Page 12 Daily Mail, Friday, September 6, 2019
300
,
000As Parky backs campaign,
astonishing number who’ve
signed our petition to end
dementia care scandal
imer’s Society’s calls in their Fix
Dementia Care campaign.’
Loose Women star Miss Hun-
niford, 79, said: ‘My heart goes
out to everyone affected by
dementia. I know first-hand, I
lost my sister Lena to the condi-
tion at the age of 77.
‘It is wretched to live with the
disease, or see someone you love
affected by it. The injustice of
people battling to get care, on
top of battling the devastating
effects of dementia, can’t go on.
I’m thrilled to see the tide finallyturning.’ Mr Middleton, 65, said:
‘I was humbled by the public
reaction to my portrayal of Ash-
ley Thomas’s dementia in
Emmerdale and was often
stopped in the street and told
how pleased people were that
we’d put dementia at the centre
of a British soap.’
He added: ‘Our Government
seems to have been kicking the
social care crisis can down the
road for years, but I know this
will finally stop thanks to the
Daily Mail campaign.’By Ben Spencer
Medical Correspondent
MORE than 300,000 readers
have backed the Daily Mail’s
campaign to end the demen-
tia care costs scandal.
A petition calling for action to
end the crisis passed the mile-
stone figure last night after a push
from Sir Michael Parkinson, who
joined a wave of celebrities throw-
ing their weight behind the cause.
The veteran talk show host said he
was ‘certain’ the campaign to reform
social care would bring change.
Broadcaster Gloria Hunniford and
soap star John Middleton, whose
character in Emmerdale was hit by
dementia, also gave their backing
last night.
Actress Dame Judi Dench, Down-
ton Abbey creator Lord Julian Fel-
lowes, broadcaster Dame Esther
Rantzen and former Strictly Come
Dancing judge Arlene Phillips have
already pledged their support.
We have been inundated with sup-
port from those hit by a ‘tax on
dementia’ since we revealed in July
that families have spent £15billion
supporting relatives with the condi-
tion in the last two years alone.
The campaign is calling for Boris
Johnson to urgently set up a cross-
party group to examine new options
for funding dementia care.
Sir Michael, 84, said he had felt a
‘profound affinity’ with those affected
by dementia since his mother died
with the condition at the age of 96.
He called on the Prime Minister to
urgently end the ‘grave injustice’
faced by families across the country.
Sir Michael said: ‘The fact Boris
Johnson highlighted social care out-
sador for the Alzheimer’s Soci-
ety, added: ‘People affected by
dementia deserve nothing but
the highest respect because
dementia puts enormous strain
on families and yet they are the
victims of a grave injustice.
‘They are currently denied
proper social care and often
have nowhere to turn in their
hour of need.
‘That has to be addressed once
and for all and I’m certain that
will be the case now the Mail
campaign is supporting Alzhe-SIGN THE MAIL’S PETITION AT...
CHANGE.ORG/DEMENTIACARE
side No 10 Downing Street
shows it’s only a matter of time
before people with dementia get
a fair deal – as long as his Gov-
ernment puts its money where
his mouth is.
‘I have to admit the loss of my
mother Freda Rose to dementia
shook me to the core and her
sad demise meant I’ve felt a
profound affinity with everyone
affected by the condition.
‘What hurts is that I felt as
though I lost my mother long
before she actually died.
‘That is why I feel such strong
support for the united front
between the Daily Mail and
Alzheimer’s Society to tackle
the social care issue, both in the
short-term with an NHS Demen-
tia Fund, and in the long-term
with a proper solution.’
Sir Michael, who is an ambas-
1 in 7 reviews
on TripAdvisor
for top hotels
could be fake
A FLOOD of suspect reviews are con-
taminating travel website TripAdvisor
and boosting the ratings of hotels
across the world, it is claimed.
The revelations mean that millions are
booking holidays and business trips on
the basis of bogus five-star recommenda-
tions, according to research by Which?
The consumer champion analysed
almost 250,000 reviews and found that one
in seven of some 100 popular hotels car-
ried TripAdvisor recommendations that
had blatant hallmarks of being false.
Which? has reported 15 of the worst
cases to TripAdvisor and the company
admitted that 14 of these had already
been caught with fake positive reviews in
the last year.
The consumers’ group and the Competi-
tion and Markets Authority have identi-
fied a wider problem of fake reviews on
websites on everything from household
appliances to handymen services. Online
reviews influence an estimated £23billion
of transactions a year in the UK alone.
Some of the most troubling findings con-
cerned hotels in Las Vegas and the Middle
East. In one case TripAdvisor had to
remove 730 of the five-star ratings for the
‘best hotel’ in Jordan. Which? said some
of the best-rated hotels in London, Paris,
Barcelona and Cape Town also gave some
cause for suspicion.
Naomi Leach of Which? Travel said if
sites such as TripAdvisor failed to ensure
their information was reliable, they should
be ‘compelled to make changes so holi-
daymakers are no longer at risk of being
duped by a flood of fake reviews’.
TripAdvisor said the Which? analysis
was ‘based on a flawed understanding of
fake review patterns and is reliant on too
many assumptions, and too little data’.IT was enough to leave motorists need-
ing a stiff drink or two.
A motorway came to a standstill after
two lorries crashed and spilled more
than 7,000 gallons of gin.
Drivers queued – without a tumbler to
hand – for up to four hours on the M6 in
Cheshire as rescue teams used foam to
stop the 80 per cent proof alcohol from
catching fire on the tarmac.
But spirits were nevertheless high after
the crash at 5.30pm on Wednesday, with
motorist Rachel Sargeant joking on Twit-
ter: ‘Heartbreaking I don’t have a straw.’
Another user asked if the spillage was in
the ‘sloe lane’, while police tweeted it
had all been ‘Schwepped away’.Motorway gin spill
shuts the sloe lane
Support: Sir Michael Parkinson, right, and as a child with his mother Freda Rose
V‘Enormous strain
on families’