What the papers said in the week ending 15 October 2022
In the turbulence the peaceful, thoughtful words of Bishop Sarah Mullally bring hope: Government ‘burying head in sand’ over health inequality, says bishop of London | Health | The Guardian
- The reflections of a Roman Catholic Chaplain and a Canon speak reason into unreason: Cynical Tories can’t understand the power of compassion and community | Letters | The Guardian
- Turmoil in government and its effects on the status of the UK in the world, have dominated headlines and thoughts: Liz Truss on verge of major U-turn on real-terms benefits cut | Liz Truss | The Guardian
- One in five families in Liz Truss’s seat would lose out under real-term benefit cuts | Benefits | The Guardian
- ‘Time’s up’: what the papers say about Liz Truss and her fight to stay prime minister | Liz Truss | The Guardian
It seems that there will be a return to more modest policies and attention will be given to caring for the nation, but the drive to do otherwise has been alarmingly evident: Thérèse Coffey to drop smoking action plan, insiders say | Smoking | The Guardian
- Ministers hope to ban solar projects from most English farms | Solar power | The Guardian
- Patients turning to A&E as wait times for NHS mental health treatment spiral | Mental health | The Guardian
- Why is private health booming and the NHS in crisis? Because that’s what ministers want | Aditya Chakrabortty | The Guardian
- Thousands of UK students face financial hardship as costs rise | Students | The Guardian
- England’s social care workforce shrinks for first time in 10 years | Social care | The Guardian
- RSPB ‘not ruling out’ direct action to defend nature from government policy | RSPB | The Guardian
Royalty provides alternative interest, and its own contentious questions: King Charles III’s coronation to take place on 6 May 2023 | King Charles III | The Guardian
- ‘Painful memories’: what will the royal family do with the Koh-i-noor diamond? | Monarchy | The Guardian
- And people are finding ways to keep smiling at less cost: ‘Lipstick effect’: Britons turn to small luxuries in cost of living crisis | UK cost of living crisis | The Guardian
Healthcare:
There is determination to improve services for older women MPs call for menopause health checks at 45 and free HRT in England | Menopause | The Guardian
There is understanding of the widespread, long-term damage caused by Covid-19 WHO chief urges immediate action to tackle ‘devastating’ long Covid | Society | The Guardian
We learn that people likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease have difficulties with cognition nine years before the condition becomes clinically evident. Signs of dementia may be detectable nine years before diagnosis – study | Dementia | The Guardian
The monster of Alzheimer’s created with all best intentions, grows grizzlier by the week. We have learned that bad dreams in middle age seem to be associated with dementia some years later. We hear that a diagnosis of dementia is followed by increased rates of suicide. The whole scenario looks to need a calming, therapeutic hand
- Laboratory models make you wonder where science is taking us: Human neurons transplanted into rats to help study brain disorders | Neuroscience | The Guardian
Bad care of old people has again grabbed headlines and will be investigated and people punished. Secret footage reveals abuse of woman with dementia at luxury UK care home | Social care | The Guardian
Investment in a properly funded care system would surely make such instances less likely
Other matters:
The drought we knew in the summer is still with us and will last: England could be in drought beyond spring 2023, say ministers | Drought | The Guardian
The oranges needed to make the best marmalade have suffered and there will be less marmalade – but maybe more crab apple jelly: A new challenge for marmalade makers | Fruit | The Guardian
Battersea Power Station has found a new life: ‘Full of life again’: Battersea power station opens to shoppers | London | The Guardian
Cumbria lays claim to being ahead of others in acting to release rivers to their natural flow, at great benefit to the environment: Cumbria is ahead of the river curve | Letters | The Guardian
It seems that Homo Sapiens got on well with Neanderthals: Neanderthals and modern humans may have copied each other’s tools | Neanderthals | The Guardian
Angry old people can be dangerous: Woman, 75, held in Germany accused of leading far-right terror plot | Germany | The Guardian
All of this – and the war between Russia and the Ukraine goes on and gets ever more dangerous: Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 235 of the invasion | Ukraine | The Guardian
David Jolley Chair of Christians on Ageing, in a personal capacity. October 2022
