BORIS Johnson is “no longer sure” lockdowns worked in tackling Covid.
The former PM said he believes the restrictions “had some effect” but did not fundamentally change things.
He said: “There were always two waves, whether you were in China, where lockdowns were ruthlessly enforced, or Sweden, where they took a more voluntary approach.”
In his upcoming memoir Unleashed, serialised in the Mail on Sunday, he added: “Maybe there are limits to human agency.
“Maybe it isn’t possible for government action to repel the waves of a highly contagious disease, any more than it is possible to repel the tide of the Thames.
“I am not saying that lockdowns achieved nothing; I am sure they had some effect.
“But were they decisive in beating back the disease, turning that wave down?
“All I can say is that I am no longer sure.”
His words come after Prof Sir Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, told the Covid inquiry this week that he now fears Mr Johnson’s government failed to convey the threat level of the pandemic correctly when it began.
This week, the Tories meet in Birmingham for the annual party conference — with the four leadership hopefuls facing activists.
Writing in The Sun on Sunday today, Robert Jenrick — vying to replace Rishi Sunak — said he wants to give a tax cut to White Van Man and small businesses.
A FORMER Harrods worker claims bosses made girls wear pearl necklaces as a signal they were available to leering men, including Mohamed Fayed.
The ex-sales assistant got a job at the luxury store through an agency in 2006 when she was 17 and still at sixth-form.
But she said she left just weeks later because of the toxic environment — and after she spotted paperwork that listed her bra size and said she had “limited personality”.
The ex-employee said: “It was made clear to me that I had to wear a uniform.
“This consisted of high-heels, a trouser suit, full face of make-up including red lipstick — and a pearl necklace.
“I asked a friend about the pearl necklaces and she said it was to identify us as available and that if men were interested, they could contact the agency.
“They were effectively trying to pimp out girls to rich men, and I got the impression it was not just Fayed who was interested in the young workers.”
Fayed was exposed as a serial sexual predator who raped and sexually assaulted young Harrods workers by a BBC documentary last week.
The former shop worker also told The Sun on Sunday: “It is disgusting what has come out — but not that surprising to anyone who worked there.
“I was one of the lucky ones, and I left after a few weeks.”
PICKING the perfect name for your little one is easier said than done sometimes.
One the one hand, you want something that wont cause them any trouble growing up, but you might also want them to stand out from the crowd.
More and more parents are opting for more unique monikers, which might not always be a good thing.
This comes after one woman shared one of the worst names she’s come across during her time working in a school library.
Posting on a popular Facebook group, the woman’s daughter shared the very unusual name.
“My mom works at a school library and sent this to our family chat,” she wrote.
“This group has prepared me for this moment,” she added.
In the post, she shared the name of one of the kids: Ah’Nastee.
The mum had sent a picture of the name to the family group chat asking how it should be pronounced, leaving her own kids scratching their heads.
People on Facebook were equally as baffled by the name, with many slating the parents for picking it in the first place.
One commented: “Tell me you hate your child without telling me your hate your child.”
A second agreed: “This is so awful, they must have known how bad it is.”
“This kid is going to get ragged on, so hard. I really wish parents would consider bullying when naming their children,” a third wrote.
And another chimed in: “Please don’t tell me this is supposed to be pronounced ‘honesty’.”
Meanwhile, others slammed the parents for the name, with one person even noting they should “go straight to jail” because of it.
“I can’t stand when parents do this,” one said.
“Well, this was a very nasty thing to do to your child,” another mocked.
But the name isn’t the only one making waves on social media recently,
a woman explained that her pal plans to name her baby Raven if it’s a boy – and Femily if the pair welcome a girl.
At first we thought it was her hormones but her husband agrees with her,” she said.
“They have painted the baby room and ordered towels, baby grows etc with initials on key pieces, saying if they get a girl they will save the other stuff for when they have a boy and vice versa.”
The woman slammed the choices, insisting that Raven is a ”girl’s name” and that instead of Femily they should consider Emily as a ”perfectly reasonable” alternative.
“I asked her why that name and she said, if her baby turns out with jet black her and her blue eyes he will be the cutest baby ever, and a very handsome man when he grows up,” she said.
“Femily sounds like a brand of discount feminine hygiene spray that was taken off the market after it caused labial tumours,” one person commented on the post.
Another agreed, commenting: “Femily sounds like a cream for thrush.”
“Femily sounds like a brand of birth control,” a Redditor thought.
CHLOE Morgan, a Senior Writer at Fabulous, has revealed her dilemma on choosing a baby name...
At 35 weeks pregnant, by far the trickiest part of pregnancy for me in the past few months (minus the insomnia and countless night-time wee breaks!) has been trying to decide on a baby name.
The dilemmas are endless…
My partner and I went for a private scan to find out the gender as early as we could – partly due to the fact we thought it would make baby naming so much easier because we’d only have to come up with a list of names for one gender rather than two.
How wrong we were…
I was absolutely thrilled to be told I was expecting the baby girl I’d already dreamed of, but being one of the last of my friends to fall pregnant, I’ve had countless conversations over the years with excited pals discussing their top baby names…something which I wish I could go back in time and un-hear.
With each friend mentioning at least 10 possible monikers, I can’t help but feel like several are now a no-go even though I know it’s something that none of them would mind in the slightest – it’s a total me problem!
The debate comes up time and time again on social media forums – can you choose the same name that was a “potential” for a friend’s baby?
It’s a very divisive topic and opinions are always mixed…and I don’t want to be THAT person.
While some will argue there’s thousands of other names out there to choose from, others will say you need to choose YOUR favourite…after all, there’s no guarantee that person will even have another baby.
Then there’s also the issue of finding a name you adore…only to research it online and read one negative comment amongst hundreds of positives that you just can’t shake off.
I made that very mistake when I fell in love with a certain name (I won’t reveal it because I don’t want to ruin it for others!) …only to see someone point out that it constantly gets autocorrected on a phone to something rather rude instead.
So, back to the drawing board we went..
Just five weeks to go and it looks like our little one is going to be known as ‘baby gal’ for a little while longer!
LUKE LITTLER waved his arms at the crowd to keep them quiet after dumping home star Bruno ‘The Beast’ Stockli.
The 17-year-old came through a tough battle 6-3 against the construction worker in the Swiss Darts Trophy on Saturday night.
‘The Nuke’, using new darts, had to ride the gauntlet of hate from the fans in Basel as they supported his 53-year-old rival.
It was close in the early stages at 3-3 but Littler kept his nerve in the noise to hit a wonderful 145 to take control of the tie.
Littler said: “Everyone knows my new darts only came out a few days ago.
“I tried them out and at one point I was debating whether to switch and go back to my old ones because of the crowd, they were obviously on his side.
“I just had to find my shots and the 145 really done it for me.
“The darts are all the same, it’s just the gold grooves on the barrel. I think it went well tonight.”
He now faces old foe Luke Humphries in the third round on Sunday in what is dubbed the new darts ‘El Clasico’.
He added: “We both love playing each other, as we’ve both said.
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“The rhythm and the pace of the game will make sure it’s a great game. Hopefully I can play a little bit better.”
Littler is chasing his third EuroTour title of 2024.
That’s despite pulling out of last weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy – won by Michael van Gerwen.
He then extended his break by missing the midweek Players Championship events in Leicester.
Littler has already triumphed at the Belgian and Austrian Darts Opens this year.
Earlier on Saturday evening, Humphries beat Richard Veenstra 6-2, James Wade KO’d pal Gerwyn Price 6-4 and Stephen Bunting took victory 6-5 over Michael Smith.
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title – which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.
He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.
He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.
KATIE Price has jetted off on yet another holiday and put to bed rumours she’s split from her boyfriend JJ Slater.
Fresh from a trip to the hairdressers, the former glamour model was seen wheeling her son Harvey through the airport alongside her reality star beau.
The 46-year-old later shared a picture from the plane, sat between her boyfriend and son, and beamed at the camera as she showed off her new hair and the results of her recent facelift.
She penned: “Holiday with my boys,” before tagging them both and adding a heart emoji.
Harvey, 22, has has Prader-Willi syndrome, is partially blind and is on the autistic spectrum and in recent years has been seen using a wheelchair in the airport.
Katie’s trip abroad to an unknown location comes amid her dire financial state.
And she has plans for two additional holidays coming up as well.
When one fan told her in a comment that they were away in Tunisia, Katie replied with her intentions.
The mum-of-five said: “I’m gonna take Harvey on holiday again in a couple of weeks. Oh, my little Harvey Bear.
“And I’ve asked all the kids to come with me, but Princess has got events to do, and Junior’s on holiday now. So typical.
“But in the new year, I’m taking all the kids to Thailand. All of us.
“Imagine all of us on the aeroplane, and I can’t wait to take all the kids to Thailand.”
The Celebrity Big Brother winner shares Harvey, 22, with Dwight Yorke and Princess, 17, and Junior, 19, with Peter Andre.
She has also Jett, 11, and Bunny, 10, with Kieran Hayler.
It comes only weeks after Katie was spotted on yet another holiday, just hours before she was called back to court over her bankruptcy and a £760k tax bill.
The cash-strapped personality was recently arrested on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport after she failed to attend court for her bankruptcy case on July 31.
This was after she flew out to Istanbul hours before she was due in court as part of her £760,000 bankruptcy fight.
But mum-of-five Katie soon fit another trip in, and was sighted in a small village in Norfolk named East Runton.
A punter tagged a photo of Katie’s car outside the White Horse in East Runton, and wrote: “Katie Price in the building along with Leon J Mallett.”
And, just a week before, she posted a pic on Instagram showing her with her mum Amy and daughter Princess on the Isle of Wight.
In August, Katie was warned she would be arrested if she went on holiday instead of turning up for her next court appearance.
The High Court appearance came hours after she was detained at Heathrow Airport.
Stepping off a plane, Price was confronted by cops carrying out an arrest warrant.
A High Court judge had issued the warrant after Price failed to show up for a hearing earlier this month.
Instead, she left the UK and flew to Turkey to undergo her sixth facelift procedure.
