Britain’s loneliness epidemic must be tackled — but first we must all come together

The Sun

Published: 0:01, 12 Apr 2018
Updated: 23:44, 11 Apr 2018

Lonely task

BRITAIN’S loneliness epidemic is reaching crisis point.

New figures show that it’s not just the elderly who are feeling isolated.

Tracey Crouch must tackle councils using taxpayers cash for sky high salaries and not the communityCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

The PM deserves credit for appointing the first Minister for Loneliness, Tracey Crouch, who is right that it’ll take a national effort to tackle it.

But Government does have a role.

It could start by demanding councils divert much-needed cash to youth clubs, rather than blowing it on sky-high salaries and golden goodbyes.

And pubs could do with a break from licensing restrictions and outrageous business rates. It’s hard to take your granddad for a pint if his local’s gone.

Theresa May deserves high praise for appointing Britain's first Minister for Loneliness

But the minister’s drive to get us talking about loneliness is worthy of congratulation. The isolated shouldn’t be abandoned behind net curtains.

Time to come together.

Tracey Croach speaks about her new role as Minister for Loneliness saying she is 'humbled' to be taking on the work of Jo Cox

Magician Jez

OLL up, Jeremy Corbyn’s magical mystery tour of pricey giveaways is here again.

This time the Labour leader’s star attraction is free bus travel for under 25s, paid for by… well, that’s the magical mystery bit.

Jeremy Corbyn is yet again trying to bribe young people with impossible promises such as free bus travelCredit: Getty Images - Getty

This is just the latest in Labour’s line of naked bribes to the electorate. Don’t worry, somebody else will pay for it.

Except that’s simply not true. Each of these half-baked policies will have to be funded somehow — either by tax hikes or by going even further into debt.

If Corbyn and McDonnell get the keys to the economy, we’ll be driven straight off the cliff.

Jeremy Corbyn vows to stamp out antisemitism in the Labour party in his Passover message

Face 'em down

MARK Zuckerberg’s appearance in front of US senators has been revealing.

We’re still not sure the Facebook boss quite understands why everybody is so angry with him.

It's great that Mark Zuckerberg is finally facing the music, but now we need to see some actionCredit: The Mega Agency

But he’s at least been clear on one thing: the company is responsible for the content on the site.

This might seem obvious, but the tech giants have claimed for years that the extremist hate and propaganda polluting their sites is nothing to do with them.

It’s good news Facebook have finally admitted that it’s their problem — now they need to deal with it.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg quizzed in a second day of testimony on Capitol Hill