The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

4 2GN The Sunday Times November 28, 2021

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increased Russian aggression

sparked anger in Moscow.

He accused Britain of

“stepping closer and closer”

to Russia’s borders. The

senior diplomat also warned

that further reinforcement of

Nato forces in Ukraine would

be interpreted as “a threat to

invade Russia”.

Listen to the full interview

on Times Radio’s T&G show

from 10am this morning

stepping up its presence

along the borders of the

Russian federation. We have

lots of manoeuvring now in

the Baltic Sea. We have

strategic aviation, with

nuclear warheads, flying

20km close to the borders.”

The ambassador also

revealed that the decision by

the defence secretary, Ben

Wallace, last week to move an

armoured brigade back to

Germany in response to

Allied nations have

responded by issuing

declarations of solidarity with

the Kiev government. Britain

began to reposition its own

formations last week in an

attempt to deter the Kremlin.

In response Kelin said in an

interview with Times Radio:

“There is a risk of war on our

border. It’s pretty serious.

There is a possibility that

there is a spark and an

incident can occur. Nato is

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10am The health and social care

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10.35am The shadow foreign secretary,

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11am Russia’s ambassador to the UK,

Andrei Kelin

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Russia’s ambassador to the

UK has warned there is “a

pretty serious risk” of war

between the countries as

tensions spiral over Ukraine.

Andrei Kelin’s warning

comes after a big build-up of

Russian troops on Ukraine’s

eastern border and fears that

a full-blown invasion is

imminent.

Tom Newton Dunn

Times Radio

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ONEY

IVF clinics selling ineffective “add-on”

treatments face fines as part of the big-

gest shake-up of fertility laws in 30 years.

Julia Chain, the new chairwoman of

the Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Authority, is seeking fundamental

changes to the 1990 laws that govern the

fertility sector. She wants to secure pow-

ers for the regulator to fine clinics that

mislead patients over the efficacy of their

treatments.

Chain, who took over in April, is also

seeking to amend the Human Fertilisa-

tion and Embryology Act to make it easier

for same-sex and trans couples, or single

people, to access fertility treatment. She

also wants to change the rules to allow

scientists to use embryos for research

beyond the present 14-day limit.

Chain, who believes she has the sup-

port of ministers, will announce her

plans at the Progress Educational Trust

conference on Wednesday. Following a

consultation, she hopes to have new leg-

islation drafted by the end of next year.

In a wide-ranging interview, she said

that patients who came to clinics for IVF

treatment “are vulnerable, they’re often

desperate”. Couples yearning to start a

family will “do anything” to improve

their chances by as little as one per cent,

she said, but often pay thousands of

pounds for unproven treatments.

Such procedures include “assisted

hatching”, in which an egg’s outer layer is

pierced, supposedly to help the embryo

“emerge”. It costs in the region of £

but has not been shown to increase suc-

cess rates. Another is pre-implantation

genetic testing, which supposedly detects

abnormal embryos. It has a price tag of

up to £3,000, yet there is no evidence it

reduces the chance of miscarriage.

“What we are looking to do is regulate

the way clinics provide information, to

make sure that vulnerable patients are

not taken advantage of,” she said. “We

want enforcement powers that allow us

to have appropriate powers like eco-

nomic sanctions and fines.” At present

the HFEA has powers only to administer a

“slap on the wrist” or the “nuclear

option” of removing a clinic’s licence.

It has worked with the Competition

and Markets Authority and the Advertis-

ing Standards Authority to clamp down

on the worst offenders. But Chain said:

“We need end-to-end powers ourselves.”

Chain, who was the first woman to

serve as a managing partner of a top 100

law firm, said sections of the 1990 act are

out of date. “The act focuses on protect-

ing the embryo, but it is silent on protect-

ing patients,” she said. “It also refers to a

family as a man and a woman, preferably

married. We have moved on.”

Same-sex couples require extra medi-

cal screening, driving up the cost of treat-

ment. Labyrinthine rules mean both

partners do not have the automatic right

to use an embryo, which can prove prob-

lematic if one of them dies.

The 1990 act defines a mother as “the

woman who is carrying or has carried a

child as a result of the placing in her of an

embryo or of sperm and eggs”. It adds:

“No other woman is to be treated as the

mother of the child”. This has implica-

tions for two women both wishing to be

considered legal mothers. If two men

want a baby via a surrogate, the woman

who carries the baby is considered the

legal parent until a judge rules otherwise.

“We absolutely need to look at this as a

priority because it was drafted at a time

when people had different ideas about

what constituted a family,” Chain said.

She also wants to remove some of the

technological limitations of the rules.

“Science has completely outstripped the

act,” she said.

The most obvious example is the rule

that says researchers have to destroy

embryos after 14 days. In 1990 it was

impossible to keep embryos viable for

more than a few days, but the two-week

limit was selected in case the embryo had

started to feel pain or develop sentience

by that point. Now, scientists know the

nervous system does not start growing

until several days later, and neither pain

nor sentience appear for several months.

Chain accepts that her proposals will

prove controversial, particularly among

pro-life groups.

Sarah Norcross, director of the

Progress Educational Trust, a charity that

raises public awareness of embryo

research, welcomed the proposals: “The

law and regulation that govern fertility

treatment and related research are show-

ing their age. Views of what constitutes a

family have changed, and non-traditional

families deserve to be better served.”

@ben_spencer

Clampdown on

useless IVF extras

Ben Spencer Science Editor

NE

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A shake-up of fertility

laws will make clinics

liable for fines if they

mislead patients on how

well treatments work

Britain risking war by stepping too

close to Russian border, says envoy

About a week ago Shekha

made a first attempt. The

boat sank not far off the

coast, and Shekha was

rescued by the French. The

trafficker vanished.

Shekha quickly found

another trafficker. On

Tuesday night Shekha put on

his lifejacket, turned off his

phone and joined at least 28

others — several of them

women, one of them

pregnant — to wait in the dark

for the boat to be ready.

By 1am on Wednesday they

were in serious trouble. The

‘This is for

my family.

I must try

again’

and the smugglers the

brothers spoke to told them it

would be easy. “We are very,

very poor,” said Marwan. “So

he went to the UK to seek a

job and help our sister.”

The brothers worked,

saved and mortgaged a plot of

land their family owned in

Iran to take out a $6,

loan. Finally they contacted a

smuggler who agreed to help

Shekha arrange flights from

neighbouring Syria to

Belarus, a back door to

Europe that President

Lukashenko had thrown wide

open to migrants to put

pressure on the EU.

Shekha left, telling his

parents that he was going to

find work nearby. He knew

they would not have let him

go. “He is the oldest, and our

father loves him so much, so

we hid it from them,” Marwan

said. “He wouldn’t have put

his life in danger if it wasn’t to

→Continued from page 1

help the family. He’s the only

hope for us.”

Once in Belarus, Shekha

was one of a small number to

cross the border to Poland.

By last week he had arrived

on the northern French

coast, among freezing mud

and half-collapsed tents.

With Marwan helping him

at home, he made contact

with an Iraqi Kurdish

smuggler in Turkey, who

arranged his passage to the

UK. The journey would cost

$3,200 on top of the $10,

he had already paid.

engine had stopped working

and they were floating in the

Channel. Then two waves

swept everyone off the boat.

Shekha could not swim but

floated in the water, held up

by his lifejacket, surrounded

by dozens of others slowly

freezing to death.

On Wednesday evening

Marwan received a video call

from a number he did not

recognise. It was Shekha, on a

paramedic’s borrowed

phone. He was in an

ambulance and barely able to

speak. After a few minutes he

hung up. Soon news began to

filter in that everyone on

board had died either in the

water or in hospital.

Then, on Friday afternoon,

Marwan’s phone rang again.

It was Shekha. “He said, ‘I’m

very good. My health is very

good’,” Marwan said. By

Friday night he was back in

the camp. At home the family

began to celebrate. “We are

very happy, and we are

thankful to God,” his father

said. “It’s a miracle.”

In Calais, Shekha was

ready to try again. “Don’t

worry,” he told his brother.

“I’m doing this for my

family. If I come back, I can’t

make a living. I’m going to

try again.”

Migrant crisis, pages 18-

Matthew Syed, page 33

Mohammed Shekha with sister Fatima, who needs surgery

the UK placed South Africa,

Namibia, Zimbabwe,

Botswana, Lesotho and

Eswatini (formerly known as

Swaziland) on the red list.

Yesterday Angola,

Mozambique, Malawi and

Zambia joined them. From

4am today all arrivals will

have to quarantine in a hotel

for ten days.

Switzerland added Britain

to its list of “risk” countries.

Travellers from the UK will

need to present a negative

Covid test on arrival and

quarantine for ten days, the

embassy in London tweeted.

Cases of the variant have

also been recorded in Italy,

Germany, Belgium and

Hong Kong.

Beds full of unjabbed

patients, page 11-

Editorial, page 32

hat,” he said. “The NHS

showed then how resilient

and effective it is at times of

extreme pressure.

“But there are obviously

concerns that any spike in

serious cases from this new

variant could coincide with

the NHS’s peak winter

period, particularly given the

fact that the service is at full

stretch.”

The variant was reported

on Wednesday to the World

Health Organisation by South

Africa. It has demonstrated

signs of rapid transmission

and a greater ability than

others to dodge immunity

acquired either naturally or

from vaccination, according

to research.

Countries are racing to

introduce travel bans and

restrictions on southern

African countries. On Friday

Omicron

throws

Christmas

into doubt

for our scientists to

understand exactly what we

are dealing with, and for us to

get more people vaccinated

and, above all, to get more

people boosted, as well as to

help our NHS prepare in what

is an already challenging

winter.”

Professor Chris Whitty, the

chief medical officer for

England, said it was

“inevitable” the variant

would spread across the

world over the next days. He

said that although Omicron

was highly transmissible and

it was not clear how effective

the vaccine would be, those

who were vaccinated or

received the booster would

be less likely to become

seriously ill.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the

chief scientific officer, said

that a vaccine targeted at the

variant could be created in

“about 100 days”.

Chris Hopson, the chief

executive of NHS Providers,

said NHS trusts were

preparing contingency plans

in case the variant evaded the

existing vaccines.

“We learnt a huge amount

in January when the NHS

expanded capacity to deal

with 34,000 hospitalised

Covid patients at the drop of a

→Continued from page 1

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