Palestinians voted for Hamas in 2016. Does it make sense to vote for someone committed to defending you from an occupying force? Anyhow there's no longer a democracy in Gaza so it's hard to tell how the population feel about what is essentially a military dictatorship.

It may be both. Just my experience - I'm in middle age and self administered MDMA lifted me out of a 20 year depression. Taking it (and clubbing on it) was the best thing I've ever done, perhaps apart from having kids. The talk therapy I tried wasn't very helpful.

I'm not sure discussion of intrinsic value is the way to frame the debate. Since the internet was born we have been steadily moving away from value being tied to 'intrinsic-ness' and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Take a look at the VET project

It's your Leninists that want to foment revolution. Not many of them around these days. For Marxists calling for revolution amounts to delaying the inevitable. Better to let capitalism sow the seeds of its own destruction.

The UK's biggest failure is a refusal to be progressive. IT could have been a major EU player with the power to influence its development but so obsessed with standing alone that it rubbished Europe at every turn. It has even refused emergency EU funding for fear it made them look weak. Fools who slavishly follow tradition for it's own sake and can't let go of failed neo-liberal economic theory. The tax haven thing - it is overstated IMO. Tax avoidance by 5m self employed Brits is a much bigger deal.

Could it have been a simple (but bad) mistake? The Swedes did it too and unlike the UK they are not known for chucking people on the scrapheap at any opportunity

Well thanks, but as a UK resident I don't want to be told everything is just fine here just because it's worse somewhere else.

About half of all NOx emissions come from ICEs. Ella lived 25 metres from a very busy road. NOx levels at the nearest testing station were consistently in breach of EU law. NOx is known to exacerbate respiratory conditions. That's about all you need to know.