The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

NEWS 5

Snowdon,Gwynedd
Queuejumper:Footageof
walkersscufflinginaqueue
toreachthesummitof
Snowdonhasaddedweight
totheviewthatWales’s
highestpeakisbecoming
overcrowdedinthe
summer.Inavideoposted
onTikTok,amancanbeseentryingtostopanotherwalkerfrom
jumpingthe queue,andthengrapplingwithhim,whileonlookers
shouttheirdisapproval.Themanwho postedthefootagesaidhe
hadwaited anhourtogetto the top.Earlier thissummer,a
councillor suggestedvisitorstoSnowdon shouldpayatoll.

Dover, Kent

Migrantprotest:Supportersof far-rightgroups clashed with

policenearthe Portof Dover on Saturdayduringaprotest

against immigration.Alargecrowd of marchersblocked the A

dual carriageway. Some of the protesterssangRule,Britannia!as

they headed into the town;others wavedUnionflags and carried

banners. Scuffle sbroke out with policeand, intotal,ten people

were arrestedonsuspicionof violent andracially aggravated

publicdisorder, andfor assaulting an emergency worker.The

protest wasagainst thenumberofasylum seekerswhoare

reachingBritainby crossingthe Channelin smallboats.Sofar

thisyear, arecord4,000 havearrived. Earlier thatday, “We

Stand With You”,arival event organised by the KentAnti-

RacismNetwork, wasattended byarou nd 200people.

The UK at aglance

12 September 2020 THE WEEK

Edinburgh

Labourdispute:PressurewasmountingthisweekonScottish

LabourleaderRichardLeonard,amidreportsthattheparty’s

governingbodyismeetingonSaturdaytodiscussholdinga

no-confidencevoteinhisleadership.TheYorkshire-bornMSP

succeededKeziaDugdaleastheleaderofScottish Labourin 2017.

Sincethen,thepartyhasbeenthroughtwodisastrouselections:

inthe2 01 9Europeanelection,itlostbothitsMEPs;andinthe

generalelectionthatyear,itlostsixMPs,leavingitwithjustone.

Now,withthepartylanguishingat17%inthepolls,thereare

fearsthatitwillbefurtherwipedoutinelectionstotheScottish

ParliamentnextMay.Leonard’scriticscontendthatheisan

ineffectualleaderwhoisfailingtocutthroughwithvoters:the

ScottishSunhasdubbedhim“MrWhatshisname”.Lastweek,

fourLabourMSPspubliclycalledonhimtoresign.

Birmingham

Randomattacks:A27-year-oldmanwasin custodythisweek,

on suspicionofstabbingeightpeoplein centralBirminghamin

the earlyhoursof Sunday.A23-year-old man,JacobBillington,

waskilledin theattacks; twopeoplewerecriticallyinjured; and

fiveothers were woundedandneededhospital care.Thesuspect

wasarrestedatdawnon Mondayatanaddressin theSellyOak

areaof the city.Police, whosaid they were treatingthe attacks

as “random”,were asked to explain why theassailant hadbeen

abletoroamthe city for 90 minutes without being apprehended,

and why officers hadn’t issuedadescriptionofhim until 15 hours

after hislast attack. “Weneedtoknow why this took so long,”

saidLabour MP KhalidMahmood.

Belfast

Data breach:Survivorsofsexualand physical abuseinNorthern

Irelandwhose nameswere exposed asaresultofadata breach

earlier thisyearhaverejectedanofferofcompensation.InMay,

thepersonaldetailsof 501 people who were abusedat religious,

charitable andstateinstitutions between 1922 and199 5 were

inadvertentlyrevealed inanemailcirculated onbehalfof Brendan

McAllister,theadvocateinvestigatingtheirclaims.Theyhave

nowbeenoffered £1,500eachincompensation,asumvictims’

campaigner MargaretMcGuckin describedas derisory.“There

arepeople whonevertold their partners,theirchildren...or their

neighbourswhat happened tothem,”she said. “They deservefar

better thanthemeaslysum now beingoffered.”

Bolton

Newrestrictions:Anight-timecurfewwasimposedinBoltonthis

week,inresponsetoasharpriseinCovidinfections.Pubsand

otherhospitalityvenuesmustnowcloseby10pm,andcanonly

servetakeawayfood.Therestrictionswereimposedafterthe

town,inGreaterManchester,wasidentifiedasEngland’sworst

Covid-19hotspot–with 120 newcasesper 100 ,000people,up

from98.8attheweekend.AsofMonday,peopleacrossEngland

willbebannedfrommeetingingroupsofmorethansix,insideor

out–butwithexemptionsforschools,workplaces,andCovid-

secureweddings,funeralsandteamsports.InScotland,more

thanamillionpeopleinEastDunbartonshire,Renfrewshireand

Glasgowarenowbannedfrommixingwithotherhouseholdsat

home.InCaerphilly,SouthWales,peoplearenotallowedtoleave

theregionwithoutavalidcause(whichincludesgoingtowork).

Sandwich,Kent
Fatphobia:A£199-a-night
holidayletinSandwichwas
temporarilystripped ofits
Airbnb listing after the
owners banned guests
weighingmore than100kg
(15st10lbs).The hosts,
identified as Zsu andMarcus,
said overweightpeoplewere
notwelco me a tthe 15thcenturyBobbit’sLair cottage,as its“very
old oak bea ms”wouldnotstand thestrain .After complaintsthat
theircomments were “fat phobic”, however, Airbnbsuspen ded
the listinguntil theoffendingcommentswereremoved.