News about James Davies

Pub landlords may have to become 'banter cops' to stop themselves from being sued by staff who are offended by comments from customers under Labour's new reforms. Business leaders have warned that the incoming Employment Rights Bill will make employers liable for their staff being offended by the public. Bosses will legally have to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent harassment by third parties relating to protected characteristics, including sex, gender reassignment or age. But Free Speech campaigners believe this will force pub staff into the role of 'banter cops' who have to ban customers for telling inappropriate jokes when they harass those who are working there. They believe the Bill will also lead to universities giving in to criticism over controversial guest speakers.

The drugs - taken by millions - have long been known to potentially trigger symptoms including dizziness, headaches, insomnia and nausea when coming off them. But a major study in June claimed these withdrawal signs were not as risky as feared, with one in six on average experiencing them when stopping the pills. And just two to three per cent suffer severe symptoms, according to the results published in The Lancet Psychiatry. Yet, researchers from Brazil and the UK today claimed this figure was actually up to four times higher, standing as high as 56 per cent.

A nationwide shortage of key ­pharmaceutical drugs is forcing NHS patients to import them via friends living abroad, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Some are looking as far as India to access drugs - from sources which may not be safe - according to ­campaigners who argue this dangerous situation is a result of the Government's failure to tackle the ongoing crisis. The warning follows the launch of a Mail on ­Sunday drive to ease the shortages for some of the most vital drugs in the country, after new data revealed that, over the past two years, half of patients have struggled to get essential medication they have been ­prescribed.

When Gaynor Edwards can't get hold of the critical medication she uses to slow the progression of her Parkinson's disease, she knows from bitter experience what to expect. Her debilitating muscle stiffness worsens. The tremors, a characteristic symptom of the degenerative condition, become more pronounced. She is less lucid, and - worst of all - she is in pain. Yet for the 53-year-old from Rye, East Sussex, who took early retirement because of her diagnosis, this is an all-too familiar situation as millions of Britons are now affected by crippling and persistent shortages of essential medications. Gaynor, a patron of the charity Spotlight YOPD, for those with young-onset Parkinson's disease, takes Sinemet, a branded version of a drug called co-careldopa, which helps manage tremors and stiffness. An alternative she is often forced to use is 'less effective', she says. And when she can't get hold of rasagiline, another medication she takes to protect against nerve damage and slow the progression of her condition, the difference is stark.

Twenty five years of 'oblivion' is how Sean Jennings describes the quarter of a century he spent swallowing a daily cocktail of prescribed pills after complications from a routine operation left him battling chronic pain. The medication - morphine-based painkillers and antidepressants - didn't work, and even though Sean, 64, from Saltash, Cornwall, was prescribed ever-stronger doses he was still in such agony he often could barely walk.

Insulin - which helps to regulate blood sugar levels - is one of hundreds of drugs currently in short supply across the UK. Charities say a regular and reliable supply is 'essential for life', warning the current shortage will cause 'significant anxiety' to Britain's 400,000 type 1 diabetics. Some patients have told how they've been unable to get vials of vital insulin from local pharmacies, or been forced to switch brands leaving their blood sugar levels 'all over the place'. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) bosses have confirmed there are 'supply issues with a limited number of insulin products' which patients may find 'distressing'.

Doctors have hit out at a top psychiatrist for suggesting antidepressants should be given over-the-counter - and failing to disclose he's received funds from several firms that make the mental health pills. In an opinion piece for STAT news, Harvard professor of psychiatry Dr Roy Perlis wrote that it was time to do 'everything possible' to give Americans easier access to medicine for mental health conditions like depression .

The British Medical Association announced the strike fund with a lot of enthusiasm, claiming that it would help medics win their fight for more pay and supplementing their income on days that industrial action takes place. But the Daily Mail's review shows that its fundraising website has received an average of just four donations per day since being active in September 2022. The union claims to have 190,366 members but has received just 6,134 online contributions from 2,144 donors. According to statistics, only about 12 in every 1,000 people have contributed to assist colleagues. The true number will be even smaller because the fund is open to contributions from citizens of the public who can commit to recurring payments.

As he addressed Team Tory's spring spring conference in Llandudno with some Six Nations banter, the barely built Prime Minister suggested he was a hooker, one of the team's beefier positions in a XV. Following a brief flirtation with speaking Welsh, he turned his attention to the country's obsession with the oval ball, insisting that the locals say "dim diolch" or "no thank you" to Welsh Labour's 20mph speed limits. However, the timing may have been strange, with Wales barely defeated 16-14 by England at Twickenham last week, leaving them fifth in the six-team table.

Rhodri Llyr Griffiths assaulted his teenage girl after tricking her into getting into his car and driving her to a hospital parking garage in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Caerphilly, last year. After the horrific rape, he yelled at her and said, 'I bet you won't meet up with someone else anytime soon.' The victim was traumatized, and she attempted suicide just months later.

Everyone inherits two copies of a gene called factor V (F5) from their parents, which is important for blood to clot safely in the event of an accident. However, eight out of every person has a mutated version of a disorder that causes the condition F actor V Leiden. Although it causes no signs, it does raise the risk of strokes, mini-strokes, and deep vein thrombosis. If this group takes the contraceptive pill, they are 35 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who do not have the disorder and do not take the drug. Simple blood tests will determine if people have Factor V Leiden. Experts also claim that a service that would screen women before taking the pill is not necessary, arguing that "very few blood clots will actually be prevented." This is amid a coroner is releasing a warning to women on the Pill and doctors prescribing it. After two women who were unaware of Factor V Leiden died of clots just ten days apart while on oral contraception, two women died from clots.

Antidepressant prescriptions in England have almost doubled in the last decade, with 85.6 million separating in the last year alone. Experts blame the rise in depression and loneliness, with unnecessary medications putting patients in danger of injury, and failing to address the root causes of the disorder. Rather, lifestyle shifts alongside increased use of social prescribing, such as gardening, walking groups, and volunteering, are all necessary to reverse the tide against unnecessary drug use.

If you're one of the 700,000 residents of North Wales, then your wellbeing and happiness are in the custody of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Its name comes from Florence Nightingale's hometown, and it manages the operations of 96 GP surgeries and 147 pharmacies across six counties, worth £1.2 billion per year. This massive sum - the equivalent of £400 for every man, woman, or child in Wales - makes it the country's biggest single public-sector company. Sadly, it can almost certainly be characterized as the most incompetent in the face of a fierce resistance.

MARTIN KEOWN: We are only two words in when Patrick Vieira bursts out yelling. All Martin Keown has said is, 'So, Patrick.' But Vieira has been tickled to find that his old Arsenal colleague is here to talk to him after all their years together.' At Crystal Palace's training ground, we are in Vieira's corner office. There is no such thing as a shrine here. Although other companies may convert their inner sanctuaries into personal museums, Vieira does not have any such facilities. There are no pictures on the website. There are no awards for this year. No memorabilia. Only a tactics board, calendar, flipchart, sprinkling of stationery, and a copy of James Davies' Body (British: Simple Techniques and Strategies to Heal, Reset, and Restore are on the shelf. Background music is available on Greatest Hits Radio, and a look at Palace's training pitches is included. The laminate flooring has dry mud on it, left by the players who came in for a chat with the boss. This time, however, Keown is in the hot seat. Kieran Gill, the reporter, listened in.