Eight-year-old girl who died ‘after being tortured by her father was forced to eat her own faeces when his mistress locked her in toilet’

• Father and mistress charged with with torturing and imprisoning the girl and her sister
• Mistress admits to using hot irons to punish girls for being ‘disobedient’
  
• Couple used metal bars and wires to systematically torture two daughters
• Police found stun guns and sticks in the flat where the children were abandoned

By Tahira Yaqoob

Published: 14:57 EDT, 7 November 2012 | Updated: 15:30 EDT, 7 November 2012

An eight-year-old girl who died after being tortured with stun guns and hot irons was forced to eat her own faeces after her father and his mistress left her to starve in a locked toilet, a Dubai court heard.

Wadeema al Sherawi had been deprived of food and was locked up as punishment for being ‘naughty’ on the night she died – and in desperation, she ate her own waste before vomiting as a result.

Her father Hamad Saoud al Sherawi, 29, and his mistress Al Anood al Ameri, 27, have been charged with torturing and imprisoning Wadeema and her seven-year-old sister Mira, killing Wadeema and burying her illegally.

The Emirati couple are said to have beaten the girls with electrical wires and metal bars, poured boiling water on them and burned them with hot irons and cigarettes.

A policeman told Dubai Court of First Instance that Wadeema and Mira – who survived the abuse but was left with a permanent disability – were often left unfed and sometimes ate their own faeces.

Emirati police officer Essam Obaid, 35, told the court: ‘The girl and her younger sister were left unfed in the flat.

‘On the night [Wadeema] died, she vomited a lot because she ate her own faeces.

‘She and her sister used to eat mouldy food and sometimes their own faeces.’ 

A second witness in the trial, police corporal Mubarak Ahmed Taleb, 34, said the studio apartment where the couple lived with the two girls was filthy and ‘not fit for humans to live in’.

He told the court it reeked of stale urine: ‘It smelled really bad and was dirty. There was only one bed and the furniture was turned upside down. The girls’ clothes stank and there was mess everywhere.

‘The fridge was full of food which was out of date. No one could live in it.’

He said when his investigation team searched the flat, they found two irons with brown marks on them and said: ‘They had used them to burn the girls.’

He added they found some of the implements of torture, including metal bars, sticks and stun guns.

Al Sherawi and Al Ameri, who have just had a baby boy called Saoud while being held separately in captivity, stood in court while judge Maher Salameh heard the case against them.

Al Ameri clutched her sleeping newborn baby to her chest wrapped in a blue checked blanket.

The pair were arrested after the girls’ uncle visited the flat in International City, Dubai, and was told by Mira of the abuse.

He initially blamed both of them for Wadeema’s death but later changed his story, saying Al Sherawi was ‘a great father who loved his children’.

Al Sherawi has denied all the charges and only admits burying Wadeema in the desert while his mistress has pleaded guilty to all the allegations.

Mr Obaid said today: ‘When I questioned Al Anood, she claimed she saw Wadeema vomiting heavily and was very sick that evening so she called Hamad and asked him to come to the flat.

‘They left her until 5am in the toilet and when they went to check on her, she was dead. She vomited because she ate her own excrement.

‘Al Anood admitted heating the irons and torturing the girls. She said Wadeema was tortured because she did not listen and was disobedient.’

The judge said: ‘Was there no other way she could teach her children?’

Mr Obaid said Al Anood told him they had washed and dressed Wadeema before burying her in the desert.

He said he had not interviewed Mira. The little girl gave evidence in court yesterday but after Al Sherawi, who was clean-shaven for the first time in the trial, refused to carry on with proceedings unless reporters were banned, the trial was heard in chambers.

Wadeema’s body was found in June but was so badly decomposed, forensic experts could not tell how she had died.

The girls’ natural mother Salma Obaid had to give them up in November 2011 after losing custody and had not seen them for six months when Wadeema died.

She married Al Sherawi in 2002 and divorced him in 2006. She previously told the court she tried to convince him to let her see the girls but was forbidden contact with them.

A forensics expert said Mira had been lucky not to die from her injuries. The case was adjourned until November 25.

 

People who eat too much sugar risk weight gain, tooth decay and an array of health conditions, experts have long warned.

But while NHS guidance sets the maximum daily intake at 30g of free sugars a day, or 210g per week, it can be difficult to know what combination of food you can actually eat before hitting this limit.

Those with a sweet tooth who enjoy tucking into chocolate, biscuits and ice cream every day may be in for a shock.

MailOnline’s graphic offers up four combinations of sugar-packed treats — but only one falls within the health service’s sugar guidelines.

Option one — a single bar of Dairy Milk — has a whopping 201.6g of sugar, which means the first option on the graphic is the only one that falls within the NHS target, as long as it is consumed over the course of a week. However, doing so leaves just 8.4g of free sugars for the rest of the week’s meals and drinks.

The NHS sugar limits only apply to free sugars — those added to products — rather than those found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables.

But the other combinations of sugary snacks shown in MailOnline’s graphic well surpass the NHS guidelines. 

Campaigners told MailOnline that they want stricter policies from the Government that force food manufacturers to slash the sugar content in their products — as many treats are impossible to enjoy while sticking within the 30g per day limit.

Those who ate one bar of Dairy Milk and five chocolate digestives over the course of one week, the second option in this website’s graphic, would consume 225.6g of sugar.

This combination, plus a tub of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough, contains 327.9g.

Those who also then consume two Mars bars over seven days would be eating a whopping 389.9g of sugar — nearly double the NHS target.

Campaign Lead at Action on Sugar, Dr Kawther Hashem said: ‘Whilst it is important to guide the public on the maximum daily limit, many adults are oblivious to this information. 

‘We therefore need strict government policies for the food industry, to ensure they reduce levels of sugar in their everyday products and protect our health from avoidable illnesses and early deaths.’

Many people, unaware of the guided sugar levels, fill their lunches with crisps, chocolate and biscuits to get them through the work day. 

Data from the British Nutrition Foundation suggests that the average woman actually consumes 44g of sugar, while men have 55g. 

But enjoying a bar of chocolate on your lunch break can quickly eat through most of the Government’s recommended ‘free sugars’ for the entire week.

As well as the 30g of free sugars per day limit, the government recommends that that these sugars should not make up more than 5 per cent of the calories a person gets from food and drink each day.

This means a bar of chocolate every day for your lunch — which have around 10 to 31g of sugar — can almost guarantee you go over the limit every day.

If you prefer to enjoy a little treat while watching some night-time TV, this could also make staying in those tight guidelines almost impossible.

But some combinations do fall within the NHS sugar limits of 210g per week.

These include six Mars bars (186g), two Terry’s Chocolate Orange Milk Balls (185.26g) or two tubs of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream contains (204.6g).

Two packets of McVitie’s Milk Chocolate Digestives Biscuits (151.62g) and two bags of Haribo Starmix (164.5g) also fall within the NHS guidelines, if consumed over the course of seven days.

Nutritionist Nichola Ludlam-Raine, based in Leeds, said: ‘It’s a stark reminder that indulging in even one of these treats can consume a significant portion, if not all, of our weekly sugar allowance, excluding sugars from drinks and regular meals.

‘The guidelines might seem stringent, but they’re designed to encourage a shift in our consumption patterns towards more whole, nutrient-dense foods and away from sugar-laden processed products. 

‘While it’s okay to enjoy treats occasionally, it’s essential to be mindful of their sugar content and balance them with other nutrient-rich foods.’

Sugar is one of the biggest culprits fuelling Britain’s bulging waistline.

One in four adults and 23 per cent of children aged 10-11 years in England are obese, making the UK one of the worst countries in Europe for obesity, behind Malta and Turkey.

Biscuits before bed may be off the menu.

For a quarter of people are undoing the benefits of healthy meals by snacking unhealthily, a study has suggested. 

Researchers from London, who monitored the eating habits of more than 850 people, found that one in four reported eating unhealthy snacks — such as chocolate, crisps and cakes — alongside ‘healthy meals’.

Results suggested that this group were ‘undoing the benefits’ of eating a nutritious breakfast, lunch and dinner, as eating junk food snacks were linked with having a higher BMI and blood sugar — raising their risk of strokes, heart disease and obesity.

However, analysis showed that snacking itself is not unhealthy — as long as the people chose healthy treats, such as fruit, nuts and seeds. 

The scientists tracked the snacking habits of 854 people from the ZOE PREDICT study, a group of in-depth nutritional research studies that aim to reveal how and why people respond differently to the same foods.

Participants consumed ‘standardised test meals’ over nine to 11 days and logged the quantity and types of snacks consumed using an online food diary. 

Some 95 per cent of cohort confessed to snacking, while the average daily intake was recorded at 2.28 snacks per days. 

Some 29 per cent of people ate more than two, researchers said. 

But writing in the European Journal of Nutrition, the scientists from Kings College London said 26 per cent of participants reported eating healthy meals but opting for ‘poor quality snacks’ which left them ‘feeling hungry’.

This group had ‘poorer health markers’. 

Snacking frequency, however, had no impact on blood fats and blood pressure. 

Dr Sarah Berry from King’s College London and chief scientist at ZOE said: ‘Considering 95 per cent of us snack, and that nearly a quarter of our calories come from snacks, swapping unhealthy snacks such as cookies, crisps and cakes to healthy snacks like fruit and nuts is a really simple way to improve your health.’ 

The most popular snacks consumed were cookies, fruit, nuts and seeds, cheese and butter, cakes and pies and granola or cereal bars, scientists said. 

High blood sugar and fat can lead to diabetes and heart disease, studies have found. 

People with diabetes are also more likely to have other conditions that raise the risk of heart disease, such as high blood pressure.

The researchers also found those who ate ‘high-quality snacks’ — like nuts, fresh fruit and granola bars — had ‘better metabolic health’ and were not as hungry. 

Ultra-processed foods like cakes, crisps and brownies generally have higher sugar, salt and saturated fat content compared with less processed foods.

The term covers food that contains ingredients that a person wouldn’t add when cooking at home — such as chemicals, colourings and preservatives.

These include ready meals, ice cream, sausages, southern fried chicken, cereals and ketchup.

They are different to processed foods, which are processed to make them last longer or enhance their taste, such as cured meat and cheese.

But researchers also found the timing of snacking was also crucial to health, with eating later at night carrying ‘significantly more negative health implications’. 

People who ate most of their snacks in the evening after 9pm saw larger spikes in their blood sugar compared to those snacked earlier in the day, they said. 

Those who snacked later also had higher concentrations of fat in their blood compared to those who snacked earlier.

Snackers at this time tended to eat energy-dense foods which were high in fat and sugar.

Dr Kate Bermingham from King’s College London and senior scientist at ZOE said: ‘This study contributes to the existing literature that food quality is the driving factor in positive health outcomes from food. 

‘Making sure we eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, protein and legumes is the best way to improve your health.’

I love self-testing: I regularly test my blood pressure and cholesterol. And, as many of you will know by now, I was once diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and while I reversed it, I also still check my blood sugar levels.

It’s something more of us should do — millions of Brits have an abnormally high blood sugar level but many are blissfully unaware of the damage this is doing to their arteries and nerves.

An estimated seven million people in the UK have prediabetes (i.e. raised blood sugar levels that can be a precursor to full-blown type 2 diabetes) — but a good proportion won’t know it.

And even if you don’t go on to develop type 2 diabetes, simply having prediabetes increases your risk of premature death by more than 60 per cent.

You can check your blood sugar levels using a standard DIY fingerprick test (for around £20) from the High Street or online. These kits are reliable; if the result suggests you have a problem then do talk to your GP.

Many people with diabetes now use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) — the coin-sized device, which sticks to your arm and has a tiny needle that measures your blood sugar levels: you then link it to your smartphone, and within an hour it will start giving readings, updated every 15 minutes. Theresa May, who has type 1 diabetes, wears one.

But while these devices are intended for people with diabetes, anyone can buy one (they cost around £60 and last for two weeks), and they’re increasingly being used by people — including TV presenter Davina McCall — who want to see what foods (and activities) push their blood sugar levels up.

The idea being the fewer the big glucose spikes, the better.

I decided to try this out myself, not least to put some popular social media ‘hacks’ to the test.

So two weeks ago I bought myself a type of CGM called Freestyle Libre. So what did I learn?

Well, first, that the device takes a while to settle down — for the initial couple of days it suggested my blood sugar levels were far higher than the readings from my fingerprick monitor (which is more reliable). If I hadn’t known this, I might have been very worried.

After that — and not surprisingly — I found that anything sweet or carb-heavy (such as cake or breakfast cereal) soon pumped my blood sugar very high, followed by a crash which left me hungry — and irritable. Sadly this was also true of one of my favourite treats, dark chocolate, which contains a fair amount of sugar, around 4g (one teaspoon) per square.

More tragically, I discovered that coffee — even black and without sugar — led to big blood sugar spikes, particularly consumed first thing in the morning.

This is because a couple of hours before you wake up, your body releases a big shot of the stress hormone cortisol to get you ready for the day ahead.

If you introduce caffeine while your cortisol is high, you get a big blood sugar spike.

The advice I got from James Betts, a professor of metabolic physiology at the University of Bath, is to delay having coffee until at least an hour after waking, when your cortisol levels are falling. And that trick certainly seems to help control my blood sugar response. I also found that a brisk walk soon after eating was a good way to bring my blood sugar levels down — this is because my muscles were using up some of the surplus sugar.

Recent research by the University of Limerick showed that a brisk walk 60 to 90 minutes after eating is best, as that’s when your blood sugar levels will be peaking.

Ideally you should walk for at least 15 minutes, but even something is better than nothing.

Oddly, more vigorous exercise had the opposite effect: after a lengthy bike ride I was horrified to see my blood sugars go up.

This was probably because more vigorous cycling led to the release of adrenaline, which made my body release sugar into my blood to cope with the extra workout.

Of course, this doesn’t mean vigorous exercise is bad, but it can be disconcerting if you are looking at your monitor and see blood sugar going up, rather than down.

So what about those internet hacks for avoiding blood sugar spikes?

One of the most popular is to drink a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water before having a sugary snack or carb-heavy meal.

This is based on the idea that the acetic acid in the vinegar slows down the breakdown of the carbs into sugar. It seemed to work for me, but it didn’t taste great.

Another hack I tested was the claim that cooking, cooling and reheating carb-heavy foods such as rice, pasta or potatoes changes their structure, so they become ‘resistant’ to gut enzymes that break them down, causing a smaller blood sugar surge.

On two consecutive days I ate pasta for lunch, but on the second day, I used leftover pasta that had been in the fridge, and then reheated. This time my blood sugar spike was half what it had been.

This, too, has been confirmed in studies, including one in 2021 by the University of Surrey which found that cooking, cooling and reheating pasta made a significant difference to the blood sugar spike.

Despite these positives, there are serious limitations to bear in mind if you’re using a CGM and don’t have diabetes.

Looking at what foods cause my blood sugar to spike was interesting, but I became a bit obsessed, even checking my readings in the middle of the night, which is clearly not healthy.

And it’s important to note that blood sugar levels don’t tell the full story.

Lentils and a bar of chocolate both made mine soar, but that doesn’t make them equivalent nutritionally — lentils have significant benefits, including the fact that they’re prebiotics, so nourish the ‘good’ bacteria in your gut.

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. also showed that you can get very different results to eating the same meal on two consecutive days, for all sorts of reasons, including how stressed you are and how well you slept.

So don’t rely on a CGM as a way of shaping your future diet.

And if all you really want to know is whether you have prediabetes or not, then a trip to your GP, or a fingerprick test, is a cheaper and simpler way to find out.

At last, a clampdown on the lip filler cowboys 

An awful lot of young — and not so young — people these days seem to have large, pouty lips, thanks to fillers.

While many people are delighted with the results, thousands are left every year traumatised by botched procedures.

If you are having injections into your face, it is clearly a good idea to have it done by someone who knows something about the underlying anatomy.

That’s because underneath the skin there’s a complex network of arteries and veins, and if you inject filler into one of these, it could obstruct blood flow and cause permanent tissue damage.

Amazingly, this industry is almost entirely unregulated, so pretty much anyone can pick up a needle and start advertising — there’s no guarantee that the person at the other end of the needle knows what they are doing. A couple of years ago I made a TV series about tweakments and was horrified by some of the stories I heard, including people who’d been blinded by fillers inserted too close to arteries that feed the eye.

In light of these disasters, the Department of Health and Social Care has recently announced a consultation on tweakments, to make them safer and curb the cowboys (and cowgirls). About time.

Autumn is on the horizon but pesky mosquitoes and other flying insects are still out looking for me — I seem to be a magnet for them.

But the good news is that scientists at the University of California may have found a solution. They’ve isolated a species of bacteria, found on some people’s skin, that is good at keeping mosquitoes at bay. These bacteria produce a range of chemicals, including butyric acid, which mosquitoes find repulsive.

The researchers hope to test this effect by spraying animals with the bacteria, before moving on to human trials.

We know that people in their 60s or 70s who develop new skills (such as painting) experience big improvements in memory and other cognitive abilities.

Now a major study of ageing Brits has found that adult education classes can significantly lower your risk of dementia. One theory is that being mentally active boosts your brain’s ability to cope with damage or decline in later life — or it may be that learning something forges new neural pathways. The bottom line is that the benefits of learning continue well into old age.

By Xantha Leatham Deputy Science Editor

Published: 19:02 EDT, 9 August 2023 | Updated: 19:36 EDT, 9 August 2023

Aussies who eat microwave meals are being ripped off because of Coles and Woolworths, Metcash boss warns

• Metcash food chief slammed big supermarket rivals
• Grant Ramage said ready-made meal market cornered 

By Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:41 EDT, 25 July 2023 | Updated: 03:15 EDT, 25 July 2023

Heston Blumenthal‘s Fat Duck restaurant is one of the very best in the world, with not just three Michelin stars, but an almost mythical status in the catering industry.

What’s it like to eat there? A fascinating YouTube video has emerged that gives viewers a seat at the table. It was shot by Alexander Varga, the co-owner of one-Michelin-starred restaurant ’42’ in Esztergom, Hungary.

As part of his ‘mission to find inspiration in gastronomy’, he visits other Michelin-starred restaurants and creates spellbinding videos of his experiences at them.

They’re uploaded to his YouTube channel, ‘Alexander The Guest’, with his Fat Duck video so far garnering over 365,000 clicks.

Alexander treated his teenager daughter to a meal at the restaurant – and the video begins with them trying to locate it. He says: ‘We arrive at the address, but there is no sign, only clues.’

The 42-seat restaurant is housed in a white building in the village of Bray, Berkshire, with a spatula in the shape of a duck’s foot hanging outside and a coat of arms on the wall inscribed with the instruction – ‘question everything’.

‘We’ve found it,’ says Alexander.

Inside there are 42 seats – and 42 kitchen staff. One for every guest.

On Alexander’s table is a book called ‘Heston’s World of Curiosity’ and a magnifying glass.

‘The book has a story about adventure,’ reveals Alexander, ‘and the magnifying glass helps you find hidden information.’

Their waiter comes to the table and introduces himself as their ‘storyteller’.

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This approach, says Alexander, ‘is unusual, but interesting’.

There is just one tasting menu, priced at £395 (plus service).

However, there are five wine-pairing menus to choose from – ‘Playfulness [non-alcoholic], Curiosity, Exploration, Discovery and Wonderment’.

Alexander opts for the ‘top-of-the-line’ Wonderment pairing, which costs £990.90.

Then the magic begins.

First up is a ‘nitro-poached aperitif with Campari spritz’ that’s ‘hard to describe… crisp on the outside and soft and refreshing on the inside’.

‘Surprises like that keep happening during the meal,’ says Alexander.

Heston’s team then rustle up ‘Aerated Beetroot’, ‘Red Cabbage Gazpacho with Pommery Mustard Ice Cream’, ‘Oyster with Passionfruit Jelly and Lavender’, a Waldorf salad that’s actually two savoury lollies in the shape of a rocket, and a golden pocket watch that turns to soup when immersed in boiling water.

‘Every dish has something magical,’ says Alexander.

And of course there’s the famous ‘Sound of the Sea’ course, seafood – some of the best Alexander has ever eaten – enjoyed to the sound of crashing waves, supplied via a music player hidden in a shell and in-ear buds.

Alexander told MailOnline Travel that the experience was ‘really magical and memorable’ for both him and his daughter.

Did it live up to the hype?

He said: ‘I don’t know how big the hype is around the restaurant now, but for me, it was a defining experience. Although it might not be considered progressive anymore, Heston Blumenthal has created one of the most influential chapters in gastro history, and I would definitely recommend it. It doesn’t matter if some dishes have been on the menu for more than 10 years, they are still really exciting to this day. The service is a huge part of the whole experience. It absolutely deserves the hype, because the whole thing is simply brilliant.’

The Fat Duck is extremely expensive – but did Alexander feel it was worth the outlay?

He said: ‘Absolutely. It is really hard to review a restaurant in the aspect of the price-value ratio, since we get calories, art, feelings, ideas and theatre, which teach, inspire and entertain at the same time. Those who just want food might not agree, but for me it was well worth it. It was an amazing experience, and worth every penny.’

What does he think the secret to Heston’s success is?

Alexander said: ‘If I had to guess, it would be his open mind, out-of-the-box thinking, experimenting nature and bravery. Aside from those I think he has a very serious organizing ability and strong character. He is also thoughtful and takes inspiration from art and science.’

How does The Fat Duck compare to other three-star restaurants he’s eaten at? Would he say it’s the best restaurant?

Alexander said: ‘Of course this is subjective. I’m not even sure I can decide if a restaurant is “the best”. I’ve been to more than 40 three-Michelin star restaurants around the world, and in my head I list them in three categories. There are some that I don’t like, some that I do and some which are special. The Fat Duck definitely goes into the special category.’

For more fascinating foodie videos from Alexander visit www.youtube.com/@alexandertheguest and follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/alexandertheguest and on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@alexandertheguest. Follow his restaurant on Instagram at www.instagram.com/42restaurant.

England’s best places to stay, its standout restaurants and its most unbeatable tourist attractions have been named in the 2023 VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.

The finalists were selected from hundreds of tourism businesses across England including hotels, self-catering accommodation, B&Bs, glamping operators, pubs and museums. Judges narrowed it down to 16 overall winners, which were announced during an awards ceremony at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter on June 8, hosted by hotel inspector Alex Polizzi.

The awards, which have been running for more than 30 years, are said to ‘celebrate and champion innovation, quality and best practice across the industry recognising businesses and individuals who raise the bar of England’s tourism offer’.

Scroll down to see the retreats, restaurants and more that have scooped prizes…

Large Hotel of the Year Award – Titanic Hotel Liverpool, Merseyside 

This ‘elegant’ four-star hotel is set within one of Liverpool’s ‘most iconic’ areas – Stanley Dock.

VisitEngland says: ‘Offering 153 spacious rooms, the Titanic keeps true to the architecture of the original Victorian warehouse [it occupies], with exposed brickwork, steel columns and original windows.’ 

A highlight is the spa offering, the tourist board notes, saying: ‘Underground, guests can find the serene Maya Blue Wellness sanctuary, which contains a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, sauna, foot bath, experience showers and a relaxation area.’ Visit titanichotelliverpool.com.

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year Award – Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, The Making of Harry Potter, Hertfordshire

VisitEngland says that this fantastical attraction ‘preserves the legacy of Harry Potter for the public, allowing fans to discover the magic behind the making of the movies’. 

It reveals: ‘Guests can discover the iconic Hogwarts Great Hall, explore the Forbidden Forest, board the original Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 and three quarters and set foot in Gringotts Wizarding Bank, all before wandering down Diagon Alley.’

According to the tourist board, miniature film sets, ‘wand magic classes’ and special exhibitions ‘make it a must-see experience for Potterheads of all ages’. Visit wbstudiotour.co.uk. 

Pub of the Year – The Blind Bull, Little Hucklowm, Derbyshire 

‘Situated in the heart of the Peak District, The Blind Bull inhabits the site of Britain’s fifth-oldest public house,’ VisitEngland reveals.

It says that the 12th-century inn ‘has been restored to its former glory with a dining space and tap room, along with five bedrooms and a standalone cottage for overnight stays’.

The tourist board notes: ‘The Blind Bull serves a range of traditional real ales, classic wines and modern cocktails, as well as dishes using locally sourced ingredients cooked over an open fire.’ Visit theblindbull.co.uk.

Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year – The Quiet Site, Cumbria 

The Quiet Site is a family-run, carbon-neutral holiday park overlooking Ullswater in the Lake District, VisitEngland reveals.

It says: ‘The site has been operating for 60 years, and offers a range of accommodation options, from tent and caravan pitches to camping and glamping pods, all with sustainability at the heart.’

The tourist board says that the newest addition to the site is a series of ‘gingerbread houses’ that come complete with their own underground heat source. It adds that the site’s Glamping Burrows, also known as ‘Hobbit Holes’, ‘make for a memorable, film-inspired stay’. Visit thequietsite.co.uk. 

Taste of England Award – Pensons Restaurant at the Netherwood Estate, Worcestershire

This Michelin-starred restaurant is ‘completely committed to finding sustainable and environmentally friendly ways to serve delicious food’.

VistEngland notes that ‘the flavour-led menus change weekly and sometimes even daily, depending on the fresh ingredients available’.

Leave room in your diary – this autumn, well-known Herefordshire forager Liz Knight will be leading a half-day Autumn Woodland Forage session to ‘discover the delights of wild food, ending with a three-course vegetarian lunch at Pensons restaurant’, the tourist board reveals. Visit pensons.co.uk. 

Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year Award – Kidlandlee Holiday Cottages, Northumberland

This holiday rental site in the Northumberland National Park is said to ‘offer an off-grid break with home comforts’.

VisitEngland says: ‘The holiday cottages’ remote location offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors, including taking in the area’s famous dark skies. The business is committed to sustainable practices with initiatives including generating enough renewable energy to power the whole estate, protecting wildlife habitats and supporting local businesses.’

As well as the bespoke holiday cottages, guests can stay in a converted barn or in a historic Georgian townhouse. Visit kidlandlee.co.uk.

B&B and Guest House of the Year – Piglets Boutique B&B, Essex

Piglets Boutique B&B is an ‘upmarket adults-only Essex hideaway offering a bar and gin library, al fresco dining in summer and a cold-water swimming pool and sauna’.

VisitEngland says that the bed and breakfast’s five guest rooms ‘each offer a super-king bed, large smart flat-screen TV and complimentary refreshments including tea, coffee and homemade cookies’.

It adds: ‘Guests can take a hike through the rural countryside or drive down the lanes to visit nearby castles and historic houses.’ Visit piglets.co.uk. 

Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award – Pure Outdoor, Derbyshire

‘To educate and inspire through adventure’ is the mantra for Pure Outdoor, the outdoor activity centre in the heart of the Peak District National Park’s Hope Valley, VisitEngland reveals.

It says: ‘Benefitting from the unrivalled natural facilities of the surrounding hills and mountains, hillwalking, climbing, caving, and mountain biking are all on the agenda and guided by experienced instructors.’

The tourist board notes that the team is devoted to being eco-conscious and is donating the equivalent of five per cent of annual revenues to social and environmental causes. Visit pureoutdoor.co.uk. 

Experience of the Year – Grey Seal and Seabird Cruise, Serenity Farne Island Boat Tours, Northumberland

This cruise takes travellers off the coast of the Farne Islands, which are ‘home to many different sea birds including puffin eider, razorbill, along with common grey seals for their mating season in the autumn and winter’.

It’s not the only noteworthy cruise offered by Serenity Farne Island Boat Tours, VisitEngland reveals – it also offers sunset cruises and visits to the nearby Holy Island. Visit farneislandstours.co.uk. 

New Tourism Business of the Year – Thorington Theatre, Suffolk

Detailing this prize-winning attraction, VisitEngland says: ‘From bomb crater to theatre, Thorington Theatre is a new open-air venue which has been built in a WWII bomb crater in Suffolk woodland.’

It continues: ‘The 350-seat entirely wooden amphitheatre was constructed with sustainably coppiced chestnut trees from the immediate woodland. It has been constructed with the smallest possible carbon footprint, and Thorington Theatre’s ethos is to be as sustainable as possible in every aspect of the running of the theatre from the local suppliers to the composting loos.’

The theatre is said to welcome a variety of theatre troupes, actors, comedians, and musicians throughout the summer months. Visit thoringtontheatre.co.uk. 

There is an awful lot of humble pie being eaten up by economic forecasters this week. The first to take a bite was US banking giant Citi after admitting its forecasts for the UK last year were far too gloomy.

In a mea culpa note to clients, Vasileios Gkionakis, Citi’s foreign exchange expert, said his prediction that sterling would drop to parity with the dollar after last year’s mini-Budget and that there would be a collapse in economic demand was ‘wrong, plain and simple’.

He wasn’t just wrong, he was very wrong. Citi also forecast that the consumer prices index would top 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 and that the retail prices index inflation rate would soar to 21 per cent. Wrong again.

Sure, inflation is still high at 10 per cent but is falling. And the pound is close to a one-year high against the dollar at $1.26. 

Even Citi predicts it’s heading for $1.30 next year. What a surprise. Many of us said at the time that Citi’s forecasts were off the scales and should be dismissed as far too pessimistic.

Of course, all forecasts should be taken with a pinch of salt because they are simply that – predictions. As JK Galbraith quipped: ‘The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.’

But the problem is that forecasts take on a life of their own. Citi’s forecasts, along with dire ones from other US banks, were being taken as gospel at a time of enormous turmoil, when all and sundry feared that the bond market bloodbath during Liz Truss’s brief reign was leading the UK to the dogs.

Remember those autumn forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England itself? 

They were predicting hellfire and brimstone at the most vulnerable moment when bond prices were crashing and interest rates shooting up.

Indeed, the Bank was one of the gloomiest, claiming inflation would hit 13 per cent, forecasting the longest recession on record, lasting until 2024, and that unemployment would double by 2025.

How wrong could it be? What’s more poignant – and dangerous – is that all this frenzied gloom fed into the narrative that Britain was a basket case.

The doom hit consumer confidence, it made it more difficult for small and big businesses to decide whether to invest, and put off foreign investors. 

Even then, the real figures told a different story: Although growth was weak, the UK was the fastest-growing economy in the G7 last year.

Which is why Bank governor Andrew Bailey must have been choking on an even bigger slice of pie in his latest economic update yesterday. He had to concede he and his astrologers got their readings very wrong.

He admits that consumer confidence is improving and that there will be modest positive growth this year. 

The difference between last autumn’s gloom and today, he explains, is that energy prices have fallen sharply and, as a consequence, the economy is more resilient than expected.

Yet that hasn’t stopped the Old Lady from raising interest rates again, and markets are betting there are more increases to come.

If the Bank is not to strangle what growth there is, it must tread carefully and not repeat the mistakes of the last few years.

Born under Aries, Bailey should consult his horoscope. It says not to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Rolls’s bold plans

Rolls-Royce boss Tufan Erginbilgic says the aerospace group is ‘moving at pace’ with its shake-up – profit is up, debt is down and free cash flow is flowing.

Flying hours are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. New orders are coming in, which will push up margins, while costs are being brought under control.

But the big challenge is winning the government contract to build the next generation of small modular reactors (SMRs), to produce nuclear power. 

Competition is stiff – Bill Gates’s TerraPower joins GE Hitachi and Mitsubishi in wanting to bid by the autumn deadline.

Hopefully, Rolls will come up with a brilliant tender so watertight that the Government can’t refuse.

It’s time to back domestic champions.

Revolut ructions

Strange goings-on at Revolut. First it says the payments app is about to receive a bank licence. 

Then accountants BDO say it can’t account for a chunk of revenue. Then boss Nik Storonsky has a wobbly, accusing regulators of taking too long, and criticising the UK as a lousy place to do business.

Now, finance chief Mikko Salovaara has quit. The usually talkative Storonsky should explain why.

YOU can now eat pigs genetically modified using CRISPR: FDA approves altered German-style sausages to be sold at restaurants and grocery stores

By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

Published: 15:49 EDT, 8 May 2023 | Updated: 15:59 EDT, 8 May 2023