Category Archives: Society

Disabled woman wins legal challenge against DWP over automatic benefit deduction

Posted on by

High court rules DWP scheme to deduct money without consent is illegal and breaches ‘obligation of fairness’

A disabled former police officer has won a legal challenge against the Department for Work and Pensions over its policy of allowing utility companies to automatically deduct hundreds of pounds a year from individuals’ benefits without their consent.

Helen Timson, 51, of Leicester, argued it was unlawful and immoral that the DWP enabled water and energy firms to draw down up to 25% of a claimant’s monthly benefit income at source without undertaking any form of check with the claimant. Hundreds of thousands of claimants are understood to be subject to the deductions.

Continue reading...

‘Humanitarian crime’: fighting cuts off insulin supply in Tigray

Posted on by

International Diabetic Federation decries reports ongoing war has led to shortages of life-saving drug at Ethiopian region’s biggest hospital

Doctors at the biggest hospital in Tigray say they have just days supply left of insulin, as the resumption of fighting between rebels and Ethiopian government troops once again cuts off supplies to the region.

In what the head of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has branded “a humanitarian crime,” medics at Ayder specialist referral hospital warn they have already run out of one kind of the life-saving medicine and have only a week’s supply of another.

Continue reading...

‘We’re in a moral crisis’: US faith leaders urge lawmakers to combat poverty

Posted on by

Coalition gathers on Capitol Hill to deliver impassioned demand to improve life for low-income Americans

A coalition of faith leaders gathered on Capitol Hill on Thursday to deliver an impassioned demand for more congressional action to combat poverty, telling lawmakers they have a moral obligation to improve life for low-income Americans.

The faith leaders called on the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate to take at least three votes on major progressive issues before midterm elections in November.

Continue reading...

Health secretary sets up £500m fund to discharge medically fit NHS patients

Posted on by

Thérèse Coffey announces measure aimed at freeing up beds in hospitals in England before winter pressures

Ministers are setting up a £500m emergency fund to get thousands of medically fit patients out of hospital as soon as possible in an attempt to prevent the NHS becoming overwhelmed this winter.

Thérèse Coffey, the new health secretary, unveiled the move in the Commons on Thursday as part of her plans to tackle the growing crisis in the health service, especially patients’ long delays for care.

Continue reading...

Horn of Africa drought puts 3.6m children at risk of dropping out of school

Posted on by

Experts warn that girls’ education will be worst hit, as many families are forced to move away from schools

More than 3.5 million children are at risk of dropping out of school due to the drought in the Horn of Africa, the United Nations has said, amid warnings the crisis could lead to “a lost generation” that misses out on education.

According to new figures shared with the Guardian, Unicef now estimates that 3.6 million children in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are in danger of leaving school as a result of the cumulative pressure on households caused by the unrelenting drought.

Continue reading...

UK children’s doctors given advice on how to help families in poverty

Posted on by

Health experts encourage doctors to talk about nutrition and socio-economic circumstances

Children’s doctors plan to help poor families cope with the cost of living crisis and its feared impact on health, amid concern that cold homes this winter will lead to serious ill health.

In an unusual move, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is issuing the UK’s paediatricians with detailed advice on how they can help households in poverty.

Continue reading...

Kwasi Kwarteng to shrink part-time work benefits to grow labour supply

Posted on by

New UK chancellor aims to reverse inactivity in labour market, especially among over-50s

Kwasi Kwarteng will tighten benefit rules for part-time workers, requiring them to work longer hours or take steps to increase their earnings.

The new rule will require benefit claimants working up to 15 hours a week to take new steps to increase their earnings or face having their benefits reduced. The current threshold is nine hours, though it was increased this summer to 12 hours, which will come into force next week.

Continue reading...

No one should wait more than two weeks to see GP, Coffey to say

Posted on by

New health secretary’s demand to improve patient access to GP care in England is immediately criticised by family doctors

No patient should have to wait more than two weeks to see a GP, the new health secretary will demand , in a move that has already been criticised by family doctors.

Thérèse Coffey will on Thursday set out a new “expectation” that everyone seeking an appointment with a GP should get one within 14 days while outlining a major plan to tackle the NHS’s growing crisis.

Continue reading...

Bring back eviction ban or face ‘catastrophic’ homelessness crisis, ministers told

Posted on by

Sir Bob Kerslake calls on government to protect at-risk tenants as it did during pandemic

The former head of the civil service has warned of a looming “catastrophic” homelessness crisis caused by the cost of living unless the government reintroduces the eviction ban that protected tenants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sir Bob Kerslake, who chairs the Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, said a failure to act “could see this become a homelessness as well as an economic crisis and the results could be catastrophic; with all the good achieved in reducing street homelessness since the pandemic lost, and any hope of the government meeting its manifesto pledge to end rough sleeping by 2024 gone”.

Continue reading...

Adult social care in England is in crisis, say Tory council leaders

Posted on by

Warning of £3.7bn funding shortfall over next 18 months piles pressure on Liz Truss after campaign pledges

Adult social care in England is in serious crisis, Tory council leaders have warned the government, as it faces a £3.7bn funding gap and a growing staffing shortage that has brought many local care providers to the brink of collapse.

The intervention by the County Councils Network, which represents 36 mainly Tory-run authorities, comes amid widespread local government concern over the increasing fragile state of social care. Care costs have accelerated recently, fuelled by unexpected wage and energy inflation.

Continue reading...

London council could seize oligarchs’ homes for affordable housing

Posted on by

Exclusive: Westminster looking at compulsory purchase orders to tackle laundering of ‘dirty money’

Homes acquired with “dirty money” in the richest parts of London could be seized and turned into affordable housing under plans to crack down on oligarchs using Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair “to rinse their money”.

Labour-controlled Westminster city council is examining the use of compulsory purchase orders in extreme cases where it finds properties are not being used for their stated purpose, as part of a push to “combat the capital’s reputation as the European centre for money laundering”.

Continue reading...

Laughing all the way to the West Bank: the blind Palestinian comedian tearing down barriers

Posted on by

Joke by joke, standup sensation Sherihan El Hadwa is challenging lazy stereotypes about victimhood

On a small stage in Tulkarm, a city in the north of the occupied West Bank, Sherihan El Hadwa emerges from the wings to a Palestinian pop song. Dancing and waving the long white cane she uses to navigate the world, the visually impaired comedian already has her audience laughing and clapping along to the music.

Hadwa did not have an obvious route into standup comedy, and the many difficulties of life as a disabled woman in the Palestinian territories are not a straightforwardly humorous topic.

Continue reading...

‘Lie of gender identity’ spurred founding of LGB Alliance, court told

Posted on by

Co-founder says group offended by ‘redefinition’ of homosexuality as she defends charity against accusation of anti-trans agenda

The organisation LGB Alliance was founded to “prevent the dissemination of the lie of gender identity”, a court was told on Wednesday, during a hearing over whether the Charity Commission was right to grant the body charitable status.

Co-founder Kate Harris told a hearing that a surge in anti-lesbian discrimination was another motivation for the creation of the organisation.

Continue reading...

Hungary tightens abortion access with listen to ‘foetal heartbeat’ rule

Posted on by

Fears move will pave way for more restrictions in country where terminations are widely accepted

Hungarian women seeking an abortion will be obliged to “listen to the foetal heartbeat” before they can access the procedure, according to a new decree issued by the government of the far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán.

The new regulation is due to come into force on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Jean-Luc Godard chose to end life through assisted dying, lawyer confirms

Posted on by

The medical report on death of 91-year-old director said he had chosen to end his life

Jean-Luc Godard, the maverick French-Swiss director who revolutionised post-war cinema in Europe, died by assisted dying, his lawyer has confirmed.

The medical report on the death of the 91-year-old director said he had chosen to end his life. He “had recourse to legal assistance in Switzerland for a voluntary departure” because he was “stricken with ‘multiple incapacitating illnesses’”, Godard’s legal council, Patrick Jeanneret, told AFP.

Continue reading...

Canadian advocates pledge to continue selling pure drugs amid overdose crisis

Posted on by

Over the last six years, the vast majority of overdose deaths in British Columbia have been driven by impurities in street drugs

A Canadian advocacy group has pledged to continue selling cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin to users, in defiance of a federal government order to stop, arguing that their plan is the only way to save lives amid a nationwide drugs crisis.

Over the last six years, more than 10,000 people have died from drug overdoses in the province of British Columbia, with the vast majority of deaths driven by impurities in street drugs.

Continue reading...

‘Pace yourself’: lessons for King Charles on working in your 70s

Posted on by

From failing eyesight and tiredness to dealing with younger colleagues – some of the challenges facing the new king

The biggest challenge for those, like the King, who are working in their 70s is adapting to change, according to David Smith, 73, who, for the past 20 years, has been chief officer of the men’s charity, 15 Square.

“I think a lot of people get into their 70s and say ‘I’ve always done it this way and this is how I’m always going to do it’,” says Smith, who is the same age as Charles. “And that is a recipe for disaster. You have to embrace change.”

Continue reading...

UN chief appeals for ‘massive’ help as flood-hit Pakistan puts losses at $30bn

Posted on by

Countries most responsible for climate crisis must ‘end war with nature’, says António Guterres

The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has said the world owes impoverished Pakistan “massive” help in recovering from the summer’s devastating floods because the country bears less blame than many others for the climate crisis.

Months of heavy monsoon rains and flooding have killed 1,391 people and affected 33 million while half a million people have become homeless. Planeloads of aid from the United States, the United Arab Emirates and other countries have begun arriving, but Guterres said there is more to be done to help a country which contributes less than 1% of global emissions.

Continue reading...

Malaria vaccine a step closer as experts urge Truss not to ‘turn off the tap’ on funding

Posted on by

Chance to eradicate diseases such as malaria could be lost and UK innovation squandered if global health investment is cut, jab co-creator tells PM

The co-inventor of a groundbreaking vaccine that could eradicate malaria has implored Liz Truss not to squander cutting-edge UK innovation by “turning off the taps” on global health funding.

Speaking as successful results from the latest trials of the R21 vaccine were revealed, Prof Adrian Hill, director of Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, said it would be tragic if Britain cut funding just as scientists were poised to make “a real impact” against malaria.

Continue reading...

Juul to pay $440m after years-long investigation into teen vaping

Posted on by

E-cigarette company, whose products are blamed for a surge in youth vaping, also faces new marketing restrictions

The electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly $440m to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.

William Tong, the Connecticut attorney general, announced the deal on Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to investigate Juul’s early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative.

Continue reading...