So this counts as equality: making it easier for the vulnerable to die
Another parliamentary vote on assisted suicide is due on Friday. So far, keen supporters of Kim Leadbeater's bill have tended to talk in stirring abstract nouns: 'choice', 'dignity', 'autonomy' and 'control'. But last week, though you might have missed it, we got a chance to see what happens when grand ideals come into contact with the grubby realities of the systems we already have. The day after the local elections, the government slipped out two reports on the projected 'impact' of legalising assisted death. And you can understand why officials might have wanted to see them buried.
The longer one, running to 149 pages, mainly focuses on financial aspects. The standard way to put a cost on a treatment is to predict how many 'quality-adjusted
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Sky News
37 minutes ago
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Every baby in the UK to receive DNA testing
Every baby in the UK will have their DNA tested under a new 10-year plan for the NHS. The whole-genome sequencing will screen for hundreds of diseases and allow people to "leapfrog" killer illnesses, according to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting. Speaking to the Telegraph, he revealed plans to move the NHS towards a model of sickness prevention rather than treatment. Personalised medicine, made possible through things like DNA testing, will form a big part of that plan, with £650m pledged to genomics research by the government. "The revolution in medical science means that we can transform the NHS over the coming decade, from a service which diagnoses and treats ill health to one that predicts and prevents it," said Mr Streeting in a statement. "Genomics presents us with the opportunity to leapfrog disease, so we're in front of it rather than reacting to it." Newborns are currently offered a blood test when they are around five days old to check for nine rare but serious conditions. In those blood spot tests, the baby's heel is pricked to collect a few drops of blood on a card, but with whole genome sequencing, blood samples are typically taken from the umbilical cord shortly after birth. In the past, Mr Streeting has spoken about his desire to make the NHS more preventative, in order to reduce rates of serious illness and save money. Technologies like artificial intelligence will be used by the health service to predict illness and allow treatment or medication to be offered much earlier. "With the power of this new technology, patients will be able to receive personalised healthcare to prevent ill health before symptoms begin, reducing the pressure on NHS services and helping people live longer, healthier lives," said Mr Streeting. Along with a greater focus on prevention, the Government's 10-year plan is expected to include Mr Streeting's two other "shifts" in the NHS: moving care away from hospitals to communities, and from analogue to digital services. It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves' announcement that the Government would increase NHS funding by £29 billion per year in real terms over the next three years as it tries to cut waiting lists in line with its election promises.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The surgeon's daughter who campaigned against hummus at university: Meet Palestine Action's VERY middle-class leader who has swapped targets from chickpea dip to RAF war planes
The middle-class daughter of a top NHS surgeon who campaigned against hummus at university has been revealed as the leader of Palestine Action. Huda Ammori, a former campaigner at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, founded the controversial group alongside Richard Barnard, 51, a former member of Extinction Rebellion, in 2020. The 31-year-old was born in Bolton to a Palestinian father, a surgeon, and an Iraqi mother. She later went on to graduate from the University of Manchester with an international business and finance degree. Despite her middle class roots, Ms Ammori quickly became captivated by student activism during her time at the prestigious institution - even getting a brand of hummus banned from the campus shop. The then-student, who had spotted 'Sabra' hummus, half-owned by a company who invest in Israeli 's military forces, was on sale, launched a tireless campaign that eventually saw the chickpea dip successfully blacklisted. Now, she leads the militant Palestine Action movement. Over the past five years, the group have claimed responsibility for vandalised buildings, ram-raided factories and, most recently, even infiltrated Britain's largest RAF base, damaging two military planes. Having posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton, the group are now set to be proscribed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, meaning it will be a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action. Ms Ammori first had a political awakening in 2016, after receiving a surprising call from her mother in 2016 insisting that she join the Labour Party. A graduate from the University of Manchester, Ms Ammori quickly became captivated by student activism during her time at the prestigious institution - even campaigning to get a brand of hummus banned from the campus shop Describing such demand as initially 'confusing', she wrote in The New Arab: 'Coming from my Iraqi mother, this qas quite confusing given that Tony Blair, under the Labour government, led the invasion and destruction of Iraq'. However, for both Ms Ammori and other pro-Palestine activists, the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party offered, they believed, a 'renewal of hope'. But such hope was ultimately to be short lived. Following Corbyn's defeat in the 2019 general election, Ms Ammori said she quickly abandoned any 'asking and begging' of government bodies for help with her activist plight. Instead, she formed a new militant movement with Mr Barnard, a raised Catholic who once belonged to a Christian anarchist group called the Catholic Worker. He has, according to the magazine Prospect, almost 30 tattoos, including Benedictine mottos, an Irish Republican slogan, 'freedom' in Arabic and 'all cops are bastards'. Ms Ammori, who said previously that her Palestinian great-grandfather was killed by British soldiers in the 1936 u[rising, has never been deterred by the risk of jail time as a result of the group's extreme behaviour. Highlighting her fearless nature, she told the publication: 'When you do these types of actions, you do it with an understanding that you could end up in prison'. Having claimed responsibility for more than 300 incidents at government buildings, universities and British-based defence sites, amongst numerous others, some of the group's most fierce activists have indeed been imprisoned for their protests. Shocking footage shared by the group showed protesters storming across the RAF runway in Oxfordshire on electric scooters. The activists are then seen spraying red paint into the turbine engines of the air-to-air refuelling tankers which the RAF say are 'vital for enhancing the operational reach and flexibility of Britain's military air power' On Friday, bodycam footage was uploaded online which showed two of the group's activists infiltrating Britain's largest RAF base and spraying red paint into the engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft before escaping without being caught. The shocking video showed protesters storming across the RAF runway in Oxfordshire on electric scooters. The activists are then seen spraying red paint into the turbine engines of the air-to-air refueling tankers which the RAF say are 'vital for enhancing the operational reach and flexibility of Britain's military air power'. Palestine Action claimed to have used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray the paint, while they say they caused further damage with crowbars. They said that the damage to the planes at Brize Norton was deliberately undertaken as it is the base 'where flights leave daily for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus' - the base used for military operations in the Middle East. In response to the shocking incident, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the footage, stating in a post on X: 'The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful. 'Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. 'It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.' Meanwhile, opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'The security breach at Brize Norton is deeply concerning. 'This is not lawful protest, it is politically-motivated criminality. We must stop tolerating terrorist or extremist groups that seek to undermine our society. The full force of the law must come down on those responsible.' A security review has been launched across all UK military bases and the incident is currently being investigated by counter terror police. The Home Secretary, who hopes to proscribe the organisation, has the power to do so under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is 'concerned in terrorism'. Proscription will require Ms Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers. A spokesperson for Palestine Action accused the UK of failing to meet its obligation to prevent or punish genocide. The spokesperson said: 'When our government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. 'The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.' Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company Wagner Group. Another 14 organisations connected with Northern Ireland are also banned under previous legislation, including the IRA and UDA. In August last year, five Palestine Action activists who caused over £1million worth of damages at a weapons factory in Glasgow, were jailed for a total of five years and two months. Stuart Bretherton, 25, Eva Simmons, 25, Calum Lacy, 23, Erica Hygate, 23 and Sumaya Javaid, 22, scaled the Thales UK building in Glasgow's Govan on June 1 2022 and staged a demonstration on its roof. The five protestors unfurled banners and erected flags and ignited pyrotechnics, while two remained at the building overnight and glued themselves to the roof after refusing to engage with police. A total of £1,130,783 of damage was caused and the premises were shut due to safety concerns. Bretherton, of Kilmacolm, Inverclyde, Simmons, of London, Lacy of Edinburgh as well as Hygate and Javaid of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to conducting themselves in a disorderly manner. Hygate separately pleaded guilty to a vandalism charge, while Javaid also pleaded to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. All but Javaid received 12 month sentences while she was jailed for 14 months.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Former Centrica chief Laidlaw in frame to chair embattled BP
Sam Laidlaw, the former boss of Centrica, is among the candidates being considered as the next chairman of BP, Britain's besieged oil and gas exploration giant. Sky News has learnt that Mr Laidlaw is being considered by BP board members as a potential successor to Helge Lund, who announced in April that he would step down. BP's chair search comes with the £62bn oil major in a state of crisis, as industry predators circle and the pace of its strategic transformation being interrogated by shareholders. Elliott Management, the activist investor, snapped up a multibillion pound stake in BP earlier this year and is pushing its chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, to accelerate spending cuts and ditch a string of renewable energy commitments. Mr Lund's departure will come after nearly a quarter of BP's shareholders opposed his re-election at its annual meeting in April - an unusually large protest given that his intention to step down had already been announced. BP's senior independent director - the Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc - is said to be moving "at pace" to complete the recruitment process. A number of prominent candidates are understood to be in discussions with headhunters advising BP on the search. Mr Laidlaw would be a logical choice to take the role, having transformed Centrica, the owner of British Gas, during his tenure, which ended in 2014. Since then, he has had a long stint - which recently concluded - on the board of miner Rio Tinto, which has been fending off activist calls to abandon its London listing. He also established, and then sold, Neptune Energy, an oil company which was acquired by Italy's Eni for nearly £4bn in 2023. Last December, Mr Laidlaw was appointed chairman of AWE, the government-owned body which oversees Britain's nuclear weapons capability. He also has strong family connections to BP, with his father, Christopher Laidlaw, having served as its deputy chairman during a long business career. One person close to BP said the younger Mr Laidlaw had been approached about chairing the company during its previous recruitment process but had ruled himself out because of his Neptune Energy role. The status of his engagement with BP's search was unclear on Saturday. Another person said to have been approached is Ken MacKenzie, who recently retired as chairman of the mining giant BHP. Mr MacKenzie headed BHP during a period when Elliott held a stake in the company, and is said to have a good working relationship with the investor. Shares in BP have continued their downward trajectory over the last year, having fallen by nearly a fifth during that period. The company's valuation slump is reported to have drawn renewed interest in a possible takeover bid, with rivals Shell and ExxonMobil among those said to have "run the numbers" in recent months. Reports of such interest have not elicited any formal response, suggesting that any deal is conceptual at this stage. BP is racing to sell assets including Castrol, its lubricants division, which could command a price of about $8bn.
