A new NHS call for blood donors to make – and keep – appointments in the run-up to Christmas has reignited the debate around how to increase rates of donation, including the use of financial incentives.

For many, the idea of paying for blood plasma "elicits concerns about the commodification of the human body", said Politico. For others, "paying donors a flat fee for their time and trouble should be part of the solution" to what is a growing global shortfall.

How often does the UK run low?
The festive period is an annual crunch time for blood stocks, "as cold weather, seasonal illnesses and busier diaries lead to more unfilled and missed appointments, while demand from hospitals can rise", said the NHS Give Blood website. But it isn't just a winter problem. This summer, the health service warned that blood stocks had dropped to "unprecedentedly low" levels in England.

Which countries allow blood donors to be paid?
The US, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary currently allow a flat-fee payment for donating blood, and these five nations account for 80% of the global supply of plasma, the main component of blood. In the US, the average payment per plasma donation is $80-$85 (£63-£67), said Matthew Hotchko of the Marketing Research Bureau. Many other countries offer "non-monetary compensation like time off work or vouchers", said Politico.

Would paying donors boost donations in the UK?
Only around 7% of people in the UK donate blood on a regular basis, according to a YouGov poll. The 2022 survey findings suggest that more than a third of Britons who do not donate would do so if they were paid.

What are the drawbacks?
In countries including Britain, scandals involving infected blood "loom large in the public consciousness", said The Economist. Yet there is "little evidence that plasma that is paid for is more likely to transmit disease than plasma from unpaid sources". Even if that were the case, "plasma can be heavily processed to ensure it is safe". 

Another worry is that the privatisation of blood services leads to the exploitation of donors. The US made $37 billion (£29 billion) from exports of blood products last year, more than from coal or gold.

Tea and Britain are an "ingrained" pairing, like "Shakespeare and sonnets" or "the late Queen and corgis", said Hannah Twiggs for The Independent. "Whether it's a builder's brew in a chipped mug or something posher served in fine china", a cup of tea is "ritual and identity all in one". But trouble is brewing for the industry.

'Love affair showing cracks'
Typhoo Tea, a "stalwart of kitchen cupboards since 1903", is now "teetering on the brink of administration", said Twiggs. It's hardly a surprise: "Typhoo has been running on fumes for years, hit by dwindling sales, supermarket competition and, perhaps most dramatically, a £24m blow when trespassers ransacked its Merseyside factory in 2023". But it's another sign that Britain's "love affair with tea, once fervent and unquestioned, is showing cracks".

Sales of everyday black tea, such as PG Tips and Yorkshire tea, are falling and it has been knocked off the top spot as the nation's favourite drink by another British staple: the gin and tonic. In a recent Mintel survey of more than 2,000 Brits, 44% said they would opt for G&T when meeting friends, while 41% preferred a cuppa.

'Turning our heads towards coffee'
Just "like haircuts, petrol and Freddos, tea is getting more expensive", said Nell Frizzell on the i news site. The average price for a pack of 80 teabags has gone up by 11% in one year, according to the Office for National Statistics. The reason tea is becoming more costly is a grim one: "we, as a planet, are careering into ecological collapse". Tea-growing regions in East Africa, Southeast Asia and India are being "hit by flooding, heatwaves" and other extreme weather, "all of which have devastating effects on tea plantations".

But financial cost isn't the only reason for declining demand for "our so-called national drink", added Frizzell. "We are now drinking about a quarter as much tea as we did in the 1970s", partly due to US and European culture "turning our heads towards coffee". That's unlikely to do much good for the environment either, since coffee has "a much higher carbon footprint than tea".

Coffee may one day "lose its edge", and "a younger generation" could become "obsessed with tea connoisseurship – and the charm of that old crockery", said Howard Chua-Eoan at Bloomberg. But in the meantime, "don't lose any sleep over it".

As Christmas draws closer, millions of us will be counting down to the big day with an advent calendar. As well as the standard chocolate varieties, there are a host of alternative options filled with less traditional daily treats.

Bonne Maman
Behind each door is a mini jar of delicious jam, preserve or spread, in limited-edition flavours such as pineapple and passionfruit, vanilla caramel and mirabelle plum with linden. 

12 Cocktails of Christmas 
This new offering from BrewDog Distilling Co. is among the most eye-catching advent calendar offerings of the year. The line-up of pre-made cocktails includes favourites such as the passionfruit martini, as well as drinks with a festive twist like the chocolate orange espresso martini.

Sherry Cask Whisky
Drinks by the Dram have created the ideal advent calendar (pictured above) for whisky enthusiasts. Packed with 24 sherry-cask-aged drams from top distilleries worldwide, each day brings a different flavour. Whether it is whisky flavoured with warm spices, rich caramel, or dark fruity notes, every bottle showcases the versatility of this spirit.

Tony's Chocolonely Countdown
For chocoholics who will feel cheated by anything less than a cocoa-filled calendar, this generously sized option from Tony's is a safe bet. The colourful calendar is filled with 10 varieties of milk, white and dark Fairtrade chocolate, individually wrapped in 25 mini paper packages.

Pelicot trial may deter other justice seekers
Jenni Russell in The Times
The experiences of "the most courageous and dignified woman in France", Gisèle Pelicot, highlight the "agonising difficulty women face in having rape treated seriously", writes Jenni Russell. "It is hard to imagine a clearer victim" in such a case, yet this hasn't spared her from "allegations of complicity or guilt", including accusations of "being insufficiently suspicious, of being an alcoholic, of not crying enough in court". Her "traumatic experience" may "further deter women from seeking justice at all".

Who is really escalating the war in Ukraine? It certainly isn't the west
James Nixey in The Guardian
The past month has been "rough" for Ukraine, writes James Nixey, and the West has been accused of "escalating" the conflict. But the western policy "is in fact best described as incrementalism – a drip-feed release of weaponry, which keeps Ukraine on a lifeline" but "doesn't allow it the possibility of pushing Russia out". The blood of Ukrainians is "on Russia's hands" but "to some extent it is also on ours", as earlier support "could have prevented" many deaths.

Dogs should be kept on leads at all times – end of
Richard James on the i news site
The London borough of Tower Hamlets is considering new rules that "could result in a ban on dogs being allowed off leads, even in parks", says Richard James. This "all sounds pretty sensible". Some dog owners seem to "have lost a bit of perspective when it comes to the rights of their pets", but "letting dogs off the leads in urban parks and then scrolling on your phone while they run wild is surely not that responsible".