High court orders UK government to explain clean air plan delay

The government has been ordered back to the high court to explain its last-minute bid to delay publication of the UK’s clean air plan.

Politicians and environmental groups had complained that ministers were “hiding behind the election” after they said they could not publish the proposals because of election purdah.

The high court said on Tuesday that there would be a new hearing on Thursday where ministers will have to defend their application.

James Thornton, CEO of the environmental lawyers ClientEarth, who brought the original case against the government, said they would present their response at the hearing on Thursday.

“This is a public health issue and not a political issue. Urgent action is required to protect people’s health from the illegal and poisonous air that we are forced to breathe in the UK.

“This is a matter for the court to decide once the government has made its arguments because it is the government which has not met, and instead seeks to extend, the court’s deadline for the clean air plan, to clean up our air.”

Ministers had been under a court direction to produce tougher draft measures to tackle illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution, which is largely caused by diesel traffic, by 4pm on Monday. The original plans had been dismissed by judges as so poor as to be unlawful.

But after the announcement by Theresa May of a general election on 8 June, ministers lodged a lengthy application to the court late on Friday. It asked judges to allow them to breach the Monday deadline to “comply with pre-election propriety rules”.

Politicians and environmental groups reacted with anger, claiming ministers were “hiding behind the election” to justify delaying publication of the government’s long awaited proposals instead of tackling the UK’s air pollution crisis. Health experts warned the lack of government action had potentially put thousands of lives at risk.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It is frankly outrageous that the government thinks it can continue to bury its head in the sand about the serious health impacts of air quality in London and across the country. The prime minister has once again missed this golden opportunity to show real leadership in tackling and improving the air we breathe, which should have been done well before the pre-election period.”

Andrea Leadsom, the environment secretary, was summoned to parliament on Monday to answer urgent questions. During the debate she said she was “personally deeply committed to the importance of ensuring clean air” but had been told by officials in the Cabinet Office that it would breach purdah rules to publish the plans in the run-up to the election.

The government has applied to publish draft plans on 30 June followed by the full policy in September, she said.

Leadsom, who also revealed that it was the second application to delay publication that her department had submitted to the courts, insisted the move would not postpone the rollout of the proposals.

The scale of the air pollution crisis was revealed in a joint Guardian-Greenpeace investigation this month showing hundreds of thousands of children were being educated within 150 metres of a road where levels of nitrogen dioxide from diesel traffic breached legal limits.

Last week figures obtained by Labour showed that more than 38 million people, representing 59.3% of the UK population, were living in areas where levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution were above legal limits.

Research consistently shows that exposure to traffic fumes is harmful to children and adults. Children are more vulnerable because their lungs are still developing and exposure to nitrogen dioxide reduces lung growth, causes long-term ill health and can result in premature death.

ClientEarth’s lawyers will attend the hearing, which has been listed by the court for Thursday at 10.30am. The court has set aside two and a half hours.

High court orders UK government to explain clean air plan delay

Jeremy Hunt orders investigation into baby deaths at NHS trust

The health secretary has ordered an investigation into the deaths of a number of babies at an NHS trust in the Midlands, after seven of them were judged to have been avoidable.

Jeremy Hunt made the move after bereaved families and the local coroner criticised the quality and safety of maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS trust. He has asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to look into an undisclosed number of deaths at the trust in recent years, amid concern that some were not properly investigated at the time.

The BBC said it had obtained details of at least nine suspicious deaths that occurred at the trust between September 2014 and May 2016, seven of which were later deemed to have been avoidable if the newborns had received better care.

Five of the deaths involved apparent failures by staff to correctly monitor a baby’s heartbeat.

Dr Edwin Borman, the trust’s medical director, said the rate of baby deaths at the trust – which handles 4,700 deliveries a year – was no worse than anywhere else in the NHS.

However, he told BBC News: “In the case of foetal heart monitoring, we have identified a number of cases where learning has not been fully implemented. We’ve put systems in place to make improvements.”

John Ellery, the coroner in the June 2016 inquest into the death of Kye Hall at Telford’s Princess Royal hospital, said errors by staff had contributed to the baby boy’s death.

“His death was caused or contributed to by failings at the Princess Royal hospital, Telford, namely a failure to reclassify Kye’s mother as a high-risk case on two occasions and a failure to auscultate [listen to] his foetal heart rate at two critical times prior to delivery,” the coroner said.

Kye was born on 15 August 2015, but he died four days later as a result of hypoxic ischaemic brain injury and birth asphyxia, or serious oxygen deprivation.

The trust accepted during the inquest that some recordings of Kye’s heart rate when he was still in the womb were not taken or written down, and that his mother, Kate Anson, could have been referred to the consultant-led maternity unit when her blood pressure dropped.

Last week, an inquest into the death of a one-day-old girl, from a group B streptococcus infection while in the trust’s care, found she could have lived had she received better medical attention. The trust accepted that Pippa Griffiths would probably have survived if staff had spotted the infection earlier.

Pippa was born at home on 26 April 2016. When her mother, Kayleigh, rang the maternity unit at 6.30pm to voice concern about Pippa’s feeding, staff reassured her. She said she called again at 2.55am the next day to report brown mucus, although midwife Claire Roberts said she did not remember the baby’s mother saying that.

Sarah Jamieson, the trust’s head of midwifery, said afterwards: “We are truly sorry that we were unable to provide the appropriate care that would have prevented Pippa’s death.”

Maternity services at the trust were strongly criticised last year in an inquiry, commissioned by NHS England, into the death of a baby girl, Kate Stanton-Davies, in 2009.

Her mother, Rhiannon, said: “Look at the failings, learn from them, move on. To not do that, they haven’t just killed my daughter, but they have disregarded the value of her life, her memory.”

The inquiry found a “lack of a safety culture” in the maternity unit at the time. It also found staff had not been held accountable for their failings related to Kate’s death, and that lessons needed to improve patient safety had not been learned.

The nine suspicious deaths include those of twins Ella and Lola Greene, who were stillborn in 2014 after staff failed to correctly read and interpret their heart rates. The trust also accepted other inquest findings that poor foetal heart monitoring was a factor in the deaths of Graham Scott Holmes-Smith in 2015 and Ivy Morris in May 2016.

Other deaths under examination include that of Oliver Smale in 2015. The coroner said his death could have been prevented if he had been born earlier by caesarean section.

The Department of Health said: “Earlier this year, the health secretary asked NHS regulators to undertake an investigation at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust in light of disclosures that in a number of tragic cases standards of care fell far below those that parents would expect.”

Jeremy Hunt orders investigation into baby deaths at NHS trust

Vladimir Putin orders clampdown on "surrogate" alcohol as deaths rise

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to crack down on so-called surrogate alcohol, as the death toll from consumption of a fake batch of bath tincture exceeded 60.

Putin on Wednesday demanded new regulations be put in place to tighten controls over the production and sale of liquids including perfume, cleaning fluids, medicines and cosmetics that contain more than 25% alcohol. He also told the government to look at increasing the legal consequences for violations in the production and sale of these items.

The death toll in the Siberian city of Irkutsk over recent days has now reached 62. Investigators on Monday said they had discovered an underground laboratory in the city making fake boyaryshnik, a tincture supposedly meant to be added to baths for relaxation. The fluid, which normally contains 93% ethanol, as well as hawthorn extract and lemon oil, is widely drunk in Russia as a cheap substitute for alcohol.

However, police found that the batch in Irkutsk contained methanol, a poisonous substance found in antifreeze, instead of ethanol. Local authorities declared a state of emergency in Irkutsk on Monday, and across the wider region on Tuesday. Police seized thousands of bottles of the liquid from shops and kiosks across the region, and authorities ordered a temporary ban on the sale of all fluids containing alcohol.

Twelve people have been arrested for distributing the fake batch, and courts in Irkutsk remanded them in custody on Wednesday.

According to Irkutsk region’s ministry of health, 107 people have been poisoned by the batch of fake boyaryshnik, with 62 dead so far. Around half of them died in hospital, while others were already dead on arrival. There are still 36 people in hospital. Four people have been released having made what local doctors called a “miracle recovery”.

There are two main problems in Russia’s surrogate alcohol market: first is the widespread consumption of items marked as perfumes or bath tinctures. They are exempt from sales restrictions and taxes that normal alcoholic drinks would carry but are often sold at drinks kiosks where it is obvious people would purchase them for consumption. In one Russian region, automated street machines selling Boyaryshnik were installed earlier this year.

The second problem is fake alcohol: there have been numerous cases of underground factories making cheap vodka or whisky and attaching fake labels to the bottles.

In Irkutsk, both problems combined to lethal effect, as dozens died from ingesting a tainted version of something that was in any case not designed as a drink.

The Irkutsk tragedy is an extreme example, but deaths from drinking low-quality alcohol are common. Russia’s consumer watchdog said that during the first nine months of 2016, 9,300 Russians died from alcohol poisoning. Of these, 1,200 had died from methanol poisoning, the watchdog said.

Vladimir Putin orders clampdown on "surrogate" alcohol as deaths rise

"Do not resuscitate" orders not a matter for national policy, appeal court hears

Addenbrooke’s hospital: health department attorneys explained the position on DNRs was a decision for nearby health trusts rather than nationwide policy. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Forcing medical doctors to adhere to a national policy on choices about whether or not to attempt resuscitation of critically sick individuals would run counter to the political will of ministers on how the NHS is run, judges have been told.

Attorneys for the Division of Well being (DH) and the hospital trust at the heart of a family’s challenge on the concern also informed the appeal court in London that courts need to not rush in to prescribe or override the judgment of physicians.

The husband and daughters of Janet Tracey, who died at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge, want Jeremy Hunt, the wellness secretary, to institute a national policy requiring medics to seek advice from patients and family members ahead of putting ‘do not resuscitate’ (DNR) orders in the notes of critically sick individuals.

Tracey, who broke her neck in a auto accident quickly right after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, died in March 2011, aged 63, possessing had two this kind of notices.

Vikram Sachdeva, representing the DH, stated the place on such troubles was for nearby well being trusts “and a matter of expert obligation rather than binding national policy”. Problems that arose from such an arm’s length technique could be dealt with in a variety of ways, such as audits, patients’ or coroners’ issues, analysis groups and other avenues that could bring accountability.

The Tracey family’s want for Hunt to phase in was, Sachdeva stated, “inconsistent with the clear political will” on how well being companies were presented.

Lord Pannick QC, for Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation trust, of which Addenbrooke’s is portion, earlier said the court need to be “exceptionally slow” to override the judgement of medical professionals acting sensitively and in very good faith.

Tracey’s death had occurred regardless of the medical doctors and health-related personnel delivering “devoted” care, attempting to involve Tracey and her household, and “undertaking their very best in situations that had been difficult for all concerned”.

"Do not resuscitate" orders not a matter for national policy, appeal court hears

"Do not resuscitate" orders are failing individuals, judges told

Significantly ill patients are being denied a say in whether or not they dwell or die because of a lack of clear rules on no matter whether medical professionals must seek advice from them ahead of deciding no matter whether to try to resuscitate them, three senior judges have heard.

The Government’s human rights watchdog has joined the family of a female who had a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order positioned on her health-related notes with no her understanding in a Court of Appeal challenge in an attempt to clarify the law.

Attorneys for David Tracey, whose late wife Janet was positioned under such an purchase at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in 2011, argue that the determination was unlawful due to the fact she was not consulted. The Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is intervening in the case on behalf Mr Tracey, argues that patients are being denied their human rights.

Mrs Tracey, a 63-12 months-old care home manager, had just lately been diagnosed with cancer when she was concerned in a auto crash in which she broke her neck in 2011 and was taken to Addenbrooke’s. A DNR recognize was positioned on her data but was cancelled 5 days later on right after it was challenged by her loved ones. She died a handful of days after a 2nd notice had been placed in her notes.

Mrs Tracey’s family are calling for a set of single nationwide suggestions to make sure individuals, the place attainable, or their subsequent of kin, are totally concerned. They advised Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls, who sat with Lord Justice Longmore and Lord Justice Ryder, that the procedures at Cambridge University Hospitals Believe in had failed to uphold Mrs Tracey’s rights.

But Lord Pannick QC, for the trust, explained Mrs Tracey’s medical professionals had “on the harsh health-related facts” made the decision that resuscitation would be “futile and attain completely nothing”.

The situation continues.

"Do not resuscitate" orders are failing individuals, judges told

Minister orders investigation into abortion of girls

Medical professionals at British clinics were secretly filmed agreeing to terminate foetuses purely since they are both male or female.

Speaking in a debate in the Home of Lords, Baroness Knight stated that four of the seven sections of the Abortion Act 1967 “seem to be broken regularly”,

She stated: “Yet it is unattainable to get specifics of investigations into this law-breaking or about any resulting prosecutions.”

Lady Knight, a former senior Conservative MP, extra: “Abortion law definitely lacks clarity on matters that want to be clear.

“Furthermore, it suffers from these who play with phrases to the extent that it permits terminations that were never intended to be legal.”

Lord Patten, the head of the BBC Believe in and a fomer Tory Cabinet minister in the 1990s, explained that “allowing sex-selective abortion would suggest that the United kingdom was sleep-walking into a complete-blown eugenic society, flying complete into the face of humanity and the gift of life”. He referred to as for the law to be up to date “to make clear the illegality” of the practice.

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, a Liberal Democrat peer, said “ultrasound scans have been not routine” when she was expecting a baby.

She additional: “Perhaps a much more ethical way would be not routinely to offer information of the sex of the child except in which healthcare causes, definitely not social reasons, may well need it.

“For some mothers and fathers with a family of all women or all boys, the temptation to know and possibly terminate could be overpowering. We need to not place this kind of temptation in their way.”

Earl Howe explained that a present evaluation of figures by the Division of Overall health “indicates that birth ratios – that is to say, the ratio of boys born as compared with ladies – in this country are inside standard limits”.

But he mentioned that this evaluation was being up to date, including: “We are determined to monitor the circumstance routinely and remain vigilant.

“I am also aware that some folks and organisations have presented anecdotal evidence of gender-selective abortions taking spot. I urge anyone who thinks that the law may be currently being broken to get in touch with the police with their proof.”

He added: “We are not complacent on these issues. We remain and will proceed to be really vigilant.”

Minister orders investigation into abortion of girls

Minister orders investigation into aborton of women

Physicians at British clinics were secretly filmed agreeing to terminate foetuses purely since they are both male or female.

Speaking in a debate in the Residence of Lords, Baroness Knight said that 4 of the seven sections of the Abortion Act 1967 “seem to be broken regularly”,

She explained: “Yet it is impossible to get specifics of investigations into this law-breaking or about any resulting prosecutions.”

Lady Knight, a former senior Conservative MP, extra: “Abortion law definitely lacks clarity on matters that need to have to be clear.

“Furthermore, it suffers from people who perform with words to the extent that it permits terminations that have been never intended to be legal.”

Lord Patten, the head of the BBC Believe in and a fomer Tory Cabinet minister in the 1990s, mentioned that “allowing sex-selective abortion would imply that the United kingdom was sleep-strolling into a full-blown eugenic society, flying full into the face of humanity and the gift of life”. He named for the law to be updated “to make clear the illegality” of the practice.

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, a Liberal Democrat peer, stated “ultrasound scans have been not routine” when she was expecting a baby.

She extra: “Perhaps a far more ethical way would be not routinely to offer understanding of the intercourse of the child except where health care factors, surely not social factors, may require it.

“For some mothers and fathers with a loved ones of all ladies or all boys, the temptation to know and probably terminate could be mind-boggling. We need to not place such temptation in their way.”

Earl Howe stated that a current examination of figures by the Department of Wellness “indicates that birth ratios – that is to say, the ratio of boys born as compared with ladies – in this nation are within regular limits”.

But he explained that this examination was getting up to date, including: “We are determined to check the predicament routinely and continue to be vigilant.

“I am also conscious that some folks and organisations have supplied anecdotal proof of gender-selective abortions taking area. I urge anyone who thinks that the law might be being broken to contact the police with their proof.”

He added: “We are not complacent on these troubles. We stay and will continue to be extremely vigilant.”

Minister orders investigation into aborton of women

Doctor"s orders: get out in the garden to save your health

4 Keep a healthful bodyweight. Apparently a pound of weight lost equals a 4lb reduction in the load on your knees for each stage you consider. Hip joints endure similarly. Use gardening in your weight-reduction prepare it is wonderful workout. 3 hours’ moderate gardening consumes the exact same calories as one full-on hour in the gymnasium.

5 Get off your butt a lot more. Prolonged time spent sitting, independent of how considerably other bodily exercise is completed in the course of the day, has been proven to have considerable metabolic consequences, negatively affecting blood fats, blood strain, appetite hormones and more. So get up often and stroll close to your borders, pluck out the odd weed or mist cuttings.

6 Jack up your heart fee (50 per cent over your resting baseline) for 15 minutes a day. Turn your compost heap, axe some logs, dig out that outdated stump and flip the drive mechanism off your stroll-behind mower and run with it!

7 Begin a sensible caffeine habit. (It can also help you garden more quickly.) Caffeine, especially from standard sources, might have protective anti-cancer properties. Get a Thermos cup and appreciate fresh coffee even though tilling the soil.

8 Program a one particular, 5, 10 and 20-year overall health strategy. Dr Agus’s very own plan consists of “living into my ninth decade and to feel well, too”. He enjoys yoga and tennis. Component of my method is to keep realistic fitness and energy levels to match those of my father, who played squash and significantly much more properly into his eighties and had large reserves of vitality.

9 Deal with sickness smartly. Vitamin supplements are frowned on by Dr Agus but if you feel a cold coming he suggests zinc lozenges (zinc acetate, 75mg a day), not chewed but sucked so they can be absorbed by your oral blood vessels, collectively with warm herbal teas with honey. Increase a broad range of herbs and make tasty infusions.

ten Pursue your passions. For many, gardening is best. It gets you hooked. It fulfils the two your artistic and your bodily sides, however is productive. It also involves an appreciation of science and nature and the positive aspects of careful believed and consideration.

11 Strengthen your core and seem right after your posture.

twelve Do not fail to remember your feet. Bunions and other podiatric torments can make walking challenging. I love gardening in my neoprene-lined wellies (Le Chameau, Country Neo Lady, £125, lechameau.com). Comfortable but not sweaty.

13 Discover out what physical exercise or activity you’re poor at and target on it. Apparently, new difficulties can make us mentally sharper and physically fitter. So time for me to take up grafting, laying paving and computer-aided style (again).

14 Stretch. Do this daily when you have warmed your muscle tissue soon after gardening. Your improvement in coordination, balance and general suppleness will get many years off you.

15 Request for help. Knowing your limitations in any discipline is critical. In horticulture nearly everyone is satisfied to help – it could adjust your life. You discover, locate new pals and support other people too.

sixteen Select up a pooch. Or two, I would say. Dr Agus cites several motives for this, (which includes creating routines and relieving anxiety) but my Jack Russells moreover management the rabbits and are fantastic firm when gardening.

17 Keep away from risky behaviours and unsafe sports. Climbing unsafe ladders, employing hedge cutters when not paying consideration, mowers on steep banking institutions. Consider care and really do not get blasé.

18 Sunburn. A broad-brimmed hat and sunblock are essential, even when it appears boring, to avert overexposure to dangerous rays although sowing the radishes.

19 Stay away from insomnia. There has been an explosion in the rest-aid sector. A standard excellent night’s sleep typically helps make many factors look better. Obtaining physically tired, happy, relaxed and happy from a great day’s gardening is my prime remedy for this.

20 Absence of downtime. No garden lets you fall prey to this a single it compels you to appreciate and have a tendency it, and as I could have stated prior to, it is one particular of the best ways to chill out.

*A Quick Manual to a Extended Life by David B Agus is obtainable from Telegraph Books (0844 871 1514 books.telegraph.co.united kingdom) at £11.99 + £1.35

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Doctor"s orders: get out in the garden to save your health