Britain

LONDON (Reuters) - Norway's annual Christmas tree gift to London provoked unseasonably abrupt responses on Thursday, including demands that the 24-metre Norwegian spruce be replaced, after it appeared to be less than symmetrical with some broken branches. Every year, a tree is felled outside Oslo and sent to London's Trafalgar Square as an offering of thanks from Norwegians for Britain's support during World War Two. The Lord Mayor of Westminster Andrew Smith and Mayor of Oslo Marianne Borgen helped fell the 80-year-old Norwegian spruce along with schoolchildren on Nov. 16. It was transported by Norwegian authorities. Reuters photographs show the tree has some broken branches. One side appears to have less growth than the other, though it was unclear when the damage was done. The tree drew mirth on Twitter with some commenting that it was "threadbare", "half dead", or perhaps ill with COVID. Others said it was a symbol of modern British decline or speculated it might be an …

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Castle Point, Essex, ENGLAND—Looking out from the crest of Sandpit Hill, no obstacle stands between the ruins of a 13th-century castle and the Thames estuary which stretches out to the horizon, before flowing into the Channel and out towards mainland Europe. This is England’s frontier country. The scene was immortalized in oil by John Constable, who stood on these bluffs in 1814. More than a century later, Sandpit Hill was a vital part of London’s Second World War “Shield of Steel” with four anti-aircraft guns stationed here to repel Luftwaffe raids sweeping in from Europe. “You look over and there are the ruins of Hadleigh Castle—looking out—guarding the estuary from invasion,” Rebecca Hall, the local member of Parliament, told The Daily Beast. “In Essex, you find a self-sufficient, resilient attitude. We can overcome a bit of adversity—people do not think we are weak, little England.” Hall contends this attitude helps to explain why the Essex coast was one of the driving …

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Susanna Reid broke down in tears today while speaking to tragic Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' gran on Good Morning Britain today. Madeleine Halcrow said that her grandson's evil stepmum and dad will "burn in hell" after Arthur died from unsurvivable brain injuries in June last year. Arthur found with 125 areas of bruising on his body while alone with Hughes' partner Tustin while the country was on lockdown. Coventry Crown Court was told that Arthur's concerned grandmother Joanne Hughes, took pictures of a large bruise on his shoulder in a failed attempt to show authorities that her grandson was in danger . Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Madeleine recalled the last heartbreaking time she saw Arthur, revealing that the "sparkle had gone from his eyes". His dad Thomas later prevented Madeleine from seeing Arthur again as he pleaded to stay with her rather than go in the car with his father and stepmum. Susanna Reid broke down in tears today while speaking to tragic Arthur …

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Good Morning Britain viewers were left infuriated after a debate about tragic Arthur Labinjo-Hughes as they accused a social care and safeguarding consultant of "smiling" as she spoke to hosts Susanna Reid and Martin Lewis. Joanna Nicolas, who is a former social worker herself, appeared on the ITV programme as she addressed the case - which she personally wasn't involved in - and suggested that the social care industry was underfunded by the government. She also called for the social services to not be singled out and that the failure of Arthur wasn't entirely up to them. The six-year-old boy died on June 17 last year after suffering an "unsurvivable" brain injury while the country was on lockdown. His evil stepmum Emma Tustin, 32, convicted of murdering the defenceless child after a horrific campaign of abuse, while his dad Thomas Hughes was found guilty of manslaughter. Joanna Nicolas, who is a former social worker herself, appeared on GMB ( Image: ITV) …

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Senior doctors in London say Britain faces a time-bomb of up to 300,000 new patients with heart conditions – which they attribute to “post-pandemic stress disorder”. “I’ve seen a big increase in thrombotic-related vascular conditions in my practice. Far younger patients are being admitted and requiring surgical and medical intervention than prior to the pandemic,” said senior vascular surgeon Tahir Hussain, who works at Northwick Park Hospital, a major National Health Service (NHS) general hospital managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. “I believe many of these cases are a direct result of the increased stress and anxiety levels caused from the effects of PPSD,” he added, abbreviating “post-pandemic stress disorder” in the same way post-traumatic stress disorder is abbreviated. “We also have evidence that some patients have died at home from conditions such as pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction. I believe this is related to many people …

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Dozens of tanks and hundreds of soldiers fired explosives and machine guns in drills Monday on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido a main stronghold for a nation that is perhaps the world's least-known military powerhouse. Just across the sea from rival Russia Japan opened up its humbly named Self Defense Force's firing exercises to the media in a display of public firepower that coincides with a recent escalation of Chinese and Russian military moves around Japanese territory. The drills, which foreign journalists rarely have a chance to witness, will continue for nine days and include about 1,300 Ground Self Defense Force troops. On Monday, as hundreds of soldiers cheered from the sidelines and waved unit flags, lines of tanks shot at targets meant to represent enemy missiles or armored vehicles. The exercises illuminate a fascinating, easy-to-miss point. Japan, despite an officially pacifist constitution written when memories of its World War II rampage were …

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One million global Covid-19 deaths is not just a dire milestone.  It is also an indictment of a short-sighted, fragmented, underpowered global response. We should also take it as a warning – that as therapeutic support in richer countries helps save lives, the dangers for poorer people and countries are multiplying. This coronavirus pandemic represents a triple emergency.  There are obviously the health effects, both direct cause of illness and interruption of other health services . The economic collateral damage is the second emergency.  Countries like the UK are directing enormous firepower – including deficits of up to 20 per cent of GDP – to mitigate the damage, but the global effort to help poorer countries has been a fraction of this. It is clearly also a political emergency, as international institutions on which we all depend, like the World Health Organisation (WHO), are attacked, and the siren call of nationalism in a number of nations runs from …

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Will Covid-19 mean that we don’t notice a no-deal Brexit ? The continuing effects of the pandemic may mitigate or obscure – politically or economically – the impact of no deal. Whatever the headline growth figures in early 2021, it will be very difficult to attribute economic outcomes to Brexit. However, assuming a reasonably strong recovery, and that government policies succeed in avoiding persistent mass unemployment, Brexit is likely to have a more significant impact in the long run. Our modelling with the London School of Economics of the impact of a no-deal Brexit suggests that the total cost to the UK economy over the longer term will be two to three times as large as that implied by the Bank of England’s forecast for the impact of Covid-19. No deal will result in immediate and substantial tariff and non-tariff barriers on UK exports to the EU. And the UK will apply the new UK Global Tariff to imports from the EU and other countries with which it does …

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Has any Prime Minister in the memory of anyone alive inherited a more petrifying, insomnia-causing, ‘what-in-the-name-of-sweet-Lord-Jesus-have-I-got-myself-into-here?’ legacy than Theresa May ? She has only one rival and whether she or Winston Churchill deserves the title is less self-evident than it might appear. Obviously, Britain faced a clearer cut existential threat from forces massing on the other side of the Channel in May 1940, when Churchill slid into No 10 much as May did in July, albeit without the black comedy of several other contenders collapsing like kamikaze dominoes. Yet in some ways the old boy had it easier than May. Firstly, within days of taking office, he had illuminated the path ahead by persuading the inner Cabinet to fight to the death, rather than deal with Hitler to cut an Empire-preserving deal. From that history-shaping moment, whether it led to victory or defeat, he knew in outline what had to be done. ✕ Theresa May backs …

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Salisbury has been named the UK’s “best place to live” just one year after becoming globally infamous as the scene of a deadly nerve agent attack. The cathedral city topped the annual list compiled by The Sunday Times , which praised its “resurgent community spirit” following the novichok poisonings, which made headlines around the world. Former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia both survived an assassination attempt blamed on Russian intelligence agency GRU. But the poisoning later claimed the life of local Dawn Sturgess, 44, who died died after coming into contact with a perfume bottle that was thought to have been used in the attack. Commenting on the decision to choose Salisbury as the best place to live in the UK, Helen Davies, The Sunday Times home editor said it had "shown real collective spirit in dealing with a chemical attack that saw the cathedral city become the centre of world headlines for all the wrong reasons”. …

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