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      Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

      The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown

      Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

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      Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

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      French parliamentary elections 2022: shockwaves across the Channel

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      Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

      cost of living march london

      Trade union movement marches to demand better

      European Union

      After the seismic shocks of Brexit and Covid, what next for the European Union?

      Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

      What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

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      Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

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      A view from the Roses match: is everything ‘rosey’ in English cricket?

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      Scallywags, scoundrels and rascals abound in Yorkshire (we do like our scones)

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      Woke and proud: Compassion must never be allowed to go out of fashion

      Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

      What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

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      Climbing the Red Ladder – bringing theatre to the community

      Kaiser Chiefs in Doncaster

      Kaiser Chiefs never miss a beat in Doncaster

      Bradford Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, second from right, is joined by Keighley Creative representatives, from left, Georgina Webster, Jan Smithies and Gemma Hobbs.

      Bradford announced as City of Culture 2025

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      The huge cost of Brexit is being seriously understated

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      An evening photo tour of Drax power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, with excellent light towards sunset.

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      Home News Health

      Discrimination: Covid-19 and the Conservatives

      Boris Johnson's continued poor response to the pandemic is irresponsible and has led to discrimination for many people, and a weaker NHS

      Amanda RobinsonbyAmanda Robinson
      10-01-2022 16:45
      in Health
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      Photo by Tai's Captures on Unsplash

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      As the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 continues to increase – it is estimated that 1 in 15 people currently have covid – Johnson has decided that the way to tackle Omicron is to “live with it”. In other words, the UK’s leader is going to do nothing. Again.  

      This comes as no surprise to those who are aware that Johnson is alleged to have said (in autumn 2020) that he would rather see “bodies pile high”. Omicron is a variant of Covid-19. The UK has now recorded over 150,000 deaths within 28 days of a positive covid test (the actual number of deaths from covid is believed to be much higher). A horrifying 1,295 people died of covid in the last seven days, clearly demonstrating that some of us will not survive Omicron, while a percentage of those who catch it will experience long-term health conditions.  

      There is also the significant risk that it will lead to more variants which – in simple terms – equates to more deaths, and a risk that new variants may be resistant to the vaccine.  

      The NHS is overwhelmed  

      Not only is it socially irresponsible to enable an infectious disease to rip through the population, but it is also weakening the NHS in the process (which in turn facilitates the Conservatives’ destruction of the NHS). Hospitals and care homes are now overwhelmed. 

      On 5 January 2022, more than 90 care home operators in England declared a red alert because of staff shortages as a result of Covid-19. The Mirror reported “Patients will pay the price for Boris Johnson’s decision to live with Omicron”. 

      Meanwhile, at least 24 NHS trusts have declared critical incidents and staff had taken to social media to highlight their concerns, which seemed to me to be a cry for help, both for themselves and their patients.  

      23 yrs a Dr, 14+ yrs an EM consultant. Never have I seen patients receive such suboptimal care and be at such risk. They are coming to serious harm as are ED staff who feel overwhelmed, broken, abandoned. This was predictable and preventable. @NHSMillion @RCollEM @doctor_oxford

      — Helen Goldrick ??Ⓥ (@HelenGoldrick) January 5, 2022

      Boris Johnson: "We have a chance to ride out this omicron wave without shutting down our country once again". Reality: v high staff absences due to #covid from NHS (>10%), transport & schools. And as of last night 11 hospitals from 5 Trusts have declared critical incidents #PMQs https://t.co/6oLAJfe0Dt

      — Dr Zubaida Haque (@Zubhaque) January 5, 2022

      Covid, children, and mental health 

      With 1 in 15 children (aged 2 to school year 11) estimated to be infected in the week ending 31 December 2021, children returned to schools last week and exposed themselves, and their families, carers and teachers, to an increased risk of spread of Covid-19.  

      Conservatives advocating for children’s mental health has always struck me as misplaced, and possibly completely fictitious. Child poverty is rising and more than half of black children are growing up in poverty under the Conservatives. 

      There is an ignorance of the impact on the mental health of NHS staff, carers and teachers (and many others), who are trying to work through the pandemic and being constantly exposed to unnecessary risks.  

      Worse, there is a complete ignorance of the risk to life and the health of children exposed to Covid-19 by attending schools during a pandemic, especially those which are not ventilated, where social distancing is near impossible and when masks are not mandatory for all.  

      a group of people wearing a mask
      Environment

      Covid isn’t finished with us yet

      byAndy Brown
      13 December 2021

      The vulnerable suffer the most 

      Guy Marks, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of New South Wales, stated that “Omicron is causing severe consequences in some people, particularly those who are vulnerable”: 

      Future variants may be even more transmissible and may be more pathogenic (as was the case with Delta). For all these reasons, we are NOT on a good track towards elimination of COVID-19. It will not be eliminated without concerted and coordinated action. That action needs to

      — Guy Marks (@Marks1Guy) January 4, 2022

      However, covid is not solely affecting those it infects, but also those who cannot access – or are delayed in accessing – NHS services during the pandemic. NHS hospitals have been forced to reduce non-covid related services, which leaves patients who need care waiting longer, for example cancer patients. That is why it is essential that the government protects the NHS, to protect the public and patients who need these services.  

      As a result of Covid-19, people with disabilities have an increased risk of ill health and are more likely to die. Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 In December 2020, the Office for National Statistics reported “Covid-19 mortality for people of Black African or Black Caribbean ethnicity in the first half of this year was two to two and a half times higher than for people of White ethnicity”. 

      The disproportionate effect on certain groups – including people with pre-existing conditions and the elderly – means that each time the government fails to mitigate the risks (through lockdown, restrictions, mandatory mask-wearing, ventilation, social distancing, and vaccines available to all), they are facilitating a virus that is targeting those groups.

      That is inexcusable; the reality is it is discriminatory.  

      Tags: CoronavirusNHS
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      Amanda Robinson

      Amanda Robinson

      Amanda is a barrister and accredited mediator at the Great Russell Street Chambers in London. She is a member of Clerksroom Barristers and Mediators and is the author of Brexit A2Z: Facts Not Fiction.

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