Author Archives: Darren Reynolds

Opinion: Ignored and Dead

By Darren Reynolds | Wed 7th November 2007 - 5:33 pm

War, terrorism and crime. These are the headlines fronting Britain’s newspapers today, or on any day.

If editors know how to sell newspapers, then death is their best sales representative. Whether it is war in Iraq, teenagers slaughtered or a missing toddler, the human instinct to learn from gossip and avoid danger is strong enough to maintain an entire industry.

But behind this marketing are some uneasy facts.

According to the Office of National Statistics, every day about 1,400 people die in the UK. Of these, about 440 are from heart disease, 370 are from cancer and 260 are from diseases of the brain or stroke. Beyond that, there is death and great suffering caused by a huge range of other illnesses.

Of the total number of deaths, precisely none are from terrorism this year. Not since 7th July 2005 have people suffered in this way. Then, whilst the 52 victims and their families were part of a great tragedy, the tragedy of 1,400 people dying daily in the UK from other causes is surely as great.

For many years, we as a party have been successful in local elections for the very reason that we have understood what local issues matter to real people on a day-to-day basis, and we have campaigned on them.

Despite being a busy district councillor, I have never met anyone who has lost a loved one through recent wars or terrorism. Fellow members will of course be able to cite examples. Yet every one of us, without exception, can recall sad losses and pain due to “natural” causes. The grandparent suffering with seized joints, the neighbour being supported through Alzheimer’s and the friend who died in an avoidable car accident – these are all family tragedies.