Peter Higgins obituary

My father, Peter Higgins, who has died aged 93, was a urologist in Stoke-on-Trent. A humane and considerate surgeon, he was committed to improving the experience of patients in the NHS, especially through his pioneering work in clinical audit. He also made advances in treating conditions including acute urinary retention. He had a voracious appetite for history, was a collector of ceramics, and nursed a lifelong, mildly disappointed love for Sheffield United.He grew up in Sheffield, the son of Eileen (nee Morris) and Henry, the manager of a small branch of Boots, and shared his small bedroom with his grandfather, an Irish steelworker

Rayner announces plan to tighten up right to buy council homes in England

Ministers will make it harder for tenants in England to buy their own council homes under changes designed to increase Britain’s stock of socially rented housing, Angela Rayner has announced.The housing secretary said on Wednesday that the government would consult on a series of changes to limit the number of people who can qualify for government-subsidised discounts to buy their houses.The consultation is part of a broader package of measures designed to drastically shrink the scheme’s scope, which Rayner used to buy her own council house but which has been blamed for exacerbating the shortage of socially rented homes.Rayner said: “For millions of people in the position I was once in, that first step into the secure social housing that changed my life has become a distant dream. Too many social homes have been sold off before they can be replaced, which has directly contributed to the worst housing crisis in living memory

Councils need a cash injection to fix local services | Letters

John Harris does speak an uncomfortable truth when he says that unless Labour significantly increases financial support for local authorities, the impact of austerity will continue to grind down local communities (The streetlights going out over Britain tell a brutal story: austerity isn’t over – it’s getting worse, 17 November). Fourteen years of Conservative budget cuts have resulted in my own local authority plummeting from being one of the highest-performing “beacon” authorities in England to one that is now in debt and heading towards the bottom rung of the ladder.The closure of children’s centres, care homes and budget cuts in every service area, from special needs education and social care to library services, have resulted in a threadbare support network locally. This is being replicated across the country.This Labour government has been pretending that it can rebuild our essential services without having the courage or commitment to introduce a tax regime in which wealth is more fairly distributed and that raises enough revenue to invest in improving these services

UK’s longest-serving MPs issue joint plea for Commons to reject assisted dying bill

Britain’s longest-serving MPs, Labour’s Diane Abbott and the Conservative Sir Edward Leigh, have issued a joint call urging the Commons to reject the assisted dying bill, arguing it is being rushed through and puts vulnerable people at risk.Writing for the Guardian, Abbott and Leigh – the mother and father of the house – said there had been insufficient scrutiny of the law and urged parliament to instead focus on better health and care services.Four influential new Labour MPs have said they have also decided to oppose the bill amid concerns about the process and the pressure it has put on new parliamentarians.A landmark vote on legalising assisted dying is due to be held on Friday 29 November. It is a free vote, meaning MPs can decide whether to support or oppose it

Assisted dying: what are the ‘slippery slope’ fears in England and Wales?

One of the arguments that has come to the fore in the debate surrounding whether assisted dying should be legalised in England and Wales is the “slippery slope” theory – that even if the legislation contains watertight qualifying criteria and safeguards, the law will inevitably be expanded in time and the restrictions loosened. Here is an explanation of why lawyers disagree about the likelihood of this happening.Critics would argue that it will not. One argument is that while parliament might vote now to adopt a restricted version of assisted dying, MPs might expand it over time as assisted dying is normalised. That is the prerogative of parliament, but the more pressing concern for lawyers is whether or not there will be successful human rights challenges from people denied access to assisted dying under the current criteria, which would force an expansion in eligibility through the courts that MPs did not anticipate

Pensioners in England and Wales: how has losing the winter fuel allowance affected you?

With the loss of the winter fuel allowance potentially forcing 100,000 pensioners in England and Wales into relative fuel poverty, we would like to find out more about how losing the payment has affected people.What impact has it had on you and what changes have you made to make up for no longer receiving the winter fuel payment?You can tell us how no longer receiving the winter fuel allowance is affecting you by filling in the form below.Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB