PUBLIC FRIGHTENED INTO SUBMISSION BY GOVERNMENT

The Telegraph reports that failures in the UK’s pandemic response are not hard to identify, but on one front the Government’s success is undeniable: persuading a fearful nation to stay locked indoors for much of the past year. The daily diet of statistics on deaths, hospitalisations and Covid cases has been so effective that compliance with lockdown has gone far beyond what ministers expected. Whether frightening the public was a deliberate – or honest – tactic has become the subject of intense debate, and dozens of psychologists have now accused ministers of using “covert psychological strategies” to manipulate the public’s behaviour. They believe the Government, acting on the advice of behavioural experts, has emphasised the threat from Covid without putting the risks in sufficient context, leaving the country in a state of heightened anxiety. They also claim that inflated fear levels will be responsible for the collateral deaths of many thousands of people with non-Covid illnesses who are too frightened to attend hospital. They are so concerned that the British public has been the subject of a mass experiment in the use of strategies that operate below their level of awareness that they have made a formal complaint to their professional body, which will now rule on whether government advisers have been guilty of a breach of ethics.

US TO RESTART IRAN TALKS

The London Evening Standard reports that the United States and Iran have said that they would begin negotiations through intermediaries next week to try to get both countries back into an accord limiting Iran’s nuclear programme. The breakthrough comes nearly three years after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal. It marks the first major progress in efforts to return both countries to the 2015 accord, which bound Iran to restrictions on its nuclear programmes in return for relief from US and international sanctions. President Joe Biden came into office saying that getting back into the accord was a priority.

GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY PLUNGES

The Daily Mail reports: While the global population continues to rise, a new study indicates agricultural productivity has plummeted due to the effects of climate change. Worldwide, farmers are growing 20 percent less food than they would be if environmental conditions were the same as they were in the 1960s. The primary is changing weather patterns, researchers say, including increased flooding and droughts in different areas. The drastic and unexpected shifts associated with climate change make it harder for harmers to plan productive strategies to yield the most successful harvest. Tropical regions like Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa have been hit the worst, with agricultural growth a third of what it could be. 

NHS WAITING TIME A POLITICAL ISSUE

The Guardian reports that NHS patients could be waiting as much as two years for vital operations by the time of the next election due to a truly frightening backlog of care caused by the pandemic, the NHS’s former boss has said. Lengthening delays in getting treatment in England will become a major political problem for Boris Johnson and pose a risk to patients’ health, Sir David Nicholson told the Guardian. “The backlog is truly frightening. We can very easily get to the next election with people waiting over two years. It’s easy to do that,  said Nicholson, citing an explosion in the number of people waiting at least a year since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. The whole issue of access [to care] is a greater threat to the NHS than privatisation because poor access undermines confidence amongst those people who fund the service – taxpayers,” he added.

POLICE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR  EGREGIOUS BREACHES  OF REGULATIONS

The Guardian reports that the Greenhalgh family had begun travelling from the Midlands just after first light and three hours later were to be found 150 miles from home on The Esplanade in Woolacombe, north Devon, gazing out at the sweep of the sandy beach and a sun-speckled Atlantic Ocean. ‘It’s the first time we’ve seen the sea for a year,’  said dad, Simon. ‘It’s like: ‘Wow. We’ll have the day here, walk the dog and go home this evening. We’ve got everything we need in the van. We won’t disturb anyone.’ Good Friday is typically the first day of the holiday season proper in Woolacombe, a spot popular with families, walkers and surfers. Over the bank holiday weekend the M5 is usually jammed with people heading to Devon and Cornwall from Bristol, south-east England and the Midlands. Devon and Cornwall police asked people to not just stick to the law but to the spirit of the rules and said extra officers would be out to try to clamp down on egregious breaches of the regulations.

BORIS SAYS NO TO INDOOR FAMILY  GATHERINGS

The London Evening Standard reports that Boris Johnson has urged against people meeting others from different households indoors over the Easter weekend, warning vaccines do not guarantee 100 percent protection from coronavirus. Groups of up to six, or two households, are now able to meet up in parks and gardens after the stay-at-home order ended in England earlier this week, but socialising indoors remains banned to limit the spread of the virus. As millions plan to see friends and family over the bank holiday weekend, the Prime Minister warned that the country was not yet at the stage of allowing people to meet indoors.

AUNTY’S  SECRET EMERGENCY PLAN

The Telegraph reports: With her warm, witty and whimsical take on the world, Pam Ayers has always had the ability to lift the nation’s spirits. Poems such as ‘Oh I Wish I’d Looked After My Teeth’ and ‘Will I Have To Be Sexy At Sixty’, have seen her achieve national treasure status with legions of fans spanning the generations. But now it has emerged that the BBC has chosen Pam as one of its ’emergency voices’ that it will broadcast to calm the nation’s collective nerves in the event of a global catastrophe. While expressing some surprise at the revelation, Pam said she was honoured the BBC had considered turning to her to help cheer people up in their darkest hour. She said: “I am very pleased if they have chosen me to uplift the nation’s spirits. It is quite a responsibility, but one that I am more than willing to shoulder.

CLAIMS OF SERIOUS SEXUAL ASSAULT MAR BOAT RACE

The Telegraph reports: This year dark clouds hang over the  Oxford and Cambridge  University Boat Race. Sunday’s event – being held away from the Thames in London because of Covid restrictions – has been plunged into controversy after a member of the Oxford University Women’s Boat Club claimed she was raped by one of the university’s athletes.The woman claims Oxford University failed to take her complaints seriously. As a result, protests are set to take place at the university, and the crews of the Oxford and Cambridge women’s teams are expected to wear ribbons during the race showing their support for victims of alleged male attacks. The claims have stunned the world of university rowing and athletics, and dragged it into the bitter row over women’s safety following both the killing of Sarah Everard and the publication of hundreds of accounts of sexual assault and harassment suffered by girls at schools. The alleged victim claims the assault took place after a night out with other athletes last year.

TAXI DRIVERS REQUIRED TO SPEAK ENGLISH

From the Express: Taxi drivers must be able to speak and write in English under new changes to licence rules in an affluent borough. Cabbies in the Oadby and Wigston borough, which is in Leicestershire, will now have to prove they are able to speak and write in English, as a result of the new policy introduced yesterday. In all cases where English is not a licence applicant’s first language, they will have to show they have passed a level 2 test in English proficiency,

AND FINALLY

From the Daily Star:  Easter weekend is upon us, and while it gives us the perfect excuse to scoff lots of delicious chocolate, those Easter treats could prove fatal for our dogs. With a rise in chocolate-induced vet visits at this time of year, it’s one of the seasonal celebrations where we need to be more vigilant with our dogs. Easter chocolate poses a serious risk to our lovable fur babies if eaten, and we don’t want that. The effects of chocolate poisoning depend on the amount and type of chocolate eaten and the size and breed of the dog. Dark chocolate tends to have higher levels of theobromine, but it can also be found in white and milk varieties. And it’s not only Easter eggs and chocolate bars that pose a threat, but even chocolate found in cakes and biscuits can also be harmful.

 

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