PARIS: Thousands more people living in Britain are at risk of dying from heart attacks and strokes in the decade after Britain leaves the European Union as the cost of imported fruit and vegetables soars, new research warned Tuesday.
Britain is due to exit the EU on March 29 and it is far from certain what sort of deal — if any — Prime Minister Theresa May will be able to strike and what effect that may have on trade.
It is heavily reliant on food imports, particularly fruit and vegetables, and research published in the journal BMJ Open forecasts a widespread fall in consumption under all Brexit scenarios — as well as a concomitant long-term health risk.
In the event of a no-deal Brexit, in which Britain crashes out of the union with no agreement on future trading ties, scientists from London’s Imperial College predicted as many as 12,400 additional cardiovascular deaths over the next 10 years in England.
“Under World Trade Organization rules, the price of bananas would go up 17 percent, oranges by 14 percent and the fruits we import the most are obviously going to be the most sensitive in terms of price increases,” said Christopher Millet, from Imperial’s public health policy evaluation unit and lead study author.
“Under (no deal) we expect 12,400 extra deaths between 2021 and 2030 and even with a free trade arrangement we expect around 6,000 more combined stroke and heart attack deaths,” he told AFP.
The British Heart Foundation says around 42,000 people die in Britain from cardiovascular diseases every year.
Fruits and vegetables contain vital nutrients from fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, that successive trials have shown to aid health cardiovascular function.
In 2017 Britain imported 84 percent of all fruit and 48 percent of the vegetables it consumed. A large proportion of these came from EU nations — such as citrus from Spain.
But even fruit imported from outside the EU could be disrupted as Britain would either need to adopt WTO rules or painstakingly conduct bi-lateral trade talks on a country-by-country basis — potentially facing longer customs checks and heftier tariffs.
Millet and his team used the latest available WTO and British customs statistics and applied it to a food policy model that combines a wide range of dietary, economic and health data to predict the impact on fruit and veg consumption under four possible Brexit scenarios.
Even if Britain strikes a free trade agreement with the bloc and other countries outside Europe that have similar arrangements with the EU currently, fruit and vegetable consumption would fall at least three percent, they said.
Under a no deal, that drop would be 11.4 for fruit and 9 percent for vegetables, potentially exposing tens of thousands of people to higher risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack.
“This is serious,” Millet said. “British families are going to be paying more for fruits and vegetables across all trade options — this is going to hit the pocket of the average British family and it has a real and important health consequence.”
MPs are due to vote Tuesday on how to proceed with Brexit after May’s initial deal with the EU was beaten down in parliament.
On Monday, Britain’s top supermarket bosses urged lawmakers to avoid a no-deal departure or risk a drastic cut in food availability.
Millet said politicians ought to give more consideration to the health impacts of Brexit, and the future burden increased illness and death will have on the health service.
“The British public weren’t necessarily aware that the price of bananas was going to increase to such an extent and what it would mean for the cost of daily living and the ability to ensure your child eats a healthy diet,” he said.
“These are the real implications (of Brexit).”
Brexit risks ‘thousands’ of heart disease deaths by 2030
Brexit risks ‘thousands’ of heart disease deaths by 2030
- Britain is due to exit the EU on March 29
- It is heavily reliant on food imports, particularly fruit and vegetables
Reference to Trump’s impeachments is removed from the display of his Smithsonian photo portrait
- For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s photo portrait display at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document US history.
The wall text, which summarized Trump’s first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum’s “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.
The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Trump’s original “portrait label,” as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump’s Supreme Court nominations and his administration’s development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”
Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”
Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump’s “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”
The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents’ painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump’s display.
Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.
Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.
The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok’s work.
“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”
For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.
And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”
Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents US history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation’s development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.
In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery’s director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian’s governing board, but she ultimately resigned.
At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.
The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump’s two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden’s autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”
