UK News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Get out of this country while you can. It's a sinking ship.

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NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns

Sun 26 Mar 2023 19.56 BST

The NHS in England needs a massive injection of homegrown doctors, nurses, GPs and dentists to avert a recruitment crisis that could leave it short of 571,000 staff, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.

A long-awaited workforce plan produced by NHS England says the health service is already operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, and that number could balloon to 571,000 staff by 2036 on current trends.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... tudy-finds

They need an intake of 570,000 people trained for the NHS then.

[weatheriscool]

Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National party
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... SApp_Other
Greens confirm they will back Yousaf as first minister but former health secretary faces battle to unite SNP

Humza Yousaf: continuity candidate taking over as Scottish first minister

First published on Mon 27 Mar 2023 09.11 EDT

Humza Yousaf has been elected the first minority ethnic leader of the Scottish National party, in a narrow victory which will force him to confront deep divisions within his party.

He is almost certain to be confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister after the Scottish Greens said they would back his nomination on Tuesday, but he faces a significant internal challenge bringing the SNP’s warring wings together.

[Cyber_Rebel]

ChatGB: Tony Blair backs push for taxpayer-funded ‘sovereign AI’ to rival ChatGPT
Tech chiefs and former PM warn the UK risks being ‘left behind’ without action

The Telegraph

Britain should build a “sovereign” artificial intelligence (AI) bot to fix problems in the NHS and Whitehall or risk being dependent on overseas tech giants, ministers have been told.

The Government is being urged by scientific advisors to develop a taxpayer-funded system to rival the likes of ChatGPT, amid predictions from experts that AI will play an increasingly important role in modern life.

The Alan Turing Institute, Britain’s national AI agency, has been lobbying for state funding to develop a “sovereign” system that could be used in the NHS, in Whitehall and by intelligence services.

Former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair and members of the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Council also backed the push for a British system, warning that the UK risked being “left behind” without action.

Woah. State funded A.I.? Now it really does feel like I'm living in a different, more futuristic reality.

[ººº]

AIxit

[weatheriscool]

ChatGB: Tony Blair backs push for taxpayer-funded ‘sovereign AI’ to rival ChatGPT
Tech chiefs and former PM warn the UK risks being ‘left behind’ without action

The Telegraph

Britain should build a “sovereign” artificial intelligence (AI) bot to fix problems in the NHS and Whitehall or risk being dependent on overseas tech giants, ministers have been told.

The Government is being urged by scientific advisors to develop a taxpayer-funded system to rival the likes of ChatGPT, amid predictions from experts that AI will play an increasingly important role in modern life.

The Alan Turing Institute, Britain’s national AI agency, has been lobbying for state funding to develop a “sovereign” system that could be used in the NHS, in Whitehall and by intelligence services.

Former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair and members of the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Council also backed the push for a British system, warning that the UK risked being “left behind” without action.

Woah. State funded A.I.? Now it really does feel like I'm living in a different, more futuristic reality.

Fucking awesome. I hope the UK makes it able to cure cancer and super human.

[wjfox]

UK now adopting same tactics as the GOP.

This is voter suppression, plain and simple.

[Time_Traveller]

UK now adopting same tactics as the GOP.

This is voter suppression, plain and simple.

This is why i prefer postal voting as you don't need any of these to vote.

[lechwall]

Get out of this country while you can. It's a sinking ship.

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NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns

Sun 26 Mar 2023 19.56 BST

The NHS in England needs a massive injection of homegrown doctors, nurses, GPs and dentists to avert a recruitment crisis that could leave it short of 571,000 staff, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.

A long-awaited workforce plan produced by NHS England says the health service is already operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, and that number could balloon to 571,000 staff by 2036 on current trends.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... tudy-finds

Where are you thinking of moving to?

[wjfox]

Where are you thinking of moving to?

For various reasons (mainly job and family-related), I doubt I can move anytime soon, but I encourage others to do so, if they're able to. If I didn't have commitments here I'd probably move to New Zealand or Canada.

I'm sure Labour will win the next election. But I don't think they'll make a big enough difference to turn this country around, mainly due to Starmer being forced to pander to Lexiters/Boomers.

And if Labour win by a huge amount, they won't have the incentive to introduce proportional representation. The very thing that would actually kill off the Tories for the next 50+ years.

So we'll be stuck with a US-style political system, the Overton window becoming ever narrower, no chance of Brexit being reversed, and the UK continuing down this path of misery and stagnation.

[lechwall]

Where are you thinking of moving to?

For various reasons (mainly job and family-related), I doubt I can move anytime soon, but I encourage others to do so, if they're able to. If I didn't have commitments here I'd probably move to New Zealand or Canada.

I'm sure Labour will win the next election. But I don't think they'll make a big enough difference to turn this country around, mainly due to Starmer being forced to pander to Lexiters/Boomers.

And if Labour win by a huge amount, they won't have the incentive to introduce proportional representation. The very thing that would actually kill off the Tories for the next 50+ years.

So we'll be stuck with a US-style political system, the Overton window becoming ever narrower, no chance of Brexit being reversed, and the UK continuing down this path of misery and stagnation.

It might be hard to believe Will but Canada and New Zealand actually have a worse housing crisis than the UK when you compare average earnings in each country to house prices in each country. Guess I'm stuck in the UK as well for the forseeable future.

The UK's index score in the third quarter of 2022 amounted to 123.2, which means that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 23 percent since 2015.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/591 ... ce%202015.

New Zealand has one of the highest house price-to-income ratios in the world. In the third quarter of 2022, the ratio was 131.4, a decrease from the same quarter of the previous year.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/102 ... us%20year.

Canada's index score in the third quarter of 2022 amounted to 143.5, which means that house price growth has outpaced income growth by almost 50 percent since 2015.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/591 ... t%20years.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Britain’s troubling trends in life expectancy

APRIL 9 2023

The fact that people were living increasingly long lives used to be a reliable good news story. Not so any more. The UK government has delayed plans to raise the state pension age to 68 from 2037 because something has started to go awry with life expectancy trends in Britain. After decades of rapid improvement, progress has slowed to a crawl since 2011. In the poorest parts of England, it has actually started to fall. Similar trends are evident in “healthy life expectancy” — an estimate of the amount of time people can expect to live in good health.

Hopes for future improvements have also dimmed. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank, a man born in 1971 who made it to age 50 would, under projections made in 2006, be expected to have a life expectancy of 86.3. Under the 2020 projections it had fallen to 83.9 years. The equivalent figures for women have dropped from 89.3 to 86.7.

The UK is not alone. Life expectancy is on an even worse trajectory in the US, where drugs, guns and road deaths are killing swaths of young people. In western Europe, improvements in life expectancy have also slowed since 2011, but the UK’s performance is below that of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/3d25b1c9-33b ... 0fc3a8a603

[Time_Traveller]

Government reveals exactly what will happen in the first-ever nationwide emergency alert system test

7 hours ago

The government has revealed the details of the UK’s first-ever nationwide public alert system test scheduled for next Sunday.

Millions of mobile phones across the UK will receive the message alongside a loud alarm at 3pm on 23 April. The system is intended to be used in life-threatening situations, such as flooding and wildfires.

Set to be tested on 4G and 5G mobile phones, the sound and vibration will last for up to 10 seconds even if devices are set to silent.

The message will say: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.

“In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 20603.html

[Time_Traveller]

UK pensions: how much do you need to retire as the cost of living soars?

Sat 15 Apr 2023 07.00 BST

The cost of living crisis is turning into a cost of retirement crisis as rising food and energy prices mean the amount of money you need to retire at a minimum living standard has increased by almost £2,000 in the last year.

In 2022 the minimum required to survive as a single pensioner jumped by 18% to £12,800 a year. Meanwhile, a retired couple now need a minimum of £19,900 a year – up £3,200, an even bigger rise of 19%, according to a study funded by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) at Loughborough University.

While this month the full new state pension rose from £9,627 a year to £10,600, the figures from the research suggest that millions of people will not have enough money to cover their day-to-day living costs.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/ ... ion-income

[lechwall]

UK pensions: how much do you need to retire as the cost of living soars?

Sat 15 Apr 2023 07.00 BST

The cost of living crisis is turning into a cost of retirement crisis as rising food and energy prices mean the amount of money you need to retire at a minimum living standard has increased by almost £2,000 in the last year.

In 2022 the minimum required to survive as a single pensioner jumped by 18% to £12,800 a year. Meanwhile, a retired couple now need a minimum of £19,900 a year – up £3,200, an even bigger rise of 19%, according to a study funded by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) at Loughborough University.

While this month the full new state pension rose from £9,627 a year to £10,600, the figures from the research suggest that millions of people will not have enough money to cover their day-to-day living costs.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/ ... ion-income

The real key to retiring comfortably is to own your home outright which will be true for less of the current generation than previous generations.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[Xyls]

Labour working to let the Conservatives win again?

Labour suspends Diane Abbott in attempt to stifle fresh antisemitism row

MP loses party whip after writing letter suggesting Jewish, Irish, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people had not experienced racism

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -to-racism

[Time_Traveller]

Labour working to let the Conservatives win again?

Labour suspends Diane Abbott in attempt to stifle fresh antisemitism row

MP loses party whip after writing letter suggesting Jewish, Irish, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people had not experienced racism

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -to-racism

Indeed and you wonder why most people don't vote either of them.

[Time_Traveller]

Government website error causes UK emergency alert confusion

Tuesday 25 April 2023 at 2:20pm

A post on the government website has caused widespread confusion after it appeared to notify people of a second emergency alert test taking place today.

In an official post wrongly published online, it said a "service test" would be conducted on Tuesday 25 April, but most mobile phones and tablets would not be getting an alert.

It left people questioning whether or not they might receive another notification, especially considering some mobile phone users didn't get them when a nationwide test of the new system was carried out on Sunday.

But a Cabinet Office spokesperson confirmed to ITV News that it was "a website error" and the information has since been removed from the site to avoid any more confusion.

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-04-25/gov ... -confusion