For the third time planners have refused permission to violate more of our open green space. Most likely the parasitic developers will be back but surely there can be no reversal of this application, especially given the strength of local feeling.
It’s going to be a good weekend so get up on the moor and enjoy our free space.
Big Britannia
The world is getting unhealthier and it appears that we in the UK are leading the way. Post a weekend that saw the glory of sport for all, via Le Grand Depart of the Tour de France, come more startling statistics regarding Type 2 Diabetes.
Over 750 people a day are being diagnosed, approximate to a city the size of Newcastle each year. The numbers are staggering and yet the authorities seem totally powerless to address a problem that has grave consequences for the NHS in particular.
Think of it; 280,000 new cases a year with a life changing condition with the most probable cause being increasing levels of obesity. As for the cost consider the following.
“…it (obesity) already costs our NHS a staggering £4 billion a year. But within four years, that figure’s expected to rise to £6.3 billion.” David Cameron, 16 May 2011. Don’t even try to predict future costs.
In short we simply cannot afford this epidemic given all the other financial constraints on an NHS already under pressure to reign in spending.
Clearly, there are other origins of Diabetes but the over-riding consensus is that obesity, itself caused by poor diets and lack of exercise, is the prime driver. Begin to tackle this and we may start to make some progress but it is already a giant task.
There are actually some very simple and cost-effective partial solutions but the cynic in me would suggest that politicians are merely paying lip-service here.
This is largely because we require long-term policies confronting powerful big business and these rarely attract short-term votes.
I won’t bang on again about getting kids actually moving instead of being sedentary most of their early lives – anybody who reads this regularly will know my thoughts here – but allied to greater physical activity what about those who will always hate the mere thought of exercise?
Sugar in foods and soft drinks is a major factor here but the big food and drink companies simply seem too powerful for politicians. There are several options that could be considered though as certain products are central to obesity.
Direct taxation may well reduce consumption, as it has done with tobacco, by making products more expensive. It would also raise additional funding to counter the ongoing costs of diabetes which will continue to escalate.
One health professional recently argued the interesting case for gradually reducing the amount of sugar in fizzy drinks over time. Done in this way consumers adjust unwittingly but still consume and the big brands do not have a case to make.
The food industry adopts a similar practice to maintain the price point of a product; it just gets smaller over time. In a few more years the Cadburys Creme Egg will become invisible.
You may argue that this is more Nanny State and that people should have choices but this is utter bunkum because the majority are generally too stupid to be afforded too many choices; people have needed herding since the days of Noah’s Ark.
The reality is that society cannot afford the long-term health and social costs of an obese population. In isolation this issue could dwarf the combined health threats of alcohol and tobacco.
Politicians like Nick Clegg are now advocating bariatric surgery – gastric bands – as a counter measure at around £15k each procedure based on the claim that this will save money in the long term. Now you see the scale of the future costs.
This is utter madness, once again avoiding the reality that in the majority of cases people are the victims of their own fat headed stupidity. We need visionary and courageous politicians not those simply out for a Twitter sized sound bite.
Will We Ever Be So Young Again – More
I bumped into my long suffering pal Jane in Aldi this week and as we both stood at the checkout, being hounded by aggressive octogenarians anxious to get home for Bargain Hunt, it was hard to not to reflect on how fast life flashes you by.
There we were with our re-usable carrier bags – saving the equivalent of a splash of lime in the watery lager we used to drink on the club circuit in Bradford – with fading memories of days of a youth long gone.
Perms, flares, glitter make-up (okay I tried it once) and now Aldi with piss smelling old people breathing on me.
How could it be that thirty years ago we felt like the Kings and Queens of the universe every Friday night – even if we were only in a shitty Northern town drinking Skol lager – and now some old gimmer was bumping my heels with his trolley as his wife peered over the contents of my shopping with mad rheumy red eyes.
And how long will it be before Bargain Hunt becomes the highlight of my day before my afternoon arse wipe from the Jimmy Savile lookalike Ukranian nurse, strapped in my bed and force fed from a straw.
All Aboard The Gravy Train
Big Dave has announced yet another enquiry this time into alleged paedophilia in the corridors of power and the legal profession will be licking their lips once more as a deluge of public cash comes pouring their way to conclude….well nothing really.
We have had so many enquiries in recent years – Iraq, Leveson etc – that it’s tempting to suggest we need these to keep a serious number of people employed and off the streets, most likely Big Dave’s mates.
Yet despite the staggering costs involved ask yourself what really changes? Staggering costs, lots of pursed lips and promises that this will never happen again.
Who said power corrupts?
Old Windbag Is Back
One of the things that really makes me grumpy – I mean really – is the fact that in some small way I pay towards the salary of the uniquely talentless Vanessa Feltz, foisted on us by the BBC.
Big old Vanessa got a bit upset this week due to the reaction on social media towards her claims that Rolf Harris groped her too during the making of a television programme. People were apparently being nasty to her. About time, I thought!
Well take a hint love, it’s because nobody outside the fairly lights of the BBC can actually stand you nor understand any appeal you are supposed to have. And surely even sad old Rolf cannot have been that desperate?
God’s Own Country
Much has been made of the North South divide in recent years and, yes, they do have most of the money down there. What they do not have is what was displayed all weekend courtesy of Le Grand Depart.
There is no finer place in the country than Yorkshire and if we ever needed reminding then this was surely the moment. Spectacular landscapes, unique people, proud traditions and an ability to party like few imagined possible.
Proud to be a Yorkshireman.
The Joys of Coaching
Coach Marsy’s U13 team delivered as good a birthday present to him as was possible last night simply by winning a game. It’s not that this bunch of kids are rubbish or don’t try, more that things just have not gone their way this season and we’ve seen their confidence wither weekly.
At times they have displayed the art of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory leaving the two of us perplexed but last night it all clicked; there is talent there all right and what a bloody nice bunch of kids they are too.
Should you ever be tempted to be too hard on the kids it’s always good to remind yourself of days gone by. This lot – pictured above – have all taken different routes in life, some wholly unexpected but as one kindly said to me a few years ago, these were some of “…the best days of my life“…so far I hope.
When I was their age I captained a side that lost all fourteen league games. Marsy & Co, in the picture with a very young Tim Bresnan, were not that much better and caused me a few wall banging moments as their coach. Now we share a pint or two together.
Most important of all though is that, 12 years on, two of them are still playing the game and Worthy would be – for England – were it not for the demands of his celebrity lifestyle. As ever each summer, we also await the return of the mystical Wadey for his token game or two.
If the class of 2014 go on to enjoy the game as much as 2002 then that’s as good as we can hope for so well done to the kids.
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