The appliance of science, NHS data and tenant tests
Is it okay to bring back the woolly mammoth just because we could benefit from the research in the future?
In today’s MetroTalk, a reader writes to say we might not see the benefit now, but we will some day. What do you think?
Meanwhile, should we rename the NHS? A reader says its data system is much too disjointed to keep its moniker. Following our conversation on the subpar private rental market, a reader suggests a way to keep the tenants in check…
Share what you think about these topics in the comments.
'I can guarantee this research will benefit us all'
Stephen and Bernard (MetroTalk, Mon) question genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences editing stem cells from an Asian elephant to bring back woolly mammoths from extinction.
Stephen says melting ice caps will leave the huge mammals with no natural habitat, while Bernard says we should focus our efforts on preserving existing wildlife already under threat.
It may seem pointless but it’s this type of scientific advance that gives us the technology we rely on every day. How do you think we got MRI scans, X-rays, mobile phones and medicines?
They were all a by-product of researching something and learning something new. You may not see now how this research will benefit us but I can guarantee that it will. Philip, Via Email
METRO TALK - HAVE YOUR SAY
Let us know what you think...
Start a text with VIEWS followed by your comment, name and where you live to 65700. Standard network charge applies. Or email mail@ukmetro.co.uk Helpline for Views, Rush-Hour Crush and Good Deed Feed: 020 3615 0600.
Remember, you are more likely to be published if you provide your name and location with your
Full T&Cs here. Metro.co.uk is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Comments may be edited for reasons of legality, clarity or space.
KISS the NHS
Alan (MetroTalk, Fri) talks about the time and money wasted in the NHS emailing test records between GPs and hospitals etc because not everyone is on the same IT system.
While we refer to the National Health Service, we need to accept it’s no longer a ‘national’ health service but a disjointed accumulation of individual trusts, each with its own data controller.
As a veteran – ex-RAF – I had to submit individual data request forms to the RAF, King’s College Hospital, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and my GP, to obtain copies of my medical records.
As a former computer programmer, I also know that far too many computer systems are insufficiently tested before implementation and are all too often over budget, even if they work as intended.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to design and implement a system that would capture patients’ medical records and be available to all parts of the health service.
KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid – is an acronym that springs to mind, but the government and the powers that be seem to want to engage in prestige projects that all too often end in vast overspends or get cancelled – the HS2 railway line, aircraft carriers, Trident nuclear weapons et al. Peter Baker, Blind Veteran, Maidstone
Means testing social housing tenants
I agree with Tim (MetroTalk, Fri) about controlling the private rental market, particularly that properties should be registered and subject to inspections to ensure they meet decent standards.
I’d add, controversially, that all social housing should have a one-year review.
The waiting list for social housing – I don’t think we call it council housing anymore – is vast, causing issues in the private rental market. Where social rents are generally 60 per cent of the market rate, those benefiting should have a simple annual assessment, meaning that where their circumstances have changed and they can afford to pay the market rate, they are given the option to pay market rate if they want to stay – the extra money being ring-fenced for housing – or given the option to leave.
It would work both ways. If the tenant was unhappy after a year, they could explain why, and issues be fixed, or they could be moved to a more suitable home. Simon Jay, Cambridge
Agnes (MetroTalk, Mon) describes a planned war memorial to Muslim soldiers as ‘segregated’ – saying it ‘excludes many other heroes’ and exacerbates an ‘increasingly divided society’.
It is already an established practice to create memorials towards the soldiers of the Commonwealth who fought to uphold democracy. In Whitehall, there’s a memorial dedicated towards the Nepalese Gurkhas who fight in our service. In Brixton, there’s a memorial for soldiers of African and Caribbean heritage.
I don’t believe these memorials diminish them as ‘statistics’, as Agnes claims, but rather ensure they, too, can receive respect that may not have been given to them in years prior. JS, London
Democracy is under threat but not from those we’re told about
It’s very worrying when people marching peacefully to call for a ceasefire in Gaza are being labelled as ‘extremists’ and ‘haters’.
I’ve been on three marches in London and two in Bristol, and I didn’t see anything that implied hatred or extremism to me.
We need to be careful about accepting what we’re being told at the moment.
Why are people calling for peace being demonised so much, when anybody associated with the military or the arms trade is generally seen as OK, and what they do isn’t questioned at all? Kate Taylor, Thornbury, Near Bristol
Prime minister Rishi Sunak, Lee Anderson (who joined Reform UK yesterday after getting booted out of the Tory party) and their allies are right – democracy in this country is under threat. But not from pro-Palestinian protesters or ‘Islamic fundamentalists’. Democracy is under threat from this government.
It seems to have decided that any political action or movement it doesn’t like is automatically ‘undemocratic’ and ‘extreme’, and therefore must be prevented.
Paranoid intolerance of dissent has heralded the start of many dictatorships
in the past.
Pro-Palestinian marches represent the lifeblood of any democracy – the right to actively dissent through disruptive protest.
This time it’s for Palestine, but next time it could be any other political cause, and the protesters could be any of us. By allowing the protests to go ahead, London mayor Sadiq Khan is defending democracy from the real mob – the people in charge. Rob Slater, Norfolk
Good Greggs, unfair fare rises and fuel duty
It’s good to hear that Greggs will give 25,000 shopworkers a £700 bonus this month, after the baker made record profits of £188million last year.
Apart from John Lewis, I don’t know many companies that have done this. I’ve worked in more than a dozen factories but have never received a bonus, despite some of these companies doing well.
The nearest was an occasional small bonus at Christmas. Maybe other companies could do the same and reward their hard-working staff when they make big profits, instead of giving their CEOs and shareholders most of the profits. George Radley, Smethwick
Milch from Chigwell (MetroTalk, Mon) says motorists are targeted in taxes and charges of one form or another. In fact, motorists have been looked after, with fuel duty frozen since 2011.
Meanwhile, rail customers have suffered fare rises to pay for improvements. At least the London mayor Sadiq Khan has frozen Transport For London fares until March next year. Barry, Thornton Heath
Nearly all the rich own cars, but The Health Foundation says nearly
40 per cent of poorer households don’t. So, cutting fuel duty is levelling down.
Anthony, Fulham
MORE : The Woolly mammoth could be brought back from extinction in just four years
MORE : Airbnb brings in new rules to ‘prioritise privacy’ for guests
MORE : Tories’ biggest donor accused of saying Diane Abbott ‘makes you want to hate black women’