Finality

It has been reported this week that a man from Britain has been convicted of supplying cannabis in the United Arab Emirates; he is now facing the death penalty. Regardless of whether this man is innocent or guilty, and regardless of the issue that perhaps people shouldn’t really be travelling to countries with backward legal systems, I fundamentally oppose the death penalty. As a civilised human being I do not believe it is my place, or anyone else’s, to take another human life against their will. Even for those criminals who have taken a life themselves by committing murder, I feel it is important for a decent society to rise above those criminals by not performing similar acts. If an enraged relative or close friend of a victim took lethal action against the perpetrator of a heinous crime, I would have a significant degree of empathy, but for a country or state to sanction killing outside the confines of warfare / self-defence is, in my opinion, taking things to a lower level of morality that we should all be trying to avoid. I am proud to say that in the United Kingdom nobody has been executed since 1964.

Right To Die

In 2005, Tony Nicklinson had a stroke which left him completely paralysed but with a fully functioning mind, a condition termed locked-in syndrome. He is married, has two children, is now 58 years old, and is contemplating assisted suicide at some point in the near future. But as he is a considerate man, he is seeking legal protection for any sympathetic doctor who would do the decent thing and help Mr Nicklinson to end his life. Yet the Ministry of Justice believes such a ruling would authorise murder. Seriously?! That would be classed as murder?! Mr Nicklinson, who communicates (I imagine very slowly) through a computer system, says he is living a nightmare of indignity as other people have to do everything for him. He describes his life as “dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable”, and that it is gradually getting worse. Anyone who says that this poor man should have to endure this traumatic level of existence against his will should be ashamed of themselves. Also, isn’t this discriminatory against the rights of disabled people who can’t control what happens to them? Most people hope never to have to contemplate suicide, but those that do have a choice, except Mr Nicklinson! I sincerely hope that he gets what he is seeking.

Dissatisfaction With Health Inequalities

A recent British Social Attitudes Survey has shown a significant drop in public satisfaction with the NHS, from 70% to 58% in a year; this is the largest annual drop since 1983, but that was when the Survey started, so it could be the largest drop ever! There are obviously myriad reasons why this could be so, the main one probably being the coalition reforms to introduce competition into the National Health Service. But I want to focus on one local example. At Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, patients who are able to afford to be treated privately as part of the Care Plus private treatment programme are able to park for free, while monthly charges for staff at the hospital have risen from £15 to £19.50! So hard-working staff pay more, while rich people get it covered. In a health institution which was designed purely with fairness and equality in mind, it’s no wonder that people are becoming dissatisfied.

Royal Waste

Okay, I’ll keep this short and sweet folks - well, maybe not so sweet. As far as I’m concerned (and yes, I realise that I’m in the minority as usual) the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations range from unnecessary pomp and outdated ceremony to an egregious waste of taxpayers’ money. Regardless that she brings tourists to this country, the amount of wealth that is spent on her and the rest of the royal family could be distributed to much more deserving areas such as NHS healthcare, public transport, reducing energy bills, building affordable accommodation, increasing the minimum wage, and on and on. I understand that some of the celebrations such as the Thames Pageant were funded privately, but the monarchy is annually awarded millions of pounds of government cash which is often spent on grandiose events like the diamond jubilee. I’m not saying we have to scrap the monarchy altogether (even though that wouldn’t particularly bother me), but at least scale down the expense to a significant degree considering the UK is currently going through a recession amidst a seemingly long-term global economic downturn. How hard-working people can applaud one family living in such financial heights is beyond me.

Medical Greed

Doctors have voted this week to take industrial action in the non-urgent care sector because of proposed changes to their pensions. Under the new plans, NHS medical practitioners in England and Wales would see their retirement age rise from 65 to 68 by 2015. Contributions to pension plans would also rise, and a new doctor joining the scheme could only expect to receive £68,000 per year when retired … I’m sorry, what? Did I read that right? Doctors are preparing to strike because they will only be receiving 68 grand a year?! Most people won’t ever get anywhere near that amount! Patients should not have to suffer a loss of medical care (even if it is non-urgent) just because doctors have become greedy in their old age. The NHS is meant to be a public service, not a golden handshake freebie giveaway! And as far as the retirement age goes, when state pensions were first widely delivered to the population after World War II the retirement age was set at 65 because life expectancy at that time was less than 70. A pension was intended to give a working person some peace and quiet in their final years. Yet over the passage of time, retirement has become a period of luxurious indulgence, foreign holidays and the start of new adventures! So the fact that we are now having to redress that balance should really come as no great surprise - well, not to anyone who studies history, anyway.