Neo-liberalism

NHS cancer patients denied life-saving drugs due to Brexit costs, report finds

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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/apr/20/nhs-cancer-patients-denied-life-saving-drugs-due-to-brexit-costs-report-finds

Brexit has ‘damaged the practical ability’ of doctors to offer NHS patients life-saving new drugs via international trials, according to the 54-page report. Photograph: Dmitrii Dikushin/Alamy

Guardian Exclusive: Britons found to have ‘lost out’ while rest of Europe benefits from golden age of research and treatments

British cancer patients are being denied life-saving drugs and trials of revolutionary treatments are being derailed by the red tape and extra costs brought on by Brexit, a leaked report warns.

Soaring numbers are being diagnosed with the disease amid a growing and ageing population, improved diagnosis initiatives and wider public awareness – making global collaborations to find new medicines essential.

But five years after the UK’s exit from the EU, the most comprehensive analysis of its kind concludes that while patients across Europe are benefiting from a golden age of pioneering research and novel treatments, Britons with cancer have “lost out” thanks to rising prices and red tape.

Brexit has “damaged the practical ability” of doctors to offer NHS patients life-saving new drugs via international clinical trials, according to the 54-page report obtained by the Guardian.

In some cases, the cost of importing new cancer drugs for Britons has nearly quadrupled as a result of post-Brexit red tape. Some trials have had shipping costs alone increase to 10 times since Brexit.

The extra rules and costs have had a “significant negative impact” on UK cancer research, creating “new barriers” that are “holding back life-saving research” for Britons, the report says.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/apr/20/nhs-cancer-patients-denied-life-saving-drugs-due-to-brexit-costs-report-finds

Continue ReadingNHS cancer patients denied life-saving drugs due to Brexit costs, report finds

Raw sewage pumped into UK waterways for 4.7 million hours in 2024: ‘This will only get worse’

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/sewage-pollution-uk-waterways-sas-environment/

Sewage is only supposed to be discharged following extreme weather. Image: Jeff Buck (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Some 27% of English billpayers have considered withholding their bill payments due to water supplier failings, a survey shows.

The public don’t believe private companies can fix the worsening sewage crisis, a report has found – and at least a quarter are considering boycotting water bill payments. 

Water bills will surge by an average of £31 per year over the next five years. 

Suppliers have justified the increase – which will bring the average annual bill to £588 by the end of the decade – as the only way to fund fixes to Britain’s crumbling sewage infrastructure.

But according to a blistering new Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) report, just a third (33%) of English adults believe that their supplier will take the necessary action to end sewage pollution.

And around a quarter (27%) have considered withholding their bill payments due to the actions of their water supplier. 

This disillusionment is little surprise. Pollution is surging: Water companies in England have collectively failed their targets to reduce pollution incidents, SAS’s 2024 Water Quality Report shows, with 2,487 incidents recorded in 2024. 

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That’s more than double the target set by the Environment Agency – and it’s the tip of the iceberg. In 2024 alone, raw sewage was released into UK waterways 592,478 times, for a combined 4.7 million hours. That’s the equivalent of 535 years’ worth of waste, pouring into the lakes and rivers people swim in, kayak through and drink from.

Article continues at https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/sewage-pollution-uk-waterways-sas-environment/

April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
Continue ReadingRaw sewage pumped into UK waterways for 4.7 million hours in 2024: ‘This will only get worse’

Pensioner with severe learning disabilities could face eviction over care costs dispute

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/21/pensioner-severe-learning-disabilities-face-eviction-care-costs-dispute

Hugh Kirsch, 66, with his sister Oona Herzberg. Hundreds of contract disputes have erupted between cash-strapped councils and financially struggling care providers. Photograph: Oona Kirsch

Hugh Kirsch’s case one of wave of evictions of vulnerable residents caused by crisis in adult social care funding

A pensioner with severe learning disabilities who was a victim of one of the most notorious care home abuse scandals of recent years has been told he faces eviction over a dispute about who pays for the costs of his state-funded care.

The family of Hugh Kirsch, 66, said they had been warned he would have to leave his supported home because the council that funds his care refused to increase fees in line with costs and his care provider could no longer afford to subsidise the price.

The case is one of a growing wave of evictions of vulnerable residents caused by the crisis in adult social care funding in which hundreds of contract disputes erupt between cash-strapped councils and financially struggling care providers.

Kirsch’s sister Oona Herzberg said he was “trapped in the crosshairs of funding issues that have nothing to do with him”, and urged his funder, Haringey council, to fulfil its responsibilities to meet his care needs.

She told the Guardian: “It would be cruel and inhuman to evict Hughie. He would be traumatised after what he has been though, and so would we. He would be totally bewildered and upset, and would withdraw inside himself.”

Kirsch, who is non-verbal and needs one-to-one care, survived a regime of abuse at his previous residential home, run by the National Autistic Society, in which he and fellow residents were repeatedly taunted, bullied and humiliated by a “gang of controlling male staff”.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/21/pensioner-severe-learning-disabilities-face-eviction-care-costs-dispute

Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Continue ReadingPensioner with severe learning disabilities could face eviction over care costs dispute

Concern over asbis after report finds people jailed for sleeping rough and feeding birds

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/21/concern-over-asbis-after-report-finds-people-jailed-for-sleeping-rough-and-feeding-birds

‘People might have a lot of issues that need to be dealt with, but they’re not dealt with by sending them to prison.’ Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

Exclusive: Analysis of antisocial behaviour injunctions found 57% of people had no legal representation at breach hearings that led to imprisonment

Almost 250 people have been imprisoned for breaching antisocial behaviour injunctions (asbis) since 2020, with people being jailed for sleeping rough, begging, feeding birds and making a noise.

Analysis from academics at the universities of York and Coventry found that out of 242 cases examined from 2020-2024, there were 72 cases of imprisonment for general nuisance, 61 for abusive language and 51 for noise.

They found that 57% of people did not have legal representation at the breach hearing that led to their imprisonment: out of 97 recorded cases, 55 defendants were not represented.

“People are not getting proper representation and they get sent to prison for sometimes long periods, weeks and months. There’s no sentencing guidance for this,” said Prof Caroline Hunter from York Law School. “People might have a lot of issues that need to be dealt with, but they’re not dealt with by sending them to prison.”

An asbi is a civil injunction used to tackle antisocial behaviour, and can be issued to anyone age 10 or over. Breaching an injunction is not a criminal offence, but those who disobey an order are guilty of contempt of court and can be sent to prison.

Civil injunctions are also used in cases involving protesters, and land disputes involving Gypsies and Travellers.

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Housing associations accounted for 45% of the asbis where someone was committed for sentence, while local authorities accounted for 41%.

The analysis found people were imprisoned for an average of 95 days for breaches, with Gypsy and Traveller cases disproportionately more likely to receive a higher sentence – 70% of those cases were in the highest quartile for sentencing, compared with 24% of antisocial behaviour cases.

The reports raised concerns about people being imprisoned even where there was no evidence of harm or inconvenience caused.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “New Respect Orders will give police and councils the powers they need to clamp down on persistent antisocial behaviour and to place tough restrictions on the worst offenders.”

Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/21/concern-over-asbis-after-report-finds-people-jailed-for-sleeping-rough-and-feeding-birds

Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Keir Starmer confirms that his government is cnutier than Suella Braverman on killing the right to protest.
Keir Starmer confirms that his government is cnutier than Suella Braverman on killing the right to protest.
Continue ReadingConcern over asbis after report finds people jailed for sleeping rough and feeding birds

Why April 20, 2025 Could Alter the Course of American Democracy

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https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/change-course-american-democracy

A marcher holds a sign that says, “Not My Dictator” with a picture of Donald Trump in front of Trump International Tower during the Woman’s March in the borough of Manhattan in New York on January 18, 2020. (Photo: Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)

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April 20 is the deadline Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Agency head Kristi Noem have for submitting a joint report to President Donald Trump about conditions at the southern border, along with their recommendations for invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 and the National Emergencies Act of 1976.

Hegseth and Noem were given this task by a presidential proclamation declaring a state of emergency at the border, and an accompanying executive order (EO No. 14159) that Trump issued on Jan. 20. The edicts gave the department leaders 90 days to reach their conclusions. Both are based on the theory that the U.S. faces an invasion of undocumented migrants on its southern flank, and are part of a larger set of 51 executive orders, 12 memorandums, and four proclamations Trump promulgated on the first day of his second term.

If any of this comes to pass, it won’t just be undocumented migrants, foreign students, asylum-seekers, and suspected gang members who end up in the crosshairs.

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Originally adopted in 1792 as the “Calling Forth Act,” the Insurrection Act on the books today authorizes the president to deploy the Army and deputize the National Guard to suppress insurrections, rebellions, instances of civil disorder, and unlawful “combinations or assemblages” that obstruct the authority of the United States or the ability of any state to enforce the law.

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https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/change-course-american-democracy

Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingWhy April 20, 2025 Could Alter the Course of American Democracy