Ellee Seymour

Dizzy predicts that the government’s public consultation over nuclear power in the UK will be a waste of time, that it is a foregone conclusion.

Their press release states that the government has reached the preliminary view that new nuclear would be in the public interest, yet also states that the consultation will help inform the decision due to be made later this year on whether it is in the public interest to give energy companies the option of building new nuclear power stations. Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton even planes to discuss this in a live web chat on the No.10 website.

A few minutes later, I read that Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth had pulled out of the consultation saying they were unhappy with the way the government had presented the arguments, accusing them of using the process to promote nuclear energy. Environmental organisations have formed a coalition in protest, and branded the consultation process a “public relations stitch-up”.

This reminded me of a report I read recently which outlined the results of a survey from 332 UK local authorities for the House of Commons Public Administration Committee which found that 20% considered the consultations they had run had very little impact on decisions. And 20% said they merely confirmed decisions that were already made.

In a 2002 survey of local authorities by the ODPM, one in four authorities reported that exercises in public participation were only “occasionally influential” for decision making. And a recent DTI consultation on “managing the nuclear legacy” received only 63 responses, with reference being made about consultation fatigue and scepticism about the value of consultation.

I know controversial issues will mean very divided views, and you can’t please everyone, but how can government and local authority consult about contentious issues in a way that shows it is genuine? All publics have the right to have their views heard and considered. The government has lost the public’s confidence regarding nuclear power. Can government and environmental groups reach a common understanding when they ultimately should have the same goal?

Government, and local authorities, need to demonstrate that it means what it says, that no consultation is ever a formality, that they genuinely do consider everyone’s views. Easier said than done?

 The saying about how much easier it is to cure the body than the mind could not be more true, according to the latest study from the World Health Organisation which concluded that depression feels worse than many chronic illnesses, that there was a high degree of association between depression and disability.

The researchers called on doctors around the world to be more alert in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition as it is fairly easy to recognise and treat. In fact, experts believe that depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world, that it is growing in all age groups, in virtually every community, and the growth is seen most in the young, especially teens. And at the present rate of increase, it will be the 2nd most disabling condition in the world by 2020, behind heart disease.

I strongly believe this is an area where we need more research as diagnosis and treatment was unable to prevent two  decent young men I know of from hanging themselves. Last month, a devastated father, a GP, Dr John Cannon, (pic) spoke of his grief after his “phenomenally intelligent” son, Thomas, 27, who had “the most amazing brain and smile”, killed himself at his Suffolk home.  He had battled with manic depression for six years and his father has called for a better understanding of the illness.

The story was splashed on the front page of his local paper, next to a smiling picture of BBC broadcaster Libby Purves launching a church cycle ride. Last year her son Nicholas Heiney, 23, found he could not go on any longer and hanged himself after a long battle with depression. He had also been receiving medical treatment over a long period.

Fully supportive, intelligent parents, as well as medical treatment, was unable to save these two lovely men from an early death. I only hope that medical research can urgently be increased, particularly following on from the WHO warning, to help sufferers like Thomas and Nicholas. I feel so much sadness for the loved ones they leave behind and the sorry they must feel for the rest of their lives.

I absolutely do not believe that Kate McGann had anything to do with the tragic disappearance of her beloved daughter Madeleine. The fact that she is to be officially declared a suspect by Portuguese police today is unimaginably cruel.

I do not know what evidence the police base their suspicions on, but it seems to me they want to take the easy way out, they have probably felt intensely impotent by their lack of success, the worldwide publicity which the McCann’s achieved - simply doing their utmost and pulling every string they could to lead them to Madeleine, but making enemies in the process. Will their devout prayers ever be answered?

Nicki Durbin knows only too well that prayers are not enough. She contacted me yesterday via facebook to discuss her son Luke’s mysterious disappearance. He vanished in May, 2006 after a night out in Ipswich aged 19. Astonishingly, she was offered bereavement counselling, an incredibly insensitve action when the family hope that he that he is still alive. She is hoping as many people as possible will sign up with Luke’s new facebook sites called Finding Luke and Find Luke Durbin to support their ongoing campaign.

She lives constantly with never ending uncertainty and raw pain, not knowing where to turn next, like so many others whose loved ones have vanished. Her message was very moving, and I have her permission to publish it here:

There has been no further news of Luke and as has been my state of mind for the last 16 months, I flit from surviving in the best way possible with ideas for publicity to regenerate Luke’s disappearance, to living in the depths of despair.

I decided to go back to my first idea re publicity, the Internet. Due to my complete ignorance of “social networking” and Facebook, with the help of one of Luke’s friends set up a group on here, then found out there were already another two running. However, decided the more, the more people it may reach. Thus, I wonder if you would mind joining and trying to get your contacts to join, so it circulates to other people.

I really do think it is so admirable how much you have helped families of the missing, it sadly seems so many of us run out of gusto and need to recharge again. To have someone so prominent advocating for our lost loved ones is a tremendous relief.

And later:

To add confusion to what I already find baffling in Facebook, I have Finding Luke as my name and the group is Find Luke. If you have a mo’ check on my profile and then the groups I have joined. I actually saw your name on the charity “Missing People” Facebook.

I am unsure what you know re the charity but they have a great guy leading the charity, Paul Tuohy and he is reshaking the charity so dramatically. As with all charities so much comes down to funding. I truly believe with Paul heading it, the families of the missing will eventually get full support and enlist professionals to enable us to learn about coping strategies we need to continue walking in this nightmare.

When I felt like insanity was beginning to creep into my world, my Family Liason Officer with the police suggested bereavement counselling. As I am sure you can imagine with no confirmation of Luke’s death it would have and still would seem perverse for me to go down that route.

I read the majority of your blogs on the missing, I often wonder how many people who have disappeared will end up being connected. Sadly, for the McCann family, they have brought the whole phenomena of the missing to the forefront of people’s minds. I wish there was a way to get across to people how indiscriminate it is, we were just a normal family, with ups and downs. I dread reading about another family who becomes a part of this “exclusive club”, I think I speak for so many parents when I say, the pain is so raw to us, our empathy goes above and beyond when we hear of another missing child, age regardless. I can only imagine it will be for the rest of our lives.

The Missing People facebook site can be found here.

In memory of those who are still missing.

Update: 8 September. This is unbelievable, Gerry McCann is made a named suspect too.