SIR – As Olaf Scholz, the new Chancellor of Germany, and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, propose mandatory vaccines, it has never been clearer that any such move highlights the failure of governments to create the case for voluntary compliance. The countries keenest to follow this path appear to be the ones with the least political accountability. EU countries with proportional representation and overshadowed by Brussels seem readiest to swap persuasion for authoritarianism. Paul Gaynor SIR – I think I can safely say that the Armed Forces personnel involved in the booster vaccination programme will carry out their duties efficiently and cheerfully with no reward other than the feeling that they are serving their country and making a contribution to the community. GPs, on the other hand, need to be bribed: £15 a throw, £20 on Sunday and £30 to administer to some poor soul who is housebound. The BMA and its greedy members should be ashamed of …
Letters
Lord Alan Sugar shares ‘gratitude’ for police after man found guilty of sending star anti-Semitic letters
Lord Alan Sugar has thanked police after a man who sent him abusive, antisemitic letters was convicted of religiously-aggravated harassment. The businessman and star of The Apprentice said he had been reluctant to refer the matter to ‘already stretched’ police, but thanked officers in Essex for ‘helping to shine a light on the fact that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable.’ Patrick Gomes, 70, sent three letters to one of Lord Sugar’s business premises in Loughton between October and December 2018, Essex Police said. The force said each letter was addressed directly to Lord Sugar and included abusive, threatening and offensive language. The letters were derogatory towards the Jewish faith. Gomes was arrested at his home in Lyttelton Road, Leyton, on March 19 2019, after his DNA and fingerprints were found on one of the letters. Officers found additional letters written by Gomes, all of which were discriminatory in nature. They also found the …
LETTER : Why Ecstasy is a treacherous drug
From Dr L. C. Luke Sir: Alix Sharkey's pious (teetotal and tax-paying) anarchy makes amusing reading (Magazine; "E is for ... each to his own", 3 September) but his suggestion that Ecstasy (or MDMA) is an innocent accoutrement to modern recreation is dangerous drivel. We admit a steady stream of young people to our observation ward every weekend following their ingestion of Ecstasy (as many in fact as eight in a night when there is a big local rave on) and only a deluded bookworm would remain unconvinced that it is the Ecstasy that these patients have taken (and which is usually identified in their urine) that has caused their panic, first ever seizure, heat illness, muscle dissolution or, albeit rarely, their fatal liver failure or stroke. Ecstasy is a treacherous street drug not simply because its real content is utterly uncontrolled but because many youngsters simply have unpredictably vulnerable metabolic constitutions. The drug does indeed have properties …
[Read more...] about LETTER : Why Ecstasy is a treacherous drug
Fears raised over judge-led privacy laws after Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s legal victory
A former culture secretary said on Thursday that it was a “matter of great concern” that judges were creating far-reaching privacy laws without parliamentary scrutiny in the wake of the Duchess of Sussex’s legal victory over the Mail on Sunday . John Whittingdale led a chorus of outrage over the Court of Appeal ruling on Thursday that prevented the Duchess’s "credibility" from being tested at trial. The Mail on Sunday said it would now consider a further appeal to the Supreme Court in what would be the biggest privacy case heard by the highest court in the land. Politicians, lawyers and even a senior judge expressed their growing fears that privacy laws that curtailed freedom of speech were being framed by judges without parliamentary scrutiny. MPs and peers will now come under pressure to consider a new Bill of Rights - to replace the Human Rights Act - that would give more power to free speech over the right to privacy. 'This has been a concern for a long time' John …
I still enjoy smoking at 84, says David Hockney after buying ‘anti-wellness’ beer mats
David Hockney has launched an anti-wellness tirade , saying he is “still smoking and enjoying it enormously” at the age of 84. The renowned painter , who has been smoking since childhood, deemed the concept of wellness “ridiculous”. He spoke out after buying beer mats which pictured a cigarette and an ashtray, stamped with the message “Bored of wellness”, from a fellow artist. The opinionated items were created by Mr Bingo, a London-based illustrator, who was shocked at seeing the famous name on his order list. “I too am bored with wellness, the concept seems ridiculous and too bossy for me, I’m still smoking and enjoying it enormously,” said Hockney. “I have never been to a gym in my life. I walk a bit slower and not so far, but I am still working away every day. I have a show in Paris of a work 90 metres long that shows a whole year in Normandy. Love life.” The comments emerged in a post by Mr Bingo, a political artist who has gained more than 100,000 Instagram …
Trans rapists ‘must be housed with male prisoners’, peers urge
Transgender prisoners who identify as female and have been convicted of sexual offences should be housed in male estates, peers have urged as they call for a change in the law. This week, the House of Lords will debate a tabled amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that will call for female transgender prisoners, who were born male, to serve their sentence in male estates if they have been convicted of sexual offences. Campaigners and peers have said the move will help protect vulnerable female prisoners. In a letter to the Telegraph, four members of the Lords raised concerns on how Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) have been obtained by "males convicted of serious violent and sexual offences who have subsequently transferred to the female prison estate". "We contend that if it is lawful for a prisoner of the male sex convicted of rape to be housed alongside women, many of whom have been the victims of rape and serious sexual assault, then the law …
[Read more...] about Trans rapists ‘must be housed with male prisoners’, peers urge
Prince Charles’ mission to save homeopathy is a boon for anti-science in an increasingly disbelieving world
If there’s one thing I miss about working in government, it’s the high-grade gossip. The best piece I picked up when I was a policy adviser at the Department for Culture involved a quivering official being berated by none other than our future king. The department, Charles informed his servant civilly, was failing in its duty to an important industry: heritage crafts. That’s right, folks: the department whose budget George Osborne cut by more than a billion pounds was, according to the prince, neglecting flintknapping, hat-plaiting and tinsmithing. Of course, this wasn’t Charles’ first rodeo. The prince has a long history of lobbying the government on matters close to his heart, a history that became public in 2010 with the publication of dozens of letters Charles sent government ministers during the 2000s. Curiously, the “black spider memos” were so-called not for the sinister aspect of a prince’s underhand interference in matters of state but for their author’s signature scrawl. …
Stormzy’s Glastonbury set was a masterpiece in throwing shade at politicians – and Boris deserved all he got
Glastonbury might be bathing in hot sunlight but there were snowflakes in the homes of right-wingers who chose to watch the BBC’s coverage of Stormzy’s set. The grime superstar was Friday’s Pyramid Stage headliner, and treated viewers to a blistering and politically charged performance including, of course, “Vossi Bop”, his No 1 single which features the lyric “F*** the government and f*** Boris”. The reaction to the festival’s first black British headliner was hugely positive, but that didn’t stop the right from starting its oh-so-predictable growling. “Outrage after Stormzy turns Glastonbury crowd on Conservatives” was the response of the Daily Express . Talkradio host Julia Hartley-Brewer was also quickly in there with a snide tweet and her reactionary fans dived into the thread. The BBC will surely get it next. It made clear it would broadcast the unexpurgated set, regardless of the number and type of expletives and the political charge Stormzy has created. …
Millions of workers think their company is ‘stuck in the past’ when it comes to technology
A quarter say fax machines are the ultimate sign of being behind the times (Image: SSPL/Getty Images) Sign up for FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Meanwhile more than one in five think companies using Microsoft tools like Word or Excel - from 2003 - are stuck in the past. Related articles FFXIV Endwalker early access release date and server maintenance time FFXIV Endwalker maintenance time: How long are the servers down today? But it’s not just technology that is leaving some companies trailing - as, despite huge strides being taken in mental health awareness at work, 49 percent feel their own company is behind the times when it comes to wellbeing. A …
PIP assessment: DWP explains how to get decision reviewed
Mum of disabled children on struggling to afford Christmas presents Get pensions news and advice plus latest money alerts for FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info PIP is provided to help cover the extra costs of living with a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability that impacts one’s ability to do everyday tasks. The means-tested benefit can sometimes be denied to individuals who are deemed to not have enough difficulty with these tasks, but those that have their claim denied still have a chance of getting PIP. Related articles State pension: Johnson 'callously pushing people into poverty' Cold Weather Payment update as DWP offers fresh guidance READ MORE …
[Read more...] about PIP assessment: DWP explains how to get decision reviewed