Referrals to mental-health services rose 22 per cent between 2019 and 2022 – no great surprise given the pandemic – but rather than improving since then, one in four of us now face a mental-health issue each year. The associated impact costs UK employers more than £50 billion a year, and there are 1.8 million people on NHS waiting lists for mental-health services. Waiting lists for those referred for counselling or talking therapy can, in some areas, be months long.
Derek Draper, who has died aged 56 after suffering prolonged complications from Covid-19, was a buccaneering back-room boy-turned lobbyist during the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Private landowners could be forced to cull deer on their estates if a Scottish Government agency deems this would help “nature restoration”, under powers proposed by ministers.