Bereaved families call for inquiry into UK failure to act on pro-suicide forum
Bereaved families and survivors of a pro-suicide forum have called for a public inquiry into the government’s failure to prevent harm linked to the online platform.The calls came as a report found that coroners had raised concerns regarding suicide forums at least 65 times to three government departments since 2019.They also highlighted that a substance promoted as a suicide method on such platforms has been linked to at least 133 deaths in the UK, with the youngest known victim just 13 years old.The analysis, published by the Molly Rose Foundation – established after the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell in November 2017 – is the result of systematic review of reports to prevent future deaths issued by coroners.According to their report, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology all failed to act on warnings from coroners about the dangers of pro-suicide forums.
In a letter addressed to the prime minister, the group Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms said that their loved ones were “let down by a state that was too slow to respond to the threats, which despite multiple warnings has failed to act to save lives and prevent harm”.The letter stated: “This series of failings requires a statutory response, not just to understand why our loved ones died but also to prevent more lives being lost in a similar way.“What is important now is not blame but change that will mean more vulnerable young people are not put at risk of entirely preventable harm.”Signatories of the letter include the family of Aimee Walton, who died after access to pro-suicide content online.The foundation is calling for the public inquiry to look specifically at the Home Office’s failure to strengthen regulation of the substance, and Ofcom for not taking the necessary steps to prevent the threat of the pro-suicide forum.
Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said the report “paints clear how repeated failures of the state to protect its vulnerable citizens mean that the nihilistic potential of a suicide forum has cost countless lives”.He added: “It is inexplicable that Ofcom has left the fate of a forum that exists to groom and coerce others to end their lives in its own hands rather than take swift and decisive action to legally shut it down in the UK.“Nothing less than a public inquiry is now needed to learn the countless lessons and act on them to save lives.”Calls for the inquiry are supported by Leigh Day, a law firm representing seven bereaved clients.A government spokesperson said: “Suicide devastates families and we are unequivocal about the responsibilities online services have to keep people safe on their platforms.
“Under the Online Safety Act, services must take action to prevent users from accessing illegal suicide and self-harm content and ensure children are protected from harmful content that promotes it.“The substance in question is closely monitored and is reportable under the Poisons Act, meaning retailers must alert authorities if they suspect it is being bought to cause harm.We will continue to keep dangerous substances under review to ensure the right safeguards are in place.”An Ofcom spokesperson said: “In response to our enforcement action, the online suicide forum put in place a geoblock to restrict access by people with UK IP addresses.“Services that choose to block access by people in the UK must not encourage or promote ways to avoid these restrictions.
This forum remains on Ofcom’s watchlist and our investigation remains open while we check that the block is maintained.”In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.
org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor,In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14,Other international helplines can be found at befrienders,org
670 Grams, Birmingham B9: ‘A cascade of small, meaningful bowls that just ooze flavour’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Birmingham’s dining scene often leans towards the intense. I recall a hazy afternoon seven years back at the Digbeth Dining Club, a ramshackle food market inside an old factory with few seats, loud music, breakfast cocktails and baos; it was a thoroughly chaotic way to take on board calories. More recently, I loved the city’s Albatross Death Cult, which served 12 courses of scintillating, seafood-focused finickiness to a pounding, darkwave industrial-goth soundtrack.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
‘£30 for a ready meal?!’ Do Charlie Bigham’s new dishes really beat going to a restaurant?
Like Tesla cars and the ending of the Sopranos, Charlie Bigham ready meals seem to be rather divisive. On the one hand, people clearly love them: about 31m dishes were sold in the past year alone. On the other hand, they generate a heap of mockery. The critique seems to be that only a gullible idiot would shell out up to a tenner on an oven-ready fish pie, chilli con carne or – as one commentator once memorably labelled it – a tray of “Tory slop”.Those critics will be sharpening their kitchen knives because Bigham, who is a kind of Tim “Wetherspoons” Martin for centrist dads, has just announced the launch of his Brasserie range: deluxe versions of his meals with prices that fetch up to … wait for it … £30! Thirty whole English pounds!With a menu consisting of venison bourguignon, coq au vin, confit duck (all at £16
‘It’s about weaponising opinion’: the power of Topjaw’s online foodie show
When the presenter Jesse Burgess goes to a restaurant, the kitchen always sends him dishes he didn’t order. One of the ironies of fame is that the more you can afford, the less you have to pay for it. Except that Burgess isn’t a celebrity, he says. “I’m just a guy who really likes food.”Burgess is the 34-year-old host of Topjaw, a small but mighty internet platform featuring chefs and foodies, whose “Best of” series, for better or worse, has changed the way Londoners – and those beyond – eat out
Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for peanut butter banana french toast | The sweet spot
I can’t be the only one who is a bit ambitious when buying bananas. Despite my best efforts to get through them, a couple of well-ripened, black-skinned bananas in the fruit bowl is an all too common sight. Banana bread feels the obvious choice, but sometimes you just don’t have the time or enough people to share it with. A quicker option that I like to make at weekends is french toast, though I tend to lean into the Hong Kong-style in which the slices of bread are stuffed with peanut butter and drizzled generously with condensed milk and butter. Delightful stuff
Not all Argentinian red wine is malbec | Hannah Crosbie on drinks
You could make the argument that my journey into the wine industry began with Argentinian malbec. Even before I was pouring wines in restaurants, taking orders and learning the table numbers, it was the first wine with which I became truly familiar. It was the black bottle with the white label that lined our supermarket shelves, and what people on the telly with expensive haircuts and thick resin bangles poured into large glasses.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for baked leek and egg gratin | A kitchen in Rome
While sorting out some books the other day, as well as gathering a pile to give away or sell, I spent a large part of two hours looking for books I know I once had, and trying to remember if I had loaned or lost them. And then, in the case of one particular book, ordering another copy. Ten out, one in: not terrible.The book I (re)ordered was Beaneaters and Bread Soup, by Lori de Mori and the photographer Jason Lowe. Gathered over decades of living just outside Florence, the book is a collection of wonderful, practical Tuscan recipes, and also tells a story of Tuscan food through portraits of photogenic local artisans: a chestnut grower, a bee keeper, a man who makes knives … I would mention more if I could find the book, which I suspect was borrowed and never returned – you know who you are! (Unless I have got this wrong and it is behind the bookcase
Australians in the NBA: from the $150m men to a human highlight reel | Jack Snape
Australia’s Scott Boland shuts out noise from former England players before Ashes
Outsiders steal headlines at Ascot and the shocks are coming more often
Red Bull fined £43,000 after team member tries to tamper with Lando Norris grid tape
Mind the gap: surge from Verstappen piles pressure on McLaren and echoes 2007 | Giles Richards
‘Exciting’ Noah Caluori could make England debut this autumn, says Borthwick