BBC bias row: Lord Hall warns corporation must get away from London ‘metro elite’ - Express

The BBC has been heavily criticised after announcing neither Rule Britannia nor Land of Hope and Glory will be sung at the last night of the proms, though they will still be played on instruments. Critics claim the two songs have racist overtones related to Britain’s imperial past.

However the decision was savaged by Boris Johnson who accused the BBC of “wetness”.

Lord Hall is stepping down as BBC director general after seven years in the job.

He is due to be replaced by Tim Davie, currently chief executive of BBC Studios.

During an interview with The Telegraph Lord Hall argued 70 percent of BBC staff should be based outside of London to better represent the country.

He also argued decision makers at the BBC must be ethnically diverse to reflect modern Britain.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph Lord Hall said: “You don't want people who all think alike.

“So you need diverse voices around the table; that could be diverse because you’ve got black, Asian, minority voices around the table, that’s important.

“I’ve got a thing myself about social diversity.

READ MORE: TV Licence could be replaced by household tax in shakeup for Britons

He argued the BBC should reflect the “calm centre” in Britain’s national debates.

Lord Hall argued: “Our job is not to take sides.

“We should not pander to any particular group; we should be giving everybody, whoever they are, something.

“We should try to be the calm centre in what is a very stormy situation that we find ourselves in.”

The row over the last night of the proms prompted the Prime Minister to say it’s “time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history”.

Separately during a talk at the Edinburgh TV festival Roger Mosey, formerly head of BBC News, admitted the corporation was run by “white liberals” and needed to do more to ensure
“diversity of thought”.

Lord Hall claimed the case for putting more BBC staff outside of London was strengthened by the Covid-19 epidemic which has seen an explosion in home working.

He explained: “What we’ve learned from Covid is that you don’t need as many buildings as you think, therefore you can be more diverse in where you centre people.

“I think we can do a big push to get more out of London, and that changes the dynamic of the discussions you have and therefore - I hate using the word relevance, but I will do - your relevance to the people that are paying for you.”

It is currently illegal to watch live TV in the UK without paying the licence fee, which is used to fund the BBC.

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2020-08-29 00:07:00Z
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Backlog of cancer patients awaiting treatment should clear 'within a matter of months' - Daily Mail

Backlog of cancer patients awaiting treatment should clear 'within a matter of months', says Health Secretary Matt Hancock as he claims U-turns are because of the 'unprecedented' crisis

• Cancer patients are not meant to wait more than 62 days to begin treatment
• That number increased 'substantially' amid lockdown, the Health Secretary said 
• Mr Hancock has urged cancer patients to 'come forward' and receive treatment  

By Alice Cachia For Mailonline

Published: 00:54 BST, 29 August 2020 | Updated: 01:35 BST, 29 August 2020

A backlog of cancer patients awaiting treatment should clear 'within a matter of months', the Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said. 

He admitted that the number of cancer patients waiting longer than 62 days - the standard the Government wants to see - increased 'substantially' amid lockdown. 

Mr Hancock told ITV News, though, that numbers have 'more or less halved' since the peak of the pandemic.

He said: 'We've had to take action right across the NHS to make sure that we deal with Covid, and it was very important when there were a lot of new cases of Covid that people weren't made more at risk because of treatments, especially for cancer.

'But now it's incredibly important for people to come forward.' 

He refused to a put a 'precise date' on the number the backlog would be cleared by, because he said that 'depends on how much Covid there is'

He refused to a put a 'precise date' on the number the backlog would be cleared by, because he said that 'depends on how much Covid there is'.  

Mr Hancock's comments come after charity Macmillan Cancer Support found that the number of people in England being treated with radiotherapy for one of five common types of cancer dropped 24% in April, shortly after the country went into lockdown.

And NHS England's monthly data published on August 13 showed urgent cancer referrals dropped by a fifth in June compared to last year.

That rose to 43% for breast cancer as the number of people - including cancer patients - waiting longer than 18 weeks for hospital treatment rose to 1.85 million that month.

'What I can say though, is that we are already on the path to recovering the situation in cancer', he added, after admitting that 'some cancer treatment did have to stop'.

The number of cancer patients waiting longer than 62 days - the standard the Government wants to see - increased 'substantially' amid lockdown

When asked about the Government's U-turns on a number of recent policies, Mr Hancock said he believed people would have been 'really cross' if they did not happen.

'We're dealing with a crisis that is entirely unprecedented,' he responded.

'We're dealing with a disease that didn't even exist, as far as we know, before December last year.

'And so, we're taking decisions guided by the science on it.

'I think people would, what people would get really cross about, is if a government refuse to change even if evidence came up that there was a better option.'

He also hinted that restrictions may not be eased over Christmas to avoid an 'uptick' in the number of coronavirus cases. 

When asked whether he could assure that cancer patients will not have their treatment or surgery cancelled again in the event of a potential second wave in the winter, Mr Hancock said he could not guarantee it.

'What I can say though, is that we are already on the path to recovering the situation in cancer', he added, after admitting that 'some cancer treatment did have to stop'. 

On how long he thought the backlog could be cleared, Mr Hancock responded: 'Well, I very much hope that that will happen within a matter of months.'

There is a likelihood that the virus could spread more easily in cold weather, he warned, as people will spend more time indoors as opposed to outside where it is 'safer'.

'We're doing a huge amount of planning to make sure that the NHS is prepared and can cope to make sure that people can have as much freedom to enjoy Christmas, to enjoy winter, as possible,' he said.

But when asked whether there will be special rules to allow more people to visit one another over Christmas, Mr Hancock suggested it could lead to a rise in the number of people catching the virus.

'The danger of a rule like that is that it increases the spread of the disease,' he said.

'I mean, there are an awful lot of things I'd love to be able to do, but the risk of them is that we see an uptick in the disease.

'Hence, we've had to take decisions that you wouldn't ever want to.'

On vaccines, the Health Secretary said there is potential for it to be available this year, but that it is more likely next year.

He continued: 'It's a very difficult science, it's thankfully one that our scientists are up to, and each sign at the moment is going well and going in the right direction.

'But we don't want to raise people's hopes too much.'

The Government is responding to 'an increase in anti-vax messages and anti-test messages', he added, with a programme under way to tackle 'these sorts of conspiracy theories' which he branded as 'wrong'. 

AI FUNDING BOOST AIMS TO SPEED UP CANCER DIAGNOSES 

Artificial intelligence capable of spotting deadly diseases like cancer is to receive a £50 million funding boost in a bid to speed up diagnosis times.

The extra cash is being awarded to three specialist centres based in Coventry, Leeds and London, delivering digital upgrades to pathology and imaging services across an additional 38 NHS trusts, the Department of Health and Social Care (DoH) said.

It is hoped the technology will improve outcomes for millions of patients, providing a more accurate diagnosis and freeing up NHS staff time, as part of a Government commitment to detect three quarters of cancers at an early stage by 2028.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'Technology is a force for good in our fight against the deadliest diseases - it can transform and save lives through faster diagnosis, free up clinicians to spend time with their patients and make every pound in the NHS go further.

'I am determined we do all we can to save lives by spotting cancer sooner.

'Bringing the benefits of artificial intelligence to the front line of our health service with this funding is another step in that mission.

'We can support doctors to improve the care we provide and make Britain a world-leader in this field.

'The NHS is open and I urge anyone who suspects they have symptoms to book an appointment with their GP as soon as possible to benefit from our excellent diagnostics and treatments.'

The Government said the investment will support its long-term response to Covid-19, allowing centres to work with British businesses and thereby support the economic recovery.

The DoH said that since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 92% of urgent cancer referrals have been investigated within two weeks and 85,000 people have started treatment.

Darren Treanor, a consultant pathologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and director of one of the three centres, said: 'This investment will allow us to use digital pathology to diagnose cancer at 21 NHS trusts in the North, serving a population of six million people.

'We will also build a national network spanning another 25 hospitals in England, allowing doctors to get expert second opinions in rare cancers, such as childhood tumours, more rapidly.'

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2020-08-28 23:54:39Z
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Matt Hancock warns of extensive lockdowns | News - The Times

England could face nationwide restrictions and very extensive local lockdowns in the event of a second wave of coronavirus this winter, the health secretary has warned.

Matt Hancock said that under a “reasonable worst-case scenario” Britain could find itself contending with a surge in coronavirus and a bad outbreak of seasonal flu as people spent more time indoors.

In an interview with The Times he said that a second wave of Covid-19 was “avoidable but it’s not easy” and that the return of children to schools next week presented challenges in stopping the spread.

“A second wave is clearly visible in other parts of the world,” he said. “It is a very serious threat. But so far in the UK we are managing to keep

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2020-08-28 23:01:00Z
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Coronavirus: Lockdown changes confirmed in hotspot areas in northern England - Sky News

Lockdown restrictions will be eased in northern England next week after a decrease in coronavirus cases, meaning more than one million people in parts of the region can mix again in different households.

In line with the rest of England, social gatherings can take place between two homes in Bolton, Stockport, Trafford, Burnley, and Hyndburn - and parts of Bradford, Calderdale, and Kirklees - from Wednesday.

Businesses and organisations including bowling alleys and indoor play areas - which opened elsewhere in England on 15 August - will also be permitted to open their doors.

The decision was made after local political leaders submitted their recommendations to the government's Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC).

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "We're seeing the positive results of our local approach, and are able to bring in increasingly targeted measures.

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"It is vital we can maintain this good progress."

He added: "I have every faith people across the country, especially in areas where we are seeing higher numbers of cases, will continue to play their part by following local rules, and self-isolating and requesting a free test as soon as they get any symptoms."

During the week ending 20 August, COVID-19 cases per 100,000 decreased in Burnley from 52 to 24.6, in Bolton from 25.6 to 18.9, in Stockport from 23 to 15.1 and in Trafford from 27.1 to 17.8, official data from the Department of Health and Social Care showed.

The easing of restrictions in Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees excludes the Bradford city area, the Keighley town area, Halifax, Dewsbury, and Batley.

People living in Manchester, Rochdale, Bury, Tameside, Salford, Preston, and Leicester will still not be able to visit others in their homes or gardens.

And residents in Oldham, and parts of Blackburn with Pendle, where infection rates are the highest in the country, are still banned from socialising with anyone outside their household anywhere.

What is the 'R' rate in England's regions?

Gary Hall, deputy chairman of the Lancashire Resilience Forum, which is leading the county's response to the coronavirus pandemic, said: "If we continue on this path I am hopeful that all parts of Lancashire will have the remaining restrictions lifted soon, but this depends on people following the rules wherever they live in the county."

However, council leaders in Trafford told the government that it has eased restrictions too early, following advice from its own director of public health.

Andrew Western, Labour leader of Trafford Council, said: "It is apparent that for all of their claims of working in collaboration with local authorities, the government has decided to overrule the council and lift restrictions in Trafford.

"This action by government makes a mockery of the claims of locally led decision-making and once again shows that local government is being ignored in spite of being on the front line of this crisis."

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Official government data released on Friday revealed the UK recorded 1,276 daily confirmed cases of COVID-19, compared with 1,522 a day earlier.

Thursday's total was the highest daily count since 12 June.

A further nine people have also died with coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the latest R number range for the UK remains the same as last week at 0.9-1.1 - indicating that the rate of infection is most likely either broadly stable or slightly growing.

The R number is a measure of how many people on average each infected person transmits the virus to.

The latest growth rate for the whole of the country is between -2% and 1%, the government said, meaning the number of new infections is somewhere between shrinking by 2% and growing by 1% every day.

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2020-08-28 21:31:05Z
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Covid case could mean all year group out of school - BBC News

A single confirmed case of coronavirus in a school in England could mean sending home an entire year group, according to new government guidance.

It says a confirmed case could mean all the pupils in the same "bubble" having to isolate for 14 days.

In areas with a local lockdown, secondary pupils could be put on a rota of two weeks in and out of school.

The guidance, published on Friday night, comes a few days before millions of pupils go back to school.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said these were contingency plans for a "worst case scenario".

"We hope that we won't have to implement the guidance set out today," said Mr Williamson.

"Changes to school attendance will only be an absolute last resort," he said.

• Heads reassure pupils: 'We are ready for you'
• Support rises for reopening schools, say pollsters

Paul Whiteman, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "Keeping schools open has to be the priority, but you don't need a crystal ball to see that there will almost inevitably be some disruption in some areas in the coming weeks."

He said that heads had been asking for weeks for this "Plan B" for what happens in the event of an outbreak - and "another late night publication is fairly typical of what we've become used to".

The new guidance sets out what would happen if there are coronavirus cases in a school - and what happens to schools in areas where there are higher levels of infection.

If there is a suspected case of a pupil or staff member, the school will continue while a test is carried out.

But the Department for Education says: "If a case is confirmed, local public health officials will work with the school to take appropriate measures, including asking all members of a pupil's bubble to isolate for 14 days and access remote education."

A "bubble" could be a small number of children - but it could also be an entire year group - and it could mean all of those pupils having to leave school to isolate for 14 days and switch to distance learning.

The guidance says that a health protection team would decide which specific pupils are considered to have been in close enough contact to have to go into isolation.

Tiers of concern

For schools to respond to changing levels of coronavirus cases, there will be a four-stage set of responses - which will all prioritise keeping primary school pupils in school full time.

The default setting will be Tier 1 - which will be where there are no particular problems, with the assumption that this will be the great majority of schools, where all pupils will attend full time.

If local public health and education officials decide there are too high levels of infection, schools could have a Tier 2 response, in which secondary pupils would go on to a part-time rota, in school for two weeks and then studying online from home for two weeks.

The guidance says schools would only be affected in this way after "all other measures have been exhausted" - but it says this would help to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission.

A more severe response would be Tier 3, in which most secondary pupils would study from home, and then Tier 4, in which all types of school would switch to studying from home, except for the children of key workers and vulnerable children.

Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union welcomed the contingency planning.

"But to wait until the Friday night before most schools return isn't the government's finest moment. Obviously, schools haven't had any chance whatsoever to incorporate this into their planning and will now have to revisit the plans they have put in place.

"In any event, it is a step in the right direction. Obviously, everybody will be hoping that these back-up plans aren't needed and that schools are able to remain fully open."

Education staff and parents took to Twitter to express irritation at the timing.

"The timing of this shows total disregard for schools, leaders and teachers. It is utterly breathtaking that this is how we are repeatedly treated," said deputy head Daniel Sabato,

Claire Sheehan said: "Our school waited until late this week to send guidance in case stuff changed."

It felt like the government was "full of the same people [who] wd send redundancy emails 530 fri", she said.

There were questions about what the advice meant.

"As a sixth form college, our bubble would be half of the students. Does that include all staff who have taught them too? Cause that could be all the staff," said geography teacher Claire Foulkes.

While head of geography Mark Enser asked: "Staff in most secondaries are teaching across year group bubbles - who would be in school to teach the rest?"

"I'm a dinner lady, and the lunch hall is a communal area that face masks can't be worn in," said Trudi Gard.

"The dinner ladies come into contact with all children from all bubbles. If a child infects us, we infect everyone else."

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2020-08-28 20:57:12Z
CBMiLWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2VkdWNhdGlvbi01Mzk1NDY0MtIBMWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FtcC9lZHVjYXRpb24tNTM5NTQ2NDI

SNP ordered to ‘get off the sidelines’ as Nicola Sturgeon attacked for ‘barney’ with Boris - Daily Express

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds told the SNP Government to get off the sidelines as Scotland’s economy suffered a significant deficit due to COVID-19. Her comments come after a visit to Summerhall in Edinburgh with Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard today.

The latest GERS economic figures from the Scottish Government revealed Scotland faces an eye-watering public spending gap of more than £40 billion this year.

The official figures showed Scotland's fiscal deficit grew to 8.6 percent of GDP in the 2019/20 financial year, with government spending £15.1 billion more than is received in revenues.

Meanwhile, Treasury figures showed that 936,000 jobs (a third of the country's workforce) were being supported north of the Border.

The number of people supported in the COVID-19 Job Retention Scheme was 779,500 between June and July.

 

Speaking today, Ms Dodds said, “we’ve got to focus on what is happening in Scotland”.

She told Express.co.uk: “We have the highest unemployment rate in Scotland across the UK worryingly.

“We’ve also seen a number of reports which suggested that the Scottish economy is going to be particularly hard hit because of the impact on the pandemic.

“We really need to have a focused approach, one which isn’t this one size fits all approach and drawing support from all sectors.

READ MORE: Sturgeon's bizarre new law 'could criminalise comedy jokes'

She went on to attack Boris Johnson saying sadly we have a “Westminster Government which is not dealing with this pandemic well.”

Ms Dodds added: “We have the highest rate of excess deaths in all of Europe and we also have the deepest recession in all of Europe.

“I think people are looking at that and are very worried.”

She continued to hit out at Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s withdrawal of the Furlough Scheme and added: “The Chancellor’s one-size-fits-all withdrawal of the Jobs Retention Scheme is causing economic havoc across the UK, but just because the Tories have presided over a jobs crisis in Westminster doesn’t mean the SNP can be proud of their record in Holyrood.

 

“Scotland has the highest unemployment rate in the UK and has suffered the highest year-on-year fall in job vacancies.

“Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP Government need to get off the sidelines and do much more to ensure workers who lose their jobs don't end up in long-term unemployment."

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard MSP, added today: “Just as Scotland was unprepared for the public health crisis, so too are we unprepared for the developing economic crisis.

“The UK Government must think again about its rash withdrawal of the furlough scheme, and the Scottish Government must waste no more time in rolling out a quality Jobs Guarantee Scheme before the furlough scheme ends."

It comes after Nicola Sturgeon was handed a huge boost in a poll which asked Scots about whether Scotland should be an independent country.

The Panelbase poll showed 51 percent of those questioned said they support independence, while 42 percent said they would vote to stay in the UK and seven percent of voters were undecided.

When undecided voters were excluded, 55 percent favoured Scotland leaving the UK, with 45 percent preferring to stay in the Union.

Mr Leonard said he wasn’t conceding defeat nine months before the voters take to the ballot box.

He said: “I am not, nine months out from the election, conceding defeat to the SNP and there is everything to fight for. There are clear priorities which reflect the urgent priorities of the people.

“I do worry about any possible future which sees a long constitutional wrangle between an SNP and a Tory administration, I don’t think that serves the people of Scotland well.”

 

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2020-08-28 18:30:00Z
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Andrew Neil hits out at SNP as he highlights critical flaw in Scottish independence bid - Express

The political heavyweight was responding to an article from a former SNP MSP who said the imbalance proved the UK was not working. Writing in The Times, businessman Andrew Wilson wrote: "The UK is one of the most unequal countries in the developed world. Every region and nation outside the southeast and east runs a large deficit on this measure."

He continued: "This is not a cause for celebration but a clear sign that the UK is not working.

"This is why the Prime Minister is constantly talking about the need to 'level up'."

Mr Wilson, a former chairman of the SNP sustainable growth commission, said fiscal transfers - cash moved from Westminster to Edinburgh - "locks in structural inequality, and ensures that poorer parts stay poorer".

But Mr Neil accused Mr Wilson of failing to understand the figures, in what could be seen as a hammer blow to Nicola Sturgeon's independence bid, as he made his point which suggested Scotland was benefitting from being in the Union.

The BBC presenter tweeted: "A proper understanding of the stats does not show UK the most unequal regionally.

"But there is regional inequality and point of fiscal transfers is to reduce that inequality.

"Scotland gets a £15bn/year transfer. If it locks in inequality and keeps you poor, why not give it up?"

READ MORE: Andrew Neil confronts Scottish independence supporters 

Earlier, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said new figures showing Scotland's deficit of just over £15bn was not a reflection of how the country would fare if it was independent.

Ms Sturgeon spoke after the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) statistics showed spending amounted to £15.1 billion more than ministers received in revenues.

Scottish Conservatives described the statistics as a "hammer blow" to the SNP's aspirations for independence.

But Ms Sturgeon, who was asked about the figures at First Minister's Questions, said they were a "reflection of Scotland's fiscal position in the United Kingdom, not a reflection of how Scotland would fare as an independent country".

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said the figures do not take into account the "blockbuster support" from the UK Government, such as the furlough scheme.

He said: "This is a hammer blow to the SNP and a massive setback for separation.

"Nicola Sturgeon would have to throw away Scotland's entire NHS, every nurse and doctor, just to come close to balancing the budget in her separate state.

"It's beyond dispute that the economic case for independence has never been weaker.

"Separating would cost Scotland £15 billion a year that we need for our schools and hospitals."

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2020-08-28 18:11:00Z
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