Suicide
A timeline of Wilson’s victorious case over ‘antisemitism campaigner’ smearers
How the case developed that ended with uni lecturer James Wilson’s hard-fought win in court after smears put him and his family in danger – and saw LAAS director Newbon commit suicide
Last week, university lecturer James Wilson won £30,000 in damages from two defendants, James Mendelsohn and Edward Cantor, who had contributed to a smear against Wilson by a third ‘antisemitism campaigner’, Peter Newbon, that put the lives of Wilson and his family at risk. Newbon, a director of the right-wing pressure group ‘Labour against Antisemitism’ (LAAS), was a defendant in the case but died by suicide, after a row with his wife, before the case was concluded. The judgement in the Wilson case revealed that Newbon had ‘concealed’ the case from his wife
The case never involved much-loved Jewish author Michael Rosen. However, Newbon’s fellow ‘campaigners’ have tried hard to associate Newbon’s death with Rosen because Rosen dared to complain about the antisemitic doctoring of his famous children’s book, Bear Hunt, in a social media post by Newbon used to attack former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The coroner presiding at the inquest into Newbon’s death made no such connection, nor even mentioned Rosen throughout the proceedings, but this has not stopped the trolls’ efforts.
For readers unfamiliar with the Wilson vs Mendelsohn et al case, below is a timeline showing the chronology of the smears and the subsequent legal victory:
- Nineteen months before August 2020: a confrontation takes place at Wilson’s children’s school with ‘Mrs A’. The trial judge has ruled that Wilson was blameless, but A posts a picture and libellous claim to Facebook
- August 2020: Wilson disputes with Newbon on Twitter about the so-called ‘IHRA definition’ of antisemitism – a definition that has been heavily criticised, not least because it doesn’t define, is used to suppress criticism of Israel and enables false accusations of antisemitism – by Jewish legal experts in the UK and even by its original author, Kenneth Stern
- August 2020: in a manoeuvre typical of so-called ‘antisemitism campaigners’, Newbon resorts quickly to ad hominem personal attacks and responds with libellous claim that Wilson is a ‘freak who takes photos of kids’
- August 2020 onwards: Wilson tries to negotiate with Newbon to remove the libel and warns that he will sue if it is not taken down
- Around August 2020: Newbon’s university employers warn Newbon that he is in breach of the university’s social media code
- November 2020 Newbon gets into dispute with another person on social media – and receives a second warning from university
- Around the same time, Newbon also becomes involved with the so-called ‘University Antisemitism Map’ which targets academics who criticise Israel or dispute the right-wing claim of ‘Labour antisemitism’, labelling them antisemitic and identifying their place of work so collaborators can target their employment. Newbon contacts one institution with an allegation about an employee – the employee is exonerated by institution
- May 2021: Newbon posts a doctored screenshot of a famous ‘tweet’ that originally showed Jeremy Corbyn reading ‘Bear Hunt’ to a group of children. The book held by Corbyn has been photoshopped to make it appear that Corbyn is reading from a notorious antisemitic text, ‘The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’. The image is accompanied by a parody of the words from the Bear Hunt book
- May 2021: numerous Twitter users object and write to Newbon’s university, whose name is displayed on his Twitter profile. Rosen is informed of the tweet and comments publicly that the doctoring was an antisemitic thing to do. The university says it will take action
- May 2021: As revealed during the subsequent Wilson case, Newbon prepares an apology to be issued to Rosen, then withdraws the apology and starts legal proceedings, presumably having been advised by lawyers that he has a case against Rosen
- December 2021: Newbon escalates by issuing a ‘Particulars of Claim’, the formal opening of a libel case, in which he accepts that Rosen is ‘in’ the tweet but claims Rosen is not the target, as the target is Corbyn who is reading Rosen’s book to children in the image. Rosen prepares defence
- January 2022: Newbon ends his own life after a row with his wife
- January 2022 onwards: Rosen is blamed for Newbon’s death by various parties either by implication or actual accusations. In articles at the time, another case (ie Wilson’s) is mentioned, but not by name. Some people note that Newbon was running two cases at the same time, defending against Wilson, claiming against Rosen
- March 2022: Wilson and Newbon’s wife settle Newbon’s involvement in Wilson’s case against Newbon, Mendelsohn and Cantor
- February 2023: a High Court judge rejects an attempt by Mendelsohn and Cantor to have the case against them thrown out. The pair had attempted to claim that Wilson could and should have minimised the damage they did to him by backing out earlier from the online conversation in which he was smeared. The judge described the attempt as ‘not very attractive’
- April 2023: The inquest into Newbon’s death takes place. The coroner makes no mention of either the Wilson or Rosen legal cases. The coroner does mentioned that Newbon had a ‘disagreement’ with his wife and that he left the house in a ‘fragile state’.
- December 2023: the Wilson v Mendelsohn, Newbon (deceased) and Cantor case leads to a four-day trial.
- April 2024: the judge’s findings are published. The judge finds against Cantor and Mendelsohn, dismissing the claims of a string of their witnesses and awarding a total of £30,000 in damages to James Wilson. In the judgment narrative, the late Newbon is described as a bully
The case, which involved the disclosure by Newbon’s widow of his personal communications, also revealed interesting aspects of his conduct toward Michael Rosen and the behaviour of the trolls who have tried to exploit his death to attack Rosen. Analysis to follow.
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Uni lecturer wins damages from ‘antisemitism campaigners’ who endangered him and family
James Wilson wins defamation case against Mendelsohn and Cantor in judgment that speaks volumes about methods and attitudes of so-called ‘campaigners against antisemitism’
University lecturer James Wilson has been awarded £30,000 in damages against James Mendelsohn and Edward Cantor for defamatory material published about him during an argument about supposed antisemitism in the Labour party. The false claim, that Mr Wilson was a ‘freak [who] takes pictures of kids’, put Mr Wilson and his partner in fear of physical danger, as well as seriously damaging his reputation. The judge had previously rejected an attempt by Mendelsohn and Cantor to quash the lawsuit.
The judgement lays bare that:
- Mendelsohn and Cantor kept private information and recycled it to the late Dr Pete Newbon – a director of the anti-left group ‘Labour against Antisemitism’ (LAAS), so that he could use it to defame Wilson – the information was untrue and based a) on statements from someone the judge found to have lied about Wilson and b) on false claims about a university disciplinary investigation. Newbon was described by the judge as ‘bullying’
- that Newbon, who committed suicided in 2022 after a row with his wife and has been lionised by so-called ‘antisemitism campaigners’ despite his awful record as a serial troll repeatedly disciplined by his employers Northumbria University for his appalling social media conduct, had not told her of Wilson’s lawsuit against him for the defamatory posts
- Mendelsohn and Cantor refused to apologise, mediate or settle, forcing the legal action to proceed to its conclusion
- a key witness for the defendants said that she had been offered £5,000 by Mendelsohn and Cantor to testify for them (though the judge did not make a finding that her claim was true)
- the defendants further abused and insulted Wilson in the course of their defence – despite, in the case of Cantor, being warned by the judge not to do so
The defendants – who represented themselves in court apart from the use of a barrister to cross-examine Wilson – wheeled out a number of figures who are well known for their attacks on the left in an attempt to shore up their defence. The judge dismissed them:
- University lecturer David Hirsh, a prominent, pro-Israel proponent of supposed ‘left antisemitism’, who wrote an unintentionally revealing elegy to Pete Newbon after his suicide. Hirsh was called to bolster the defendants’ claim that Wilson had shown ‘unwarrantedly aggressive and belligerent conduct’. The judge rejected Hirsh’s evidence that Wilson was ‘aggressive, unpredictable, persistent and irrational’ and found that Wilson’s communications with him over the spreading of a crowdfund for the defendants’ legal costs were ‘not unreasonable’
- Nathan Comiskey, another advocate of ‘left antisemitism’, who claimed that Wilson contacting him about insulting remarks was ‘highly intrusive and upsetting’ and that he had felt ‘harassed and targeted’. The judge ruled that there was nothing unreasonable in Wilson’s communications and that Comiskey’s testimony did nothing to support the defendants’ claims about supposed unwarranted aggression or belligerence
- Simon Myerson – a founding signatory of LAAS and supporter of Israel, and a part-time judge recently sanctioned for judicial misconduct for abusive social media posts. Myerson was also a vocal supporter of Newbon, trying to link Jewish author Michael Rosen to Newbon’s suicide, despite a coroner not mentioning Rosen at all in his inquest findings. Mendelsohn and Cantor put forward Wilson’s communications with Myerson, who had shared a post describing Wilson as ‘scum of the earth’, as evidence to support their claim of aggressive behaviour. The judge ruled that it did nothing of the sort
- Joanne Bell and journalist Adam Cailler – more well-known anti-left activists whose correspondence with Wilson was put forward by the defence as supporting evidence. The judge ruled, “I can find nothing in the emails which is particularly aggressive or which points to conduct of the kind said to demonstrate the pleaded propensity [to aggression]”
A Myerson attack on Michael Rosen
The findings, as well as being clearly welcome to the smeared and endangered James Wilson, illuminate much of the approach of the right-wingers who created and propagated the ‘Labour antisemitism’ smear. While so-called ‘antisemitism campaigners’ – lauded by Hirsh in his document supporting the creation of the so-called ‘Pete Newbon award’ – are ready to doxx, insult, smear and abuse those with whom they disagree, the conduct of the defence and the witnesses it put forward or quoted reveal a group that is quick to describe their supposed hurt and fear when someone challenges them and, even in the most reasonable terms, takes issue with the smears and abuse. Happily, the judge saw through such asymmetrical nonsense.
Mr Wilson, in a statement about the result, said:
The Judge has found that Mr James Mendelsohn gave Dr Pete Newbon confidential and defamatory information about me. It included a screenshot of a Facebook post that said I was “a freak who took pictures of kids” outside a school with a clear photo of me. The impression was, as the Judge decided, like a ‘wanted’ poster. When the Facebook post was published originally, there were incidents that made me fear for the safety of me and my family. The police secured its deletion within 24 hours.
The Judge found that the allegations in the Facebook post were untrue. Mr Mendelsohn took a screenshot of the Facebook post in the 24 hours it was published and, having kept it for 19 months, gave it to Dr Newbon in August 2020 knowing Dr Newbon was making abusive attacks on me on Twitter/X and so he could use the screenshot as a weapon against me.
Dr Newbon and Mr Eddy Cantor then published the screenshot on Twitter/X to, as the Judge has found, abuse and bully me. When Dr Newbon realised the screenshot he and Mr Cantor had published put the safety of me and my family at risk, he took no action. I suspect this was on the basis of advice he got from his solicitor.
Even when Dr Newbon deleted the screenshot from his feed, he sent it to other people by private message. He also invented seriously defamatory allegations about me that he sent to other people.
I did not want the litigation to start. The Defendants could have settled for zero damages and zero costs, and an agreement to delete and not to further publish the screenshot. Litigation only started because all the Defendants, presumably on advice from their solicitors, insisted that publication of the screenshot was in the public interest. They claimed this despite knowing of the intimidatory incidents.
I did not want there to be a trial. What made a trial inevitable was the conduct of the Defendants. I suspect some of the Defendants’ conduct was the result of advice from their solicitors. The Defendants’ conduct included:
- Refusing to comply with the Civil Procedure Rules on pre-action conduct.
- Refusing mediation in favour of litigation to drive up my costs and to try to bankrupt me.
- Making repeated threats to bankrupt me, explicitly referring to the impact this would have on my employment and children.
- Making false allegations of anti-Semitism to try to get me to abandon my claim.
- Making misogynistic allegations about my partner and falsely accusing her of conspiring to pervert the course of justice and breaching professional conduct rules.
- Taking the case to trial having stated: (a) they had no money and I would not recover any costs or damages; (b) they did not care about the outcome (they were “blasé about the result”); (c) they saw what they were doing as some sort of revenge (they “regard this as payback time”).
- Refusing to engage sensibly in negotiations to settle the whole claim when both Dr Newbon’s widow and I wanted to quietly and cheaply settle the claim and avoid further publicity after Dr Newbon’s tragic death.
The Defendants received encouragement on social media and financial help in pursuing their
defences. The crowdfunding claims made by the Defendants were outrageous. The most distasteful aspect was using Dr Newbon’s death to raise money (“One of us is now sadly silent. Those remaining must today come together and fight”).
The reality was that, having used Dr Newbon’s death to raise money, no serious effort was made to defend Dr Newbon at trial. I tried to protect Dr Newbon’s posthumous reputation by settling the claim without a trial and judgment. Mr Cantor rejected in principle a settlement for nominal damages and zero costs in November 2021. Rather than getting Mr Cantor out of the litigation for a nominal sum, [his lawyer] insisted I would have to pay him money before Mr Cantor would settle the claim. I do not know whether Mr Cantor himself knew about this, given his subsequent expressions of bemusement about being involved in the proceedings at all.
Both Defendants refused an offer to settle before trial for just a quarter of the damages the Judge has awarded. When the trial started, I avoided seeking a finding of harassment against Dr Newbon. It is unfortunate that detailed information about Dr Newbon’s conduct has been put in the public domain after his death.
In my opinion, the Defendants and/or their solicitors tried to cause me devastating reputational and, through the costs of the proceedings, financial harm because they disagree with my views on the State of Israel. The Defendants’ conduct was encouraged by others who share their views.
Dr Newbon also brought a separate defamation claim [against author Michael Rosen, who had complained about the antisemitic editing of an image showing one of his books]. He had intended to apologise for the conduct which was the subject of that case, but seems to have received dreadful advice to sue rather than simply say sorry. He ended up involved in two completely unnecessary and hopeless legal cases.
As the Judge found, it seemed the Defendants were motivated by an intense dislike if not hatred of me. For my part, I have no antipathy towards the Defendants despite their conduct and its impact on me and my family. I have never published confidential or defamatory information about the Defendants. I have never been abusive to them. I never retaliated to the Defendants’ abuse and bullying. It is ironic that while the Defendants are convinced that I am motivated by prejudice against them, it is they who had an obsessive and irrational dislike of me. I find it sad that the Defendants, their former legal advisers, and others believed that defending the State of Israel from criticism justified their conduct to me and my family.
It is my hope that what has happened to the Defendants and their families, and me and my family, never happens to anyone else again. Please do not use the judgment in my case as a reason to attack or abuse others on social media. Mr Mendelsohn and Mr Cantor definitely do not deserve to be attacked or abused and I urge people not to do so.
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Pro-Israeli judge Myerson sanctioned for ‘judicial misconduct’ for social media
Well-known Israel advocate and Corbyn critic found to have breached professional standards in attack on trans rights campaigner
Pro-Israeli barrister and part-time judge Simon Myerson KC has been disciplined by the Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor for attacking a transgender rights campaigner on the Twitter/X social media platform.
Myerson supports Israel against accusations of genocide and has frequently attacked Corbyn and his supporters
Myerson received a sanction for ‘judicial misconduct’ after complaints were upheld for a series of offensive tweets. Myerson accused the campaigner of having a “tiny intellect” and making “idiotic statements”. The disciplinary decision can be found here. Myerson broke the principle that judges should avoid participating in online debates on politically controversial topics to maintain the integrity and dignity of their judicial office.
Myerson insists Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza despite its slaughter of tens of thousands of women and children and insulted a Jewish anti-genocide campaigner
Some observers might consider there to be a suggestion of hypocrisy to Myerson’s behaviour. In September 2023, Myerson was a witness against a solicitor accused of posting offensive tweets at a disciplinary tribunal. Myerson’s evidence was that the solicitor’s tweets went “well beyond the bounds of acceptable conduct”, raising questions about whether he gave evidence to a tribunal about another person’s offensive social media posts without telling the tribunal that his own offensive posts were under investigation by the Lady Chief Justice.
Myerson also has a history of controversial comments on Twitter/X about the suicide of the Northumbria University academic Dr Pete Newbon, who died after a row with his wife. Newbon had posted to Twitter/X a meme of an image that originally showed Jeremy Corbyn reading much-loved author Michael Rosen’s Bear Hunt to some children, but in which the title of grossly antisemitic forgery ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ had been photoshopped onto the book.
Rosen, who is Jewish, was understandably unhappy that the Protocols had been photoshopped on his book. Myerson suggested that it was Rosen’s tweet in response to Newbon that led to complaints to Newbon’s employer that were linked by Newbon’s supporters to his suicide. Rosen’s tweets were far less offensive than the tweets Myerson has now been disciplined for and the coroner did not mention Rosen or his tweets at all in his inquest findings. Newbon, who had tried to get fellow academics sacked, was in fact on a final warning from the university because of his repeatedly awful conduct on social media – and was doing badly in a lawsuit brought by another individual whom his false claims on social media had endangered. Rosen has featured frequently in Myerson’s Twitter/X timeline.
Myerson, like Newbon a founding signatory of the so-called ‘Labour against antisemitism’ (LAAS) group that weaponised antisemitism allegations to attack then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and whose directors have also attacked Michael Rosen, continues to be active on Twitter/X in support of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Myerson rejects the finding of the International Court of Justice that Israel may be engaged in genocide. His position is that Israel’s actions in bombing Gaza and refusing to allow aid to enter are proportionate responses to the October 7 attack by Hamas. Most serious legal commentators are clear that Israel’s actions are disproportionate and are likely to amount to war crimes.
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Simon Myerson criticised a court for finding anti-Zionism is a protected political belief and insists that Israel was not told to implement a ceasefire even though the International Court of Justice told it to stop killing Gazans and protect them instead.
Those reading Myerson’s recent social media output might feel justified in concluding that a change in his behaviour is unlikely. Yesterday he bizarrely accused a Jewish Twitter/X user of having learned to be snide ‘almost certainly aided by being Jewish’ when the user gently mocked the Israeli spokesperson Eylon Levy.
Mr Myerson did not respond to a request for comment accompanied by an initial draft of this article.
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More Teens Are Opting for Virtual Therapy
Before the pandemic, Virginia-based psychologist Dr. Patrice Berry had little experience conducting client sessions via video call. Now, even though Covid restrictions are largely no longer in place, around 40 percent of her consultations still happen this way, meaning she can work with patients from anywhere in the state.
When it comes to patients aged 18 and under, who make up about 50 percent of Dr. Berry’s client base, up to 60 percent of them are opting to be treated virtually, also known as telehealth. It’s often the only option for families that can’t transport their child to an in-person session, and it makes scheduling easier: Students don’t have the added stress of being late for school after a morning session, or rushing to leave school to attend in the afternoon. Being one of the few African-American therapists in the area, Dr. Berry is also highly sought after by Black families.
“I also have clients with significant social anxiety, where starting online is more comfortable for them. And I work with some clients that have chronic health problems, where sometimes they’re having a high pain day [and can’t leave the house],” says Dr. Berry.
“I’ve worked with teens with long Covid symptoms, or with chronic medical conditions, and having the ability to meet online has really helped. It just gives everyone more options.”
The state of youth mental health in the US
Therapists’ ability to reach more young people with telehealth services is going a long way towards overcoming the youth mental health crisis currently unfolding in the US. Nearly 20 percent of children and young people between the ages of three and 17 in the US have a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder; and suicidal behaviors among high school students increased more than 40 percent between 2009 and 2019. Mental health challenges were the leading cause of death and disability in this age group during that time.
Up to 60 percent of Dr. Patrice Berry’s clients opt to be treated virtually. Courtesy of Dr. Patrice Berry
Telehealth may have been adopted as a byproduct of the pandemic, but, as with Dr. Berry’s patients, it has remained popular thanks to its accessibility. A 2023 study shows that while by August 2022, in-person youth mental health services in the US had returned to 75 percent of pre-pandemic levels, utilization of telehealth services for youth mental health was 2,300 percent higher than pre-pandemic.
“Pediatric telehealth care for mental health needs filled a critical deficit in the immediate period following the emergence of Covid-19, and continues to account for a substantial proportion of pediatric mental health service utilization and spending,” the study summarized, highlighting the continuing demand for virtual mental health services for this age group.
But since students are mainly able to access independent therapists like Dr. Berry outside of school hours, entrepreneurs are seeing the need to develop telehealth platforms that work in partnership with school districts to offer virtual sessions during the school day. Telehealth mental health startups focusing on young people include Daybreak, which partners with around 80 school districts across the US; Hazel, which is available to schools in 14 states; and Brightline, which is on offer in over 1,000 schools.
When the numbers don’t stack up
According to Daybreak, the National Association of School Psychologists recommends a ratio of one school psychologist per 500 students, but the company estimates the actual ratio in US schools is one per 1,211 students. In the company’s own survey of 1,008 US parents in 2022, 46 percent cite the lack of available therapists outside of school hours as a challenge, and 43 percent complain of long wait times.
“There’s been a record demand for youth mental health services, coupled with a lack of mental health professionals, that has led to high costs of care and unprecedented wait times to find a clinician,” says Daybreak co-founder and CEO Alex Alvarado.
Daybreak co-founder and CEO Alex Alvarado. Courtesy of Daybreak
“This disproportionately affects teens who are at the highest risk of mental health challenges including youth who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, low-income, live in rural areas, are experiencing homelessness, and/or come from immigrant households. Therefore, students must be able to access services at the place they spend the majority of their time — school. Public schools must play a vital role in providing high-quality, affordable and culturally competent mental health services to ensure students have equitable access to these services.”
Daybreak’s services are provided at no cost to families, Alvarado confirms, as many school districts receive funding for these types of programs, and in turn will sponsor specific services like virtual therapy. Daybreak also partners with health plans to share the costs of students’ care, while schools still cover the cost of services that are not billable or for uninsured families.
“Since districts are seeing the impact of school-based mental health support on improving students’ academic success, like improved grades and better attendance and behavior, they are tapping into new funding sources to sustain these services in the future,” Alvarado adds.
Building a telehealth platform that operates across states also means a greater diversity in therapists, and makes it more likely that a student can be best matched with someone that fits their situation and can relate to their background. For example, within Daybreak’s pool of therapists, 14 languages are spoken, 74 percent identify as BIPOC, and 14 percent as members of the LGTBQ+ community.
And the results are promising. Daybreak’s clinical data shows that 92 percent of families report behavioral improvements, while 80 percent of school staff report improvements in attendance, grades and behavior.
Through telehealth sessions with a Daybreak therapist via their schools, teens have worked through issues like gender identity, self harming, anger management issues, anxiety, eating disorders and more. One of those teens is Palm Springs-based Clifford, who, in 2023, was experiencing suicidal thoughts, writing in one of his assignments, “Nobody cares about me. I just want to die.” Over six months, working regularly with a therapist through his school helped the 18-year-old overcome those thoughts and learn coping mechanisms to deal with his own insecurities. As she shares in a video, his mother believes it saved his life.
Through virtual therapy, Clifford learned to overcome thoughts of self-harm. Courtesy of Daybreak
With on-campus resources at capacity, and in-person programs limited to students with severe mental health issues, Danielle McClain-Parks, coordinator of mental health services at Palm Springs Unified School District, says offering telehealth means more students can receive help before their problems escalate.
“We’re able to get help for a student before their needs are significant enough that they’re having trouble functioning, so they can get that help and learn those skills to be able to manage those symptoms early, rather than having to wait until they’re severe enough to need help from somewhere else,” McClain-Parks states in states in a video.
But can screens be a barrier?
Dr. Berry, however, is conscious of the limitations and challenges of telehealth, especially when it comes to teens. Focus and screen fatigue can be a problem. Dr. Berry says she can also miss body language cues via a screen, so will recommend a transition to in-person sessions if she feels it’s necessary.
School-based telehealth programs, Dr. Berry adds, can sometimes be counterproductive if school-related challenges are at the heart of a patient’s issues, so telehealth providers must also offer measures to support those who need another option. Daybreak confirmed that if the therapist believes a student could benefit from extending their care or receiving in-person services, they work with the district staff to make a referral to the appropriate community resources.
Client confidentiality breaches can also be a risk with telehealth. Dr. Berry, for example, often has to check that no one else is in the room or can hear the conversation, and that the client is returning to a safe environment after their session. For clients aged 12 and over, in the state of Virginia where she practices, therapists aren’t obliged to disclose all details of their sessions to parents, but share general progress, and flag serious safety concerns, such as if the patient talks about drug use or a desire to run away from home.
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“I sometimes get concerned [about large-scale telehealth platforms], about whether the sessions truly are confidential, and that their data isn’t being used — with kids, you know you have to be more careful,” says Dr. Berry.
“I would imagine the school systems would make sure that it truly was confidential, and then would help parents to know to listen to their kids, because your kids will tell you if telehealth is the right fit for them or not, or if the therapist is the right fit for them or not. Because some teens hate telehealth, and some love it.”
Still, amid the ongoing mental health crisis among kids and teens, Dr. Berry sees telehealth as a helpful option. “It can be hard for families to find quality mental health professionals,” she says. “If these organizations have the ability to find quality mental health professionals and pay them well, I can see it being successful.”
The post More Teens Are Opting for Virtual Therapy appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
Postmistress announces electoral bid to oust Davey
LibDem leader’s refusal to meet victims of Post Office Horizon scandal triggers general election challenge
LibDem leader Ed Davey is facing an election challenge from New Malden’s former Deputy Postmistress, Yvonne Tracey, amid public outrage at his handling of the Post Office Horizon scandal, following the landmark, true-life ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
Davey served as minister for postal affairs in the Coalition government, but for months refused to meet campaigning sub-postmaster Alan Bates and his fellow victims about ‘flaws of the Horizon system’ arguing it would not ‘serve any purpose’.
Responding to Davey’s letter, Bates said he found the 121-word response – sweeping away the suggestion of a meeting on the basis it would not serve “any useful purpose” – to be “offensive.”
Ms Tracey, served for more than 30 years, meeting residents over the counter at New Malden Post Office and now serves as an Independent councillor on Kingston Council. She said:
Come the next election, it’s incumbent on those seeking justice for our sub-postmasters to send a strong message to Sir Ed.
Sir Ed is now blaming others for his failure to challenge civil servants and do his job properly. His attitude to the hundreds of sub-postmasters over the years must be challenged.
Here in his own constituency, the sub-postmaster at Tolworth Post Office Sathyan Shiju lost his home, his business and attempted suicide on more than one occasion. He tried three times to get in touch with Sir Ed and every time he was turned away, refused or ignored.
But Ms Tracey indicated she would stand aside if a sub-postmaster or mistress who suffered directly in the scandal was willing to stand against Davey personally:
I’d encourage and wholeheartedly support the candidacy of a former sub-postmaster coming forward to take the challenge to Sir Ed – and indeed the other former postal ministers who are still MPs, who ignored the plight of sub-postmasters for years. But understandably, many of the victims have no confidence in the system and have suffered years of hell at the hands of the Post Office.
So in lieu of a sub-postmaster coming forward, I will take up the mantle. I’m standing as a resident – not a politician – to put honesty and integrity back into this election, and fight tirelessly for justice once and for all for my former colleagues.
You can find out more about her campaign on her website: www.yvonnetracey.org
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