PM accused of not knowing government’s coronavirus advice after clash in Commons
Boris Johnson has been accused by Labour of not knowing the government’s advice on coronavirus after he told Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions that it “wasn’t true” that the care home sector had been advised it was unlikely to face an outbreak.
In a tricky series of exchanges in the Commons, Starmer put Johnson under intense pressure to explain the extent of care home deaths.
Continue reading...Health secretary dodges questions over people’s legal right to refuse return to work; Rishi Sunak expected to extend furlough scheme
Public transport users should face away from each other when they cannot keep a two-metre gap, the government has said. A report from PA Media on the new transport guidance issued by the government this morning (see 9.28am) goes on:
New guidance issued by the Department for Transport on how to travel safely during the coronavirus outbreak states that passengers should minimise the time they spend near other people and avoid physical contact with them.
It acknowledges that “there may be situations where you can’t keep a suitable distance from people”, such as on busier services or at peak times.
The sandwich chain Subway has today started a phased reopening of around 600 of its 2,600 stores across the UK and Ireland - approximately one in four - for takeway and delivery only.
The outlets have all been fitted with new operational and social distancing safety measures to protect customers, third party delivery and supplier drivers and staff. These have been tested in the small number of stores that have remained open to support and serve key workers and hospital staff.
Continue reading...A total of 26,097 patients have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, Dominic Raab has said. It was the first time the daily death toll figures have taken into account deaths in care homes and the community as well as those in hospitals between 2 March and 28 April. It marked an increase of 3,811 on the previous figure
Continue reading...Study says volunteers reported a rapid reduction in desire without impaired self-control
The risk of some men sexually abusing children could be quickly reduced by a drug that lowers testosterone levels, researchers have found.
The team behind the project, which was put up for crowdfunding four years ago, said the drug – degarelix acetate – produced the results in men with paedophilic disorder in just two weeks. The drug was developed as a treatment for prostate cancer treatment and blocks the production of testosterone.
Continue reading...Coronavirus lockdown in the UK could last at least another month, as Dominic Raab says country has not passed the peak
From BBC Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall
NEW: OBR publishes an economic scenario (not forecast) for what might happen to the UK economy as a result of #Covid19. It assumes a 3 month lockdown.
Unemployment: ⬆️by 2 million.
GDP (2020) ⬇️ 13% in 2020.
If so, would be the worst economic contraction for a century.
Here is an excerpt from the report published by the Office for Budget Responsibility today looking at what impact the coronavirus lockdown could have on the economy. It says GDP could fall by 35% in the second quarter of the year.
Here is an extract.
In addition to its impact on public health, the coronavirus outbreak will substantially raise public sector net borrowing and debt, primarily reflecting economic disruption. The government’s policy response will also have substantial direct budgetary costs, but the measures should help limit the long-term damage to the economy and public finances – the costs of inaction would certainly have been higher ...
We do not attempt to predict how long the economic lockdown will last – that is a matter for the government, informed by medical advice. But, to illustrate some of the potential fiscal effects, we assume a three-month lockdown due to public health restrictions followed by another three-month period when they are partially lifted. For now, we assume no lasting economic hit.
Continue reading...Figures from Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium suggest UK may be underestimating care sector deaths
About half of all Covid-19 deaths appear to be happening in care homes in some European countries, according to early figures gathered by UK-based academics who are warning that the same effort must be put into fighting the virus in care homes as in the NHS.
Snapshot data from varying official sources shows that in Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium between 42% and 57% of deaths from the virus have been happening in homes, according to the report by academics based at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Continue reading...Care workers and homes report insufficient PPE and lack of clear government guidance
Britain’s care homes are in danger of being overwhelmed by the coronavirus, with staff warning they are at “breaking point” and the country’s biggest charitable provider revealing confirmed or suspected cases in more than half of its facilities.
MHA, which runs more than 220 facilities, said 750 of its staff – more than one in ten – are unable to work, and that confirmed deaths from the disease are rising.
Continue reading...Fare (Family Action in Rogerfield and Easterhouse) delivers food parcels to vulnerable families in the Greater Easterhouse area, east of Glasgow’s city centre.
It has also taken on the role of a food bank during the coronavirus crisis, delivering provisions to self-isolating elderly people
Continue reading...We welcome the government’s commitment to level up disadvantaged areas of the UK in this week’s budget. We also welcome suggestions that the chancellor is considering including spending on social infrastructure such as health, education or care as a form of infrastructure investment.
Most of the time when we think of infrastructure we think of physical infrastructure like roads, railways and hospital buildings, but a broader definition of it would include social infrastructure like NHS salaries, training, personal assistants for those with disabilities and childcare workers. The government has promised to spend in these areas, but is restricted by its own rules about what it can and can’t borrow money for. It can borrow to invest but not to “just spend”.
Continue reading...Expert calls for Home Office to lose powers but councils say they are struggling to cope
The UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner has called for decision-making on child trafficking cases to be taken away from the Home Office.
Sara Thornton told the Independent that local authorities should take over the powers because they are better placed to provide subsequent support for the child.
Continue reading...British people with disease sent abroad over inadequate and expensive care at home
British families are sending elderly relatives with dementia overseas to Thailand in a small but growing trend.
Researchers visiting private care homes in Chiang Mai have found eight homes where guests from the UK are living thousands of miles away from their families, because suitable care in their home country was impossible to find or afford.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak highlights £34bn health spending, but appears to water down social care pledge
Boris Johnson will try to use the Queen’s speech to refocus attention away from Brexit and on to the NHS, the government has confirmed.
The prime minister intends to put the health service at the centre of the legislative programme, according to the chief secretary to the Treasury, Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...At launch of manifesto, PM says he will not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance for five years
Boris Johnson will commit a Tory government to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance for five years as he promises to “put more money back in people’s pockets” after Brexit.
Launching the Conservatives’ general election manifesto on Sunday, the prime minister will also pledge to protect the value of state pensions, boost spending by £1bn on childcare during school terms and holidays, and cut energy bills by up to £750 a year for those in social housing.
Continue reading...Carl Beech and the Metropolitan police’s investigation have done a great disservice to all victims of this terrible crime (Report, 27 July). There are many problems concerning the investigation of historical child sex abuse. The gathering of facts can be almost impossible as the passage of time may have erased any evidence, and what does survive needs properly resourced and trained officers to bring it to court. I wonder if the taboo and heinousness of this subject conspire to for ever hold it in an investigative system lacking in rigour, ingenuity and the will to make change.
I also see that Beech claimed criminal injury compensation to the tune of £22,000. How was this possible? There is something seriously wrong when conviction rates are this low and innocent people have their lives shattered. Is it not time we admitted that this crime needs specialist units who are well trained and resourced, so that when a child or adult makes the brave decision to report, they can be supported by a system they can trust, and see justice done.
Sara Newman
Groombridge, East Sussex
A Guardian/ITV News undercover investigation raises concerns about Gavin Woodhouse, who is behind project endorsed by Bear Grylls
A new £200m outdoor adventure park, which is being launched with the support of the celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls, is being fronted by a financier who has raised millions of pounds from private investors and whose businesses have a multimillion-pound “black hole”.
Related: How Gavin Woodhouse raised millions for a string of stalled projects
Continue reading...Investigation highlights failings of Dutch and UK authorities to care properly for unaccompanied minors
On a crisp winter day in a small village in the north of the Netherlands, a pile of leaves swirls around in the wind outside a brick house, an ordinary scene except for the CCTV cameras outside the front door and the occupants inside – child victims of trafficking. Many of the children are from Vietnam. They live in this protected shelter to keep them safe from gangs who want to smuggle them out of the Netherlands to the UK.
But an investigation by the Observer and Argos Radio of the Netherlands has revealed that, in the past five years, at least 60 Vietnamese children have disappeared from these shelters. Dutch police and immigration officials suspect the children end up in the UK working on cannabis farms and in nail salons.
Continue reading...At its best, social work can break cycles of crisis, and help people change their lives and communities
Too often, social services are designed as rotating doors. They focus on individuals in crisis who, when the symptoms of the emergency have eased, are sent directly back to the stressful situation that caused all the damage – a painful, costly and tragic cycle.
There is little focus in formal social services on helping people to transform their environments to provide ongoing support and love, let alone engaging people to become advocates for their rights. Yet outside these limitations, social workers are supporting connections in communities designed to last people’s whole lifetimes. In many countries we call it “working beyond services”. There are countless examples around the world.
Continue reading...Home Office says ritual is child abuse and should be prosecuted under assault laws
The government has vowed to confront the practice of breast-ironing, calling it child abuse and saying the police should prosecute offenders under assault laws.
In a written parliamentary statement following Guardian revelations that the abusive practice was spreading in the UK, the Home Office said it was committed to challenging the cultural attitudes behind all “honour-based abuse”, but gave no indication it would legislate.
Continue reading...Practice that aims to slow girls’ physical development is both ineffective and dangerous, say doctors
In a quiet suburban house on the outskirts of a city in northern England, Maureen* – a mother of two in her late 30s – sits cradling a large dark stone in the palm of her hand.
She had just been using it to crush spices for a family meal. But a few years ago, she was using it for a very different purpose.
Continue reading...