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The Standard episodes

November 17, 2021 UK inflation: How the 'painful' rise may impact family life
Families across the UK are bracing for a tough winter ahead, as inflation has risen to 4.2%. Experts say it’s down to a series of price rises, including soaring energy bills, a price hike in petrol and an increase in the cost of eating out. Jack Leslie from the Resolution Foundation said the impact of the inflation rise will be 'painful' for families. On top of that, a rise in interest rates is expected next month, just ahead of the Christmas season. The Evening Standard’s Consumer Business Editor Jonathan Prynn discusses what this rise in inflation means for families in the UK, and looks at how it will impact the country going forward.
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7 min
November 16, 2021 M25 Crackdown: Unmarked HGVs target distracted drivers
For the next two weeks an unmarked HGV will travel around the M25 looking for distracted drivers.‘Operation Orbital’ is being run by Highways England and the police, to spot people using their phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or being otherwise distracted while on the country’s busiest motorway. Police officers will film evidence of unsafe driving, by pulling up alongside vehicles, before drivers are pulled over. Data shows there were 97 fatal and serious injury crashes on the M25 in 2019.
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6 min
November 15, 2021 COVID-19: Austria’s unvaccinated placed into lockdown.
As unvaccinated residents in Austria are plunged into lockdown this week, we speak with two people living in the country about the new measures. The lockdown has been brought in as around 65% of the population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. The new rules mean anyone without a vaccine will have to stay indoors, except for work, school, exercise and buying essentials. Alfred and Alisdair, who both live in Linz, share their thoughts on the lockdown, how effective they think it’ll be, and how fair they think it is.
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6 min
November 12, 2021 Why after 100 years, the Poppy Appeal still stirs our emotions
This Remembrance Sunday, the Queen is due to attend London’s Cenotaph to honour our service personal who have made the ultimate sacrifice. In 2021, it’s a century since the founding of the Royal British Legion and the first Poppy Appeal to help soldiers suffering life-changing injuries and PTSD from trench warfare. We meet Mike Kiff, a young veteran of modern combat and signals expert, who tells about his service, his mental health struggles after demobilising and how the Legion helped him.
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8 min
November 11, 2021 NHS waiting times crisis: 999 crews ‘stuck outside A&E for whole shift’
The Leader’s joined by Colm Porter, Unison national officer representing 20,000 paramedics, ambulance technicians and emergency care assistants. He is urging government action to help free up ambulance crews battling Covid-fuelled backlogs and rocketing stress levels as casualty departments fill up. Now it’s being revealed some ambulance crews can spend their working day ‘stacked’ outside hospitals and as the NHS waiting times crisis deepens, delays hit record highs and 5.8 million people across England await their treatment starting. How has it come to this?
We ask what the risk levels are going into winter and how this crucial emergency role has changed post-Covid.
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7 min
November 10, 2021 Tory sleaze: is it back to the 90s for Boris Johnson?
After the Owen Paterson scandal, Tory sleaze claims are back in the headlines, particularly second jobs...but how damaging is it? And will voters care? MP Geoffrey Cox is facing calls to step down after his moonlighting as an almost £1,000-an-hour lawyer in the British Virgin Islands via his Commons office was revealed. And Andrew Bowie’s quit as Conservative vice-chairman in protest at the wake of scandals engulfing Number 10, saying it's a matter of conscience.
We’re joined by David Bond, the Standard’s Deputy Political Editor, to discuss the impact of the latest claims.
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9 min
November 09, 2021 What even is the Metaverse...and is it healthy?
The metaverse...it’s being sold to us as the next big thing in social media, using high-definition 3D online avatars to communicate with each other online. It’s boomed over the last year, with Big Tech wanting to draw consumers deeper into their worlds and Facebook rebranding as Meta. But with increasing concerns about the impact of compulsive social media use on our mental health, what are the risks and possibilities of this new virtual dimension? We speak to Phil Reed a psychology professor at Swansea University, who’s an expert on the effects of the internet on our brains.
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7 min
November 08, 2021 UK-US flights: 20-month covid entry ban lifts - what’s changed?
Two passenger jets operated by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic took off in unison on the 3,500-mile route to New York’s JFK, 20 months after America’s entry ban for non-US passengers travelling from the UK as the pandemic took hold. How has the air travel experience changed, and can the government square its cheerleading of the aviation industry with Cop26 pledges to cut pollution? We speak to Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for Abta, and aviation expert Dr Lynnette Dray, principal research associate at University College London.
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9 min
November 05, 2021 Owen Paterson: Has Boris Johnson's authority been damaged?
The Prime Minister is under pressure amid the fall out from the increasingly toxic Owen Paterson row. Senior Tories say Boris Johnson has been ‘weakened’ by the humiliating u-turn. Has this damaged his authority? The Evening Standard’s Political Editor Nicholas Cecil shares his insight on how we got here and where this all leaves the PM now.
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10 min
November 04, 2021 COP26: Is the end of coal in sight?
Is the end of coal in sight? It’s energy day at COP26 and the focus is on how the world can move away from fossil fuels. More than 40 countries have committed to moving away from coal but big users and producers like China, India, Australia and the US have not. The Evening Standard’s Deputy Political Editor, David Bond, walks us through the progress so far and the potential sticking points with this contentious issue.
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9 min

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