Happy New Year to all readers, insofar as this is possible given the current worrying situation! The feeling in many quarters that things are out of control can rarely have been so pronounced. Since the last blog post in mid-December, the intertwined Covid and political situations have been a rollercoaster, and just when you thinkContinue reading “Saturday 8 January 2022”
Tag Archives: NHS
Sunday 5 December
How things can change in a week – ten days ago despite rising Covid cases some commentators and politicians were blithely alluding to Covid as being in the past: on UnHerd Andrew Lilico had said ‘Britain is remarkably well-placed as it emerges from the pandemic. Public health officials will of course continue to be concernedContinue reading “Sunday 5 December”
Sunday 28 November
After social psychologist Professor Stephen Reicher tweeted that trust was crucial for people to accept and follow government restrictions a sceptic responded that trust is not specific to one area of government action: ‘sadly this government has repeatedly shown itself to be dishonest and corrupt, harming public health’. This principle is central to this blog,Continue reading “Sunday 28 November”
Saturday 6 November
During the week our prime minister continued to downplay the likely effectiveness of COP26, admitting that the preceding G20 summit of world leaders in Rome had failed to ‘step up to the plate’ regarding action on climate change. Despite the efforts of some politicians to marginalise Greta Thunberg, it will have a marked impact thatContinue reading “Saturday 6 November”
Sunday 31 October
Last weekend the Times columnist Matthew Parris wrote a hard-hitting and chilling article explaining why he thinks (and he won’t be alone) ‘we’re going to the dogs’. ‘We haven’t quite woken up to the mess we’re in yet, but we will. In the unconscious mind of the nation the dots are all there, waiting toContinue reading “Sunday 31 October”
Saturday 23 October
With so much going on in the political sphere, increasingly impacting on our mental wellbeing, an economist (Walter E Williams) quoted in the Sunday Telegraph seems especially fitting: ‘Most of the great problems we face are caused by politicians creating solutions to problems they created in the first place’. As we continue to reflect onContinue reading “Saturday 23 October”
Sunday 3 October
Yet again it’s a week during which the feeling of things being out of control is even more in evidence, from queues at petrol stations, HGV driver shortages leading to some empty supermarket shelves to the anger at police failings following the sentencing of Wayne Couzens. On Radio 4’s Today programme, Home Office crime andContinue reading “Sunday 3 October”
Friday 24 September
Just when you think the government can’t get any worse, it does just that and in spades this last week. As our Prime Minister undermined the climate change message by jetting off to New York with what seemed a sizeable entourage, giving the most embarrassing performance to the UN General Assembly, back at the ranchContinue reading “Friday 24 September”
Sunday 12 September
The 20th anniversary of 9/11 will be concentrating minds even further on Afghanistan and the west’s legacy there. As accounts of Afghans’ distress and persecution continue to emerge, the only guard of the Kabul UK embassy to have made it to the UK with his wife and baby was interviewed on Radio 5 Live lastContinue reading “Sunday 12 September”
As the school term begins and with Parliament about to return, 178 deaths from Covid were recorded on 2 September, the highest number for some time, yet mask wearing on public transport is still patchy, some passengers reporting only around 25% compliance on their journeys. When in Wales recently it seemed to me that complianceContinue reading
Politics and mental health - the missing link? 