Trade unions need to step up and force a turn in the policies of the labour movement to effectively confront the far-right threat, argues NICK WRIGHT
THE message that it is “time to talk” if you are feeling mentally unwell is broadcast through multiple mental health campaigns. And yet there is a scheme spreading throughout the NHS that means that certain people can be prevented from accessing help in a crisis.
Former police officer Paul Jennings is described as the “innovator” behind the scheme, which he gave the unlikely name Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) and which is now managed through the High Intensity Network (HIN) he set up.
The approach bears a striking resemblance to an early embodiment of the government’s Troubled Family Scheme where the most “challenging” families, who require support from multiple agencies, are identified with the aim of modifying their behaviour through a mixture of coercion and support – “Family intervention workers make it clear that they have to either take this intensive help or face some tough consequences.” (2012 Annual Report of the Troubled Families Programme).
The best wildfire service may begin with the community, argues KOMAL RAJ ARYAL
In the second part of her critique of Wes Streeting’s TenYear Plan for Health, HELEN MERCER looks at the central planks of this privatisation blueprint



