'I'm not afraid': Former Labour Minister Tessa Jowell reveals details of her rare, aggressive brain cancer

Dame Tessa will today speak out in the House of Lords, calling for more options for cancer sufferers to risk experimental treatments

Mikey Smith

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Dame Tessa Jowell reveals she has rare and aggressive brain cancer

Dame Tessa Jowell has revealed the extend of her rare, aggressive brain cancer for the first time, but insists she is "not afraid."
The former Minister for Public Health and Culture Secretary will today speak out in the House of Lords, calling for greater collaboration in cancer research - and for cancer sufferers to be given greater freedom to risk experimental treatments.
She told the BBC the diagnosis came without warning.
"It was It came with absolutely no expectation," she said. "Absolutely none at all. I had not a single apparent symptom and I was on my way to host a centre for children - [I had a] seizure and I was unconscious for three or four days."
Despite her condition, she is determined to keep campaigning for greater collaboration between hospitals - and even internationally - to beat cancer.

(Image: PA)

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She said new developments in technology create opportunities for hospitals in different countries to connect.
Baroness Jowell was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a high-grade brain tumour, in May last year.
She has received treatment on the NHS, but has also had consultations with doctors in the United States and in Germany, where she underwent an experimental immunotherapy treatment.
Ahead of her speech in the House of Lords today, she told the BBC's Nick Robinson patients with aggressive forms of cancer like hers should have the freedom to take part in 'adaptive' drug trials, which can maximise the chance of success.

She said: "The important fact about an adaptive trial is that it can start, not achieve what you want and then move on to the next version.
"Brain cancers happen very quickly. You have to show that there’s been change quickly and if you don’t do that then basically nothing changes."
The trials allow doctors to try more than one type of treatment without having to wait for weeks and months between trials.
It can increase the chance of success, but brings with it the risk of side-effects.
But Baroness Jowell said: "Shall I tell you something? I am absolutely 100 per cent trying to stay alive.

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"That is exactly the kind of risk that patients should be free to take. Risk that they have the chance to take and it’s certainly what somebody like me wants."
But despite her diagnosis, she is determined not to just "curl up on the sofa".
She said: "That would be absolutely impossible. I have so much love in my family, my children, my close friends. It’s the most extraordinary, blessed and recreating sense and I feel that I want that to be experienced by so many other people as well.
"I was deeply touched by Seamus Heaney’s last words when he said “do not be afraid”
"I am not afraid. I feel very clear about my sense of purpose and what I want to do and how do I know how long it’s going to last? I’m certainly going to do everything I can to make it a very long time."

Mirror

Govs, Lawmakers, Political Leaders Meet on How to Form New Party

Tobi Soniyi

As former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s bombshell to President Muhammadu Buhari, advising him not to re-contest the 2019 presidential election sent shock waves across the country Tuesday, governors, legislators and political leaders cutting across the two major political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – met Tuesday night at an undisclosed location to continue discussions on the formation of a new major political party.

Sources conversant with the move to form a third major political party to wrest power from the APC, informed THISDAY that the meeting Tuesday night was a follow up to previous meetings held by the amorphous group of political leaders in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and London, with the objective of forming a “third force” that can meet the aspirations of its members.

One source who provided clarity on the coalescing of politicians that can trounce the APC and PDP in the next general election, explained that the concept of a third force in the political firmament has two strands.
“One is the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) that is not a political party but is trying to galvanise professionals, civil society groups and activists to support credible candidates in different parties.

“The second is an amorphous group of political leaders, serving and former governors and National Assembly members of both parties, as well as retired military leaders who have been meeting in places like Dubai, Saudi Arabia and London to fashion out a modus vivendi for the new party that will challenge both the APC and PDP,” he said.

The source, however, explained that even though the political leaders had bought into the formation of a third major party and were waiting in the wings to step out once it is formed, they are conscious of the fact that there may be insufficient time to get it registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the elections.
“Since time is of the essence and most of the politicians who want to dump the APC and PDP for this new party know that there might not be enough time to get it registered, they are also on the hunt for one of the already registered political parties that they can use as a platform to actualise their goals,” he said.

Providing more insight into what may have galvanised some politicians from the two main parties to push for the formation of another party, the source said those from the APC are unhappy with the trajectory of the ruling party and the fact that it has lost legitimacy, especially in the Middle Belt region of the country.

“As you know the clashes between herdsmen and farmers, especially in Benue and Taraba States, and its mismanagement by the Buhari administration, has caused outrage and left many people in both states and the rest of the region bewildered.

“Key supporters of Buhari in Benue, Taraba and other Middle Belt states like General T.Y. Danjuma are bewildered over the way these conflicts have been handled. They believe the president could have intervened promptly, but he has failed to do so and has allowed the problem and killings to get out of control,” he said.

Another source further explained that Benue is the archetypical swing state in the North-central zone that has always voted with the winning party.

“In 1979 to 1983, Benue people backed the then ruling party, National Party of Nigeria (NPN), and it formed the government; in the current Republic, the state also backed the PDP and it formed the government; it also voted for APC and it has formed the government.
“But the killings in Benue State have caused its political leadership to reassess their support for the APC, because Buhari has been slow to act and has allowed the problem to fester,” he said.

Furthermore, he disclosed that several APC leaders desirous of a new platform are also unhappy with the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who have been accused of taking over the Buhari political machinery, and have used divide and rule tactics to sideline many members of the ruling party.

He added that several APC politicians have read the writing on the wall and know that the party has eroded the goodwill on which it rode to win the 2015 elections.
“As such, they are seeking a new platform which is not the PDP, because both the APC and PDP are not popular with the Nigerian people.”

Continuing, the source said the reason PDP was not considered as an option stemmed from the fact that the opposition party had become too “toxic” and has been hijacked by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose.
“Even Obasanjo alluded to their procurement of the Supreme Court judgment and how one of them is now dictating the tune in the PDP to do his bidding.

“Also many familiar with the move to form the new party know that the South-west is a no-go area for the PDP because of the way it treated its South-west leaders at the last national convention of the party.

“The PDP is a tainted brand and is deemed by millions of Nigerians as a corrupt party, so there is no way it can be factored as an alternative platform for aggrieved APC members,” he added.

Thisday

Men are still paid more than women in EVERY single occupation

Differences in pay are small at younger ages, but from 40 onwards they widen, reaching a peak between 50 and 59

Nicola Bartlett

Occupations with the smallest pay gap have almost equal employment levels between men and women (Image: Taxi)

The gender pay gap for full-time workers is entirely in favour of men in every occupation, a new study reveals.
Differences in pay are small at younger ages, but from 40 onwards they widen, reaching a peak between 50 and 59, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Occupations with the smallest pay gap have almost equal employment levels between men and women, the research found.

Between 2011 and 2017, men's pay has increased by 10.4% to a median rate of £14.48 an hour compared with a 12% rise for women to £13.16 (Image: Image Source)

Between 2011 and 2017, men's pay has increased by 10.4% to a median rate of £14.48 an hour compared with a 12% rise for women to £13.16, said the ONS.
On average, men were paid £1.32 an hour more than women last year, a gap of 9.1%.

Almost three out of four employees in the highest paid occupations, such as chief executives, were men, said the report.
The increased pay gap for older women could be explained by having time time off work to have children.

Labour's women and equalities chief Dawn Butler has slammed the government's record on tackling the gender pay gap (Image: PA)

Almost three out of four employees in the highest paid occupations, such as chief executives, were men, said the report (Image: Aurora Creative)

Dawn Butler, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, said: "The findings are a damning indictment on the Government's failure to tackle the gender pay gap.
"While the Government claims progress, this latest analysis exposes severe work inequalities faced by women across the country and it is clear that we need urgent action to address it.

Mirror

Ayes to the Left podcast: Theresa May's terrible start to 2018

The Mirror’s Jason Beattie, Ben Glaze and Nicola Bartlett discuss the reshuffle, Theresa May’s cringeworthy PMQs and whether we have reached peak Corbyn

Jason Beattie

The Prime Minister's reshuffle did not go according to plan (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Theresa May had hoped to use this week's reshuffle to relaunch her faltering government.
But the Prime Minister’s best plans quickly fell apart when she delivered one of the most disaster-strewn ministerial shake ups in recent memory.
It started with Chris Grayling being named as Party Chairman for 27 seconds, saw Jeremy Hunt refuse to move jobs and ended with the resignation of Justine Greening.
In the latest Ayes to the Left podcast, the Mirror’s Jason Beattie, Ben Glaze and Nicola Bartlett discuss why it went so wrong and what are the implications for May’s government.

They also talk through the first PMQs of the New Year which saw Mrs May trip up again.
The Mirror team discuss if we have reached “peak Corbyn” and why this year may not be plain sailing for the Labour leader.
And they name the politicians to watch in 2018.

Mirror

Obasanjo: It’s Not Yet Ripe to Say If I’ll Support Buhari for Second Term

• Blames Yar’Adua for dismantling anti-corruption structures

Agha Ibiam in London

A former Nigerian president and chairman of the panel of advisors of the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that it is not yet ripe to determine if he will support President Muhammadu Buhari’s bid for a second term in office or not.

Having ditched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which brought him to power for eight years, Obasanjo in 2014 threw his weight behind Buhari and invariably the All Progressives Congress (APC) as against the PDP administration led by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

However, Obasanjo, whose response was brief when confronted with the question by THISDAY after delivering a speech titled, “Leadership in the African Context – How to Drive Transformational Change in African Countries,” at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Monday, retorted that the time was not ripe to answer such a question.
Having given his terse response, Obasanjo was hurriedly ushered into his car and driven off for a dinner event at the university college.

The event, which was organised by AIG to announce the 2017/18 scholarship recipients, attracted hundreds of people from the university community and beyond.
His speech, nonetheless, drew a lot of questions bordering on why the African continent is governed by bad, corrupt and inexperienced leaders.

Obasanjo, who was well equipped and prepared to make the event an interactive one, responded to all the questions thrown at him by the audience.

On fighting corruption in Nigeria, he said it was a hydra-headed monster, which was deeply entrenched in the system, adding that fighting corruption was not a one-day affair but something that must be fought continuously.

“The man (leader) on top must be above board and be seen to fight corruption. Those around him must also be upright and various institutions such as the police, judiciary, the executive and other bodies must make it an all-inclusive affair because it is an endless process,” Obasanjo said.

He then went on to blame the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua whom he said had dismantled some of the structures he had put in place to check and curtail corruption, such as the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

He noted that Yar’Adua had allowed former Delta State governor, Mr. James Ibori, to push for the replacement of the former EFCC chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, whom Obasanjo claimed was poisoned but eventually survived it.
On achieving good governance in Africa and particularly Nigeria, Obasanjo urged Nigerian youths to participate in politics.

He, however, expressed regret that the amount of money required in politics was obscene, noting that something must be done about it.

“Politics in Nigeria has been dominated by people that have stolen money, that have godfathers or even drug barons, the type we have now at the National Assembly. So youths should pool resources to become politically active in order to replace the present crop of leaders and provide better alternatives,” he added.

Obasanjo told the audience that he was satisfied with what AIG was doing by collaborating with the Blavatnik School of Government to ensure that young minds are produced in West Africa to take up the mantle of leadership in the near future.

He remarked that Africa’s time to develop was now, but maintained that African leaders needed to implement transformational change agendas if things must happen.
“There must be far reaching reforms to ensure we remove the old order and introduce the new order because Africa is viewed by the Western world as a liability.

“For the eight years I was in power, I tried to reach out to other world leaders using my shuttle diplomacy which attracted positive actions. I campaigned for debt relief which we got and Africa was no longer treated with disdain,” he recalled.

He said transformational leadership abhors complacency by thinking outside the box, thinking strategically, and refuses to take no for an answer.
The former president added that policy development and honesty would push the reforms that the African continent was yearning for, adding that leaders needed to wake up for the paradigm shift.

The inaugural recipients of the AIG scholarships for 2017/18 are Emokiniovo Akpughe (Nigeria), Efosa Trevor Edobor (Nigeria), Abdul-Fatawu Z. Hakeem (Ghana), Chukwunonso Iheoma (Nigeria), Oluwapelumi Simpson (Nigeria) and Emmanuel Taiwo (Nigeria).

Before his speech, Obasanjo arrived at the university college at 14.07GMT and went straight into a meeting to discuss the partnership between the Blavatnik School of Government and AIG.
Others at the meeting included the Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, Prof. Ngaire Woods; Director of Development, Dr. Kirstine Knox; Head of Executive Office, Hillary Coyne-Bar; and the Head of Partnerships and Fellowship Office, Gail Allan.

Members of the AIG advisory panel present at the meeting included Obasanjo, Chairman of the THISDAY Editorial Board, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, and Mrs Yemisi Ayeni, while the AIG board members present were former President of Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Mrs. Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, and the Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe.

Culled from Thisday