No-deal is not an end.

Nigel Farage says that Boris Johnson's "new" Brexit offer is a "reheated" version of Theresa May's withdrawal agreement. As I write the details are unclear; but, deal or no deal, it doesn't stop there.

A no-deal Brexit isn't what it says it is. Yes, we would leave without a deal, but it isn't the end of the matter. We still have to make a trade deal with the EU, just as much as we would need to make a deal with the USA.

Unlesss we want to capitulate to all the demands made many years of haggling lie ahead. Our formal exit from the EU is just the beginning. That, after all, is what the fuss about the backstop has been about; it is about what happens if we can't reach an agreement.

Of course, if we leave 'without a deal', then the backstop doesn't exist, but what then do we do about our arrangements with Ireland? We would need to renegotiate how those work. Many businesses operate across the border. Arrangements will need to be agreed to enable them to continue and to protect jobs.

Unpicking the details will take time and a lot of political goodwill, and it will require a deal.

There are legal issues to resolve our Treaty obligations with Ireland and the Good Friday agreement. They do not disappear on Brexit, even if we leave without a deal. Our relationship with the Republic of Ireland will be a difficult one.

And then there is the tricky issue of citizenships and rights.

Under the Good Friday agreement, citizens of Northern Ireland can hold dual citizenship with Ireland. As Irish citizens, they will also be citizens of the EU. This arrangement is a vital part of the Good Friday agreement and Treaty with Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has said changes in UK immigration laws treating people in Northern Ireland automatically as British citizens (or British subjects) “goes against the grain” of the 1998 agreement underpinning the Northern Irish peace process.

Are we heading for two-tier citizenship rights? Adding up all British citizens who might qualify, it has been estimated that about 6.7 million people in the UK who don't already have an Irish passport could be entitled to one.

Prioritising people in nursing care.

There has been in recent years concern that care in the NHS has not been sufficiently 'patient centred', or responsive to the needs of the patient on a case basis. It has been felt in care that it as been the patient who has had to adapt to the regime of care, rather than the other way around. Putting patients at the centre of care means being responsive to their needs and supporting them through the process of health care delivery. Patients should not become identikit sausages in a production line. The nurses body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has responded to this challenge with a revised code of practice reflection get changes in health and social care since the previous code was published in 2008. The Code describes the professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. Four themes describe what nurses and midwives are expected to do: prioritise people practise effectively preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust. The

Ian Duncan-Smith says he wants to make those on benefits 'better people'!

By any account, the government's austerity strategy is utilitarian. It justifies its approach by the presumed potential ends. It's objective is to cut the deficit, but it has also adopted another objective which is specifically targeted. It seeks to drive people off benefits and 'back to work'. The two together are toxic to the poorest in society. Those least able to cope are the most affected by the cuts in benefits and the loss of services. It is the coupling of these two strategic aims that make their policies ethically questionable. For, by combining the two, slashing the value of benefits to make budget savings while also changing the benefits system, the highest burden falls on a specific group, those dependent on benefits. For the greater good of the majority, a minority group, those on benefits, are being sacrificed; sacrificed on the altar of austerity. And they are being sacrificed in part so that others may be spared. Utilitarian ethics considers the ba

The Thin End

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