Category: Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE : Plea for Welsh NHS to do away with fax machines once and for all [November 2022]
The press release issued by Welsh Conservatives on 4 November 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives have re-iterated their call on the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay to do away with fax machines in the NHS to modernise the ageing digital systems in the health service.

The call comes as the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom consults on changes to telecoms rules that could formalise its obsolescence.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said:

“Wales has longest NHS waiting times in Britain and one of the aspects holding us back is the lack of modernisation – we are an analogue being in the digital age.

“Behaviours and lifestyles have changed significantly since devolution and it’s about time we had a health service that reflected this through innovation, which is why we should use Ofcom’s consultation as an opportunity to make what is quite a modest leap into the future.

“That does not just mean doing away with outdated fax machines but adapting digital systems wholescale, as we have outlined in our NHS tech bundle. This will level-up the delivery of Welsh healthcare with other UK nations as well as make it more efficient in its own right.

“It is essential the Labour Government get on with this so that NHS Wales can better serve the patients and staff in ways it should have been doing for years.”

In September, the Party called on Labour ministers to ramp-up efforts to modernise NHS digital systems after its outdated nature is damaging efforts to deliver effective healthcare in Wales.

In addition to abolishing the use of fax machines to move to a fully digital system, the NHS Tech Bundle would include:
- Requesting another UK nation for an ‘off-the-shelf’ software system to replace the increasingly unreliable Cancer Network Information System Cymru (CaNISC), so outdated it has caused outages where doctors couldn’t access cancer patient files;
- Fully rollout e-prescribing across NHS Wales, something that was already introduced in England and Scotland since 2005 and 2009, respectively; and
- Develop an NHS Wales app so, like patients in England, people in Wales can access health records, order prescriptions, contact a health professional, and manage appointments.
In 2022, fax machines are still being bought because of a lack of progress in sharing electronic patient records. The Health and Social Care Committee heard the following evidence as part of its report into hospital discharges:
- “We have just bought a fax machine for the new hospital. For heavens’ sake. What are we doing? GPs fax referrals into the emergency unit. I never see it. Why is that not e-mailed to me? Because I can’t deal with the emergency information if the emergency information doesn’t get to me” (Dr Karl Davis of the British Geriatrics Society)
- “In other parts of the UK, they’ve now given care providers NHS e-mail addresses, which enables records to be transferred more easily and more securely. It’s something we’re in conversation about in Wales, but it hasn’t happened yet. So, it might be something that you want to recommend as part of the system changes.” (Mary Wimbury, Care Forum Wales).
November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Just how bad were Wales’ worst-ever ambulance waits? [November 2022]

The press release issued by 3 November 2022.

Ambulance response times have reached life-endangering heights as new data shows just how long Welsh patients are having to wait for one.

A Freedom of Information request from Senedd Conservatives uncovered a breakdown in ambulance response times for September 2022, revealing that 73 red-calls for life-threatening emergencies took over half an hour to be reached, with one taking over an hour.

30 of these occurred in North Wales’ Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board (HB), which is also where the hour-long wait occurred. Dyfed’s Hywel Dda HB had 17 patients waiting between 30 and 60 minutes.

That month saw only 50% of red-calls reach their patient within eight-minutes – the worst on record – against a 65% target set out by the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay, not reached for two years.

However, there was worse to come in relation to amber calls. These are not classified as life-threatening, yet include very serious conditions such strokes.

4,046 amber patients had to wait over three hours to reach the scene for ambulances to reach the scene. Of these, 1,310 took over five hours, meaning 9% of amber calls in Wales took over 360 minutes to arrive at the scene.

This was most acute in North Wales, with 1,169 waiting over three hours, 423 of these waited over five hours. For other health boards, Gwent’s Aneurin Bevan HB recorded 753 amber calls taking over three hours, while four of the other five had 400-600 such waits.

The revelations come after a Welsh Conservative debate where they called for an end to the system where strokes are not considered for red-call ambulances dispatches.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said:

“The crisis affecting Welsh hospitals extends far beyond the buildings themselves as a shortage of beds and staff means overcrowded A&E departments and queues of ambulances outside, resulting in unacceptably long waits for emergency vehicles, something people do not ask for lightly.

“None of this is the fault of hardworking ambulance technicians but poor planning from the Labour Government – do not forget that the last health minister said it would be ‘foolish’ to publish a plan for recovery while the pandemic was still on-going. Now we are all paying the price.

“To generate faster ambulance responses, we must tackle the causes of the delays at source – this means less congested A&E departments and making progress on the treatment backlog, where one-fifth of the Welsh population lie – with winter war rooms and surgical hubs.

“This is the cost of Labour, and now Mark Drakeford needs to get a grip on the NHS and stop breaking all the wrong records.”

November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Call for disclosure of ministerial WhatsApp in Covid inquiry [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 1 November 2022.

The Leader of the Opposition has called for private messages between Labour Government ministers and officials in Cardiff Bay to be disclosed to the UK-wide Covid inquiry.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“In order for the inquiry to achieve its purpose of delivering answers to those who lost loved ones, lost their businesses, and lost valuable hours of education during the pandemic, it is essential that we get as much transparency as possible.

“This must extend just beyond decision-makers in Westminster, so that people in Wales can hold leaders in Cardiff Bay accountable too. We need to see how ministers interacted with civil servants, the health boards, and Public Health Wales to get the full picture.

“We always wanted a Wales-specific inquiry as there would be no doubt this would happen as there would be no threat of Welsh Government actions being overshadowed, but without one we are writing to the Chair to ensure our joint ambition of equal scrutiny across the UK is maintained.

“I look forward to hearing back from Baroness Hallett on the assurances we have sought.”

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS has written to inquiry Chair, Baroness Hallett, asking her to ensure demands made of the UK Government are also made to the devolved administration.

It was reported today that the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and some of his senior officials will be required to submit some of their WhatsApp messages to the inquiry. Davies has asked if similar requests will be made of ministers and officials in the Welsh Government.

He added: “this would ensure that the four governments within the United Kingdom are scrutinised on a level-playing field and that people in the devolved nations see accountability being applied equally, principles I know you [Hallett] are passionate about upholding”.

The call comes as the UK-wide coronavirus inquiry begins its evidence collection. The Welsh Conservatives have long backed calls from the Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group for a Wales-specific inquiry given concerns that the Labour Government’s actions will be overshadowed.

November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Civil Liberties Organisations Demand Scrapping the Public Order Bill [November 2022]

The press release issued by Big Brother Watch on 1 November 2022.

The return of the dangerous Public Order Bill in the House of Lords was met by calls to drop Protest Banning Orders by civil liberties organisations.

Only last December, the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill was debated in parliament, and its draconian powers that clamp down on protest rights were contested. The Public Order Bill takes these powers one step further by allowing police to stop and search innocent protestors on grounds of suspicion. The Bill places emphasis on protestors “locking on” and causing “severe disruption”. Normal everyday activities like taking your bike lock to work or walking arm in arm can also be seen as deviant and dangerous.

Big Brother Watch, the civil rights group, said: “It is vital that peers act to protect civil liberties and force the home secretary to ditch the worst of her anti-protest plans.” The organisation’s legal and policy officer, Mark Johnson, stated that these powers “could come straight from the pages of a dystopian novel”.

November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Having A Working-Class Accent Does Not Mean That Somebody is Less Capable [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Sutton Trust on 3 November 2022.

Our Founder and Chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, touches on his experience as he reflects on our latest research on accents and social mobility.

For 25 years, the Sutton Trust has engaged in understanding the barriers to social mobility, from early years through to the workplace. But beyond the grades you achieve and the educational institutions you attend, there are barriers to mobility that aren’t discussed – accents.

How people speak is an extremely important part of how they are perceived. Accent is key to how someone is viewed. Our ears are finely tuned to the wide variety of accents heard across Britain. This leads us to make all sorts of value judgments about where someone is from, their education and their class. It is inevitable that some of these judgments, often made unconsciously, are likely to be wrong. Just because someone has a working-class accent from, say, Leeds or Liverpool, doesn’t mean they’re less capable.

Yet as today’s research shows, there is a hierarchy of accent prestige entrenched in British society, with ‘BBC English’ being the dominant accent of those in positions of authority. This is despite the fact that less than 10% of the population have this accent. Many young people who don’t feel like they have the ‘right’ accent are worried about the impact on their careers, and many have been mocked, criticised or singled out during their education, work and social lives.

I faced this myself when I was 11 years old. When I moved from Wakefield to Surrey, my broad Yorkshire accent stood out at my new school and resulted in me being mercilessly picked upon and ridiculed, and I learned to develop a Surrey accent in order to fit in. This is a common experience for those who are geographically or socially mobile. But this need not be the case.

Talent in Britain is spread evenly, but opportunities are not. That means there are talented young people with every kind of accent, but for many, they need to work harder to prove their worth, just because of how they speak.

This country has learned to be more diverse in many respects, but there remain taboos about accents. We must embrace the diversity of accents to enable those from all backgrounds and parts of the country to have the chance to succeed.

November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Survey Reveals Scale of Climate Anxiety Among British Children on Eve of COP27 [November 2022]
The press release issued by Save the Children on 4 November 2022.
- 70% are worried about the world they will inherit, Save the Children finds
- Children available for interview: ‘We feel powerless and scared. The government must do more’
Climate anxiety is rising in children in the UK, with 70% worried about the world they will inherit, new research revealed in the run-up to COP27 this weekend.

A survey of 3,000 children for Save the Children sent a powerful message to Rishi Sunak and other world leaders gathering in Egypt: no fewer than 75% want the government to take stronger action on the climate and inequality crisis.

Some 60% think climate change and inequality are affecting their generation’s mental health in the UK. More than half (56%) believe it is also causing a deterioration in child mental health globally.

Caroline Hickman, a lecturer at the University of Bath, psychotherapist and climate anxiety expert, describes children as having deep concerns about climate change that are going unheard.

“Why wouldn’t children worry when they look at the state the world is currently in? An increase in climate disasters, on track to become worse, and deepening inequality. They are aware this is the world they are growing up in, and it seems no one is taking their concern seriously,” she said.

“Children care about the world and what is happening – these figures reflect exactly that. Their response is natural, in fact, healthy. The solution to ease climate anxiety is actually quite simple: taking urgent action on the climate crisis and inequality.”

The survey results reveal a worrying snapshot of children’s perceptions of the world they are growing up in and what they may have to deal with in the future. Save the Children has previously warned that today’s children are set to face seven times more heatwaves during their lives than their grandparents. Many in the UK have experienced record-breaking temperatures this year.

“I’m worried about the world I’m inheriting because it’s something that’s out of my control… It’s in its most dire situation that it’s ever been in.” says 16-year-old Roisin, from County Antrim, a member of Save the Children’s Youth Advisory Board.

“A lot of the time we can feel powerless and out of control and people tend to be scared of things that they can’t control. The heat waves and storms really worry me because they are a clear sign of the consequence of inaction or action by humans.”

Save the Children’s survey of children aged 12-18 across the UK was published as the prime minister prepared to fly to Sharm El-Sheikh for COP27 after changing his mind about going.

Gwen Hines, the chief executive of Save the Children UK, said:

“This generation of children stand to inherit a deeply unequal world if immediate action is not taken.

“The level of anxiety children feel about the world they are growing up in is alarming but warranted. Children should be excited about the future but instead they are carrying the weight of huge global issues which they had no part in creating. We need to listen to children and start taking serious action on the climate crisis and growing inequality.

“It’s great the PM is attending COP27 but he must do more than just show up. It’s time for him and other world leaders to show children they are listening and prepared to protect their futures.

“Children are demanding a greener and more just future. We owe it to them to deliver that.”

Global leaders at COP last year made commitments to tackle climate change, but progress has been slow and fragmented, reflecting a global failure to step up for children’s futures. Under the UK’s COP presidency, pledges made in Glasgow did not go far enough to address the climate crisis Save the Children believes. The UK’s decision to slash the aid budget has also left it struggling to meet its own climate pledges. The government has yet to make a promised payment of $288 million to the Green Climate Fund (GCF)- a fund set up to provide climate finance to poorer countries- which it had committed to do by September this year.

“Even if we’re in an economic crisis, we still are definitely more advantaged than developing countries would be. So therefore, I worry that we’re getting too comfortable and just taking care of ourselves rather than taking care of everyone,” added Roisin.

Sixteen-year-old William, from Chorley, who is also on Save the Children’s Youth Advisory Board, shared his fears that those in power will fail to act:

“We know that climate change is a threat, and it can be detrimental to our way of life and what our futures will look like. For me personally, I do have some anxieties, particularly when governments don’t seem to want to act to alleviate the consequences.”

Save the Children is calling on the UK government to step up its action to address the climate and inequality crisis by meeting its fair share of a $100 billion international climate finance commitment and mobilising support for a new commitment in the trillions to match scale of the problem. The agency is also urging the government to ensure children’s rights are at the heart of climate finance by maintaining the services children rely on during climate disasters, including education, health and social protection.
November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : The Smoke-Free 2030 target is impossible without low-risk nicotine products [November 2022]
The press release issued by the IEA on 2 November 2022.

Ahead of this Thursday’s (3 November) parliamentary debate on the independent review of smokefree 2030 policies, the IEA publishes today The Alternative Smoke-Free 2030 Plan.
- - Government should prioritise alternatives to smoking, like e-cigarettes and snus, over prohibitionist policies.
- - Alternative nicotine products are far less harmful than cigarettes, and the surge in vaping has corresponded with a falling smoking rate.
- - ‘The Alternative Smoke-Free 2030 Plan’ recommends twelve simple, low-cost policies, including raising awareness of low-risk nicotine products and cutting burdensome red tape, including the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).
A new report, The Alternative Smoke-Free 2030 Plan, from the Institute of Economic Affairs, outlines an alternative strategy to prohibition, a proven failure, to reduce the smoking rate in England.

This approach stands in contrast with the Khan Review (2022), which recommended banning the sale of cigarettes over time. Report author, Christopher Snowdon, argues that as long as demand exists (only 53 per cent of British smokers say they want to quit), neo-prohibitionist policies will result in endemic black market activity, crime and secondary poverty without coming close to eradicating smoking.

The alternative twelve-point plan emphasises the resounding success of vaping and other safer alternatives in getting people off cigarettes. In Britain, where 9.3 per cent of adults now vape, the smoking rate has dropped from 20 per cent to 14 per cent since 2012. In the EU, where only 2 per cent of adults vape, smoking prevalence fell by just 1 per cent between 2014 and 2020. As of this year, 28 per cent of smokers have never even tried an e-cigarette. Removing barriers to consumers accessing low risk nicotine alternatives is vital.

Snowdon, the IEA’s Head of Lifestyle Economics, recommends that the government tackles pervasive misinformation about the risks of e-cigarettes. Currently, 40 per cent of English smokers falsely believe that nicotine causes cancer and the number of smokers who wrongly think that vaping is as or more dangerous than smoking rose from 36 per cent to 53 per cent between 2014 and 2020. This is despite the fact that the Royal College of Physicians concluded that the long-term risks are ‘unlikely to exceed 5 per cent of the harm from smoking tobacco’ (RCP 2019).The government should ensure that public health bodies promote the benefits of vaping relative to smoking.

Snowdon also proposes that the government embrace the freedom provided by Brexit to reform the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Article 20 of the TPD exacts punitive regulations on e-cigarettes, covering everything from advertising to the size of refillable vape tanks. Cutting this red tape will lift powerful barriers to access.

Smokers could also be encouraged to quit by reducing the red tape burdens on other low-risk tobacco alternatives such as snus, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches. These products are subjected to over-zealous regulation, with snus outlawed in the UK.

The UK has generally regulated e-cigarettes sensibly. But with a greater focus on articulating the benefits of switching to low-risk tobacco alternatives and relaxing the associated regulatory regime, smoking may truly become obsolete.

Commenting on the The Alternative Smoke-Free 2030 Plan, author and IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon, said:

“The government’s plan to slash the smoking rate to five per cent by 2030 is wholly unrealistic unless smokers switch to low-risk alternatives in large numbers. Fortunately, a growing range of alternatives exist. All the government needs to do is create a regulatory environment in which they can flourish and ensure that smokers are not misled by fake news. There are a dozen simple, low cost reforms that could be implemented that would help the government meet its health objectives without persecuting smokers.”
November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Shadow Monetary Policy Committee votes to increase Bank Rate to 3 per cent [November 2022]
The press release issued by the IEA on 1 November 2022.

Shadow Monetary Policy Committee votes to increase Bank Rate to 3 per cent

The Committee were split on the size of the rate rise and on whether to continue with quantitative tightening
- - The IEA’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (SMPC) has recommended that interest rates be raised by 75 basis points (0.75 per cent) to 3 per cent.
- - Members were split five ways on the size of the rate rise, ranging from leaving rates unchanged to raising Bank rate by 1.0 per cent.
- - There was also no consensus on the operation of quantitative tightening (QT), with two members advocating actively reversing QT and undertaking quantitative easing.
During the quarterly SPMC meeting, members noted that monetary growth is now consistent with a return of inflation to target. They differed mainly in their sense of how much need there is to re-establish Bank of England credibility and the extent to which one needs, at this point, to run with market expectations as opposed to provide the market with surprises to have an impact.

More hawkish members emphasised how far the Bank of England has been behind the curve over the past eighteen months and consider it urgent for the Bank to get ahead of inflation now, both to ensure that high inflation expectations do not become embedded in wage-setting and other economic agent decisions and to control market volatility.

Others emphasised that the mistakes of the past are in the past and that, starting from here, the position is that monetary growth does not need to be curtailed further. It was also noted that with the change of government fiscal policy is now likely to be excessively tight, meaning that recession does much of the work in returning inflation to target, so monetary policy needs to do less.

It should be noted that this is amongst the largest splits in voting that the Shadow MPC has ever experienced, and illustrates the very considerable uncertainty that currently exists as to the best way forward for UK economic policy.
November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Scottish Conservatives hold vote on ‘reckless’ SNP National Care Service [November 2022]

The press release issued on 2 November 2022 by the Scottish Conservative Party.

The SNP have today voted against keeping care local in a debate over ‘reckless’ plans for a ‘National Care Service’.

The debate was brought forward by Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy, after a wave of recent criticism for the £1.3 billion-plus centralisation project.

Councils, charities and care providers are worried that the SNP’s costly plans will do more harm than good. And even some of the SNP’s own MSPs have raised their heads above the parapet to express concerns over how the SNP Government will fund the NCS.

Meanwhile the government’s finance watchdog, Audit Scotland, is warning that the already eye-watering predicted costs of £1.3 billon are likely to be an underestimate.

Humza Yousaf continues to sail towards the iceberg – having already done his best to sink our National Health Service.

Under Humza Yousaf, our NHS and social care systems are already in crisis.

Yet instead of taking concrete measures to properly fund and improve social care at the local level, the SNP want to embark on a massive restructuring which will divert funds away from frontline care and into the pockets of civil servants and administrators.

Despite all these warnings, Humza Yousaf continues to sail towards the iceberg – having already done his best to sink our National Health Service.

But there’s still time to avert disaster.

The SNP may have ignored the Scottish Conservatives’ common-sense calls, but they must not proceed with these vague, reckless and largely uncosted plans for a National Care Service.

The SNP should U-turn on their plans and put every penny back into local care services instead.

We want to see a Local Care Service that empowers communities, underpinned by a guarantee that people can get care in their local area, close to their family and support networks, instead of the cruel ‘out of area’ care that may become more common under this centralised system.

If the SNP go ahead with their wasteful plans, it will be overstretched care workers, vulnerable patients and their families who suffer.

November 6, 2022
PRESS RELEASE : Louise O’Reilly TD offers solidarity and support to Twitter workers [November 2022]

The press release issued by Sinn Fein on 4 November 2022.

Sinn Fein spokesperson on Workers’ Rights, Louise O’Reilly TD, has offered her full solidarity and support to workers at Twitter following the news that mass layoffs are to begin today.

She further added that the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, as the Minister responsible, must ensure that fair procedures and all statutory consultation processes are followed by the company in relation to their workers in Dublin.

Teahcta O’Reilly said:

“The news that Twitter is due to begin a process of mass layoffs will come as a serious shock to 500 workers employed at the company’s Dublin office.

“Sources have indicated layoffs will be across the board with cuts in marketing, product, engineering, legal, and trust and safety anticipated. It is speculated that new CEO, Elon Musk, may cut as much as 50% of staff at the company.

“An understanding of the new CEO’s previous dealings with workers means this move has not come as a surprise, but the announcement, and the way workers have been notified of job losses, has caused a significant amount of anger.

“It is up to the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, as the Minister responsible, to ensure that fair procedures and all statutory consultation processes are followed by the company.

“The move by Twitter also reinforces the need to finally deliver collective bargaining rights for workers and trade unions. The need for legislatively-protected collective bargaining has never been greater.

“An ideology of neoliberalism with hugely damaging consequences for workers and families has reigned across Ireland and Europe for too long.

“We have witnessed a race to the bottom in terms and conditions of work, an increase in low paid work and the marginalisation of trade unions and workplace democracy.

“Workers’ rights must be given priority and firm legal protections enacted, otherwise workers will continue to suffer.

“Only by giving workers the tools to bargain for themselves can they have a chance of living decent and happy lives.

“I offer mine and Sinn Féin’s solidarity and support to the workers at Twitter in what is a very worrying time.

“I would also add that it is never too late to join a trade union. Workers need a strong voice in the workplace and the only way to achieve this is by joining and being active in a trade union.”

November 6, 2022