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British society continues to break down irrevocably while the surveillance and police state is built.
Welcome to the and of George Orwell.
1 million
elderly Brits malnourished as third of councils cut ‘meals on
wheels’ service
A third of all UK councils have scrapped ‘meals on wheels’ services to their elderly and vulnerable residents due government to spending cuts, putting senior citizens at risk of malnutrition and social isolation, research showed.
RT,
11
November, 2014
Over
half expect further service reductions in the year ahead. A study by
the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition claims
more than one million older people in the UK are malnourished.
The
total number of meals provided by UK meals on wheels services and
lunch clubs has dropped from 40 million to 19 million meals over the
past ten years.
Half
of all local authorities in the UK expect even further service
reductions in the year ahead because social care budgets are being
tightened and funding is being slashed, according to the National
Association of Care Catering.
The
Association says tens of thousands of elderly people living alone
rely on the delivery of regular meals for nutrition, social
interaction and safety checks.
The
NACC National Chair, Neel Radia, said: “The Community Meals Service
is a crucial preventative service that enables older people to live
in their own homes for longer, whilst maintaining their physical and
emotional wellbeing and reducing pressure on the NHS.”
“The
abolition of community meals services is incredibly short-sighted and
cuts a lifeline for many older people who can face social isolation
and loneliness,” Radia added.
Dot
Gibson, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, says
meals on wheels are a cost-effective lifeline for tens of thousands
of older people.
“But
it’s not just about the food,” said Gibson. “It’s about the
personal contact, relationships and the wider benefit that the
service brings by keeping in touch with people and maintaining their
wellbeing.”
Community
meals are not a statutory local government requirement, which means
they are at risk of being cut as councils try to save money and focus
on services they are legally obliged to provide.
Radia
urged the government to enshrine community meals in law to guarantee
councils protect services for older people.
Last
month, research by the Local Government Association showed councils
were forced to divert £900 million from other budgets in order to
maintain current spending on adult social care services.
Mentally
ill children held in prison cells as care facilities cut
Vulnerable
British children are finding themselves locked in prisons rather than
receiving required medical help, as hospitals and medical centers
lack the resources to treat them, new figures show.
RT,
10
November, 2014
The
data, produced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), shows counties
including Norfolk, Hampshire and Devon have no facilities or places
of safety for children under the age of 16.
Other
areas of the country were found to have mental health units that were
severely underfunded, meaning that fewer than five vulnerable
children could be treated.
The
data also showed that of the 23,000 incidents involving vulnerable
individuals since last year, one in four were sent to prison cells.
More
than 200 children were taken into police custody, despite
recommendations that the measures should only be used in “exceptional
circumstances.”
The
CQC’s analysis also showed that people were being turned away from
treatment and rehabilitation centers because wards were full or short
of staff.
The
figures come after warnings from the Health Select Committee (HSC)
of “serious
and deeply ingrained problems” with
child and adolescent mental health services in the UK. The HSC also
said government cuts to mental health services were putting more
children at risk.
AFP Photo
“It’s
hard to see how a police cell could possibly be considered a more
suitable option,” said
Sarah Woolaston MP, who chairs the HSC.
“As
a former police forensic examiner, I would suggest that anyone who
believes so has probably never spent time in one; they are
frightening places, especially at night.”
Woolaston
also said at-risk children being detained by police sent a bad
message, especially as they are in a “distressed
state” already.
However,
the government insists it is investing money into mental health
programs, and that it had launched a taskforce to “drive
up standards” in
NHS wards.
“We've
invested £7m in new beds, I've launched a taskforce to improve
services, and we are introducing a new waiting time standard to make
sure young people with psychosis get prompt treatment,” said
Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb.
Campaigners
and academics have long criticized of the government’s mental
health policies and how effective they are at helping young people.
On
Monday, psychologists from the University of Reading said that
teenagers with anxiety problems were being treated with
a “one-size-fits-all” approach
to psychological problems, and that treatments given to young
children were simply being “adapted” for teenagers.
According
to the CQC, one in 10 children between the ages of 5 and 16 suffered
some form of mental disorder, with the most common being anxiety,
depression or behavioral problems.
Billions
still spent on coal & oil subsidies as UK govt misses fossil
fuels target – report
The UK is failing to meet its stated target to cut dependence on fossil fuels, despite mounting evidence of man-made climate change, a new report says.
RT,
11
November, 2014
According
to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the G20 nations have
spent tens of billions of dollars finding fossil fuel sources such as
coal and gas, despite recommendations that two thirds of
non-renewable energy sources should remain unexploited.
The
report also says the UK is providing £750 million a year in tax
breaks to North Sea oil and gas.
While
UK firms such as Centrica enjoy such generous tax breaks,
international firms, including US based Chevron and Norwegian firm
Statoil, are also understood to be receiving favorable tax conditions
from the British government.
More
than £400 million in public money is also going into fossil fuel
exploration overseas, particularly in places like Siberia, Brazil and
India, the ODI noted.
While
the UK government has not commented on the report, it claims that
money channeled into exploration firms is not a subsidy. It further
argued that the oil and gas industry “creates
jobs and generates investment in the UK.”
However,
the ODI has said that subsidizing energy firms was “poor
investment of public money” due
to the low market price of fossil fuels, as well as their volatility
in the global economy.
Reuters / Russell Cheyne
“Our
argument is that in today's conditions, there is still likely to be a
net loss – even when royalties and future tax revenues are taken
into account – and that doesn't even take the climate change impact
into account.”
The
ODI report comes despite warnings from environmental science think
tanks, including the Global Sustainability Institute, claiming the UK
is close to running out of coal, oil and gas supplies. They estimate
the country has less than 10 years’ worth of useable fossil fuel.
Pressure
group Oil Change International (OCI), which contributed to the ODI
report, called on world governments to end subsidies to energy firms
exploring fossil fuels.
“Five
years ago, G20 governments pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies
and take action to limit climate change,” said
OCI Director Stephen Kretzmann. Progress on those pledges, however,
has fallen short of expectations.
On
Monday, Senior Naval Officer Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti told MPs the
impact of climate change would drive the British Army into more
conflicts in the future, as vulnerable nations face a growing risk of
warfare over the Earth’s limited natural reяources.
Meanwhile the response of the State to the spectre of uprupt climate change is to prepare the military for yet more wars
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