[Politics] The Labour Government

[chip]

As @A1X explains, they're not introducing this from scratch, merely extending it from six to twelve months. Presumably this is done on the basis that magistrates courts are both quicker and cheaper (but willing to be proved wrong on this point).

Thanks, and A1X. I didn't hear much detail. So these are cases that would have had a jury trial but this is quicker/cheaper. That seems quite dangerous to me and is a very large change in our legal system. I hope people will still get the option to go to crown court or this is sinister, if not immedeatley. Of course, a judge can sit in a magistrates court and they can already impose 12 month sentences so maybe that was just a non story. Thanks Radio 4.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Obesity: Unemployed could get weight loss jabs to return to work - BBC News

The health secretary announces trials to explore the effect of weight loss drugs on worklessness.

www.bbc.co.uk

View attachment 190437

Unemployed could be given weight-loss jabs to get back to work, says Wes Streeting | Unemployment | The Guardian

Health secretary announces trials to assess impact of medicines such as Ozempic on worklessness

amp.theguardian.com

This is quite different to the attention grabbing headline posted earlier. Aside from treating the underlying illness, many clinical trials for all manner of issues look at various quality of life measures and work will be just one of them.

 

[Surrey Phil]

…… and now Inheritance Tax is to rise In the budget. More shameful damage to the working people!

 

[Weststander]

…… and now Inheritance Tax is to rise In the budget. More shameful damage to the working people!

No one knows, just newspapers thrashing around with lies/guesses at this stage.

 

[dsr-burnley]

Personally I think it's a sad state of affairs where Labour have decided they can't be honest with the electorate to the extent that they can't admit taxes need to rise to pay for the mess left behind. It's almost as feeble as their total refusal to discuss Brexit and the best way to fix it. Wes Streeting's interview yesterday made me want to put my foot through my monitor.

It's also shocking that some Tory sympathisers seem to want to give the Conservatives a free pass for their disastrous contribution to this state of affairs. Let's remember they were first elected because apparently the level of borrowing got too high under Labour. It has since more than trebled. They have also acted as if the 4-5% annual economy decline caused by their implemented Brexit doesn't matter. Well it does. 4-5% might not seem like much but if the average household income went up by that amount, they'd have 20% more disposable income.

I've had enough of Labour already as they seem unwilling to deal with the problems caused by the disastrous years under Conservative party rule, but it is a bit rich of a Tory to somehow smugly declare that they knew Labour wouldn't fix everything.

Even the most enthusiastic Remainer sources don't reckon that our economy would have grown 20% more than Germany in 4 years, had we stayed in the EU. 5% as a one-off is the biggest sensible estimate, and even that is based on the dubious idea that we were due a very significant leap forward in our economy that other EU countries would not have had.

 

[sparkie]

What happened to 'fully funded, fully costed' ??

Both can be true.

It can be "fully funded, fully costed" and the departmental cuts unpopular in the cabinet.

Not that I have anything but contempt for this government for fiddling around with minor taxes - thus hitting small numbers ( not just the mega-rich ) very hard - rather than just bunging 1p-2p on income tax and sharing out the load.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

…… and now Inheritance Tax is to rise In the budget. More shameful damage to the working people!

As has been stated, we don’t know yet. But I’m broadly in favour of this. Taxes need to rise to cover the funding of numerous areas and I prefer this to taxing individuals. Although a few quid on personal taxes wouldn’t go amiss.

 

[armchairclubber]

Where does it state the unemployed will be used in this trial?

It does appear to state that yes, Streeting actually gave interview and wrote for the Telegraph who led with the story.

This is quite different to the headline posted earlier. Aside from treating the underlying illness, many clinical trials for all manner of issues look at various quality of life measures and work will be just one of them.

Undoubtedly, and from the wording in the Telegraph, it appears that the main focus of these particular weight loss drug trials would be on 'worklessness.'

'Mr Streeting has announced a £280million investment from Lilly, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, in developing new medicines and ways to deliver treatment. The plans will include the first real-world trial of the drugs’ effect on worklessness, productivity and reliance on the NHS.

Up to 3,000 obese patients – a mixture of those in and  out of work, and on sickness leave – will be recruited for a five-year study that will explore whether the medication boosts productivity and could bring more people back to the workplace.

The Health Secretary said the injections should not be seen as an alternative to overhauling healthy lifestyles , but suggests they could have a major role in tackling the worklessness crisis. Overall, 9.3 million people are economically inactive, according to the latest worklessness figures.'

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It does appear to state that yes, Streeting actually gave interview and wrote for the Telegraph who led with the story.



Undoubtedly, and from the wording in the Telegraph, it appears that the main focus of these particular weight loss drug trials would be on 'worklessness.'

'Mr Streeting has announced a £280million investment from Lilly, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, in developing new medicines and ways to deliver treatment. The plans will include the first real-world trial of the drugs’ effect on worklessness, productivity and reliance on the NHS.

Up to 3,000 obese patients – a mixture of those in and  out of work, and on sickness leave – will be recruited for a five-year study that will explore whether the medication boosts productivity and could bring more people back to the workplace.

The Health Secretary said the injections should not be seen as an alternative to overhauling healthy lifestyles , but suggests they could have a major role in tackling the worklessness crisis. Overall, 9.3 million people are economically inactive, according to the latest worklessness figures.'

Thanks for this.

My somewhat flippant query wasn’t best worded. I was more querying the headline that this was a study specifically targeting the fat and unemployed with the single objective of getting them back into work. It wouldn’t be.

It seems papers have Cherry picked from “Up to 3,000 obese patients – a mixture of those in and  out of work, and on sickness leave – will be recruited for a five-year study that will explore whether the medication boosts productivity and could bring more people back to the workplace.” as I thought. As I said in an earlier post QoL measures are reasonably routine.

Edit: Reuters gives a far more balanced article

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-study-use-weight-loss-drug-get-people-back-work-2024-10-15/