1/ What has devolution changed for race equality across Britain? Our new @nuffieldfoundation.org funded Policy Briefing we map the strategies, duties, action plans and accountability mechanisms developed since devolution. bsky.app/profile/uofg...

Centre for Public Policy@uofgpolicy.bsky.social · 7d ago

How has race equality policy developed differently across England, Scotland and Wales during the three decades of devolution? ❓ Read new insights from @nasarmeer.bsky.social and Dr Mahnoz Illias: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/...

Hooray! Getting Better* has received the Richard Titmuss Book Prize from @socialpolicyuk.bsky.social. We are so pleased! *available open access at Policy Press: policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/getting-better @profbambra.bsky.social @profkatsmith.bsky.social @premnsikka.bsky.social

🔥 Smokefree Public Places Policy in Scotland: Rethinking Policy Work in Multiple Streams and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory by @profkatsmith.bsky.social Discover on our blog: policyandpoliticsblog.com/2026/07/01/s... Check out the full research article: doi.org/10.1332/0305...

Smokefree public places policy in Scotland: rethinking policy work in multiple streams and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory

This article examines how and why Scotland became the first UK nation to introduce comprehensive smokefree public places legislation through prominent theories of policy change. To do so, it draws on ...

doi.org

THREAD: How do the dynamics of devolution and the politics of health inequality interact? My new paper in @cphjournal.bsky.social explores the differentiation function of area-health comparisons. 🚨Contains Andy Burnham content!🚨 journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc... 1/9

The attacks in Edinburgh, in which an armed bare-chested white man terrorised Muslims, leaving five people injured, don't feature on a single newspaper front page this morning. Two tier journalism

🔴 SCOOP: Farage doesn't seem to want to answer questions about his money. So I went looking - and found that the Reform leader's personal company is in breach of UK company law democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-n...

Revealed: Nigel Farage is breaking British company law

Farage’s personal company has almost £2m in cash but has not filed key documents

democracyforsale.substack.com

Well done to the demonstrators who turned out in their masses to counter the far right in Brighton. Good people outnumber these hateful little nobodies and always will.

Glasgow now, there is no place in Scotland for racism or fascism.

I’m gonna keep saying this: 📢 Health and science organisations, charities, campaigners, research groups, and everyone: Stop 👏 using 👏 X. Show us you care about the unity of this country. Show us you stand against division, prejudice and hatred. If you stop, the government will eventually stop too.

Northern Ireland, functionally, has no immigration. Net immigration last year was about 8000 people in a population of 2 million, and that was a record.

SpinningHugo@spinninghugo.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Really? That is your view? Really?

The houses of ethnic minorities in Belfast didn’t ’go on fire’ last night - as my radio has told me - they were set alight

Having spent the day, much like every other day at present, listening to journalists and broadcasters restate unsubstantiated claims, and elide the fact of difference with a trigger for racist violence, here are simple rules even Chris Mason might grasp. ⬇️

It seems obvious but needs saying that most of Labour's core vote is fundamentally opposed to the far right. Failing to fight back against it rioting on Britain's streets will leave many of those supporters wondering what the point of having a Labour government is.

Plausible deniability appears to be a journalistic pillar for significant sections of the British media... www.runnymedetrust.org/publications...

New paper from @allybrown.bsky.social, based on his PhD research, in the Journal of Critical Public Health. Really interesting analysis of how health inequalities can be framed (strategically) as part of broader, devolution agendas. Congratulations, Ally! journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...

Why is The World At One reading out Rupert Lowe's posts on the Northern Ireland attack, at the start of the bulletin? He leads a party that is polling at about 3%. This is not about "censorship": it's about the choices media outlets make concerning which voices to amplify.

Calling all practitioners, managers, and people who work alongside children and families, who are keen to share their insights for Scotland's Children's Legislative Review. Engagement workshops are now open for registration. Find out more: buff.ly/fKBJfdu

The Palantir manifesto understands technology as a means of organising the state in defence of a racialised civilisational project. So who will these systems serve, how are they to be governed and held accountable? It's the old dream of technology in service of power: bsky.app/profile/scot...

The National@scotnational.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Palantir has been awarded a £9 million contract to manage the software behind licensing for firearms, explosives and poison in the UK

New @policy-politics.bsky.social paper revisits how Scotland became 1st UK nation to introduce smokefree public places. I argue for extending Punctuated Equilibrium Theory via Niche Construction Theory to understand behind the scenes policy work required for implementation success: shorturl.at/GlhxR

Smokefree public places policy in Scotland: rethinking policy work in multiple streams and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory

This article examines how and why Scotland became the first UK nation to introduce comprehensive smokefree public places legislation through prominent theories of policy change. To do so, it draws on ...

shorturl.at

The May election suggests alcohol has slipped down Scottish policy agenda. Despite remaining a major driver of preventable death & social harm, most parties said little about prevention. New editorial argues public supports action - issue is political timidity & industry influence: shorturl.at/j0Qkm

Public support, political silence: alcohol policy and the 2026 Scottish election | Katherine Smith

The May 2026 Scottish elections were a bit of an eye opener for me in terms of how far alcohol has slid down policy agendas. Alcohol remains a major driver of preventable deaths and health inequalitie...

linkedin.com

New blog with @profbambra.bsky.social & @jlynch13.bsky.social: www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2026/05/26/b... Too many people are dying earlier than they should, and too many communities are spending more years in poor health. This blog is a reminder that there are policy mixes that can change this.

Britain’s health is declining – but it doesn’t have to be this way - Transforming Society

Clare Bambra, Julia Lynch and Katherine Smith, authors of 'Getting Better', argue that declining healthy life expectancy and widening health inequalities in the UK are the result of political and econ...

transformingsociety.co.uk

This just out from @profkatsmith.bsky.social, @profbambra.bsky.social and me

Britain’s health is declining – but it doesn’t have to be this way - Transforming Society

Clare Bambra, Julia Lynch and Katherine Smith, authors of 'Getting Better', argue that declining healthy life expectancy and widening health inequalities in the UK are the result of political and econ...

transformingsociety.co.uk

1/When the UK asylum system is described as in 'crisis', what if that's not a breakdown of the system but instead how it functions? In Policy & Politics, @e-c-hill.bsky.social and I argue that 'crisis ordinariness' is a method of governing in which extraordinary harm is presented as administration.

This morning the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have published a refreshed and updated list of Areas of Research Interest. These are an important way for researchers to engage with policy, so please do read them! www.gov.uk/government/p...

DCMS Areas of Research Interest

gov.uk

NEET may be an administratively useful category but it can stigmatise young people, flatten diffs & obscure conditions shaping lives. We've written a short @equalise.bsky.social briefing. One small shift: avoid 'NEETs', say 'young people in the NEET category' equalisehealthequity.org/2026/05/12/b...

Briefing Note on Young People’s Experiences and Views of ‘NEET’ as a Category

Katherine E. Smith, Anna Gkiouleka, Katharine Timpson | Equalise Briefing Note on Young People’s Experiences and Views of ‘NEET’ as a Category |DOI: Equalise Briefing Note on Young People’s Experie…

equalisehealthequity.org

Data dashboards are an accessible way of visualising data but often focus on quantitative data. Since qualitative data help explain the lives behind the numbers, we've developed short syntheses of qualitative data for our @scothealtheq.bsky.social - click the quote icons at the bottom of each page:

Scottish Health Equity Research Unit@scothealtheq.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We are pleased to share a new development in the SHERU Data at a Glance resource. scothealthequitydatadashboard.my.canva.site/homedash

Really enjoyed this paper on diary methods in research: bit.ly/3RJ4P4b Reminded me of an amazing talk by Tony Coxon on diary research with MSM during 80s HIV/AIDS epidemic. The insights transformed public health understanding. I’ve never used diaries but often think about the power of the method.

#OtD 9 May 1921 Sophie Scholl was born in Germany. Scholl became an anti-fascist activist, helping form the peaceful White Rose resistance group and was executed by the Nazis in 1943. Learn more about German youth resistance to Nazism in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/72-e...

A week to go until the Scottish elections - here's a quick @scothealtheq.bsky.social overview of what the different manifestos say about prevention, health & key social determinants 👇

Scottish Health Equity Research Unit@scothealtheq.bsky.social · 3mo ago

With the Scottish election a week away, we looked at how preventative each party's policies might be. Spoiler: some messaging was better than others. View our analysis here: scothealthequity.org/the-scottish...

💻️ Recording of our latest webinar is now live 🗳️ Views on health policy and prevention: a look to the Scottish election Featuring Allison Catalano, Katherine Smith @profkatsmith.bsky.social David Finch @healthfoundation.bsky.social and Fiona McHardy Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vYX...

Views on health policy and prevention: a look to the Scottish election

In this webinar, we look at Scottish social attitudes towards preventative health and policy and discuss the health context in party manifestos with the Health Foundation. 01:28 Poverty, prevention,…

youtube.com