75% rise in referrals for first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021
Cases of psychosis have soared over the past two years in England as an increasing number of people experience hallucinations and delusional thinking amid the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There was a 75% increase in the number of people referred to mental health services for their first suspected episode of psychosis between April 2019 and April 2021, NHS data shows.
Continue reading...Home secretary says MPs’ surgeries could get police protection but some raise concerns about deterring public
Boris Johnson will lead tributes to Sir David Amess in the House of Commons on Monday as debate rages about how drastically to step up security in the wake of the fatal attack on the Southend MP at his constituency surgery.
On Sunday night Amess’s family appealed for public unity, urging people to “set aside their differences and show kindness and love to all”. In a statement, his relatives said they were “absolutely broken” but had drawn strength from the tributes to him from across the political spectrum.
Continue reading...Exclusive: diplomatic effort by US following Australia cancelling $66bn deal with France not matched by London
The US has urged Britain to follow its example and try to repair its relations with Paris in the wake of the row over France’s loss of its submarine contract with Australia.
Australia pulled out of the $66bn (£48bn) contract for 12 diesel electric-powered submarines, signed in 2016, to opt instead for nuclear-powered submarines to be developed with America and the UK. The secretive and sudden cancellation of the contract has created a crisis of trust between Paris on the one hand and London, Canberra and Washington on the other.
Continue reading...Sir David Amess, who has died aged 69 after being stabbed while holding a constituents’ surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea, was the Conservative MP for Southend West in Essex. Though he spent more than half his life in the Commons without ever attaining ministerial office, the likelihood is that he would not have wanted it any other way.
He devoted his career to the promotion of his constituencies – first Basildon, then from 1997 Southend West – and to dealing with their voters’ concerns. He had a high local profile and was always willing to meet constituents, advertising his regular weekly surgeries in advance.
Continue reading...Follow all the latest on the coronavirus pandemic from the UK and around the world
Germany has reported 4,373,789 confirmed coronavirus cases, an increase of 8,682 and a total of 94,618 deaths, an increase of 17 according to the Robert Koch Institute.
This piece from Der Ziet is in German, but the RKI is warning of a new wave of new infections after the autumn holidays.
In the autumn and winter that lie ahead of us we must assume that the infection rate will worsen.
Continue reading...A huge equality gap in top jobs and pay has been highlighted between women TV documentary-makers and male colleagues
Television documentary teams in Britain today are full of ambitious and capable women but most of them have to wait much longer than their male colleagues to become directors and earn a bigger wage.
The findings of the campaigning group We Are Doc Women (WADW), released this weekend, have revealed that gender equality is still a goal, not a reality, in factual programme-making.
Continue reading...Latest updates on the aftermath of the killing of the Conservative MP Sir David Amess on Friday
The shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy, a close friend of Jo Cox, told BBC One’s Andrew Marr show:
We can’t believe it’s happened. I think a lot of MPs are in a state of shock.
It’s heartbreaking, it does make you anxious but none of us are going to stop doing our jobs.
Prevent is going through an independent review right now. It’s timely to do that, we have to learn, we obviously constantly have to learn, not just from incidences that have taken place but how we can strengthen our programmes...
We want to ensure that it is fit for purpose, robust, doing the right thing. But importantly learning lessons, always building upon what is working and addressing any gaps or issues where the system needs strengthening.
After a wave of cases in which a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test was followed by a negative PCR test, a private laboratory handling swab tests has been suspended.
But conflicting results are not a new problem. Back in June, when secondary school students with a positive LFD were retested with a PCR check, over one in eight came back negative. And even without laboratory problems, it is unclear why a negative PCR should trump a positive LFD.
Continue reading...Newly declassified papers show shocking role played by Britain in slaughter
A propaganda campaign orchestrated by Britain played a crucial part in one of the most brutal massacres of the postwar 20th century, shocking new evidence reveals.
British officials secretly deployed black propaganda in the 1960s to urge prominent Indonesians to “cut out” the “communist cancer”.
Continue reading...Energy firm and director Alexander Temerko have given £1.1m between them to Conservatives
French mayors and residents along the Normandy coast are campaigning to block a project for a cross-Channel electricity cable backed by a Ukrainian-born businessman who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative party.
Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain’s business secretary, is due to decide this week on whether to give the go-ahead to a £1.2bn project for the 148-mile cable between Normandy and Hampshire. The firm says the link, which will run through Portsmouth, could supply up to 5% of Britain’s electricity needs.
Continue reading...Expectant mothers tell helpline that midwives are advising them against vaccines despite threat posed by virus
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Pregnant women are being advised by some health professionals not to have the Covid vaccine despite an edict from the NHS that they should encourage them to get the jab. One in six of the most critically ill Covid patients requiring life-saving care are unvaccinated pregnant women, figures released last week show.
Yet messages sent to the Vaccines and Pregnancy helpline, launched on 20 August to help pregnant women navigate information about the vaccine, suggest that some midwives are advising against the jab.
Continue reading...A celebration of the achievements of the Britain’s oldest para veteran, who died last week aged 101
I first met Victor Gregg on a freezing afternoon in 2009 when we were to talk about his experiences in the second world war.
He was 90 and had sent me an email saying he would pick me up at Winchester station. When I arrived there was no sign of him. After 10 minutes a car parked up the road flashed its lights. It was Vic practising a routine he had learned more than 50 years earlier in the Western Desert, when Rifleman Gregg was assigned to Vladimir Peniakoff, the founder of “Popski’s Private Army”, a unit of British special forces. Vic’s job was to drive thousands of miles, alone, through the dunes, carrying stores and intelligence to Popski’s contacts. Vic said Popski had told him: “Before you go in, suss out how you are going to get out.” This was a life lesson for Vic, I had just been “sussed out” by him before going further.
Continue reading...Spending on security increased hugely in the wake of Jo Cox’s murder – but the problem is growing
The constituent who “sidled up” to an MP to describe his make of car and where he had been driving it over the weekend… Another who warned an MP that they knew which school her children attended… An MP forced to act as a security guard at his own constituency surgery, ejecting someone who had become aggressive and abusive… Family members confronted … Staff regularly abused.
As MPs contacted each other to discuss the horrific news that another of their number had been killed while fulfilling their basic duties, the list of their own grim experiences flowed immediately and at length. “Talking with colleagues this afternoon, there isn’t one of us, not one of us, who couldn’t give you a list of alarming examples of things that have been said or done in a constituency surgery,” said a cabinet minister.
Continue reading...After games boom in pandemic, gangs are using phishing and malware to cheat fans out of money and reveal their personal data
Players of online video games such as Roblox, Fortnite and Fifa are being warned to watch out for scammers, amid concerns that gangs are targeting the platforms.
Multiplayer games boomed during the pandemic lockdowns as people turned to socialising in virtual spaces.
Continue reading...Patel was speaking in Leigh-on-Sea after PM earlier laid wreath at front of Belfairs Methodist church, where Tory MP was fatally stabbed on Friday
Speaking today Priti Patel said: “We’re all struggling to come to terms with the fact that David Amess has been so cruelly taken away from all of us.
“Less than 24 hours ago David was in his own constituency doing a local advice surgery, which is something that all MPs do week in, week out.
Continue reading...British-Iranian mother of one could be sent back to jail ‘at any time’, warns MP
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has lost her latest appeal in Iran, meaning she could be sent back to prison “at any time”, her MP has said.
The Labour MP Tulip Siddiq said Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sentence of one year plus a one-year travel ban had been “upheld with no court hearing”.
Continue reading...Former health secretary will no longer become special envoy for UN’s economic commission for Africa
Matt Hancock, the former UK health secretary, will no longer become a special envoy for the United Nations, after the job offer was withdrawn.
Hancock said on Tuesday he was “honoured” to be working with the UN’s economic commission for Africa (UNECA) to help the continent recover from the pandemic.
Continue reading...Campaigners fear net zero strategy is being hamstrung by Rishi Sunak, who refuses to provide adequate funding
Boris Johnson faces a significant test of his leadership before the Cop26 climate summit as the chancellor and business secretary are at war over the imminent plan for reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions.
The government is poised to publish its long-awaited net zero strategy on Monday, setting out how the UK will meet its targets to cut CO2 emissions by 78% by 2035 and reach net zero by 2050. This will also include the heat and buildings strategy for insulating draughty homes and phasing out gas boilers, along with a massive expansion of offshore wind, and building electric vehicle charging networks.
Continue reading...Man, 25, in custody as police investigate ‘potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism’
The killing of the Conservative MP David Amess, who died after being stabbed several times at an open advice surgery for his constituents in Essex, has been declared as a terrorist incident.
The death of the 69-year-old veteran backbencher brought heartfelt tributes from all parties. Just five years after the murder of Jo Cox, it also prompted renewed worries about the security risks for MPs in an increasingly rancorous and polarised political era.
Continue reading...Property in Chorley suffered severe fire, with deceased believed to be a man in his 50s
A man has died after a house collapsed following an explosion in Lancashire. Emergency services were called to reports of a house fire in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, at about 1.20pm on Friday.
A spokesman for Lancashire constabulary confirmed that one person had died in the incident, believed to be a man in his 50s. The spokesman said: “His next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time.”
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