Latest news with #Medi
North Wales Chronicle
4 days ago
- Health
- North Wales Chronicle
Llinos Medi MP presses Government on Gaza healthcare system
Ms Medi, of Plaid Cymru, has also signed a cross-party letter calling for an inquiry into the UK's involvement in Israel's military assault in Gaza. At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday (June 4), Keir Starmer labelled matters in Gaza "appalling and intolerable", and reiterated calls for a ceasefire. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Ms Medi said: 'We can all see that a genocide is happening in Gaza. It is time the Government called this for what it is. 'We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of Gaza's healthcare system, with Israel recently destroying the only kidney dialysis facility in northern Gaza. 'What is the Government doing to prevent Gaza's healthcare system from being decimated further and to re-establish hospitals and lifesaving medical services?' In response to Ms Medi's comments, the minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, said: 'While the blockade remains in place, there is very little that any outside partner can do to try and ensure proper health services in Gaza. 'I will not mislead the house by suggesting otherwise. 'The aid that has come in from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is far too little and far too geographically concentrated to be able to provide the kind of provision that Gazans are entitled to and that they should have, and is a clear necessity under International Humanitarian Law.'
North Wales Chronicle
12-05-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Holyhead PIP assessment centre closes ‘with no consultation'
Gwelfor Community Centre was, according to the MP for Ynys Môn, Llinos Medi, 'closed with no public consultation or prior notice'. Capita, the outsourcing firm contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is moving all Ynys Môn assessments to Bangor. Ms Medi said she was only informed of the news on the day of closure, and has since written to Andrew Western MP, minister for transformation. She noted that Gwelfor Community Centre had a bus stop directly outside, but that the new location, at Parc Menai in Bangor, requires multiple public transport connections with no direct service. In addition, she said the nearest bus stop is more than 200 metres from the entrance, posing a significant challenge for people with limited mobility. Ms Medi added that travelling from Holyhead to the Menai Centre in Bangor often requires changes and long waits, and is nearly impossible for residents in rural villages due to sparse timetables. Isle of Anglesey County Council reported in July 2024 that the island has 'one of the worst accesses to public transport services in North Wales'. More than 5,000 residents in Ynys Môn claim PIP, with nearly 40 per cent receiving the highest level of support. Ms Medi warned that relocating assessments so far away could result in missed appointments and increased digital exclusion as people feel forced to accept less suitable alternatives like phone or video assessments. She said: 'Closing Holyhead's PIP assessment centre without warning is a reckless decision that will make life harder for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. 'More than 5,000 people in Ynys Môn rely on PIP, and nearly 40 per cent receive the highest level of support, many of whom have significant mobility challenges. 'Forcing them to travel over 25 miles to Bangor, or pushing them into unsuitable phone or video assessments, will inevitably lead to missed appointments, digital exclusion, and people losing access to the vital support they're entitled to. 'Closing the centre just as deep cuts to disability benefits are set to be implemented risks triggering a crisis for disabled people living on Anglesey. 'I have written to the UK Government, urging them to urgently review Capita's decision and use ministerial powers to reverse the closure.'
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Smuggled letters and ringing bells: How the conclave has changed over the centuries
Pope Francis 's successor will be elected in the coming days in a millennium-old ceremony known as the papal conclave. During the conclave, the 135 eligible Cardinal Electors of the Catholic Church will sequester themselves and elect a new pope in isolation. During that time, they will have no contact with the outside world and they will vote repeatedly, in written ballots and verbal declaration, until one of them achieves a two-thirds majority. Every failure brings sighs from the crowds in St. Peter's Square as the votes, burned with a chemical admixture, send up a plume of inky black smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. White smoke, signalling a new pope has been elected, provokes cheers and celebrations and the beginning of a new papal era. The history of the conclave, especially during the Italian Renaissance that I teach and research, tells us a lot about how the papacy is both a religious and a political office. The Pope is at once the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church as well as the absolute monarch of Vatican City. He is both bishop of Rome and prince of the smallest sovereign state in the world. Politics of the papacy In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, the Vatican was the capital of a much-larger Papal State. This territorial buffer around Rome at its height bordered the territories of Florence, Naples, Milan and Venice, and covered much of northern Italy. Popes wielded great influence in the dramatic politics of famous Italian families like the Medici: it was a Medici pope, Clement VII, who helped negotiate the installation of the first Medici duke in Florence. Apocryphal accounts persist of Julius II, the so-called 'Warrior Pope', leading a charge over the walls of Bologna in 1506. At the same time popes, and Catholic policy, had profound consequences for European and global politics: Clement's successor Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII, cementing the English break with Rome in 1538. Alexander VI was more audaciously imperial: he sponsored the treaty that arbitrarily divided the entire world outside of Europe between Spain (his home country) and Portugal in 1494. Alexander VI's historical infamy is perhaps outdone only by his son, Cesare Borgia, made famous by his mention in Niccolo Machiavelli's book The Prince. Becoming pope was a big deal for a cardinal and his family. Leading candidates known as papabili (pope-ables) began strategising and negotiating even before popes died. When a pontiff died, those cardinals abroad began their travels to Rome, construction began on the temporary cells that would house them all during the sequestration and the real work of electing a pope began. Enea Silvio Piccolomini left a detailed memoir of his election as Pius II in 1458. In it he describes a process of negotiating, threatening, cajoling and strategising that make the scheming in the recent movie Conclave look unsophisticated. Renaissance Italy wrestled with and ultimately reconciled itself to the political nature of the papacy. Many, including popes such as Pius II, expressed discomfort with the political power of the papacy. While it was a clear factor in the schism of European Christendom that led to the emergence of the Protestant churches in the 16th century, in early modern Italy the political power of the papacy was a reality of the diplomatic milieu. The empty throne The conclave marks a special place in early modern history as a time when ordinary political order was overturned for a brief period known as the sede vacante (the Vacant See). The Vacant See was a time when identities were swappable and when, as one Paolo di Grassi told a judge in 1559, 'in Vacant See [Romans] are the masters. The People are the Masters'. Di Grassi had, during the Vacant See of November 1559, pursued his own longstanding grudges against his enemies and been involved in at least one armed brawl. While they waited for a new pope, Romans and everyone else might have passed the time with another favourite vice: gambling on the conclave's outcome. European princes and other potentates of the church paid close attention to conclaves, tried to smuggle information in and out and steer the conclave in favour of their preferred candidate. In 1730, for instance, Cardinal Lambertini smuggled a letter out of his conclave thanking a benefactor for their donations to his future ordination as Pope Benedict XIV. The election held everyone's attention as a rare and unusually impactful event in the Roman calendar. While Rome's streets thrummed with tension during the chaotic days of a Vacant See, the conclave proceeded serenely and secretly within the Vatican's walls. The use of white smoke to mark the election of a pope only began in the 20th century. During the Renaissance, the sound of bells would be a more effective way to spread the news through Rome, before the new pope was announced to the city and the world. Much turns on that announcement now, as much did in previous centuries. The conclave elects both a pope and a head of state. While Vatican City is magnitudes smaller than the Papal State of the past, it remains a sovereign state. Papal pronouncements shape not just religious thought but political action, through voting, advocacy and more. Today's crowds might be less raucous than Renaissance Romans, but they are nonetheless invested in the results.
North Wales Chronicle
07-05-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Ynys Mon MP to urge UK Government to act on Wylfa Newydd
Plaid Cymru's Llinos Medi will lead a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, May 7, calling for an end to decades of delay. Wylfa, located on Anglesey, was a nuclear power station that generated electricity for 44 years before closing in 2015. Plans for a successor project, Wylfa Newydd, were first proposed in 2009 but were paused in 2019 and scrapped in 2021 after Hitachi withdrew due to a failure to reach a funding agreement with the then Conservative UK Government. During the 2024 General Election, Labour pledged to 'end a decade of dithering that has seen the Conservatives duck decisions on nuclear power' and committed to 'explore the opportunities for new nuclear at Wylfa.' Since her election in July 2024, Ms Medi has raised the issue 11 times in the House of Commons, submitted 10 written parliamentary questions to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and written to the Secretary of State to request clarification. During the Westminster Hall debate, Ms Medi is expected to challenge the UK Government on its ongoing consultation regarding new nuclear sites under its draft planning policy (EN-7), warning that removing the list of preferred sites creates harmful uncertainty and threatens crucial investment in Wales and across the UK.. She is set to call for future nuclear development, including next-generation technologies such as Small and Advanced Modular Reactors (SMRs and AMRs), to be prioritised at existing sites approved under the previous policy document, EN-6, before considering alternative locations. READ MORE: Gwynedd teen to walk Yr Wyddfa four times in a day for defibrillator fundraiser Ms Medi said: "It's astonishing that Wylfa, a site with proven capability, global potential and cross-party support, has been stuck in limbo for decades. "People in North Anglesey are fed up with Labour, and the Tories before them, dragging their feet on this. "Investors are ready, the community is supportive, and the need for clean, secure energy has never been greater. "What we need now is leadership, a clear decision, a funding commitment, and a timeline to match the urgency of the moment. "The UK Government's decision to consult on a new planning policy without committing to established sites like Wylfa is creating damaging uncertainty and deterring the very investment we need. "Wylfa is the best site in Europe for a new nuclear project. "What we need now is a clear strategic business case, a funding commitment, and a timeline that gives developers the confidence to move forward. "I'm calling for future nuclear development, including next-generation technologies such as Small and Advanced Modular Reactors (SMRs and AMRs), to be prioritised at existing sites approved under the previous policy document EN-6 before other sites are looked at. "Investors are keen to invest in Wylfa, communities are supportive, and the need for clean, secure energy has never been more urgent. "It's time for leadership and action."
The Hill
01-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
House committee delays key vote amid disagreements over Medicaid
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is delaying a key vote on its portion of the package full of President Trump's legislative priorities amid continued disagreements over potential cuts to Medicaid. The panel had initially been planning to hold a markup — where the group debates legislation and votes on advancing it — on May 7, a committee aide previously told The Hill. But on Thursday, the panel informed members that it is now eyeing a markup the week of May 12, a committee source told The Hill. Instead, the committee plans to hold member meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. 'The Chairman had a very productive conversation with President Trump at the White House today. In order to follow up on a few requests we are not marking up next week,' committee staff told members, according to the source. 'Please hold the week of May 12th for our reconciliation markup, with Committee meetings beginning prior to votes on Tuesday.' 'We will have Member meetings next week on Tuesday and Wednesday in lieu of hearings/markups,' the message added. The Hill reached out to the Energy and Commerce Committee for comment. The delay comes after a week of House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) holding meetings with a cross-section of House Republicans, which failed to help reach consensus on potential cuts to Medicaid. Guthrie met with moderates wary of such cuts Wednesday afternoon, House Freedom Caucus members pushing for steep slashes Wednesday night, and then traveled to the White House with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and others to meet with Trump on Thursday. The delayed markup deals a blow to Johnson, who was pushing to wrap up all markups next week. Another panel could also see its markup happen later in the month: The House Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which lawmakers are still at odds over. Republicans from high-tax blue states want to increase the SALT cap, which hardline conservatives are opposed to. The panel never officially announced a markup, but Johnson on Wednesday said it was his 'expectation' that it would take place next week. 'Going to make things easier for everyone: We have not scheduled a markup,' J.P. Freire, a spokesperson for the House Ways and Means Committee, wrote on X. 'We did not schedule one. When we schedule one, we will send out a notice. Ways and Means members are working towards getting this bill done.' The budget resolution, which lays out parameters for crafting the final Trump agenda bill, directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to find at least $880 billion in cuts, a figure that scorekeepers say cannot be reached without changes to Medicaid, which centrists are adamantly opposed to. Hardline conservatives, however, are pushing for cuts because they want the package to be deficit neutral, a detail some have dubbed a red-line. Neither side of the debate appears ready to relent. 'We have very clearly articulated our position on protecting Medicaid for eligible recipients,' Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told reporters Thursday. 'Leadership is well aware of that.' Trump, for his part, has said he does not want to slash Medicaid, opting to focus on the alleged 'waste, fraud and abuse' involved with the social safety net program — a similar sentiment expressed on Capitol Hill. 'One of the things that's very important will be saving Medicaid for Americans in need,' Trump said after his meeting with top lawmakers on Thursday. 'We will not let the Democrats destroy it and all the waste, fraud and abuse they seem to love and they will decimate Medicaid if they get the chance, we're not going to give them the chance.'
