YP Comment: Our solidarity with Brussels over terror attack

A day that the peace-seeking people of Brussels had long feared from the moment the international search for the perpetrators of last November’s Paris attacks switched to their city, a manhunt culminated with last Friday’s dramatic arrest of fugitive Salah Abdeslam, nothing could prepare them for the pointless slaughter of so many innocent lives in the morning rush-hour.

As the world stood shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with this country after the July 7 bombings 11 years ago, the thoughts of this country are with the Belgian people in their hour of need as security experts try to ascertain whether this atrocity was perpetuated by jihadists from the Middle East or the home-grown ‘clean skins’ radicalised while growing up in one of the ghettos that blight this truly global, outward-looking, multi-cultural city which is also home to the EU and Nato.

In this regard, David Cameron struck a statesmanlike tone when he expressed this nation’s support and sympathy while instigating a reappraisal of security arrangements here, and across Europe, ahead of the Easter getaway – it will be playing into the hands of the terrorists, and their agenda of hate, if families do not feel safe to travel. He did also acknowledge the likelihood of this issue polarising the European Union referendum when he decided not to demean himself, or his office, by responding to partisan comments made by Ukip representatives before the grim task of recovering the bodies had even begun.

Of course there will come a time, after a respectful period of mourning, for a debate about Britain’s national security – and whether this country’s best interests, whether it be border controls or the sharing of intelligence, are best served by the EU or not. It can only be hoped that these exchanges are more constructive than the campaign thus far.

In the meantime, it is paramount that this outrage does not undermine inter-faith relations. If people with extreme prejudices do start turning on each other, they will only propagate the dastardly intentions of those terrorists who have to resort to such violent actions in the vain hope of diving and ruling communities because they know that their twisted ideology will never secure a democratic mandate.

As the Leeds imam Qari Asim MBE said so eloquently: “The terrible blasts and killings are not only an attack on the people of Brussels, but an attack on all of us. The terrorists who have carried out these horrific attacks want to create a climate of fear and anger in Europe. We must stand firm, with compassion and solidarity, against hatred and violence.” The most powerful of denunciations, they are words that need to be heeded by all as Brussels counts and mourns its dead.

A new Mid Staffs? NHS staff warning must be heeded

SO much for the lessons of Mid Staffs, arguably one of the biggest scandals in the history of the NHS, being learned. According to Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff, history is in danger of repeating itself at hospitals in her constituency because staff shortages are now compromising the treatment of patients.

In one instance highlighted in the Commons, the use of the word ‘care’ would be totally inappropriate after she alleged that an 84-year-old suspected stroke victim, kept on a trolley in A&E at Dewsbury Hospital for 14 hours, then suffered the indignity of being left naked from the waist down because it was easier for him when he needed to urinate. To compound matters, staff were too busy to change his bedding.

Even more disturbing is the MP’s assertion that this does not appear to be a one-off occurrence as she outlined how hospitals in Dewsbury, Wakefield and Pontefract cannot meet prescribed targets on safe staffing levels. Not only is this a betrayal of the ethos of the NHS but it is having a corrosive effect on the morale of nurses and doctors as pressure of work begins to impinge upon their professional integrity.

It’s just a shame, therefore, that Health Minister Ben Gummer did not grasp the seriousness of the claims before saying, lamely, that Ministers “cannot micro-management every hospital”. Irrespective of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s historic debt, he is duty-bound to ensure that this organisation has the management – and resources – so no one ever again suffers the degrading treatment highlighted by Ms Sherriff and which was supposed to have stopped after the Mid Staffs scandal. The buck stops with him.