The Week UK - 28.03.2020

NEWS 7

Snowdonia

Recordvisitornumbers:SnowdoniaNationalParkreported

havingits“busiestdayinlivingmemory”onSaturday,asgood

weather,andfearsofanimpending“lockdown”,prompted

thousandsofpeopletoheadforthegreatoutdoors.Photographs

showedlinesoftrafficonnarrowroads,teemingcarparksand

trailsofpeopleheadingupmountainpaths(seepage2 4 ).Officials

said thatevenatthesummits,crowdsweresuchthatmaintaining

effective“socialdistancing”hadbecomeimpossible.Similar

sceneswerereportedatother beautyspots. WestWitteringbeach,

inWestSussex,wasclosed after “thousands”ofpeople turnedup;

andthe NationalTrust,havingoriginallyhopedtokeepsome of

its gardensopen,feltobliged toshutupshopentirely.

Berkshire
Private schoolgoes public:Eton
College openeditsdoors this
weekto hu ndreds of new pupils.
With itsownpupils sent home,
the £42,500-a-yearschool said
it wouldinsteadwelcom ethe
offspringofl ocalpeople who
work in theNHSand ot hercritical
services. It will also provide accommodation forkey workers.The
schoolconfirmed itwouldpick up all costs. Other privateschools
expressed the hope that parentswon’ttry to challenge next term’s
school fees. Most fee-paying schoolsareoffering remote learning,
andstill payingteachers andother staff.

The UK at aglance

28 March 2020 THE WEEK

Edinburgh
Acquitted:AlexSalmondhasbeencleared
ofsexuallyassaultingninewomenatthe
timehewasScotland’sFirstMinister.A
juryfoundtheex-SNPleadernotguilty
of 1 2sexcharges;theuniquelyScottish
verdictof“notproven”wasreturnedon
achargeofintenttorape.Salmondhad
claimedduringhistrialthatthecharges
bytheninewomen–allcurrentorformer
ScottishgovernmentofficialsorSNP
politicians–hada“politicalpurpose”.
Hisalliessaytheverdictsraisebig
questionsforNicolaSturgeon’sgovernment,whichin 2019 paid
Salmond£ 512 ,00 0 inlegalcosts,afteradmittingithadbotched
aninternalinquiryintoclaimsofsexualmisconductagainsthim.

Pembrokeshire

Escape tothe country:Citydwellerswerewarnedthisweek

thatvisits tosecond homesandcaravanparksdo notconstitute

“essentialtravel”.TheGovernmentissuedtheadviceinresponse

tocomplaintsfromruralauthoritiesaround the countrythat

fleeingurbanitescould bringtheviruswiththem,endangeringthe

livesoflocal elderlypeople, and puttinganintolerable strain

on localservices. Estate agentshadreportedbeing inundated

with calls fromweal thyLondonerswilling to payup to £50,

amonthtorent houses in popula rrural areas.In variousplaces,

including Pembrokeshire, signs appearedurging outsiders to

please“go home”. In Scotland,Nicola Sturgeon said thatferries

to the islandswouldno longer acceptnon-essential passengers.

Belfast
Targetingthevulnerable:Thepublichas
beenurged tobewaryofoffers ofhelp
fromstrangers,followingaspateof
scammingincidents. InBelfast, policesaid
that“despicable” fraudstershadbeen
knockingon doors,offering servicessuch
asgrocerydeliveries,onlyto abscond
with victims’cash. InBarnet,criminalsweresaidtobe targeting
the elderly withoffersto decontaminatetheirhomes;in
Southampton and elsewhere,crooks have targetedfoodbanks,
posingasdeliverydriversinordertomakeoff with producefrom
supermarkets thathadbeenintendedforthe poor.

Sunderland

Joblosses:HundredsofworkersinSunderland,whoonly

narrowlyavoidedredundancywiththecollapseofThomasCook

inSeptember,arenowonceagainfacinganuncertainfuture

owingtothecoronavirus.Thefamily-ownedHaysTravel,which

boughtThomasCook,hasreducedworkinghourstozerofor

880 ofits5,700employees,andcutthehoursofallothersbyhalf,

afterlosing£400,0 00 inasingledaylastweek.Haysisbutoneof

manycompaniesacrossthecountrythataresheddingworkersin

anefforttostaysolvent.CarphoneWarehouse,whichhasstores

alloverthenortheast,isexpectedtomake2,9 00 jobsredundant

aspartofa“rescueplan”.Onlyafewweeksago,Sunderlandwas

cheeringgoodemploymentnewswhenNissanunveiledanew

£52m“press”lineatthelocalplantforitsnewQashqaicars.

London

Institutional racism:Adamningreport on theWindrush scandal,

accusing the Home Officeof showing“ins titutional ignorance and

thoughtlessnesstowards theissue ofrace” was published last

week.Its fiercecriticismofthe way the Government hadwrongly

deported thousandsof migrants who’d come toBritainafter

WWII,dismissing them from theirjobsand denying them NHS

care, promptedaprofuse apology from Home Secretary Priti Patel.

“There is nothingIcansay today thatwill undo thesuffering,”

shesaid. “Onbehalfofthisand succ essivegovernmentsIamtruly

sorry.” Inspectorof ConstabularyWendyWilliams,the author of

theWindrushLessons Learned Review, concludedthat, in tr ying

to show they were tough onimmigration, successive governments

hadshown “completedisregard”forthe Windrush generation.