Emmanuel Macron Dismisses 'Special' Brexit Deal As 'Hypocrisy' In Blow To Theresa May
Boris Johnson's Call To Build A Bridge Across The Channel Faces Instant Mockery
Boris Johnson reportedly wants to build a bridge across the Channel between the UK and France in an idea that was mocked almost instantly.
Sources close to the Foreign Secretary have told The Telegraph and The Sun the one-time Tory leadership hopeful thinks it is “ridiculous” that the main link between the two countries is an underwater rail line.
The newspapers report the idea was floated during the Anglo-French summit in Sandhurst on Thursday, and echoes previous reports by journalist Tim Shipman that Johnson proposed a “submarine highway” ahead of the Brexit vote.
It isn’t the first time Johnson has floated a symbolic infrastructure project that met with ridicule.
As Mayor of London, he threw his weight behind plans for the Garden Bridge.
The “garden paradise” stretching over the Thames was backed by Joanna Lumley and George Osborne. As much as £37m of public money was spent trying to get the project off the ground, but many viewed it as an expensive indulgence.
Plans were eventually canned by the new Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said he could not justify the £200m construction.
Others were quick to highlight Johnson’s questionable record as Foreign Secretary of boosting international relations.
Many were alarmed when Johnson said the EU could “go whistle” for its Brexit divorce bill.
Anglo-Spanish relations were put at risk by Johnson saying that the bid to stop bullfighting was “political correctness gone mad”.
He recently ‘joked’ that Sirte could be the next Dubai, once the “dead bodies were cleared away”.
He also once said that the former US President Barack Obama was “part-Kenyan” and had an “ancestral dislike” of the UK.
Others drew comparisons between the Garden Bridge, ‘Boris Bridge’ and ‘Boris Island’ airport.
Johnson travelled the length and breadth of the country championing the Thames Estuary Airport. Proposals for the brand new four-runway airport at the Isle of Grain in Kent was dumped by the Airports Commission as bids to expand Britain’s airport capacity by Heathrow and Gatwick were considered more credible
A populist building project? Sounds familiar.
And some just couldn’t quite believe it.
And shipping bosses pointed out some practical problems.
Regardless, Johnson seemed pleased with himself when pictured with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Boris Johnson's Call To Build A Bridge Across The Channel Faces Instant Mockery
Funding To Stabilise NHS Swallowed By Winter Crisis, Report Reveals
A government cash boost aimed at helping the NHS get on an even financial keel has been swallowed up by the winter crisis and other day-to-day pressures, a new report has revealed.
The National Audit Office says £1.8 billion, handed to the health service in 2016 to give it breathing space to set itself up to survive on significantly less funding in future years, has been spent almost entirely on dealing with existing problems with increased demand and budget constraints.
While the fund helped the health service improve its financial position from a £1,848 million deficit in 2015/16 to a £111 million surplus in 2016/17, the report reveals it is still struggling to manage increased activity and demand within budget.
Staff in hospitals across the country have reported poor working conditions including long, short-staffed shifts, leading to delays in patient care, while latest performance figures show 100,000 people have been left waiting in the back of ambulances this winter.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the report “confirms the government’s flawed and wholly inadequate approach to the sustainable, long term funding of the NHS”.
He added: “Ministers have failed to increase per head spending in real terms each year, a key election promise, and there are still no details of a long overdue pay rise for NHS staff.
“Our NHS is in crisis. Years of under-investment culminated in December 2017 being the worst month on record for A&E performance and elective operations being cancelled until the end of January.
“Targets are being missed and in-year cash injections are not improving the financial performances of trusts.
“Unlike the Tories, Labour outlined a costed long term plan for funding the NHS. Labour will give our NHS an extra £6 billion a year to ensure that our NHS remains a world class service for all.”
The NAO also reveals action taken by trusts to rebalance their finances have restricted the cash available for longer-term transformation to deal with demand and improve the service, leading to many having to request short-term funding boosts in the form of loans from the Department of Health.
Alongside the release of the report, the organisation has made recommendations to the government, NHS England and NHS Improvement on how they can help improve the sustainability of the service.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “The NHS has received extra funding, but this has mostly been used to cope with current pressures and has not provided the stable platform intended from which to transform services.
“Repeated short-term funding-boosts could turn into the new normal, when the public purse may be better served by a long-term funding settlement that provides a stable platform for sustained improvements.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “As this report recognises, the NHS has made significant progress towards balancing the books and returning to a financially stable position – to support this we recently gave it top priority in the budget with an extra £2.8 billion, on top of a planned £10 billion a year increase in its budget by 2020/21.”
11 Times Donald Trump's First Year As President Was Basically 'The Office'
1. ‘He’s thrown a kettle over a pub. What have you ever done?’
Donald Trump’s then communications director Anthony Scaramucci says he’s been witness to his boss’s impressive feats, much like Gareth Keenan’s boast about Chris Finch’s unique skills on quiz night.
2. ‘One of the cleverest blokes I know’
Trump has ‘one of the highest’ IQs, and so does ‘bloody good rep’ Chris Finch.
3. ‘Pffft’
Hat-tip @hrtbps
4. ‘Monkey!’
Brent points to the toy monkey that appeared in adverts with comedian Jonny Vegas for the long forgotten ITV Digital channel. Trump points to the bust of Winston Churchill that has returned to the White House Oval Office. Hat-tip @PoliticalBrent.
5. ‘I’ve been promoted, so ... every cloud.’
Just minutes after telling the Slough office some of them will be sacked, David Brent said: “On a more positive note, the good news is, I’ve been promoted, so... every cloud.”
Just hours after sacking Scaramucci, President Trump tweeted:
6. Tim looks to the camera
Trump had a very long handshake with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. and Abe’s glance to the camera at the end was pure Tim Canterbury.
7. ‘Here he is, the fella that nicked my job’
Trump and Obama met at the inauguration in much the same way as Brent returning to Wernham Hogg with Gareth in charge.
8. ‘Put, “David Brent is refreshingly laid back for a man with such responsibility”.’
A source who definitely wasn’t departing White House adviser Steve Bannon speaks in fluent Brent-ese.
9. ‘Will you apologise to Tim?’
Trump’s daughter Ivanka wanted Trump to apologise. Brent’s boss Jennifer wanted Brent to apologise. Both sort of did.
10. ‘Who thinks Neil’s more of a laugh than me?’
Trump solicited the opinion of of 40,000 Boy Scouts at their annual Jamboree. Trump v Obama is effectively Brent v Neil from the Swindon office.
11. ‘People say I’m the best boss.’
Trump convened his first full Cabinet meeting after taking office and asked his new appointees to lavish praise on him, which presumably is precisely what Brent did too.
Funding To Stabilise NHS Swallowed By Winter Crisis, Report Reveals
11 Times Donald Trump's First Year As President Was Basically 'The Office'
BBC Question Time: 'I Am Not A Liar' Says Tory Minister Margot James As Party Accused Of Running Down NHS
A Conservative minister has made a fierce defence of her Government’s record on the NHS after the party was accused of running down the service.
During a major flashpoint on BBC’s Question Time, James said she was “not a liar” after a clash where an audience member claimed the Tories were under-funding the service to then open it up to privatisation.
The MP was called a “liar” as she pointed to Conservative support for the NHS.
The Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, who also faced a barrage of criticism over the Government’s handling of the Carillion collapse, argued the Government has repeatedly increased spending on health and injected an extra £3.5 billion at the recent Budget.
The exchange centred around the Department of Health replacing bursaries for nurses with loans, which it says will free up £800m a year to create extra nursing roles.
Audience member: “What I do not understand is, there is public support to put more money into the NHS, to pay our nurses more, to support our nurses and reinstall the bursary programme, because if you are going to be a nurse and qualify earning less than £30,000 a year, but you ended up in so much debt, with such high interest rates to pay, why would you do it?
“It does not make any sense. I wonder if the Conservative government we have is ideological making the NHS - underfunding it - so they can make the argument for privatisation.”
Audience cheers.
James:“I am very sorry there is such enthusiasm for what you have said because it is utterly untrue.”
Audience interrupts.
James: “I am sorry, I have been accused of wanting to set the NHS up to fail so that we can privatise it. Nothing can be further from the truth.”
Audience member:“Liar!”
James:“I am not a liar. I have spent time volunteering in the NHS over four, five years. I am not a liar. I believe in the NHS. And so does my Government. And we do put more money into it.”
Audience interrupts again.
James:“I am sorry, I am going to carry on answering this question. We have put an extra £3.5 billion in at the last Budget, we have increased the NHS budget every year since we got into office.
“I do accept there is more demographic pressures on it. I do accept that, that is true. But it is not true to say that we do not invest in the NHS and it is an utter lie to say that we don’t believe in it, because we do.”
BBC Question Time: 'I Am Not A Liar' Says Tory Minister Margot James As Party Accused Of Running Down NHS
The Most Difficult Part Of Your Fitness Journey Will Be Starting It
My first run of the year was not unlike many runs that you – if you leave the house – will experience in your life.
Why? Because it nearly didn’t happen.
Knowing how good exercise makes me feel doesn’t stop me sabotaging my own good intentions.
It doesn’t stop the constant weather app checks. Are the clouds getting gloomier? It doesn’t stop the agonising decision of what to wear. Am I in too many layers? Cold enough for gloves? It doesn’t stop the general faffing. Is my watch/phone/iPod charged? And, it certainly doesn’t speed up the pre-exercise fuelling. Have I had enough water? Have I left a long enough gap after eating?
I’m constantly fighting the voice in my head saying, ‘you’ll have way more energy tomorrow’.
And I’ve been doing this for years.
So how do you get started and form a healthy habit when you haven’t yet experienced the extra spring in your step that comes when you shut that door behind you, get out there and give it a go.
How? By taking a few small steps…
- Make a plan: Start each week by working out what is possible. Then block it out. There’s nothing worse than thinking you can fit in a 30-minute jog when you’re also supposed to be seeing the dentist, reading something for work and making lunch. Make it realistic and it’s more likely to happen, because you don’t have a built-in excuse.
- Celebrate your kit: This is not permission to run towards the nearest sports shop. This is permission to dig out the clothes that give you a reason to smile. If you actually want to wear exercise clothes, it’ll give you one more reason to get started.
- Start small: If your training ground is currently the living room, it’s best not to make your first attempt a hill run or a 10k, otherwise you’ll feel defeated before you’ve even got started. While it feels amazing to unleash your inner Mo Farah, it is important to remember you aren’t a top athlete (and if you are, this post isn’t going to do much for you). Set achievable milestones and you’ll surprise yourself with just how quickly you rack up the miles. And, whatever you do, don’t get excited and double your mileage. Your body will, at best, not thank you or, at worst, remind you who is really in control (I learned the hard way).
- Choose your path: Unless you’re committed to the treadmill (in which case your route is limited), pick a route that excites you, that gives you chance to savour the changing seasons and explore new details in your local area. I often run out of my way to hit to Thames path because I love the feeling that comes with being near water. Build in landmark moments along the way and exercise becomes sightseeing.
- Break it down: Whatever your distance, don’t rush to thinking about the home straight before you’ve even located your keys. I may have run 26.2 miles for my wedding, but I’ve never run a marathon. Just four 10ks (and an extra bit that’s not to be underestimated when your legs have checked out). Count lamp posts, head for that next tree. Making it home is a bonus.
- Find a friend: Knowing others are out exercising always keeps me going. My newly-formed #Milesbetter2018 group on Facebook (and Strava) is like carrying a group of virtual cheerleaders in my pocket. We’re all at different levels, nervous about moving forward. But, we all recognise we are stronger together. Join us – or build your own friendly community to help you stay on track. Public accountability is a wonderful thing.
- Reap those rewards: I should be saying here that exercise is reward enough. No chance! If incentives get those energy levels going, then use them. I once ran 30k just to get a Pret love bar. I appreciate this is extreme (the barista thought so), but it certainly did the trick, even if it did undo the hard work.
- Rest and be thankful: a rest is only a rest if you’ve done something to earn it (try a bath after a rainy day and you’ll see what I mean). We all need a chance to recover. But not too many chances. The key is habit formation. Then you won’t need to fight the voice in your head that says your time would be better spent eating jelly babies while cooking dinner.
The hardest part of your exercise journey won’t be making your first finish line. It will be taking the decision to just start.
I did make it out of my January 1st run. I did feel better. I took a photo of the view I wouldn’t have seen from the sofa. I took time to thank my legs for moving forward and my lungs for keeping up. And, I took a detour on my way home to the path where it all began.
When I first stepped onto that path, I couldn’t run the 109 steps it takes to get to the end. So I walked. Then I walk/jogged. Then I jogged/ran. Then I ran. Then I ran off the path to find a new route and new milestones.
Now, that path is my cool down at the end of a six-mile run – miles that are part of the 100+ miles I’ve done (cycling and running) in a fortnight.
That path is about progress. It reminds me how far I’ve come. And, when I need a boost, I return to it to remind myself how far I can go if I just keep moving.
I hope you find your path this year and, in so doing, find a little bit of yourself along the way.
Now, time to get going…
Donald Trump And The Special, Schmecial Relationship
Government Will Not Appeal High Court Ruling Over Mental Health Discrimination
Why Does My Child Shun Me In Favour Of Their Mum?
Ricky Gervais Claims He Would Have Joked About Hollywood Harassment Scandal As Host Of Golden Globes
I Am One Of The Six Residents Of The Isle Of Ulva. Please Help Us Retain Control Of Our Home
Since it was announced in October that residents of the Isle of Ulva, along with those on neighbouring Mull, would be given the opportunity to attempt a community buyout of the island, there has been a great deal of interest from all over the globe. Articles have featured in newspapers and online in the likes of Australia, France, Singapore and the UAE. There has been great support for the project, but also a certain amount of criticism - land reform can be a divisive topic.
For Ulva and our community in particular, community ownership would be a massively positive step for several reasons. It offers the opportunity to reverse the social and economic decline of the island, and to secure the future of our fantastic primary school. It would enable us to provide housing with security of tenure, and to protect the island’s diverse natural environment whilst still ensuring it remains accessible for everyone to enjoy. We would have the ability to shine a light on Ulva’s historical importance, both the island itself and its former residents. We could create new business opportunities for new residents, while offering security to existing ones. And most importantly of all, it would give local people a voice.
One of the most important things community ownership offers residents in the case of Ulva, is a security that does not exist under private ownership. As shown by the population decimation over the past couple of centuries, islanders are at the mercy of the landlord. The sale of Ulva came out of the blue to residents, who had no inkling about the intention of the owner to sell until photographs were taken for the brochure. The current residents’ leases expired in November last year, meaning we are now on a rolling month by month tenancy. Any new owner is under no obligation to let the islanders remain in their homes. Security of tenure would be assured for current and future residents through community ownership, and the importance of this cannot be overstated. If you offer people security, they are more likely to be invested in the island and contribute to its ongoing upkeep and success.
Housing provision is another significant opportunity presented. In a time when the UK is chronically short on housing, it is frustrating to walk around and see homes unoccupied and neglected - the majority of Ulva’s housing stock is not lived in. Community ownership would mean the refurbishment of the built infrastructure on the island - allowing families, couples and individuals to move back to the island, supporting both the local primary school and the local economy.
Ulva contributes to the Mull economy predominantly through tourism and fishing, and this is another aspect to which community ownership is vital. We are committed to the environmental sustainability of Ulva, and making sure access is assured for locals and visitors alike. Ulva has a great deal of historical and environmental importance, which would be protected through community ownership. The sale of the island comes with a small piece of land on Mull which includes the pier and access to the island via the ferry. A private owner would be perfectly entitled to shut down the ferry and prevent access to the island, as well as stopping the use of the pier by the many fishing boats currently reliant on it.
Despite the reasons above, the question for some still remains - why is a community purchase so essential, compared to a philanthropic private purchaser, willing to enact all the hopes and dreams of the islanders without any public cost? It all comes down to certainty. Yes, perhaps we would get lucky and a white knight would ride in and save Ulva. But when the thirty-six page sales catalogue did not feature a single mention of the thousands of tourists who visit every year, and was marketed as a private playground retreat, this seemed highly unlikely. Even so, a private buyer with the best intentions is still the sole owner, with the residents at their mercy of their decisions. Private ownership may have been the norm in Scotland for centuries, but historically this has not ended well for the people. Ulva, in common with many other areas, has seen its population decimated - in the case of Ulva from more than 600 in the 19th century to only six residents today.
If a community can put forward a sensible, sustainable and affordable business plan, why shouldn’t they be given the opportunity to own their land? Land reform legislation is available to communities like ours precisely because of this question. It is no longer solely about who has the most money to buy a chunk of Scotland, it is also a judgement call about what owner will act in the best interests of the community. In a lot of cases, it may be private ownership - but in the case of Ulva, a community buyout is the correct solution. The road ahead will not be easy, we are under no illusions about that; despite the hard work, the inevitable differences of opinion, and the pressures that community ownership will entail, I believe that the people who live and work here are best placed to run the island. All we are asking for is the chance to shape our own future, and provide opportunities for our children and generations to come. Community ownership offers us a say in that future. And that is what makes it essential.
Trump's Attacks On Women Worldwide Mean The Resistance Is Global
Smearing Your Lipstick Could Help Save Lives
Is It Really Possible To Go Off Grid?
In today’s hyper-connected digital world, where we unlock our phones 80 times a day, living a disconnected life has become a distant dream. Landlines and spare change have been relegated to a simpler, long-forgotten time, when we didn’t live our lives online.
But thanks to the latest series of Channel 4’s Hunted, and following the recent airing of Celebrity Hunted, the challenge and possibility of going off-grid will be on the minds of many. After all, if some of the UK’s most famous faces could disappear for almost two weeks, surely anyone can?
Going on the run isn’t easy, but there are a few things that you can do to successfully evade capture – and returning to this long-forgotten disconnected life plays a large part in this.
Minimise your digital footprint
Social media accounts and search engine history are a rich source of personal data. Planned your escape beforehand? One look at your browser history could reveal all of the possible places that you could be, and will give vital clues about who you know and any places that you are familiar with.
However, it is extremely difficult to get rid of all of your data – even if you deactivate your account, it will disappear from view, but it’s still there.
Wipe and throw away your smartphone
As soon as you go on the run, the first thing that you should do is abandon your smartphone. Even if you think you’ve turned off a GPS signal in your phone settings, often one of your apps will be broadcasting your location and signalling where you are as obviously as a tracking app would. It’s best to wipe it completely first.
You should also be careful not to forget all your backups in the cloud. Having access to a phone backup is almost as good as having the phone itself, as phones and their backups are an immensely rich source of data about you, your contacts, photos, message history and location history.
If you do take your phone with you, even if location services are disabled, any phone with a digital connection, whether it’s 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi, can give away your location. The best thing to do is to get rid of any internet-enabled phone and replace it with an old-school pay as you go phone for emergencies. Such phones can only be used once, and you have to assume that you have given away your location as soon as you use it.
Watch out for CCTV
There are estimated to be around six million CCTV cameras across the UK. The web of cameras, particularly in urban areas, is so extensive that it’s often possible to generate minute-by-minute details of an individual’s movements.
Once your face and name are public, it only takes one camera to be able to track you down. Try to avoid urban areas with plenty of CCTV cameras, and consider a disguise.
Don’t check your email – or any of your online accounts for that matter
Using your email while on the run is a sure-fire way to get caught. If your email account, or any online account, is being monitored, it takes just minutes for specialists to identify where you are by reversing the IP address of the device you’re using. Of course, there are ways to mask this if you know what you are doing, but why run the risk?
The best way to keep out of sight is to avoid contacting your family and friends at all – if they’re being monitored, even a phone call to them can be accessed and traced.
Use cash for travel
Bank accounts can be monitored, and if a transaction or cash withdrawal takes place, information can go to the police almost instantly.
Before you go on the run, gather cash – and don’t forget to budget!
Ultimately, our smartphone addictions combined with our love for documenting our every move and relationship on social media means that it’s easy to track anyone down – and that’s without even mentioning the sophisticated policing technologies that are in force.
Our digital habits mean that going fully off-grid is almost impossible – as you will see in the current series of Channel 4’s Hunted.