Pick of the Week: OCD really doesn’t help with Ebola
Our five most popular pieces of the week, in case you somehow missed them.
Five: Don't mock Norman Baker – he accomplished more than most ministers do in a lifetime
The off-in-a-huff departure of Lib Dem fighter Norman Baker came as a big surprise to Westminster watchers at the start of the week. Today the Sun has made him their villain of the week "for the double standards shown in resigning as minister". But his right-wing critics are missing the point: this was a man who history will show has made a huge difference to Britain.
Four: Labour mayoral hopefuls complain selection is blatantly rigged
Diana Abbott, never one to keep quiet, has been speaking out against her party's system for choosing a candidate to take on Boris' successor in the capital. Her comments are revealing as they reflect concerns from David Lammy and others that the process is not being handled fairly. As one Labour source told Politics.co.uk: there's a "smell hanging over the selection". How unpleasant.
Three: Ukip may hate modern Britain, but the evidence shows it's working well
There's a default setting for journalism: find the negative and exaggerate it. It's usually a valid approach. But it is often damaging and helps the most negative political organisations. We're looking at you, Ukip. Every so often it's important to highlight the studies that show that Britain isn't such a bad place, after all. Believe it or not, this country isn't actually going to the dogs at all.
Two: My years undercover taught me we need to reform our drug laws
"I spent many years working undercover on the grimy and clandestine battlefield of the war on drugs," writes Neil Woods at the start of our second most-read piece of the week. His 14 years of an experience, notching up an estimated 1,000 years of prosecutions to his record, make him an authoritative source on drugs. It certainly makes his conclusion all the more compelling: that drugs reform is both necessary and, now, achievable.
One: Nine myths about obsessive compulsive disorder
Something is happening in the country. Perhaps the social histories of Britain will record the second decade of the 21st century as being the time when one of the biggest taboos of modern life was finally broken down. Mental health is, slowly and surely, becoming better understood. The more the stigma is removed through improved knowledge the better.
And this article is part of that. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is often treated as a joke, when it's nothing of the kind. Encouragingly, Emily Davis' careful deconstruction of the nine biggest myths about OCD is our biggest hit of the week.
