The London Echo News

Tamiflu and The Wolf: The Threat to Potency

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:29:31 +0100

The Boy Who Cried “Wolf” is one of the oldest tales in Western culture, dating back at least to Aesop.

The shepherd’s repeated hoax cries so inured his fellows that when, in due course, a wolf actually came, his call for help was ignored. His false warnings had built up their resistance.

There is a parallel in the response to swine flu. Tamiflu ameliorates the effects of flu; in the absence of any other remedy – and prompted by the political need to be seen to do “something” - it has been made rather freely available by the NHS. Effectively, there has been Tamiflu on demand.

Moreover, science writers in respected newspapers have said, basically: “Take Tamiflu if you feel bad, it can’t hurt.”

Anyone with the slightest grasp of evolutionary biology knows this couldn’t be so. The over-prescription and mis-prescription of antibiotics, fuelled by insistent patients bullying their GPs, has led to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The only surprise about the appearance of strains of the influenza virus that produced symptoms resistant to the ameliorative effects of Tamiflu was how little time it took.

Illnesses resistant to antibiotics and antivirals potentially put in danger even...

Christmas: The X Factor

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:55:33 +0100

Every time I read about an alleged “war on Christmas”, I think of my mother, who’s been fighting on one front in that battle for a long time.

Even now, she’s making sure that she sends no card with a nativity scene or any other religious subject, and that any postage stamp she uses only bears a secular image. “Season’s greetings” as a message? Yes, please, that’s what she prefers.

Atheist lefty? Hardly. She is Christian of a most fundamentalist stripe and politically conservative on most issues.

What she illustrates, though, is that there is a strand of Christian belief that holds that Christmas should be celebrated only as a secular holiday and not as a religious one.

The argument, articulately outlined here by Ferrell Jenkins, rests on the Biblical evidence that Jesus may not have been born in December and on the pagan and secular roots of some Christmas traditions. None of this is breaking news to Biblical scholars, and many people will not accept his premise of strict adherence to scriptural authority.

If it were more widely known, however, it could take some of the heat out of the annual “war on...

A New Poppy for 2010

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:09:28 +0100

Each season, Charlton Athletic designates one home match “Red, White and Black Day” to recognise and celebrate the diversity of its community. While we long-suffering Addicks wish Charlton were as successful as a football team as it is as a social outreach agency, it’s an important and clear statement.

I wonder if it could also inspire a solution to the controversy and increasing ambiguity surrounding another annual tradition – the wearing of poppies for Remembrance Day.

I don’t wear a poppy. I privately remember and honour the dead, and not just once a year, but I do not support the military trappings of most ceremonies. In dark moments, I think some love the war dead so much that they want to keep creating more of them. I would like to see the Royal British Legion out of active business in, say, 70 years’ time when our descendants will still honour the dead but give thanks that we’re not creating more.

Efforts to make wearing the poppy mandatory for public figures or anyone who appears on television, moreover, only undermines the meaning of Remembrance. Calling it “poppy fascism” is a step too far – we...

Londoners Asked to Choose Landmarks for Olympic Souvenirs

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:46:35 +0100

Londoners have been asked to help design a set of Olympic Games badges by voting for their favourite landmarks.

The winners will be featured in a set of 33 London 2012 “Landmark London” pin badges.

Borough councils have teamed up with Olympic organisers to run the contest, which runs until October 18.

Local authorities in each of the 33 boroughs have chosen a shortlist of four landmarks, which will be whittled down to one each in the public vote.

Nominations include;

Hampton Court Palace, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Ealing Studios, London Borough of Ealing
LondonEye , London Borough of Lambeth
St Pancras Station, London Borough of Camden
Hackney Empire , London Borough of Hackney
Lewisham Clock Tower, London Borough of Lewisham

Other choices include museums, windmills, and bridges.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: "Pin badges are a popular part of the heritage of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement with each Organising Committee producing a range of these collectors items that appeal to different people.

“Inviting Londoners to create the ‘Landmark London’ set is one of many ways people will be able to get involved in the London 2012 merchandise programme."

Olympics Provides £5 Billion Bonanza for Businesses

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:11:28 +0100

Employers have won contracts worth more than £5 billion from the London Olympics, new figures have revealed.

More than half the 1,036 firms benefitting from the 2012 games are in London.

The contracts issued by the Olympic Delivery Authority could also benefit thousands of smaller businesses in the supply chain.

Delivering the London 2012 Games will require a huge range of goods, works and services from an enormous variety of firms, from construction, engineering and manufacturing to creative, merchandising and retail.

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said: “The challenge of staging a Games requires the support and expertise of hundreds of thousands of people – including UK businesses both large and small.

“As we prepare to give the athletes the best possible chance of performing at their best come Games-time, we are also offering UK plc a unique opportunity to be part of our journey and create a lasting legacy of skilled businesses fit and ready to compete on the global stage.”

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: “These suppliers are in turn creating thousands more supply chain contracts providing companies with work in a time of economic...

Children Will Be Damaged By "Big Brother" Vetting Scheme

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:14:11 +0100

Dinner party conversations tend to be comfortingly familiar. For years, the 'ludicrous' rise in the value of the family home was discussed in terms of mock horror. Now that one's a definite dead duck, the new topic could well be the even more ludicrous need for perfectly well meaning people to undergo a Vetting and Barring Scheme check.

'Have you been done?' 'Who did they ask about you?' 'How long did you have to wait for the all clear?' 'Who's taking the kids to rugby meanwhile?'

With ten round the table, the conversation could see them through starters, main course and half way through pudding.

If we had any sense, we'd rise up en masse and tell the Department of Children Schools and Families to stick its Vetting and Barring Scheme and concentrate its resources on known offenders, children on the 'at risk register', training and supporting social workers - and leave the rest of us alone.

The government cites over and over the Baby Peter and the Soham murders as a grave warning and to justify a database they expect will contain details of one quarter of the adult population.

Baby Peter's plight was well known...

London MPs Ask For Free Taxis and £5,000 Salary Bonus

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:41:24 +0100

MPs in outer London and the Home Counties should receive free taxi rides from the House of Commons instead of a second home, a London MP has claimed.

Andrew Dismore (Lab Hendon) said MPs needed a free lift home after late-night votes when the trains stopped running.

He made the comments in a submission to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which is looking into reforms of House of Commons salaries and expenses.

Another MP, Mark Field (Lab Cities of London and Westminster) called for inner-London MPs to receive a salary bonus of £5,000 a year, to compensate for the cost of running a family home in the capital.

Others warned that MPs needed more money to pay staff, because the current allowance of £90,505 was not enough to employ the number of people needed to help constituents.

Mr Dismore called for a free taxi service for MPs who live in London or close to it, but are currently eligible for a second home allowance of £23,083.

This is likely to end, following suggestions that they could simply commute to their main home in their constituency.

He said: “At the time of preparing this letter, for...

London Underground Passengers "Deserve Refund" for Jubilee Closures

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:31:22 +0100

A petition has been launched demanding Transport for London provide refunds to commuters because of closures on the Jubilee line.

MP Sarah Teather (Lib Dem Brent East) claimed the shutdowns were a result of “basic mistakes” by the capital’s transport authority.

The Jubilee Line, which runs from north-west London through to Stratford in the east, has been fully or partially closed every weekend this year as Transport for London carries out upgrades.

Ms Teather launched the petition to try to get compensation for ticket-holders who are receiving a service on five days a week instead of seven.

She claimed delays completing the work were caused partly by errors, such as laying the wrong type of cable.

Ms Teather said: "As a local resident, I am utterly frustrated by these closures. The disruption to the tube is making it impossible for local residents to plan their weekend, and is causing devastation to small businesses that rely on passing trade.

"I am furious frankly that local residents are paying the price for tube bosses' incompetence. How on earth did they manage to lay nearly half the length of the Jubilee line with the wrong type of cable without anybody...

Don't Punish the Real Fans for Football Violence, says West Ham Fan MP

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:48:20 +0100

An MP and keen West Ham fan, who attended the match against Millwall where violent clashes broke out, has urged football bosses not to punish innocent supporters.

Mike Gapes (Lab Ilford South) said there was no reason to hold games behind closed doors or reintroduce fences.

But a Millwall-supporting MP, Simon Hughes (Lib Dem North Southwark and Bermondsey), said the blame lay partly with poor stewarding and a lack of respect shown to Millwall fans.

The FA and Barclays Premier League have both launched investigations into violence at the West Ham vs Millwall match at Upton Park, after rival supporters clashed outside and inside the ground.

Thirteen arrests were made on the night and a 44-year-old man was stabbed in the chest.

It has been reported that West Ham may be ordered to play games behind closed doors, if inquiries conclude that they failed to provide adequate security for the game.

But Mr Gapes, who watched West Ham win 3-1 from Upton Park’s Bobby Moore stand, said neither the clubs nor their “true fans” could be held responsible.

He said: “We should not exaggerate what happened or overreact.”

Hooligans who took part in violence should be prosecuted if they...

Why America is at War over Healthcare

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:35:38 +0100

The war for healthcare reform continues to rage here in the United States. I know it must be bewildering for some of you (why in the world would anyone fight against universal health coverage?), but believe, me it’s bewildering for us Americans too; and in the long hot summer recess, cable news adds fuel to the fire.

Every day from dusk till dawn, pundits, politicians and lobbyists for various corporate interests do their best to shape the narrative of the day. So I’m going to give it to you straight, at least how I see it.

There are three components of the resistance:

he key group opposing healthcare reform is the health insurance industry. All totalled, the healthcare complex accounts for approximately 18 percent of America’s GDP - one of its single largest sectors - and health care costs and share of GDP are only going to continue to rise.

Any serious reform will rein in costs and shrink the healthcare industry’s profit margin, and when money of this magnitude is imperilled in any way, whether by price controls or the outright nationalization of healthcare, the industry will defend what’s theirs - the public...