Another Reason for the Rebellion of the 'left behind' People

Is Trump's triumph due to rising US death rates? Looks likely.

A study by Nobel-prize winning economist Angus Deaton and Anne Case showed that death rates for white Americans aged 30-64 has have risen significantly since 1999. This is remarkable because death rates for US blacks and hispanics and for all citizens of other developed countries and for US whites before 1999 all fell. And, strikingly, the mortality increase is concentrated amongst the poorly educated.

The main increasing causes of death were suicide, drug and alcohol poisoning and chronic liver disease. “I don’t think there’s any single explanation,” says Angus Deaton who went on to blame booze, drug addiction and financial anxiety. He drew particular attention the the greater availability of heroin to US whites from the 1990s.

I think Deaton is missing the point here for suicide, drug and alcohol poisoning and chronic liver disease have something in common. They are diseases of despair. They reflect the situation of poor whites who have seen their incomes, social standing, political influence and health decline as the USA has become more unequal and more multicultural.

These are just the factors implicated in the rise of UKIP by the authors of Revolt on the Right. So what more natural than that they should find expression in support for the US's answer to Nigel Farrage - Donald Trump.

The US and UK situation are not the same. The NHS and better pension and welfare system provide protection against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. But the parallels are real for all that.

Leaving the EU: Forward to the past?

Yesterday's decision is depressing. Like the rest of the Green Party I regret it but we recognise that it is the decision of the people.

Many things, however, will not change. Geographically, culturally and politically we will still be part of Europe. And our sovereignty will still be limited by a web of international treaties and relationships.

As we unweave the strands labelled 'EU' there are some things we’ll be glad to see go. Of these the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – the secret treaty that seeks to make our parliament subject to corporate courts – is the most toxic.

But some things we should keep. Our EU membership provides useful protections for our health, human rights and environment. There is nothing at all un-British about such protections which were often pioneered by the UK before joining the EU.

On both these the UK government has taken the wrong side – backing TTIP and undermining our rights. As we leave those of us – clearly a majority – who reject TTIP and value these protections need to watch what’s being done in our name. We need – immediately – to insist on open access to the negotiating texts of the agreements that will replace our EU membership. And we need to organise to resist the underhand attacks on our rights that the Tories will make in the name of UK independence.

Answering my mail: The NHS

Like every candidate I've had scores of e-mails about the NHS. (Thanks 38 Degrees!) Every one expresses fears about its future under the coalition. They think that the creation of an internal 'market' (by Labour) and the obligation to allow private firms to bid for contracts (by the coalition) will worsen service, cause fragmentation of the NHS and ultimately lead to more charges to patients. Perhaps, ultimately, to a US-style insurance system.

One correspondent listed six relatives who had suffered major medical problems. I sympathise - I owe the lives of my wife and one daughter to its work.

I don't think our fear of privatisation is paranoid. It's what Nigel Farage wants (which probably doesn't matter) but also what some Tories want (which may). So I've been happy to share my principles for the NHS:

1. I support the NHS as a public service that should be firmly in the public sector. If elected I would support the NHS Reinstatement Bill, promoted by Green MP Caroline Lucas, whose purpose is to reverse the current drive to privatise the NHS.
2. I would stop further service contracts from being given to private businesses in all but the most exceptional circumstances. I have attended meetings of the local Clinical Commissioning Group to speak against privatisation.
3. I am, like the rest of the Green Party and unlike the mainstream parties, opposed to TTIP. I would vote against it.
4. I would certainly vote more money for the NHS.

My immediate priorities, if elected, would be to address the problems created by ideological meddling by the last two governments. I would also want to sharply increase the work done on disease prevention. In the longer term I believe we need to rethink the relationships between the NHS and local authorities, especially in the care of the elderly.

You can find the party's full health policies at http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/he.html. It's worth stressing that Greens see health as more than the absence of disease and health policy as being as much concerned with diet, exercise, housing and working conditions as with healthcare in the usual sense.