UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced the appointment of a Minister for Loneliness, paying tribute to a project which was first started by the late British lawmaker Jo Cox.
According to Downing Street, Minister for Sport and Civil Society Tracey Crouch will now also deal with a whole array of issues related to loneliness, which is thought to affect at least nine million people in Britain.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May, for her part, said that by appointing Crouch for this job, she wants to contain the problem of loneliness.
"I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones – people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with," May pointed out.
Twitter users have, meanwhile, remained at loggerheads over the news; many were quick to offer sarcastic remarks.
Others, however, sincerely welcomed Crouch's new appointment, saying that more efforts are now needed to grapple with loneliness-related problems.
It was British MP Jo Cox who was the first to set up the Commission on Loneliness in the country before being killed by a right-wing extremist in 2016.