Charity staff shouldn’t face this abhorrent abuse | Letter

Charities’ struggles to protect their staff and deliver their work in the face of unwarranted attacks and hatred are profoundly worrying (UK charities say toxic immigration rhetoric leading to threats against staff, 13 October). Charities have championed the welfare of those who are vulnerable and ostracised, for centuries. That endeavour is vital not just to our civil society, but to our self-respect as a civilised nation.The Charity Commission will defend and protect the right – and indeed the responsibility – of charities to deliver on their lawful purposes. Over recent weeks, I have met with a wide range of charities, including a group of charities working with refugees and migrants, to hear about the challenges they are facing

Andrew Coates obituary

My father, Andrew Coates, who has died aged 86, had a professional life in three acts: as a technical illustrator in the aviation sector, as a technical adviser to lighthouse keepers and as a teacher.Andrew had been born completely deaf, and so each of those work paths had their challenges. But perhaps his greatest achievements were outside the workplace. In his 20s he became one of the first deaf people in Britain to fly a glider, and he spent countless happy hours on the airfield and in the sky, making 1,500 flights over the next six decades. He also wrote a book, Jane’s World Sailplanes and Motor Gliders, which became a standard reference work in the field

Almost 70% of US adults would be deemed obese based on new definition, study finds

Almost 70% of adults in the US would be deemed to have obesity based on a new definition, research suggests.The traditional definition of obesity, typically based on having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, has long been contentious, not least as it does not differentiate between fat and muscle.In an effort to tackle the issue, in January medical experts from around the world called for a new definition to be adopted. This would encompass people either with a BMI greater than 40; or those with a high BMI and at least one raised figure for measures such as waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or waist-to-height ratio; or those with two such raised figures regardless of BMI; or those with direct measures of excess body fat based on scans.In addition, they said obesity should be split into two categories: clinical obesity – where there are signs of illness – and pre-clinical obesity, where there are not

‘Alarming rise’ in mental health stigma in England, research shows

The number of people in England who are frightened of living near people with mental health problems has nearly doubled to one in seven, which experts warn reflects an “alarming rise in stigma”.Even if the mentally ill person had recovered, one in 10 people said they would be unwilling to live next to them, according to new research from the mental health charity Mind.The survey, by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, found that only 63% of people were comfortable about mental health services operating in their community instead of in psychiatric units, down from 70% in 2015.The figures showed that 14% of people were frightened of those with poor mental health living in their neighbourhoods, up from 8% in 2017, while 16% of people believed mental health services “downgraded” a neighbourhood, up from 10% in 2019.The number of respondents who agreed that being part of a community was the best therapy for people with mental health problems was the lowest since the research was first conducted in 2008, at 68%

Abolishing stamp duty won’t solve Britain’s housing crisis – but this radical property tax just might | Josh Ryan-Collins

The UK’s property tax system is both inefficient and unfair. There is consensus among all political parties that something needs to be done. On the efficiency side, stamp duty is the main culprit: as a lump sum tax on property wealth paid at point of purchase, it discourages people to move as frequently as they should. It prevents people from realising their full economic potential by finding the right job, in the right area, or moving into a home suitable for their household size.In combination with high interest rates and sluggish growth, tax is contributing to UK property transactions reaching near record lows

‘You are constantly told you are evil’: inside the lives of diagnosed narcissists

Few psychiatric conditions are as stigmatised or as misunderstood as narcissistic personality disorder. Here’s how it can damage careers and relationships – even before prejudice takes its tollThere are times when Jay Spring believes he is “the greatest person on planet Earth”. The 22-year-old from Los Angeles is a diagnosed narcissist, and in his most grandiose moments, “it can get really delusional”, he says. “You are on cloud nine and you’re like, ‘Everyone’s going to know that I’m better than them … I’ll do great things for the world’.”For Spring, these periods of self-aggrandisement are generally followed by a “crash”, when he feels emotional and embarrassed by his behaviour, and is particularly vulnerable to criticism from others