Another Useless Government Target That Won't Be Met...

...not to mention yet another thing we can chalk up to lockdown:

Working from home during the pandemic may have stopped people quitting smoking, researchers have suggested.

*sighs* 

The rate of decline in smoking rates across England appears to have 'stagnated', with more young people taking up smoking during the pandemic and a slower decline in the middle classes quitting than those who were less affluent.

With the constant price hikes they can at least afford to! 

Researchers suggested that people who are less affluent may have felt more urgency to quit during the pandemic, while those who were wealthier and had professional or managerial roles may have carried on smoking due to stress.

No s**t, Sherlock! 

The study warned that the Government needs to 'reignite progress in reducing smoking among the more advantaged social grades and identify ways to accelerate the decline among less advantaged groups' if it is to get near its target of making England smoke-free by 2030.

Why have the government - a Conservative government, at that - set such bizarre targets in the first place? 

Don't Be So Quick To Blame GPs...

I know, I know, but hear me out....

Emergency departments, which are designed for serious injuries and life-threatening emergencies only, are seeing an increase in people attending with sore throats, insomnia, coughs and earache.

Well, why not? You have, after all, spent months, nay, years, convincing people these are signs of a deadly disease, haven't you? 

Cases where sore throat was the chief complaint rose by 77% between 2021-22 and 2022-23, from 191,900 cases to 340,441. Patients going to A&E with coughs rose by 47%, from 219,388 to 322,500, while attendances for nosebleeds rose by a fifth, from 47,285 cases to 56,546.

Of course, the blame must be shifted, so GPs are in the firing line: 

Miriam Deakin, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said: “The rise in A&E admissions is piling even more pressure on to an already stretched NHS. Persistent strain on primary care services, including GPs and dentists, means patients often resort to A&E when they cannot access timely care elsewhere.

“Minor ailments such as coughs, earache, fever, nausea and hiccups can and should be managed through more appropriate services such as pharmacies and NHS 111 online. This could ease pressure on emergency departments, whose priority is to deliver urgent care for those most in need. Boosting capacity of staff, beds and equipment in these settings would also significantly help. However, this requires proper funding and support from the government.”

The NHS has funding enough - it's how it chooses to spend it that's the issue.  

Yes, In The Basement, Behind A Door With A Sign Saying 'Beware Of The Leopard'...

Cllr Nigel Ayre, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group on the council which was in power when the bollards were installed, insisted the work was in line with a map that had been available at a public drop-in session in January.

Residents wanted 'independent shops, but also seating and greenery'. But that wasn't what they got, was it?

Vikki Hill of the 'What a load of bollards' campaign said the group's aims were simple. "This is about one thing, and one thing only - getting rid of the bollards!" she said.

Get rid of the useless bollards in the council planning department first... 

The Death Of Food Banks...

You know who said this at the start? Yes, Reader, that's right. We did. All of us in the blogosphere, if we still call it that...

In 2016, when the Guardian visited, Bestwood and Bulwell kept its stock of food in one shipping container; it now has four. Food donations now cover just a third of the demand; increasingly they have to raise money to buy in food. “There has been an assumption that there’s a magic food tree but we are all getting a wake-up call,” he says.

There's no magic anything tree. If you hand out free anything you can expect demand to rise. 

Daphine Aikens set up London’s first food bank, in Hammersmith and Fulham, in 2010. She quit as its manager in 2021 on medical advice after a stress-related illness brought on by endless 12-hour days. “If I had known in 2010 what it [the food bank] would turn out to be I would never have done it,” she says. “I’m glad I did it. But I would have been horrified by what it has become. I thought the solutions would have been found, the issues would be sorted.”

Why did you think that, though? 

First Love focused on people’s lack of income. This could be benefit problems, lack of a job, health issues, or inability to access disability benefits. First Love had pioneered advice workers in its food bank. Bentley decided to focus the charity’s energies entirely on the advice: out went the food; in came a service devoted 100% to support and advocacy.

First Love could spend £6,000 on food parcels to try and keep people afloat, says Bentley, or it could employ two advisers for a month to transform the lives of 50 people.

Is there not already a plethora of advice from government, both main and local, then? Why would you need 'advisers' to interpret it for them?

Just Stick To Fixing Potholes And Emptying Bins...

Almost a quarter of Bradford residents live in...

Squalor?  

...“food deserts” - areas where there is little access to fresh, healthy food.

*blinks* Really?  

And that number rises to almost two thirds when looking at families with less than £20,000 income a year – according to a recent survey. The figures were revealed during a presentation on Bradford’s new Good Food Strategy – a plan that aims to improve access to healthy food for people across the District.

A council plan to improve something! How can it fail?  

The strategy also calls for water to become the “first choice drink” and for local influencers to be recruited to promote healthy eating.

Oh. I guess I can see how...

But what on earth is a 'food desert' anyway? I've scoured Google Maps and can't see any place lacking in shops... 

Members of the Bradford and Airedale Wellbeing Board were told that areas were classed as food deserts if people living there would have to walk more than 20 minutes to buy fresh food, such as fruit or vegetables.

As a commenter points out, 'Bet they have no trouble at all walking 20 minutes to the benefit office!' 

Or the local mosque... 

Charlotte Ramsden, CEO of the Bradford Children’s Trust, said access to healthy food was not the only issue. She said: “There is also access to cooking facilities. Some disadvantaged families have nothing to cook with – they might have a microwave if they are lucky. To prepare healthy food they need cooking facilities.”

It's Bradford, love! I'd be astounded if there weren't cow-dung fired stoves in the backyards... 

This Wasn't The First Time...

The 58-year-old paramedic can be seen casually strolling up towards a side table where the cash was placed, before rummaging through her things and pocketing the money.

When he realised he'd been filmed, Mark Titley quickly put the cash back - but the victim's son saw what he had done and said it made him 'sick to his stomach'.

He's done this before. and got away with it, I'll bet. In the days before the proliferation of cameras, probably many times. 

The 58-year-old was one of four medics called to the woman's home in Shrewsbury on June 29 last year, following reports she had collapsed in the garden. They worked on her for about 20 minutes before she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Shrewsbury Crown Court was told Titley then entered the property in search of a 'do not resuscitate' form.

To cover what they'd done in pronouncing her?  

Titley initially denied the allegation, telling police he intended to 'secure' the cash and take it out to family members.

Sure, that's why he spotted the camera and put it back. Even modern cops aren't that naive! 

However, he later admitted theft and was given an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work and pay £530 costs and a £187 victim surcharge.

Can we at least be certain he can kiss goodbye to his public sector pension? 

The court heard Titley, of Linley Avenue, Pontesbury, was no longer a serving paramedic, having retired from West Midlands Ambulance Service days after the incident.

*sighs* 

Giving The Lie To 'Starving Families'...

Thousands of struggling families are missing out on a total of £45million a year in food support available through the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

Wait, what?! 

The scheme, which involves using a pre-paid card at the till, gives money off certain healthy foods and products to low income families with children and pregnant women. However, research by Which? found take-up is such that many in need are missing out.

Then they aren't in need, are they? Or this is yet another failure of the NHS. Which is it? 

Which? urged the Government and supermarkets to step up efforts to promote Healthy Start...

Why? If it's not being taken up with the promoting they are already doing, scrap it instead! 

...and to extend the number of those eligible to receive the discounts.

That definition of insanity needs updating. We need to add "...and do it even harder" to "Keep doing what you're doing..." 

It's Our Money She's Won..!

The Met Police has paid out £10,000 in damages to a Christian evangelist preacher for wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment.

Hatun Tash was twice arrested at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park after reporting to officers that she was being harassed and threatened by Islamic demonstrators.

A good win for freedom of speech? Yes, undoubtedly. But the police aren't paying it, are they? 

And until they are, personally, there's no reason for them to ever stop, is there?

Finally! What Took So Long?

A judge has told a paedophile that the time has come to stop helping him and start punishing him.

Considerable efforts have been made to try to rehabilitate Barry Hardman, 32, but so far nothing has proved effective as he continued to access sick child abuse images online.

Because 'nothing' is all that they've tried! 

Hardman, most recently of Bodmin but formerly of Penzance and St Austell, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence having pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order and three charges of making indecent images of children.

Representing Hardman, Robin Smith said that he wants help to address his perversions but was realistic about his situation.

Adding to this, Steve Butterworth from the Probation Service said Hardman was “a man who chaos tends to follow”.

'Chaos' being a pretty good description on the Probation Service, of course... 

Judge Linford then went to speak about how the police visited Hardman’s home, leading to the offending coming to light. 

“What Mr Butterworth said is worrying. The time has come when efforts made to help you stop and efforts made to punish you start. The breach of the sexual harm prevention order was particularly serious because of your efforts to use the dark web and use software to disguise what you were up to.”

The efforts should have started from the first offence. Why didn't they? These people cannot be 'helped to stop offending'. Why are we wasting taxpayer money on them? 

A Fool And (The Taxpayer's) Money Are Soon Parted...

Taxpayers face losing up to £200 million after a council 'gambled' more than half a billion pounds on a green energy scheme run by a fast-living financier, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Good lord, what incompetent council is th... 

Cash-strapped Thurrock Council in Essex...

/facepalm 

You'd think, wouldn't you, that in Essex of all places they'd be able to spot a wide-boy chancer coming a mile off? 

...borrowed £655million of public money – the equivalent of triple what it spends on services each year – to invest in 53 solar farms across the UK.

It agreed a series of deals with globe-trotting businessman Liam Kavanagh, whose integrity was later questioned by a High Court judge over £5million his company banked in 'commission'.Thurrock hoped the huge investment would generate millions in extra income but independent consultants hired by the council have privately warned that the solar farms are worth far less than required to recoup their cash.

They also raised concerns about the use of a £138million top-up investment made by Thurrock – approved after a series of meetings at London's five-star May Fair hotel between Mr Kavanagh and the council's finance chief – which does not appear to have gone into the farms. And the latest £12.5million interest payment owed to the council is months overdue, an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.

Want to bet who will be sacked and face jail time for this, Reader?