United Kingdom News (including UK wide, England, NI and Wales - see separate thread for news from Scotland)

[Utsikt]

The author of this article cited a study that he claims concluded that airborne transmission is not an issue, framing it as a "potentially worldview-shifting science" that undermines the "COVID zealots". The lead researcher of the study, who was not asked to comment for the article, has posted a Bluesky thread saying the author of the propaganda article got it completely wrong:

I think the author of the study has a right to get their answer published by the news site. Isn’t it called «right of reply» or something like that?

 

[Lou B Lou]

‘I think I will mask forever’: The ‘zero Covid’ zealots refusing to re-enter society​

While the rest of the world has moved on from the pandemic, a minority continue to shape their lives around coronavirus avoidance'


Accessible Archive link

https://archive.ph/SixUb#selection-3033.4-3033.133

This is a gratuitous article ridiculing and stigmatising mask wearing, and by extension further stigmatising people with health vulnerabilities who protect themselves by masking.

The (over 750) Telegraph readers' Comments underneath this lurid mask-mocking article are truly frightening.

99.9% of the Comments to this article mock, denigrate and smear mask wearers as
"Loons", "Branch Covidians", perpetually calling mask wearers 'mentally ill', portraying mask wearers as aliens, as cultists, as 'Other'. It's scary.


It's possible to subscribe to both the online Telegraph and The Times for a seriously cut price amount. Both papers offer deals (usually 4 or 6 months for One UK Pound a month). With the cut price subscription you can also Comment on the online articles.

You just have to remember to cancel your cut price subscription before it moves over to full price. But when you cancel the cut price subscription, the papers offer you another cut price subscription!
I ended up paying just 50p a month for the Telegraph for the next 6 months.

TBH I can't stand reading most of the Telegraph articles, but it's handy to see what they are publishing, especially on ME or Covid.

 

[Robert 1973]

The Daily Telegraph stopped being a serious newspaper a long time ago. Unfortunately, like boiling frogs, many of its readers seem to be oblivious to its slide into post-truth populism.

I don’t mean this to be a comment about the rights or wrongs of the newspaper’s political allegiances – just an observation of its apparent disregard for truth. So I hope it doesn’t breach forum rules.

I’m also aware that the boiling frogs metaphor (or simile) is a fallacy, but it’s still a useful analogy.

[edit: more autocorrect typos]

 

[forestglip]

BBC: 'I want my album to help people understand my ME'

A teenager has released a charity Christmas album after being diagnosed with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), last year.

Harry Boulton, 17, was diagnosed with chronic fatigue in January 2024, following a viral infection.

Despite this, Harry has made an effort to make the most out of life, doing one hour a week teaching at a local theatre group and still has plans to work in film or television, having recently written a sitcom with a friend.

After a releasing a cover of Frank Sinatra's That's Life earlier this year, Harry turned his efforts to his charity album for Christmas.

All proceeds from the album will go to the ME Association, a charity that provides research into the condition and support for people who have it.

The album can be listened to on Spotify.