. “I still call Chick-fil-A ‘Chick-Olé’ because a grandson used to call it that.” ― Kathy Kinnick
10. “My daughter called the Statue of Liberty the ‘Queen of Starbucks.’ (We are Canadian.)” ― Michelle Antoniak
11. “My son asked if people ‘kiss under the camel-toe’? Even typing this, I burst out laughing.” ― Leah Redekopp
12. “My 4-year-old calls her bikini her ‘zucchini.’” ― Katie Zeidman
13. “Both my children were in tears upon discovering Grand Rapids, Michigan, was NOT full of enormous bunnies ― ‘Grand RABBITS’ was how they had been pronouncing it.” ― Elspeth Bretton
14. “My oldest daughter used to call the FedEx truck the ‘fatass truck.’ Now we always joke about it whenever we see the FedEx truck stop by.” ― Adriana Dolden
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15. “We are a hockey family. My son and daughter used to call the national anthem the ‘Hockey Song.’” ― Sonja Brown
16. “My daughter said ‘arts and craps’ instead of ‘arts and crafts.’” ― Darlene London Johnson
17. “My daughter used to call school buses ‘bumblebee trucks.’” ― Rachel Cresci
18. “My son calls a plunger a ‘dookie puncher’ and a popsicle an ‘ice pickle.’” ― Jenna Perry Kuhls
19. “My kids call Toys R Us ‘Toys For Us.’ They legit think it’s called that and don’t accept my corrections on the matter.” ― Jennifer McKay
20. “My 4-year-old calls his penis his ‘peach,’ and I haven’t corrected him because it sounds so much cuter.” ― Mary Shearn
21. “‘Underground town’ is what my daughter called cemeteries, and ‘fooders’ were waitresses.” ― Elissa Carey
22. “My 4-year-old calls spaghetti ‘sir daddy.’ ― Sara G. Nolte
23. “My son called the Statue of Liberty the ‘statue delivery.’ I asked why, he said, ‘She delivers things.’” ― Jennifer Wilcox
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24. “My niece was about 3 when I got married to my husband Josh. She couldn’t say Josh, so it sounded more like ‘Uncle Sauce.’” ― Kara Hasting Lucas
25. “My 4-year-old thinks Netflix is ‘Necklace’ and Prime is ‘Crime.’” ― Kirsten Probst
26. “We took the kids stargazing a few weeks ago and my 7-year-old was so excited to try the ‘skelotope’ (telescope).” ― Melissa Pike VanVooren
27. “My daughter calls Jeep Wranglers ‘beach trucks.’” ― Amanda Putzier
28. “I was raised Irish-Catholic, and sometimes in place of a swear word I yell ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph!’ Our then 3-year-old used to mimic me. One time in the grocery store, a woman bumped our cart and he yells, ‘Cheez-Its, Mary and Joseph!’” ― Christine M. Sullivan
29. “One of my boys called the cup holder on the car door a ‘door bowl,’ and it will forever be known as such!” ― Tanya Singh
30. “My 4-year-old says ‘Boom goes the dominoes!’ instead of ‘Boom goes the dynamite.’ I think we should change the phrase to her version because it’s better.” ― Angie Utschig Dillman
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31. “My almost 8-year-old called his suitcase (that we haven’t used in forever) a ‘soupcase.’ I had to convince him that it’s suitcase.” ― Jen Gottsch
32. “When learning about the U.S. government in elementary school, my two oldest boys insisted that the people who worked with the president were referred to as his ‘drawers,’ instead of his cabinet.” ― Linda Marshall
33. “Every store is Target but defined by its colour. ‘Red Target’ = Target, ‘Orange Target’ = Home Depot, ‘Gray Target’ = Costco.” ― VRose Sharp
34. “Our 6-year-old thinks we keep our food in the ‘pine tree’ (pantry), not to be confused with the huge evergreen right outside our kitchen door.” ― Julie Cantrell


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--A Guide To Christmas Markets And Santa's Grottos During Covid-19

Christmas isn’t cancelled this year, but many of the UK’s Christmas markets are.
As it stands, most of the UK’s biggest Christmas markets have decided they will not be going ahead this year due to the health threat from Covid-19.
Many organisers were concerned about how they’d keep stall holders and members of the public safe when such markets attract hundreds of thousands of people from across the UK – and even further afield.
Some markets are going virtual this year instead, with stallholders setting up online shops so people can support their businesses and buy festive, handmade gifts.
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Santa’s Grottos will also look a little different depending on where in the UK you are based and how many Covid cases there are. Here’s what you need to know.
martin-dm via Getty Images
What’s the deal with Christmas markets?
Bath Christmas Market
This year’s event has been cancelled because of Covid-19. However there’s still an opportunity to buy goodies from the stall holders – via its virtual Christmas market.
There will also be some festive events happening in Bath in the run-up to Christmas, including music and entertainment, street stalls and artisan food.
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Belfast Continental Market
The official Facebook page for the Christmas market has confirmed it won’t be going ahead for the first time in 15 years due to the current health crisis.
Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas market
The event has been cancelled because of Covid-19. Kurt Stroscher, Frankfurt City Council’s director of festivals and events, said the decision was made “with a very heavy heart”.
“We have carefully explored all possible options, because of its importance to the public, traders and local economy but the health and safety of visitors had to be our top priority,” he said. “Christmas markets like this are a place for socialising and ‘cosy closeness’, which couldn’t be offered with social distancing and hygiene rules introduced to help protect people from Covid-19.”
Cardiff Christmas Market
This market is still going ahead from November 12 to December 23 – although this is subject to change based on any Covid-19 relevant rules or guidelines in place at the time.
It will run along St John Street, Working Street, the Hayes, Hills Street and Trinity Street. There will be an “exciting and eclectic mix” of both new and returning exhibitors, organisers promise, with a focus on handmade goods.
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Edinburgh Christmas Market
The market has been cancelled due to Covid. However there are plans for a virtual Christmas event which will launch in November. More details will be shared soon.
Leeds Christkindelmarkt
The organisers of the Leeds German Christmas market on Millennium Square have confirmed the event will not take place this year in the interests of public safety.
The council is working with partners locally to look at alternative ways to celebrate the festive season safely in Leeds, in line with social distancing and the latest government guidance around events and social gatherings.
Lincoln Christmas Market
This year’s market has been cancelled, along with the city centre’s Christmas lights switch-on event. Simon Colburn, assistant director for health and environmental services at City of Lincoln Council, said: “Currently, we are in discussions to bring smaller, alternative events to the city, to ensure the Christmas spirit remains alive, and to help the local economy during the festive period.”
Manchester Christmas Markets
It has not yet been confirmed whether Manchester’s markets will go ahead this year – it’s under review by the local council. HuffPost UK will update this article when we hear more.
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Southbank Winter Market
The riverside market in London is still going ahead and will be open from November 5 until December 27. Festive chalets and seasonal pop-ups will be dotted along the Queen’s Walk, and visitors can expect some of the usual experience: festive food, warming drinks, twinkling lights, seasonal goodies on sale, as well as the chance to dine in private igloos looking over the London skyline.
If you do attend a market, it’s important to avoid the three Cs in order to stay safe. These are: closed spaces, crowded places, and close contact with others. Avoid peak times to steer clear of crowds and wear a mask to protect yourself and those around you in areas where social distancing isn’t easy. Take hand sanitiser, and, if you are going to be eating, use it before and after tucking in.
What about Santa’s grottos?
With Covid-19 restrictions varying across the UK, it’s best to look at your local shopping centre or Christmas market website to find out more about your nearest Santa’s grotto.
It’s likely there’ll be more virtual Santa’s grottos on offer this year. The online experience, Santa’s Grotto Live, allows children tell Santa, via a personalised HD video experience, what’s on their Christmas lists this year – Father Christmas will appear live from his home in Lapland and be on hand for individual chats with children and their families, according to the Manchester Evening News.
There are also some in-person grottos still taking place. London entertainment company Ministry of Fun has come up with a few measures to make the experience safer for all including a festive face mask for Santa (red velvet with a white trim, of course), a socially distanced grotto so kids stay 2m away from Father Christmas, and a sleigh which Santa puts the presents on, and kids can then pull towards them to take their gifts off.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--How To Get Up And Exercise Outdoors, Even If It's Cold, Dark And Wet

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You’re reading Move, the nudge we need to get active, however makes us happiest and healthiest.
It’s cold, it’s dark and the weather app constantly warns there’s a chance of rain. Finding the motivation to exercise outdoors in autumn and winter is tough. Yet we’re equally aware of the need to keep our bodies and minds healthy.
The solution? It’s time to embrace the season – and continue running, walking, even swimming come rain or shine. To help, HuffPost UK asked veteran outdoor exercisers for their top tips for fair-weather fitness fans.
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1. Don’t think about it
Amy Heather, from London, was among of a number HuffPost readers to say that the best way to start exercising outdoors is not to think about it.
“Honestly, it’s just mindlessly doing it; drag self out of bed, throw on warm clothes, run down the road for half an hour – don’t even think about it and by the time you realise you’re not having a good time, it’s done,” she says.
2. Get the right playlist
Take some time to prepare a running playlist – and it doesn’t need to be music. Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis recommends trying a podcast. “Your body will tolerate anything if your mind is busy. That’s true for me anyway,” she says.
Meanwhile Panna Muqit, based in Newport-on-Tay, enjoys the guided running sessions on the Nike Running App, while Charlie Pears-Wallace, from Newcastle upon Tyne, opts for some classic Destiny’s Child.
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Martin Novak via Getty Images
3. Invest in some decent gear
Alexia Barrable, from St Andrews, says “merino wool undergarments are awesome” on chilly days. Georgia Irving, from Manchester, says thicker winter running leggings and tops also help. “I wear a hat and gloves to keep the extremities warm too,” she adds. “I cannot run in the cold without these items of clothing.” Plenty of people also swear by Uniqlo’s affordable HeatTech range.
4. Prepare the day before
If you’re planning to exercise in the morning, be sure to prep in advance, advises Jo Moseley, from Yorkshire.
“I swim at the pool before work and laying my swimsuit next to my bed, packing my bag with work clothes and prepping my breakfast/snacks/lunch so I’m good to go really helps that tiny moment when I’m not sure,” she says.
5. Have a goal (no matter how small)
Dr Josie Perry, a London-based sport psychologist, tells her clients to “promise themselves they only have to do 10 minutes”.
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“That is good enough to get out the door – and once out we tend to stay out,” she adds. “What’s also super important is having a goal that matters to you. Then you actively want to get out there so you can work towards achieving it.”
Cavan Images via Getty Images
6. Ease into the exercise
You don’t need to go from 0-100mph when you exercise. Andrew White, who’s based in Doncaster, recommends slowing things down and going for a relaxing walk if you can’t muster a run.
Anthony Mayatt, a London-based personal trainer, adds: “Don’t underestimate the importance of a good warm up to get the joints loose and muscles ready for the cold weather.”
7. Find an exercise buddy
A number of readers recommend finding a friend to workout with, so you can’t be tempted to cancel your plans.
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And Dolores Andrew, from Galway, Ireland, jokes that if all else fails, get a dog who “goes crazy and eats the couch” without regular exercise.
8. Think about how good you’ll feel afterwards
Gemma Thompson, who’s based in London, tries to remember how good she’ll feel when the endorphins kick in. “The swim works wonders for my mental health and energy levels,” she says.
“And the rest of the day seems to go smoother.”
Move celebrates exercise in all its forms, with accessible features encouraging you to add movement into your day – because it’s not just good for the body, but the mind, too. We get it: workouts can be a bit of a slog, but there are ways you can move more without dreading it. Whether you love hikes, bike rides, YouTube workouts or hula hoop routines, exercise should be something to enjoy.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--7 Things People With Long Covid Really Want You To Know

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People struggling with long-term symptoms of Covid-19 – dubbed long Covid – have spoken about the challenges they’ve faced since contracting coronavirus earlier in the year.
Their testimonies have been shared as part of a new study, published in the British Journal of General Practice Open (BJGP Open).
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The purpose of the interviews – conducted with 24 people still struggling with persistent and long-lasting symptoms of Covid-19 – was to raise awareness of long Covid among GPs. There are no exact statistics on how prevalent it is, but the Covid Symptom Study app estimates it impacts one in 10 people who become infected with the virus.
Participants described how hard it was experiencing, understanding, and managing their symptoms. They also discussed the range of support they’ve sought: from peers, online, using complementary therapies, trying special diets and supplements, as well as from formal healthcare.
None of those who took part in the interviews had been admitted to hospital during their initial suspected or confirmed coronavirus infection – and half hadn’t been tested for Covid-19, as testing wasn’t widely available at the time. Of those who were tested, only one had a positive result.
Many of the participants in the study were female, too. A report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change said long Covid affects women more than men – and the median age of those suffering is 45.
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The study, led by Keele University, concluded that further research is needed to “better understand recovery trajectories” and to inform and improve the care of patients. Here’s what we can learn from the stories they shared.
1. Covid takes its toll on the body.
A 20-year-old woman involved in the study spoke about how she used to enjoy running and exercising, but can barely go on walks now. “I’m just exhausted and I just want to know why I’m so exhausted,” she told researchers.
The woman was particularly concerned about the long-term impact on her lungs. “I’m very conscious of my lungs because I don’t want to put too much pressure on them,” she said. “I know instantly when they’ve done too much because the pain is back, especially in the right one. It’s quite bad.
“I used to enjoy running, and exercising, and stuff like that. I rarely even go on walks now because I know if I walk to the end of the street, they’re going to start hurting.”
Participants described how the persistent problems they’ve had changed them, often using the phrase ‘compared with how I used to be’. One man, 60, said of his neurological symptoms: “I wasn’t just fogged, I was confused. I had a very difficult encounter as a result of just being confused about things and that took a long time to resolve. I love words and I enjoy the business of communicating, and I felt that part of my life was lost. Really, I just did admin, I didn’t do anything that required clear thinking.”
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2. People are trying anything to manage their symptoms.
A quick glimpse at the Long Covid Facebook support group is enough to see just how many people are struggling with long-term symptoms – and many share tips and tricks of how they’re managing to get by.
A 42-year-old woman told the Keele study: “I mean initially I started taking vitamin D. Had a joint vitamin C and zinc thing, which I didn’t take every day but I took some multivitamins, but then I was a bit unsure really… my husband’s quite anti-vitamin use… So anyway, then I took nothing for a while, and then I more recently started the vitamin D again, and I’m on B12 just because of all the burning in my feet… and a probiotic and some omega-3.”
Another female participant, 30, said she’s having acupuncture, massages and dry-needling to try and ease her symptoms, which she hopes will help: “What I found helpful for me with the fatigue was anti-inflammatory but also anti-histamine diet — it’s very strict, but it really helped me, so the moment I started to do it, I noticed improvements with the neurological symptoms as well.”
Malte Mueller via Getty Images
3. Not being believed by doctors is hard.
Many of the study’s participants described the difficulty of accessing care, partly due to the move to remote consulting during the pandemic, but also feeling their symptoms were not believed or recognised by healthcare professionals as warranting care. This is something those with long Covid have told HuffPost UK repeatedly.
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All participants emphasised the importance of finding the right GP: someone who would listen to and believe them, taking their concerns seriously.
A 40-year-old woman told researchers: “I tend to speak to different GPs every time. There was one GP who just thought it was all anxiety... she said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with your lungs. This is all anxiety. You must treat your anxiety. There’s nothing wrong with you. How are you going to manage the pandemic if you don’t treat your anxiety?’
“That was really upsetting because I knew I was short of breath... I just cried and also, it didn’t help because, at that stage, it wasn’t known about the ongoing symptoms and my husband wasn’t massively supportive at that time... I just felt very, very alone with no one to support me or talk to me.”
4. Relapsing symptoms are tough.
One 50-year-old patient described the ordeal of a relapse in symptoms, which many with long Covid appear to experience. They can feel like they’re getting better, only to be hit by a wall of fatigue – or a host of new symptoms – once more.
“I could still feel this weight on my chest. And then after about 14, 15 days I woke up one morning and it wasn’t there,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh I’m done’. It was such a relief, I can remember the feeling, you know thinking, ‘Oh, you know I’ve managed to get through it’.
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“And that’s when the fatigue hit... it was just like I’d been run over; you know I felt, gravity felt like it was applying extra on my limbs. And I couldn’t seem to manage to do anything, I stopped walking completely. And the doctor suggested, you know, post-viral fatigue and to rest, so I stopped doing anything at all.”
5. Pacing is really important.
Many long Covid patients cite the need to not overdo things in order to avoid a relapse of symptoms. A 34-year-old female patient said her symptoms are so bad she is unable to peel carrots immediately after peeling potatoes – she needs a rest between.
“I really have to pace myself… I couldn’t do two or three household chores back to back, I have to do a chore, sit down for 15, 20 minutes and then do the next, which frustrates me, it’s like peeling potatoes, I can’t peel the carrots straight afterwards,” she said.
sorbetto via Getty Images
6. Support groups can be a blessing, but in moderation.
Throughout the pandemic, many people with long-term symptoms of the virus have sought solace and support online. But some stressed that it can be quite anxiety-inducing too.
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A 34-year-old female patient said: “Initially it was very encouraging that I wasn’t on my own, and I wasn’t making it all up and I didn’t feel like I was the only one, but the more it’s gone on, it’s scary, so I try to avoid it now, it affects my mental health, and I don’t feel like I resonate any more with some of the stuff.”
Another female patient, aged 31, said of internet support groups: “Yeah on the Facebook groups that I’m on, I mean to be honest, I try not to read that group too much because it depresses me, makes me a bit anxious.”
7. Being listened to is a powerful thing.
Many of those still suffering from the illness simply wanted their voices to be heard – and for their experience to be recognised.
One 42-year-old female patient said: “I have to say it was a really powerful experience speaking to the GPs... just the experience of being heard and feeling like somebody got it and was being kind about it, but you know it was okay that they couldn’t do anything, I just kind of needed to know that I wasn’t losing it really and it was real what I was experiencing.”
Another said the same of her doctor. “She just listens a little bit more to what I’m saying and she’s much more willing to say, ‘Of course, we don’t really know what’s going on because it’s a new virus.’ She doesn’t try to pretend that she understands what’s going on, which is good.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--How A Fortnight Of Faffing Left Nottingham With England’s Worst Coronavirus Rate

Waking up to new government restrictions finally coming into force in Nottingham – the city with the worst coronavirus rate in England – Lisa Allison experienced conflicting emotions.
She felt relief that measures had finally been taken to tackle the huge rise in coronavirus cases affecting Nottingham. But she also believed they didn’t go far enough to curb the virus.
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Nottingham has been placed in tier 2 of the new three-tier lockdown system, escaping the most severe restrictions of tier 3 despite having the highest number of cases per 100,000 in the UK. It’s a move Allison brands as “ridiculous”.
A total of 2,547 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the East Midlands city in the seven days to October 12 – the equivalent of 765.1 per 100,000 people. Only Derry City and Strabane in Northern Ireland has more, with 991.6 cases.
Lisa Allison, who lives in Nottingham
Allison, 52, had been anxiously watching the case numbers. She has numerous health conditions and had to shield during the national lockdown.
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“As someone at risk of extreme complications if I contracted Covid-19, it is frightening to see cases rise like this.” she said. “Until recently, I took comfort in the knowledge that transmission rates in the city were low.
“Despite needing hospital tests and treatment, I am now worried about visiting hospital.”
Allison firmly believes Nottingham has been let down by a government that “failed to act consistently and speedily given how quickly the virus can spread” and she considers the new restrictions “too little, too late”.
“The government has failed to properly engage with the local authority and our leaders seem to have been as much in the dark as the public, which is pretty unnerving and destabilising,” she said.
“I almost feel like Nottingham has been a test case for seeing what happens when additional restrictions are not put in place in an area. We’ve been treated like guinea pigs.
“It’s clear to see now that, without restrictions, coronavirus can spiral.
“We should not have been left behind and I feel the people of Nottingham have been badly let down.”
“I almost feel like Nottingham has been a test case for seeing what happens when additional restrictions are not put in place in an area. We’ve been treated like guinea pigs” - Lisa Allison who lives in Nottingham
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Allison was angry to see Sherwood MP and Conservative chief whip Mark Spencer telling Nottinghamshire Live that the people of Nottingham should have used their “common sense” and “taken responsibility for themselves” before the government restrictions were put in place. “If common sense alone reduces transmission, why have restrictions in the first place?” she asked.
“It feels as though the people of Nottingham were left to fend for ourselves and work things out while the government focused on other areas of the country.”
A board displaying information how to restrict the spread of coronavirus in Nottingham OLI SCARFF via Getty Images
Nottingham musician James Laverty, 27, agrees that the city has been overlooked. “A lot of the attention around coronavirus has been focused on the north-south divide,” he said.
“With Nottingham floating in the middle, and being in the East Midlands, it feels like we’ve been forgotten and neglected while the attention has been focused on places like Manchester and Liverpool.”
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James Laverty, 27, a musician who lives in Nottingham James Laverty
James suffered a sudden cardiac arrest two-and-a-half years ago after going for a run and was fitted with an implantable defibrillator. He lives with his parents and his dad was shielding during the lockdown due to health conditions.
“I think some restrictions were lifted too early in July and, as people mixed more, it was clear cases were going to start creeping up,” he said.
“Greater numbers of people have gone back to work and more people were using public transport and that is bound to have an effect.
“But I also believe that while people abided by social distancing rules at first, as time went on, they became lax.
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“People wrongly presumed coronavirus had gone away and that we’d beaten it.”
The city’s political chief is David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council.
He knows all too well how slow the government was to react to Nottingham’s soaring infection rate.
Nottingham saw a dramatic rise in infections a fortnight ago. The addition of hundreds of “missed” positive cases due to a Test and Trace blunder saw its infection rate soar to nearly 300 per 100,000, sparking further concern among local leaders and a push for government restrictions.
But none came.
“We were led to believe restrictions would come into place last week,” said Mellen. “But it clearly did not fit in with government’s plans for a big announcement.
“It felt like we were abandoned as we did not fit in with their timetable.”
Every other city with infections at a similar level was under some form of local lockdown.
David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council. Nottingham City Council
As news began to leak that stricter measures were imminent, rather than waiting for the government announcement, Nottingham leaders issued their own guidance to residents last Thursday urging them not to mix with other households or to go out partying at the weekend ahead of the new restrictions.
“The guidelines we issued were quite similar to the tier 2 restrictions that have now been brought in,” said Mellen.
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“With this now becoming legislation, we will have more clout behind what we asked people to do.”
But one of the biggest questions on people’s lips is why Nottingham has not been placed into tier 3 lockdown when it has the highest infection rate in the country.
Mellen told HuffPost UK he believed the government took into account Nottingham’s hospitals, which are not experiencing the same pressures as some parts of the country.
“Although our hospitals are getting busier, they are not under undue pressure as yet,” he explained. “Also, we don’t have as many cases of the virus in our over-65 population. The majority of our cases are among younger people.”
Some are blaming the city’s 50,000 university students for the surge in cases: figures reveal that around three-quarters of new positive cases in a seven-day period were among young people aged 18 to 22.
With Nottingham having two large universities – the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University – Mellen said it was not surprising there has been such a spike among young people. But he doesn’t blame them. “Universities were encouraged to bring students in by the government,” he said.
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A woman wearing a face mask in Nottingham. PA
The government has left the city in no doubt that it will be moved to tier 3 if things don’t improve quickly, Mellen added.
He fears the government’s delays and inaction for the last couple of weeks could have serious repercussions. “Unfortunately, in that time, the number of coronavirus infections has gone up and the number of people who have gone into hospital with coronavirus has gone up.
“Sadly, some of the people who have been admitted to hospital will not come out again.
“Although the government is not to blame for coronavirus, we need a government which is responsive rather than one that delays action.”
Councillor Gul Nawaz Khan, representing the Dales ward of Nottingham, told HuffPost UK his constituents have felt frustrated and frightened at the high level of cases and many have been desperate to see measures in place.
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Councillor Gul Nawaz Khan Nottingham City Council
“The council was arguing with the government last week that we needed restrictions immediately but they were refusing. It is good they have finally happened, but it should have been done last week or the week before.
“The problem is Boris Johnson doesn’t listen to anyone and just does what he likes.
“I think we need tougher lockdown restrictions and should be on tier 3. People’s lives are more important than business and money.
“The people of Nottingham would endure the pain of a stricter lockdown if it meant everyone being safer.”
“I think we need tougher lockdown restrictions and should be on Tier 3. People’s lives are more important than business and money.” - Councillor Gul Nawaz Khan, Nottingham
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Isobel Thrower, 56, a Nottingham resident, says before the new students arrived a few weeks ago there were no concerns about the city’s coronavirus cases.
She says it is clear the high number of coronavirus cases in Nottingham is due to the huge university population.
Like Mellen, though, she is angry at the government for encouraging them to return to uni, rather than at the young people themselves.
“We all made sacrifices during the national lockdown but because the government didn’t think through the consequences of people going to universities all over the country, all that hard work has been undone.” - Isobel Thrower who lives in Nottingham
“I think the students have had a raw deal,” she said. “They are sitting in their rooms isolating and having online lectures and having the finger of blame pointed at them and being made to be the scapegoats.
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“I don’t blame the students for wanting to go to the pub. They are living in halls of residence with people they don’t know and are young people.
“But I am angry for me and the people of Nottingham and am also angry for the students.
“Thankfully, students are unlikely to get very ill or die from coronavirus. But other people are suffering the consequences as the cases have gone through the roof.
“I can’t visit my grandchildren in London now with these new restrictions as I would only be allowed to meet them outside.
“I am furious at the government for encouraging students to go back to universities.
“I feel we all made sacrifices during the national lockdown but because the government didn’t think through the consequences of people going to universities all over the country, all that hard work has been undone.”
Dr Jenni Cauvain, a senior lecturer in sociology at Nottingham Trent University, told HuffPost UK poverty and inequalities lie at the heart of Nottingham’s high coronavirus rate.
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She said Nottingham is frequently named the UK’s poorest city on a government list looking at the disposable income of households – and highlighted that it is usually a “race” between Nottingham and Leicester as to which comes bottom of the income scale.
Jenni Cauvain, a senior lecturer in sociology at Nottingham Trent University Dr Jenni Cauvain
Cauvain said it is no coincidence that both these places have been hit hard by coronavirus. “Nottingham has one of the lowest incomes in the country and wages are lower than other comparable cities.” she said.
“Nottingham is hugely vulnerable to coronavirus.”
Cauvain says while hospital admission rates for Covid-19 might not be as high as some places at the moment, the fear is where they will be in a few weeks’ time. “Why are we always reacting to things after the event?” she asked.
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She also believes northern mayors are vocal about getting attention for their cities and that Nottingham suffers as it doesn’t have a similar champion.
“I think a lot of places including Nottingham have been left in limbo and let down by this government,” she said. “I believe they are too incompetent to handle this crisis.”
Dr Jamie Parker, a GP in Nottingham, told HuffPost UK his main bugbear is the length of time it took to announce restrictions for Nottingham. They were finally revealed on Monday, two days ahead of their coming into force, but there had been speculation in the national press following a briefing to The Times about a three-tier system nearly a week earlier.
“Delaying the formal announcement yet hinting or leaking that stricter measures were going to come into place before a weekend was irresponsible and dangerous,” he said.
Dr Jamie Parker, a GP in Nottingham,
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He fears Nottingham will pay the price in two or three weeks when hospital admissions rise and the death toll increases.
“With cases rising sharply, quick action is needed,” he said. “Hospital admissions tend to lag behind a rise in rates – it takes time to see the effect as more people become infected.
“Proportionally, more people become seriously unwell, but the delay between the two is a few weeks.
“The delay to fit in with the three-tier announcement will have cost lives.
“As we saw with the first lockdown, delay in action leads to worse outcomes. It is very sad we are in this situation again.”
Sonia Shah owns Indian fine dining restaurant Bombay Bridgford. She says her main aim has been making sure she, her staff and customers are safe, and they have enforced strict cleaning and social distancing measures.
Sonia Shah, owner of Indian fine dining restaurant Bombay Bridgford Sonia Shah
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She admitted the future has felt very uncertain and with rising infection rates she had many “sleepless nights feeling anxious”.
“I saw places shutting down left, right and centre and knew it was about remaining open and surviving,” she said.
“I think everyone is going to get coronavirus at some point. These restrictions are about slowing it down to avoid burdening the NHS.
“The tier 2 restrictions mean we are still allowed to trade, but only have customers who are from the same household.
“I have bookings for the rest of the week but I have to ring them to make sure they are all from the same household.”
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She added: “The most important thing I have learnt during this crisis is that we have to be open to adapting as the situation is changing all the time.”
Alison Challenger, Nottingham’s interim director of public health, told HuffPost UK all age groups – not just young people – had seen a rise in case numbers, and called for a collective fight against the virus.
Alison Challenger, director of public health in Nottingham Nottingham City Council
“We need to see a rapid reduction in cases as we don’t want to see our hospitals under pressure,” she said.
“The next few days and weeks will be critical for Nottingham to see if we can change the high rate of infection.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--I Lost My Best Friend To QAnon

I Lost My Best Friend To QAnon

Like many other people, Tim (not his real name) had always maintained a casual interest in conspiracy theories. After all, who hasn’t indulged in hypotheses about UFOs over a pint?
But this one was different.
It was cultish, involved real people, and made claims that were deeply anti-semitic and damaging. This one was QAnon, the rapidly spreading conspiracy theory that, after originating online in the US, is now reportedly gaining ground here in the UK. Said to be led by an anonymous leader called Q, the repeatedly debunked conspiracy primarily revolves around the idea that President Trump is a patriot secretly working against the ‘deep state’ to reveal an extensive, elite network of child abusers, baselessly accusing high-profile figures from Hillary Clinton to Tom Hanks to Chrissy Teigen.
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As lockdown took hold, Tim gradually phased from reposting funny TikToks to sharing outlandish posts on Facebook from unverifiable sources. During our weekly chats, I gently refuted his posts with news reports disproving his sources. But, without irony, he would always angrily tell me I was “brainwashed”, and that my consumption of mainstream media made me “part of the problem.” I was hurt and shocked, of course, but also alarmed: we’d had our fair share of arguments over the years, but never have I seen him be this combative. Over the next few weeks I continued trying to reason with him, to no avail. Eventually I was unfriended and blocked from viewing his Facebook profile. My calls and messages to him went ignored.
Just like that, a friendship of fifteen years ended. Not hearing from him after the first week sent me into a daze, considering we had exchanged memes nearly every day for years. I was overcome with pangs of guilt, wondering if I did enough to persuade him, or could have perhaps attempted my reasoning with him in a less overwhelming manner.
“For Tim, it was only in the last six months that his obsession with QAnon really took hold. Having lost his job at the start of lockdown, he spiralled into frustration and anxiety and sought solace on Facebook groups and forums.”
I also felt conflicted, wondering how much of this indoctrination was actually his doing. Conspiracy theories tend to spread more easily during uncertain times, often as a means for people to gain control and make sense of what’s happening in their lives. Understandably, many have become vulnerable during a pandemic that has thrown life as we know it into disarray. For Tim, it was only in the last six months that his obsession with QAnon really took hold. Having lost his job at the start of lockdown, he spiralled into frustration and anxiety and sought solace on Facebook groups and forums, eventually joining those with a focus on QAnon and similarly outlandish conspiracy theories.
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After losing Tim’s friendship I, too, found support online – on the Reddit forum r/QAnonCasualties. Consisting of close to 30,000 members, the group has been a place for many around the world to vent their frustrations about estranged family members and friends lost to QAnon. I’d initially chanced upon the site whilst researching ways to get through to QAnon believers, but after it became clear that Tim was a lost cause, I found myself coming back to the forum to find communal empathy and make the process of grieving my friendship feel less isolating. No one else in my social circles had ever experienced anything remotely similar.
Worryingly, I’ve seen an increase in posts from others in the UK. The large attendance at the anti-lockdown protest in London last month was testament to the delusion of QAnon gaining ground in Britain, where a number of signs bearing the unmistakable “Q” logo and their slogan “Where we go one, we go all” (or “WWG1WGA”) were spotted in a largely maskless crowd that also supported conspiracy theories such as 5G causing coronavirus, coronavirus being a hoax, and vaccines causing autism.
QAnon is also being propelled to the mainstream by a growing number of Instagram influencers and self-styled wellness gurus, with followers numbering in the multimillions, not to mention Donald Trump himself, who has given implicit approval of the conspiracy by claiming they are people who “love our country”.
This mainstream credibility of QAnon has threatened the safety of innocent people, as individuals claiming to be or know the anonymous “Q” have accused people who have openly disagreed with Trump of being “deep state operatives”. Of course, these are outlandish claims, and anyone can claim or manufacture this “knowledge”. But given the increasing ubiquity of QAnon, I fear that these claims will come to be recognised as legitimate, when in reality they are simply disguises by disingenuous trolls to propagate racist and anti-Semitic views, even amongst unwitting (I hope) pawns like Tim.
“We are living in one of the most socially and politically fraught moments in our lifetime, and conspiracy theories like this threaten to widen the divide even more.”
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News that major platforms such as Facebook, Etsy, and Depop have committed to banning QAnon-related posts and products may seem like good news. Yet knowing Tim’s deeply held anti-media beliefs – yet another product of QAnon – a part of me fears that any official action to combat its presence on these sites may be used to reinforce the self-styled “Q Army” claims of censorship by the media, and therefore only strengthening their mistrust of mainstream news and society.
I also worry such commitments may be too little, too late. As has come to be the norm for social media platforms, rules have been inadequately and unevenly applied. In the case of QAnon many Facebook groups remain active, and individual high-profile accounts are unaffected by this ban. Though I’m frustrated that I may have intervened too late to be able to dissuade Tim, I’m angry at these platforms for having allowed such misinformation to spread as quickly as it has. Investigations have revealed that Facebook’s recommendation algorithm had routinely pointed users who had expressed interest in other conspiracy theories to QAnon groups.
As it becomes mainstream, no longer can we consider QAnon a faraway, absurd fascination. Increasingly we will find people in our lives impacted in some way by these baseless accusations. We are living in one of the most socially and politically fraught moments in our lifetime, and conspiracy theories like this threaten to widen the divide even more.
Never would I have imagined someone in their 20s – let alone my own best friend – would have their lives taken over by such an improbable conspiracy, to such an extraordinary extent. Tim’s internet savvy was not enough to prevent him falling into this trap, and I fear that anyone, young or old, could be next.
Laura is a freelance writer, writing under a pseudonym
Have a compelling personal story you want to tell? Find out what we’re looking for here, and pitch us on ukpersonal@huffpost.com


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Good Housekeeping's Best Christmas Food List For 2020 Is Here

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If you’re scratching your head over where to buy your big Christmas food shop this year, the ultimate taste test of Christmas puddings, mince pies, pigs in blankets and more has just dropped.
The results of Good Housekeeping’s annual Christmas Taste Test have been revealed – with Marks and Spencer and Waitrose & Partners crowned the joint best supermarkets to shop at.
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M&S nabbed the top spot in the Christmas pudding, gravy and frozen turkey and crowns categories, while Waitrose came out on top in the Christmas cake, champagne and yule log categories.
Sarsmis via Getty Images
Each year, Good Housekeeping Institute taste experts get together with a well consumer panel to test products. They tried 423 products this year, scoring on factors including appearance, aroma, flavour and texture. Here are the winners.
Best frozen turkey
M&S, British Stuffed Oakham Turkey Crown (£28 for 2kg).
Scored 92/100 thanks to its smoky bacon-wrapped turkey crown and its sweet onion and sage stuffing.
The runner up was Aldi’s Specially Selected Stuffed Turkey Crown, £17.99 for 1.8-2.3kg.
Best meat-free main
Lidl’s Caramelised Onion & Goat’s Cheese Tartlets (£1.69 for 2x120g).
The tartlets, which are suitable for vegetarians, scored 82/100 thanks to their winning combo of flakey, buttery puff pastry, creamy goat’s cheese and sticky, caramelised red onion.
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An honourable mention goes to Waitrose’s Vegan Festive Swirls (£6.99 for 480g) the top choice for vegans, scoring 79/100 thanks to their mix of caramelised tomatoes, red peppers, spinach and herbs inside a golden filo pastry case.
Best pigs in blankets
Farmison & Co Luxury Chestnut, Sage & Apricot Pigs in Blankets (£7.95 for 300g).
Scored 86/100 from testers who were impressed with the flavour of the tender pork sausages wrapped in crispy salty bacon with hints of apricot and sage.
The runner up was M&S British Outdoor Bred Pork 12 Pigs in Blankets wrapped in Oak Smoked Bacon, (£3.50 for 282g).
Best gravy
M&S Cook with Onion Gravy (£2 for 350g).
Once again M&S came out on top, with a score of 81/100 for its gravy. Softened slices of onions in a rich and meaty stock proved popular with testers.
The runner up was Aah! Bisto Onion Gravy Granules, (£1.50 for 170g).
Best mince pies
Costa Coffee All Butter Mince Pies (£2 for one mince pie).
In an interesting turn of events, the best mince pies came from a coffee shop, not a supermarket. Costa’s pies scored an impressive 90/100 and were praised for their crispy, golden pastry and zesty citrus filling with a mixed spice flavour.
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Iceland’s Luxury 6 Mince Pies (£1.89 for a pack of six) followed closely behind with 87/100.
Best gluten free mince pie
Costa Coffee Gluten Free Mince Tart (£2 for one mince pie).
Scored 73/100 and testers loved the melt-in-the-mouth pastry – as an added bonus, this mince pie is also vegan-friendly.
M&S Made Without Gluten Free 4 Mince Pies, (£2.50 for 205g), was the runner up.
Best traditional Christmas pudding
M&S Vintage Christmas Pudding (£15 for 800g).
This hearty pud scored 92/100. Testers loved the fact it was deeply rich and packed full of juicy vine fruits, Christmas spices and booze-soaked nuts.
The runner up was Daylesford Organic’s Traditional Christmas Pudding, (£20 for 900g).
Christmas pudding with a twist
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Salted Maple & Pecan Christmas Pudding (£6 for 400g).
Scored 86/100 for its irresistibly nutty salted caramel-like sauce with sweet yet tart vine fruits.
The runner up is M&S’s Collection Chocolate & Orange Pudding, (£12 for 700g).
Dessert centrepiece
Morrisons The Best Chocolate Orange Pudding (£6 for 500g).
It scored 86/100 for its moist and light sponge, gooey chocolate centre, and fresh orange flavour.
There were two runners up, both with 82 points: Aldi Specially Selected Golden Twist Sticky Toffee Pudding, (£5.99 for 700g), and Co-op Truly Irresistible Fully Loaded Billionaires Dessert, (£6.00 for 600g).
Best supermarket own-label Champagne
Waitrose Blanc de Noirs Brut NV Champagne (£23.99 for 75cl).
The beverage impressed the panel with its smooth bubbles and beautifully balanced, rich and fruity flavour – it scored 84/100.
The runner up was Aldi’s Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut, (£12.69 for 75cl).
Supermarket own-label Prosecco
Ocado’s Abbazia Fiorino Prosecco d.o.c. (£9.99 for 75cl).
This easy drinking prosecco has a juicy pear and baked apple flavour with fine, lively bubbles and a smooth finish. So it’s no wonder it scored an impressive 90/100.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Remdesivir Has 'Little Or No Effect’ On Covid Patient Mortality, Says World Health Organisation

Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Antiviral drug remdesivir has “little or no effect” on a hospitalised Covid-19 patients’ chances of survival, a World Health Organisation (WHO) clinical trial has suggested.
The potential coronavirus treatment option is one of four repurposed drugs being examined under the UN agency’s large Solidarity trial that launched in March.
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Randomised trials at hospitals around the world have involved remdesivir, lopinavir, hydroxychloroquine and interferon-beta 1a – looking to assess their impact on inpatient mortality.
The hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir arms of the trials were discontinued on June 20 and July 4 respectively.
In a statement provided to the PA news agency on Thursday evening, the WHO press office said results from these first four treatment options of the Solidarity trial were “unpromising”.
“The trial found that remdesivir, hydroxychloqoquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and Interferon have little or no effect on mortality for hospitalized patients,” WHO said.
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“Other uses of the drugs, for example in community and pre-hospital settings, would have to be examined using different trial designs.”
It added: “For each drug in the study, the effect on mortality was disappointingly unpromising. These results were not significantly affected by the exclusion of certain countries, regions or subgroups.”
The statement was provided after the FT newspaper reported it had seen a copy of a not-yet-peer-reviewed trial study revealing the drugs had little effect on in-hospital mortality nor on how long patients stayed in hospital.
Remdesivir was one of the treatments given to US President Donald Trump after he tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month.
It was first developed as a treatment for Ebola, and works by disrupting the virus’ ability to replicate.
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Clinical trials have shown the drug cuts the duration of symptoms from 15 days to 11, but there has previously been no data on survival.
The European Commission has sealed a deal with pharmaceutical company Gilead to buy 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir, to ensure it can be stockpiled.
WHO said that over the space of six months the Solidarity trial was “able to generate conclusive evidence on the impact the repurposed drugs had on mortality, the need for ventilation, and duration of hospital stay” – something it said could not be addressed through many smaller trials.
“Although the results for the first four treatment options evaluated were unpromising, this global platform works well and is now available to rapidly evaluate promising new treatment options,” the agency said.
WHO said the trial will continue, with its International Steering Committee deciding which arms would continue in the randomisation.
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“The global platform of the Solidarity trial is ready to rapidly evaluate promising new treatment options, with nearly 500 hospitals open as trial sites,” it said.
“Newer antiviral drugs, immunomodulators and anti-Sars COV-2 monoclonal antibodies are now being considered for evaluation via the Solidarity Therapeutics trial.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Are Johnson And Sunak Ready To Pay The Price To Avoid A National Lockdown?

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He may have an 80-seat majority in parliament, but Boris Johnson’s government right now feels as beleaguered as the precarious Theresa May administration it replaced.
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Take just today’s developments: Louise Casey says Britons face “destitution” this winter; Marcus Rashford is in a new war with No.10 over a “Scrooge”-like refusal to pay free school meals over the Christmas break; Dido Harding’s test-and-trace posts record low contact tracing figures; and both Tory MPs and Labour local leaders are in revolt over the tiered risk system. All while hospitalisations soar.
The PM may have cannon to the left of him and cannon to the right of him, but it’s the elderly and vulnerable who will be walking into the valley of death in coming months if he fails to get a grip on the second wave crisis.
Yet despite all this, Johnson was invisible. It was left to advisor Eddie Lister to deal with council chiefs, to junior minister Helen Whately to take the wrath of MPs on various Zoom calls, to Matt Hancock to face friendly and unfriendly fire in the Commons and to the PM’s spokesman to deal with Rashford and Casey.
One person who certainly was visible was Andy Burnham. The mayor of Greater of Manchester mixed his metaphors when he claimed his region was being treated like both a “sacrificial lamb” and “canaries in the coal mine”. However his main point was a powerful one: why should the public support an untested system of local lockdowns that lacked both scientific evidence and cash.
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The sheer anger of those involved was palpable. Oldham council leader Sean Fielding suggested Lister’s opening line was: “We either do Tier 3 with you or impose it...there is no money”. After the call with Whately, Tory MP William Wragg said the meeting “was entirely pointless - you may as well talk to a wall”.
Hancock tried to placate MPs in the Commons yet it was obvious he wanted to crack on with or possibly without local leaders’ approval. “No further decisions have yet been made, but we need to make rapid progress,” he said. Putting Greater Manchester or Lancashire into new lockdown could yet happen tomorrow. It will be a huge call to make, but it will have to be the PM’s.
What will worry Johnson is the way both Burnham and Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese today hinted that his new tiering system lacked the backing of deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam.
The area would need much tougher measures than just shutting pubs and would need neighbouring regions to join in. And here was the kicker: “even then, it would not be certain to work”. Leese added: “What we’re asked to do is accept a proposal which the government’s own advisers say won’t work.”
But just as the PM hid well beneath the surface of these stormy seas like a worried submarine, the chancellor too was conspicuous by his absence. And ultimately it may be Rishi Sunak who holds the key to many of these problems. Burnham’s clear financial demands are for a return to 80% furlough for workers affected, 80% income support for the self-employed and real compensation for firms.
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Given that the government insists this tiering is only temporary (because it will work) and given that it is local, the cost to the Treasury doesn’t look enormous. Would increasing its support from 67% of wages to 80% support really break the bank? As Casey put it with characteristic bluntness: “You can only afford two-thirds of your rent, you can only afford two-thirds of the food that you need to put on the table.”
Similarly, the cost of paying free school meals during holidays, at least until next Easter, is relatively tiny – though the political cost of going up against Marcus Rashford is potentially huge. One Tory former minister told me today the No.10 line was “just crass”. And Rob Halfon slammed it as hugely disappointing.
It’s arguable too that NHS Test and Trace’s problems could be ameliorated by more money: paid to local public health teams rather than private contractors (see the Germany experience below), and by decent statutory sick pay or “jury pay” for those who self-isolate.
It’s not Hancock or Gavin Williamson who hold the cards here, it’s Sunak – and the First Lord of the Treasury himself, the prime minister. Remember their twin mantras at the start of the pandemic – “we will do whatever it takes” and “no one should be penalised for doing the right thing”?
If Johnson really wants to roll the dice on his three-tiers system, he’s going to have to pay for it, either in hard cash or in political capital. Or both.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Labour Split Over Bill That Allows Intelligence Agents To Break The Law

Labour party leader Keir Starmer in the House of Commons ASSOCIATED PRESS
Labour leader Keir Starmer was hit with three resignations as his backbenchers staged a Commons rebellion over the government’s new so-called spy powers legislation.
Margaret Greenwood quit as shadow schools minister and Dan Carden resigned as shadow Treasury minister so they could vote against the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill, which passed its third reading on Thursday.
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Navendu Mishra resigned from his role as aide to deputy leader Angela Rayner over the bill, which 34 Labour MPs in total voted against.
Starmer had ordered his MPs to abstain, but Liverpool Walton’s Carden said it was a “matter of conscience” and that he felt the legislation sets “dangerous new precedents” on the rule of law and civil liberties.
Greenwood echoed those sentiments and Mishra said he believed voting against the Bill “sends a clearer message about the strength of our concerns”.
Sarah Owen, who was promoted just days earlier to serve as shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves’ parliamentary aide, also quit to join the rebels.
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The bill is aimed at allowing confidential informants working for MI5 or the police to break the law in certain circumstances.
But opponents say the bill remains dangerously vague as it fails to explicitly ban agents from being authorised to kill, torture or rape.
Former leader Jeremy Corbyn, ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell and former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott were among the 34 Labour rebels to vote against the bill.
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn
It came after MPs rejected a Labour amendment, which would have prohibited undercover agents from causing death or bodily harm, violating the “sexual integrity” of a person, and subjecting someone to “torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
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Corbyn warned it was “an absolute travesty of parliamentary accountability” for the bill to be rushed through the Commons, with consideration of amendments squeezed into a three-hour debate.
He told MPs: “What has come out from those of us who have good friends in environmental groups, in human rights groups, in trade unions and many other campaigns is the sheer arrogance of police undercover operations that have infiltrated wholly legitimate and legal operations in order to disrupt them, spread negative information and cause problems for them.
“If we live in a free and democratic society, obviously criminality is not acceptable, obviously policing is required to deal with criminality, but you don’t deal with criminality by authorising criminality through undercover policing operations into those groups.”
The Bill aims to protect undercover operatives from prosecution if they are forced to break the law on operations, and also seeks to define circumstances in which operatives can commit crime – replacing various pieces of overlapping legislation.
It will cover 13 law enforcement and government agencies, including the police, the National Crime Agency, the armed forces and the Prison Service.
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Ministers have previously denied the bill gives undercover agents a “licence to kill” and insisted the upper limits on what operatives can be authorised to do already exist.
They say they are contained in the Human Rights Act, which includes the right to life, prohibition of torture, and prohibition of subjecting someone to inhuman or degrading treatment.
The series of attempts to amend the bill also saw some Tories defy Boris Johnson.
It is with a heavy heart that I resigned as a PPS before this afternoon's vote on the #CHISBill.
I will continue to support @AngelaRayner and @Keir_Starmer from the backbenches and do all I can to help secure a Labour Government 🌹 pic.twitter.com/4O1RiZhHtc — Navendu Mishra MP (@NavPMishra) October 15, 2020
Speaking during the committee stage debate, Tory former minister David Davis, who rebelled to vote for the Labour amendment, said the US and Canada have “specific limits” on the crimes their agents can commit.
He said: “The trouble is, others do it better. America and Canada learnt the hard way that we need to include specific limits in the crimes that agents can commit.
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“In these countries, both informants and their handlers were involved in carrying out numerous cases of racketeering and murder and they were found out, and since, both countries have set clear limits.”
Labour backbencher MP Stella Creasy also failed to secure changes to better protect vulnerable child agents.
Replying for the government, Home Office minister James Brokenshire said he is “giving careful consideration” to how oversight of the security forces could be enhanced as the bill undergoes further scrutiny in the Lords.
He said the government believes “deep and retrospective oversight” is the best method to hold the security services accountable with “regular and thorough inspections”.
Brokenshire told the Commons: “I am giving careful consideration to how this retrospective oversight could be strengthened further and how this might be addressed further in the Bill’s passage in the other place.”
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Home Secretary Priti Patel, meanwhile, accused Labour of failing to stand up for police forces.
She said in a statement: “Once again, Labour has refused to stand up for those who protect our country and keep us all safe.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Return Of No.10 Covid Briefings Would Rally Public To Follow Rules, Senior Tory Says

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Boris Johnson should reinstate daily Downing Street coronavirus press conferences to help the public buy into local lockdowns and follow the rules, a Tory ex-cabinet minister has said.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan told HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast that daily No.10 briefings would give the public a better understanding of the perilous situation and could make them more likely to comply with restrictions.
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She spoke as the prime minister ordered more stringent rules for London and other areas of the country and amid Labour calls for a circuit breaker lockdown to tackle a surge in Covid-19.
Greater Manchester is currently resisting government pressure to enter the “very high” level of restrictions, with some of the city’s political figures arguing that existing bans on household mixing have failed to get cases down.
Trevelyan, who was in the cabinet during the first wave of Covid but never fronted a press conference, acknowledged that the most difficult issue facing Johnson is getting people to comply with restrictions after seven months.
But she backed ongoing restrictions, arguing that routine NHS care, including A&E treatment, may have to be cancelled if the health service is overwhelmed with Covid patients.
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“It doesn’t matter if you’re 20, 30, 90 or four years old, if your mum can’t get her breast cancer treatment because the hospital is full, if your child falls out of a tree with a broken arm and can’t get into [hospital] – this is suddenly everybody’s problem,” Trevleyan told Commons People.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan leaving Downing Street, London PA
She suggested that bringing back daily press conferences might make people better tune in to the seriousness of the situation and overcome lockdown fatigue.
The former international development secretary said: “[Johnson] has got a really difficult challenge which is for this winter [...] we’ve got to manage it and that’s a long hard slog for everybody, but everybody has got to buy into it.
“The challenge for the prime minister is to ensure people can buy into that and really understand why.
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“Personally, I think we should bring back the daily update because talking to constituents, who don’t, like all of us, live in a political bubble and are daily aware of the numbers and the changes – they get home from wherever their job is, they get the kids in, they put the tea on the table and they turn the telly on, and that’s their half hour of the day where they absorb information.
“And it was really well received – I think that’s something that gave people both an understanding and a sense of the continuity of the problem, which is what we’ve really got to embed, sadly.
“It’s hard yards for this one.”
Sunday viewing figures for the briefings had dwindled to two million when the decision was taken to axe the weekend broadcasts, but figures for the most recent briefings at the end of June are not available.
Prime minister Boris Johnson, centre, gestures to chief medical officer Chris Whitty, left and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, during a coronavirus news conference at 10 Downing Street, in London in March ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trevelyan, meanwhile, defended the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants that has caused anger on Tory backbenches.
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She argued that A&E admission rates had gone down because people were getting less drunk, at a time when the NHS needs all the capacity it can get.
The Berwick-upon-Tweed MP said: “When everyone goes out on the hoy in Newcastle of a Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night – a lot of people end up in A&E and they are put on a drip or they are left over a bucket and watched over by a very kindly nurse and when they have stopped clearing their system, they get sent home again.
“But it fills up the hospital.
“If we’ve got a hospital full of people with Covid, which is a nasty disease that requires a lot of medical care, and indeed you have to separate them from others in the hospital, you just reduce capacity.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Is A Circuit Breaker Coronavirus Lockdown Inevitable?

Is A Circuit Breaker Coronavirus Lockdown Inevitable?
Joining Arj Singh, Paul Waugh and Rachel Wearmouth, former cabinet minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan discusses the plans, how to get people to keep complying with Covid rules, and whether Brexit needs more attention as Boris Johnson’s October deadline for a deal passes.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Game Of Thrones' Joe Dempsie Has A Convincing Theory About One Of The Show's Unanswered Questions

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Game Of Thrones might have wrapped up over a year ago, but there’s still a number of questions that were left unanswered.
However, former star Joe Dempsie has a convincing theory about a loose end relating to his character Gendry Baratheon.
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In an interview with NME, the actor admitted he was disappointed to never find out who Gendry’s mother was, but thinks he’s managed to work it out.
Joe Dempsie as Gendry in Game Of Thrones HBO
“I have a theory that it was actually Cersei and he was actually [her and Robert Baratheon’s] only biological child,” he revealed to the publication.
“In season one, when Ned Stark comes to visit him, he asks him about his parents and he said he never knew his father but his mother had yellow hair. I remember thinking, that’s too loaded a line not to mean anything.”
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During the interview, Joe also addressed the controversy over the show’s finale, but has been the subject of much discussion among fans since it aired in 2019.
“They were never going to please everybody,” Joe said. “I think in some ways that’s indicative of how popular the show had become. The audience is so huge you can’t please them all… There are some criticisms of season eight I think are warranted and some that I think are just subjective opinion.”
He continued: ”[The response] was difficult for some of us to take, just because we knew we’d worked so hard… The petitions to get it remade, we took those with a pinch of salt. ‘Good luck with that one. You got a spare $500 million?’”
Meanwhile, the cast of Game Of Thrones prequel series, House Of The Dragon has started to be revealed, with Paddy Considine taking on the role of King Viserys Targaryen.
The new show is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, which tells the history of the Targaryens, and is set “a couple centuries” before Game Of Thrones, the author wrote on his Not A Blog in 2019.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Italy Placed On England's Travel Quarantine List

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Italy has been removed from England’s travel corridor list, meaning people returning from the country will have to self-isolate for 14 days if they return after 4am on Sunday.
The new rule also applies to San Marino and the Vatican City State.
But the Greek island of Crete has been added to the travel corridor list following a decrease in confirmed cases of coronavirus.
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Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own exemption lists which are similar but not identical.
Italy recorded its highest ever daily number of coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with 7,332. This brings its seven-day rate of cases per 100,000 people to 64.
A rate of 20 is the threshold above which the government considers triggering quarantine conditions.
The figures were calculated by the PA news agency based on data collected by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
The removal of Italy’s exemption is a further blow to the UK’s travel industry as it is one of its last big markets without a quarantine requirement for returning holidaymakers.
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Last week Italy introduced compulsory coronavirus testing for arriving UK visitors.
Arrivals from European countries such as the UK, France and Spain must provide evidence of a negative test taken in the 72 hours prior to travel.
Visitors unable to provide proof of a negative result at the border have to take a test in Italy.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--A Queen From Drag Race Holland Did Joe Exotic On Snatch Game And Nailed The Tiger King Star

Snatch Game always separates the true queens from the pretenders to the Drag Race throne.
After The Vivienne’s show-stealing turn as Donald Trump on Drag Race UK last year, she set the bar high for future queens.
But one contestant from Drag Race Holland has taken notes, it seems.
Instead of opting for a Dutch star, ChelseaBoy took on Joe Exotic for Drag Race Holland’s first ever Snatch Game, and it really is quite something…
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We’ve absolutely no idea who the other queens are impersonating, but ChelseaBoy… shantay, you stay.
Meanwhile, the BBC has offered an update as to what is going on with the second series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
The British version of the hit US reality competition launched last year, with a second run originally scheduled for the autumn.
However, like many other TV shows, plans were thrown into chaos when production was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic shortly after filming began.
Speaking at the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival in August, BBC Three Controller Fiona Campbell gave fans hope that filming will be complete before the end of the year.
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Revealing that filming was already “midway” through prior to lockdown, she said: “It’s currently being ‘regrouped’, as we say.
“I think the best thing I can say is hopefully if we all stay well and stable in the UK like we are now, we’ll get it done by the end of the year. But yeah, it’s regrouping as we speak.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Andy Burnham Accuses Government Of Treating Greater Manchester Like A 'Sacrificial Lamb'

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Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has accused ministers of treating the region as a “sacrificial lamb”.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Burnham said he was “fighting back for fairness” and will “stand firm” against the government’s bid to place the region into a tier 3 local lockdown.
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The government can still introduce tougher local restrictions if it wants to without his agreement.
Under that level, people from different households are not allowed to mix, pubs and bars not serving food are forced to close and people are told not to travel outside the area.
But ministers must work with local leaders to decide if more closures take place – for example, of all pubs, gyms and leisure centres, or casinos.
The Labour mayor said any tougher lockdown needed to be accompanied with financial support for the people and businesses affected.
Burnham said tier 3 would “sacrifice jobs and businesses” in the region “to try and save them elsewhere”.
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He also claimed England’s deputy chief medical officer had told him a nationwide lockdown was the “only certain thing to work”.
“We have to protect the health of the nation but let’s do it as one nation, and not make the north of England the sacrificial lamb for an ill-thought-through Downing Street policy which doesn’t make sense in the real world,” he said.
Burnham said the government was “treating us with contempt”, adding: “People are fed up of being treated in this way, the North is fed up of being pushed around.
“We aren’t going to be pushed around any more.”
He argued it would “cost less to support people now rather than let businesses go to the wall” and damage the speed of the post-Covid economic recovery.
It came as millions more people in London and across England will be moved into tier 2 from this weekend.
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The capital, along with Essex, Elmbridge, Barrow-in-Furness, York, North East Derbyshire, Erewash and Chesterfield will have a ban on households mixing indoors, including pubs and restaurants.
He told MPs on Thursday morning “local action is at the centre of our response”.
“The virus is not spread evenly. The situation is particularly severe in some parts of the country,” he said. “We know we can control the virus because we have done it before.
“We must act now. Delayed actions means more deaths from Covid. It means more non-Covid deaths. And it means more economic pain later.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Mary Trump Predicts How Donald Trump Would React To An Election Loss

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Mary Trump said her uncle Donald Trump is in for a “rough ride” should his Democratic opponent Joe Biden win the presidential election.
On Tuesday, CNN host Don Lemon asked the president’s niece – a clinical psychologist who published a tell-all book about her uncle and family in July – how she thinks Trump might react if he loses his reelection bid, given his upbringing and “who he is.”
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The president, who has been trailing Biden in the polls, told a rally audience in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday that Biden is the worst presidential candidate of all time. He said it would be “disgusting” if he lost to the Democrat.
If Trump does end up losing, “he’s setting himself up to look really bad,” his niece assessed. “He’s not going to take it well. Losing is not an acceptable thing in my family. My grandfather set his business up and his family up as a zero-sum game, and that meant only one person could win and everybody else needed to lose.”
“In order to win, Donald was trained to do everything it took, whether it’s lying, cheating or stealing.”
She also said that for the first time in his life, her uncle has almost nobody left to bail him out ― a pressure she said he’s very unfamiliar with.
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Trump’s niece characterised the president’s recent behaviour – including a desperate plea at Tuesday’s rally for suburban women to “please like me” – as being “uncharacteristically obviously weak” and something he would typically have criticised others for.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--MP Who Took Train To Scotland Despite Positive Covid Test Will Face No Action From Met Police

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The Scottish MP who travelled from London to Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus will face no action from the Met Police because the regulations on self-isolation came in after she was tested.
Scotland Yard detectives had been investigating Margaret Ferrier’s account of taking a train between London and Glasgow despite her positive test, but announced the case was closed on Thursday.
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But the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP could still face action from Police Scotland, who tweeted they were aware of developments and were awaiting a decision on “next steps”.
She had travelled down to London despite experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
Margaret Ferrier MP update: We are aware of the decision by @metpoliceuk. We will now assess the circumstances and consult with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service before taking a decision on next steps. — Police Scotland (@policescotland) October 15, 2020
The Met said in a statement: “Detectives tested the MP’s account including obtaining and reviewing CCTV and undertaking inquiries to establish the dates of the tests, results and travel arrangements.
“Officers considered possible offences including those under Reg 11(2) of the Health Protection Regulations 2020 which relates to self-isolation requirement.
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“However, on detailed examination of this new legislation, and following legal advice, it was concluded that this regulation is applicable only after the 28th September 2020.
“In this case the test occurred prior to the 29th September 2020 and therefore the regulation does not apply.”
Ferrier has refused to resign over the incident, arguing the virus meant she was “not thinking straight”.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (right) with Margaret Ferrier. PA
in an interview with The Scottish Sun on Sunday, the MP, who has had the SNP whip withdrawn over the saga, said she had no intention of standing down.
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“This has been an awful experience but I’ll keep fighting for my constituents because that’s who I am,” she told the paper.
She added that she has received support locally in the wake of the incident and has “owned up and apologised profusely”, and added: “A lot of people say Covid makes you do things out of character.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-15--Essex Lockdown: Here’s Why The County Is Going Into Tier 2

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Parts of Essex are set to face tighter restrictions as their alert level moves from tier 1 to tier 2 from midnight on Friday.
It is thought that Essex County Council was the first local authority to have requested tighter restrictions, despite parts of the county still having far lower cases than other areas of England already under tougher lockdowns.
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To ALL #Essex Residents,
In a move to slow the current rates of infection across our county, from Saturday, Essex will be placed into the high level of restrictions (tier 2 on the new COVID system).
What does this mean? pic.twitter.com/4q4iIrvlnD — Essex County Council (@Essex_CC) October 15, 2020
While overall cases may be low, leaders within the council said they were extremely concerned by statistics showing cases of coronavirus were “rapidly increasing all over Essex”.
The decision has been met with confusion and anger by some, who claim the council has acted prematurely.
I didn’t realise Essex had anymore cases than most of the rest of country? 🤔 I don’t understand — Mrs M. ✨💛🤍 (@MrsMulkahee) October 15, 2020
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On what grounds has this decision been taken? There is no consistency - there needs to be a transparent system that decides which areas require further restrictions according to clearly measured stats and it should be applied across the country at town or district level. — Shirley Gant (@GantLady) October 15, 2020
But cases are low – why is Essex tightening restrictions?
The highest infection rate in Essex, according to the most recent figures, is 89.9 per 100,000 in Brentwood – far lower than in Manchester, which is also in tier 2 lockdown but has a rate of 583.2 per 100,000.
This disparity is driving much of the anger from residents opposed to tighter restrictions, accusing the council of being too heavy-handed in its approach.
But the week-on-week figures show a doubling (at the least) in infection rates across the county, and this is what is causing such concern for leaders in Essex – so much so that they took the unusual step of asking the government to impose harsher restrictions.
The county’s director of public health, Dr Mike Gogarty, said rates would continue to accelerate unless urgent action was taken including a move to “high” from the “medium” level of risk.
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This graph, published by Essex County Council, shows how cases could increase in Essex if the 'high' alert level is delayed. Essex County Council
In a statement on the council website, a spokesperson said: “We believe that by moving to tier 2 sooner, the curve will turn more quickly and the peak will be lower. This will reduce the time Essex spends within this tier, as well as the chances of the county needing to move to ‘very high’.
“It has not been an easy decision to make this request, but we feel on balance that it is absolutely the correct one for Essex at this time.”
Does it apply to everyone in Essex?
The reaction to the rules hasn’t exactly been positive – not least because of the confusion surrounding the geography of the new restrictions. While the county council introduced the rules to “ALL Essex residents”, it turns out that isn’t quite true.
Thurrock and Southend, home to more than 350,000 people combined, are both run as separate unitary authorities and did not ask for tighter restrictions.
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As of the announcement on Thursday both are exempt from the new rules and remain in tier 1, despite being surrounded on three sides by tier 2 restrictions.
Please be advised, the Government’s decision applies to the Essex County Council area and NOT the #Southend and #Thurrock Council areas. — Essex County Council (@Essex_CC) October 15, 2020
As could possibly have been be predicted, this separation has caused some confusion – not to mention frustration – especially as rates are actually higher in Thurrock and Southend than some other parts of the county that are soon to be living under stricter measures.
Essex moving to high, yet Thurrock and Southend remain medium? This is very confusing? — Rylan Clark-Neal (@Rylan) October 15, 2020
Essex goes into Tier 2 by request, unless you're in Southend or Thurrock because they're devolved from Essex CC and are still Tier 1 with no plans so far to request going up. This is all very clear indeed and I do not foresee any confusion whatsoever — Kim Justice | twitch.tv/kim_justice (@KimxxxJustice) October 15, 2020
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How long is this imposed for (ie what’s the review dates) and if it doesn’t apply to Southend or Thurrock, what if you have family there? Can I as an Essex resident go indoors and see family in Southend? I am assuming they can’t come into my house that’s within Essex?? — Jenna Mattholie (@jennamattholie) October 15, 2020
What has Essex County Council said?
The council confirmed the move to tighter restrictions shortly after the government announced new rules in London and other areas of England, including York, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire.
In a statement on the council’s website, leader David Finch said: “We think the government has decided correctly and been guided by the science. The fact is that the number of cases in Essex is rising exponentially.
“We understand that the move to the high Covid alert level may affect people’s lives and businesses and we understand the very strong feelings about this. However, we have a duty of care to the people of Essex, and we firmly believe that this is the best route to minimise disruptions, to save lives - not just for those with the virus, but for other patients as well - and to protect businesses.
“These are difficult times for individuals, businesses and communities, but I know that as a county we will come together to support and protect one another – as we have done previously - and that acting sooner rather than later to curb the spread of Covid-19 is the right thing to do.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-10-16--Revealed: Furloughed Workers Will Not Be Included In 2020's Gender Pay Gap Report

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Millions of furloughed workers will not be included in 2020′s gender pay gap reports, raising concerns that figures could be artificially inflated.
Companies with more than 250 employees, both public and private, have to publish data on wage inequality in their organisation on an annual basis.
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But HuffPost UK today reveals that around 3.2m furloughed men and women will be wiped off the record, taking into account the fact that 57% of companies with more than 250 employees made use of furlough.
Statistics on the gender pay gap are calculated by analysing one “snapshot” day – March 31 for the public sector and April 5 for private companies. That means every worker who was furloughed at the start of lockdown, even if they returned after just a couple of weeks, will not be included.
When it comes to whether more women or men were furloughed, the data provides only a very partial picture. According to HMRC, by the end of July, 34% of men and 29% of women who were eligible for furlough took it.
The picture on the gap between mothers and fathers is more defined. According to information published Resolution Foundation in May, mothers were 14% more likely to be on furlough than fathers.
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There are fears that this disparity could lead to equal pay figures being artificially inflated, with the gender pay gap appearing narrower as more women are left out of the statistics.
Just days ago a report from the Fawcett Society and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London (KCL) found the UK lags behind other countries, which have “much more robust systems”.
The requirement in England only for companies with more than 250 employers to report is five times the average of 50 employees for the nine other countries analysed by the researchers, suggesting pay disparities in smaller English companies are going undetected.
Laura Jones, research associate at KCL’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, said: “Without a requirement to produce a plan to close gender pay gaps, there is a risk that employers simply won’t take the action that is necessary.
“Lowering the minimum employee threshold for gender pay gap reporting would also enable us to get a more complete picture of how women are managing through the current economic disruption, and other countries show that it can be done in a way that isn’t an extra burden for smaller employers.”
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