It is World Suicide Prevention Day. Tracey and Richard Huffer farm high on a hill in south west Shropshire. Tracey is also a health professional. Along with myself and four others, we are Lib Dem councillors in a very rural area. Sometimes it feels we can’t sit down for a chat without mentioning the “s” […]
Op-eds
No need to break any election pledges to fix social care
So, the Government is to pour more and more money into the first aid camp at the bottom of the cliff rather than building a fence at the top. Yesterday’s announcement on the funding for social care does nothing to enhance the quality of life of older people or reduce the demand for hospital treatment […]
COVID, holidays and vaccine hesitancy within Eastern European communities
If someone told me a few years ago that any other issue will divide our communities as much as Brexit did after the EU referendum, I would not have believed. This year, I was lucky enough to travel over the summer holidays. A lot of people like me, who live abroad, are often left with […]
Ed Davey: Johnson’s refusal to self isolate “Barnard Castle on steroids”
Boris Johnson’s blatant avoidance of self isolation as a staffer who tested positive for Covid further undermines confidence in this Government. I feel sorry for anyone who has to be around him over the next few days. He could pass a potentially deadly virus on to them or ultimately their vulnerable relatives. It is an […]
Pandemic restrictions are over… sort of… Where do we go from here?
You might find yourself wondering why, when the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Health are all self-isolating, and new cases have reached the peak levels seen last over the New Year, today is a good day to declare as “Freedom Day”. And yet, for all of the […]
Sunak and Johnson in “Barnard Castle on steroids” escape from self-isolation
You couldn’t make it up. It’s like reading the cover of Private Eye. Health secretary Sajid Javid gets a positive Covid-19 result. If the Prime Minister and Chancellor, who met with him on Friday, were ordinary mortals, they would have been banished into the self-isolation wilderness for 10 days. But those at the heart of […]
Ending profit making from the care of vulnerable children in Wales
Before my election to the Senedd I was a child protection social worker. I worked with some of the most vulnerable children and young people in society and those staff dedicated to giving them every chance to thrive. That is why I jumped at the chance to table a debate on legislative proposal in the […]
Is Boris Johnson gambling on tonight’s Euro final to boost herd immunity?
Crowding together. Shouting. Singing. Welcome to the excitement of football. As England and Italy prepare for the Euro final, scientists are concerned that football is helping drive up Covid-19 infection rates by allowing potentially super spreader events such as the finals at Wembley and Wimbledon. It is predicted that seven million pints will be served […]
Hancock: Emergent class of rulebreakers are undermining government
Will he go or will he stay? Can Hancock survive a sneaky snog and buttock fondle that took place at a time when he was telling us all to social distance? Matt Hancock survived Dominic Cumming’s torpedoes and hell has no fury like a political adviser scorned. Hancock has the prime minister’s backing. Well, Johnson […]
We need to shout about …….. Community choirs
No sooner are we past the so-called freedom day than the Johnson government finally starts believing in the vaccine programme, having systematically undermined it for the last two months by pretending that vaccinated people pose a risk, should not socialise, travel and must be treated in the same way as those who have not been […]