the times | Saturday May 28 2022 33
Leading articles
losses. As Russia concentrates its assault on the
Donbas region, more setbacks are likely in the bat-
tles around Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. Some
commentators now maintain that Kyiv should not
only abandon its claim to Crimea but also give up
Donetsk, Luhansk and perhaps Kherson.
There is no chance Kyiv would acquiesce in
such a scheme, even supposing it were desirable. If
implemented, it would amount to appeasement of
a revanchist power, which would merely encour-
age Putin to make further demands for the dis-
memberment of neighbouring states. In a speech
at the height of the Cold War in the 1970s, Mr Kiss-
inger noted that “when one great power tips the
balance of forces decisively in a local conflict
through its military intervention, and meets no re-
sistance, an ominous precedent is set”. That is ex-
actly what will happen if Kyiv is forced to submit
to Russian expansionism.
Western governments need to maintain cohe-
sion in their support for Ukraine, and explain to
voters the associated costs, such as high energy
prices, are unavoidable. This will be a difficult
message. Putin has placed great store in cultivat-
ing support from parties of the populist right in
Europe. The government of Viktor Orban in Hun-
gary, the strong challenge for the French presiden-cy by Marine Le Pen and burgeoning support for
Giorgia Meloni, leader of the anti-immigrant
Brothers of Italy party, are all testament to the
risks of a fracturing international alliance. In the
United States, polls suggest more Republicans dis-
like President Biden than they do Putin.
Boris Johnson’s government has been able to
count on cross-party support for Nato strategy.
But as the war proceeds without sign of a resolu-
tion, siren voices urging mediation may appear
plausible. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour
leader, told Times Radio last month he “would
want to see a world where we start to ultimately
disband all military alliances”.
In reality, the transatlantic alliance has main-
tained peace in Europe since 1945 by remaining
strong and deterring aggression. It is because
Ukraine is not a member of Nato that Putin be-
lieved he could comfortably attack it. The cause of
peace as well as liberty is served by ensuring that
Kyiv has every possible means of defending itself,
with arms and economic assistance. Bullies and
aggressors are not satisfied with limited gains. The
only way to stop them is to defeat them. In taking
on that obligation, Ukraine defends not only itself
but the principles of a civilised world order. It
deserves the unalloyed support of the West.while a poll for The Times today finds that 7 per
cent of the public had consulted an online or in-
person private GP in the last two years. That is
3.7 million people overall, of whom 1.6 million did
so for the first time.
Without the urgent action that Dr Fuller is rec-
ommending, this trend is only going to accelerate.
There are already 1,622 fewer fully qualified GPs
than in 2015, and it is clear the government has no
chance of meeting its target for 6,000 additional
GPs by 2024. The number of appointments fell by
28,000 in March alone, according to an analysis by
The Times. That is bound to decline further as
more doctors opt to work part time, and in some
cases to devote more time to private practice. Cur-
rently, 58.4 per cent are part-time, up from 31.4 per
cent in 2010. A doctor working privately two days
a week can expect to make £50,000 a year in pay.
The danger is that Britain is heading towards a
two-tier system for GP services, with those who
can afford it gaining rapid access to quality care
while those who cannot are forced to take their
chances with an increasingly stretched NHS.
Indeed, this is already happening in dentistry. Wereported this week how half of high street dentists
are planning to cut all ties with the NHS. Already
only a third of adults and less than half of children
have access to an NHS dentist in England.
Clearly the health service needs to find ways to
be more efficient with its already considerable re-
sources. Part of the answer, as Dr Fuller’s report
notes, is to break down silos. It is already creating
multi-disciplinary teams that include nurses, care
workers, pharmacists and social workers and
others who may be better able to address patients’
needs. That will free up doctors to focus on medi-
cal care. At the same time, the NHS needs to de-
velop more ways for people to access primary care
and to reduce pressure on surgeries. Not everyone
needs an in-person appointment with a doctor or
to see the same doctor every time. The NHS
should be rolling out its own web-based consulta-
tions. All this, of course, will require yet more
spending, not least on systems and data. But the
NHS has just been handed an extra £13 billion a
year. If it doesn’t use some of this to fix primary
care, how long before the public faith in the insti-
tution starts to crumble?plants they could eat while eradicating those that
threatened the prospects for edible growth. Such
communal gardening in collectively owned spa-
ces remained part of everyday life at least until
mass urbanisation in the nineteenth century.
Even as the practice began to wane, pioneers
such as Joseph Russell Smith, the great American
geographer, and later the Japanese activist Toyo-
hiko Kagawa were campaigning for city dwellers
to be able to reap the fruits of the forest closer to
their new homes, in the form of pocket orchards
and vegetable plots. Their ideas were adopted and
popularised in the 1980s in Britain by the celebrat-ed horticulturist and writer Robert Hart. His
views are now becoming mainstream.
No one is suggesting inner-city orchards will be
supplanting Lidl or Waitrose as food sources any
time soon, yet the idea of converting wasteland, or
high-maintenance parkland, to agroforestry tend-
ed by a roster of community volunteers is a sound
one, with myriad benefits for mental and physical
health and the aesthetics of the urban landscape.
In time forest gardening may contribute to in-
creased food security, lower prices and reduced
food miles too. Local authorities and other land-
owners should encourage the practice.Backing Ukraine
As Russia makes advances in the Donbas region, siren voices in the West
are urging a negotiated settlement. The right course is instead to help Kyiv win
The quickest way to end a war is to lose it. Instead
of doing this, Ukraine’s armed forces have mount-
ed valiant resistance to Russian aggression over
the past three months. Their determination to
thwart Vladimir Putin’s ambitions is prompting
soul-searching among western allies. The notion
that Ukraine should compromise for the sake of
peace and a resumption of relations with Russia is
seductive and is gaining advocates in the political
mainstream, as well as traction on the fringes.
It would be a grave mistake if the West pres-
sured Ukraine to do this. Its government and
people are determined to prevail. Having rightly
ruled out direct military intervention, Nato mem-
bers should give unstinting support and aid to the
legitimate government in Kyiv in its war of self-
defence. The case for concessions was prominent-
ly voiced this week at the World Economic Forum
in Davos by Henry Kissinger, the former US
secretary of state. Mr Kissinger, 99, argued that
Ukraine should be prepared to cede territory to
Russia as the price of a peace settlement. He urged
a “return to the status quo ante”, implying that Ky-
iv should give up Crimea, which Russia illegally
annexed in 2014.
This argument is likely to be heard increasingly
given that Ukraine has suffered recent militaryUnsustainable System
Urgent action is needed to tackle the crisis in GP services
For some reason the public’s attachment to the
NHS is as strong as it has ever been. Yet public sat-
isfaction with the services it provides has never
been lower. The latest British Social Attitudes Sur-
vey, published last year, showed satisfaction with
general practitioner services had fallen 30 points
since 2019 to just 38 per cent. Nor is this simply
pandemic related. Primary care services have
been in crisis for years as rising patient numbers
and declining numbers of full-time GPs has led to
over-stretched surgeries, longer waiting times and
increased pressure on hospital accident and emer-
gency departments. An NHS report warned this
week that without urgent action the system would
soon become“unsustainable”.
Indeed, Dr Claire Fuller noted in her review of
primary care that the current system is not work-
ing for either doctors or patients. While patients
are frustrated at being unable to access the care
they need quickly, GPs are also becoming disillu-
sioned. The result is that growing numbers of
patients and doctors are going private. In a recent
survey, almost half of doctors said they would con-
sider private work for an online service. Mean-Nature’s Bounty
The fashion for foraging and forest gardening is a welcome trend
In some respects the movement to create “edible
forests”, in which fruit trees, herbs, vegetables and
fungi are nurtured as food sources, often in urban
settings, is still in its infancy in Britain. Encour-
aged by the desire for more sustainable farming,
the reconnections many made to the natural
world during lockdown and now by the exigencies
of food inflation, many projects are beginning to
flourish, albeit as yet on a small scale.
In another sense, of course, using woodland
areas as an environment to cultivate, or simply
collect, nutrition is as old as mankind. Many pre-
historic settlements were adept at promotingDaily Universal Register
France: Liverpool face Real Madrid in the
Champions League final in Paris, kick-off at
8pm; Leinster play La Rochelle in the final of
the European Rugby Champions Cup in
Marseilles, kick-off at 4.45pm.
Carey Mulligan,
pictured, actress, An
Education (2009),
Suffragette (2015), 37;
David Baddiel,
comedian and writer,
Jews Don’t Count (2021),
58; Andrew Bowie,
Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire &
Kincardine, 35; Brian Clarke, author and
journalist, fishing correspondent for The
Times (1991-2018), 84; Bernardine Evaristo,
author, Girl, Woman, Other (Booker prize,
2019), 63; John Fogerty, singer-songwriter,
guitarist, Creedence Clearwater Revival,
Roland Gift, musician, Fine Young
Cannibals, She Drives Me Crazy (1988), 61;
Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s lawyer,
mayor of New York city (1994-2001), 78; Sue
Holderness, actress, Only Fools and Horses
(1985-2003), 73; Gladys Knight, soul singer,
Midnight Train to Georgia (1973), 78; Kylie
Minogue, pop singer, Can’t Get You Out of
My Head (2001), and actress, Neighbours
(1986-88), 54; Jonnie Peacock, sprinter, two-
time Paralympic gold medallist (2012, 2016),
29; Mary Portas, retail consultant and
broadcaster, 62; Stanley B Prusiner,
neurologist and biochemist, Nobel
prizewinner (1997), 80; Lord (Raminder)
Ranger, founder (1995) of Sun Mark
(distribution and marketing company), 74;
Anne Reid, actress, Last Tango in Halifax
(2012-20), Hold the Sunset (2018), 87.
In 1959 two monkeys, Able and Baker, were
recovered unharmed after Nasa launched
them into space on a ballistic missile.
Prof Peter W Higgs,
pictured, particle
physicist, Nobel
prizewinner (2013), 93;
Annette Bening, actress,
American Beauty (1999),
The Kids Are All Right
(2010), 64; Lord
(Michael) Berkeley of Knighton, composer
and broadcaster, 74; Mel B, singer, Spice
Girls (1994-2000), 47; Nigel Casey, diplomat,
prime minister’s special representative for
Afghanistan and Pakistan, 53; Dame
Vivienne Cox, chairwoman, Rosalind
Franklin Institute (medical research centre),
63; Rt Rev Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford,
65; Lord (Quentin) Davies of Stamford,
former MP (1987-2010) and minister, 78;
Rupert Everett, actor, My Best Friend’s
Wedding (1997), St Trinian’s (2007), The
Happy Prince (2018), 63; Noel Gallagher,
guitarist and singer, Oasis (1991-2009),
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), 55;
James Horwill, rugby union player,
Harlequins (2015-19) and Australia (2007-
16), 37; Paul Johnston, UK ambassador to
Ireland, 54; Robert Largan, Conservative
MP for High Peak, 35; Jackie Lee, singer, as
Jacky, she had a UK Top 10 hit in 1968 with
White Horses, 86; Sir Julian Le Grand,
professor of social policy, London School of
Economics, 77; Sarah Millican, comedian,
47; Nanette Newman, actress, The Stepford
Wives (1975), 88; Martin Pipe, racehorse
trainer, 15-time champion trainer, 77; Francis
Rossi, rock singer and guitarist, Status Quo,
In the Army Now (1986), 73.
“Coward: one who, in a perilous emergency,
thinks with his legs.” Ambrose Bierce,
American satirist, The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
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