Broken care system and future EU relations
ADDRESSING the economics of an ageing population, accepting election results and, of course, Brexit, whose end-of-year deadline looms, were among the topics contributors and columnists across the media focused on.
The Daily Mail
Ruth Sunderland said longer lives are the “greatest achievement of the past 100 years”, but said Covid-19 has highlighted our conflicting attitudes to old age and the economics of an ageing population.
She said that we need to discuss this subject more and take our heads out of the sand “about the need for care and providing for the costs”, suggesting we all take time to plan our finances.
Ms Sunderland warned that “on a national level, governments carry on ducking the need to fix the broken care system, which is lurching towards meltdown”.
The Times
An appeal to accept the result of a “free and fair election a year ago” came from Libby Purves.
Saying she was “no cheerleader for this government”, she added: “But the fact is we had a free and fair election a year ago and the Tories won by 80 seats.
“It happened: no point doing a Trump and moaning that you woz robbed.”
Declaring lobbying and arguing for policies “with statistics and examples” to be fine, along with decent satire, Ms Purves added: “But if you just throw dung around to make yourself look brave, it can cause you far more trouble than it causes your target.”
The Daily Express
Nigel Farage, writing an opinion column in the Daily Express, unsurprisingly focused on Brexit, saying he supported no deal. He wrote: “Tied to EU rules, we are not a selfgoverning democracy, but a mere satellite state and we would have no say whatsoever over future laws that impact our businesses.” He added that “the choice is simple: we either accept the straitjacket of an EU treaty or we break free with a no-deal exit. No deal is now the best deal, indeed, the only deal that honours the election result. With it we will be an independent selfgoverning democracy.”
The Daily Telegraph
Nick Timothy said “the rancour has got to end now” between Britain and the European Union, writing in his Telegraph column that he believes “a possible landing zone is beginning to emerge” in talks.
He wrote that, as we all look to the future with a deal or without, trust is vital, as is “a recognition that, despite Britain choosing to leave the laws and institutions of the European Union, we should remain friends and allies sharing history, values and interests”.
He added that confidence is necessary to restore good relations between Britain and EU in the future, saying the “EU would be stronger working with Britain, not against us”.