London Diary: Couples prove ‘experts’ wrong, no baby boom during lockdown

One French gyneacologists’ said that she had noted much ‘back-peddling’ by couples who believed this was not the right time to have a baby because of financial pressures

London Diary: Couples prove ‘experts’ wrong, no baby boom during lockdown
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Hasan Suroor

Remember the breathless excitement at the start of the pandemic last year over the prospects of a lockdown-induced baby boom? "Experts" claimed that with couples forced to spend more time together and with little else to do, they were likely to use their leisure hours to have babies. It was no rocket science. Plain common sense, we were told.

But, alas, not for the first time, pop sociology has come a cropper. A year on, much of Europe and America, far from celebrating a baby boom, is facing a "baby bust" with couples postponing plans to have children amid anxiety over an uncertain future. One French gyneacologists' said that she had noted much “back-peddling" by couples who believed this was not the right time to have a baby because of financial pressures.

New figures pointing to a sharp slump in child births on both sides of the pond has prompted fears of a prolonged "demographic winter”, especially in Europe already struggling to support an ageing population. Italy recorded a 21.6 per cent fall in births in the past one year. France and Spain are among the other countries which have reported a fall in births. Ditto America with the Brookings Institute reportedly estimating that there are likely to be 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births this year compared to last year.

This, of course, is not the only pandemic-related claim that went wrong. Remember this one? How we were "all in it together" and it was going to unite the world in a joint global fight against the virus cutting across geographical and political barriers. That was of course before vaccine nationalism and its other divisive variants kicked in.

Decolonising plants

The decolonisation campaign in Britain which has seen toppling of raj-era statues and restructuring of academic courses has now extended to include names and origins of plants.

London's famous Kew Gardens is rewriting its display boards for plants such as sugar cane to take into account their role in colonialism and the slave trade. Its director Richard Deverell is planning to “completely change” information provided on plants.

"We’re looking at our collections and how we bring new narratives. I recognise there is a lot to do," Deverell told the London Evening Standard.

Kew has also published a “manifesto for change” to ensure the diverse countries and cultures are "accurately and equitably represented" as part of its efforts to "decolonise" its collections.


Lockdown hunger

Call it smart long-term planning or sheer stupidity, given the uncertainty around the pandemic, but reports that Brits have already started making restaurant reservations in anticipation of when they might reopen shows how the lockdown fatigue has started to test their patience.

Restaurants and bars are tentatively expected to reopen by May-end but apparently many are already heavily booked. There are long-waiting lists at the trendier joints.

Prithvi, an upmarket Indian restaurant in Cheltenham, is fully booked until July, while the London-based D&D chain of hotels with venues in a number of cities says it has already taken more than 50,000 bookings, according to The Times. Even more modest establishments claim they have been deluged with inquiries.

And all this amid growing fears that a third wave now sweeping Europe could be on its way to Britain any time.

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Not cricket

For those who take sports commentators too seriously, here's a sobering reminder, courtesy The Times: British sports writer, late Martin Johnson, memorably wrote there were only three things wrong with the England cricket team on the 1986-87 Ashes tour: "They can't bat, they can't bowl, and they can't field." England went on to win the series.

Your surname, Sir?

There might not be much in a name, but a lot apparently hangs by the surname, especially if you're Irish and looking to book at one of Britain's popular coastal holiday homes.

Owners of the Pontins chain of holiday homes have been reprimanded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for operating a blacklist of “undesirable guests” with Irish surnames common among Gypsies whose lifestyle is often looked down upon.

There were 40 names on the list, including Boyle, Keefe, Gallagher, O'Donnell, McGuiness, Murphy, and O'Reilly. The Commission found that Pontins' staff

monitored calls and refused or cancelled bookings made by certain people with an Irish accent or surnames.

"Banning people from services based on their race is discrimination and is unlawful. To say that such policies are outdated is an understatement, " said Alastair Pringle, executive director at EHRC threatening legal action for breaching the 2010 Equality Act.

Downing Street called such discrimination "completely unacceptable". Among the blacklisted surnames was McGinn, shared by Labour Party's shadow security minister, Conor McGinn. He tweeted: “Irony: Pontins recently lobbied me to support its sites reopening, but would have banned me & my kids from staying there if they had."

Two cheers for modern multicultural Britain.

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And, lastly, which is grammatically correct: "What America needs are more tap-dancing movies . . .”? Or "What America needs is . . .’?”

A poser by novelist Stephen King.

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