West of Centre

The recent cuts to public services proposed, and in many instances agreed, by Denbighshire county council have caused palpable anger among the residents of the county. The leader of the cabinet charged with making these decisions has repeatedly referred people like me to the Denbighshire county council website to find the information we are seeking. That information is not available on the website as he suggests so for the benefit of anyone living in Denbighshire who really would like to know more about what these cuts will mean, I have spent some time doing the council's job for them. Before I do that though, I wish to be crystal clear about something. I am not disputing that the council has to make savings of approximately £17 million over the next two years. Those cuts have to made and whether I or anyone else disagrees is largely irrelevant. That amount needs to be saved. In Phase 1 of their cuts, Denbighshire county council cabinet has already agreed to making the cuts as pr

This week, my local council has announced they are seeking the views of the public on how to minimise the impact of the cuts they have already decided. This request for our views has been rather poorly advertised but in spite of that, enough local people have successfully found where to air their views. By sharing that information with their friends and neighbours, the local council will hopefully receive the views of more people than they were perhaps expecting. Where do I start? Living in a modern democracy (as we are assured we do), I would have expected the council to first discuss the available options for cuts with the public through a proper consultation exercise. It is evident they have chosen not to do this. Instead, they have taken it upon themselves to decide who gets their funding taken away and who doesn't. Thus, it seems that our stated views will have little or no effect anyway. The council has already decided and in their eyes that is the end of the matter. The

The forthcoming by election in Rochester and Strood will exert profound influence over the outcome of the 2015 general election. Barring miracles, it seems a racing certainty that Nigel Farage will double his current crop of MPs from 1 to 2. This will be achieved despite the best interests of the Tory high command. There are still nearly 7 months until polling day next May and already the prospect of another coalition is by far the most likely outcome. The only part of this which remains undecided is which parties will make up the new coalition. It will either be a Tory led coalition or a Labour led coalition and current trends would seem to suggest that Labour is on course to emulate the doomed leadership of Michael Foot in 1983. Then as now, a new party had emerged to threaten to the old guard of Tories and Labour. In 1983, it was the SDP but now it is UKIP. The SDP had emerged from erstwhile Labour MPs disgruntled with the socialist dogma of the Labour party. In 1983, the SDP came

When was the last time you became aware of a health story which frightened you as much as the current situation with the ebola virus in West Africa? In my life, people were quite scared in the 1980s when HIV first became apparent but that is now a relatively well treated disease. I also recall the H5N1 version of Avian Flu which was (and still is) so prevalent in South-East Asia. At about the same time, we also had to be aware of the SARS virus which caused many deaths due to it's effects on the respiratory system. So what I hear you ask. We've always had disease so what is my point? Last week, Margaret Chan delivered a speech to the United Nations which should have been blanket broadcast on every television and radio channel in the world. It is a sad reflection of our world that when someone has something to say which has a direct bearing on all of us, only the chosen few get to hear of it. I am writing this blog in an attempt to reach a wider audience with that same message

The fact that I am even writing about the latest tirade from Kevin Pieterson arguably grants him his wish. As Oscar Wilde said in the "Importance of Being Earnest", there is only one thing worse than being talked about - not being talked about. Thus was born the modern age with it's unpleasant celebrity culture. It is a peculiar trait of modern life that autobiographies are now written before a life has been properly lived out. But that is legacy of nihilism most notably predicted by Nietszche in his groundbreaking book "Beyond good and evil". In his 1882 book "The gay science" Nietszche announces that "God is dead, God remains dead and we have killed him". Nietszche was one of the greatest philosophers of any era and his predictions have reached their fruition to the letter. God in the sense that Nietszche meant may well have been largely killed. But he also predicted that the old God would be replaced by new ones in which the primary go

Like every other local council in the UK, my local council in Denbighshire has had to contend with significant cuts to it's budget.  Since the heady days of New Labour when "Things can only get better" in an economy being run on the principle of "prudence", the UK public sector has been allowed to swell like one of those marrows being lined up to take first prize in the local agricultural show. The problem is that just like the marrow, an overly large council has to be nursed with kid gloves to ensure it's continued growth. But as with all biological systems, the marrow has a finite size to which it can feasibly grow before nature calls time with a series of intricate molecular triggers. My local council is just like that marrow.  It has now grown to an unsustainable size following years of assisted life support. Figures appear to suggest that my local council has to account for a funding cut of around £8.5 million for 2015/16. If you were running my local

Although I have written before about the appalling legacy of the professional era, the post match press conference following the conclusion of the Ryder Cup was possibly the most unsavoury spectacle I have ever witnessed. Sitting facing the world press were two representatives of the American team. The captain Tom Watson faced the ire of the American press with the major winner, Phil Mickelson. The verbal attack by Mickelson of his captain seated well within punching distance just beggared belief. It speaks volumes for the dignity of Tom Watson that he was able to just rise above it. Mickelson ought to be thoroughly ashamed of himself. When the team has lost, it is the team who must stand up and be counted. When individuals start finger pointing, the finger ultimately closes in on themselves. This had shades of Kevin Pieterson. Mickelson epitomised all that is so wrong about players enough money to sustain the economy of a small African country. I can guarantee that no amateur player

The passing of Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire finally broke the magic of an inner circle which provoked just as much social commentary as the Royal Family. The Mitford sisters were a beguiling mix both politically and socially. While Unity became obsessed with Hitler, Jessica enrolled with the communists during the Spanish civil war. Diana, the socialite par excellence who numbered Evelyn Waugh among her friends, married first to Bryan Guinness (heir to the vast Guinness fortune) and then Oswald Moseley (leader of the British facist party). Nancy drew on the experiences of their unconventional background (they were all home educated on the insistence of parents who would be deemed eccentric even by modern standards) to inspire her very successful series of novels whose waspish social commentary carved out a new literary genre. To complete this remarkable sextet of sisters, Pauline became an expert on poultry keeping while Deborah, the youngest, became a Duchess when her husba

The speech today by Ed Miliband to his Party Conference was his last decent opportunity to establish his credentials and his plan to lead the country. On the evidence of his speech today he seems only to have cemented the votes of those who would have voted for him anyway. This will go down as one of the great missed opportunities. In truth, Miliband was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. So soon after the No vote in Scotland, he had no choice but to praise the one man from whose legacy he has been striving so hard to extricate himself. It's true that Gordon Brown probably did more than most to save the Union when push came to shove. It's also true that Gordon Brown will forever be remembered as the man who espoused prudence as he drove our economy in to the dust. Politics is a cruel game and although Tony Blair no longer comes up smelling of roses in the way he once did, it is ironically his faithful lieutenant Brown to whom most of the mud has stuck. Miliband

During the last few days of the referendum debates in Scotland, the subject of NHS funding inevitably and inexorably made it's way to the top of the agenda. It seems there are few subjects which can scare people more effectively than the NHS. In January, the Health Minister in the Welsh Assembly made a very important speech which was not afforded anything like the coverage it deserved. That is a great shame because for once, a senior Minister in the UK made a speech the content of which should be mandatory reading for everyone. In seeking to promote a new era of "Prudent Health Care", Mark Drakeford reminded his audience that "each of us has a duty to look after our own health - we must all become custodians of our own health". This is no less than the reality. Access to the NHS has to have some strings attached before the whole system just collapses under the strain.  "The NHS is free from charge but not free from obligation". If we all want it

The decision of the three leaders of the main political parties in Westminster to venture North of the Border today was rather more than closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. At best, the timing of their visit was rather less than genuine. At worst, it displayed the very arrogance which has brought Scotland to the brink of independence. Each of the Westminster elite had their own hidden agenda for going up North today. For Cameron, he at least had to be seen to be trying to save the Union although there are many who suspect that a Yes vote will secretly please him since this will make long term Tory rule in Westminster a very real proposition. Of the three stooges who went to Scotland today, it is paradoxically Cameron who stands to lose the least since the Tories only have one MP in Scotland anyway – and that was achieved contrary to expectation. As usual, Clegg watched the actions of the other two and sought to align himself. His stock might have risen had he displ

I have written previously about the remarkable achievements of Pat Pilkington but did not allude to the Bristol Programme Approach first advocated by the late Penny Brohn who stands as an indefatigable giant in the world of secondary cancer. http://betweendenbighandkeele.blogspot.com/2013/09/gulliver-among-lilliputians.html Penny was on the wrong end of secondary cancer herself and soon devised a programme which ought to be replicated in every corner of the country (and far beyond for that matter). Very briefly, Penny proposed a four point plan for people with cancer or recurrent cancer. Along the way, she was vilified by the medical establishment but finally received the apology she deserved. This is her four point plan. On the record, I believe strongly it should be widely available in the public domain where it undoubtedly belongs:- The approach should be holistic. There should be a place where therapists show as much interest in the heads and hearts of patients as in their

I have listed below some bullet points relating to a condition which is not convenient or comfortable for politicians, healthcare chiefs and society to talk about. Can you guess what I'm referring to? It cost the UK 70 million working days last year That figure is up 24% since 2009 It costs the economy between £70 and £100 billion per annum in lost productivity, benefit payments and absence from work It causes 28% of illness for the NHS but gets just 13% of the budget Three quarters of those affected receive no treatment Spending on this illness is going down in real terms 50% of affected adults have their first illness by age 15 75% of affected adults have their first illness by age 18 25% of adults suffer some form of this illness all of the time In my medical degree, this illness was granted 7 weeks in 5 years It is not a physical illness so is not thought of in the same way I hope by now you have guessed what it is because all health begins with mental health -

The recent news story concerning the five year old boy with a brain tumour has ramifications far beyond the law courts of Spain. True to form, the British media has jumped on a moral band wagon while the real story remains conveniently under-reported. The media always try to construct a solid dam to bolster their "story" behind which a torrent of truth is just waiting to escape. In time honoured tradition, the first cracks in the damn soon begin to show and the real story slowly begins to emerge. The facts are worth considering. Two parents have a young five year old boy with an inoperable brain tumour. Their local hospital in the UK has told them that they can continue to treat their son but they have no chance of cure. If you were the parents of a five year old child, how would you take that opinion? Yes, that's right, opinion. Let us take as a starting point that the parents love their child and want to explore every possible chance of him being cured. Although t

Recent developments in Northern Iraq have been very sobering. For the record, I did not vote for Labour in 1997 and I most certainly did not support the decision of Tony Blair to invade Iraq. Still, in the words of modern jargon, "we are where we are". We can't turn back the clock and we must now reap the consequences of that appalling decision. People being upset I can understand. I'd be pretty upset if a foreign country invaded my country, killed innocent civilians, called the shots for a while and then just left when it suited them. When I heard reports of militant forces issuing ultimatums to captured civilians like "convert to Islam or die", I wondered how far any of us have come since the Middle Ages? Occasionally, I have written about my faith in the context of how it guides me in my everyday life. It is not a subject which I feel very comfortable writing about. Not because I don't profess a faith but because my faith is something very personal

During my time at Medical School, it was often supposed that the NHS was the second biggest employer in the world. Recent data shows us that although it is "only" fifth on the list, it is undeniably a huge employer in global terms. The biggest employer is the US department of defence with 3.2 million followed by the Chinese army with 2.3 million. Third place goes to the US retail giant Walmart which employs 2.1 million and fourth place is the domain of McDonalds with 1.9 million. But the NHS really is the fifth largest employer on the planet with a staggering 1.7 million employees. Thus, 5.5 million people are employed in a military capacity by the US and China in case of war, 4 million people are employed globally supplying us with much of the food we should be seeking to avoid and, here in the UK, 1.7 million people are employed to deal with the health of the nation - or lack of it. Recently, a major study linked obesity to ten cancers. In brief, the study concluded tha

We sat down to eat yesterday evening on a sublime summer's evening the like of which we long for on cold winter nights. My wife had invited a friend for dinner so three adults and our seven year old son sat down al fresco to enjoy a mouth-watering smoked fish chowder with freshly baked wholemeal bread. With barely a breeze around us, we ate and conversed beneath the shade of our hazel tree. These evenings make all the hard work worthwhile. As the course drew to it's close, my mind was already wandering to the delights of Eton mess for dessert. With no strawberries to hand, we were to have stewed rhubarb instead which I'm sure would have been lovely. Would have been. As the dinner plates were taken in to the kitchen a blood curdling squeal emanated from the garden to put paid to our evening of tranquility. I rushed out to the garden to the spectacle of one of the pet rabbits laying prostrate on the floor of the hutch at full stretch. Although I have recently qualified as

Mini outbursts of discussion continue do their rounds on social media regarding the present state of our town in Denbigh. The temptation to bemoan the status quo is seldom far away as we seek to compare the past with the present. The world around us has changed radically since the second world war and it is often a great challenge for us all to keep abreast of that change. Sixty years ago, it was still fairly normal to see a horse and trap coming to town. Such a sight today would bring the town to a standstill - if indeed there were any shoppers there. The way we communicated sixty years ago was mainly by word of mouth with the written word still being the domain of the pen in our hand. The way we shopped has changed radically too although not always as much as some people think. In those days it was still fairly standard practice for a local shop to deliver their goods to households within a few miles of their premises. In recent years, the ubiquitous supermarkets have been quick