World

Cancer patient’s long wait for treatment highlights frustration with UK government as election nears

Published

2 years ago

June 28, 2024

Cancer patient’s long wait for treatment highlights frustration with UK government as election nears

LONDON (AP) — Nathaniel Dye believes he probably won’t live to see Britain’s next election. But the music teacher diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer is doing everything he can to make sure the Labour Party wins this one.

Dismayed by delays in his diagnosis by the National Health Service, the 38-year-old says he feels let down by the Conservative-led government, which health policy experts say has failed to adequately fund the NHS. As a result, he played a central role in the launch of Labour’s election platform earlier this month, going on national television to urge voters to back the party.

Nathaniel Dye shows his body scan photos at home in London, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

“I’ve seen underfunding of the NHS and mismanagement of the NHS cause real problems in the way I’ve been treated,” he told The Associated Press. “And I suppose I consider it the most natural thing in the world to talk to people on a personal level and say, ‘What can we do to improve things?’”

Dye’s story illustrates voters’ frustration with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which opinion polls show is significantly trailing in parliamentary elections set for July 4.

After 14 years of Conservative-led government, voters blame the party for the litany of problems facing Britain, from sewage spills and unreliable train service to the cost-of-living crisis, crime and the rise in migrants entering the country illegally after crossing the English Channel on inflatable boats.

But no public service is as central to life in the United Kingdom as the NHS, and it is failing to deliver on its promise to provide free health care to everyone.

Over 50 countries go to the polls in 2024

The NHS is creaking under the weight of an aging and growing population, years of funding constraints, and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. That means people are waiting longer for everything from primary care appointments to elective surgery and cancer treatment. Some 52% of people were dissatisfied with the NHS last year, 29 percentage points higher than in 2020, according to the British Social Attitudes Survey, conducted annually since 1983.

That is good news for Labour, according to Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

The Labour Party election manifesto is seen at Nathaniel Dye’s home in London, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

“The Conservatives have got nothing to crow about,” he said. “People’s lived experience of the NHS is very, very negative at the moment. However, they retain a great deal of faith in the NHS, and they want to elect a government that they think is going to rescue it.”

Founded by a Labour government in 1947 to fulfill the Conservatives’ wartime pledge to build a fairer society for the men and women who fought to preserve democracy during World War II, the NHS has virtually untouchable status.

If you are British, chances are you were born in an NHS hospital and got your childhood vaccines from a doctor paid by the NHS. If you have a heart attack, you call NHS paramedics and are transported to the hospital in an NHS ambulance. Should you be diagnosed with cancer or any other disease, NHS specialists will likely treat you. And you will never receive a bill.

But because the NHS is so much a part of people’s daily lives, it is also the most glaring example of how the social contract in Britain is fraying.

Since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, the U.K. budget has been buffeted by the global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and inflation, all of which increased government expenditures, slowed economic growth and curtailed revenue.

As a result, the health care budget has grown by an average of 2.8% annually over the past eight years, compared with 3.6% over the previous 50 years.

A London Marathon finisher’s medal is seen at Nathaniel Dye’s home in London, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Nathaniel Dye plays trombone during an interview in London, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

That has squeezed the NHS at a time when demand for its services is rising. On top of that, the NHS is still recovering from the pandemic, which forced many people to defer treatment as doctors and hospitals focused on COVID-19.

In March, more than 7.54 million people in England were waiting for elective surgery such as cataract removals or hip replacements, 65% more than before the pandemic.

But the problems extend far beyond elective surgery.

Newspapers are filled with stories of people waiting weeks to get appointments with their family doctors, children being hospitalized for emergency tooth extractions because they weren’t able to get preventive dental care, and patients who spend hours in the back of ambulances waiting for emergency room backups to clear.

All of that translates to higher avoidable mortality rates than in other major developed nations except the United States, driven by below-average survival rates for many types of cancer, heart attacks and strokes, according to The King’s Fund, an independent think tank devoted to improving health care.

Reversing those trends is the top priority for most voters, said Charlotte Wickens, a policy adviser at the fund.

“And it’s because everyone experiences ill health and everyone needs NHS services,” she said. “Whoever forms the next government will have to do something to change the situation that the health service finds itself in.”

The Conservatives say many of the pressures on the NHS are out of their control and have promised to build 50 diagnostic hubs around the country and boost funding by more than inflation during each year of the next government. Labour plans to tackle the backlogs by spending 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) to fund 40,000 more operations, scans and appointments each week, while pledging to train thousands of new general practitioners.

But fixing the NHS will take more than money.

It needs to rethink the way it provides care, making better use of technology and focusing on keeping people healthy, rather than treating them once they get sick, according to The King’s Fund.

Without such changes, more people will have stories like Dye’s.

Dye, who used to run ultramarathons, first sought medical help after he noticed that he was getting slower and slower for no apparent reason.

After blood tests and a stool sample that revealed he might have cancer, Dye experienced several delays before he began chemotherapy.

“Amongst all that is this quiet, uneasy truth that I waited over 100 days in total, from GP contact to having chemotherapy … and the target is 62,’’ he said. “And it’s possible that that wait will shorten my life.”

Nathaniel Dye poses for a photograph during an interview in London, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Tests this week found that Dye was tumor free. But he considers it a temporary reprieve because chances are high that his cancer will return. Doctors say only about 10% of patients in this situation survive for five years.

“I don’t know exactly what needs to happen to give people better outcomes, but I can certainly use my example to say we really need to push for that as soon as possible,” he said.

Dye hopes to do that by telling his story with dark humor that softens the ugly details.

Before becoming an advocate for Labour, Dye focused on raising money for cancer charities, including running the London Marathon while using a colostomy bag and playing a green trombone. He took requests along the route.

His playlist included “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

Outdoing many healthy people who weren’t encumbered by musical instruments, he completed the 26.2-mile course.

“You could say that … there’s no point in me getting politically involved, I’m not going to see the result,” he said. “But I don’t care because I think it comes down to hope.”

Click to comment

World

Trump's national security team comes to convince Congress to back Iran war

Published

4 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Trump's national security team comes to convince Congress to back Iran war

President Donald Trump’s top national security advisers were to spend much of the day on Tuesday making the case to members of Congress for the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, as Democrats and some of his fellow Republicans clamored for more information.

World

Iran’s senior clerics ‘exposed’ after building strike in Qom, succession choice looms

Published

5 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Iran’s senior clerics ‘exposed’ after building strike in Qom, succession choice looms

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Senior Iranian clerics would have been left “exposed” after an Israeli airstrike hit a meeting place where they were supposed to be convening Tuesday — days after a strike leveled the Tehran compound of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a defense analyst has claimed.

The clerics, members of the Assembly of Experts, had reportedly planned to meet at the location in Qom to deliberate succession plans for Khamenei, who was killed in the strikes, according to The Times of Israel.

“This second strike would be another embarrassment to what has been left of the regime,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital.

“It indicates intelligence dominance and superiority because any movement is detected, meaning they would feel exposed,” Michael added.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday. (Getty Images)

“As of now, the leadership would feel insecure and hunted, with all of their plans collapsing one after another.”

“They would feel totally isolated and understand that the biggest risk might come from home — from a potential uprising next,” he added.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin confirmed that the Israeli Air Force struck the building where senior clerics had planned to assemble, The Times of Israel reported.

KHAMENEI’S DEATH OPENS UNCERTAIN CHAPTER FOR IRAN’S ENTRENCHED THEOCRACY

A general view of Tehran with smoke visible in the distance after explosions were reported in the city, Monday, in Iran. (Contributor/Getty Images)

It remains unclear how many of the 88 members were present at the time of the strike, according to an Israeli defense source cited by the outlet. The second strike on Iran’s leadership comes amid a broader military campaign.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, U.S. forces have struck more than 1,700 targets across Iran in the first 72 hours of Operation Epic Fury, according to a U.S. Central Command fact sheet.

The campaign is aimed at dismantling Iran’s security apparatus and neutralizing what officials describe as imminent threats.

According to U.S. Central Command, targets have included command-and-control centers, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Joint Headquarters, the IRGC Aerospace Forces headquarters, integrated air defense systems and ballistic missile sites.

FIREBRAND ANTI-AMERICAN CLERIC ALIREZA ARAFI SEEN AS CONTENDER TO REPLACE IRAN’S KHAMENEI

The USS Thomas Hudner fires a Tomahawk land attack missile in support of Operation Epic Fury, Sunday, while at sea. (U.S. Navy/via Getty Images)

“We need strategic patience and determination, and in several weeks most of the job will be accomplished,” Michael added. “Even if the regime does not collapse, Iran will not be like we used to know.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I assume that the U.S. and Israel will establish a very robust monitoring mechanism that will enable them to react whenever the regime tries to reconstitute its military capacities again.”

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

World

Hungarian veto proves EU needs less unanimity, says new Dutch PM

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Hungarian veto proves EU needs less unanimity, says new Dutch PM

Hungary’s last-minute veto on the €90 billion loan to Ukraine highlights the need for the European Union to move away from unanimity, Rob Jetten, the new prime minister of the Netherlands, said on his first trip to Brussels since taking office.

“The new Dutch goverment is in favour of less and less decision-making by unanimity on the European level,” Jetten told a group of media, including Euronews, on Tuesday.

“This is a clear example of why that is important because we cannot explain to our constituents that Europe is sometimes way too level in reacting to great issues that affect us all,” he added.

Jetten called on his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, to abide by the delicate deal that the 27 EU leaders reached in December after fraught negotiations. The compromise saw Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic promising the necessary unanimity to amend the EU budget rules in exchange for being exempted from the joint borrowing.

Officials and diplomats in Brussels believe that by vetoing a critical piece of the loan at the last stage of the legislative process, Orbán has breached the principle of sincere cooperation that binds the bloc’s decision-making.

“If you reach political agreement on the Council level, we expect every member state to uphold that agreement. And if not, it’s a big task for the European Commission take action,” Jetten said.

In the new coalition programme, the Netherlands calls for the “simplification” of the Article 7 procedure that can deprive member states of voting rights when they commit grave violations of the rule of law. Hungary has been under Article 7 for years, but there has never been sufficient political momentum to move to the harder enforcement phase.

“It is absolutely necessary that we support Ukraine in the months to come to make sure they can continue their fight against Russian aggression,” Jetten went on.

“With less and less American support for the Ukrainians in terms of money and weapons, it is up to the Europeans to deliver.”

Orbán’s veto centres on the interruption of Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was attacked by Russian drones on 27 January and has remained non-operational since then.

But Orbán says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has deliberately shut down the pipeline for “political reasons” to influence the results of the upcoming Hungarian elections. Orbán trails in opinion polls by double digits.

Caught between the two rival camps, the European Commission has asked Zelenskyy to repair Druzhba and Orbán to lift his veto. Meanwhile, Hungary and Slovakia have proposed a fact-finding mission to inspect the damaged section of the pipeline.

“We expect the European Commission to solve this issue,” Jetten said. “If it’s helpful to have any fact-finding missions on the pipeline to fix this issue, I’m open to it. But everything begins with: a political agreement at the Council level is a political agreement.”

‘Too early’ for a date on Ukraine’s accession

Among the first debates facing Jetten as premier is the future of enlargement, a topic on which the Netherlands has expressed well-known reservations in the past.

Zelenskyy is advocating for a specific date for Ukraine’s accession to be enshrined in a prospective peace deal, something that could offset the pain of territorial concessions. Last week, he openly suggested 2027 as an aspirational benchmark.

The Commission says it cannot commit to a clear-cut date but is working on legal avenues to revamp the notoriously complex process and ensure the Ukrainian people have greater certainty in their path to membership.

Asked about the potential reform, Jetten said enlargement should be reconsidered from a “geopolitical perspective” but urged the bloc to be “careful” with next steps, warning that the essence of the European project risks being undermined.

“We are very open-minded to look into broader support for these (candidate) countries, but moving too fast is not the way to move forward,” the premier said.

“I think, at the moment, it’s not possible to set a date for enlargement with Ukraine, but it is possible to talk with them, and I will do that with President Zelenskyy, (about) how Europeans can support Ukraine in the important reforms that they have undertaken. But at this moment, it is too early to set the date.”

Jetten also touched upon the US-Iranian strikes on Iran, which have pushed the Middle East into uncharted territory. Wholesale gas prices have soared in reaction to the war, prompting fears that Europe might soon face a prohibitive bill to refill its underground reserves, which are running low after the heating season.

“Obviously, the Iran war can have a big impact on strategic reserves, not only in Europe but also in Asia. So we have to prepare ourselves for any case that this war will continue for many more weeks and impact the strategic reserves in the Netherlands and abroad,” he said, noting extra measures would be taken “if necessary”.

“I think the broader concern is what this war and everything that’s going on in the Strait of Hormuz is going to affect in terms of pricing.”

‘The Netherlands is back’

Jetten’s D66 party has formed a minority goverment with the liberal VVD and the conservative CDA, all of which support European integration. His tenure puts an end to the fractious four-party coalition headed by the right-wing, Eurosceptic Party for Freedom (VVD) of Geert Wilders, which was marked by constant disagreements.

Among the priorities, his executive has pledged to ramp up defence spending, simplify regulation, promote new technologies and expand renewable energy.

“As a founding (member) and the fifth (largest) economy within the EU, the Netherlands is back at the table to work closely together with everyone here in Brussels and our allies within the EU,” Jetten said.

“We see a lot of opportunities to strengthen the European economy and competitiveness, and also to make sure that we do our job with a lot of tax-based money to invest in the European defence and the European defence industry.”

Jetten and the other 26 leaders are heading for a no-holds-barred fight on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the bloc’s seven-year budget. Brussels has proposed a €2-trillion template that some capitals consider politically unpalatable.

Where to cut spending will be a major fracture line. Germany, the Nordics and the Baltics want a greater focus on strategic priorities, while Spain, Italy and Eastern Europe want to preserve the prominence of agriculture and cohesion funds.

The Dutch premier made it clear that the next budget should focus on the big transitions shaping the continent’s future: defence, technology and climate.

“A modern MFF doesn’t mean an exploded MFF in terms of numbers,” he said.

“The Netherlands will look into the numbers very closely, and we will have a lot of debate on this topic in the months to come.”