Monthly Archives: March 2018

Britain, Government, History, Politics, Russia, Society

Corbyn: ‘I’m the victim of a McCarthyite witch-hunt’

CORBYN’S STANCE OVER UK NERVE AGENT ATTACK

The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, has suggested he is the victim of a “McCarthyite” witch-hunt as he faces a growing backlash over his refusal to blame Russia for the Salisbury spy poisoning.

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry – a key Corbyn ally – and shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith broke ranks to accept it was beyond doubt that Moscow was responsible.

But instead of backing down, the Labour leader defied his critics by warning the Prime Minister not to “rush way ahead of the evidence” in the “fevered” atmosphere of Westminster.

In a move that will fuel backbench anger over his weak stance, Mr Corbyn urged the Government to take “a calm, measured” approach and said we should not “resign ourselves to a new Cold War”.

He suggested the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq showed government claims that Russia was behind the attack may be wrong.

In an article for The Guardian, he wrote: “To rush way ahead of the evidence being gathered by the police, in a fevered parliamentary atmosphere, serves neither justice nor our national security.

“Labour is of course no supporter of the Putin regime, its conservative authoritarianism, abuse of human rights or political and economic corruption, “he wrote. “That does not mean we should resign ourselves to a new ‘Cold War’ of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent.”

Senator Joseph McCarthy became infamous in the 1950s for carrying out an anti-Communist “witch-hunt” at the start of the Cold War.

Mr Corbyn backed Mrs May’s decision to expel 23 diplomats from Britain, but called for diplomacy.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson branded the Labour leader a “conspiracy theorist” for his continued refusal to fully accept Russia was behind the attack.

He said: “The scientists at Porton Down are the very best in the world. Their knowledge, their expertise so clearly points to one direction and you really do have to be a conspiracy theorist of the wildest kind to believe that there is anything other than fact about the statement that Russia has done this.”

Shadow defence secretary Miss Griffith told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: “We very much accept what the Prime Minister said, this is a very sophisticated nerve agent, and that Russia is responsible for this attack.”

Mrs Thornberry said: “The Russian government has been given every opportunity to provide any credible, alternative explanation as to how its nerve agents came to be used in this attack, but they have not even tried to do so.”

It is understood around 30 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion tabled by Labour backbencher John Woodcock “unequivocally” accepting the “Russian state’s culpability”.

 

SENATOR Joseph McCarthy lent his name to the so-called “witch-hunts” that were carried out against suspected Soviet sympathisers living in America.

The Senator for Wisconsin fuelled the “Red Scare” in 1950 by claiming he had a list of 205 Communists manipulating government policy. More than 2,000 government employees were sacked with little proof and Hollywood writers, directors and actors were blacklisted.

In 1954, he outraged President Eisenhower when he investigated Communist influence in the army.

He lost his public standing after military hearings were broadcast on state media. Lawyer Joseph Welch asked him: “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” Three years after the hearings he died of liver failure.

 

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Arts

‘Much The Same’

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Medical, Research, Science

Study shows heart attack risk up 40% for years after an infection

MEDICAL

PATIENTS who suffer common infections have a much greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the years to come, a major study has found.

The findings suggest hundreds of thousands should be given statins or other heart pills if they suffer a chest infection or bladder problem.

A project tracking 1.2million patients found those admitted to hospital for pneumonia or urinary tract infections were 40 per cent more likely to have a heart attack within eight years. They were also 150 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke.

This suggests infections have an even greater impact on heart health than obesity, which raises the risk of strokes and heart attacks by about 25 per cent.

The research team, from Aston Medical School in Birmingham and the University of Cambridge, believe this is because infections cause long-term inflammation in blood vessels – making them more prone to clotting and clogging.

Patients who suffer an infection should be treated in the same way as someone with high blood pressure, raised cholesterol or diabetes, the researchers said. This could involve prescribing statins or aspirin as a preventative measure to cut the risk to their heart.

Nearly 600,000 people are admitted to hospital with chest infections such as pneumonia in England alone every year. Some 300,000 are admitted with urinary infections.

The study, which has been presented to the American College of Cardiology in Orlando, also found that those who had (had) infections were more likely to die if they did suffer a heart attack or stroke.

They were three times more likely to die from a heart attack than those who had not had infections, and almost twice as likely to die if they had a stroke.

Cardiologist Dr Rahul Potluri of Aston University, said: “Our figures suggest that those who are admitted to hospital with a respiratory or urinary tract infection are 40 per cent more likely to suffer a subsequent heart attack, and 2.5 times more likely to have a stroke, than patients who have had no such infection – and are considerably less likely to survive from these conditions.”

Experts have shown greater interest in the role of inflammation in heart disease after a study last year found that treating patients with anti-inflammatory canakinumab could cut their risk of having a heart attack by 24 per cent. Doctors say this drug – not yet available for heart patients – could represent the biggest breakthrough in cardiovascular medicine since statins were developed 30 years ago.

Dr Potluri said: “Infection appears to confer as much, if not more, of a risk for future heart disease and stroke as very well-established risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

“Although inflammation has been linked to atherosclerosis [when plaque builds up in arteries], this is the largest study to showing that common infection is such a significant risk factor.”

Lead author Dr Paul Carter, an academic clinical fellow at the University of Cambridge, said: “The data illustrates a clear association between infections and life-threatening heart conditions and strokes – and the figures are too huge to ignore.

“Serious infections are amongst the biggest causes of death in the UK directly, but our research shows infections that are severe enough to lead to hospitalisation may present a delayed risk in the form of atherosclerotic diseases.

“The sheer number of people who could be affected presents a challenge that needs investigation.”

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