'British Values' are whatever the Tories want them to be
Steph Paton for The National
The "great thing" about British values, says Steph Paton in Scottish newspaper The National, is that they are "nebulous and undefined". In "their most modern form", these values are "whatever the UK government needs them to be to justify its increasingly authoritarian and far-right policy positions". Principles outlined as quintessentially British such as mutual liberty, democracy and tolerance have been "objectively undermined and trod upon" by the Tories. The party "does not care" for values beyond their use as a "rhetorical tool".
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Scanners without staff won't solve NHS waiting crisis
Dean Rogers for The Times
That there are "too few" NHS radiographers to perform vital scans is an "inescapable truth", says Dean Rogers, the Society of Radiographers's director of industrial strategy, in The Times. While any new MRI and CT scanners are "very welcome", many stand unused "for all but a few hours each week" as there is no "matching staffing budget". Our health service needs investment to build a "stronger workforce", because what "matters most" is the "people, not tech".
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Is the West losing interest in Ukraine?
Mark Galeotti for The Spectator
Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces a "constant struggle" to rally international support for Ukraine, writes security expert Mark Galeotti for The Spectator, and it appears to be "taking its toll". While opinion polls show "rock-solid" backing for the Ukrainian leader's cause, "things aren't so clear" in practical terms. As the Israel-Hamas war captures "media, public and policy-maker attention", the challenge to overcome "Ukraine fatigue" and keep the West "engaged" in the conflict with Russia is becoming increasingly difficult.
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There's a way for the US to compete with China – and to work with China
Janet L. Yellen for The Washington Post
A "pragmatic economic strategy" is key to "navigating the complexities" in the US-China relationship, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argues in The Washington Post. "Healthy economic competition" can "benefit both countries over time". The two nations have made "progress on global challenges together" in recent years, and the US must now avoid the "mistake" of becoming "so consumed with our competition with China that we become defined by it".
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