NHS crisis News

 

 

 

Top stories of the week 11 August

 

 

Brexit

Boris Johnson continued his delusional march towards No Deal this week.  His optimism is wearing particularly thin as more disastrous news emerges daily. A Business Disaster Fund is being set up to save the UK’s biggest employers from going bankrupt. The UK is entering a recession and No Deal will be economically devastating with bookmakers already taking bets on which foods will be rationed first.

It’s also becoming increasingly apparent that No Deal will mean the break-up of the Union. The majority of Scots now support independence and a popular swing to leave the UK is growing in Wales and Northern Ireland. UK Army combat units are already 40% below strength and the break-up of the Union will lead to further devastation of the UK’s armed forces.

The long awaited trade deal with the US hit more problems this week. Despite Donald Trump enthusiasm for the deal, he threatened to refuse any negotiations until the UK dropped its move to tax the US tech giants. Congress has already stated that no trade deal is possible if the Good Friday Agreement is threatened in anyway. On top of all this, the UK was accused of being ‘too desperate’ to get a good deal.

 

Politics

Unelected Dominic Cummings has been accused of becoming a dictator by the Press. Cummings commented that even after a vote of no confidence, Johnson would refuse to step down politically turning the UK into North Korea. Such an eventuality would necessitate the Queen becoming involved in front line politics because only the Monarch can dismiss a Prime Minister and appoint another.  A move that would have seismic repercussions.  The Press are divided. Pro-Brexit Press say bringing the Queen into politics is a disgrace. The rest of the Press state that Johnson refusing to act democratically is the real cause.

True to form, Boris Johnson continued his long track record of not telling the truth by claiming he would make a £1.8bn new cash injection into the NHS. The fact that this money was already in the NHS budget and not additional funds at all was quickly revealed.

 

 

World

Two mass shootings in 13 hours claimed 29 lives in dreadful atrocities in the US. Donald Trump was accused of creating racial tensions and turning the US into the United States of Hate.  Trump was slated for ‘making America hate again’.  Later the President blamed mental health, computer games and social media.  He did not mention white right wing terrorism or gun laws at all. Trump had a hostile welcome when he visited one of the scenes.

 

 

Stories of the week 9 September

 

 

Austerity

‘Father battling cancer whose benefits were cut because he was ‘well enough to make a cup of tea’ died aged 56 with just £8 to his name, his family says’. The headline says it all.  There are many kinds of austerity wrapped up in this from universal credit to NHS cuts in finding.  Again, the headline says so much more than we could ever say.

 

 

Brexit

‘Brexit’ became associated with unexpected and exciting situations this week.  None of them were what Theresa May or arch-Brexiters might have wanted or expected.

EU Chief Negotiator, Michael Barnier, rejected May’s Chequers plan and suggested a counter-proposal himself. He was not the only one to reject May’s Brexit plan.  Apart from Labour, DUP leader Arlene Foster, David Davis and other hard-line Brexiters rejected it too.

All this against the backdrop of millions of Leave Voters switching to Remain since the referendum in more compelling evidence for another vote.

To make matters even worse for optimistic Brexiters, China called the UK ‘Washington’s sharksucker’ and accused it of provocation by sending the Royal Navy into the South China Sea.  The UK’s support of the US put any post Brexit trade deal at risk, Chinese state authorities confirmed.

 

 

 

Politics

With continuing calls for a Scottish Independence vote and a second referendum, the Scottish National Party (SNP) have more paying members than the Conservatives for the first time. Labour still have the largest paying membership.

Membership of the Conservative party wasn’t the only thing that wasn’t growing. After the summer heatwave, farmers became increasingly unhappy with Michael Gove and the government’s inaction with any support.

 

 

 

NHS

Just at a time when the NHS faces a severe shortage of nurses, figures show a large percentage of student nurses are dropping out before graduating their courses. This at a time when there are increasing job vacancies and increasing reliance on agency nursing support.

 

 

 

Environment

Two environmental stories this week focussed on the letter ‘H’ – humans and hedgehogs.

Humans. We may become extinct. Since every major rise or fall in temperature in the earth’s history has resulted in mass extinction, climate change could be the time for human beings to be no more according to biologists.

Hedgehogs are disappearing fast.  In fact most of the countryside is devoid of any at all according to scientists.

 

 

 

Technology

If you can’t beat them, join them.  Addicted to smartphones?  Can’t stop swiping. Road signs could be put on the ground so people looking at their phones can see them and reduce the smart phone accident syndrome.