The Guardian - Oct 9 2020

2020·12.69 MB·English

Kevin
Sade
Her greatest
ranked!
Bacon songs
Friday
9 October 2020
£2.20
‘ I couldn’t
From £1.75 for subscribers
care less about
being heroic
or handsome’
 Film & Music G2
New Covid-19
rules don’t go
far enough,
say experts
Sage members say type should have been enacted in England
two or three weeks ago when such a
of ‘circuit breaker’ used move was discussed with ministers .
in Scotland was needed This would have involved a two-week
shutdown for hospitality venues and
in England weeks ago other parts of society to drive down
cases and h ospital admissions.
W ith the UK recording more than
Peter Walker 17,500 new Covid-19 infections y ester-
Ian Sample day , up almost 25% on the day before,
Heather Stewart and leaders in northern England i n
open revolt over imminent lockdown
Scientists advising the UK govern- plans, some s cientists believe more
ment believe t he planned new Covid should have been done already.
r estrictions do not go far enough O ne senior scientist said the UK
and that “fringe” an ti-lockdown epi- was at a critical point and that deeper
demiologists are gaining too much measures were needed to bring the
attention, the Guardian has learned. resurgence u nder control.
Members of the Scientifi c Advisory Another epidemiologist, Prof John
Group for Emergencies (Sage) believe Edmunds, who sits on Sage, said a cir-
a potential shutdown of pubs and r es- cuit breaker was needed to s top the
taurants in northern England and the NHS becoming overwhelmed. The
Midlands, e xpected next week a fter epidemic was increasing, and widely,
delays that one MP has called “reck- h e said. “It is, of course, more severe
less” , are unlikely to bring cases down in the north and north-west but it
to a more manageable level. is increasing everywhere and so we
Speaking anonymously, some of have to take action unless we want
the experts maintained that a cir- to face really large numbers of hospi-
cuit breaker-style intervention of the talisations in the quite near
2 
type being imposed in Scotland t oday term and, unfortunately,
Hospitals set to cancel Face of No 10: Stratton ▲ Allegra Stratton in Downing Street,
where she is currently an adviser to
the chancellor, Rishi Sunak
operations as beds fi ll to host daily TV briefi ng
PHOTOGRAPH: GEORGE CRACKNELL WRIGHT/LNP
role . “Awful job,” said one sympathetic
Labour adviser.
T rusts in the north-east and north- Downing Street announced the crea- The 39-year-old, currently an
Denis Campbell west are getting so many n ew Covid Heather Stewart tion of the role in July. Discussing the adviser to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak,
Helen Pidd cases every day that some plan to ditch Simon Murphy new televised briefi ngs at the time, will in eff ect become a high-profi le
Josh Halliday routine surgery again to free up staff Boris Johnson said: “We do think that spokeswoman for the prime minister
and beds, despite an NHS-wide order T he former ITV journalist Allegra people want direct engagement and A senior T ory claimed J ohnson had
Some hospitals in northern England that they should continue to provide Stratton is expected to be announced want stuff from us and so we’re going personally asked Stratton more than
w ill run out of beds for Covid patients normal care this time. as the face of Downing Street’s new to have a go at that … I will pop up from once to become the public face of his
within a week, health chiefs are warn- “Mutual aid” plans are also being daily t elevised press briefi ngs. time to time, I have no doubt.” government before she accepted. If
ing, amid growing signs that the m ade for hospitals to take Covid cases H er appointment follows months of But Westminster insiders on both s he did hesitate, it would be under-
f ast-unfolding second wave will seri- from outside their area to 6  speculation about who would take on sides of the aisle were in rare unanimity standable. The role will 2 
•ously disrupt normal NHS care a gain. r elieve the pressure on those the White House-style briefi ngs after y esterday: S tratton is taking on a tough involve explaining the
• The Guardian Friday 9 October 2020
Inside 9/10/20 News
Four sections every weekday
News and Sport (cid:2) Masks in Manchester yesterday. It is
one of the areas expected to face fresh
restrictions a s Covid cases surge
PHOTOGRAPH: OLI SCARFF/AFP/GETTY
Bianca Williams inquiry
The briefi ng warned that the num-
Five police offi cers ber of Covid patients in intensive care
in the north of England would surpass
under investigation over
the April peak if infections continued
handcuffi ng of athlete
rising at the current rate.
Page 11 MPs were also shown early Public
Health England research suggesting
No ban for England song bars, pubs and restaurants accounted
for 41% of cases in which two or more
Fans will be able to sing under-30s had visited the same venue
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot in the week before testing positive.
This fell to a quarter of infections
at Twickenham games
across all age groups.
Page 38
New restrictions must go One MP later expressed frus tration.
“We got some interesting data but
questions about policy were banned,”
Journal Outside G2 further, say Sage experts said Lilian Greenwood, Labour MP for
Nottingham South. Yesterday Not-
Opinions and ideas tingham had the U K’s highest Covid
infection rate, at 689 cases per 100,000
(cid:2) Continued from page 1 The Guardian understands the people. “I asked how the science sup-
As pandemic majority of northern England, from ported delaying extra restrictions
large numbers of deaths. This is still Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria to Mer- in Nottingham until next Wednes-
fatigue sets in, what we
a killer virus, despite improvements seyside, Greater Manchester, much of day, especially now they’ve been
need is leadership in treatment.” Lancashire and Yorkshire and most announced to the media so every-
Gaby Hinsliff There is also worry within Sage of the north-east, as well as Notting- one knows this is their last weekend
about the infl uence of a relatively small hamshire, expects to be under Covid to meet friends and family indoors.
Page 1
number of public health academics restrictions as part of a new three-tier “Unsurprisingly, I got a hopeless
who oppose new lockdown moves, alert system whose announcement answer. A load of waffl e and excuses
For millions, the with some members understood to be was originally expected this week. about there are lots of things to take
arts are a lifeline, not annoyed at the level of coverage they Y esterday, a government source into consideration, regulations take
have received. T his week thousands of said the plan was now to make the time, and that’s a decision for min-
a decadent hobby
advocates for t he Great Barrington dec- announcement on Monday, with meas- isters – the ones who won’t answer
Tim Burgess
laration urged governments in the UK, ures coming into force on Wednesday. questions. I’m fuming, it’s reckless.”
Page 3 US and elsewhere to abandon strate- MPs from the aff ected areas were sum- Another complication is an
gies to suppress the virus and let the moned for a video briefi ng yesterday expected package of support for
infection spread among the healthy with the health minister Edward Argar businesses aff ected by the new restric-
while protecting the vulnerable. and Chris Whitty, the chief medical tions, expected to be announced by
G2 Centre pullout It is u nclear how the vulnerable offi cer for England. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, most
would be identifi ed and protected , likely a day after the new measures
Features and arts and whether allowing the epidemic are unveiled. Treasury sources said
to grow unchecked in healthy people h e had drawn up a menu of options
would lead to the kind of so-called over the summer and acknowledged
Lights, camera, jazz
herd immunity that its authors hope that the j ob support scheme, which
The talkshow protest would protect everyone. “I can’t see was the centrepiece of his winter eco-
where the evidence is to back it up,” nomic plan announced a fortnight ago ,
about diversity on TV that
the senior scientist said. would not be adequate for areas where
still resonates 50 years on
Concern about the government’s an entire sector was being shut down .
Page 5 ability to rein in the spread of C ovid in Allies of Sunak denied he had held
coming weeks has been prompted in up n ew lockdowns, insisting he was
Looking ahead again part by uncertainty over what m eas- ▲ Lilian Greenwood was one of the keen to give businesses clarity about
ures will be introduced and when. MPs summoned for a video briefi ng t he rules they would face.
How Future Islands got
their mojo back after a
(cid:2) Continued from page 1 Johnson’s offi cial spokesman, James communications role in April followed
‘condescending’ album
Slack, the former Daily Mail polit- a successful career in journalism.
Page 7 Stratton to take on
ical editor who did the same job for S he started o ut as a producer at
Theresa May. He is expected to be pro- the BBC, followed by a stint as a polit-
‘awful job’ of hosting
moted to a more strategic role. ical correspondent at the Guardian.
Weather Cartoon Johnson TV briefi ng Stratton’s post is part of a shake-up In 2012, she rejoined the BBC when
masterminded by Johnson’s director she became Newsnight’s political edi-
Page 36 Journal, page 4 of communications, Lee Cain, who tor. She was appointed national editor
government’s every move, as it battles intends to reduce the number of civil at ITV News in late 2015 and also co-
Quick crossword Cryptic crossword to get to grips with an unprecedented servants dealing with the press. He is presented ITV’s Peston on Sunday.
public health emergency. Stratton will having a room in 9 Downing Street fi t- Stratton told the Telegraph in 2016
Back of G2 Back of Journal be on display as political journalists ted out as a b roadcast studio for the about how she refused to take part in
quiz her about ministers’ latest mis- briefi ngs. Downing Street hopes the the infamous 2012 Newsnight broad-
steps . And she arrives at a moment public will warm to S tratton, and that cast t hat wrongly linked the former
when the government is besieged by footage from the briefi ngs will pop up T ory party treasurer Lord McAlpi ne
Contact Guardian News & Media, Kings Place, 90 York Way, b ackbenchers sceptical about Covid in news bulletins, as clips from the to a llegations of child sexual abuse.
London N1 9GU. 020-3353 2000. Fax [phone].
restrictions, and facing fi erce criticism daily coronavirus press conferences “I was jogging, on my day off , when
In Manchester: Centurion House, 129 Deansgate,
For missing sections call 0800 839 100. Manchester M3 3WR. Telephone Sales: 020-7611 9000. over the way they are communicated. regularly did during lockdown. my editor called me on my mobile and
For individual departments, call the Guardian The Guardian lists links to third-party websites, but There are two daily lobby briefi ngs Stratton is a Cambridge U niversity asked me to come in and do a two-
switchboard: 020 3353 2000. does not endorse them or guarantee their authenticity
For the Readers’ editor (corrections or accuracy. Back issues from Historic Newspapers: for political journalists, which are on graduate whose m ove to the way in the studio,” Stratton recalled.
&  clarifi cations on specifi c editorial content), call 0870-165 1470 guardian.backissuenewspapers.co.uk. the record . One will be replaced by chancellor’s director of strategic “I thought about it a lot, but I was
020 3353 4736 between 10am and 1pm UK time Published by Guardian News & Media, Kings Place, the televised briefi ng . Daily lobby unconvinced by the story and, hav-
Monday to Friday excluding public holidays, or 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, and at Centurion House,
email [email protected]. 129 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WR. Printed at Reach briefi ngs have been directly quota- ‘People want direct ing raised my concerns, I decided not
Letters for publication should be sent to Watford Limited, St Albans Road, Watford, Herts ble by journalists since Tony Blair’s to take part. I was proved right, but I
[email protected] or the WD24 7RG; Reach Oldham Limited, Hollinwood Avenue,
director of communications, A lastair engagement so we’re hesitate to say as much because that
address on the letters page. Chadderton, Oldham OL9 8EP; Reach Saltire Ltd,
110 Fifty Pitches Place, Glasgow G51 4EA; and by Campbell, sought to make them more story ruined my editor’s career.”
going to have a go’
Irish Times Print Facility, 4080 Kingswood Road, accessible. But they continued to be S tratton married James Forsyth, the
NEWSPAPERS Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24. No. 54,160,
SUPPORT Friday 9 October 2020. Registered as a newspaper at held behind closed doors – most political editor of the Spectator mag-
RECYCLING
the Post Office ISSN 0261-3077. recently in 9 Downing Street, before azine, which the prime minister used
The recycled paper
c ontent of UK newspapers coronavirus forced them to go virtual. Boris Johnson to edit, in 2011 at a ceremony where
in 2017 was 64.6%
The briefi ngs are currently taken by On the televised briefi ngs Sunak was the best man.
Friday 9 October 2020 The Guardian •
National 3
(cid:3) An installation
by the artist
Luke Jerram
at Gloucester
Cathedral, which
gets £200,000
PHOTOGRAPH: STEPHEN
SHEPHERD/LNP/REX
(cid:2)(cid:3) Blackpool’s ▼ Jim Carter
Winter Gardens, as Mr Carson
which receive in the Downton
nearly £850,000 Abbey fi lm and
in support Highclere Castle,
from the which receives
Treasury £72,0000
PHOTOGRAPH: ALAMY PHOTOGRAPH: REX
Heritage sites share
£103m in fi rst phase
of culture bailout
places to live. All of this is so important
Mark Brown for our wellbeing and will be particu-
Arts correspondent larly vital when we start to emerge
from this incredibly diffi cult time.”
M ore than 400 heritage sites in Eng- Duncan Wilson, chief executive of
land, from the Blyth Tall Ship in H istoric England, said it was hearten-
Northumberland to B odmin jail ing to see money going to sites and
museum in Cornwall, are to receive organisations that had been hit hard
money from a £103m rescue fund to by coronavirus.
help them through the v irus crisis. “These grants range from giving
The culture secretary, Oliver Dow- skilled craft workers the chance to
den, h as announced long-awaited keep their trades alive to helping her-
details of the first major tranche itage organisations pay the bills,” he
of funding from the government’s said. They would also kick-start repairs
£1.57bn culture recovery fund. “at our best-loved historic sites”.
It includes £67m to 433 organisa- T he grants include money to sites
tions who applied for grants of less which often draw tourists because from March to July had been incred- Halifax (£995,000), Blackpool’s Winter including the Tower of London and
than £1m to help them survive the pan- of their links to fi lm and television. ibly tough. “We lost an awful lot of Gardens (£846,600) and Severn Valley Hampton Court Palace.
demic. Another £34m will go towards Highclere Castle, famous as the set- income. To be honest, so much I’ve Railway (£906,000). HRP receives just over £3m. Lucy
restarting stalled construction and ting for Downton Abbey , gets £72,000; not wanted to add it up … you’ve got The £34m heritage stimulus fund Worsley, the TV presenter and its chief
maintenance works at major heritage Gloucester Cathedral, whose cloisters to preserve your sanity.” will be divided out to 12 heritage curator, said the organisation would
sites. A further £2m has been awarded were used as Hogwarts in the Harry Despite that, Vickery said she had organisations including the National now be able to resume critical conser-
to the Architectural Heritage Fund. Potter fi lms, gets £200,000; and W ent- n ot given up. “The grotto has been Trust (£6m), the Canal and River vation work. “There’s no truer way to
The money is from the Treasury, but worth Woodhouse, a vast Georgian open to the public since 1838. It will Trust (£1.6m), and Historic Royal Pal- experience the past than to walk in the
decisions on who gets what were made mansion in Rotherham that doubled take more than this to close it. We were aces (HRP) which looks after buildings footsteps who have lived it,” she said.
by Historic England and the National as Buckingham Palace in the fi lm Dark- always going to fi nd a way through, “That’s why preserving our heritage
Lottery H eritage Fund. est Hour, gets £468,300. although I wasn’t sure what that would is so important.”
‘Our heritage will be
The fund’s chief executive, Ros The recipients include smaller, be for a long time.” Dowden said the money “will pro-
Kerslake , said the government support quirkier places which would be a big N early 20 cathedrals will receive vital when we start tect our shared heritage for future
was crucial, but warned: “Our heritage loss to the cultural fabric. For example chunks of money, including Can- generations, save jobs and help us
to emerge from
is still facing a perilous future – we are the S hell Grotto in Margate, a strange terbury (£999,200), Winchester prepare for a cultural bounce-back
not out of the woods yet.” place which is either a Victorian folly (£948,200), Wells, (£201,300) and this diffi cult time’ post Covid”.
It was right that investing in herit- or an ancient temple, depending on Salisbury (£245,000). Theatres, museums, galleries and
age was a priority, she said. “Heritage who you talk to, receives £48,200 with Other recipients include the Inter- music venues are still waiting to hear
creates jobs and economic prosperity, Margate caves. national Bomber Command Centre if they have been successful in getting
is a major driver for tourism and makes The grotto’s owner, Sarah Vickery, in Lincolnshire (£426,700), Blyth Ros Kerslake rescue money. Those announcements
our towns, cities and rural areas better told the Guardian that being closed Tall Ship (£51,400), the Piece Hall in Lottery Heritage Fund are expected early next week.
National Trust £100m. Yesterday it said 782 people it had listened. There had been par- Trust. B ut our consultation has done
Mark Brown had taken voluntary redundancy, and ticular d isquiet at plans to sack its as intended. It provided proposals to
to cut almost 514 people would be made compul- education offi cers. The trust now says reach our savings target, and sparked
sorily redundant. It said it had halved it will retain roles focused on helping such thorough feedback and collective
A lmost 1,300 jobs are to be lost at the the n umber of compulsory job losses children learn, and also retain curation intelligence that we’ve been able to
1,300 positions
National Trust as a result of the pan- after what was the biggest redundancy specialists and everyday maintenance adapt our plans while still making the
demic, a lthough it said it had more consultation process in its 125-year positions. savings we needed. It’s been a diffi cult
after making than halved the number of people history. Hilary McGrady, the t rust’s direc- process with some very hard choices.”
it expected to make compulsorily More than 14,500 pieces of feed- tor general, thanked staff , volunteers Mike Clanc y, general secretary of
‘hard choices’ redundant. back were received and the trust said and members for making their views the union Prospect , said the unprec-
Unions have described the job known and said the plans were put- edented challenges of the pandemic
£100m
losses as d evastating for the people ting the charity on course for a secure continued to h ave a great impact on
aff ected, but also called the plan “a fi nancial future. She said: “It’s with the income of heritage organisations.
reasonable way to move forward”. deep sadness that we have to make “ This is still a huge number of job
The t rust warned in July that it m ay Annual savings the trust warned in redundancies. I certainly don’t want losses and those redundancies will
have to make 1,200 people r edundant July it needed to make a s its fi nances to stop any of the extraordinary work have a huge impact on the lives of all
in order to make annual savings of were decimated by the pandemic done by the people of the National aff ected,” he said.
••• The Guardian Friday 9 October 2020
4 NNaetiwosnal
xCSourbojencatvxixruxxs
Northern leaders
threaten revolt
against tough new
lockdown rules
visited the same venue in the week
J osh Halliday and Helen Pidd before testing positive. B lake said she
wasn’t c onvinced h ospitality was a key
cause. “Up to this point our evidence
Ministers are facing open revolt from is pointing to the higher risk of infec-
leaders in northern England over tion being in households and confi ned
fresh coronavirus restrictions due to indoor spaces,” she said.
be announced within days, as m ayors, Andy Burnham, the mayor of
MPs, council chiefs and business Greater Manchester , said he was losing
groups vow to fi ercely oppose new patience a fter the planned shutdown
measures without substantial fi nan- leaked yesterday, days after Hancock
cial support. promised to improve communication
Pubs, bars and restaurants across with local leaders . With the leaders of
Merseyside, Greater Manchester, parts Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds, Burn-
of West Yorkshire and the north-east ham is demanding l ocal authorities be
could be forced to close next week t o allowed to see d etails of the restric-
try to slow the soaring infection rate. tions – and p roposed fi nancial support
The leaders of the big northern – before they are announced. “There is
c ities are planning a formal alliance no way at all I will sign off on the clo-
in opposition to any attempt by gov- sure of any business without a local
ernment to force restrictions on them furlough scheme,” he said.
without signifi cant Treasury funding. More than 19,000 businesses in
Such is the level of anger among West Yorkshire would require fi nancial
local leaders that some are prepared to support if Leeds and Bradford went
refuse to endorse measures expected into a tier- 3 lockdown, the highest
to be announced by the health secre- level, with leaked plans suggesting
tary, Matt Hancock, next week. that may include the closure of all hos-
Judith Blake , the leader of Leeds pitality venues and no social contact
city council, said she was “exhausted” between households. In Liverpool,
trying to work with the government offi cials said 28,000 jobs were a t risk.
and feared both Leeds and Bradford Blake said northern cities had
would be subject to “t ier 3” measures, formed an alliance to “ensure that an
shutting down all hospitality. “We’re economic package of compensation is
working with both hands tied behind in place to make sure that our city cen-
our backs, trying to do the best thing tres aren’t decimated”.
locally, and then you get the govern- The Guardian understands that
ment just leaking information to the most of northern England, from
press,” she said. “It’s so depressing. I’m Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria to Scotland Drinking ban in uncertain whether or not they would
sure it’s a tactic too – put it out there, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, be expected to close.
s ee what the reaction is. ” much of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and chaos over defi nition of cafe Describing the unfolding chaos as
MPs received a briefi ng from the most of the north-east, as well as Not- “dysfunctional”, the chief executive of
government’s Covid taskforce yes- tinghamshire in the Midlands, will be Scotland Food and Drink, James With-
terday, warning the number of virus under some form of restrictions under ers, said that the problem could have
patients in intensive care in the north the new planned system . sell alcohol. As businesses absorbed been foreseen had the Scottish gov-
of England would surpass the April The sharp rise in hospital admis- Libby Brooks the news, many began to question ernment consulted with businesses
peak if infections continued rising sions in the worst-hit areas has alarmed Scotland correspondent precisely how a cafe is defi ned, as in advance. “Had we been approached
at the current rate. They were also decision makers in the regions as well desperate owners asked whether they even on Monday we could have worked
shown e arly research by Public Health as in Whitehall. More than a third of Scotland’s nationwide crackdown on might be able to stay open after all. through this in time for a Wednesday
England suggesting b ars, pubs and res- Covid patients in England’s hospitals indoor drinking descended into chaos J ason Leitch, the Scottish gov- announcement,” he said, adding that it
taurants accounted for 41% of cases are in the north-west, where a dmis- y esterday evening, less than 24 hours ernment’s national clinical director, was “also madness” that licensed res-
in which two or more under-30s had sions have risen sevenfold since the before strict new regulations on hospi- compounded the confusion when taurants could not remain open so long
start of September. The number of tality are due to come into force. he was asked to clarify the situation as they did not serve alcohol.
patients on ventilators is now at its Many business owners in central during an interview with BBC Radio The Scottish Licensed Trade Asso-
Greek islands cleared
highest since the end of May in the Scotland, where a 16-day shutdown of Scotland. Leitch said it would be left ciation stated plainly that “there is
north-west, north-east and Yorkshire. pubs, restaurants and cafes that serve to the environmental health offi cers i n no such thing as a licensed cafe” and
Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liv- alcohol was a nnounced by Nicola Stur- local authorities to defi ne and enforce therefore no defi nition in law of a cafe
F ive Greek islands have been erpool city region, said: “Signifi cant geon on Wednesday, claimed that they the regulations. versus a restaurant, while leading
added to the government’s restrictions, like those being proposed, were still uncertain whether they were This appeared to contradict Stur- licensing lawyer Stephen McGowan,
quarantine exemption list with must also come with signifi cant fi nan- expected to close at 6pm t oday as trade geon’s earlier statement, when she of the law fi rm TLT, called on the Scot-
arrivals in England from Lesvos, cial support for local businesses that bodies described the Scottish govern- insisted that a “specifi c exemption” for tish government to off er clarity.
Santorini, Serifos, Tinos and will be aff ected, local councils who are ment’s behaviour as “dysfunctional”. cafes would be set out in regulations “If parliament does not defi ne cafe
Zakynthos n o longer n eeding to leading our public health eff orts and In her statement to MSPs, the fi rst to be published t oday. With businesses and it is left to local interpretation as
self-isolate for 14 days from 4am for NHS test and trace. ” minister said that the temporary still waiting for clarifi cation from the is suggested here, then expect abso-
t omorrow following a decrease in Simon Fell, Conservative MP for shutdown would include all licensed guidelines, hospitality bodies said lute carnage across the country. You’ll
cases, according to the transport Barrow-in-Furness, said he and local premises, although cafes without an that many establishments were still have one premises shut and the one
secretary, Grant Shapps. leaders a re asking f or restrictions on alcohol licence could stay open until 16 next door open over the subjective
No countries are being removed household mixing to be put in place in 6pm “to support social isolation”. view of a council offi cer? What a posi-
from the travel corridor list. Barrow – where the infection rate has But at lunchtime y esterday, during tion to be in.”
Italy maintains its exemption topped 200 cases per 100,000 people fi rst minister’s questions, Sturgeon L ocal residents on online forums
despite r ecording a seven-day – but not across the whole of Cumbria. brought in an exemption for licensed Number of days that pubs, cafes and have decried the “prohibition” that
rate of 31.6 coronavirus cases per Fell is part of a growing Tory rebellion cafes, stating that they could like- restaurants serving alcohol must would result from harsher restrictions
100,000 people. PA Media a gainst the nationwide 10pm curfew. wise stay open provided they did not close for in central Scotland in central Scotland.
Friday 9 October 2020 The Guardian •
5
▼ Glasgow is one area in Scotland
where Covid-19 cases are rising and
new restrictions have been imposed
PHOTOGRAPH: MURDO MACLEOD/THE GUARDIAN
Nottingham ‘It’s insane not to advising them to stop socialising
before government intervention.
But with most cases in the city
start restrictions sooner. The still a mong 18- to 22-year-olds,
m any of whom are students at
Nottingham’s two universities, some
government is too populist’ people believe curbing virus rates
will not be a simple process.
Emma Graves, 20, a second-year
textile student at Nottingham Trent
In response, Nottingham city out for coff ee with three of her
Amy Walker council’s leader has warned of the housemates, said her circle were
M “huge burden” placed on local being sensible, but added she was
authorities if less Covid-conscious “lucky enough to live with eight
any of those residents view the delay as an people I like”.
walking through opportunity to go out for one last “If I lived with people I hated I
the concrete blowout with friends this weekend, might have been tempted to act
expanse of running “the risk of making a bad diff erently,” she said, empathising
Nottingham’s Old situation even worse”. with fresher students living in
Market Square It is a view shared by Simon student halls with relative strangers.
yesterday w ere c lear they would Davies, 60, who – with a Boris A 20-year-old student at the
be giving the city centre a wide Johnson cut-out over his face mask University of Nottingham, out for
berth this weekend in anticipation – was out campaigning against the lunch in H ockley, went so far as to
of crowds marking the last days government’s handling of Brexit as say he and his friends “wanted to
without C ovid restrictions here. part of a Nottingham pro-European catch the virus”.
“This is the last time I’ll be coming group. “It seems insane not to “It’s a bit of a thing in our house.
into Nottingham,” said N orma bring in restrictions sooner. The We kind of just want to get it so that
Harper, a retiree, catching some government is too populist, they we can stay inside for two weeks and
respite along the square’s walls after want to make people happy,” he just get it over with,” he said, while
an unavoidable appointment with said – a desire that had come at the h is friend a dded: “It’s just a cold.”
an audiologist to fi x her hearing aid. expense of public health. At Foreman’s, an independently
“I think the pubs will be full this Although Davies said he wasn’t run punk and rock bar on Forman
weekend.” “terrifi ed – I wouldn’t be here doing Street, supervisor Jordan Spencer,
Harper, who was keeping her this if I was”, he added that he 28, said this weekend was likely to
pink camoufl age face covering on felt the city and county councils be busy. “But our customers keep
outdoors, has good reason to be had taken a “sensible approach the lights on. They don’t need to
c oncerned. Yesterday it was revealed in treating people like adults” by have the rules reiterated to them. ”
that the city’s coronavirus rate was
689 per 100,000 people – the highest
‘This is the
in England – and there are currently
last time I’ll
no extra measures in place o n top of
be coming
those imposed nationally.
Although an announcement – into the city.
including a ban on mixing between The pubs will
households – was expected from be full this
the government by Nottingham and weekend’
Nottinghamshire councils this week,
it is understood to have been pushed
back until Monday. A document Norma Harper
leaked to Nottinghamshire Pensioner
Live yesterday suggested new
restrictions wouldn’t come into force
here until W ednesday.
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTOPHER THOMOND/THE GUARDIAN
Media
Vallance . “So when will they listen?”
Closures and curfews
boomed the headline.
Papers turn on The Telegraph’s front page also Do scientists think they work?
featured the study . Inside , the main
Johnson over editorial was headlined: “Scientists
say the government’s Covid strategy A re pubs and restaurants important “It is diffi cult for people to do all gatherings at home, Head s aid. “I
Covid measures is wrong – so why does it persist?” – in the spread of Covid-19? the things they are supposed to do think the actual impact from [the
perhaps an over-simplifi ed view given O utbreaks often b egin in crowded when they are [ in those settings], 10pm curfew] would have been at
many other scientists do not agree . indoor settings , with transmission and it is very diffi cult – despite the best inconsequential and at worst
The Sun used its front page to warn then occurring beyond that. That’s best eff orts of staff – to really police have had negative consequences.”
that Johnson faced a “revolt from according to s tudies cited by D r that eff ectively,” said Bauld.
Peter Walker furious MPs” on further lockdown Michael Head, a senior research S hould pubs, bars and restaurants
Political correspondent measures in the north of England. fellow in global health at the What about the 10pm curfew? be shut when cases are high?
Asked about the coverage, John- University of Southampton. This seems more questionable, “In my view, pubs and restaurants
Boris Johnson’s government is facing son’s spokesman said: “We live in a P rof Linda Bauld, a public experts say. “I remain baffl ed about should be shut in high-burden
an alarming foe ahead of winter – usu- liberal democracy and you would fully health expert at the University of that to this day, as to why shifting areas and the restaurant- owners
ally-friendly newspapers. expect open debate on these matters.” Edinburgh, not ed that data from closing hours just one hour forward and staff fully compensated for
Titles such as the Daily Telegraph Aberdeen, w here a l ockdown was would h ave any tangible eff ect,” said loss of income,” said Head, noting
and Daily Mail a re devoting increas- imposed in August, showed that Head. “I suppose the idea was that e merging evidence that Covid-19
ing space in their comment sections the outbreak was triggered by a it would reduce the length of time transmission i s not just down to
to writers q uestioning whether dis- small number of infectious people people are in the pub.” l arge droplets f rom coughing or
tancing measures are even eff ective. entering hospitality venues. I t seems there is little evidence speaking, but that tiny airborne
This has spilled over into news cov- H ead said: “The idea with base for the curfew. “I’ve seen no particles called aerosols could also
erage of public health voices such as restricting access to pubs or studies that say that is the time that play a role. “ Although reducing
Oxford university’s S unetra Gupta, restaurants is that we can break you should cut [serving alcohol] off alcohol being served and making
one of the leade rs behind a call t o focus the chain of transmission, reduce at,” said Bauld. “If you look at what sure people stay at their own tables
more on herd immunity , whose stance s uper-spreading events, and then the academics have been saying is useful, it doesn’t eliminate risk
has been criticised by other scientists. that should have a decent impact in about the curfew, I haven’t really altogether and signifi cant risks of
Y esterday it felt as if this view had terms of lowering new outbreaks.” identifi ed anybody in public health transmission still remain,” he said.
burst into the mainstream of coverage . who thought it was a great idea.” There are also the super-
Leading the charge was the Mail. Why focus on alcohol? I t could b e counterproductive, spreaders, Bauld p ointed out.
Citing a British Medical Journal study I n general, alcohol consumption h as with people potentially going to “ If you have got one of those
suggesting lockdown could cost more been shown to reduce inhibitions the pub earlier, congregating a fter people in that kind of venue it is a
lives than herd immunity would have, and increase risk-taking behaviours. closing time, or buying alcohol f or disaster,” she said. Nicola Davis
t he page featured Whitty, Johnson and
• The Guardian Friday 9 October 2020
6 NNaetiwosnal
xCSourbojencatvxixruxxs
Northern hospitals prepare ▲ Medical staff care for a patient
The Nightingales with Covid-19 at the Royal Papworth
What happened to them? hospital, Cambridge, in May
PHOTOGRAPH: NEIL HALL/AP
to cancel routine operations
S even Nightingale hospitals, built t o say the speed of these recent increases
h elp the NHS in England c ope with means that, even though they can deal
Covid-19 , remain on standby . with as many as 1,000 Covid patients,
as Covid-19 cases fi ll all beds They include one at the ExCeL they may be forced to start cancelling
c entre in east London t hat can planned surgery again within days.
provide up to 500 intensive care The move is being considered as a
beds. It h as treated a small number way of freeing up beds and staff for
of patients, all of whom have left. Covid patients, in a repeat of the action
(cid:2) Continued f rom page 1 Broadgreen trust a nd Aintree u niver- their highest since Covid-19 arrived In Bristol, plans were discussed all trusts took during March and April.
sity h ospital h as doubled t o 200 in the in the UK,” he told the Guardian. for the Nightingale there to provide One hospital boss said: “We aren’t
in which all beds equipped to treat last week. The two trusts jointly have “ There is a danger they could reach additional capacity for t he city’s e ye too far away from having to postpone
such patients have fi lled up. about 400 beds s uitable for s uch cases. capacity within as little as a week or h ospital, it was reported this week. elective operations. I suspect we’ll
Matt Ashton, Liverpool’s director The fact that hospitalisations are dou- two. They would then have to look for In Harrogate, local councillors have to do that in the next week, or
of public health, told the Guardian bling every w eek means they could support from neighbouring trusts.” c alled f or the Nightingale facility to even sooner.” Some of those aff ected
that the city’s two main acute hos- reach their limits very soon, especially Matt Hancock, the health secre- be used to take pressure off the NHS could be patients who have already
pital trusts have so many new Covid as Liverpool now has one of England’s tary, underlined the government’s in other ways, such as p roviding a been waiting months for surgery, since
patients e very day that they may reach h ighest infection rates, added Ashton. deep unease about the situation when fl u vaccination centre. hospitals across England postponed
their maximum capacity n ext week. “It’s doubled in a week in eff ect talking virtually at an NHS Providers A Nightingale hospital in operations such as joint replacements
“I don’t want to panic people but from roughly 100 to roughly 200. conference y esterday. Birmingham is being readied t o and cataract removals in the fi rst wave.
within seven to 1 0 days our hospitals That’s hugely worrying,” said Ashton, “We’re at a perilous moment in the take patients at 48 hours’ notice, Prof Chris Gray, o f the n orth-east
will be at the level they were at the who added: “T his is the point where course of this pandemic. I’m very wor- according to a hospital c hief and north Cumbria integrated-care
peak of the pandemic.” the NHS will start to struggle in doing ried about the growth in the number of executive in the city. A nd t he system, said: “Our hospitals are now
In a meeting yesterday chaired by its normal routine business. ” cases, especially in the northwest and N ightingale i n Exeter i s b eing used starting to feel the impact of the sig-
England’s chief medical offi cer, Chris Chris Hopson , chief executive of north-east of England, parts of Wales, f or a Covid-19 vaccine study. nifi cant rise in cases across our local
Whitty, MPs from the north and Mid- NHS Providers, which represents Scotland and Northern Ireland, [and] T he Nightingale hospital in communities. We are well prepared
lands were warned that within 22 days trusts, agreed the rapid rise in hospi- parts of Yorkshire,” he said. Washington, Sunderland, which has for this and the current numbers are
some hospitals there could see even talisations in the north meant some The number of Covid patients in not been used, w ill b e available as well below what we experienced at the
more Covid patients in intensive-care hospitals may soon reach their limit. hospitals in t he north-east and north long as n ecessary, a uthorities s ay. height of wave one. The big challenge
units (ICU) than i n the spring peak. “Trust leaders in the north-west, Cumbria has jumped fi ve-fold in t hree The m ayor of Greater Manchester, for the NHS now is how we manage the
“ If the north-west capacity is likely Yorkshire and north-east are tell- weeks from 60 in mid-September to Andy Burnham, said the Nightingale continued uncertainties of Covid-19 as
to be reached in 22 days,” Ashton said, ing us they are extremely concerned 300 now. Similarly, from having no there could w ork as a “backup plan” we head into the pressures of winter.”
“L iverpool will get there fi rst.” about the rapidly rising levels of Covid- new Covid patients being admitted quite quickly in the event of Covid
The number of Covid patients being related hospital admissions. For a few in ICU l ast month, they now have 50. admissions worsening, i f staffi ng Additional reporting Pamela Duncan
treated by the Royal Liverpool and trusts, admission levels are now at Hospital sources in the north-east levels were increased. Ben Quinn and Haroon Siddique
Friday 9 October 2020 The Guardian •
7
Virulent virus greater number of infections or Covid-
Sketch
19 being more deadly than fl u and
Covid deaths 3.4 times higher pneumonia. John Crace
“ The substantially greater number
of deaths attributed to Covid-19 does
than for fl u and pneumonia
tell us that at the moment, Covid-19 is
If Honest Bob Jenrick
a greater risk to people than infl uenza.”
Hayward said other data sheds light
on the matter. “You cannot necessarily
Nicola Davis More people have died of Covid this [see] it from these data, because it does is No 10’s mouthpiece,
year than from flu or pneumonia in
Pamela Duncan not show the number of infections, but
any year since 2000
Covid-19 has a much higher case fatal-
• Annual flu/pneumonia deaths then you know they’ve
More people died of Covid-19 in the ity rate than infl uenza.”
• Flu/pneumonia deaths to 31 August each year
year to August than those who have Kao said part of the reason Covid-
• Covid-19 deaths to 31 August 2020
died annually from fl u and pneumo- 19 ha d caused relatively more deaths
lost the plot completely
nia combined i n any year since 2000. Thousands of deaths in England and Wales may be down to there being a fl u vac-
Despite the fact the virus is only 60 cine, not yet available for the new
thought to have been in general cir- coronavirus .
culation since March, Covid-19 has so The number of Covid-19 deaths in A
40
far caused the deaths of 3.4 times as the eight months to 31 August is higher
many people in 2020 as fl u a nd pneu- than the annual total of fl u and pneu- common defi nition of insanity is
monia combined, according to d ata 20 monia deaths in any year since 2000, repeating the same mistakes and
released for England and Wales by the the year in which a widespread fl u vac- expecting a diff erent result. It also
Offi ce of National Statistics. 0 cination was introduced in the UK. appears to be a guiding principle behind
Flu and pneumonia are counted 19601970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 T he ONS report showed that, of the government policy that Boris Johnson is
together because, as the ONS notes, deaths caused by the new corona virus testing to destruction. Right now it’s hard
Source: ONS
“many cases of pneumonia are in fact in the year to date, 30% occurred in to think of anything the government is managing to do
caused by infl uenza”. deaths in the same period were caused care homes, almost twice the pro- with even a basic level of competency. Other countries
T he O NS team found that infl uenza by pneumonia and 0 .1% b y fl u. portion of care home deaths caused appear a ble to run an effi cient t est-and-trace system.
and pneumonia we re mentioned on Prof Andrew Hayward, director of by fl u and pneumonia (15.2%). Sarah The UK, not so much. Scarcely a day goes by without
more death certifi cates than Covid, the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Caul, head of mortality analysis with some cock-up at a private laboratory. This week it was
but when they looked at the conditions Health Care , said: “In the period Jan- the ONS, said: “The mortality rate for revealed 16,000 positive results d isappeared because
recorded as the cause of death, corona- uary to August, Covid caused around C ovid-19 is signifi cantly higher than of an out-of-date s preadsheet. And y esterday, it was
virus was more common. three times as many deaths as we infl uenza and pneumonia rates for announced that t est and trace h ad recorded t he worst
Although fl u and pneumonia deaths usually see from infl uenza and pneu- both 2020 and the fi ve-year average.” proportion of contacts it has managed to trace.
have been relatively low this year, the monia. T his is despite the fact that The report does not yet cover Septem- For weeks if not months now, mayors and council
r eport found m ore people h ad died Covid was not in widespread circula- ber to December 2020 – a time of year leaders from cities in the north and the M idlands
of Covid-19 in the fi rst eight months tion until March. ” when cases of fl u typically rise. that are under local lockdown have been begging the
of this year than have d ied of fl u or Prof Rowland Kao , an epidemiolo- The infl uence of these few months government to consult them before taking f urther action
pneumonia i n the same period since gist at the University of Edinburgh said on the overall picture remains to be in their communities. Y et on the very day i t was revealed
comparable records began in 1959. the ONS data di d not reveal whether seen, but Hayward said the meas- that the rate of infection had risen signifi cantly in 19 of
In the year to 31 August 2020 there the higher death toll w as down to a ures taken to control t he coronavirus the 20 regions under t ough restrictions, the government
were 52,327 deaths in England and 12.4% would also reduce the transmission of chose to brief the national media that further m easures
Wales involving Covid-19 of which fl u, meaning fewer deaths of the latter would be introduced next week without even bothering
48,168 (92%) had coronavirus as the than over a “normal” winter. to tell the people in charge of running those areas. Nor
underlying cause. In the year to date, “ It is to be expected that Covid will giving them a whisper of what fi nancial support, if any,
one-in-eight deaths (12.4%) in the D eaths in England and Wales in the continue to cause considerably more would be on off er for those businesses aff ected.
period to August 2020 were caused year to 31 August c aused by Covid; deaths than infl uenza and pneumo- Understandably almost every mayor and council
by Covid-19. By comparison 3.5% of 0.1% deaths were due to fl u nia,” he said. leader, with the exception of Andy Street, the mayor of
the W est M idlands and close ally of J ohnson, h as gone
ballistic. While Street was using
Herd immunity Edinburgh medical outcomes, the second Right now it’s hard his Twitter account to extol the
wave will grow more slowly than virtues of w alking to school and its
to think of anything
the fi rst, with more cases but lower “Gateway Construction” scheme,
study is not all that it seems mortality,” the authors said. the government is the Manchester mayor, Andy
The paper was based on a Burnham was in near meltdown.
rea nalysis of modelling by Imperial managing to do with He tweeted: “ No discussion. No
College, which has been widely even a basic level of consultation. Millions of lives
with the strategy proposed by an cited t o justify the strict lockdown aff ected by Whitehall diktat. It is
Linda Geddes i nternational group of scientists i ntroduced in March. T he competency proving impossible to deal with this
WScience correspondent t his week – “ focused protection” modelling predicted that if nothing government .” Burnham’s sentiments
of the most vulnerable, with the w ere done half a million people in were quickly echoed by the
hile it has rest of society r eturning to relative the UK would die from Covid-19. Liverpool mayor, Steve R othera m,
been widely normality. B ut assumptions made P rof Ken Rice and colleagues Newcastle city council leader, Nick Forbes, Nottingham
accepted that by the study mean i ts conclusions at E dinburgh c arried out their council leader, David M ellen, and the Labour MP and
the closure would h old water only if all social reanalysis after noticing a table in Sheffi eld mayor, Dan Jarvis.
of s chools in distancing restrictions w ere lifted, the original Imperial C ollege report The incompetence at work here seems almost wilfully
March was bad resulting in a large second wave and that suggested c losing schools self-destructive. Even a fi ve-minute chat with local
for the life chances of children, a others after that, and if an eff ective would reduce the R   (reproduction) leaders could h ave been a win-win for Johnson. If it
research paper from the University vaccine w ere not forthcoming. number of the disease, but turned out that they came up with a more eff ective,
of Edinburgh has s aid i t m ay also “More realistically, if the case increase the total deaths. Their fi rst better targeted plan, then the government would have
have contributed to a higher Covid- isolation, household quarantine, thought was that this must be a got credit with its “ red wall” supporters – for reaching
19 death toll. and social distancing of over-70s mistake. B ut when they combined out to their communities and for reducing the infection
T he study, published in the strategy is followed, alongside other Imperial’s epidemiological rates. And if after all the consultation, n o one was able to
B ritish Medical Journal, suggested non-pharmaceutical intervention modelling with real-world data come up with a better plan, then at least the government
lockdown restrictions w ere the measures such as non-mandatory collected since March, they found would have had someone t o share the blame. T he only
most eff ective way of reducing social distancing and improved t he predictions w ere accurate. possible conclusions are that the government has l ost all
peak demand for intensive care “The basic explanation … is that grip on reality and/or it actually doesn’t give a toss.
beds , but argued they were also an intervention that substantially This possibility s eemed all the more plausible g iven
likely to prolong the epidemic suppresses the fi rst wave leads its decision to send out the housing secretary, Robert
because, once lifted, they left a large to a stronger second wave once Jenrick, on the morning media round. Now, I know
population s usceptible to the virus. the interventions are lifted,” every cabinet minister has to take their turn and t he
Some commentators have seized said Prof Graeme Ackland , one t alent is thinly spread, but with t he man who broke
on the study as evidence that of the authors. He suggeste d lockdown rules to drive 300 miles to his third home
the government was too quick to this prediction might have been to deliver medicines to his parents, you r eally are
impose a full lockdown and s hould ignored because of the political scraping the barrel. I n some politicians, it’s a necessary
have allowed herd immunity to risks of failing to suppress the contrivance to play dumb when faced with a series of
build up in the younger population. ▲ C losing schools during lockdown pandemic in the short term to save tricky q uestions. For Honest Bob it’s the only way he
I ts conclusions are c onsistent may have prolonged the pandemic more lives in the long term. rolls. Time and again he merely looked blank or went
into shutdown. Probably the best place for him. And us.
• The Guardian Friday 9 October 2020
8 News
Coronavirus
‘Killed by James Bond’
Film lovers glum as the
lights go off at Cineworld
are Cineworld’s bread and butter coronavirus hit; it is now creaking
Archie Bland have taken fl ight, seeing the so-so under the weight of £6.6bn owed
‘ E performance of the e xpected box- against a cash balance of £220m.
offi ce triumph Tenet and concluding While Odeon and V ue have
scape to other that they are better off waiting. serious problems of their own,
worlds,” the Mulan, Black Widow, Kingsman with O deon moving a quarter of its
Cineworld website and Wonder Woman 1984 all delayed venues to a weekend-only model,
urges its customers, their releases, or skipped the cinema it would be wrong to presume that
and even after t he altogether; then the new Bond fi lm, Cineworld’s crisis automatically
chain announced N o Time t o Die, was pushed back to means the death of cinema.
it was t emporarily closing 127 sites next year, and that was that. Still, said Michael, a manager at a
across the UK, the company’s The posters celebrating the branch in the Midlands, reports that
cinemas continued to make good on N ovember release date are still up. the chain was trying to sell useless
that promise of alternative realities. But every one of the company’s pick’n’mix supplies to the staff made
At the Stevenage multiplex, a 127 sites will be shut from t oday, it feel that way. “And then to not tell
trailer played for Death o n the Nile, with no word as to when they will us before we read it in the papers,
promising a 23 October r elease date open up again. that’s not a good look,” he said.
that has in fact been shunted back to “Needless to say, for the UK “Everyone here is miserable.
December. [Bond] is the biggest movie of We have no idea if we have jobs
A few minutes later, a b ooming the year,” said M ooky Greidinger, to come back to. I know this isn’t
voiceover man celebrated the Cineworld’s chief executive. “We true for everybody, but it’s more
chain’s revival over footage of were bleeding much bigger amounts than just another job for a lot of
popcorn and plush red seats. “The when we are open than when we are us. Cinema’s mattered a lot to me.
interval is over,” he announced. closed – we are like a grocery shop It’s really sad to think of everyone
“Cineworld is back.” with no food.” watching Netfl ix at home instead.”
There were a few rueful laughs In Stevenage, one member of the In Stevenage, without a lot of
from behind the masks of the team who said she was on a z ero- options, Peter Slight and Carol
half-dozen ticketholders for Tenet hours contract shook her head as she Smith had come to see C ats & Dogs 3:
scattered around the auditorium. rang up a Pepsi. “We have literally Paws Unite! “We come near enough
“Not for long it isn’t,” said Tara been killed by James Bond,” she said. every week,” said Slight. “We are
Smith, watching the Christopher There is more to the story than going to miss it, defi nitely. This is
Nolan extravaganza for the third the treachery of Barbara Broccoli. one of the main things that we do for
time in lieu of anything else to do. Cineworld, which bought the US fun, and now it’s being taken away
N obody even shushed her. chain Regal in 2018 and inherited again.”
At Hackney Picturehouse, a large pile of debt, was already Still, he was not surprised. “You’re
part of Cineworld’s smaller in a precarious position when the sitting there like billy no mates
“neighbourhood” sub-brand, sometimes. It’s just horrible.”
127
they’re giving the popcorn and K atie Irons, arriving for her Box offi ce There’s life
ice-cream away. second viewing of the romantic
The same outdated celebratory drama A fter We Collided with her
beyond the multiplexes,
promo played before B ill & Ted The number of Cineworld sites across friend Bobby, w as at a loss as to what
Face the Music (audience: one), Britain that will be closed from today, she w ould do instead. “We’re always
along with another, which sounded with no date set for their reopening here,” she said. “When you’re in say thriving independents
hopeful and, now, heartbreaking: there, things feels normal, it feels
£6.6bn
“At last, the light can shine again,” it nice. This is the only thing we really
said. “More than ever, great stories do at the moment.”
need a big screen.” The sole audience member at the
But at the moment, audiences do Amount owed by Cineworld against Bill & Ted movie in Hackney, Benita, attended, often films shown by
not agree, or not enough of them, a cash balance of £220m, after it said she had skipped work to catch Steven Morris Home are selling out. “We had a lot
anyway, and so the blockbusters t hat bought the US chain Regal in 2018 a farewell fi lm before the closure. of love while we were closed during
“I’m trying not to cry,” she said. “I’ve lockdown: people were sending dona-
been a member for years.” Multiplexes may be closing their doors tions and taking up memberships ,”
She remembered coming to see or reducing their opening hours, but it Wood said.
the Martin Luther King biopic Selma is not all doom and gloom in the w orld One tactic has been to show fi lms
with her family and friends. “There of cinema. Box offi ces at many inde- on the big screen , such as Kitty Green’s
were maybe three white people at pendent cinemas are reporting solid The Assistant , that were streamed
that showing,” she said. audience numbers, with some selling during lockdown. Some viewers saw
“It was one of the most out screenings and others encourag- the fi lm online and wanted to see it on
profoundly touching moments. The ing blockbuster fans to give arthouse the big screen; others heard about it
way the emotion gets you, what fi lms a try. because it had done well on streaming.
you experience collectively at the “There’s no getting away from It has been a sello ut at Home.
cinema, it’s overwhelming. And the fact that overall it’s a diffi cult “But for, me the really big success
there’s a whole generation of people, time,” said Jason Wood , the creative is the BFI restoration of L a Haine, ”
you wonder if they will ever know director for fi lm and culture at the said Wood. “We’ve played it now for
what it feels like to see something Ho me cinema in M anchester. “We four weeks and it’s sold out every
playing in a full house.” feel huge sympathy for people losing single performance.” Bong Joon-ho’s
She wasn’t expecting the same their jobs. But it’s an exciting time for Memories of Murder has also been
from seeing Bill & Ted on her own, independent cinema. I t’s really impor- hugely popular.
even if Keanu Reeves was in it, but tant to recognise there is an industry “ Many of the successes have
she felt honour-bound to pay her beyond the mainstream blockbuster been foreign language, a number are
respects. “I’ve heard it’s terrible,” fi lm culture.” directed by women, some directed by
▲ The Hackney Picturehouse in London, where only small audiences had she said. “But I just love the cinema. While multiplex screenings for people of colour,” W ood said.
watched the new Bill & Ted fi lm this week PHOTOGRAPH: LINDA NYLIND/THE GUARDIAN It feels like a massive loss in my life.” T enet have sometimes been sparsely A nother venue welcoming back
Friday 9 October 2020 The Guardian •
9
Mentors
Expert views
What is the future of the Only 150 to be
British cinema industry?
in schools by
Steven Gaydos, executive vice-
end of year
president of content, Variety
We’re at a tipping point. The
pandemic has simply accelerated
systemic issues in the cinema
exhibition business. The room was
already on fi re; Covid just poured Sally Weale
lighter fl uid around the house. Education correspondent
Pre-coronavirus, the sector
was squeezed by streaming, by Just 150 of the 1,000 academic mentors
tech and cultural change, and by promised as part of the government’s
changing demographic tastes. £ 1bn education catch u p plans will be
Mid-range fi lms and dramas have in schools in England by the end of the
been reduced to a small fraction year, the Guardian has learned.
of a studio’s annual income. It’s The remainder will be placed in two
all about Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, waves in January and February, in a
fantasy fi lms and family animation. programme due to end in July, prompt-
Tenet and Bond are just the ing outrage from teaching unions who
messengers being shot. I t’s not the said the response was “completely
studios’ fault they don’t want to inadequate” .
release a movie when 80% of their The plan contained promises when
audience won’t leave the house. it was announced in June , including a
national tutoring programme off ering
Kate Muir, critic and co-leader of one-to-one and small -group coaching
the Critics Mentorship Programme by approved private providers.
at the London fi lm festival Headteachers have warned, how-
Simultaneous digital and cinema ever, that the £650m extra funding,
release is what’s going to happen amounting to £80 per pupil and which
from now on. T here’s a hope that will go direct to all state schools, will be
cinemas will continue to exist, wiped out by c osts incurred as a result
but I just meet people all the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
who are buying home projectors. Like the academic mentors, the
The book-club-style communal private tuition strand of the £350m
screening has taken off , where lots national tutoring programme off ering
of people si t at home and watch subsidised tuition to disadvantaged
a fi lm together, and tweet and children will not get fully under way
talk to each other on Instagram until the new year.
afterwards. Headteachers said rather than
I ’ve just seen Steve McQueen’s waiting for a new system to be imple-
new fi lm, M angrove. It’s on the BBC mented, all the money should have
as a fi ve-part series, it’s on Amazon, gone to schools for immediate use.
and it’s also in the fi lm festival. Russell Hobby, chief executive of
That’s what things should be. That Teach First, which is recruiting and
is exactly the future right in front placing mentors in schools, confi rmed
of us. 1 50 would be in place in November
after half-term. A further 400 would
Charles McDonald, publicist start later in January and the rest
Emotionally I think cinemas can in February. “We are on track at the
audiences in good numbers is ▲ The Watershed cinema in Bristol. It s director, Mark Williams, said: survive, but economically it’s going moment. I think it’s probably not a
W atershed in Bristol. “We hit our Sep- Unaff ected by the cancellation of the “ There have been plenty of sleepless to be very, very tight. W hat’s galling bad thing that we wait to start this.”
tember target and our October advance Bond fi lm, its sales have been strong nights and many tears shed. It is not is that before Covid, the UK box said Hobby .
sales are really brilliant,” said its cin- PHOTOGRAPH: MARK WAUGH/ALAMY just cinemas that are aff ected . offi ce was relatively healthy. Lots “The advantage of the mentors is
ema curator, M ark Cosgrove. “From sound and projection of the dangers that had been felt to they are under the school’s control and
Its big hits have included the British have to turn people away. It is clear engineers to our local drinks and con- be deadly – TV, video games – had direction. They are supporting and
coming-of-age drama Rocks . “There that there is an audience that want cessions suppliers, there are so many been fought off . Many cinemas had building on what the school is doing .
is an overall crisis, but it’s in the com- to attend cinemas, all of which have aff ected by the current huge chal- recently been refurbished. Teach First received 2,000 applica-
mercial blockbuster model. Some of made s ignifi cant investment in health lenges. We’re determined this won’t If No Time to Die moves again tions for the roles a nd 700 schools
the reporting is suggesting that cin- and safety measures.” be the end.” we really are into armageddon and have expressed an interest. The gov-
ema is dead because the B ond fi lm has N ot all independent cinemas are W hile the cinemas of Aberystwyth, everything will need a total rethink. ernment is paying the £19,000-a-year
been moved back. There’s a lot more thriving, of course . WTW, a beloved mid-Wales, defi ed a government ban salary, though in reality many will
fi lm out there.” family-run business that has c inemas at the start of the second world war Delphine Lievens, senior box offi ce w ork for only six months.
Meanwhile, capacity at the Queen’s in Newquay, Truro, St Austell and and stayed open, Covid could force analyst at Gower Street Analytics This week, Boris Johnson returned
film theatre in Belfast, like else- Wadebridge in Cornwall, issued an the Commodore, r un by M ike Davies’s T he rest of this year is looking to his theme of one-to-one tuition
where, has been reduced because emotional plea this week for people family since the late 1950s, to shut quite bleak. But it’s worth looking during his speech to the virtual Con-
of coronavirus. J oan Parsons, head to take a chance on the sort of arthouse temporarily. at how cinemas have been coping servative party conference . Mary
of the theatre, said: “We are full for fi lm they might not normally see, or A few good nights of James Bond so far as well. One of the big issues Bousted, the joint general sec-
most screenings at the moment, and pop in for a takeaway coff ee . can usually keep the cinema going for in the UK is that we don’t have a retary of the National Education
months , so the loss of 007, as well as great depth of local content. A lot Union, described the 150 mentors as
(cid:2) Home in the new Wonder Woman and Black of the territories where they are inadequate.
Manchester say Widow fi lms, h as been a bitter blow. not struggling quite so much – “It should have been obvious to
its customers’ “We had B ill and Ted this week. We Germany, Spain, Australia – they the government that the most eff ec-
loyalty has had almost single-fi gure audiences, have productions that are taking tive way of supporting children who
been crucial which is a shame: it’s not that bad a up the space that would have been have not been able to learn eff ectively
PHOTOGRAPH: fi lm. The studios and d istributors are fi lled with Hollywood content. at home during school closures was to
RUSSELL HART/ALAMY being shortsighted, to put it mildly. I am cautiously optimistic that give the money to schools”.
“When they fi nally release their the industry can evolve from Geoff Barton, the general secretary
blockbusters, there might not be so this. We can see that we need to of the Association of School and Col-
many cinemas to play them in,” Davies be making more British fi lms, for lege Leaders , added: “It was always
said. example; we can see that people likely that the government’s deci-
Davies, his wife, Cindy, and son, will watch non-studio content if it’s sion to dedicate £350m to setting up
Neil, are currently keeping the cinema given strong enough marketing. from scratch a complex programme of
going. “We’re doing cleaning, main- Catherine Shoard tutors and mentors would be diffi cult
tenance, everything,” said Davies. Andrew Pulver to deliver in a timely manner, and so
“We’re hanging on. We won’t give up.” it is proving.
• The Guardian Friday 9 October 2020
10 National
Theresa May the need for more homes to be built, from many routine decisions and use suburbs, and the biggest falls are in the
Peter Walker ministers must “think again on this”. an algorithm to set h ousing targets. urban north and Midlands”.
Political correspondent The former prime minister said the Analysis of the algorithm has Virtually every Tory MP who spoke
leads MP
plans would remove local decision- alarmed many Tory MPs a nd council- criticised the plans, with Jeremy Hunt
The government faces a potentially making, build over rural areas, and not lors a fter it suggested that many of the saying they risked “eroding local
rebellion over serious rebellion over its plans to deliver the aff ordable homes needed. homes would be built in Conservative democracy ”.
centralise and accelerate the house- “We do need to build more homes, heartlands such as Kent and Surrey. Boris Johnson’s spokesman said no
building process in England after but we won’t do that by forcing local The m otion by Seely, which has no action would mean people being less
new housing
Theresa May led a string of senior Tory authorities to grant more planning per- force on the government, requests that able to buy a home. He said: “That’s
MPs in expressing opposition to the missions to developers so that they can the system is not introduced without why we must reform the planning
proposals proposals in parliament. build more homes to bring the price a debate and a vote in the Commons. system to cut red tape and make the
May, speaking in a Commons back- down – because developers simply Seely, the Isle of Wight MP , said the system faster, while ensuring that
bench debate organised by another won’t do it,” she said. algorithm risked ensuring that with councils and local people can decide
Conservative MP, B ob Seely, said that The changes, set out in a white paper new homes, “the biggest housing where developments should and
while she and others fully supported in August, would remove councils increases will be to rural shires and shouldn’t go.”
Call for almost six months out of a whole
year spent preparing for exams,” said
Drummond.
GCSEs to be S he said she was particularly con-
cerned by the impact of exams on
mental health, citing a report backed
replaced
by the Children’s Society in August
that ranked England 36th out of 45
and longer countries in Europe and North Amer-
ica for wellbeing.
Instead, the report argues that the
school days exam should be replaced by a bacca-
laureate, which would cover several
years’ study, and would allow children
more time from the age of 15 to settle
on the subjects they wanted to study
in the sixth form for A-levels or voca-
Richard Adams tional qualifi cations such as T-levels
Education editor and apprenticeships, and to explore
potential careers in a structured way.
The disruption caused by the corona- GCSEs have also come under attack
virus allows for a “radical” rethink of from a coalition of state and independ-
England’s school system, according ent school leaders. They are launching
to a group of Conservative MPs who a group called Rethinking Assess-
advocate scrapping GCSEs, longer ments to campaign for alternatives in
school days and delaying the start of the wake of the algorithm debacle that
formal education. severely aff ected the results process
The paper from the One Nation cau- this summer.
cus of centrist Conservative MPs is the The O ne Nation group is said to be
latest assault on GCSEs, arguing that supported by around 100 Conserv-
England is unusual in making teenag- ative MPs, more than a third of the
ers sit two sets of high-stakes exams parliamentary party, and chaired by
within the space of three years, and is the former minister Damien Green.
partly responsible for high levels of Drummond said she wanted to
stressand unhappiness among pupils. bring the issues in the paper to the
F lick Drummond, the MP for attention of her colleagues in govern-
Meon Valley and one of the authors ment: “I’m hoping that will be taken
of the report, said: “It seemed to us seriously and discussed, particu-
that the Covid outbreak was a good larly in the light of Covid, we’ve got
opportunity to take another look at an opportunity to look at other coun-
the education system and see what tries and ask if what we are doing is
we could do diff erently, and do some- working for us and for young people.”
thing radical.” Drummond also says that the school
Drummond said that sitting GCSEs timetable should be revisited to bring
at the age of 16 no longer made sense. it into line with modern life, includ-
“Now that children stay at school until ing a change to the way holidays are
the age of 18, w hy on earth should they distributed through the year, and
take these exams at 16?” lengthening the school day to 5pm
The paper argues that preparation to allow children to undertake more
for GCSE exams means that pupils extracurricular activities or receive
miss a large chunk of valuable learn- further support.
ing because of the time taken up with “It could mean disadvantaged
mock exams and revision, followed children could get more of the same
by the exams themselves. “That’s enrichment opportunities as those
from better-off homes. Often schools
fi nish at 3pm or 3.30pm and then what
‘Now that children
can they do?” Drummond said.
stay at school until The report’s other recommenda-
tions include a delay in the age of
the age of 18, why on
compulsory schooling, to the age six,
earth should they which is more in line with other Euro-
pean countries.
take these exams
In the paper’s section on early years’
at 16?’ education, C herilyn Mackrory, the MP
for Truro and Falmouth, argues that
there should be targeted help for fam-
ilies with young children. The paper
also says that because many children
are not “school-ready” at the age of
four, when reception classes open,
Flick Drummond delaying the start of formal school-
Conservative MP ing to the age of six “would be more
appropriate”.