Press release: Time to Talk Day 2017: Prime Minister’s message

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke about Time to Talk Day and how conversations can improve people’s mental health and help to change lives.

Prime Minister’s Time to Talk message

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

Time to Talk is an important day in our national calendar – a day when we put the issue of mental health at the forefront of our minds.

These problems affect millions of people – an estimated 1 in 4 of us has a common mental disorder at any one time.

Last month I set out the first steps in our plan to transform the way we deal with mental health problems at every stage of a person’s life.

I said that the inadequate treatment of these problems was a burning injustice – and that we needed to deal with them not just in our hospitals, but in our classrooms, at work and in our communities.

From crisis cafés to online therapy, there is much we can do to remove the stigma that stops so many people seeking help.

Getting people talking to one another is central to that. Because, as the theme of this year’s Time to Talk Day puts it, ‘conversations change lives’.

It is this personal contact – a chat over a cup of tea; a heart-to-heart over the phone; a text message to check someone’s OK – that can help free people from the prison of their own thoughts and help them to see a brighter future.

So many people – especially charities and campaigns, like Time to Change and Heads Together – are helping to get people talking and get these issues out in the open. But we can all do more.

Together, by giving our time and reaching out, we can end the suffering that blights so many lives.



NHS recruits being driven away before they’ve even started – Jonathan Ashworth

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to official UCAS figures
published today which show that applications for undergraduate nursing degrees
starting in September 2017 are down 23 percent compared with the previous year, said:

“The
Government have been warned repeatedly that cutting bursaries and funding for
student nurses would cut off the future supply of NHS staff. Now we have the
proof that those warnings were right – 23 percent fewer people have applied to study
nursing this year.

“Misguided
reductions in training places under the Tory Government, combined with a never-ending pay squeeze, have left the NHS dangerously short of staff. Patients are
seeing wards closed, operations cancelled and treatments delayed. Now the new
recruits which the health service so desperately needs are being driven away
before they’ve even started.

“The staff
are the lifeblood of our NHS. They give their all to keep the system going in
the face of underfunding and mismanagement by the Tories. The Government ought
to get a grip, show our nursing students that their time and commitment is
really valued, and give them the support they need when they’re setting out on
their careers.”



The quiet rise of the pound

When the pound was declining a bit more after the Brexit vote we got daily commentaries from the media on this and how they thought  it was caused by the decision of UK voters. Most of the devaluation of the pound actually occurred between July 20165 and April 2016, long before the media thought we would leave the EU. There was a further leg down after June 23rd. Over the last month the pound has been rising against the dollar and the Euro. We rarely get news of this, and the rise is not attributed to the moves recently taken to press on with Brexit.

If someone believes Brexit was the crucial variable when it was falling, why do they change their view when it is rising? Why didn’t the pound fall this month, given the clear indication that the government does now  intend to send the Article 50 letter and has Parliamentary support to do so?



City Road Allotments – fencing improvement

I recently welcomed the council’s commitment to a proposed improvement to the security fencing at the City Road allotments.

I am pleased to note that the work to upgrade the security fencing is now well-underway – see below :



Lesley Griffiths to hear views on Securing Wales’ future

Lesley Griffiths is undertaking a series of visits to businesses and organisations in South Wales whose operations are likely to be impacted by the UK’s impending exit from the EU. 

The Cabinet Secretary will visit the Eastern Valleys Uplands Project in Blaenavon, the Two Sisters Red Meat processing site in Merthyr Tydfil and the Food Innovation Centre in Cardiff Metropolitan University. The day will culminate in a round-table cross-sector meeting with key agriculture and environment stakeholders in Cardiff Bay.  

Among the issues likely to be raised during the visits and meeting are the importance of Welsh businesses having full and unfettered access to the European Single Market and how to achieve a balanced approach to immigration, linking migration to jobs.  

Also expected to be discussed are maintaining the level of funding currently delivered by the EU to Wales’ farmers and continuing social and environmental protections once these are no longer guaranteed through the UK’s membership of the EU. 

These are key issues that were set out in Securing Wales’ Future, the comprehensive Brexit White Paper published last week by the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Lesley Griffiths said:

“The Environment and Rural Affairs portfolio is, probably more than any other, hugely impacted by EU funding and legislation.  Wales’ thriving food and drink industry also benefits greatly from selling its produce into the EU and many are able to operate effectively by employing people from EU countries.  

“The UK’s withdrawal from the EU will undoubtedly have a major impact on individuals, businesses and organisations represented by my portfolio. Since the referendum result I have been eager that those who are going to be affected the most by Brexit have regular opportunities to feed their very real views and concerns into the highest levels of government.    

“Through our White Paper, jointly produced with Plaid Cymru, we have clearly set out what we believe is a sensible starting point for negotiations.  We believe our position balances concerns over immigration with the economic reality that makes full and unfettered access to the single market so central to Wales’ future prosperity. 

“I look forward to meeting a wide range of individuals and organisations and hearing their views on how we can deliver a Brexit that works for Wales, and for the rest of the United Kingdom.”