I have nothing but sympathy for Omar Salem, the dad who confronted Boris Johnson today. Watch the video on the Guardian, here. Omar’s wee one is only a week old, but was admitted as an emergency. When she got to the ward, she wasn’t seen by a doctor for hours. I can’t imagine Omar would […]
I now know I have PTSD and it is Liberating
I am not quite sure when I first encountered the ‘Black Dog’ but he has pretty much been on the premises for the last ten years. The crash as I like to call it came on 9th October 2009 when the pressures of a full-time job and caring finally took their toll. I remember waking […]
Labour claims credit for the NHS, but Liberals laid the foundations
One of the enduring myths of British politics is that the Labour Party was uniquely responsible for founding the National Health Service. “It was the Attlee government’s introduction of the National Health Service which will rightly go down as Labour’s greatest achievement,” says the party’s website. “Labour created the NHS,” maintains the party’s shadow health […]
Being a PPC with a Snap GE looming….
Needless to say, I have been busy lately! As have been PPCs and candidate selection teams up and down the country with the threat of looming General Election. Exciting times! This uncertainty plays havoc with our mental health. We all have mental health, as we all have physical health. Not knowing whether one’s life is […]
Is the Green Paper on Social Care happening or not?
I spent some time yesterday in a long meeting with a local resident. He had cared for his mum for many years and sadly she died. The circumstances leading up to her death and the nursing home care she received tell a grim tale. My local resident called for an investigation and has written numerous […]
Is there a scientific basis for the sugar levy?
Discussion of the sugar levy has focused on effectiveness and moral/political hazards. I want to focus on one problem that makes those redundant: Does it make scientific sense? Not obviously. A popular narrative: In the past, we thought obese people were that way because they lacked willpower and ate too much food, particularly fat, which […]
Sugar Tax is nothing more than a money spinning effort
I’ve recently lost a substantial amount of weight. That’s not a humblebrag, it’s going to be relevant, I promise. It’s taken the best part of 20 years to find something that works for me, and I’ll come back to that later. How our society discusses diet and weight was mostly to blame for why it’s […]
Government under increasing pressure to fund social care
This blog is a week late – but I’ve been busy! I wanted to highlight the Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee report published July 4th. This cross-party group of Peers calls for an immediate investment of £8 billion pounds into our care services “to restore social care to acceptable standards”. North Devon, as many areas of the […]
Making a difference – the first Mental Health First Aid Impact Report
I blogged several years ago about my experience of training as a Mental Health First Aider. Since then, I’ve lobbied and worked to bring equal parity of esteem to mental and physical first aid. So I was keen to read the first Impact Report from Mental Health First Aid England: does MHFA really work? The […]
Chuka’s first parliamentary question as a Lib Dem
Chuka Umunna is no stranger to holding the government to account. He spent four years opposing the Business Secretary, one Vincent Cable. The effect of that seems to have been the formation of a close friendship. Today he asked his first question as a Lib Dem on a touchstone liberal issue – the benefits of […]