Category Archives: Society

Lib Dems to promise £1.5bn reform of carer’s allowance including debt amnesty

Posted on by

Proposals also include a £20-a-week boost to payments and an increased limit on earnings from part-time work

The Liberal Democrats will commit to a £1.5bn overhaul of carer’s allowance, including a £20-a-week boost for more than 1 million people who devote their lives to looking after frail, ill and disabled loved ones, in their general election manifesto.

An ongoing Guardian investigation has revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers have been forced by the government to pay back huge sums – and in some cases have faced criminal prosecution – for minor and accidental breaches of carer’s allowance earnings rules.

Continue reading...

Campaigners mount legal challenge against puberty blockers ban in Britain

Posted on by

Emergency ban on prescribing the drugs was put in place before dissolution of parliament last week

The UK government has until Friday to respond to a letter from campaigners who are mounting a legal challenge against the ban on puberty blockers for young people that came into force this week.

The non-profit legal organisation The Good Law Project and the transgender advocacy group TransActual have instructed senior lawyers to challenge a ban on the drugs, which campaigners say could lead to the criminalisation of healthcare providers.

Continue reading...

Bowel disease breakthrough as researchers make ‘holy grail’ discovery

Posted on by

Scientists pinpoint driver of IBD and other disorders with work under way to adapt existing drugs to treat patients

Researchers have discovered a major driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and several other immune disorders that affect the spine, liver and arteries, raising hopes for millions of people worldwide.

The breakthrough is particularly exciting because the newly found biological pathway can be targeted by drugs that are already used, with work under way to adapt them to patients with IBD and other conditions.

Continue reading...

Eight in 10 primary teachers in England spending own money to help pupils

Posted on by

Increasing numbers of children hungry and lack adequate clothing, with two-thirds of secondary teachers also supporting pupils

Eight in 10 primary schoolteachers in England are spending their own money to buy items for pupils who are increasingly arriving at school hungry and without adequate clothing, according to new research.

Almost a third (31%) of those who took part in the survey said they were seeing more hungry children in class, with 40% reporting an increase in pupils coming in without proper uniform or a warm winter coat, research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found.

Continue reading...

Mounjaro is second obesity drug to be approved for use in England

Posted on by

Those with BMI of 35 and a comorbidity can now be prescribed tirzepatide and Nice says it is more effective than Wegovy

The medical treatment regulator for England has approved a second drug to combat obesity, giving patients and doctors what it says is a more effective alternative to semaglutide.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) issued draft guidance on Tuesday recommending that very obese people should be prescribed tirzepatide, which is marketed in the UK as Mounjaro.

Continue reading...

Owner of UK national lottery operator to sever ties with Gazprom

Posted on by

Allwyn parent company says deal to buy 3% stake in Czech gas facility will cut final link with Kremlin-controlled energy firm

The billionaire owner of Allwyn, the company that runs the national lottery, will sever his last remaining ties with Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom by the end of June, more than two years after winning the UK’s largest public sector contract.

The Czech tycoon Karel Komárek, who owns Allwyn via his Switzerland-based holding company KKCG, has faced scrutiny over his links to Russia since wresting control of the 10-year licence to operate the lottery from Camelot in 2022.

Continue reading...

Labour pledges to investigate treatment of migrant workers in care sector

Posted on by

Exclusive: Yvette Cooper says a Labour government would instruct new enforcement body to act over alleged exploitation of workers

Labour will launch an investigation into the treatment of migrant workers in the British social care sector if it wins the election, the party has announced, after dozens of cases of alleged exploitation were uncovered.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the allegations revealed by the Guardian “a disgrace”, accusing the government of turning a blind eye to the problem.

Continue reading...

English pupil funding at same level as when Tories took power, study finds

Posted on by

Real-terms funding per pupil at 2010 levels, teacher pay at 2001 levels, and building investment 25% below mid-2000s

Spending on each schoolchild’s education in England has suffered an unprecedented 14-year-freeze since the Conservatives came to power, according to Britain’s leading economics thinktank.

Funding per pupil is now at 2010 levels in real terms, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in its latest analysis of school spending, while teacher pay was at about the same real-terms level as in 2001.

Continue reading...

Artificial cornea implant saves sight of man, 91, in NHS first

Posted on by

Cecil Farley says implant, which could become standard treatment, means he can still see his wife of 63 years

A 91-year-old man who became the first patient in England to have his sight saved by an artificial layer in his cornea has praised the procedure for allowing him to still see his wife.

Cecil Farley, from Chobham in Surrey, had problems with his right eye for about 15 years before losing his vision. He required a cornea transplant to save his sight but his previous surgery – a graft with a human cornea – failed and doctors warned the next might too. And the shortage of human corneas from deceased donors meant Farley faced a year-long wait.

Continue reading...

‘He’ll be proud’: work starts on Rob Burrow motor neurone disease centre in Leeds

Posted on by

Grief and adoration at ceremony just day after death of rugby league great, who dedicated last years to help others with disease

A blue mural on a wall close to Headingley stadium in Leeds bears the words of Rob Burrow: “In a world full of adversity, we must dare to dream.”

The former Leeds Rhinos rugby league scrum-half died on Sunday, five years after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Continue reading...

Tories will allow bars on trans women, says Kemi Badenoch

Posted on by

Conservatives would change law so trans people could be excluded from single-sex spaces, if party wins election

Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives will change the Equality Act to rewrite the definition of sex and allow organisations to bar transgender women from single-sex spaces, including hospital wards and sports events.

The party will make clear that the protected characteristic of sex means biological sex, enabling those who wish to bar male-bodied people from organisations or activities to do so.

Continue reading...

Predictive blood test hailed as ‘incredibly exciting’ breast cancer breakthrough

Posted on by

New ‘liquid biopsy’ will act as an early warning sign to anticipate risk of tumours returning

A new blood test can predict the risk of breast cancer returning three years before any tumours show up on scans in an “incredibly exciting” breakthrough that could help more women beat the disease for good.

More than 2 million women are diagnosed every year with breast cancer, the most prevalent type of the disease. Although treatment has improved in recent decades, the cancer often returns, and if it does, it is usually at a more advanced stage.

Continue reading...

Record number of NHS mental health patients kept in hospitals longer than necessary

Posted on by

Lack of care and support leaves patients stranded on units when they are clinically ready to be discharged

The number of patients stuck in NHS mental health units in England despite being clinically ready to leave has reached its highest level in at least eight years.

“Delayed discharges” of patients from hospitals in NHS mental health trusts reached 49,677 days in March, according to an analysis – a higher figure than in any month since at least January 2016, when NHS Digital started publishing the data.

Continue reading...

Extend success of UK sugar tax to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, experts urge

Posted on by

Exclusive: Co-author of analysis for WHO calls on government to control the food industry rather than being subservient to it

The sugar tax has been so successful in improving people’s diets that it should be extended to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, health experts say.

The World Health Organization wants the next UK government to expand coverage of the levy to help tackle tooth decay, obesity, diabetes and other illnesses.

Continue reading...

Trial results for new lung cancer drug are ‘off the charts’, say doctors

Posted on by

More than half of patients with advanced forms of disease who took lorlatinib were still alive after five years with no progression

Doctors are hailing “off the chart” trial results that show a new drug stopped lung cancer advancing for longer than any other treatment in medical history.

Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8m deaths every year. Survival rates in those with advanced forms of the disease, where tumours have spread, are particularly poor.

Continue reading...

Nigeria to host first Lassa fever treatment trials for 40 years

Posted on by

The viral disease kills 5,000 people a year in west Africa, and has been described as an epidemic threat to global health

Clinical trials for the first new treatment for Lassa fever in almost 40 years are planned to be held in Nigeria this year.

The neglected tropical disease kills about 5,000 people a year and is endemic in west Africa.

Continue reading...

Junior doctors’ strike could delay care for 100,000 NHS patients in England

Posted on by

Rishi Sunak says timing of action days before general election appears to be ‘politically motivated’ to help Labour

Up to 100,000 patients in England face having their NHS care cancelled days before the general election after junior doctors announced a fresh wave of strike action, with Rishi Sunak saying it appeared to be politically motivated.

Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day strike would jeopardise efforts to tackle the record waiting list and “hit patients hard”.

Continue reading...

Trans actor Karla Sofía Gascón sues French far-right politician after ‘sexist insult’

Posted on by

The actor, who became the first transgender woman to win the best actress prize at Cannes, had earlier dedicated her award to ‘all the trans people who are suffering’

The first transgender woman to be awarded the best actress prize at the Cannes film festival filed a legal complaint on Wednesday over a “sexist insult” from a far-right politician after her win.

Karla Sofía Gascón and co-stars jointly received the accolade on Saturday for their performances in French auteur Jacques Audiard’s Mexico-set narco musical Emilia Perez.

Continue reading...

‘I just let it rip!’: jumbo amateur rock band bangs the drum for Brum

Posted on by

Brum Rocks, born out of community musical groups, will bring together dozens of performers to play a new anthem for Birmingham

When Steve Groome started learning to play guitar after retiring, he never expected he would end up in a band.

“At 66, I’m not going to get a phone call from Mark Knopfler or Eric Clapton. I might not even get in an averagely rubbish covers band,” he said. “But I don’t need to with this, we have fun. I just let rip.”

Continue reading...

Lucy Letby inquiry can be broadcast live, judge rules

Posted on by

Judge says inquiry, due to begin in September, is ‘of profound importance’ and public should be allowed to watch

The Lucy Letby inquiry will examine matters of “profound importance” and should be broadcast live to the public, a senior judge has ruled.

Lady Justice Thirlwall said “the fundamental principle” was in favour of open justice and televised hearings would help inform public understanding.

Continue reading...