Labour accused of using Jimmy Savile’s name to ‘bait’ Nigel Farage
Labour’s use of Jimmy Savile’s “toxic” name appeared to be an attempt to “deliberately bait” Nigel Farage and would distress survivors of child sexual abuse, lawyers for victims of the late TV presenter has said,Alan Collins, the head of the abuse team at Hugh James solicitors, said it was “concerning” to see Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, and others use Savile’s name to try to “score points over political opponents”,Labour has accused Farage and Reform UK of being “on the side of predators like Savile” by opposing the Online Safety Act,Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, was the first minister to make the comparison when he told Sky News last week: “I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he’s going to overturn these laws,So you know, we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence.
Nigel Farage is on their side,“Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he’d be perpetrating his crimes online,And Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side,”Kyle defended the remark, which was criticised as “one of the most disgusting things a politician had ever said” by Reform’s chair, Zia Yusuf,Phillips, who has spent years supporting abuse survivors, later said she would like to speak to Farage about “one of those modern-day Saviles”, referring to Alexander McCartney, who abused at least 70 children online, and “just needed a computer”, she said.
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, also refused to distance the party from the Savile comparison, telling Sky News that Farage was “in effect saying that he is on their side because he’s saying he’s wanting to repeal the Online Safety Act”.However, Collins said the comparison would have “triggered” distress and trauma among any survivors of child sexual abuse, not just those who came into contact with the late Jim’ll Fix It host.“Lots of victims who were abused in whatever circumstances, often when they are seen by a psychiatrist or a therapist, they will mention the name Savile, even though they weren’t his victim, they get triggered by it,” he said.“So when it comes up on TV or radio it’s a common refrain that they get triggered by it.”Collins said Labour’s use of the name “demonstrates the lack of understanding” of its effect on survivors.
He added: “One doesn’t want to think along these lines but one could think it was an attempt to deliberately bait [Farage], so to speak,“His name is so toxic I struggle to understand why the government would throw his name out there,It’s really concerning,There is nothing constructive in it,” he added,Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionCollins said he was not seeking an apology from Labour but would urge Phillips and Kyle to stop repeating Savile’s name: “They should stop using it and concentrate on the day job which is safeguarding vulnerable people and kids.
”Richard Scorer, another solicitor who represented Savile’s victims, said it was “completely wrong for any politician of any party to seek to score points using the suffering of Savile victims”.Scorer, of the law firm Slater and Gordon, said all politicians must work constructively to implement in full the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, “which both this government and the previous one have so far failed to do”.He added: “Victims and survivors want to see action to protect children, not weaponisation of their suffering for political purposes.”Hundreds of people targeted by Savile came forward after his death in 2011, forcing a reckoning for the BBC and other institutions that had lauded one of Britain’s most famous light entertainment figures despite repeat concerns about his conduct.
‘The pain was unbearable’: the agonising cost of England’s ‘cowboy’ cosmetic clinics
Plans to cut down on “cowboy” cosmetic procedures have been introduced by the government, meaning that only qualified healthcare professionals will be able to perform high-risk treatments.Clinics administering fillers and Botox will need to meet strict standards to obtain a licence as part of the Department of Health and Social Care proposals to protect people from “rogue operators” with no medical training who often provide “invasive” procedures in homes, hotels and pop-up clinics.Officials said that people have been left “maimed” by beauty procedures, with some deaths linked to poor care.One woman who was left with significant injuries after such a treatment told the Guardian she had been left with issues that could last a lifetime.Triggs, 40, from Leeds, was left with significant bruising and swelling after paying £100 for a fake Endolift, a non-surgical laser treatment used for skin tightening and fat reduction on the face and body
Liquid butt lifts targeted in clampdown on England’s cosmetic ‘wild west’
Ministers have announced a clampdown on “cowboy” cosmetic procedures, including liquid Brazilian butt lifts, with stricter rules on who is allowed to perform the procedures in England.Wes Streeting, the health secretary, plans to introduce legislation next year restricting who can access and perform aesthetic treatments. Labour has warned that the industry is a “wild west” because of a lack of regulation around who can administer treatments such as dermatological filler and Botox injections.At present a licence is not required to perform such procedures in England. Health department officials said botched treatments had left people “maimed” and suffering from “dangerous complications, permanent scarring and even death”
Scientists find link between genes and ME/chronic fatigue syndrome
Scientists have found the first robust evidence that people’s genes affect their chances of developing myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a mysterious and debilitating illness that has been neglected and dismissed for decades by many in the medical community.Early findings from the world’s largest study into the genetics of the condition pinpointed eight regions of the human genome that were substantially different in people with an ME/CFS diagnosis compared to those without the illness.The discovery suggests that several variants of genes commonly found in the population raise the risk of developing the illness, though many people will carry the variants and never acquire it.Prof Chris Ponting, an investigator on the DecodeME study at the University of Edinburgh, called the results “a wake-up call” that showed a person’s genetics could “tip the balance” on whether they would develop ME/CFS.“These provide the first robust evidence for genetic contributions to ME,” Ponting said
Resistance to change in the lifesaving work of the Samaritans | Letters
Unlike Peter Ormerod (I was a Samaritan – I love Samaritans. But for the sake of all who take those calls, it must change course, 29 July), I am a still Samaritan, and spent several hours last Tuesday on the phone to some extremely distressed callers. I did that from what was formerly the front bedroom of a ramshackle Edwardian terrace house, which has room for just two workstations.The words “call centre” have been widely used to depict the charity’s proposed shift to larger, more modern branches. I wonder how many readers who work in comfortable, modern offices housing 20 (or even more) desks would consider themselves marooned in an inhuman “call centre” (or “regional hub” as Ormerod labels them)?Because Ormerod is no longer a Samaritan, he perhaps has not had access to the FAQs for volunteers, which note that nobody will be asked to work on their own
Despite RFK’s funding block, mRNA vaccines are too impressive to ignore
It was a blow many were braced for, yet the block on US funding for mRNA vaccines by Robert F Kennedy Jr’s health department has left scientists reeling, with some stating the move could make the world less safe.On Tuesday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would cancel $500m (£376m) in funding for mRNA vaccines, ending 22 federal contracts – including one with the pharmaceutical company Moderna for its bird flu vaccine for humans.“We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate,” Kennedy said in a statement issued on Tuesday.In many ways, it is not a surprise: Kennedy has long been known to be a vaccine sceptic, despite saying he is “not anti-vaccine”, just “pro-safety”, and has himself spread misinformation around immunisation, including falsely calling mRNA Covid jabs the “deadliest vaccine ever made”.In the statement, Kennedy said HSS had “reviewed the science, listened to the experts and acted,” and went on to claim mRNA vaccines failed to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections such as Covid and flu
Verbally abused children more likely to have poor mental health as adults, study finds
Parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult, a study has found.The research also found physical abuse experienced among the research participants reduced over time, while verbal abuse increased.Published in BMJ Open, the study gathered data of 20,687 adults from seven studies published between 2012 and 2024.The studies used all involved questions on childhood physical and verbal abuse using the validated Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) tool and the Warwick-Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale to measure individual and combined components of adult mental wellbeing.Participants were asked over a two-week period about their mental wellbeing, with responses given a score to determine whether the participant had a low or high sense of mental wellbeing
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