INDYREF2 SHOULD BE ‘UP TO’ SCOTS
TV presenter’s family rejected for Who Do You Think You Are?
DRUGS DELIVERED IN THE POST
A TORY Government Minister has said it is “up to the Scottish people” whether to stage a second independence referendum despite Boris Johnson saying he would block such a move.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK Government Business
Secretary, strayed into the constitutional minefield when answering questions about Johnson’s newspaper comments renewing his opposition to a second vote.
Asked whether he agreed with the PM’s view that another referendum was “irrelevant, uncalled for and unnecessary”, he replied: “I remember, in 2014 I think it was, they said the referendum would settle the issue for 25 years, for a generation.
“And I am surprised at how often it’s come back but it’s up to the Scottish people to decide when and whether they want a referendum.”
Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, said: “Mr Kwarteng is absolutely correct that the people of Scotland – not Boris Johnson – have the right to decide their future.”
DERMOT O’Leary lost out on a chance to go on Who Do You Think You Are? because his family was deemed to be too boring.
The former X Factor host, 47, was approached by producers of the BBC1 series who wanted to feature him looking into the history of his relatives. Dermot was certain researchers would uncover the fascinating escapades of his Irish sea-faring ancestors but was told their lives were too dull to put on TV.
He said: “They researched my family for about three months and said, ‘There’s just not enough interesting stuff about your family.’
“Bear in mind Wexford is a port town and my family are all sea-faring folk and I have it on good authority two of them went to America and one is a police officer and the other was a judge and both got killed by the Mafia in the 30s. They couldn’t find any record of this.
“I was like, ‘What are you on about?’
I just don’t think they were trying hard enough. It’s awful isn’t it, absolutely awful.”
Speaking on the Snot, Sweat & Tears podcast, the This Morning host also told how he had changed his lifestyle in lockdown.
The dad of one said: “It’s appreciating the smaller stuff, whether it’s a cup of coffee or a walk in the park.
“It’s just turning off the phone and making time for yourself.
“Please God we don’t go back to working the way we used to.”
CHILDREN’S mental health services in Scotland are in crisis with figures showing more than 1500 young people have been waiting over a year for treatment.
And yesterday, the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of children’s services, called on the Scottish Government to urgently increase mental health spending in its budget.
The call comes as figures published yesterday from Public Health Scotland indicate that at the end of December 2020, 1560 children and young people had been waiting more than a year – the worst figures on record.
They are almost three times as bad as December 2019, when 589 youngsters were awaiting treatment for more than 12 months.
The SCSC has urged greatly increased investment in services for children and young people to tackle the current mental health pandemic.
It has also called for a “national crusade” as referrals begin to return to pre-lockdown levels.
It comes amid growing concerns over a “lost generation” of vulnerable children and young people, whose mental health is being impacted by the pandemic.
But even prior to the pandemic, cases of poor mental health were at unprecedented levels. There are a growing number of vulnerable children who cannot access services.
The SCSC said just over 50p in every £100 of the NHS budget is being spent on specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
The organisation said it was “a frighteningly low figure, even though mental health services are literally creaking at the seams due to greatly increasing demand”.
While 4091 children and young people were treated in the quarter to December 2020, only 73.1 per cent were seen within the 18-week waiting target.
The SCSC has warned that
These latest figures are deeply troubling SCSC SPOKESMAN ON IMPACT ON CHILDREN
mental health services will face overwhelming pressure due to pent-up demand created by the Covid-19 lockdown, coupled with a cut in youth support services. This could potentially lead to a “lost generation” of vulnerable children and young people who are missing out on vital support.
A spokesman said: “These latest figures are deeply troubling and point to a highly challenging environment for both our young people and our mental health services.
“We welcome the fact that the Scottish Government is intending to invest more than £1.1billion in mental health services overall but significantly greater funding is needed to address the current crisis facing our children and young people.
“While referrals are beginning to return to pre-lockdown levels, it is vital that children and families are provided with the support they so desperately need, especially given the impact of the pandemic on mental health. The fact that more than 1500 of our most vulnerable children have been waiting more than a year for treatment in this respect is deeply disturbing.”
Meanwhile, psychological therapies patients were also not able to access services when they need them, with just 80 per cent of them being seen within the 18-week target time.
None of the 14 regional NHS Boards met the 18-week target
Jo Anderson, director of external affairs at the Scottish
Association for Mental Health (SAMH), said: “Scotland’s mental health services were struggling before the pandemic and today’s figures demonstrate once again that we need a radical new plan.”
SAMH research published last year showed that almost half of people with mental health problems in Scotland felt they did not get care or treatment because of the pandemic. And more than eight out of 10 child and adolescent psychiatrists in Scotland who responded to a recent poll said specialist children’s mental health services were very insufficiently or insufficiently resourced.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: “A year feels like a lifetime if you are waiting for help. Problems that can start small become crises. Frontline staff are working tirelessly but there aren’t enough of them.”
There was more bad news for the Government yesterday in terms of A&E waiting times, with just 86 per cent of those attending in January seen in four hours.
And the picture appears to be worsening, as the latest figures for the week ending February 21 showed the performance had dipped to 83.7 per cent.
In some hospitals it was even worse, with Forth Valley Royal Hospital on 68.8 per cent, Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, on 74.5 and Glasgow Royal Infirmary on 74.8.
C girlfriend Roo