Peter Rhodes on badgers, cancer and the ultimate boast: 'I was there'
According to a report by the King's Fund think-tank, the NHS spends less on health care than many developed nations and has worse outcomes for life expectancy and cancer survival. But who's to blame?
That's an easy question. When something goes right with our health service, we praise the good ol' NHS. When anything goes wrong, we blame the Government.
Meanwhile, the NHS has launched a programme to detect lung cancer sooner. It will target smokers and former smokers, which makes statistical sense.
But as even the most fervent anti-smokers admit, we can't blame all lung cancers on fags. Cancer Research UK tells us: “Some people who get lung cancer don’t smoke . . . up to 14 per cent of people with lung cancer in the UK have never smoked.”
There is nothing fair about the Big C.
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What is the correct pronunciation of the surname of the Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin? Simple; it rhymes with Krigozhin. Frankly, given the outlook for anyone who marches his soldiers on Moscow, it may not be worthwhile learning how to pronounce or even spell Prigozhin correctly (tip: it may be preceded with “the late”).
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According to some estimates, up to five million Americans shamelessly claim to have attended the original Woodstock rock festival in 1969, when the true figure was about 500,000.
I was reminded of that at the weekend as Elton John performed at Glastonbury to a crowd of about 200,000. When the great performer passes away, I wonder how many fans will get all wistful and tell us how they saw him live at Glasto '23. Millions, I bet.
As the Welsh comedian Max Boyce reminds us, there is no prouder claim than “I was there” - even if you weren't.
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If you believe everything you see on Springwatch (BBC), badgers are endearing, shy little chaps, to be filmed on infra-red cameras at dead of night.
In real life, out here on the urban fringe, badgers are cocky, confident bruisers who crash around mob-handed before it's even dark.
This year at Chateau Rhodes we grew a superb crop of sweet, succulent strawberries. The badgers ripped through the netting this week and devoured the lot. You were saying, Mr Packham?
