Chemical castration and unsound ethics
Medical experts say they'll refuse to implement mandatory chemical castration, and one states: 'Doctors are not agents of social control. It would be ethically unsound to use medication to reduce risk rather than to treat a medical condition' (Report, 22 May). Yet in psychiatry, social control is routinely exercised, and drugs are often prescribed not to alleviate suffering, but primarily to manage perceived risk. Sex offenders should not be given more ethical consideration and bodily autonomy than psychiatric patients.Jacqui DillonLondon
I must take issue with Marilyn Rowley over the use of the semicolon (Letters, 26 May). Reading a sentence aloud with measured pauses will not cut the mustard; an essential prerequisite is a grasp of the difference between a phrase and a main clause. I pontificate as a retired pedagogical pedant who should get out more.Ian BargeLudlow, Shropshire
Marilyn Rowley's teacher gave bad advice about the colon. It has nothing to do with a long pause, but indicates that what follows will explain or enlarge upon what has just preceded.Michael BulleyChalon-sur-Saône, France
The latest campaign being fought in the letters page over the use of semicolons worries me: is this a case of colonic irritation?Francis MaccabeeLoughborough, Leicestershire
In your quick crossword (26 May), 'Kiwi' was given as the answer to the clue 'Fuzzy green foodstuff – that flies!' Oh no it doesn't!Euan DunnGreat Eversden, Cambridgeshire
Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
Government struggles to cut foreign aid spent on asylum hotels
The government is struggling to cut the amount of foreign aid it spends on hotel bills for asylum seekers in the UK, the BBC has figures released quietly by ministers in recent days show the Home Office plans to spend £2.2bn of overseas development assistance (ODA) this financial year - that is only marginally less than the £2.3bn it spent in 2024/ money is largely used to cover the accommodation costs of thousands of asylum seekers who have recently arrived in the Home Office said it was committed to ending asylum hotels and was speeding up asylum decisions to save taxpayers' money. The figures were published on the Home Office website with no accompanying notification to aid is supposed to be spent alleviating poverty by providing humanitarian and development assistance under international rules, governments can spend some of their foreign aid budgets at home to support asylum seekers during the first year after their to the most recent Home Office figures, there are about 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels in the promised in its manifesto to "end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds". Contracts signed by the Conservative government in 2019 were expected to see £4.5bn of public cash paid to three companies to accommodate asylum seekers over a 10-year a report by spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) in May said that number was expected to be £15.3bn. On June 3, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the Home Affairs Committee she was "concerned about the level of money" being spent on asylum seekers' accommodation and added: "We need to end asylum hotels altogether."The Home Office said it was trying to bear down on the numbers by reducing the time asylum seekers can appeal against decisions. It is also planning to introduce tighter financial eligibility checks to ensure only those without means are Whitehall officials and international charities have said the Home Office has no incentive to reduce ODA spending because the money does not come out of its scale of government aid spending on asylum hotels has meant huge cuts in UK support for humanitarian and development priorities across the cuts have been exacerbated by the government's reductions to the overall ODA budget. In February, Sir Keir Starmer said he would cut aid spending from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% by 2027 - a fall in absolute terms of about £14bn to some £ was the scale of aid spending on asylum hotels in recent years that the previous Conservative government gave the Foreign Office an extra £2bn to shore up its humanitarian commitments overseas. But Labour has refused to match that commitment. 'Poor value for money' Gideon Rabinowitz, director of policy at the Bond network of development organisations, said: "Cutting the UK aid budget while using it to prop up Home Office costs is a reckless repeat of decisions taken by the previous Conservative government. "Diverting £2.2bn of UK aid to cover asylum accommodation in the UK is unsustainable, poor value for money, and comes at the expense of vital development and humanitarian programmes tackling the root causes of poverty, conflict and displacement. "It is essential that we support refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, but the government should not be robbing Peter to pay Paul."Sarah Champion, chair of the International Development Committee, said the government was introducing "savage cuts" to its ODA spending, risking the UK's development priorities and international reputation, while "Home Office raids on the aid budget" had barely reduced."Aid is meant to help the poorest and most vulnerable across the world: to alleviate poverty, improve life chances and reduce the risk of conflict," she said. "Allowing the Home Office to spend it in the UK makes this task even harder.""The government must get a grip on spending aid in the UK," she said. "The Spending Review needs to finally draw a line under this perverse use of taxpayer money designed to keep everyone safe and prosperous in their own homes, not funding inappropriate, expensive accommodation here." Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "Labour promised in their manifesto to end the use of asylum hotels for illegal immigrants. But the truth is there are now thousands more illegal migrants being housed in hotels under Labour. "Now these documents reveal that Labour are using foreign aid to pay for asylum hotel accommodation – yet another promise broken."A Home Office spokesperson said: "We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure, and continue to take action, restoring order, and reduce costs. This will ultimately reduce the amount of Official Development Assistance spent to support asylum seekers and refugees in the UK."We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so that we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4bn by 2026."
Daily Mail
42 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trans people have been lied to on legal rights, says equalities chief
Transgender people must accept a 'period of correction' over their rights after the Supreme Court ruling on gender because they have been 'lied to' about their legal status for years, an equalities chief says. Akua Reindorf, who is drafting guidance on how to treat trans people following April's ruling on the definition of a woman, added that the blame lay with their lobbyists. Ms Reindorf, a barrister and one of eight commissioners on the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), made her remarks in a personal capacity during a debate hosted by the London School of Economics. She said: 'Unfortunately, young people and trans people have been lied to over many years about what their rights are.' The EHRC has been given the task of developing new guidelines on transgender people for public buildings such as cafes, schools and hospitals, after the Supreme Court ruled transgender women are not legally women. Shortly after the ruling the EHRC released interim guidance advising: 'Trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities.' Ms Reindorf's words came as the NHS Confederation, which represents hospital trusts, scrapped its old guidance allowing transgender patients to use the toilets of the sex they identify with. A spokesman for the NHS Confederation said their old guidance is now 'dated' and requires updating to align with the Supreme Court ruling. The two developments will be seen as a major blow to transgender activists, who have been petitioning for public organisations such as the NHS to ignore the court's decision. The Girl Guides and Refuge, the largest domestic abuse charity for women, have both said they have no intention in changing their policy on allowing trans women to use their female facilities. Ms Reindorf described their approach as ridiculous, arguing it amounted to a 'huge farce'. She said transgender people 'have been lied to and there has to be a period of correction'. She added: 'The fact is that, until now, trans people without Gender Recognition Certificates, were being grievously misled about their legal rights. 'The correction of self-ID policies and practices will inevitably feel like a loss of rights for trans people. 'This unfortunate position is overwhelmingly a product of the misinformation which was systematically disseminated over a long period by lobby groups and activists.'
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Millions to receive NHS screening invitations and appointment reminders on their phones
Appointment reminders, invitations to health screenings and test results will now be received by patients on their phones. The government says moving to a more digital-focused NHS will mean 50 million fewer letters need to be sent out by the health service, saving an estimated £200m over the next three years. Instead, under the new plans, millions of people will be notified about appointments and other important notices via the NHS app on their phone or digital device. The app is set to become the go-to method for the NHS to communicate with people, the Department of Health and Social Care said. The changes will be backed by more than £50m investment. It will see a predicted 270 million messages sent through the app this year, an increase of around 70 million on the last financial year, the government announced. Wes Streeting has said this is all about modernising, as the NHS "feels so 20th century". The health secretary said: "The fact that people still get letters through the front door, sometimes multiple letters about the same appointment... The NHS has been stuck in the mud when it comes to the everyday technology we use to organise our lives. And that's why what we're doing with the NHS app is really exciting." Mr Streeting said the app will make using the NHS more convenient, and give patients more control, while saving money. He said these funds can then be invested back into the health service, to bolster things such as frontline care. Using the NHS app should be 'as joyful as Netflix' The modernisation of the NHS will also lead to fewer missed appointments, and therefore save money that way too, it is hoped. In 2023/24, there were around eight million missed appointments in elective care and almost one in three people missed a screening appointment. Currently, around 20 million people have opted in to receive messages from the NHS app. 4:01 Pushed on how the government will ensure that nobody is left behind, Mr Streeting said: "If someone like me is booking my appointment through the app because that's what I prefer to do, [then] that's freeing up a phone line for someone who wants to get through and talk to a person." He added that greater use of the app will give people more choice in "how you want to organise your care". The cabinet minister also made a bold comparison, saying he wishes that the NHS app is as enjoyable as using streaming giant Netflix. He said: "The NHS app actually has more subscribers than Netflix. It would be a really wonderful thing if using the NHS app felt - if not as joyful - almost as joyful as using Netflix." Other features in the pipeline - though not yet available - include being able to add appointments to phone calendars and request help from local GPs on the app. Faster log in methods, such as using Face ID, are also planned.
