Do you know your blood type? Seems not many of us do (Picture: Metro/Getty)
In MetroTalk, readers are responding to the computer hacking that has left the NHS begging for O-type blood donations.
But, do you know your blood type? It seems not many of us do. One commenter wonders why the NHS stopped giving out this information and why the UK’s systems are so vulnerable to cyberattack.
Meanwhile, a case for reintroducing citizen’s arrest, will you be voting Labour for the first time this General Election and what did Nigel Farage mean when he said Rishi Sunak didn’t understand our ‘culture’?
Share your thoughts on these topics and more in the comments.
‘The carelessness of our system puts every one at risk’
NHS Blood and Transplant is asking for O blood type donors to book appointments following the critical incident (Credits: Getty Images)
The urgent appeal for O-type blood following the Russian cyberattack on private pathology firm Synnovis (Metro, Tue) illustrates how misguided it is for critical services to be so dependent on vulnerable web-based systems.
The efficiency of highly connected systems are a cruel illusion when they offer an open door to cyber-criminals.
These sharks ceaselessly prowl the cyber-ocean, looking for weak, and weak-minded, prey.
Yet still banks, hospitals, shipping lines, power stations, social media companies and government departments fail to take adequate precautions, leading to havoc when they are hacked. Their carelessness puts every one of us at risk.
The desperate cry for blood donors reveals another weakness – the failure to inform every adult of their blood type.
That detail could be vital if you are in an accident and need a transfusion or undergo surgery in a hospital overseas.
Despite asking to be told my blood type several times, I have always been refused, on the grounds that ‘this is not something the NHS routinely tells patients’.
Why ever not? In the 1960s, every pocket diary contained a space to write your blood type – presumably a hangover from the war – so why a secret now?
The consequence is that fewer people will feel confident about answering the call for donors. Stephen Spark, Balham
METRO TALK – HAVE YOUR SAY
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Reintroducing citizen’s arrest
What would be done with those arrested? (Credits: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
With the police now largely absent from our streets, other than when speeding around in cars, is it not time the public were reintroduced to the citizen’s arrest?
This form of arrest originated in medieval England when there was no police force and it was everyone’s duty to assist in chasing criminals.
Think of the problems this might solve. Citizens could arrest noisy motorbikers, pavement cyclists, dog foulers, litter louts and spitters. It does beg the question, however, of what should be done with those arrested? One solution might be to reopen all the closed police stations and turn them into remand centres. Antony Porter, London
Does Keir Starmer have the strength to stand up to unions?
(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
The people of this country have got to grit their teeth and move us towards strength, truth and positive action.
There are times when I feel the wartime spivs have moved into politics. Remember Private Walker in Dad’s Army? ‘Hallo, darlin’ fancy a nice bit of levellin’ up or loads of new hospitals? You won’t get this quality of false promise anywhere else.’
We all know what Nigel Farage meant when he said Rishi Sunak didn’t understand our ‘culture’ after the prime minister left the D-Day commemoration early. Culture means customs, it has nothing to do with a person’s wealth, as Farage tried to claim after he had blatantly advertised what Reform actually stand for.
I’m not sure whether Sir Keir Starmer has the strength to stand up to greedy unions but I do know that I don’t want the public to be not only badly led but dishonestly so.
I have no choice but to vote Labour for the first time in nearly 60 years of voting. Roger Watts, Walsall
Will you be switching parties?
Is the Reform Party the true home for all discontented Conservatives? (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
MetroTalk’s headline on Tuesday, ‘Will Farage end up in the Tory Party?’ should have read the opposite – ‘Will Tories end up in the Farage party’? Jim, London
As a thoroughly disillusioned member of the Conservative Party for many years, I’m going to find it very difficult if not impossible to vote Conservative.
I firmly believe that the Reform Party is now the true home for all discontented Conservatives.
As a result of Rishi Sunak’s D-Day gaffe and that unforgiveable insult to those brave veterans and heroes, it’s now a foregone conclusion the Tories are going to get wiped out on July 4. Leo, Romford
Has Rishi dashed his hopes of winning the General Election for his gaffe on D-Day? (Picture: Gareth Fuller – Pool/Getty Images)
Calling statisticians, a message for Donald Trump’s PR and mandatory microchips
Calling all statisticians. Can any of you work out the probable number of people still alive who can say their fathers fought in both World War I and World War II? There can’t be very many, and I’m one of them! Merry S, Hampton
How soon will it be before Donald Trump’s PR team make his presidential campaign slogan A Man Of Conviction? Phil Brand, London
Alan (MetroTalk, Tue) asks why evictions should not be made illegal in a bid to combat homelessness. Is he suggesting that any tenant should be able to live in any accommodation potentially rent-free and treat that property as they see fit? If I were a landlord I’d evict any such tenant as quickly as possible! Kay, London
That list of the best guitarists of the past two decades is laughable (Metro, Tue). Taylor Swift? Ed Sheeran doesn’t even know how to play a solo. Who filled in the survey, ten-year-olds? M Crane, Milton Keynes
Cat owners must now have their pets microchipped (Metro, Tue). Shouldn’t people have their property chipped? And why stop there? Make dash cams mandatory. Jordan, London