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For Anita Rani, coronavirus lockdown was like a 'therapy'

by PRAMOD THOMAS

JOURNALIST and broadcaster Anita Rani has described this year as a "moment of rebirth".


The Countryfile star claimed "being in lockdown with her husband" has helped tackle her grief after suffering a miscarriage back in 2018.

The 42-year-old Rani revealed her experience in January and now the TV star says the covid-19 induced lockdown has helped her to overcome the trauma.

The ace journalist, married to Bhupi Rehal, a tech executive, believes that it is important to use her voice and platform to help others to move on.

She admitted that while it is easy to contain emotions and not speak out, Rani believes it is important to use her voice and platform to help others.

For Rani, who lives in East London, the lockdown was like a therapy. "Lockdown has given me space to be more thoughtful. I will look back at this year as hopefully a moment of rebirth," she told the Daily Mail.

After sharing her experience about the unfortunate incident, she said that many women and men have reached out to her and shared their experience as well.

"My body and soul experienced something I'll never forget, and I'm not going to do what I did initially and act as though it was nothing, as though I'd just had a graze," she described her loss.

"Because it was something. It was – and is – incredibly sad, and that's okay to say. There's no getting around it: life is hard."

According to her, though many women had experienced miscarriage, nobody talks about it. "This is a really important subject to talk about. I've been gifted this amazing platform and a voice, and I feel I should use them for the positive," she says.

Now, she has urged others to share their experience.

During the lockdown, Anita has been involved in TK Maxx’s Give Up Clothes For Good campaign in aid of Cancer Research UK For Children & Young People. It invites people to bag up pre-loved clothes, accessories and homeware and drop it at TK Maxx stores, to be passed to Cancer Research UK.

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London tourist levy

The capital recorded 89 m overnight stays in 2024

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London to introduce tourist levy that could raise £240 million a year

Kumail Jaffer

Highlights

  • Government expected to give London powers to bring in a tourist levy on overnight stays.
  • GLA study says a £1 fee could raise £91m, a 5 per cent charge could generate £240m annually.
  • Research suggests London would not see a major fall in visitor numbers if levy introduced.
The mayor of London has welcomed reports that he will soon be allowed to introduce a tourist levy on overnight visitors, with new analysis outlining how a charge could work in the capital.
Early estimates suggest a London levy could raise as much as £240 m every year. The capital recorded 89 m overnight stays in 2024.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to give Sadiq Khan and other English city leaders the power to impose such a levy through the upcoming English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. London currently cannot set its own tourist tax, making England the only G7 nation where national government blocks local authorities from doing so.

A spokesperson for the mayor said City Hall supported the idea in principle, adding “The Mayor has been clear that a modest tourist levy, similar to other international cities, would boost our economy, deliver growth and help cement London’s reputation as a global tourism and business destination.”

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