Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade has tabled a series of Written Parliamentary Questions, about the possible impact of Scottish independence.
Mike Weatherley MP
Mike, who supports keeping the UK together as one nation, is right behind the non-partisan Better Together campaign, however, he is concerned that not enough reliable information has been made available to the public on what the consequences of independence may be. His intervention follows concerns raised by his constituents.
Some of the questions that Mike raised included:
• how national debt may be apportioned?
• what will happen to the Armed Forces, including our nuclear capability?
• what will happen by to our energy-generating capacity?
• what impact independence may have on our carbon reduction targets?
Mike said:“I firmly believe that the UK is stronger together, more prosperous together, and more influential together. In short, we are better together. With that in mind, I have asked a number of questions of various Ministers on all sorts of matters related to a yes vote on Scottish independence.”
For more information on the Better Together campaign, CLICK HERE:
Does the modern media force people to adopt hyper-sexualised lifestyles, identities and appearances, often against their will?
sexgen: University of Huddersfield researchers
A University of Huddersfield researcher uses the term “compulsory sexuality” to describe the phenomenon and it will be the focus of the first seminar from a new network which will investigate wide ranging issues of gender and sex.
Named sexgen, it has been launched by academic experts at the universities of Huddersfield and Leeds, with a number of other leading northern universities joining the network.
One of the twin organisers is Dr Surya Monro, who heads the Gender and Sexuality Research Group at the University of Huddersfield, which hosted the new network’s launch event on February 28.
The seminar was fully subscribed and a range of sexgen seminars, at other participating universities, will follow on a variety of topics.
The Compulsory Sexuality seminar explored the effects of the “erotic imperative” and asked why, in the English speaking world in particular, “active, partnered sexual expression” is so highly valued.
There were also discussions on the emergence of alternative sexed identities such as asexuality.
Dr Monro said: “The hyper-sexualised nature of the media places pressures on people to present themselves in certain ways.” She cited “the commercialisation of sexuality” and the rise of cosmetic surgery.
“It is great that we are a liberal country and that people can express their sexuality openly, but the point is that there is pressure on people to act in certain ways that they might not want to.”
The inaugural sexgen seminar included six presentations by academic researchers, two of them from the University of Huddersfield – Dr Monro and Dr Jo Woodiwiss.
Dr Monro explained that the sexgen network is aimed at academics and activists, plus people involved in the cultural field, so that representatives of the media and filmmakers are also involved.
She continued:“We had a full house, with about 60 people, who had come from all over the north of England, plus one from Kent and a speaker from the University of Glasgow.”
“The discussions were lively and there is clearly an appetite for a forum of this kind, where people involved in research at the cutting edges of gender and sexuality studies can network and share their research in a supportive environment.”
Public Health England (PHE) launches toolkit to manage hospital infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Cases in hospitals across England show the urgent need for plans and procedures to be stepped up.
Experts at PHE have launched a toolkit for hospitals to detect, manage and control antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections caused by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE).
The use of many different types of antibiotics in hospitals creates evolutionary pressures that encourage the development and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. This process is a natural consequence of the use of antibiotics and cannot be stopped, only managed.
Enterobacteriaceae are a group of bacteria carried in the gut of all humans and animals, which is perfectly normal. While they are usually harmless they may sometimes spread to other parts of the body such as the urinary tract or into the bloodstream (bacteraemia) where they can cause serious infections.
This can occur after an injury or via the use of medical devices such as urinary catheters or intravenous drips where the skin is punctured allowing the bacteria to get into the body.
CPE is the name given to some strains of gut bacteria that have developed the ability to destroy an important group of antibiotics called carbapenems, making them resistant to these drugs. Carbapenems are considered to be antibiotics of ‘last resort’ and doctors rely on them to treat certain difficult infections when other antibiotics would or have failed.
Infections caused by CPE can usually still be treated with antibiotics. However, treatment is more difficult and may require a combination of drugs or the use of older antibiotics to be effective.
Since 2003, there has been a sustained increase in the numbers of CPE being identified from carriers and as causes of infections within the hospital setting. Identification of CPE in England by the PHE national reference laboratory has risen from fewer than five patients reported in 2006 to over 600 in 2013. These figures include patients with infections and also those where they have tested positive for the presence of the bacteria in the gut.
In England, approximately two thirds of trusts have had between one and 20 patients identified with CPE carriage or infection over the past five years, including two Trusts in Manchester that have had more than 100 patients identified with CPE during the same period.
In November 2013, PHE established a national incident management team to work to prevent and control spread of this resistant bacteria. The aim of the expert group is to provide ongoing guidance and support to local experts, not only in areas where trusts are affected but across the healthcare system.
To encourage implementation of the toolkit, PHE has, together with NHS England, written to every Acute Trust Chief Executive Officer in England asking for their essential support and action to address the risk posed to trusts and other healthcare organisations by CPE and other carbapenem-resistant organisms.
PHE and NHS England have also issued a Patient Safety Alert which recommends trusts urgently identify if there are, or have been, cases of CPE in their organisation and to instigate the development of a CPE management plan at Board level.
Managing cases or outbreaks of antibiotic resistant infections in hospitals requires four key elements:
· Samples taken early for microbiological testing if there is a suspicion that a patient is colonised or infected with a resistant strain of bacteria
· Managing the patient to prevent any resistant bacteria spreading to others
· Strict infection prevention and control procedures including hand washing and thorough cleaning and decontamination
· Reviewing the use of medical devices and prescribed antibiotics
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, said: “Antibiotic resistance poses a real threat to our ability to treat diseases. Although there has been an increase in this strain of bacteria, the new toolkit will ensure that hospitals are well placed to detect, manage and control any cases. Systems of monitoring for resistant bacteria are essential in safeguarding the effect of our antibiotics.”
Dr Paul Cosford
Dr Paul Cosford, Director for Health Protection and Medical Director at PHE, said:“In order to minimise the wide spread of these multi-drug resistant infections across England it is essential that all trusts are aware of this toolkit and that they develop plans for detecting and managing patients with infections caused by CPE and other antibiotic resistant bacteria.
“These infections are already causing national concern due to the observed increasing trends in the number of infections, outbreaks and clusters across England. We now have a window of opportunity, if we act quickly and decisively, to address this very real public health treat and prevent widespread problems by minimising the negative impact of these organisms.
“As these bacteria can spread through faecal contamination it’s very important that everyone in iene to stop CPE and other infections spreading to other vulnerable people.”
Royal Bank of Scotland Business Banking support staff visit Marlets hospice to handover cheque.
Staff at the Martlets in Hove welcomed a team from Royal Bank of Scotland Business Banking Support to the hospice last week to present the hospice staff with a cheque for £3048.20.
Lyndsey Bond, from RBS Business Support, said: “Our team chose the Martlets at the beginning of 2012 as so many of the staff at RBS have been personally involved with the Hospice, they worked hard to raise funds by holding cake bakes, car washing , sports days and a monthly dress down event. Staff have also given up hours of their time to help sort donations in the Furniture Warehouse and clear the car park. It’s been such a popular cause the team have decided to continue supporting the Martlets for another two years!”
Elizabeth Baxter, from Martlets Hospice, added: “Thank you so much to all the staff at Royal Bank of Scotland who have worked so hard to raise such an amazing amount of money for Martlets Hospice and our patients. This is vital money to fund our care for local people and a donation of this magnitude will fund a bed in our In-Patient Unit for 8 days or it will pay for one of our Hospice at Home nurses to care for patients in their own homes for 22 days. The hard work and support of Royal Bank of Scotland staff is therefore helping many people in our local community and the money they have raised will be very well spent on the patients in our care.”
Fidora Kwok, a final year criminology and sociology student at the University of Surrey is conducting research on how homophobic hate crime impacts on people.
The purpose of the study is to investigate how homophobic hate crime affect victims.
Participationin the study will help the researcher explore and understand further the effect on victims both directly and indirectly.
The study has been reviewed by the University Ethics Committee.
The questionnaire is entirely confidential and participants will not be identified or contacted if you complete it.
Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove & Portslade welcomes announcement of repair funding for churches damaged by recent extreme weather.
St Andrew’s Church, Hove
St Andrew’s Church in Waterloo Street in Hove is one of the local churches set to receive a grant to repair an internal light that was badly damaged by water during the recent storms. St Andrew’s is the home of the Actually Gay Men’s Chorus and Actually Gay Women’s Chorus who regularly stage their concerts there.
The Churches Conservation Trust, a national charity that protects 344 churches of particular historic importance that are at risk, has estimated the amount needed to repair recent damage at a total of £100,000.
The funding will be going direct to the Trust and with work already began on necessary repairs for the many churches from restoring damaged pews and fixing windows to repairing roofs and pump out flood water. It is expected that the extra funding will mean that all work will be complete by the end of March.
Mike Weatherley, MP
Mike said:“This funding is excellent news for St Andrew’s Church. Brighton & Hove was hit fairly badly by the recent storms so I was not surprised to learn that the church had been damaged. I understand that the Churches Conservation Trust is delighted with help towards repairs and look forward to seeing the restored light in all its glory in the near future.”
Crispin Truman, Chief Executive of the Churches Conservation Trust said:“Inevitably the recent extreme weather has hit a number of our historic churches around the country with issues from serious flooding and water ingress to wind damage causing holes to appear in church roofs. As a charity these unexpected urgent repairs create a financial burden so we are extremely grateful to be receiving emergency funding from the Department for Culture Media & Sport in order to help us repair the damage quickly.”
Amnesty International launches new global campaign with a series of unique body paintings.
Amnesty International has teamed up with acclaimed Tokyo-based artist Hikaru Cho to kick-start their global campaign My Body My Rights on sexual and reproductive rights, which launched last week.
The two-year campaign will launch with a series of Hikaru’s striking and sometimes surreal images; all painted directly onto the body of participating models to create a lifelike 3D effect.
Hikaru became an internet sensation in 2013 under her nickname ‘Choo-San’ for her ‘hyper-real’ body art, which has featured widely in both British and international media. The 20-year-old Chinese born artist is currently a second year student at Musashino Art University in Tokyo majoring in Visual Communication and Design.
Each of the original designs used to launch the campaign illustrate a different ‘body right’ and were conceived following a brief from Amnesty International.
Pictured is: • You have the right to choose your partner – a trompe l’oeil effect design depicts a single face as two male profiles ‘kissing’.
Other images include:
• You have the right to live free from rape and sexual violence – the artwork depicts a face emerging from a cracked shell, a metaphor for the fragility that many victims of sexual violence feel and the emotional scars they have to deal with
• You have the right to know and learn about your body, sexual health and relationships – the design focuses on access to information and features books which appear to be ingrained in the model’s back.
• You have the right to choose if, or when, you have children – a simple keyhole and key illustrate the right to control one’s own body
• You have the right to sexual and reproductive health services – including contraception – the design features an illusion of a strip of contraceptive pills which appear to be ingrained in the arm
Madhu Malhotra, Director of Amnesty International’s Gender, Sexuality and Identity programme, said: “We should all be able to enjoy the right to make decisions about our own health, body, sexual life and identity without fear, coercion or discrimination. But all over the world, people are denied the right to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive lives. People around the world want to see this change.
“We chose to work with Hikaru as we all loved her unique approach to art. She was ideal for the campaign and able to address serious issues in a way that both informs and entertains. Many of the images are deliberately left open to interpretation – we wanted to avoid being too literal and encourage debate amongst a younger audience”.
Amnesty International’s ‘My Body My Rights’ campaign seeks to empower people to claim and exercise their rights, so that every person can make free and informed choices about their sexuality and reproduction and can exercise their sexual and reproductive rights free from discrimination, coercion and violence.
Hikaru Cho said:“You have the right to choose who you love and what kind of family you want to create, decide if and when to have children, to learn about sex and relationships, to healthcare, and to live free from rape and sexual violence. I hope my art can help young people across the world start a conversation about those rights.”
Now in its seventh and final year West End Eurovision 2014 The Final Battle is set to go out with a Boom Bang-A-Bang!
After the phenomenal success of West End Eurovision 2013, the Make A Difference (MAD) Trust will be returning to the Dominion theatre on May 22, 2014.
West End Eurovision sees 10 casts from some of the biggest shows in the West End perform on the same stage for one night only; fiercely competing against each other for the coveted West End Eurovision trophy sponsored by Haagen Dazs.
Each cast must fully stage, choreograph and costume their own version of a previous Eurovision Song Contest entry and create their own video ident. As with the Eurovision Song Contest, the audience are asked to vote by SMS messaging for their favourite performance with all profits from the event go to the Make A Difference Trust.
2013 title holders, Once, were the first show to sign up in the hope of defending their title, and have already been joined by a formidable line-up that includes Billy Elliott, Les Miserables, Mama Mia and Wicked.
Hosted once again by West End favourite Richard Gauntlett, with an appearance by an ex Eurovision entry which will be sure to have the audience rocking in the aisles, and the witty and often acerbic comments from a celebrity judging panel the evening is guaranteed to tick all the boxes.
To buy tickets for this star studded eurotastic extravaganza, CLICK HERE:
The Make A Difference Trust is the entertainment industry’s response to HIV and AIDS, providing practical support and prevention services across the UK and Southern Africa, as well as providing specialist support for entertainment industry professionals experiencing hardship due to a chronic health condition.
The first ever Brighton Bear Weekender quiz was a huge success with the Camelford Arms packed to the rafters and all tables taken with eager quiz teams.
Through the generosity of everyone present £343.20 was raised from the quiz, raffle and the selling of Brighton Bear Weekender merchandise.
Just at the last moment after a nail biting finish the winning team missed out on the £300 prize and ended up with dozens of Ferrero Rocher instead.
All monies raised go towards the costs of setting up this years Brighton Bears Weekender which takes place from June 20-22.
All money that is generated from the Brighton Bears Weekender goes to the Rainbow Fund, a grant-giving fund for local LGBT and HIV/AIDS organisations.
To see this years new hoodies and t-shirts, CLICK HERE:
Brighton Bear Weekender organiser would like to thank the Camelford manager Mark Flood and all his team for making it such a great night.
The Quiz will be repeated on Thursday June 19 for the start for the Brighton Bear Weekender.
Photograph supplied by Bletchley Community Heritage Initiative
An exhibition in Block B, Stories of Life at the Park, shares the first hand memories gathered through the ongoing Oral Archive project.
From breaking codes to mowing lawns, there was a huge variety of jobs at the top secret HQ of the Government Code and Cypher School during World War Two, and an even wider variety of people doing them.
The exhibition gives visitors a fascinating insight into the lives led by the remarkable men and women whose work helped to shorten the war by around two years and saved countless lives.
It looks at their social lives, food and billets, romances, entertainment and considers the then highly unusual mix of military and civilian staff, from a broad range of backgrounds.
Ann Lavell recalls the Beer Hut being “quite a haunt” and Margaret Ross recalls how the social life developed “At the beginning just one cinema in Bletchley. Rounders on the lawn in front of the house during lunch hour. Then people began to get organised…”
Photographs supplied by Bletchley Community Heritage Initiative show what Bletchley and the surrounding area looked like before the new town of Milton Keynes was built, alongside a large number of photographs showing the social life both indoors and out.
A highly atmospheric and meticulously laid out billet, courtesy of the Holley Cornelius Collection, takes visitors back in time, room-by-room, with details from a free-standing kitchen cabinet to stockings drying on an airer in the bedroom.
The Oral Archive project is in a race against time to gather as many Veterans’ memories as possible and needs more Volunteers to help.
For more information about Bletchley Park, CLICK HERE:
The purpose of the study is to investigate how homophobic hate crime affect victims. 
Hikaru became an internet sensation in 2013 under her nickname ‘Choo-San’ for her ‘hyper-real’ body art, which has featured widely in both British and international media. The 20-year-old Chinese born artist is currently a second year student at Musashino Art University in Tokyo majoring in Visual Communication and Design.
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