First quick look at the new UK Trade Strategy: zero mention of public health....

Was anyone else waiting for the UK trade strategy to drop at 9:15 only to be met with a website error? Is this... the first non-tariff barrier? 👀 @davidheniguk.bsky.social @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social

The tariff represents a double insult to consumers, assaulting both our taste buds and our pocketbooks www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/o...

Once again, the global economy is being held hostage to the whims of a guy who doesn’t understand how the global economy works.

Trump got what he wanted: everyone to stop gawping at his embarrassing fallout w/ Elon Musk..in the meantime, the world has learned something useful abt who wins in a standoff btwn 2 giant egos, 1 of whom has all the $ & the other of whom has all the exec. power www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"Whether we’re doctors, scientists, or ordinary citizens, we need to be clear sighted—and to engage in whatever forms of resistance to authoritarianism we can find the courage to muster." @johnlauner.bsky.social on the dissolution of our global political landscape www.bmj.com/content/389/...

So then Elon goes "Kill the Bill!" and Trump goes "Elon has TDS!" so Elon goes "I'm the reason Trump won!" so Trump goes "we waste billions on Elon!" so Elon goes "Epstein!" and a corpulent flunkie goes "Deport Elon!" and Elon goes "Impeach!" And THAT'S why women are too emotional to be President.

In amongst all the excitement I fear many have missed this outstanding bit of trolling by Friedrich Merz. The Chancellor gifted Trump a gilded framed copy of his grandfather’s German birth certificate... reminding Americans that Trump is both the child and grandchild of migrants.

‘Stress crisis’ in UK as 5m struggle with financial, health and housing insecurity www.theguardian.com/society/2025... #sdoh

Trump evading the question over whether UK will now accept hormone treated beef

"we're very big, we have a lot of beef"

This deal is completely being used to justify Trump’s mad tariff operation.

So Sky news reports that the UK US trade deal announced today consists of "no physical UK-US trade document" that will be signed. Trade deal is not a protected term. It really could be anything somehow related to trade. But I did not expect it to be invisible.

Reporters are gathered and waiting for the 10 am WH trade announcement- which is clearly running late. I was told about an hour ago that details in the agreement were still changing, and no information was final until the actual event. So that could explain the hiccup here.

Alas, no. The press is reporting it as a "trade deal" & a "trade agreement" in the headlines, so everyone will believe that it is a legal deal/agreement. Total failure of journalism. @financialtimes.com @nytimes.com @wsj.com @cnn.com:

you can't spell "tariffs" without "FFS"

China's response: - additional 34% tariffs on all US imports - add 11 US companies to list of “unreliable entities” - limits on exports of seven rare earth elements - two trade investigations into US exports of medical imaging equipment - block some US chicken imports and sorghum imports

The potential health impacts of a UK-US free trade agreement goes way beyond chlorinated chicken: www.bmj.com/content/374/.... #sdoh #cdoh

Important point

This is the direct result of the inane fake "formula" they used to calculate tariff rates. It penalizes poor, export-dependent states who cannot afford large volumes of US exports and who have been forced by colonial and postcolonial economic structures into a dependence on primary commodity exports

On the wider determinants of health, people “are yearning for more substantial reform” www.croakey.org/on-the-wider... #SDOH #ElectionBudget2025 #AusPol With ACOSS, Climate Council, TasCOSS & others

What is politics? It involves much more than governments and elections Here is an introductory post to inform two talks: (1) on evidence for WHO Collaborating Centre for Health in All Policies and Social Determinants of Health, Tampere University, (2) on prevention for Public Health Association…

Here’s a link to the 2016 Hassett/Sullivan paper which also shows that 45% of recessions happen in the first year after an election, linked in part to policy uncertainty. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

I'm adding civil service reform to industrial strategy, immigration and regulation as subjects where aggressive government briefing bears no resemblance to what is likely to happen. As a driver of populism this gap between rhetoric and reality is perfect. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

📣 New Handbook on the Social Determinants of Health edited by @tobabryant.bsky.social 📣 Proud to contribute a chapter on why most SDH frameworks fail to challenge individualized notions of health— and how a global political economy approach overcomes this challenge. www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/han...

What Trump - and many politicians - don't understand about modern trade is that we've never had so many products and services available, and that's come from technology creating global markets. He's imposing tariffs as if we're in the 1950s. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trudeau: "Every country is very aware that if the American government is willing to do this to their own closest ally, neighbor, and friend, everyone is vulnerable to a trade war."

The stock market is tanking so badly it almost feels like we are being governed by someone who went bankrupt six tim— oh.

When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. Available at: tinyurl.com/yv3njkvr #AlwaysCanada #Never51 #EconSky #CanadaSky

“It's absolutely the case that even if tariffs aren't applied to the U.K. we will be affected by slowing global trade, by slower GDP growth and by higher inflation than otherwise would be the case,” Reeves told hundreds of top British www.politico.eu/article/us-d...

📣📣📣OPEN NOW! The 2025 Call for Abstracts is live! 📝Showcase your research 📈at the Trade & Health Forum at the APHA Annual Meeting Nov 2-5,2025 in Washington D.C. ⏰Deadline to Submit an abstract is March 28. Apply today! apha.confex.com/apha/2025/wg...

For perhaps a few weeks only, now is an excellent time to be exporting stuff to the US from anywhere other than Canada, Mexico, and China

Yesterday's Trump tariffs - 25% with Canada and Mexico (with whom he signed USMCA), an extra 10% on China (with whom he signed a 2020 trade deal). Don't do deals with him. Withdrawal of aid to Ukraine. Because he's on the side of authoritarians, pretty obviously.

UK leader Keir Starmer is hardly the most obvious wartime envoy — and yet in the weeks since Donald Trump first shocked allies with his stance on Ukraine, the British prime minister has emerged as a leading player in the international response. 🔗 ow.ly/WrWm50V9ZIV

Tarriffs in Trump's second term in office

"Trade pacts are two-way negotiations and experts warn that one key risk to the UK is that the Trump administration will push for a much wider agreement, covering areas such as technology regulation and more access for US pharmaceutical companies to the NHS" on.ft.com/4hVAojK

Avoidable inequalities in health. Further evidence, if more were needed, that equality is the best therapy, as psychologists for social change put it, & that addressing the social determinants of health is vital as @michaelmarmot.bsky.social shows. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Forget about inflation. Now it’s all about cutting ‘waste’ in the form of jobs and our already paltry social safety net www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The US is now seeking to condition access to the US market on subordination to US preferences on regulation and taxation. The EU cannot accept this. mailings.cer.eu/insights/tru...

Thanks to all who joined our symposium on deindustrialisation and health this week - particular thanks to @gscheiring.bsky.social for such a fascinating keynote that brought so many aspects of the day together. Looking forward to developing some of these ideas further! @drmcnamara.bsky.social

And just like that, the Demographic and Health Surveys are done www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/h...

Trump vows to slap 25% tariffs on EU and claims bloc was ‘formed to screw US’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

While working on these studies, this was the finding that I couldn't stop thinking about. Reproductive justice folks warned us about this.

A hike in tariffs cause adjustments in business decisions with knock-on effects in labour markets globally & workers+consumers face consequences👇 Latest research on inclusive trade @ids.ac.uk with the very talented @heitzig.bsky.social www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/tru... @eadi.bsky.social @uktpo.org

Donald Trump Wants You to Die open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Please help with our study on #socialmedia and #breastfeeding support. The survey should only take around 10mins and all responses are anonymous. You can also opt into a prize draw to win one of three £20 shopping vouchers. app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/newcastle/...

The French Parliament has approved a landmark ban on using “forever chemicals” in common products including cosmetics, ski wax and clothing, a move that could reverberate beyond its borders. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...