Campaigners criticise UK government’s response to air pollution warning

Campaigners have attacked the government for rejecting calls by MPs for greater action on air pollution, as severe pollution episodes were predicted for parts of the UK this week.

MPs warned in April that dangerously high pollution in British cities was a “public health emergency”, and told ministers to take further measures, including more clean air zones and a diesel scrappage scheme.

In its formal response on Tuesday, officials claimed that the government was already spending heavily on cleaner transport and that it plans to consult on a framework for clean air zones later this year.

“We will introduce new, tougher targets which will drive down air pollution from all sources, reducing transboundary pollution and significantly reducing the number of premature deaths across the EU caused by poor air quality,” said the response.

The MPs had wanted all cities to be able to charge polluting vehicles instead of just the five which government is planning to allow. But officials responded: “Local authorities can take action as and when necessary to improve air quality and we encourage them to do so.”

“[The government] has established the UK as a global leader in ultra low-emission vehicles. We are one of the largest and fastest growing markets in Europe and last year around one in five battery electric cars sold in the UK was built in the UK”.

It also flatly rejected the idea of a diesel scrappage scheme: “We have considered the use of scrappage schemes … and have concluded that this may not be an appropriate and proportionate response.”

The publication came as the environment department warned of “very high” air pollution – the worst on the scale – in and around Hull on Wednesday, and “high” pollution across much of northern England. The health advice for very high episodes is for the entire population to reduce physical exercise outdoors, and for asthma sufferers and other vulnerable groups to avoid any exertion.

— Adam Vaughan (@adamvaughan_uk) September 13, 2016

If you’re in Hull tomorrow, try not to breathe the air. Yuck. Yet another e.g. of need for more air pollution action pic.twitter.com/MZ8eaR63tn

Health and environment groups reacted angrily to the government response, saying plans to reduce UK pollution were “inadequate” and “in disarray”.

“Despite the mounting evidence of the dangers people face having to breathe our illegally dirty air, the government is refusing to take the bold action needed to cut the 40,000 early deaths from air pollution each year in the UK,” said a spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth.

Bridget Fox, transport campaigner at Campaign for Better Transport, said: “It’s clear that the government’s rhetoric on tackling lethal and illegal levels of air pollution is still not matched by action.”

In mid-October, judges at the high court will consider a legal challenge against the government’s pollution action plan by the environmental law firm, ClientEarth, which last year won a victory in the supreme court against the government on its failure to meet EU air quality limits.

But David Cameron’s former energy and environment adviser said continuing legal action was unhelpful. In an article on the Green Alliance thinktank’s blog, Stephen Heidari-Robinson said that: “[court action] focuses on compliance with EU standards for just one pollutant, rather than addressing the problem holistically to save lives”.

“Worse, it encourages the belief that Brexit can simply sweep away the problem (it can’t). Second, it sets up a zero sum game – ban cars, save lives – when, to solve the problem with the consent of the population, we need to improve air quality and maintain mobility. And, third, it scares the hell out of officials who might end up in court and diverts their attention towards feeding the legal document monster.”

In a statement ClientEarth chief executive, James Thornton, said court action was a last, but necessary, resort. “It is necessary … particularly when tens of thousands of lives are at risk because an intransigent government persistently fails to comply with the law, which is where we find ourselves on air pollution in the UK.

“What sort of democracy would we be living in if we as citizens have to comply with the laws put in place by government, but ministers can ignore them when they feel like it? Many autocrats enjoy such an ability to ignore the law. But since Magna Carta, we have committed to live under the rule of law, government and citizen alike.”

Campaigners criticise UK government’s response to air pollution warning

Jeremy Hunt: BBC "extraordinary" to criticise me in excess of psychological well being dedication

Professor Sue Bailey, outgoing president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, mentioned Mr Hunt had failed to get up “a great number of gives to go and see mental wellness services, little one solutions, providers for the elderly, innovative projects”.

Defending his record, he told the programme: “I am out there every week learning about these issues from physicians and nurses.

“To criticise a Health Secretary who actually goes out on the front line, rolls up his sleeves, takes component in shifts with physicians and nurses – something that has not happened previously on a regular basis – is an extraordinary issue for you to be doing.

Professor Sue Bailey informed the BBC: “It truly is a automobile crash that we are sleepwalking into. Effectively, we are not even sleepwalking, we are currently being driven into it by the way the system is run.

“We want to be acquiring income for prevention through Public Wellness England and we require much more funds for intervention.

“The sums of money that could make a big difference are not massive but they could make a huge difference.”

She added: “He has a standard comprehending of it but regardless of whether he takes it significantly, the evidence of which would be producing it a priority, then sadly not.”

Mr Hunt explained he agreed with Professor Bailey that there are “some real pressures” on psychological wellness delivery, but that the Government had global dementia summit, improved resources devoted to that concern and put into law that bodily and psychological sickness must be treated equally.

He advised the programme: “I have been to a number of mental health trusts but psychological health is not just an issue in mental health trusts, it is also an concern in dementia wards in hospitals, in GP surgeries.”

Hunt vows to tackle unreporting of security incidents in hospitals

Jeremy Hunt: BBC "extraordinary" to criticise me in excess of psychological well being dedication

Bereaved relatives criticise police watchdog more than deaths in custody

Sean Rigg, who died in police custody in 2008. Photograph: PA

Bereaved families have criticised the police watchdog – the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) – saying its members lack “empathy, sensitivity and compassion” when investigating deaths in police custody.

In an IPCC report into the way the commission handles inquiries, relatives stated they “felt they and individuals who had died were wrongly characterised or unfairly judged”. And the report noted the impression that police receive a lot more favourable treatment than members of the public.

The report, published on Monday, called for much better training for IPCC staff on problems associated to race and ethnicity, mental well being and learning disabilities.

It was welcomed by Marcia Rigg, the sister of Sean Rigg, a forty-year-outdated musician with psychological health difficulties who died in police custody in 2008. But she said the watchdog has “not won the families more than nevertheless”.

The overview recognized psychological wellness as a key concern in numerous of the deaths in police custody the IPCC investigates.

About half of the people who died in those circumstances in 2012-13, and practically two-thirds of those who apparently took their very own lives afterwards, are known to have had psychological well being issues.

The 111-webpage report also comprehensive issues raised over “inadequate consideration to detail and a failure to collect and collate all proof or to pursue all realistic lines of inquiry”.

The IPCC’s overview additional: “Families, their representatives and police officers criticised us for taking too long to comprehensive investigations, leading to additional pressure for all involved.”

It also set out a series of proposals created to increase IPCC investigations, like making police officers attend witness interviews as soon as attainable following an incident.

The charity Inquest contributed to the investigation. Its co-director, Deborah Coles, mentioned: “The absence of a robust police watchdog has allowed corruption and hazardous practices to go unchecked.

“Family members and public confidence will only be achieved if the IPCC delivers an investigation procedure that assures wrongdoing, misconduct and bad practice is uncovered and police are appropriately held to account.

Marcia Rigg mentioned: “We hope all the recommendations are implemented with no delay, and that as nicely as assisting us the evaluation will support other families and lead to efficient change in the way deaths in police custody are investigated.”

She criticised the unique inquiry into her brother’s death as a “Mickey Mouse investigation”.

She said: “In the first stages, a whole lot of our questions were not answered.

“We have been really concerned as to why the officers have been not being interviewed quickly and we had been extremely concerned that the officers have been allowed to collude in excess of their statements of fact whereas an ordinary member of the public would definitely not be permitted to do that. We found that extremely insensitive.”

The IPCC review explained there had been some reported examples of good practice in the commission’s engagement with bereaved households.

With reference to problems of discrimination, the watchdog explained it would, in all situations, take into account whether this required investigation.

It also stated it was supplying ongoing refresher instruction for both investigators and casework managers above how to deal with allegations of discrimination.

Bereaved relatives criticise police watchdog more than deaths in custody

Experts criticise restriction on life-prolonging prostate cancer drug

3 months in the past Nice ruled that the drug would be produced available to these with cancer which has spread past the prostate, and who have stopped responding to therapy, right after the producers agreed a low cost on the £25,000 per patient price tag.

The charities feel doctors must be able to pick in between the two drugs and prescribe the one they consider their patient will reply to greatest.

In a letter to the Telegraph, the heads of Prostate Cancer Uk, the Institute of Cancer Study, Movember Uk, Tackle Prostate Cancer, and foremost clinicians Prof Jonathan Waxman, Prof Roger Kirby and Dr Simon Chowdhury, mentioned: “This illogical determination has been created with a lack of transparency and puts a huge burden on clinicians to select one therapy above the other without having understanding which would most benefit the guy.”

Experts stated the choice by Great would deny therapy to as many as three,000 men a 12 months.

Good explained that the modifications removed one more restriction which had previously been put forward and total that would suggest much more guys received accessibility to the drug.

Experts criticise restriction on life-prolonging prostate cancer drug