Does it know it’s Christmas?

So Boris Johnson has reminded everyone: “The virus doesn’t know it’s Christmas.”

You don’t say Boris, you don’t say...

If the virus is not going to suspend its spread for the winter season, with flu on the way: why are we suddenly allowed bubbling of three households of any number?

Are you perhaps suggesting that not allowing households to mix was a mistake?

Is someone whining they can’t see their extended friends and family at Christmas?

Is this the number of households your mates want to bring together?

We’ve gone through Eid with this virus, we’ve been through Diwali, we’re coming up to Hannakkah, but the virus rules are only being suspended for Christmas.

The lockdown is plaguing everyone at the moment, not just the Christian faith, perhaps you think Christians are extra specially stupid.

Silly Christian, viruses don’t believe in Jesus.

Bringing down the neighbourhood

Wandering round the neighbourhood I overheard two white women talking.

All I caught was: “I don’t like that Japanese couple living next door.”

Great.

Just what you need to hear in winter.

Two women casting racial aspersions on an innocent set of neighbours.

Admittedly I didn’t hear the whole thing.

Perhaps they’d actually done something bad.

But I didn’t hear any comment on why they weren’t liked, so I suspect this delightful pair are just prejudiced.

Oh the joys of local lockdown.

Johnny Mercer comments on the current Overseas Operations Bill

Johnny Mercer, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State and Minister for Defence People and Veterans has responded to enquiries about the Overseas Operations Bill currently going through the House of Lords to say:

“The UK remains committed to upholding international humanitarian and human rights law, including the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT). The UK does not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture for any purpose, and we remain committed to maintaining our leading role in the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. None of the measures in the Bill will erode the law or prevent the MOD from being held to account.

We will continue to take offences such as war crimes and torture extremely seriously. The Bill does not prevent investigations from taking place and prosecutors will continue to have discretion on whether to prosecute for criminal offences - including torture and war crimes - following an investigation, on the basis of the evidence and the circumstances of the case, and whether a prosecution would be in the public interest. We have included the "triple lock" of criminal measures in the Bill in order to give service personnel and veterans greater certainty that the unique pressures placed on them during overseas operations will be taken into account when decisions are being made about whether to prosecute for alleged historical offences. But it is important to note that the Bill does not act as a pardon, amnesty or statute of limitations, and any allegations of criminal offences will continue to be investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.”

The Bill has still yet to be ratified in its current form.

The Overseas Operations Bill continues its reading in the Lords

The Overseas Operations Bill is at its second reading in the House of Lords, at this point there is nothing the British public can do to stop its passing.

It hasn't reached the Committee stages yet, so it still isn't ratified in its original form.

In its original form it is alleged it provides a level of immunity for torture and war crimes, though Ben Wallace, the defence secretary denies that it will contravene the aims of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Liberty is very critical of this bill and have been following its passage through the houses very closely, as are many MPs now.

Labour came out strongly against the bill in its third reading in the House of Commons.

Everything now rests in the hands of the unelected second chamber.

Remember, remember

As the strictest lockdown starts in England again and the terrorist threat rises, there are still some celebrations for the 5th of November.

The Houses of Parliament still stand as America waits to see who will be entering the White House.

The American election is a huge international political event, but it is concerning that it eclipsed so much other news coverage.

We very rarely focus so closely on the Indian or French elections. 

Letter sent to Government over child food poverty

More than 50 public health directors, sector experts and healthcare professionals sent a letter  to Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock calling on Government to allocate additional funding to the Healthy Start scheme, which supports low-income families. 

The letter urges government to increase the value of the voucher to £4.25 a week. 

The value of Healthy Start vouchers has not increased since 2009.  

The letter addresses one of three key recommendations from the National Food Strategy and footballer Marcus Rashford’s #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign, alongside expansion of Free School Meals and holiday food provision. 

It is also part of Marcus Rashford’s petition, which more than 1 million people have signed to date. 

The Healthy Start scheme provides pregnant women and low-income families in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with children under four with free vitamins and food vouchers to purchase vegetables, fruit, pulses and milk. 

The letter urges the government to act as well as businesses. 

The letter asks to put £115 million/year of additional funding towards improving the Healthy Start scheme by implementing the recommendations proposed in Part One of the National Food Strategy:  

• Increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers to £4.25 per week
• Expand the scheme to every pregnant woman and household with children under four in receipt of Universal Credit or equivalent benefits 
• Fund a communications campaign costing £5 million 

“£3.10 is not a lot, it’s better than nothing of course, but a higher value would make a difference. If we had £4.25 a week from Healthy Start we could buy milk which would help, and more fruit and veg. It’s enough for a week, but only for one child and I have three.” Carolina, Southwark Healthy Start recipient

For the original article on this issue click here.

Marcus Rashford MBE petition hits 1 million

The petition to end child poverty started by Marcus Rashford's food foundation has hit 1 million signatures.

They are bringing growing pressure on the government to U-turn on the decision to vote against free school meals.

Anna Taylor, Executive Director of the Food Foundation said: "The petition shows just how many citizens want a lasting solution to child hunger.  

The Government must act without delay and implement the three recommendations in the National Food Strategy."

A number of establishments have already banned prominent Conservative MPs from their businesses for voting against the proposed bill to provide meals over the half-term.

Over 1000 organisations have also registered on the www.kidsmealsmap.co.uk designed to support families and show the businesses, local authorities and  community organisations who are providing free meals to vulnerable children over the October half term.  

The Food Foundation are also hoping that MP’s use it as an opportunity to visit projects in their local area who are on the front line in food provision to the most vulnerable families.

Link to petition: here

For the original article on this petition click here.

There are no words left

The recent terrorist attack in France has led to further arrests.

I had no words at the weekend to express the necessary support for those in France affected.

I still don't.

I only write now to express sadness that we have found ourselves here again.

Teaching isn't meant to be an inflammatory act.

We should all share in this sadness.

These are dark days.

Tough new restrictions to hit London

London is entering “a short” tier two lockdown.

This means bars and restaurants for larger groups will be severely restricted, as households can’t mix in them.

Journeys should be reduced and indoor exercising is only allowed if household mixing can be avoided.

Single person households can bubble.

Schools, universities and places of worship can stay open.

So we can learn and we can pray, but we can’t socialise.

This really should be short, we don’t all pray.

However, Liverpool and Scotland have been enduring restrictions worse than this for longer.

Restrictions come into place tonight at midnight.

Marcus Rashford MBE launches petition on child food poverty

Marcus Rashford MBE, the Manchester United England International Footballer has today launched a Parliamentary Petition, calling on the General Public to pledge support to #endchildfoodpoverty. 

He has petitioned the government once before to U-turn on their decision to withdraw free school meals vouchers over the summer.

Marcus Rashford said: “Child food poverty in the UK is not a result of COVID-19.

In 2020, no child in the UK should be going to bed hungry, nor should they be sat in classrooms concerned about how their younger siblings are going to eat that day.”

He is asking for the government to commission three vital recommendations from the Government commissioned National Food Strategy:

Expansion of free school meals to every child from a household on Universal Credit or equivalent, reaching an additional 1.5 million 7-16 year olds.

Expansion of holiday provision (food and activities) to support all children on free school meals, reaching an additional 1.1 million children.

Increasing the value of the Healthy Start vouchers to £4.25 per week (from £3.10) and expanding into all those on Universal Credit or equivalent, reaching an additional 290,000 pregnant women and children under the age of four.

The #endchildfoodpoverty campaign is supported by the Child Food Poverty Task Force which was formed by Marcus Rashford, a further 20 charities and key names in the food industry. 

Data released by the Food Foundation today reveals 18% of 8-17 year olds (1.4 million children) reported experiences of food insecurity over the summer holidays.

6.3% of children said they were worried about going hungry during the October half term.

Rising numbers of families are struggling with an 11% (850,000) of children aged 8-17 reporting that either they or their families had visited a foodbank in the summer holidays.  This was over 60% higher in non–white British ethnic groups.

Link to petition here.

World Mental Health Day

This World Mental Health Day they are promoting Do One Thing for your mental health.

I recommend calling a friend.

We forget our friends when times are tough, but they are often the best people to see us through.

Therapy can also be helpful, but it’s friends that offer lasting support.

Covert Human Intelligence Bill passes the Commons

The Covert Human Intelligence Bill passed the House of Commons yesterday with a vote of 182 votes to 20.

A number of Labour MPs broke the whip to provide opposition to the bill.

Nadia Whittome has said in a statement that: “The Bill is a licence for the intelligence agencies to authorise its agents to commit even the most serious of crimes with immunity from prosecution.”

Two Plaid Cymru and one SDLP member stood in opposition alongside the Labour rebels.

Read the full debate.

Full details of the voting break down here.

The bill is yet to be ratified.

Commons passes bill critics say will breach international law

The Commons has voted to pass the Overseas Operations Bill, a bill that would allow British soldiers to escape prosecution for war crimes and torture.

A group of MPs led by Jeremy Corbyn defied the Labour Whip over the bill and as the Guardian has reported three MPs are no longer on the front bench as a result.

Freedom From Torture has shared Sonia Sceats’s, associate fellow in the International Law programme at Chatham House, tweet saying this is “disgraceful” and it “isn’t over”.

This move has been criticised by a British soldier and Shami Chakrabarti among others.

This is a damaging prospective blow to justice and challenges the aims of the UN Declaration on Human Rights.

This bill still isn’t yet ratified.

Sombre Times

The Guardian has reported that one-third of British professional musicians are considering giving up their careers because of the pandemic.

This information was based on a survey of 2,000 members of the Musicians Union.

The pandemic has been a crippling time for the arts, with many musicians forced to work for free to sustain a profile online as live venues are still closed.

This is not the most tragic news from a pandemic that has caused misery and economic fears for many.

However, it is still deeply saddening.

Surviving in the arts has always been tough, many musicians struggle in good times despite their talent.

Music lightens the load in many people's lives, so losing musicians to supermarket work - as the Guardian reports - is bad for a cross section of society in the end.

We are lucky in Britain to have such a diversity of music on offer, but with the pandemic we can no longer even support venues.

Privacy

In our haste to alleviate boredom during the pandemic, those computer savvy enough have turned to Zoom.

I may be talking to the older generation here, but does anyone remember privacy..?

Now we have newscasters and experts conducting and giving interviews in their living rooms.

Video meetings taking place from home, where all of our work colleagues can see our living rooms, if we’re lucky enough to have them.

Liberty campaigned for a long time to keep private information private and it feels like in the rush to connect we are forgetting the value of neutral spaces and a private home.

In addition to this increasingly jobs require photos and videos with CVs.

Why on earth do they need to see you to secure a job?

The internet has brought us many things, but do we need to broadcast everything to YouTube.

Policing Fun

The new regulation for gatherings have been further restricted to six.

This smacks of hypocrisy.

You can be surrounded by up to 40 people in a cafe or bar, where you spend money.

However, you can not gather that many people together for a birthday party, though they make exceptions for weddings and funerals.

Cases are going up.

However, we are still sending people back to schools and universities with restrictions.

These are admittedly more essential, but fun is important too.

This comment has been revised for accuracy.

Extinction Rebellion Demonstration

Extinction Rebellion amassed at three o’clock outside the Bank of England to commence a Walk of Shame around the city.

Black Lives Matter activists were in attendance as well to speak to the assembled roughly 500 strong crowd of mainly white faces.

Chants of no justice, no peace were raised and there was a sign reading only in peaceful states is peaceful activism a crime.

During the rally outside the Bank of England a passer by cried “get a job losers”.

Undeterred the protesters went on to cry “check your privilege”.

They walked on to the Lloyds building to highlight the Lloyds historical profits made from slavery before singing Power to the People.

By this time seven police vans had amassed to follow the protesters.

By the time they reached the London Wall police started arrests, there were only two in total, seemingly for sitting down. 

The claim being made for arrests were they were being made under Covid restrictions.

Covid-19 now restricts gatherings of over 30 people.

Rule Brittania

To sing or not to sing that is the question.

The issue of the words to Rule Brittania and Land of Hope and Glory came up again recently.

Both glorify the British empire and rule Brittania is said to be a dark reminder of slavery.

There is some question over how offensive they really are, but the creative decision had been taken to play the music without the words.

This was said to be a non-political decision.

However, now the decision has been taken to bring the words back.

Presumably this decision is the final one, but it all seems a bit trivial when people are still being killed by police seemingly because of the colour of their skin.

Though I suspect the fight over Rule Brittania is set to continue.

Misleading Guardian headline

The front page of the Guardian today had a rather misleading headline regarding attainment statistics.

While the headline reads Gap between rich and poor pupils ‘widens 46% in a year’ the main article goes on to mention Black, Asian and minority ethnic students.

The article itself is clear, but can’t seem to decide if it is talking about rich and poor or black and white.

It is dangerous to conflate Black, Asian and minority ethnic attainment with questions of poverty, as they are not necessarily synonymous.

It’s a shame as a study on attainment during Covid 19 would be enlightening.

Click here for an article by the BBC on reactions to Black, Asian and minority ethnic.

The Home Working Dream

 This pandemic has seen a radical shift in work across Britain.

Many more people that can are working from home.

The greens have long promoted this as a way to reduce commuting emissions and improve quality of life.

However, now that it is in full swing there is a snag.

It is hurting the service industry.

Pret A Manger have shed a significant amount of jobs and the city is deserted, as they lose the commuter footfall.

This may not seem a great tragedy to some, but it does pose the question: Can we make the structural shift without endangering a huge amount of service jobs?

Are we going to see a work from home world post lockdown and is it really progress?

Avoiding people

So now we wear face masks in shops, on buses, on trains and in beauty parlours. 

But we’re not wearing them all the time and so social distancing is still necessary.

So when you walk past someone in the street you have to swerve to avoid them.

This feels so unnatural and anti-social.

When is it going to stop?

How long do we have to act like everyone’s got the lurgy?

Don’t get me wrong, this virus is best avoided.

But acting like I’m wary of everyone is getting upsetting.

Businessman spit

Keep your spit to yourself people, there's a virus going round.

This lunch time while walking down the high road I saw a man spit on the pavement.

The man was dressed in a business suit and jeans with, get this, a surgical mask round his chin.

He was with two other men with no mask, but as he effectively wasn't wearing his I see them as silly as each other.

There is a virus going round, you have a mask and you spit...

I've seen spitting before in pandemic times, but this has got to be the silliest.

Be careful, there are some silly people out there. 

VJ Day 75 years on

It is the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day today.

A two minute silence was observed this morning at 11 am to commemorate the lives lost.

Hopefully people up and down the country took the time to remember the Japanese lives lost as well as the  Allies.

The end of World War II saw us enter the nuclear age, yet it also saw the beginning of real peace with Japan.

Japanese culture now filters over here in the form of Manga and Anime, as well as higher art.

The JET programme now pays British nationals to teach English in Japan.

We have truly made peace with our enemies.

What are the lessons learned to recreate lasting peace elsewhere?

I do not pretend to have the answers.

Youth anonymity

A 17-year-old boy who was found guilty of the murder of a teaching assistant can be named as Rocky Marciano Price after reporting restrictions were lifted at Preston crown court.>

The reporting restrictions were lifted because this was a heinous crime and the local community applied pressure for the release of a name, full article here.

This is troubling.

A child criminal is still a child criminal despite the nature or severity of the crime.

How far do we slide?

The Jamie Bulger murderers were known for a long time by their victim.

I don’t think we should be naming and shaming 10 or even 17 year olds.>

A criminal record is wiped clean when children come of age.

Why should a disturbed young boy be denied this privilege?

Grade snobbery

As I suspected snobbery has worked its way into this year’s grading system.

See this tweet from Emily Pettite.

Keir Starmer has waded in to say: “Something has obviously gone horribly wrong with this year’s exam results.

Nearly 40% of young people have had their grades marked down and that’s thousands of young people whose opportunities could have been dashed.” 

Just because a school has performed badly in the past doesn’t mean it will always do so and students can beat the odds.

The Tapas Room

Open for just 17 days The Tapas Room in Brixton makes a nice addition to the covered market.

The restaurant has inside and outside seating and offers a select range of tapas.

Portion sizes are small, so to fill yourself up you will need around three dishes per person.

The salt cod croquettes are especially good, they just melt in the mouth.

They offer an array of cured meats and cheese, which are reasonably priced.

With wine the meal came in at a little over £30 a head, but unfortunately that included some olives that didn’t arrive, check what you pay for.

The atmosphere is friendly and the staff attentive, they give you plenty of time to eat your meal.

A great new addition to the market.

A thought for waiting staff

While it will become compulsory for you to wear a mask in shops, waiting and bar staff aren’t so lucky.

Even though they will be easily coming into contact with comparable numbers in their working lives wearing a mask for them will be optional.

If you are attending these establishments please make sure you are without Covid 19 symptoms and you register with anything they have set up.

Britain really needs track and trace.

Vaccines should be global

Russian hackers are attempting to steal coronavirus vaccine research, the American, British and Canadian governments said on Thursday, full article here.

Is it just me that thinks a race for a vaccine should be a global effort?

I am surprised that all nations aren’t working together on this.

After all, it doesn’t really matter who discovers the vaccine so long as it is discovered.

Is scientific pride really this National in the face of a pandemic?

The Queen’s letters

Buckingham Palace has protested that conversations between the Queen, her prime ministers and governor generals should remain private.

Letters released after a four year court battle finally proved that she played no part in the controversial sacking of the Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam in 1975, full article here.

This is an interesting case in regards to privacy.

While many ordinary Brits would baulk at their private letters being read, she is no ordinary Brit.

Though over intrusion into the lives of the rich and famous is damaging to the principal of privacy, she is a very powerful woman and this is just the kind of information that should not remain under wraps.

The phone hacking scandal proved how invasive the media can be in people’s private lives, but this is a slightly different matter, whether she is innocent or guilty this information should reach the public domain.

Black power rises again

Lewis Hamilton gave the black power salute at the Syrian Grand Prix this weekend.

It is interesting that he is doing it only now and not choosing to kneel.

Kneeling was the gesture favoured by Martin Luther King, while the fist in the air (black power salute) was popularised by the Black Panthers and Malcolm X.

Hamilton has said he is committed to fighting racism, full article here.

However, the salute he is choosing, though perhaps more powerful than kneeling, is attached to a violent and at times racist movement.

So what am I saying!

Simply that I hope Lewis Hamilton hasn’t fallen in with reactionary Black is best politics, as the Black Panthers sometimes suggest.

He is a symbol of black achievement and that in itself is a powerful force against racism, it could be argued he no longer has to put his fist in the air, but maybe he feels he does.

Candlelit Vigil to commemorate 65,000 deaths

Roughly 30 protesters gathered at St Thomas’ Hospital Westminster Bridge at 9pm to light 65 lanterns, one for every 1,000 Covid-19 deaths.

The protesters spanned the bridge before moving off for a slow walk across it to Downing Street.

The group stopped twice on the bridge before assembling at Downing Street to read out the names of over 200 health care workers who have died as a result of Covid-19.

The demonstration was attended by a number of pacifist and NHS protesting groups including Keep Our NHS Public and the People’s assembly.

Demonstrators extinguished their candles at Downing Street after the names had been read out and dispersed, leaving the message that 65,000 deaths is a scandal.

Stop the raving

Raves are the epitomy of opposition to authority, they are the wild undercurrent to the club scene and closely linked with right to roam.

However, we are in Covid-19 times now and it’s time to stop.

If you want to show that ravers really wish the best for their fellow man, then calling off the raves is the way forward.

Show ravers can be responsible and be responsive to a global pandemic.

A free party is a great thing, but not if it overloads the NHS and endangers loads of lives.

Go with the cops for once, call off the raves.

Could the UK Alone Plant Enough Trees to Save the Amazon?

According to world tracker The World Counts, we have 79 years until the rainforests end, assuming current trends continue. Indeed, the Amazon rainforest in particular has had more than its fair share of crises in the last decade, and you may be surprised to hear that the current Covid-19 outbreak has even wrought havoc on the planet’s lungs.

In the first four months of 2020, deforestation increased in the Amazon by 55 per cent. This increase has been attributed to illegal clearance operations taking advantage of the unique circumstances whereby the world is distracted by a present viral threat.

But of course, if the Amazon is pushed past the point of no return, we won’t be able to create a vaccine to immunise ourselves from crippled air quality and sky-rocketing carbon levels.

With 22nd June marking World Rainforest Day, we asked ourselves what we can do to help save the Amazon. What could we all do? In fact, with us all banding together in the face of a crisis, could the UK alone plant enough trees to conquer the crisis of the Amazon’s deforestation? 

A tree for a tree

Let’s crunch the numbers.

In the forest year of 2019, (Aug 2018 – July 2019), a whopping 9,700km2 of the Amazon was lost to deforestation. That’s 970,000 hectares, or 2,400,000 acres. According to the Rainforest Foundation Norway, this marked the worst deforestation of the region in a decade.

There are around 200 trees per acre in the Amazon. Taking this as a base, in order to replace what was lost in 2019 alone, 480,000,000 trees would need to be planted to cover those 2,400,000 acres lost.

Theoretically, would the UK be up to the challenge?

Well, assuming we could get all 66,650,000 of us on board with the idea, we would all have to commit to planting seven trees each. Doesn’t sound like a lot, right?

Assuming you’re optimistic about rallying everyone in the country, that doesn’t seem like an outrageous amount of shrubbery to be putting down in the garden. Even if we only got half of us on board, 14 trees is manageable, so long as we have the space.

So, do we have the space?

Technically speaking, yes we do. The UK covers 242,495km2, which is more than enough to house 2,400,000 acres of additional trees (which would cover 9,712km2, or 4 per cent of the UK). With less than 10 per cent of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales being covered by “built-up” areas, we’d not have to knock down our homes to fit in more trees either. But we might find it a bit of a squeeze to fit in the 72 per cent of England that is covered by farmland, especially when the next year rolls around and we have to plant another 480,000,000 trees…

That leads us to the realistic problems:

• Deforestation is increasing every year
• We would eventually run out of space in the UK to keep planting trees to counter the yearly loss of the Amazon to deforestation
• Replacing trees doesn’t provide an equal counter to cutting down a tree
• That last one might surprise you. Why wouldn’t planting a tree make up for cutting or burning one down?

One new tree ≠ one old tree

Trees are a wonderful example of age bringing experience at one’s job. Speaking with the BBC, Dr Erika Berenguer of Oxford University explains the problem in frank terms: “The older and larger the tree, the more carbon it stores.”. The doctor went on to explain that a tree with a three metre circumference could hold around three or four tonnes of carbon — around the same amount of CO2 as a family car would emit over the course of four years.

So, the problem isn’t just losing one tree and replacing it with one tree. The problem is that a newly-planted tree cannot store as much carbon as the large, ancient tree it is replacing.

“Many people believe that to make up for what we've lost in the Amazon, we just need to plant trees elsewhere. But that is not the case,” Dr Berenguer explains.

So, what can we do?

As with all things in life, prevention is better than cure. It would take years to grow trees large enough to equal those lose to deforestation in the Amazon. Though planting new trees is always a positive effort, in terms of saving the rainforests, the best thing we can do is work to stop any more of the rainforests being destroyed.

World Rainforest Day outlines seven key actions we can all take to help prevent the destruction of the world’s rainforests:

1. Get educated about rainforests — there are so many resources online to get clued up about the beautiful biodiversity of the planet, and the rainforests are no exception. The rainforests contribute so much more than just the air we breathe (though that really ought to be motivation enough!).
2. Donate to rainforest protectors — no one expects you to ditch your job, sell all your belongings, and move out to the rainforests to fight the good fight. But you can do your bit by donating to rainforest protectors, who will help protect wildlife, fight deforestation, and develop sustainable economies alongside Indigenous communities.
3. Eat less meat and more plants — the sad fact is, beef production is the largest cause of tropical deforestation in the Amazon, with around 2.71 million hectares being removed every year across all of Latin America to create more ranch land.
4. Make sure your products are rainforest-friendly — dodge unsustainable sources of palm oil in the product you buy, such as cosmetics and cleaning products, as palm oil production is the bane of Southeast Asian rainforests! Look out for the Rainforest Alliance Certified sticker — you can’t miss the little green frog. Other alliance logos can let you know if the palm oil in a product is from a sustainable source, or if it is palm-oil free.
5. Commit to sustainable travel — from electric cars to purchasing carbon offsets before flying, there are so many ways to reduce your travel carbon footprint in 2020.
6. Hold leaders and corporations accountable — you have the chance to vote for leaders who highlight global issues such as deforestation and climate change. Plus, with a digital platform at most of our feet, call out companies who aren’t doing their bit!
7. Spread the word — hashtag this, hashtag that. Love them or hate them, hashtags are a great way to spread a message. Hop on social media and start following rainforest protection accounts.

If you’ve spent your lockdown time doing up the garden, planting a tree and giving it plenty of sunshine and nutritional compost is always a great thing to do. But while you’re tending to your new addition to the garden, remember just how many are being cut down across the globe, and do your bit this World Rainforest Day to take a stand!

Article researched by online garden supplies company, Compost Direct, supplying composts, topsoil, barks, turfs and blends to the UK professional landscaping industry and the domestic sector.

Cummings and Goings

Boris Johnson is insisting that Dominic Cummings acted legally in travelling 30 miles to a tourist town during lockdown.

The Prime Minister defended Cummings in saying he had special family considerations.

Labour's Shadow Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, Sarah Jones, pointed to the fact that single mums do not feel the need in the main to break these lockdown rules.

Dominic Cummings seems like Peter Mandelson able to keep a grip on power, despite countless transgressions.

He is possibly just too useful to Tory HQ, for them to worry about piddling little rules they have set for the whole country...

At the time of writing 108,287 people had signed a Change.org petition calling for his resignation.

Written sourcing the BBC and The Observer.

Mental Health Victories

As it’s mental health awareness week, I want to make you aware of a book I’ve written.

It’s easy to focus on the problems that mental health sufferers experience, but I believe you can focus too much on the illness and not enough on the recovery.

Mental health challenges can be overcome with the right support.

My book focuses on the recovery journeys of a number of past and present mental health sufferers and the achievements that they have made.

Here is a link.

Gareth Emery gig

Gareth Emery is hosting three amazing shows this weekend.

This series of events are replacing Gareth’s Decade tour show, which he had to cancel as a result of the pandemic.

The Decade show is to celebrate the last 10 years of Gareth Emery’s music. 

It’ll be a 2.5 hour set featuring his greatest hits from the last decade.

The show will feature lasers, smoke, multiple cameras – essentially the full production – and will be shot from Gareth’s pool in his back garden.

The three shows across the weekend (the initial broadcast and 2 replays which Gareth plans to join the chat for), each in different time zones, so people from all over the world can tune in and party together.

The first show will be broadcast on Friday 8^th May  at 9PM EST/6PM PST, with the primary target being the US audience. 

A replay for Europe will be shown at 8PM BST/ 9PM CET on Saturday 9^th May, while the replay for Australia/Asia will be on at 6PM AEST (UTC +10) on Sunday 10^th May.

Tickets for the event cost $10 and can be bought through this link 

Buying a ticket will get you access to all three shows.

Enjoy!

We Progress

A short mental health film called We Progress will premiere at 8pm on the 8th of May.

See it here:

Two of the films makers have struggled with mental health challenges themselves, so this film is very close to their hearts.

I hope you will tune in for this great short film project.

Mental Health weekender

Dr. Sarah Jarvis, Dr. Radha Modgil, Dr. Aaron Balick, mental health campaigner Natasha Devon the Pilates PT Hollie Grant, are all among the health and wellbeing professionals have come together for the UK’s first ‘virtual’ wellbeing festival, which has been launched in response to COVID-19, to help people better cope in these extraordinary times.

The Live Life Well Weekender will run from the 8th – 10th May 2020, and will bring together experts, health professionals and industry leaders from across the wellbeing industry, for over 30 events that will explore all areas of wellbeing to spark discussions and provide the practical tools that people desperately need to help protect their own, and their families’ wellbeing now, and as we come out of lockdown.

The Live Life Well Weekender is a not-for-profit event and will be accessible to all with free tickets for all frontline and key workers, free access for students, as well as free tickets for those in need who are on low incomes or unemployed as a result of the pandemic.  

A nominal fee of £10 per household for General Admission provides visitors with access to the whole three-days of content, of which all profits received will go charity to support the NHS Charities National Covid-19 Appeal. 

All contributors are doing this event for free, so if you can afford to pay, please do contribute to the hard-working team behind this virtual event.

You can get tickets for the event here.

NHS Privatisation

Even as we clap the NHS the Tories are making plans to privatise it.

In a worrying new article TruePublica exposes Boris Johnson’s plans to privatise the NHS.

His stay in hospital clearly didn’t convince him of the benefits of a publicly run, publicly funded NHS; I mean they only saved his life.

We clearly need to do more than clap in these dark times.

Write to your MPs, tell them how much a publicly funded health service means to you.

Let’s not slide into the American model, Obama wanted to change it for a reason.

Antisemitism in the Labour Party

Momentum have accused Labour of sweeping antisemitism under the carpet, by postponing an investigation into a report into antisemitism in the party.

They have looked at the report already and report member’s not being expelled for displaying anti Semitic beliefs, in some cases members were holocaust deniers.

Momentum believe that whatever your political stripe in the Labour Party you should always stand up to antisemitism.

I am saddened at reports of antisemitism in the Labour Party, as I have always believed it to be an inclusive and multicultural political party.

I hope under Keir Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party purges these anti Semitic members and moves forward to be the inclusive and forward thinking party I believe it to be.

Gareth Emery on the new normal

Gareth Emery is an established trance DJ operating out of LA.

He recently released his second single Elise from the forthcoming album Lasers, due in July of this year.

Elise is a song named after and for his youngest daughter, who suffered suspected pneumonia when she was was just one year old.

The track is very upbeat, with sombre lyrics mirroring how torn Emery felt being separated from his ill daughter.

Gareth was conscious of the track being very upbeat, it was what "he felt the world needed at that point."

But he says the darkness of the lyrics makes it.

A new music experience

Gareth is also looking to bring a new musical experience to people using live streams.

Anticipating that it is going to be a long time before people get back to seeing live shows, Gareth wants to make a better experience for fans in the new normal.

Emery envisions a pay per view model for a premium live experience.

Gareth is going to build a stage and have lasers and smoke machines in his garden.

He says: "I don't think I could justify doing a ticket price if it's just me streaming in my bedroom, with unmade bed in the background as I've seen on a couple of other streams."

"We're definitely going to start out reasonably cheap, something about $10."

He's going to give fans who have bought a ticket for the tour a free ticket to the live streaming event, even though they've had a refund.

Influences

In terms of his influences he says back in the day it was acts like Paul van Dyk, Tiësto and Armin van Buuren.

But he also gleans ideas from Sasha and Loco Dice.

For this album he says interestingly he was far more influenced by bands, such as the Stone Roses, Oasis and Blur.

He said he was looking back and remembering "the energy" of that time.

Frida Kahlo art class

If you have kids to entertain at home this Frida Kahlo art history and painting class could be for you.

It takes place tomorrow from 16.00 - 17.30 BST.

The class is for children six to nine year’s old.

Kids will listen to an interesting story about Frida Kahlo, watch the demo how to paint like the artist by our trained artist and after that will get inspired to create their own masterpiece in the style of the artist.

It is a 1 hour 20 minutes workshop.

During the event, kids will be able to receive step-by-step guidance, practical tips, ask questions in the chat and receive feedback to their work at the end of the class!

Required for the class:

Computer, iPad, Smartphone and access to wifi

Paper, graphite pencil, eraser, gouache or acrylic paints (or coloured pencils or crayons) and small paint brushes downloaded Zoom app https://zoom.us/download

The event lecturer is a professional artist and trained art historian with three years experience of leading practical art history courses for adults and children.

Covid-19 UN charity gig

Quarantine and Chill continues tonight with the amazing Ruth Anne Cunningham.

She wrote for the likes of Niall Horan and JoJo And is Grammy nominated.

The link as before is: https://www.facebook.com/donate/2538054423116379/

Tune in at 7.30 tonight and give what you can to this brilliant charity.

I won’t be posting updates of all the live shows, but they will be continuing throughout lockdown, so keep tuning in.

Enjoy!

Covid-19 charity gig

Quarantine and Chill is a live acoustic music event for the UN’s Covid-19 fund. 

The wonderful singer-songwriter/actor Alex James Ellison will be performing alongside a host of other acts, including Leah Barniville.

The event can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/donate/2538054423116379/ https://tinyurl.com/y8m6co4h

Please tune in at 7.30pm tonight and donate to this amazing charity.

This charity event takes place with different artists most nights.

The Habit of Art

The Habit of Art is currently streaming online at The Original Theatre Company.

The Habit of Art centres on Fitz (Matthew Kelly), Henry (David Yelland), Tim (Benjamin Chandler) and Donald (John Wark), who are actors rehearsing a play called Caliban's Day. 

The director has been called away, so they have a run-through/workshop directed by the stage manager, Kay (Veronica Roberts), in the presence of the playwright, Neil (Robert Mountford).

This is all a bit meta, having a play within a play like this.

Caliban's Day is about a fictitious meeting in 1972 in W. H. Auden's rooms at Oxford, between Auden (Fitz) in his latter years and Benjamin Britten (Henry). 

Auden has hired a rent boy, Stuart (Tim) and when Humphrey Carpenter (Donald) - who will write biographies of both Auden and Britten after their deaths - arrives to interview him, Auden mistakes him for Stuart. 

I did not see the original performance of this work from 2009, so I have nothing to compare it with, coming to it fresh it is very enjoyable though not laugh out loud funny.

It has the focus on dialogue that Alan Bennett is so famous for, though there is some visual humour.

Yelland and Kelly capture the spirit of Britten and Auden beautifully and tackle some tough subjects.

Chandler is really funny as Tim.

The play is a great ensemble performance, every actor brings something to the stage, so it seems fair to mention the accent range of George (Jessica Dennis) and the neurotic turns of Neil make this play complete.

This play is an absolute steal, as it and The Croft are just £5 though you would rightly think to contribute more for such a great performance.

The talented Hollie McNish

I’m sure you’re all bored in lockdown, unless you’re very lucky.

So why not indulge in a bit of art?

Hollie McNish has been live streaming her amazing poetry online.

You can find her recorded work here.

And her live streams are available from 9-10 every Thursday at https://m.facebook.com/holliepoetry.

Nothing like a kick arse female poet to enliven your day.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter

I made it to Easter!

I had my first fizzy drink of Spring, it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, I think I’ve lost the taste for fizzy drinks...

Easter in lockdown was still fun, I got Easter Eggs, I hope you did too.

I don’t like to moralise, because we get a lot of that anyway.

However, this lockdown has made me feel profoundly grateful.

There’s a global pandemic keeping everyone inside and the worst I have suffered is boredom.

I’m not in a war zone, there are no dangerous food shortages and there are shops open on my door step.

Please, like me, think of giving to Shelter and NHS charities to help those who are suffering more during lockdown.

Spread the love.

Happy Easter!

Successful Lent

You remember before all this Covid 19 madness started I said I was going to observe Lent.

Well I have kept to it.

No fizzy drinks have passed my lips since Shrove Tuesday and I’m nearly there.

Question is will I go back to my old ways quickly after Easter after I’ve done so well.

Probably, but it’s been a good fast, now I have to put up with social distancing for the foreseeable future.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready.

Nile Wilson Body Bible for free

Nile Wilson is a legend.

Not only is he a bronze medal Olympiad, but he’s lovely.

Recently he has been promoting his fitness regime the Body Bible, but he doesn’t want to make huge profits on the back of Covid 19, so he’s giving it away for free.

That’s right folks, train with an Olympian for free.

And hope the Olympics is only postponed, so we can see him perform again.