Politics
Trump will exploit American deaths
All six crewmembers of the US military tanker which crashed on 12 March 2026 are dead, after Trump carried out an unprovoked attack on Iran and brought severe unrest to the region. That brings the overall US death toll thirteen – officially, at least. The cause of the crash is unclear, as the Canary reported here.
Needless to say the number of innocent civilians killed across the region are still being counted and are unlikely to have anything like the same sort of news value in the Western legacy media.
For me, the crash summons an acute memory. Twenty years ago, I personally delivered the coffins meant for 14 dead airmen across Kandahar Airfield in Southern Afghanistan to the base’s medical centre where their remains were held.
Their Nimrod spy plane had crashed days earlier. Some reports blamed a fuel leak on the ageing aircraft.
Then as now, the airmen concerned died in a war of choice they were sent to because of the remote, hubristic ambitions of politicians thousand of miles away. Then as now, such deaths were useful to the political class at home.
Trump will fall for the sacrifice trap
One way of understanding how the deaths of these crew members will be received is to look at the ‘sacrifice trap’. I first heard the term in a 2018 report authored by scholar and anti-militarist writer professor Paul Dixon. He describes the trap as one of:
a range of rhetorical devices are identified to justify war.
This device was regularly used back then to head off public opposition to the failing Afghanistan war.
Here’s Dixon:
The Sacrifice Trap – refers to the situation in which the deaths of military personnel creates a
reason to prolong war in order to justify these sacrifices. As more die this creates further
reasons to justify their deaths by defeating the enemy.
You can almost hear a Trump or a Blair saying it now. ‘If we stop fighting, the previous deaths will have been for nothing’.
In this way, the last death becomes the justification for the next one.
Dixon again:
There is an incentive to put military personnel in harm’s way so that their sacrifice leads to the justification of war. The state escalates or continues to fight in order to justify prior sacrifices.
I haven’t heard this rhetorical device employed fully yet. The US leadership doesn’t seem to care much about public opposition… But in my opinion it is only a matter of time as the death toll mounts. And what I do know for sure is that Trump – whose rise to power is so deeply entangled with the War on Terror – won’t hesitate to wield its devices, narratives, and vocabulary for his own ends.
Featured image via the Canary
The confusion and fear over Trump’s illegal war on Iran are fuelling anger, even in his own ranks in the MAGA camp.
MAGA podcaster Joe Rogan has called Trump’s war plan ‘insane,’ as military families are flooding hotlines, desperate to avoid deployment. The fallout is now reaching areas Trump likely never expected to be touched.
Disquiet on the home front
US army veteran Mike Pryzner of the Center on Conscience and War, says service members are flooding his hotline.
[The] phone has been ringing off the hook. A LOT more units have just been activated for deployment than the public knows about… https://t.co/qax3F23lwM
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) March 6, 2026
In an interview with journalist Rania Khalek, Pryzner spoke of hundreds of calls his organisation has received in under a week, mostly from active-duty troops. Some are from guard and reserve units being activated. Others haven’t received orders yet but are worried they will.
JOE ROGAN TURNS ON TRUMP:
“A lot of people feel betrayed.
He ran on no more wars and these stupid, senseless wars.
And then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it.” pic.twitter.com/yNxehNu2Ly
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) March 11, 2026
“Right, he’s 80, he doesn’t have much to lose. That’s the scary thing about old leaders — it’s like, death is imminent. It’s within a decade, if you’re lucky,” Rogan said. “That’s spooky.”
JOE ROGAN IS DONE WITH TRUMP:
“He’s 80. He doesn’t have much to lose. That’s the scary thing about old leaders. Death is imminent. It’s within a decade.
You’re making decisions for the future of the world & you’ve only got maybe 10 years left on earth” pic.twitter.com/JWUI0TqvP1 https://t.co/jEWSJwf2EE
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) March 12, 2026
Who are the winners?
Pryzner said there is one group that is happy about all of this. A religious extremist faction inside the military—what he called a “crusader faction”—has been pushing for this war. They are the same people who think the Iraq war was not brutal enough.
For instance, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has got a kafir/كافر (infidel) tattoo under his Deus Vult tattoo a Crusader slogan.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has got a kafir/كافر (infidel) tattoo under his Deus Vult tattoo — a Crusader slogan. pic.twitter.com/XLxscgbSkp
— DOAM (@doamuslims) March 27, 2025
So, where do we currently stand?
US soldiers are begging to get out. The MAGA podcasters call the president insane. And the men with Crusader tattoos seemingly are the winners of Trump’s second term.
Featured image via the Canary
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have confirmed they are financing occupation, apartheid and genocide by funnelling £5.5 million into the coffers of an ‘Israeli’ firm. The Ditch report that the Six Counties (a term for the North of Ireland) force have a seven year contract with the company. It started in November 2019 and will terminate in the same month this year.
However, the PSNI are refusing to provide any further details about the company or the nature of the contract. They cite “national security” fears as the reason, the catch-all term relied upon by government departments when they don’t want embarrassing info getting out. Not only that, but the police force acknowledge they are actively trying to protect the profits of the Zionist land thieves:
A release under Freedom of Information is considered a release into the public domain and would therefore be a release in effect to other competitors. Disclosing the winning bid proposal in this matter would provide an advantage to rival businesses and undermine the main contractor’s trading ability to tender for future contracts.
PSNI breaking BDS
Good – undermining the trading ability of Zionist companies is exactly what everyone should be doing. It is a key way of holding to account the rogue, terrorist pseudo-state, when Western ruling classes refuse to do so.
It is called for the the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to do in the Zionist entity in the same way boycotting wrecked the racist regime of apartheid South Africa. Boycotting Zionist tech is especially crucial, given the key role it plays in the military-industrial-genocide complex of so-called ‘Israel’.
The PSNI elaborated on their “national security” worries by saying that releasing further information:
…would likely… endanger the physical or mental health or safety of individual officers.
They added:
Confirming or denying the existence of such arrangements on a blanket nationality basis could enable adversaries to build an intelligence picture across policing (the ‘mosaic effect’) and would be likely to prejudice law enforcement and/or national security functions.
If the firm is deeply tied into the Zionist entity’s recent mass slaughter campaigns, revealing its name would bring additional reputational damage to the PSNI. Though surprise, surprise – they don’t cite this as one of their reasons for refusing further details.
The PSNI have previously acknowledged they are looking into privacy breaching face scanner systems, known as Live Facial Recognition Technology (LFRT). British police have adopted the Zionist-made Corsight AI system as part of their roll-out of the notoriously unreliable tech. It is therefore possible that this firm is the one contracted by the PSNI. The company was founded in 2019, the same year the PSNI’s contract with the mystery apartheid firm started.
The force has a long history of backing the Zionist entity
The Ditch also point out a 2021 report by The Detail which highlights the North of Ireland force’s previous involvement with Zionist terrorists. At the time, they reported:
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is working on at least four security research projects which involve the Israeli ministry responsible for police and prisons, or a company providing surveillance to Israeli settlements.
The ‘Israeli’ prison complex is a gulag system used for mass torture, rape, murder, and molestation of children. Settlements – better described simply as ‘stolen land’ – are part of the ongoing project of illegal dispossession of Palestinian territory that has gone on for a century and more. The PSNI has seen it as perfectly fine to funnel money into ensuring that continues, even now in the wake of a holocaust.
The force has essentially operated as a proxy of the Zionist entity – launching frivolous prosecutions of peaceful activists; assisting in mass arrests violating free speech of anti-genocide campaigners; and just recently, abducting a Belfast campaigner from his home and falsely imprisoning him.
Clearly the PSNI don’t want further highlighting of their Zionist sympathies revealed through details of their exact current relationships with law-breaking Zionist companies. However, their systematic and sustained attempt to eliminate peaceful and lawful anti-holocaust resistance in the North of Ireland and England has proven beyond all doubt where they stand.
Featured image via the Canary
American political scientist and professor John Mearsheimer warned in an interview that if Israel starts losing its war on Iran, it will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons.
He described Israel as the most ruthless state on the planet and warned that its influence in Washington has dragged the US into a war it never should have fought.
Professor Mearsheimer warns that “no country on the planet is more cruel and deadly than Israel,” and cautions that if Israel begins to lose its war against Iran, it would not hesitate to consider using nuclear weapons. pic.twitter.com/TAFN9YiAxm
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 12, 2026
Israel have Trump in the palm of their hand
On the one hand – Mearsheimer describes Trump as a unilateralist who rejects international law and treats allies with contempt in the interview.
However, Mearsheimer suggests that Netanyahu has such a powerful hold on him that Trump’s unilateralist, deal-making persona can’t stand up to the pressure from the Israel lobby.
His damning judgement on Israel was shared by social media users.
“There is no state on the planet more ruthless, more murderous than Israel.”
Professor John Mearsheimer warns that if Israel starts losing the war against Iran, they will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons. pic.twitter.com/m3Re0fsp2Z
— DOAM (@doamuslims) March 12, 2026
American professor John Mearsheimer:
“This is a remarkably dangerous situation.
There is no state on the planet more ruthless, more murderous than Israel.
The idea that they would use nuclear weapons against Iran is certainly plausible. And I really worry about this scenario.” pic.twitter.com/1dASTInqMU
— sarah (@sahouraxo) March 12, 2026
Furkan Gözükara described it as the “ultimate nightmare scenario” to emphasize that, according to Mearsheimer, a nuclear strike represents the absolute worst outcome.
Wow Mearsheimer warns of the ultimate nightmare scenario: Israel using nuclear weapons against Iran. Since conventional weapons cannot stop Iran’s nuclear program, Israel is highly likely to launch a nuclear strike. pic.twitter.com/0XiYvJni24
— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) March 12, 2026
Iran won’t back down
In the interview, Mearsheimer stated that Israel’s goal is to “wreck” Iran.
He also pointed out that last year’s 12-day war ended because the Israelis and Americans decided to stop—not the Iranians.
In the current conflict, because the war poses an existential threat to the Iranian state, Mearsheimer argued that Iran can play the “long game.” He noted that they have enough short-range missiles and drones to sustain a prolonged conflict.
Other Mearsheimer clips are gaining traction on X, including his reference to a Lancet report stating that between 1971 and 2021, the U.S. murdered 38 million people through sanctions.
Prof. John Mearsheimer: Between 1971 and 2021, the US murdered 38 million people pic.twitter.com/QqzcVx8vHv
— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) March 9, 2026
As damning as Mearsheimer’s critique of Trump is, his judgment on Israel cuts far deeper.
Featured image via the Canary
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has insinuated that employers are abusing Access to Work. All so they don’t have to employ further staff or pay for reasonable adjustments.
Top DWP civil servants gave evidence at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and National Audit Office’s (NAO) joint inquiry into Access to Work. The department has rightly come under scrutiny for completely fucking up the scheme, which is supposed to help disabled people stay in work.
The department came under fire for not only horrendous delays to accessing the scheme, but how much they’re completely stripping away previously agreed support.
DWP blames employers for Access to Work failures
However, this is the DWP, so they had an excuse. And as expected it’s complete fucking bollocks. Instead of admitting that they’re cutting support to save a few quid, they blamed employers.
DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield said one of the problems was employers expecting Access to Work to provide things that should be covered under reasonable adjustments such as “ergonomic chairs”. Which to be fair, big employers should pay for, but it could also be a hindrance to employ a disabled person for smaller employers.
But then he also made an even worse claim:
The support worker plays a massively important role for so many customers, but we were seeing job aides whose role was not to help level the playing field up for customers with disabilities, but more to do a task that would be something that actually an employer would normally take on an additional employer to do.
So it was sort of misusing the scheme in a way that was inappropriate.
To put it clearly, the DWP is accusing employers of getting government-funded support workers instead of paying an extra employee.
He then explained this more explicitly
You can just imagine in a busy office environment what exactly is your role? I mean, are you doing this really important support work that was described by this customer in this case study, or are you doing something that is actually enabling the employer to avoid having to employ an extra person on the taxpayer’s expense?
And there it is, the reminder that disabled people are scrounging off the taxpayer. This, coupled with comments on the “changing nature of disability” and eligiblity reminds you what the DWP truly thinks of disabled people.
Neil Couling proving he’s still the worst person at the DWP
Of course, Neil Couling couldn’t resist getting in on this. Couling is most recently known for saying the carers allowance was carers own fault, actually.
He made an even wilder claim about employers abusing the system:
I’ve seen applications coming from big employers who, they literally have an access to work department, their job is in funnelling claims to DWP, I mean, at one level, I don’t mind that, if they also have a bigger reasonable adjustments team, they’re looking at what they can do in their own department under the Equalities Act, to do what they should be doing already.
He also attempted to justify why so many are now seeing their funding cut. Couling said:
We were making mistakes on cases in 23, 24, as we attempted to clear that backlog, as Peter suggested, in too much of a hurry,
So those cases are coming up now for renewal, and they are producing lower awards, and people are saying, ‘Why have I got a lower award? Nothing has changed in my life.’
But we’d wrongly gave them a job aide, normally for 100% of the time, and we should have given them about 20% of the time. Because the job aides are not designed to do the work, they’re meant to support, lift the disabled person to the same level of… an employee.
The end of this part here was truly bizarre to watch. Couling seemingly meant ‘nondisabled person’, not employee, but struggled to find the word. I’ve edited it out for clarity in the quote, but he actually said
lift the disabled person to the same level of a, of a, umm yknow, of an an employee.
I can only speculate, but it appeared like his internal monologue was going ‘don’t say normal person, don’t say normal person!’
They just doesn’t care about disabled people
They also couldn’t resist a sly dig at neurodivergent and mental health conditions. Speaking on the subject, Bill Thorpe, DWP director for disability and health support said:
It’s a kind of societal phenomenon that is very challenging. The Department for Health and Social Care are looking at this in their review into prevalence and what’s the best approach to support people.
The review he’s referring to here is Streeting’s obsession with overdiagnosis, which was disproven last week by thirty-two experts. It’s also happening at the same time that the DWP is working to tighten eligibility criteria for PIP.
It’s clear from the DWP’s evidence that they still don’t hold the tiniest shred of guilt or shame over the way they treat disabled people. The DWP don’t actually care about fixing their problems to best support disabled people, they’d much rather make it everyone else’s fault. But they’d especially rather use any way they can to tear down the very people they’re supposed to support
Featured image via the Canary
Indicted war criminal Yoav Gallant has issued a new call for genocide in Lebanon during an appearance on Israeli TV.
“We need to strike and eliminate everything that’s in Dahiya, Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, Nabatieh, everywhere”
Yesterday, Channel 12: Wanted war criminal Yoav Gallant calls for genocidal measures in Lebanon and Iran, and says that for “every bomb Israel drops, the Americans drop 2-3” https://t.co/GwA5ceGz1u pic.twitter.com/g8Q84IzNNH
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) March 12, 2026
He said that, in Lebanon, Israel needed to:
Eliminate everything that exists in Dahiya, Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, Nabatieh, everywhere.
Israel is telling the world exactly what it is going to do to Lebanon.
It sounds a little bit like, erm, war crimes?
The war criminal wanted by the ICC is as it again.
More innocent civilians will die, thanks to Israel. https://t.co/2lXWS9TBg4
— Ayesha Bagus 🇿🇦🇵🇸🇨🇩🇸🇩 (@Ayesha_Bagus) March 1, 2026
And it’s exactly what it did to Gaza.
International arrest warrant for man threatening Lebanon
Yoav Gallant is the former Minister of Defence of Israel, and the International Criminal Court currently has a warrant out for his arrest – along with one for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The charges against him are that he is:
Allegedly responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.
In other words, genocide.
He also described Israel’s three goals against Iran. Importantly, the third goal is “command and control” because powerful white men love nothing more than controlling black and brown people.
Reminding us why Yoav Gallant has an international arrest warrant on his head for genocide https://t.co/4GT2icT4Gy
— Cuniculus Villas (@CuniculusV15634) March 13, 2026
This is the same war criminal who threatened Palestinians during Ramadan in 2024.
Can anyone watch this video of Yoav Gallant congratulating/threatening Palestinians for Ramadan, and honestly say that he doesn’t think this guy is a psychopath? Seriously, it seems like he could just blow up any second. pic.twitter.com/5xSCoLKkHr
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) March 11, 2024
On October 9, 2023, Gallant said publicly:
I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.
He made his genocidal intentions for Gaza clear from the start – and still, the world stood idly by.
He is nothing but a war criminal.
Yoav Gallant is a genocidal war criminal who told the world – at the start – Israel’s intent to starve the people of Gaza.
He is also regarded as too moderate by Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabal.
His firing means an escalation of Israel’s genocidal mayhem. https://t.co/LmTEatZO6P pic.twitter.com/QgMO0zIFMc
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) November 5, 2024
Now, Gallant is making public statements about Israel’s intentions for Lebanon. Once again, the world is siding with Israel, despite watching the settler-colonial terrorist state indiscriminately kill for years.
Again and again they tell us exactly what they are going to do and our media tells us they’re not. Millions of people displaced, losing everything because this tiny country’s messianic supremacist government tells them to. Why can’t they be stopped? https://t.co/7uuhSCBhAE
— Gus Sproul (@AngusSproul) March 13, 2026
The Dahiya doctrine
Israel is no stranger to using disproportionate force.
The Dahiya Doctrine is an Israeli military doctrine that calls for the use of massive, disproportionate force and the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Genocide is literally written into Israeli military doctrine.
Who the hell do these people think they are? The Yoav Gallants, the Lindsey Grahams, the Benjamin Netanyahus & Donald Trumps.
They’re ignorant, arrogant, entitled old men – yet they seem to have most of the world trembling before them.
Stop trembling & take the bastards out https://t.co/Oidlm4Zu6y
— Karyn Taylor-Moore (@TaylorMooreK) March 2, 2026
Would any other state (except the US!) get away with such a violent military policy?
The policy of the Israeli state is explicitly to target family and children, which is part of “The Dahiya Doctrine”. Name another state that has such an explicit policy. https://t.co/688GBsjNri
— Ashok Kumar | 🇵🇸 (@broseph_stalin) February 20, 2026
It seems the more Israel gets a taste of its own medicine, the more it tries to prove a point by eliminating innocent people.
The more Israel gets its ass kicked by Iran, the more it is desperate for a “victory” by genociding its neighbors. Israel is a sadistic, racist threat to millions of human lives and needs to be promptly legally dismantled. https://t.co/VWpwAMkrGO
— Heidi N. Moore (@moorehn) March 12, 2026
Yet still, Western governments want us to believe that Hamas and Hezbollah are the bad guys. Meanwhile, Trump and his pals are getting away with raping children:
Western governments are supporting delusional, genocidal monsters in Israel. Yet the Epstein Class waonts you to blame Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. Think about that. #GMB #BBCBreakfast #r4today #EpsteinFury #KeirStarmer #Trump #Macron #Merz #No2NATO #IranWar #Lebanon #Iraq #US https://t.co/G1C2umT7Ex
— Penforjustice (@Penforjustice) March 13, 2026
But the biggest terror cell is Israel – and it’s using the same genocidal rhetoric we’ve seen for years in Gaza.
Over and over again, Israeli politicians tell the world what they are going to do. The media ignores it, refuses to use the word genocide and then watches as Israel exterminates thousands of people and displaces even more.
Israel does not want to free Lebanon from Hezbollah, or women from the Iranian regime. It wants genocide, blood, and death.
And let’s not forget they’re doing all of this during Ramadan – showing once again how little regard Israel has for Muslim lives.
Featured image via Sky News/YouTube
We spoke to the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man cast about the new film! Join Cillian Murphy, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth and Steven Knight as they discuss Tommy Shelby’s legacy, how amazing the film set was and having input on the soundtrack.
So, our government says it doesn’t want war with Iran, yet backs the warhawks attacking Iran, and tells the British public that flying sorties ‘saves’ British lives.
British MPs are still straddling the fence over Trump’s Iran war. But, even the Zionist-leaning Telegraph warned that these developments could plunge the country into a recession as the world braces for stratospheric jumps in food and oil prices.
But, with oil prices soaring, many countries are having to rethink their relationship to Russia.
Iran war pushes Western re-consideration of Russia
On 12 March, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X that the US Treasury will temporarily permit countries “to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea.”
Bessent spoke of the need to “promote stability in global energy.” However, considering the 10 plus years of US sanctions on Russia, America has just dealt itself a hard backhand slap. The waiver will run until 11 April and is reportedly limited to cargoes “in transit.”
However, UK MP Michael Shanks, told Sky News this morning that UK sanctions on Russia would stay in place.
Minister Michael Shanks is asked about the US lifting some sanctions on Russian oil. He says it’ll help Russia & thats a shame.
Maybe the UK govt should be putting pressure on the US & Israel to end their illegal war? But instead of doing that you’re helping the US to bomb Iran! pic.twitter.com/Z8HnpGSYu3
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 13, 2026
Shanks said that the UK will do anything possible not to grease the wheels of the Russian war machine.
What about the US war machine “mowing the lawn” in Iran Mr Shanks?
There has been no pressure from Labour to get the US to draw back. Instead, there is plenty of pressure coming from Washington to Starmer for more support. But, Starmer has insisted the UK will not ease sanctions on Russia:
All partners should maintain pressure on Russia and its war chest.
Yes to encroaching war with Iran, then, but no to oil via Russia.
Trump’s causes confusion by lifting Russian sanctions
LBC host, James O’Brien, much like the British government, is appalled by Trump’s sanctions waiver on Russian oil.
‘How do you make sense of this madness?’
James O’Brien can’t believe Donald Trump is fighting a war with Iran whilst relaxing sanctions on their ally, Russia. pic.twitter.com/tqCi6w2vK6
— LBC (@LBC) March 13, 2026
The enraged LBC host appears confused as to why Vladimir Putin – accused by UK Defence Secretary John Healey of supporting Iran “using methods learned on Ukraine battlefield” – is receiving relaxed sanctions from Trump’s administration.
He isn’t the one one who’s confused.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US decision to ease sanctions was “wrong” as he warned over the Kremlin profiting from the war on Iran. Adding Russia may stand to benefits from the oil price surge to fund its ongoing war with Kiev.
#BREAKING Germany’s Merz calls US decision to lift sanctions on Russian oil ‘wrong,’ vows to continue support for Ukraine pic.twitter.com/Sxnarvglk6
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) March 13, 2026
For now, the UK is walking a tightrope—neither fully standing up to the Americans nor wholeheartedly fighting their war. Perhaps not out of moral righteousness, but because the myth of invincibility has always been just that as long argued by our very own Joe Glenton:
by its lack of foresight and strategic blundering, the US and Israel have handed effective control of a big chunk of the world’s economy to Iran. The US looks to have completely underestimated Iran: a country which seems to grow more determined, angry and defiant by the hour.
Featured image via the Canary
The post Zack Polanski: king of the cranks appeared first on spiked.
Politics
The House | To prepare for national emergencies, we must build resilience into our mental healthcare system
(John Eveson / Alamy)
3 min read
The mental health impacts of the pandemic finally got a proper airing at the last module of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. But the struggle to get mental health onto the inquiry’s agenda mirrors the fight for mental health to be taken seriously at the start of the pandemic and the broader ongoing fight for mental health.
A fight in which mental health, despite progress, does not have parity of esteem with physical health – mental health makes up around 20 per cent of NHS cases but receives less than 10 per cent of funding; and a fight in which the policy response is still lacking. Had Mind and others not campaigned hard for its inclusion in the inquiry, mental health would have been an afterthought again.
It’s true the Covid-19 pandemic created a mental health crisis in several different ways. But it’s also true that in many ways it simply turned up the heat on what was a slow burning crisis already in motion – overstretched services already unable to meet growing demand.
As the pandemic hit, thousands who were already receiving support saw that help delayed, disrupted or moved out of reach just when they needed it most.
Module 10 of the inquiry mattered because it finally took mental health seriously on its own terms. But if this moment is to mean anything, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: the UK’s mental health system was vulnerable long before the pandemic, and in many respects it is more vulnerable now.
We must also be honest about who paid the highest price. Racialised communities, people in poverty and disabled people faced disproportionate risks and poorer outcomes. Women and girls were exposed to higher levels of abuse at home. Young people missed key milestones, saw their education disrupted, and were isolated from their friends. Inequality isn’t a footnote; it is the central story of the pandemic.
It’s also an uncomfortable truth that people with severe mental illness were more likely to find themselves in situations that exposed them to the virus, which they were also more likely to die from.
Why did the system bend so quickly under pressure? The mismatch between the burden on the NHS and funding meant services were already stretched before the first lockdown, and the shock of Covid-19 pushed a fragile system closer to the edge.
The result was longer waits, higher thresholds, exhausted staff and inconsistent quality at the very moment demand surged. Funding alone will not fix this. We need both spending and structural reform for the mental health system to work.
We must design for the inevitable surge in mental health problems during national emergencies in the same way we plan for acute bed capacity in winter. This means ensuring that every base is covered, including infection control guidance for mental health; building social connection into public health planning; and equipping health systems to deliver hybrid mental health care.
We need to embed voluntary and community sector partners, like the federation of local Minds, into local and national planning. These organisations are rooted in communities, understand the unique needs of the people they serve and know how to respond effectively.
It is essential we protect the people we know are at higher risk. The data was there before the pandemic. We need mandatory equality impact assessments built into national emergency planning to ensure that all groups receive the appropriate support.
This needs to form part of a shift towards building trusting therapeutic relationships between patients and professionals and delivering holistic care and support. Getting this right will allow us to build a resilient system for crises we will inevitably face in the future, and also help to create a mental health system that provides accessible and high-quality care right now.
Module 10 was a moment of national reckoning with what happened, what went wrong, and how we avoid the mistakes of the past. The inquiry’s recommendations can shape a lasting legacy: a resilient, compassionate and effective mental health system that delivers the support people need, in calm and in crisis alike. That is the least we owe people.
Dr Sarah Hughes is CEO of the charity Mind
If you’re a gardener, chances are you have a tense relationship with slugs.
Even though only nine of the 44 species in the UK actually eat your veggies. , and while they’re key to feeding our dwindling bird population, it can be hard to give unwanted visitors grace if they’re making your garden suffer.
Still, there are lots of reasons – like the fact that biodiverse gardens fare better – not to kill them. Some turn to repellants over pesticides, some of which are illegal in the UK anyway.
That can include placing “barriers,” like crushed eggshells, around your plants. But that might not work.
There’s not much evidence to suggest eggshells repel slugs
The idea is simple: when you place crushed eggshells on the ground, the theory goes, it makes an uncomfortable carpet for slugs.
So, they turn away from your budding blooms rather than face the sharp, stabbing sensations of crawling over broken shells.
But McGill University’s (MU) Office for Science and Society, as well as the staff at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) put that theory to the test, and both of them found the same thing.
The MU team placed crushed eggshells around some lettuce (which slugs love), and found it didn’t stop them at all.
And the RHS research, which took place over six weeks, found that plants “protected” by crushed eggshells didn’t fare any better than those with the smashed-up shells.
Side note – in the RHS investigation, no “barrier” methods, including copper tape, pine bark mulch, sharp horticultural grit, and wool pellets, worked.
So, how should I keep slugs away from my garden?
Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, the RHS’ senior wildlife specialist, Helen Bostock, said: “A vibrant garden ecosystem is one that requires [fewer] inputs from gardeners,” including sprays, because “natural predators” will help yo manage slugs, aphids, snails, and more.
So, trying to attract more birds to your garden can be a great first step.
And when you water your garden matters, too.
In one study, researchers found that watering your garden in the morning, rather than later on, is “as good as metaldehyde pellets” for keeping slugs away (metaldehyde pellets were banned in the UK in 2022).
Ferric phosphate pellets are still allowed, but, the RHS said, “slug pellets (even organic ones) have been shown to have negative effects on wildlife in the garden”.
SHOCKING RIPPLE NEWS for XRP HOLDERS!!! (BRAD Speaks)
Mortgage rates surge to highest since September
What next for crypto market as stablecoin MC hits $315B ATH?
-
News Videos4 days ago10th Algebra | Financial Planning | Question Bank Solution | Board Exam 2026
-
Tech3 days agoA 1,300-Pound NASA Spacecraft To Re-Enter Earth’s Atmosphere
-
Crypto World4 days agoParadigm, a16z, Winklevoss Capital, Balaji Srinivasan among investors in ZODL
-
Business3 days agoExxonMobil seeks to move corporate registration from New Jersey to Texas
-
Tech3 days agoChatGPT will now generate interactive visuals to help you with math and science concepts
-
Sports6 days agoThree share 2-shot lead entering final round in Hong Kong
-
Sports6 days agoBraveheart Lakshya downs Lai in epic battle to enter All England Open final | Other Sports News
-
NewsBeat2 days agoResidents reaction as Shildon murder probe enters second day
-
Entertainment7 days agoHailey Bieber Poses For Sexy Selfies In New Luscious Lip Thirst Traps
-
Business2 days agoSearch Enters Sixth Week With New Leads in Tucson Abduction Case
-
Business5 days agoSearch for Nancy Guthrie Enters 37th Day as FBI Probes Wi-Fi Jammer Theory
-
NewsBeat4 days agoPagazzi Lighting enters administration as 70 jobs lost and 11 stores close across Scotland
-
Tech4 days agoDespite challenges, Ireland sixth in EU for board gender diversity
-
Business4 days agoSearch Enters 39th Day with FBI Tip Line Developments and No Major Breakthroughs
-
NewsBeat2 days agoI Entered The Manosphere. Nothing Could Prepare Me For What I Found.
-
Business7 days agoIran war enters second week as Trump demands ’unconditional surrender’
-
Sports4 days agoSkateboarding World Championships: Britain’s Sky Brown wins park gold
-
Fashion2 hours agoWeekend Open Thread: Addict Lip Glow
-
Crypto World3 days agoWill Chainlink price reclaim $10 amid volatility squeeze?
-
Sports2 days agoPWHL, Senators discussing plan to keep Charge in Ottawa