Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
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Bugged
by M R S A
Letter
from Susan Griffiths, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales - Daily
Mail, March 10, 2005
There's
nothing new about MRSA infections on hospital wards. I
was a student nurse in the late Sixties when there was
an investigation into the number of 'staph aureus' infections
of surgical wounds and bedsores. This was in the days
when hospitals were scrubbed, washed and disinfected until
every inch was clean.
A
carrier was suspected, and all staff had nasal swabs taken.
Some results came back positive, including mine, which
was also resistant to all available antibiotics tested
- Multi-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.
I
was told I would probably be sent off duty until such
time as any swabs taken proved negative, but because of
staff shortages, I never was.
I
continued nursing till 1995. Nothing further was ever
done about the swab result. In fact, I forgot all abut
it until MRSA cropped up in the news.
How
many hospital staff are carriers these days? Is anything
being done to find out?
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Daily
Mail - 18/11/2004: Jenny Hope and Sue Reid write on MRSA:
People
can carry the MRSA bug without being affected. Patients
can become carriers after the bug is passed on, possibly
by health workers failing to wash their hands.
When
the bug becomes a full blown bloodstream infectiion, or
infects open wounds, it can be deadly to vulnerable patients.
An
estimated one in three people carry the bug on their skin
or in their nose, where it can survive indefinitely without
ill-effect to the individual.
New
Nightingale needed
Letter
to the Daily Mail from Simon Prentis, London NW3 March 9,
2005
Statistics
might show decreases in MRSA infections, but crackdown on
hygiene has clearly not yet reached our local hospital.
I
recently accompanied my wife in an emergency admission to
the Royal Free Hospital in Nth London and was stunned by
the widespread evidence of poor hygiene control.
It
wasn't so much the grubby, uncleaned floors and grimy walls
as the dirty, blood-flecked curtains being used to close
off the cubicles, the blood left to dry on the floor and
nursing staff not bothering to wash hands between patients.
Not
to mention medical records being mixed up, blood samples
lost, X-rays mislaid and, at one point, even a baby going
missing. The vast sums the Government claims to be investing
in the NHS obviously are not having an effect where they
are most needed. Bring back Matron? What we need is a Florence
Nightingale.
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MRSA 'kills
10,000' - twice official estimates, claim critics
By
Jenny Hope - Medical Correspondent, Daily Mail, October 14, 2004
The
true number of patients killed by hospital super-bug MRSA is double
the official figure, campaigners claimed yesterday. Statistics
which show 5,000 deaths a year from the infection are a decade
out of date, MRSA Support said. Using more recent data, the group
estimates that the annual death toll in England is more then 10,000
- around half the deaths in hospital from acquired infections.
The
organisation, which has more than 4-00 members nationwide, used
figures from the National Audit Office, the Department of Health
and the House of Commons record Hansard to arrive at its estimate.
Its chairman, Tony Field, said: "The situation is far worse
even than this figure because doctors are not obliged to mention
MRSA on a death certificate as a secondary cause of death. It's
the tip of the iceberg because there are many cases that are not
reported either when patients die or they suffer lasting damage."
MRSA
- or methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus - can lead to
complications such as pneumonia, meningitis and blood poisoning.
It is resistant to most antibiotics. The bug is harmless to healthy
people - and is carried by many in the nose and armpits - but
can prove fatal to those with a weakened immune system and those
having surgery. It is thought that a third of all infections can
be prevented simply through meeting basic hygiene standards, such
as nurses washing their hands properly.
Mr
Field, 64, who gave up his job as a financial adviser after being
left on crutches after catching MRSA in hospital four years ago,
said: "It's quite outrageous. We call it the unnecessary
infection because if the hospitals were clean and proper hygiene
was undertaken the problem would be reduced enormously. The Government
is in a state of denial over the whole matter and they ought to
wake up and face the truth before they can get matters right."
He
claimed changes to the way statistics were gathered, which used
infections per bed days as a guide, were designed to deliberately
confuse patients. "There is a move to hide the true scale
of the epidemic using these kind of tactics," he added.
The
Department of Health admits that its information on the scale
of deaths from MRSA and other hospital-based infections is limited.
A spokesman said it used the National Audit Office's figure of
5000 deaths - which was first published in 1994 - as a guide.
She said the Government had promised to improve the information
available on MRSA by 2006. "It's difficult to establish a
death by MRSA because people who get it are obviously ill with
other medical conditions. The Department of Health hasn't got
good statistics on the numbers of deaths but in a recent document
we said that from 2006 we are going to have a lot better data,
"she added.
She
said the improved statistics could involve an electronic system
of recording death certificate which could link deaths to medical
records.
A
British company may have developed a new method to fight MRSA,
the New Scientist magazine reports. Laboratory tests have shown
that the amino acid compound glycine can render the bug far more
vulnerable to methicillin - the antibiotic it normally resists.
A team led by Michael Levey at Pharmaceutica in Worcestershire
found that, by using glycine, the dose of methicillin needed to
kill MRSA was massively reduced, from 256 milligrams per litre
to just 4 mg.
Matron
can't do it all on her own
For
the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom,
must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such
defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority
of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter
or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this
July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this
be done?
The
most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would
be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of
Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be
a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies
need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour
MPs:
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Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
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Simple,
non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of
issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and
increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download
a printable copy of the above letter here.
There
is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard,
a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed,
but punished in subsequent elections.
In
the year available before the General Election expected in 2005,
many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions.
A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls
in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori
or YouGov.
Questions
suggested for this purpose are listed here.
CAST
YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE.
Current
and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running
for election could share a platform at public forums in every
constituency. They would be presented with the results of
polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that
constituency.
The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their
Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they
intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters.
Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged
and the results published on this web site.
Here
is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in
the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective
MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote.
This example deals with the proposed
EU Constitutional Treaty.
Your
letters would end: "If you do not answer
this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government
line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election.
Or
why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates
in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions
of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above).
Download
a printable example of the questionnaire.
It
is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing
themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives
in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in
their own constituency, even if this means going against their
personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their
case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency,
they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view
of those who elect them.
It
will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters
don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important
subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy.
We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters
do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form
an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of
Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy.
Most
important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their
latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that
the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance
with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be
the result.
Contact
your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public
forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant
topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005.
You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of
your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject
being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected
by your representative in that assembly.
