Starmer unlikely to allocate more time for assisted dying bill, ministers believe

Senior ministers believe Keir Starmer will not intervene to give the assisted dying bill further time in the next session of parliament as he is wary of opening up new divisions among Labour MPs.The bill, which was passed by the Commons, is now certain to be blocked in the House of Lords without ever reaching a vote because of the large number of amendments its opponents have tabled and debated.MPs who spoke to the Guardian said they had been “radicalised” in favour of a serious overhaul of the House of Lords because of the way the bill had been in effect killed off by a handful of peers who oppose it, many of them former Tory MPs, including Thérèse Coffey and Mark Harper.Opponents have argued that the number of amendments – more than 1,200 – has been necessary because of the bill’s flaws that could put vulnerable people at risk.The Scottish parliament voted down a similar bill on Tuesday night by 69 votes to 57

Danger of prisoners who have nothing to lose | Letter

The Prison Governors’ Association is right to warn about “nothing-to-lose” prisoners attacking notorious inmates such as Ian Huntley (Governors warn of increasing violence of ‘nothing-to-lose’ inmates attacking notorious prisoners, 13 March). But the warning barely scratches the surface.The deeper problem is that the system itself contains many people with little to lose, either inside or outside prison. Thousands arrive already trapped in cycles of addiction, trauma, homelessness and untreated mental illness, with little stake in life beyond the prison walls. Prison rarely repairs this damage; more often it compounds it

What everyone gets wrong about the science of lip-reading | Letter

Regarding your article (Royals and celebrities warned to watch words as lip-reading videos go viral, 15 March), the public needs to be aware that lip-reading is not an exact science and research shows that only about 30% of information can be seen on the lips in the best of circumstances. This is because the remainder of speech shapes are inside the mouth, hidden from view.So lip-reading is very much guesswork and relies on a great deal of factors, including having good English competency, which many congenitally deaf people do not have due to lack of support in education; having the person being lip-read close enough to see clearly, their head still, with slow, clear lip patterns; nothing hiding the mouth like beards or hands; having an accent that is familiar to the person lip-reading; plenty of facial expressions and gestures, and so on.The TV programme Code of Silence was unrealistic, as is most people’s understanding of deafness. Lip-reading and hearing-aided technology have been mythologised to deaf people’s detriment, so that we must live up to an impossible dream

Having my ears syringed left me with tinnitus | Letter

I sympathise with Freya Bennett (A moment that changed me: I was planning to be a musician – then I had my ears syringed, 11 March). In 2010, I found that my hearing was being muffled by a buildup of wax in my ears. I had always imagined that having ones ears syringed was a straightforward, risk-free process.An appointment was made at my local GP practice, and a healthcare assistant, without any explanation as to what to expect or any warning about side-effects, essentially turned the irrigation machine, like a water pistol, up to full and blasted out the wax. The power of the jet was such that I actually jerked my head away in shock

What is behind the UK’s meningitis outbreak and how serious is it?

Meningitis infections in a county in the south-east of England continue to increase, with five new cases confirmed on Wednesday in what experts have said is one of the fastest-growing outbreaks of the disease they have seen in the UK.On 15 March, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a public health body, issued a public health alert confirming two people had died during an outbreak of meningitis.It had occurred in and around Canterbury, a city of about 60,000 people in the county of Kent, near London.Health officials later confirmed the strain involved was meningitis B (MenB).As of 17 March, the UKHSA said there were 20 cases of invasive meningococcal disease

Tell us: what has someone done that made you feel less lonely?

Was someone there for you when you were feeling lonely? As part of the Guardian’s Well Actually series, we would like to hear about the ways people have helped each other feel less isolated. You can tell us your story below.You can tell us your story using this form.Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5