School closures: weighing up the consequences

"School closures are likely to have a relatively small impact on the spread of Covid-19 and should be weighed against their profound economic and social consequences, particularly for the most vulnerable children, according to a UK study."

"The research, led by University College London (UCL), is the first to look at evidence behind many governments’ decision to shut schools and keep pupils at home."

"According to the UN’s education body, Unesco, more than 90% of the world’s pupils have been affected by closures."

"The UCL-led study concludes that the evidence to support the closure of schools to combat Covid-19 is “very weak”, and statistics from influenza outbreaks suggest school closures “could have relatively small effects on a virus with Covid-19’s high transmissibility and apparent low clinical effect on schoolchildren”."

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/06/school-closures-have-little-impact-on-spread-of-coronavirus-study?fbclid=IwAR0vXD3evoa2DsD2g6kNIgqItaRbNr3yPCPctacsd0pRbT2VKcQ5eMwTNDQ

On Fox News, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO)  said that due to lockdowns the home was now the place of infection and authorities might have to enter people`s homes to remove infected adults and children.

Yet children must stay home

With the lack of fresh air and sunshine, cramped conditions for many, increased risk of mental health issues, domestic violence and child abuse, any benefits there might have been for a few, surely, cannot justify harming a whole population of vulnerable children. 

The benefits of a peer group

Research shows that autistic individuals may derive benefit from being part of a group with other autistic people. This does raise questions about the popular policy of `inclusivity within education establishments.` How may a minority group be successfully integrated into a larger, more typical group?

=============================

"The results align with previous research on the challenges that autistic people face when interacting with non-autistic others, but highlight that interactions with other autistic people are fundamentally different. All participants reported that spending time with non-autistic family and friends involved specific difficulties, which were not experienced when interacting with other autistic friends and family. This aligns with the double-empathy theory of autism which suggests that autistic and non-autistic people have a mutual difficulty in understanding and empathising with one another due to differences in how each person understands and experiences the world, rather than because of a communicative deficit on the part of the autistic person (Milton, 2012). Neurotypical people have been shown to overestimate how ego-centric their autistic family members are (Heasman & Gillespie, 2018), and overestimate how helpful they are to autistic people (Heasman & Gillespie, 2019). Our findings suggest that this translates into real-world difficulties in interactions with neurotypical friends and family that may affect the mental health, well-being and self-esteem of autistic people."

"One example of how interacting with non-autistic peers could have a negative impact was that it made them more acutely aware of their own minority status within a majority neurotypical society. Having to adapt to neurotypical ways of interacting and socialising caused feelings of inadequacy and shame. Similar findings have been described by Humphrey and Lewis (2008), who found that autistic adolescents surrounded by neurotypical pupils in mainstream secondary schools experienced negative self-image relating to autism. After time spent with majority neurotypical peers, autistic pupils often characterised their differences negatively, believing they had a ‘bad brain’ and wanted to ‘fit in’ with their peers (Humphrey & Lewis, 2008)."

Conclusion...

"These results suggest that spending time with other autistic people and within autistic spaces may be beneficial to the mental health of autistic people. In the context of calls for better mental health interventions (Cusack & Sterry, 2016), it is important to develop evidence-based, feasible and acceptable models of autistic peer support and evaluate these for potential mental health benefits. These findings may also be helpful for autistic people in environments in which they are a social minority, such as in education and employment, by enhancing understanding of autistic communication. We hope that a greater understanding of the contexts in which autistic people can have comfortable, natural and easy social interactions will contribute to an evidence base that service providers can draw on to develop better healthcare and education for autistic people."

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361320908976

System detains young people inappropriately

"Evidence to the inquiry into the detention of young people with learning disabilities and/or autism was so `stark` and consistent that the Committee says it has `lost confidence that the system is doing what it says it is doing and the regulator's method of checking is not working. It has been left to the media, notably the BBC and Ian Birrell in the Mail on Sunday, to expose abuse. No-one thinks this is acceptable.` In relation to the Care Quality Commission, the Committee finds that `a regulator which gets it wrong is worse than no regulator at all`... "

"The Committee describes the `grim`, predictable pathway to inappropriate detention in these potentially `brutal` circumstances: Early family concerns raised with the GP or school lead to lengthy waits for assessment and diagnosis while the family struggles on alone, trying to cope. Then some trigger – a home move, a parent falling ill – unsettles the young person and their condition deteriorates. Professionals meet to discuss what should happen, but parents are not included. The child is taken away from their home and the familiarity and routine so essential to them, often many miles away and placed with strangers. Desperately concerned parents are treated as hostile and as a problem."

"Under these conditions, the young person unsurprisingly gets worse and is then put through physical restraint and solitary confinement - which the institution calls `seclusion`. As the child gets even worse so plans to return home are shelved. The days turn into weeks, then months and in some cases even years..."

Go to https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/human-rights-committee/news-parliament-2017/detention-learning-disabilities-autism-young-people-report-published-19-20/?fbclid=IwAR2FhTgIij2ItHiL4v6SBgBFzQWyfFavwMm_w3mSCiFxjKLbus8wRk49SdE

　

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news

Assange court appearance

Craig Murray blogs about the recent court appearance of Julian Assange who is showing signs of psychological deterioration:

"The effort then seemed to become too much, his voice dropped and he became increasingly confused and incoherent. He spoke of whistleblowers and publishers being labeled enemies of the people, then spoke about his children’s DNA being stolen and of being spied on in his meetings with his psychologist. I am not suggesting at all that Julian was wrong about these points, but he could not properly frame nor articulate them. He was plainly not himself, very ill and it was just horribly painful to watch. Baraitser showed neither sympathy nor the least concern. She tartly observed that if he could not understand what had happened, his lawyers could explain it to him, and she swept out of court."

Read the full account below:

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/10/assange-in-court/

Positive news about Melanie

Update from Brian Gerrish who has recently visited Melanie Shaw in Rampton Hospital:


"Melanie looks well and I understand she now looks considerably better than when she first arrived at Rampton from prison, where she endured some 19 months in solitary confinement and was very badly treated in a number of ways. "

"I was very encouraged by the positive and caring attitude of the Rampton staff who attended my visit, and I would like to say that I am sure they have Melanie's best interests at heart, and are doing their best for her. Melanie is taking medication, but was upbeat, chatty and clearly knew what her situation was, and what she wanted to achieve to improve her situation."

"Her position is very delicate at the moment as Rampton is a high security hospital and progress towards a more relaxed environment, and ultimately release, will be involved and will take time. Appropriate matters in a medical and legal sense are also proceeding, but I am not at liberty to mention details."

"Having said that, Melanie's conditions in Rampton are steadily improving and she is now able to participate in more social activities that are available, including time working in the garden growing area outside. This is a hugely positive change for her after her protracted time in prison."

Read more: https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/important-update-melanie-shaw-beechwood-abuse-survivor?fbclid=IwAR1PMDBHcUmzkzjNn8f2kHCm1ufnEJRIZdIgvWpHV-E2IkDYVwD9vLh5qKQuk

Beechwood in the news

Melanie Shaw Awareness Day, Manchester 2019

=========================

Meanwhile:

"A woman in her 40s has been awarded more than £20,000 in criminal damages over the sexual abuse she suffered at Beechwood children’s home over 30 years ago."

"The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a resident at the home in Mapperley in the 1980s."

"The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which is a Government agency, has awarded the former resident £22,000 damages."

"This is despite the fact that the people she said had abused her did not face any charges against her..."

"Although the location of Beechwood is within the city boundaries, it was being run by the county council during the time the woman was there."

"The council has already paid out over £2.5m to more than 125 people in civil compensation to people who were in children's homes and foster care."

"Of the civil claims made to both the city and county councils, more than 140 relate to Beechwood."

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/former-beechwood-resident-receives-22000-2980031?fbclid=IwAR3eV84pscVvVlVwwRPrMF5Uza5VGlmZDq_h3DqxudvKRXD8c1u-n01c3sA

Mental health connections

[UK Column 7th June 2019 ]

"This is a website which has this amazing story:  `UK University to monitor social media accounts to identify suicidal students` and it`s by a gentleman called David McCourt."

"`Northumbria University in the North East of England is set to take the radical step of using data collected from students` social media accounts in a bid to reduce climbing student suicide rates. The higher educational institution, located in Newcastle upon Tyne, will create an Early Alert Tool to offer aid to undergrads in crisis`."

"So this was a bit more of it. So the university is working in partnership with nine other organisations on the project and they`ve been awarded funding by the Office for Students (OfS). A total of £14.5 million has been put aside by OfS, £6 million of which will go to the social media scanning project, and another £8.5 million going to nine other collaborative projects."

"Now I find this quite extraordinary," says Brian Gerrish, "That these sums of money are being put into watching students` social media. "

"This is another paragraph: `Few details were given about what information exactly would be mined from students` social media accounts. The project will raise concerns about the invasion of privacy, but these issues could be eased somewhat by an opt-in policy that requires students to consent to being part of the program`."

"Now we spoke to the Office for Students and said: `Well, are students going to be able to opt in or opt out? And they said to us that: `Well they don`t know at the moment because the project hasn`t really been formulated`. So we`ve given money for a project which the donor of that public money doesn`t even know what these key details are about."

Mike Robinson comments: "So they`re going to hoover up all this data. Now twitter, facebook and so on, they provide apps to do that. So take part in those platforms, anybody can hoover up your data. But the question here for me is: is this going to end at identifying people that are at risk of suicide or perhaps will they be looking at other forms of thought crime?"

Brian Gerrish: "Well is this just going to be one arm of the Prevent strategy and project Channel, so that if you dare express anything the state believes is right wing extremist you`re going to be reported through to the Prevent system?"

"Let`s have a look at what the Chief Executive said. This is Nicola Dandridge and she said: `Whenever I talk to students, improving mental health support is consistently raised as a priority. Taking preventative action to promote good mental health is critical, as is taking a whole institution approach and involving students in developing solutions..."

"So apparently, we`re at the stage where students are not thinking about their education and how good that education is, they`re preoccupied with their mental health. If that`s true, we`re in a pretty serious position. I`m not sure what the truth is, but we`ll just follow this through a bit."

 

"Here`s the Office for Students. They`re independent, Mike, as always. They were appointed by central government, and they`re connected through to central government, but they are independent." 

"And we`ve got some interesting people here. Here`s Sir Michael Barber, the chair, and he started out as chief adviser to the Secretary of State for Education in 1997 and he was part of the Prime Minister`s Delivery Unit. So very much an establishment man but everything is independent of government here. And he did a little bit of work with consultancy McKinsey who, of course, has done a lot of work in most governments."

"We`ve got Gurpreet Dehal. He`s a trustee of the multi-school academy trust E-ACT. He also holds non-executive positions with the Ministry of Defence and Equity UK..."

"And we`ve got Martin Coleman, deputy chairman of the board and chairs the Provider Risk Committee. And I found this interesting... he`s a trustee of an organisation called Police Now. I had no idea what that was. So we followed through. Here it is."

"`Join us, change the story, and `Police Now is on a mission to `transform communities, reduce crime and increase the public`s confidence in policing by recruiting and developing outstanding and diverse individuals to be leaders in society and on the policing frontlines`. So you`re not a policeman any more. You`re going to be changing the whole of society."

Mike Robinson: "So this is Common Purpose for police."

"It`s Common Purpose for police; I would say so. And we`ve got some interesting people here. So we`ve got a David Spencer,  co-founder and chief executive officer. He was an officer in the Met Police. So I suppose that makes sense. But he`s done a lot of political degrees... If you have a look at the bottom."

`Dave has a Business degree from the University of Sheffield, a Masters degree in US Politics from the University of London, and is currently studying his research Masters in Politics from the University of London`. 

"We`ve got another police constable there, Tor Garnett... So Sir Ian Powell we`ve got, left Pricewaterhouse Coopers on 13th of June 2016 on completion of his second and final four year term as chairman and senior partner.  Pricewaterhouse, of course, very interesting company with lots of very big government contracts, but he then joined the board of Capita PLC on 1st September as chairman designate. So he`s chairman of Police Now and a member of the committee for the National Gallery."

"So interesting connections. And the other gentleman there, James Darley - well he`s been working in graduate recruitment and he`s got a background in credit Swiss bank. And it`s just interesting to say how does this relationship work? [It`s] where we`re really coming to. And I can`t explain it."

"No," says Mike Robinson.

"We could go on a little bit more. We`ll just do these. Director general for tax and welfare at HM Treasury, James Bowler. So he, according to this report, is the Director General for tax and welfare at HM Treasury."

Mike Robinson: "But he`s helping Police Now transform secure society."

"Yes."

"Good stuff."

"Yeah."

Mike Robinson: "I mean what can we say about this?"

"Not a lot."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6mt5H3aChk

ACE awareness

John Swinney MSP referring to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at the ACE aware nation conference and his ambition that Scotland will be the first ACE-aware nation in the world========================
 
The Scottish Review:

"Nobody would dispute that childhood, adversity and development are important when it comes to adult 'mental health' and physical health, especially in people who present with issues in adulthood, but the evidence on ACEs does not support a 'risk preventative' psycho-social public health policy that targets everybody, especially children who are 'well'... "

"... Children as young as a five are asked to reflect upon relationships, emotions and their families. Psychological projection tools are used which encourage such reflection and yield much information (i.e., qualitative data) on children's families, lifestyles, struggles, problems and difficulties. "

"Anecdotal reports are suggesting that younger children are becoming confused and distressed with this aspect of the school curriculum (an ACE in itself?). And these 'lessons' are conducted without informed consent or consultation with parents..."

"The Scottish Government have been here before; their failed Named Person Scheme proposal was deemed by the courts to be unnecessarily intrusive, destructive of family life and highly totalitarian. With ACEs, who some critics believe is the Named Person Plan B, we are again getting into totalitarian lands."

"These curricular developments are wholly inappropriate; the school is not a place where you meddle with the 'mental health' of a child, or extract information from them on issues pertaining to 'mental health' and well-being."

http://www.scottishreview.net/BruceScott475a.html

Psychological torture in specialist hospital

"The abuse and mistreatment of vulnerable adults at a specialist hospital has been uncovered by the BBC's Panorama programme."

"Undercover BBC filming shows staff intimidating, mocking and restraining patients with learning disabilities and autism at Whorlton Hall, County Durham."

"Experts said the culture was deviant at the privately-run NHS-funded unit with evidence of `psychological torture`."

"A police investigation has been launched and 16 staff suspended."

"The 17-bed hospital is one of scores of such units in England that provide care for just below 2,300 adults with learning disabilities and autism."

"Many are detained under the Mental Health Act."

"Glynis Murphy, professor of clinical psychology and disability at Kent University's Tizard Centre, said much of what Panorama had found was the `absolute antithesis` of good care."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48367071?fbclid=IwAR2c6uhHcdENpqxGEkjB9YBYi9xMVgNJDc-EngcKdGGozesKZz2NdEMl84U

Melanie Shaw confined without limit

 

"Melanie Shaw, the woman who was one of the first people to report historic sex abuse at Beechwood children`s home, has been given a hospital order and will stay in Rampton to be treated."

"The 48-year-old was sentenced today, Tuesday April 2, after setting fire to the bedding in her prison cell because she felt her human rights were being abused."

"At Leeds Crown Court she was given a section 37 hospital order, which means that she will be sent to hospital for treatment, rather than to prison."

"But she was also given a section 41 restriction order, which can be added to a hospital order if the court feels the person is a risk to the public - and which has no fixed time limit..."

"Making the hospital order - which needs evidence from two doctors - Judge Penelope Belcher said that 40 pages of reports had been provided by the doctors, providing details of Shaw`s medical history, background, previous convictions and attitude."

"She said: `Both doctors are of the view this lady will respond to treatment, and there is a bed available`."

"`Both doctors are also of the view a section 41 restriction order is necessary. The order should be known as a restriction order..."

"Under the Mental Health Act 1983, as amended by the Mental Health Act 2007, a section 37 hospital order can be granted for up to six months at a time, can then be renewed for a further six months, and then for one year at a time."

"However, if a section 41 restriction order is imposed, for the 'protection of the public from serious harm', this changes the time limit of the hospital order, and has no fixed time limit."

"It means that the person can only be discharged with permission from the Secretary of State for Justice."

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/melanie-shaw-given-hospital-order-2711679?fbclid=IwAR3rROcpe8jKaSV6s640IANpvNEYuPWqHt0eecQMQYL6TbCQwi0gm2rB5NE

"It has also been claimed on social media that Melanie is currently not allowed to receive visitors at Rampton, with it being `in the patient's best interests not to have contact with anyone`."

"Nottinghamshire Live has been unable to confirm this, as both the Ministry of Justice and Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, which runs Rampton Hospital, say they do not comment on individual cases."

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/what-happens-melanie-shaw-now-2723840?fbclid=IwAR3lWT2TM5jkVqNbplmco15dAAZ_xFn5m39cW_VuFyXYCZjYO8DR4exjT5o

Melanie Shaw update

Mental health assessments

The government has announced "one of the largest mental health trials in schools, which will see 370 schools contributing evidence about the best mental health support and wellbeing practices for chidren and young people..."

"New mental health assessments for children entering the care system will be piloted in nine areas. Five approaches will be used in the trials – two focusing on increasing awareness in secondary schools through specialist instruction sessions and tools to increase understanding, meanwhile three approaches will include primary schools and take a lighter-touch approach with breathing exercises and mindfulness lessons."

https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/02/04/education-in-the-media-monday-4-february-2019/

Meanwhile the Mental Health Foundation in Scotland is pursuing its `Make it Count` campaign, one of the aims of which is that all pupils will take part in a `wellbeing questionnaire once a term to identify and address problems early by 2020`.

That is, mental ill health prevention in schools is useful in the sense that it may be used as a justification for collecting personal data.

But charities and governments keep forgetting that data collection without informed consent conflicts with human rights.

Melanie Shaw case adjourned until February 11

"The sentencing of Melanie Shaw over three charges of prison arson has been adjourned for four weeks."

"The 48-year-old was due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court today, Monday, after a jury in the same court in October had found that she had committed three counts of arson being reckless as to whether property was damaged or destroyed."

"The October proceedings were a 'trial of facts' to establish if she had carried out the acts, rather than a formal trial with a 'guilty' verdict', because [she] was deemed unfit to stand trial."

"During today's hearing, which lasted less than five minutes, Judge Belcher said she was not happy with a report that had been supplied by a doctor."

"The judge said the case `can't be dealt with today`."

"She requested further doctor's reports from the defence and adjourned the case until February 11, where she said she would decide on the sentence."

"The judge said: `I adjourn this case for the 11th of February. Reports requested for a hospital order`."

"Shaw did not appear in person for the hearing today. Around 15 of her supporters were in the public gallery for the hearing." 

 "The offences were carried out on February 8 and February 10, 2017, at HMP Foston Hall, Derby; and on June 21 at New Hall prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire."

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/melanie-shaw-arson-sentencing-adjourned-2426844?fbclid=IwAR3dJ_BK8H5BVdbT9zb-73w-eLfPJ4cD-cYXunvcwxUpAt_5K26Lgu2Ym44

Judge Belcher arranges more delays for Melanie Shaw

Bad news for Melanie:

Melanie Shaw and a `trial of facts`

[UK Column News: 17 October 2018]

"We don`t normally start with an apology but I`ll give the apology. We`re going to show you a little bit of what Google has been doing but this is in relation to the court case of Melanie Shaw. So let`s have a look."

"Fascinating that after months and months and months of nothing about Melanie Shaw on Google. When you search her story, you search Nottingham child abuse, you search for Beechwood home, all of the information had gone down, nothing of the original story from the Nottingham Post or the BBC or any of the other so-called mainstream media, including the big named papers, of course, the Telegraph and the Guardian, absolutely nothing. Melanie`s now been through a particularly vile court hearing and suddenly she`s all over the internet. Just a coincidence Mike?"

Mike Robinson: "Yes, so first and second on the front page there. But has Melanie been through a court case ?"

"Well we`re going to have a little bit of a discussion about that. Let`s just look at what`s come out so far and we`ll go to the Nottingham Post because they`ve obviously taken great delight in reporting this. And so here we are; here`s the headline: `Jury decides that Beechwood whistleblower Melanie Shaw set fire to her cell three times. The defence offered no evidence in the case. Shaw was deemed unfit to stand trial so a finding of fact was conducted in her absence. The jury of five men and seven women took less than an hour to find that Shaw did the acts. They were instructed to reach a not guilty verdict on a further count of arson`. So quite interesting reporting here Mike because they do say that she was absent but then the whole style of the article, it`s as if what was said had come out of the mouth of Melanie Shaw."

Mike Robinson: "Well OK. But the first thing you notice here is they`re talking about a `finding of fact`. We`re going to talk about this a little bit later."

"Indeed. So let`s just put some of the key points up on the screen."

"So Melanie was found guilty of the arson charges. Now I understand the sentencing is on the 15th November 2018. I have seen the 12th of November reported in some places but I think it`s the 15th. People are very welcome to correct me if I`m wrong. Melanie was not well enough to attend Leeds Crown Court nor did she testify by video. She was simply not present at her own court hearing which was allegedly called a `trial of facts`and the defence offered no further evidence."

"Now what was actually going on here Mike? A lot of people who attended the court case were totally bemused at how there could be a court case with a jury and no Melanie called. I also believe there was no psychiatric expert in court to explain why Melanie wasn`t present. That may not be correct but I believe that was the case. So what was this trial of facts?"

Mike Robinson: "Right. So the question is what is a trial of facts?Because the last time we heard about a trial of facts was with respect to Lord Janner here in the Guardian. Lord Janner case: what is a trial of the facts?"

"And it says here `The defendant cannot put forward a defence; there can be no verdict of guilty and the court cannot pass sentence. In a trial of the facts the jury is asked to decide on the basis of evidence adduced by the prosecution lawyer and by lawyers who put forward the case for the defence whether or not the accused did the facts that he or she was charged with. Because the defendant cannot put forward a defence there can be no verdict of guilty and the court cannot pass sentence. All the court can do is make a hospital order, a supervision order or an order for the defendant`s absolute discharge, where a finding of guilt is made but no conviction is registered and no order given`..."

"Now this article about Janner is from 2015 but I just wanted to follow that up with the BBC article Fraud MP Margaret Moran given supervision order. And that says that a judge had ruled that an ex-Labour MP was unfit to stand trial for mental health reasons and so could not receive a criminal conviction. The jury heard the case at Southwark Crown Court in November in her absence. She was given the supervision order and the order is to be supervised by Southampton City Council."

"So if we go back to the middle paragraph of the Guardian article it says all a court can do is make a hospital order, a supervision order or an order for the defendant`s absolute discharge."  Referring to the Melanie Shaw case Mike Robinson says: "Discharge is unlikely to be the case, so it`s got to be the other two. If it`s a hospital order then that`s what they get Brian because it puts Melanie into the psychiatric system which is where they`ve wanted her all the while and of course that would be indeterminate in terms of length of incarceration. And if it`s a supervision order then in that case she would be supervised by the very local authority that supervised the abuse that she suffered in the first place. This is pretty obscene."

The discussion continues on UK Column News at 6.02 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH_eObNOiVQ 　

The risky interdependent world

Mike Robinson speaks on UK Column News, 26 July 2018.

"We`re starting with trade today," he says. "International trade, because that`s something that Theresa May`s been talking about a lot. Well, Liam Fox was talking about it yesterday at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. He was making the case for free trade."

"And he said, `In my first speech as the secretary of state for international trade I set out the case for an open and liberal trading environment, and the speech was in Manchester, home of the Industrial revolution and a city with iconic associations with free trade. That was nearly two years ago when trade barely registered on the radar of most of our media. Now of course it`s right at the top of NAFTA and all the rest of it, but he said: `It`s therefore a good time for us to examine our attitudes to trade from first principles and to measure them against our domestic priorities and international obligations`. And he started talking about Adam Smith and David Ricardo and he said, `Now of course since those days, since 1817, the world has changed beyond all recognition yet the experiences of globalisation and of technological advances, unimaginable in Ricardo`s time, have only served to validate his theory. The principles of free and open trade underpinned the multilateral institutions, rules and alliances, and helped rebuild post war Europe and the world beyond. It helped usher the fall of communism and tear down the iron curtain facilitating seventy years of global prosperity and have raised the living standards of hundreds of millions of ... human beings across the world`. `Indeed,`  he said, `free trade has allowed us to take one billion of our fellow human beings out of poverty in just one generation, one of the great achievements of history`. " 

"Well, what a liar ! Because let`s look at the Guardian. Here, this is some time ago. `UK government warned over sharp rise in child and pensioner poverty`."

"So Britain the bastion of free trade is experiencing the benefits of free trade, and poverty is rising as a result."

Brian Gerrish. "And that`s precisely what we`re exporting to the rest of the world... as resources are hoovered out of these countries."

"Absolutely. Well any parts of the world that we have any influence over, but if we contrast that with China, `China has almost wiped out urban poverty`...They haven`t done that through free trade ....mainly through having a development agenda."

"So let`s go back to Liam Fox again. `But effect of protectionism is as close to settled science as anything in economics will ever be: it means reduced productivity gains and lost economic growth`."

"So of course Britain being the bastion of free trade is not into protectionism but unfortunately Britain has falling productivity. So not quite sure where he`s going with that one either."

"So let`s get back to Liam. He said: `The global economy continues to rebound from the dark days of the financial crash and ensuing recession experienced by many large economies`."

Mike Robinson then points to another article in the Financial Times: `Nomura profits tumble 91% on fixed income, equities slump`, and then to the Wall Street Journal: `Prolonged Slump in Bond Liquidity Rattles Markets`.

"I don`t think you`re too right about that one either, Liam, but anyway we go on. He said: `In areas such as steel production we have seen new technologies enable us to produce the same output with far fewer employees`. That`s really good stuff there. Yes fantastic`."

"And in a separate part of the speech he said: `And worse, in a world of globalisaton where interdependence is increasing and where disruptions in one part of the world can quickly ricochet around the rest, our ability to act unilaterally with impunity is diminishing by the day`. "

"So this is supposed to be a speech about promoting free trade and here is the key point:  because globalisation and the British model of free trade, as is currently perceived, is one where we are absolutely interdependent on everybody else in an equally collapsing western world... because it`s the first world countries that we`re interdependent upon. So I wanted to highlight this in particular because, of course, as Brian mentioned yesterday Dominic Raab has been talking about the government stockpiling food and the excuse for the requirement to stockpile food was Brexit and the potential for No Deal and the issue of: `would we be able to import food any more from the European Union?`  And so I thought I`d have a little bit of a look at this in the context of Liam Fox`s comment about us being `increasingly in an interdependent world, and there being risks in that`."  

 
"So the quote on screen there: `It would be wrong to describe it as the government doing the stockpiling. And, of course, the idea that we only get food imports into this country from one continent is not appropriate`."

"Well, is that true? Well it turns out that Britain imports 50% of its fruit and vegetables, but on top of that, we are only able to produce 25% of the fruit and vegetables we consume in this country. So only 25% of what we eat is produced in the United Kingdom. Thirty percent of the fruit comes from Europe. Eighty percent of our vegetables comes from Europe. So I`m not quite sure how that ties in with Dominic`s idea that `we only get... imports ...from one continent is not appropriate`... Because of course the point here is that thirty percent and that eighty percent is all seasonal. So supermarkets import fruit and vegetables from Europe when it`s appropriate to do so and they import fruit and vegetables actually from other parts of the world, but south America in particular, during the winter months when it`s not being produced in Europe."

"So 50% of our fruit and vedge imported and we only produce 25% of what we consume in this country but Theresa May has a big plan, Brian. We don`t need to worry about it because she`s going to deal with farming and she`s going to deliver a farming policy which supports agriculture and improves the environment. So this is what she had to say:..."

"Scrapping the Common Agricultural Policy ... provides funds in return for public goods, like improving water quality, reducing emissions and planting wild flower meadows ... are fundamental to our new approach."

"So the fundamentals to Theresa May`s approach, bearing in mind that what has been highlighted by this is the issue of the potential of a No Deal Brexit, is the issue of food imports and the lack of independence in our capability of food production. We`re not going to produce more food because she`s going to scrap the Agricultural Policy and then she`s going to divert the funds into what has been described as public goods which is about turning farmland, productive farmland, into wild meadows."

Brian Gerrish: "Which of course is all Millenium Goals and Agenda 21..."

"Absolutely. So my question then comes down to this: why would we not want to be producing our own food? Is it that we`re not going to need food in the coming decades? I`m just going to remind everybody of the outstanding debt graph that we show from time to time and the key aspect of this on the right hand side of the doughnut there is ...[the] black hole ... in the ability to pay state pensions. Again, is the British government not expecting there to be too many old people left to pay pensions to in the coming decades?"

Brian Gerrish: "I think that`s exactly where they`re going, Mike, and I know at the moment we have a vast amount of information coming into the UK Column which is back on the subject of the deaths of particularly elderly people in the NHS. Of course an increasing number of people worried about the death statistics, Sir Brian Jarman being one of those people. Euthanasia is coming in which, unfortunately, we will be moving on to in a moment. So yeah I think the government`s agenda is there will be less people. David Cameron was talking about two million people diagnosed with dementia in 2050 I think the deadline for that. It could have been 2040 ... And the inference is we need to get rid of those people."

Mike Robinson: "So if we take everything that Liam Fox is saying and we put it with what Dominic Raab was saying and also with the realities of food production in this country, and pension provision in this country, the picture`s not looking too good and well maybe we should be having more serious conversations about this because this is a result of government policy and not something which is unavoidable. It`s absolutely avoidable and if we were looking at productivity and developing our farming industry in this country and our food production in this country we`d be in a much better position."

Brian Gerrish. "Absolutely. Well as we move through the news today I think we`ll be looking at some of those policy areas. But let`s come in with just this statement. We decide who lives and dies and only we. Now I took this headline because I was going to talk about Boris Johnson in a minute. But somebody else flagged up a headline which we really have to cover and it`s this one. Dutch doctor reprimanded for `asking family to hold down euthanasia patient` This is truly truly disgusting. And it gives us a glimpse of where we`ll be going in this country because there`s many people pushing to follow Holland on this. But the story is a doctor has been formally reprimanded by the Dutch medical complaints board for carrying out euthanasia on a 74-year-old woman with dementia, despite her resistance."

"The woman refused a cup of coffee containing a sedative and when she struggled, the doctor asked her husband and daughter to hold her down so she could insert a drip containing the lethal injection."

"The case is the first time since the Dutch euthanasia law was passed in 2002 that a practitioner has been formally censured. According to the Dutch NOS broadcaster, the public prosecutor will announce after the summer if the doctor will face criminal prosecution."

"So we`re now into the heart of it. We have euthanasia whether you like it or not. It`s coming into western European policy and, of course, the Dutch lead on this has already been pushed and pushed to come in through the UK system. MM, the lady had dementia; she`s held down and she`s effectively, in my terms, murdered. For whose benefit? Well presumably the state, because the state, ultimately, didn`t have to pay for her care."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E833ooQPvMo

Transforming mental health with apps

Towards the end of this edition of UK Column News, Mike Robinson said there was good news from the government. It was going to be `supporting each and every child and young person to fulfil their potential by transforming mental health services in this country.`

`Hundreds of new mental health workers will start working in and near schools and colleges from next year.`

`Schools and colleges will train a dedicated mental health lead to ensure young people get the help they need.`

`The first teams to begin working in schools and colleges will be in `Trail Blazer Locations` by the end of 2019`...

"So this is fantastic news," says Mike Robinson sarcastically. "Apparently 8,000 counsellors are going to go into schools to protect, well, what some mainstream media were calling a generation crushed by digital pressures. And so this is all about dealing with children that are getting involved in unhealthy online behaviours. And who`s behind this? "

"But of course it`s the illustrious Matt Hancock. Here he is, the health and social care AI boss. And he`s urging parents and also technology companies to do more to protect the young from pressures of social media. And how`s he going to do that? Apparently when he was speaking to the BBC Newsbeat, the sort of teenage news service, this morning he said there needs to be more use of apps in the National Health Service. And so we`ve got to do loads more in that area. The use of technology and apps is the way to do it. So this is a quote from him."

"`One of the things I`ve done in different parts of government is make sure that it`s more tech savvy and digital... We need more apps. How else can we maintain the business model?`"

"Because of course he has his own app. He promotes his own app. And if we have more apps we can have more apps on children`s phones and therefore children can suffer more mental health issues and then they can put more people into schools to deal with those mental health issues. And then they can produce more apps. ... It`s a fantastic business model and for the taxpayer it`s a great deal and I must applaud Matt Hancock for his brilliant business head."

Brian Gerrish: "It gets even better, Mike, because we understand that Westminster has now got an online game targeted, of course, at children; so a child can log into that particular site and experience what it is like to be an MP, waking up and having coffee and toast while you answer emails and you then follow through your day with a game generating what happens..."

"Presumably when children are playing that game it`s helping them to be mentally ill !"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SScV9DRIpk

Children`s reading for cultural change

From UK Column News 31st May 2018

 

"So let`s have a look at what the BBC is up to here. If you go into it, this is highly animated. I find it particularly annoying because the screen scrolls in a particular way as you`re trying to read the text but it`s the story of some boys in the 1800s. They stow away on a vessel. They`re treated very cruelly. Eventually they`re put onto the ice and I think it`s two of them survive and the rest die. It`s quite a harrowing story. You`d say it`s very dark. At the moment it`s of historical interest up in Scotland and they`ve followed through on the story. So it`s got some serious historical basis to it but of course it`s now being presented as a cartoon on the mainstream news."

"Now if you get into this article and start to pay attention you come to the Magic Torch Comics organisation because they are mentioned in the creation of this whole feature of `The Boys on the Ice` and as we normally do we follow the evidence trail through. So here we are having a look at Magic Torch Comics and I`m going to say we`ve got a particularly unpleasant image with the caption: `There`s more to life than books y`know, but not much more...` Magic Torch comics is a social enterprise. By purchasing our publications and merchandise you will help to support our work and projects while demonstrating your general excellence in good taste." 

 

Mike Robinson: "So is that a rabbit hanging by its neck?"

Brian Gerrish: "Yeah, it is a rabbit hanging by its neck and as we`re going to see, sort of death and matters unpleasant, seem to be of great interest to this Magic Torch Comics."

"But this is the first thing that caught my eye: [It] is that when you try to establish who these people are it`s not possible. So if you`re going to contact them you have to fill in one of the email boxes. You`re not talking to a person; there are no names; it`s just you contact us over the internet and we`ll respond...."

 

"This is some more of their imagery. And we`re now on the subject of witches. This is the Rowan Tree Legion, Witches at War, October 2016.  And there seems to be a preoccupation with witches because this is them tweeting out Cracking#Paisley witchcraft comics created in our team-up folk comic workshops. So they`re very big on witches; they`re big on hanging rabbits; there`s an under element of nastiness and death."

"BBC thinks a lot of them. So we get to the end of the BBC article. It says: `The Stowaways` graphic novel was originally created by Magic Torch Comics and Ardowan Primary School, Greenock. It was created as part of the Heritage Inverclyde, A Quest for Learning programme - an Inverclyde Council project delivered by Inverclyde Community Development Trust and funded by Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland`."

"And then certain people are given acknowledgement, including for some of the images; and because the story goes from Scotland over to Newfoundland you`ve got people there identified as having an input from Newfoundland. But what is this all about?"

 

"Well it just gets more interesting because if we have a look at two of the individuals mentioned there, we`ve got this gentleman, Stephen Mulvey. He was the editor of the project; and the other gentleman here is Paul Kerley... he was involved in production. So Stephen Mulvey assistant editor of BBC Digital Current Affairs `where I run the writer`s desk. Russian-speaker trying to learn Spanish`, and the other gentleman is BBC journo - `being creative with photos and sound on the BBC News website`."

"My comment on this is: `Is this news Mike or is this the creation of stories?`  I`m not quite sure what`s going on."

"But we followed some of the tweets through. So this is Magic Torch Comics retweeting #trustelder, whoever that is. `A picture`s worth a thousand words. true #dementia care stories come to life through cartoons`. So now we`ve got into a particularly mucky area I think. We`ve got people in serious places in their lives, medical conditions, but we`re now going to support that with cartoons. And we`ll bring in this one as well. They`re retweeting the History Press; and we`ve got another hanging. `Notorious pirate William Kidd was hanged for murder and five counts of piracy`. So we`ve got anonymous comics dealing in dementia and death and mental health buried into the BBC as if it was news."

"Try this one. `Bringing rebellion into the classroom`. So here`s Magic Torch Comics retweeting the Scottish Book Trust. It says: `On the most rebellious day of the year, we`re launching our Rebel writing campaign for schools. Here`s how to inspire your pupils to start sharing their rebellious tales`. Now we could take the light hearted view this is just children playing with rebellious stories, but I think there`s many teachers out there who would say they`ve got big enough problems keeping order in class without encouraging the children to be rebellious. But we`ll leave it to our viewers and listeners to make their mind up on that one. "

"This is a bit more of the detail of that Book Trust because it`s got Mental Health Benefits. `Scotland is facing a mental health and wellbeing crisis. One in three people suffer from mental illness each year and the number of people with dementia is set to double in the next 25 years`. And they say here for example that reading can reduce stress. OK that`s fine. But then we`ve got: `Reading fiction can model ways of coping with alienation or problems at school, work or in relationships`. So now it`s not just reading; this is reading in order to reframe people, Mike.  I`m going to bring that word in. But they`re working for a Scotland where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive, no matter what their background. And then who are they working with? Alzheimer Scotland, Millennium Cohort Study [Joseph Rowntree Foundation], the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Reading for Change. So we`re getting a bit of a clue here as to what`s going on, Save the Children, University of Sussex Mindlab research."

"So this is not just about bringing books to children. This has got a highly political undertone I`m going to say, Mike, where clearly they are looking at bringing change into society via the reading habits of children."

Mike Robinson: "Yeah, but if we`re talking about University of Sussex Mindlab research, we`re also looking at how that change is implemented; what types of books provide the right type of change; what types of books don`t provide the right kind of change. So this is an academic research project as well."

Brian Gerrish: "Indeed. So let`s have a look in a bit more detail here. Here`s the Scottish Book Trust; lots of information; I encourage people to look at it, of course."

"Let`s bring in some of the people. We`ve got here Keir Bloomer, the chair, former Director of Education for Clackmannanshire Council, Chair of the Tapestry Partnership, a leading organisation in the field of teachers` professional development. Convener of the Education Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Member of the review group which wrote `A Curriculum for Excellence` (Scotland`s national curriculum)] So OK, this man seems to have an education background.  I`d like to know a little bit more."

"But let`s bring in this one. We`ve got Andy Marchant. He works with financial services companies, management consultants and charities on their business plans; previously Managing Director and Marketing Director, Aegon, Directo Line and Royal Bank of Scotland; experience in innovation and strategy. So how does this link in with children`s books?"

Mike Robinson: "It`s not quite so clear is it?"

"Not quite so clear."

"Well what about this man? We`ve got James Saville, Director of People, Operations and Systems, UK Government Department for International Development. So he`s been DFID for the past five years. His team were the 2015 Scottish HR Network team for their response to the Ebola crisis. So he jumps from that to books. But he`s also worked for HBOS plc, financial services and oil and gas sectors. So this man is a sort of international corporatist, now apparently helping children with their reading."

"Or we`ve got Catherine Smith, former head of marketing at RBS, consultant with KPMG. But she`s a member of the Executive Board, BBC Scotland. So a bit of a coincidence."

"And we`ll bring in the last one here. I think this lady is Norwegian. She`s had a Master`s Degree in Comparative Literature but she started her marketing career in Google EMEA headquaters in Dublin."

"When I look at these people, they`re not just there to help young children with their reading skills. This is bringing in a whole layer of political and cultural change. This is the sort of stuff that George Soros would back...."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glSsc_zSg0A

Mandatory mental health tests

"New mothers should receive a mental health checkup six weeks after giving birth to help tackle possible postnatal depression and other problems related to having a baby, ministers have been told."

"A cross-party group of 60 MPs and peers have written to Steve Brine, the minister for public health and primary care, demanding that all mothers in England have an assessment of their emotional and mental health carried out by a GP, practice nurse or health visitor."

"They say that making such checkups mandatory would reduce the damage experienced by women, children and families caused by mothers suffering psychological problems associated with pregnancy and birth, which often go undetected."

"About half of mothers in the UK develop a mental health problem of some sort during that time, such as postnatal depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and postpartum psychosis, according to the parenting charity NCT."

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/14/introduce-mental-health-checks-for-new-mothers-experts-urge?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Here is what the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) have to say about themselves:

"We're here to support parents. We give them accurate, impartial information so that they can decide what’s best for their family, and we introduce them to a network of local parents to gain practical and emotional support."

NHS Choices quotes a figure of 1 in 10 women having a risk of developing postnatal depression in the first year after birth, so the statistic given by NCT seems much too high. Their claim to provide accurate impartial information does not stand up.

Also, encouraging mandatory mental health tests does not fit with helping parents to make their own decisions about what is best for their family.

But the proposal is good for the pharmaceutical companies and the fostering and adoption industry perhaps?

Still on the run

[Lucy Samson]

"A `DANGEROUS` teacher was obsessed with paedophiles who `booby-trapped his home` before abandoning his job and moving to Ireland."

"A hearing was told dad-of-four Brian Docherty claimed his colleagues were in a religious cult during his time at Fraserburgh Academy, Aberdeenshire..."

"Mr Docherty, originally from Glasgow, was not present or represented at a General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) hearing in Edinburgh this week."

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2437354/teacher-fraserburgh-academy-brian-docherty-obsessed-paedophiles-abandoned-job-moved-ireland/

"The `dangerous` teacher Lucy Samson refers to is Brian Docherty, well known to the UK Column team who have reported on his case many times. Recently there have been few reports, at the request of the parents, so it is difficult to know what is happening to the family at the moment or why this article has suddenly appeared out-of-the-blue."  [See UK Column here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJVSV5deQM8]

So fantastical are some of the incidents surrounding the Dochertys that a few people question their mental health in reporting them. The article appears to be attacking the father from that angle too. However, getting bogged down in deciding whether the Dochertys are mentally ill or not is a diversion, useful for the establishment, because none of it begins to explain why the Scottish Police failed to investigate the Dochertys` original allegation.

For example, Scottish Sceptic wonders whether to believe the authorities or the parents, but after analysing the matter comes down on the side of the Dochertys.... "It appears to me there is very strong evidence that there was a conspiracy to use the threat of taking children away to silence the Dochertys and stop them pursuing the allegation."

[i.e. that Alan Low, acquaintance of Viscount Petersham, offered the Dochertys £25,000 for `access` to their autistic son]

http://scottishsceptic.co.uk/2016/10/26/please-watch-this-video-detailing-appalling-high-profile-corruption-in-scotland/