You know the thing where ppl say “no one could have anticipated covid!” Except, that’s complete nonsense. 1st lectures of my MSc @lshtm.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social said “The next pandemic could be a SARS one & if we are unlucky it’ll have a long latency & high asymptomatic spread” 2011

Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · 5d ago

Keeping schools open is a goal not a policy. A blanket "never close schools" is a bad lesson. I suggest these: 1. Do not prejudge next pandemic which will be a different virus and could have very different age profile of who it attacks 9/12

Scientific integrity is a global public good. EUPHA stands with Nancy Krieger & colleagues opposing proposed US research funding & governance changes. Read our statement by @martinmckee.bsky.social on why this matters for #PublicHealth, independent #research, academic #freedom: lnkd.in/e9Tu2sfA

I had planned posting something on bizarre rewriting of history on school closures, in particular the ludicrous argument that approaches were totally polarised. However @philipcball.bsky.social has said everything I would have. & everything we said at time is on record @independentsage.bsky.social

Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 3d ago

Can't repost with comments for the thread by @chrischirp.bsky.social I just reposted, on school closures during Covid, but I'd say this: I think Christina's comments are spot on. School closures were one of the worst aspects of lockdown, and hard to discuss in a balanced way now. /1

Great to see! Appointing lots of PPSs can be seen-often rightly-as just boosting the payroll vote. But used well they're a source of strategic strength for ministers As @aliceolilly.bsky.social and I said last week proper reform is needed to make commitments to fix parly relationships a reality

Fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words from Andy Burnham | Institute for Government

Andy Burnham should be prepared to redistribute power in Parliament.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · last wk.

Chief Whip sets out that the PPS role is being reshaped, to have a higher profile, with more emphasis on parliamentary engagement on policy, and some media/public engagement too. x.com/labourwhips/...

“A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not routinely comment on individual cases.”” Fair enough, but they should at least commit to learning from their many decisions like this that combine cruelty with an absence of any discernible logic. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Home Office rejects Palestinian Jerusalemite woman’s UK visa but approves husband’s

Officials not satisfied Therese Abdallah is a ‘genuine visitor’ and believe she would not leave after visit to son in London

theguardian.com

IPSOS: "31% currently say they’re likely to consider voting Labour at the next election. But if Labour were to offer a 2nd referendum in its manifesto, this rises to a 45% – the only EU policy pledge tested that makes a meaningful difference to the party’s support" www.kcl.ac.uk/news/the-bre...

The Brexit vote 10 years on: study shows desire for closer EU relationship – but trade-offs temper rush to rejoin | King's College London

More people – though still not a majority – now think the referendum was a mistake

kcl.ac.uk

Seen in Philadelphia.

So the latest rationale for US tariffs is that countries are using forced labour. Yet the US incarcerates over 1 million people, many of them forced to work. Somehow I’m not hearing this point being made. www.aclu.org/publications...

Partnered with the brilliant @rebeccamckee.bsky.social to look at Andy Burnham's stated approach to working with his backbenchers. While it's encouraging that the new PM is thinking seriously about this relationship, he could go further to truly embed different ways of working

Fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words from Andy Burnham | Institute for Government

Andy Burnham should be prepared to redistribute power in Parliament.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Postgraduate medical curricula in UK promise lots on anti-racism training but deliver little. Our new paper highlights the wide gap between the rhetoric and reality. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Andy Burnham wants a “cost of living government” that makes life’s essentials more affordable. Free, independent advice services are essential to delivering that - helping millions every year & easing pressure on public services. Read @adviceuk.bsky.social letter to the PM 👇https://bit.ly/3TeGeVQ

1/ Our new paper @bmj.com led by Amrit Kaur Purba argues that effects of adolescent social media restrictions are not simple and must be considered within social, technological, commercial, and political contexts. www.bmj.com/content/394/...

How can Andy Burnham’s goal of good growth become a health-creating mission that supports environmental action? Andy Haines and I offer 5 ideas, all based on what already exists somewhere @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/394/...

American Diabetes Association (ADA) blocks the publication of opinion pieces in Diabetes Care about the organization and its behavior. Absolute censorship. The editors of Diabetes Care will ensure the truth is known. Are they teaching the government how to behave? What can we expect next from ADA?

The idea that the minister in charge of the department delivering this level of performative cruelty should be appointed to any high office is incredible. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

British girl, 15, stranded in Rome for six weeks due to new passport rules

The dual national, who missed six weeks of school, is latest of several children affected by recent Home Office policy

theguardian.com

I find this is a really odd story - why should world class biomedical research improve life expectancy in UK? What is keep life expectancy flat are a range of structural issues - not access to the latest medical treatments. 1/4 news.sky.com/story/world-...

World-class UK medical research not delivering enough benefits for British people

The country's life sciences industry generated £146.9bn in turnover in 2023/24, but UK life expectancy has fallen, a new study has found.

news.sky.com

Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface

Pro-Palantir data has litany of errors, English hospitals admit - www.ft.com/content/977a...

Nigel Faragexit. Get it done Clacton.

Discouraging an activity with a benefit-to-cost ratio of nearly 10:1. A triumph of policymaking.

Fall in international student numbers ‘cost UK £2.9 billion’

Latest cost-benefit analysis finds overseas enrolments generate nearly 10 times more money for UK than they take away

timeshighereducation.com

Europe must learn from America’s assault on science @chrischirp.bsky.social @tiagocorreia.bsky.social & I warn in Eur J Public Health that what is happening there could happen here, with catastrophic consequences @eupha.bsky.social academic.oup.com/eurpub/artic...

Reform’s plan to dismantle Bradford’s CAZ clearly puts ideology over the public health of our children. I urge the Council leadership not to recklessly gamble with the quality of the air we breathe and the health of our kids' lungs.

'Bradford's Clean Air Zone is working- scrapping it now would be reckless' - says MP

This week's MP column is written by Shipley MP Anna Dixon

thetelegraphandargus.co.uk

So the UK-US Pharma “deal”/“agreement” is now an “arrangement”, with no sign yet of a formal text. Serious case of anticipative compliance by U.K. Just do what we think US might want. @elstorreele.bsky.social www.gov.uk/government/n...

Utterly bizarre that suicides are the only work-related deaths Health & Safety Executive don’t investigate. Our open letter w/ @sarahwatersleeds.bsky.social @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/394/...

Open letter to the Health and Safety Executive on work related suicides

We are researchers, trade unionists, members of parliament, bereaved family members, charity leaders, business representatives, and investors who share knowledge and experience of the devastating cons...

bmj.com

Wonderful to be back at Andrija Stampar School of Public Health in Zagreb with a fantastic group of next generation public health leaders

Important analysis. It’s long been clear to me that Reform would welcome a united Ireland as it would remove a major barrier to taking GB out of ECHR. But then why should Scotland & Wales (& London?) stay? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

UK and Ireland leaders fear for union’s future under Farage-led government

Politicians across Celtic nations braced for constitutional turmoil if Reform continues to rise

theguardian.com

UK stats watchdog confirms to HSJ it is reviewing NHS England's use of statistics to claim benefits for Palantir's FDP – after NHSE admitted the stats it had published didn't actually do that. This follows Foxglove's work with the FT to expose these dodgy claims: www.hsj.co.uk/technology-a...

Watchdog launches investigation into NHSE claims of FDP effectiveness

The UK statistics watchdog has confirmed it is "reviewing" NHS England's use of figures to promote the federated data platform, HSJ can reveal.

hsj.co.uk

1/2 For the first time in more than a decade, the UK could be led by someone who can offer a vision of a healthier, wealthier future grounded in evidence and operational experience. @lucindahiam.bsky.social & I explain why @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/394/...

Andy Burnham could apply lessons from Manchester to create a healthier Britain with a stronger economy

For the first time in more than a decade, the UK could be led by someone who can offer a vision of a healthier, wealthier future grounded in evidence and operational experience, write Martin McKee and...

bmj.com

When U.K. universities are under such financial pressure, why do they use travel management companies. It’s not just that we can find cheaper options ourselves. It’s the time we waste having to deal with them (not to mention the stress).

Saying “we don’t recognise the figures” is lazy and disingenuous. DHSC rejects peer reviewed analysis of impact of U.K.-US pharma “deal” but won’t publish its own impact assessment www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

US-UK drug deal could result in 229,000 excess deaths in England, analysis suggests

Analysis reveals extent of impact on NHS of placating Donald Trump over price of British medicine exports

theguardian.com