I just asked Claude to turn one of my lectures into the script for an Adam Curtis documentary and I am not sorry

The health inequalities agenda is "tired and risks having run out of road" - not my words, the words of a senior health policymaker in the Scottish Government. But other SG policymakers told me health inequalities were a "huge priority" - so what's going on? A thread... 1/

Huge COPs are an equity issue. We don't hear marginalised voices above the din of who can afford the pavilions, flights, comms teams, or hosting. theconversation.com/the-un-clima...

🚨 NEW in @bjpols.bsky.social : When Partygate hit Westminster, trust in Scottish politicians increased. Our experiments reveal a "contrast effect" - scandals at one level can make the other look better by comparison. Who lost most trust in Westminster? Scottish unionists. Read now #OpenAccess 👇

💯 You can basically lift this word-for-word for healthcare too.

Good thread, lots of competing (with different advocates and 'fashions') and shifting meanings of health inequalities (as other concepts such as population health), v evident in English policy and debate too over time.

The contrast between how expensive the cars are in this country and how shabby everything else is tells you that we absolutely can afford to electrify the railways and a million other nice things, but we have politicians that are terrified of asking for a few pennies extra in tax

Food industry corporate greenwashing www.foodpolitics.com/2025/10/food... Comparing promises ("we will be good", "we care") with actions "food companies have no market incentive to reduce their environmental impact if it is going to raise their costs".

Check out this terrific new work by @allybrown.bsky.social!

Beautiful autumn leaves, very silly dog (Marble)

The health inequalities agenda is "tired and risks having run out of road" - not my words, the words of a senior health policymaker in the Scottish Government. But other SG policymakers told me health inequalities were a "huge priority" - so what's going on? A thread... 1/

Look for this factor and you see it - and its absence - everywhere: Starmer and Reeves can't do it, Burnham can. Of the older generation of Democrats, only Biden.

🎬 🍿 Official Film Release! We’re thrilled to announce the public release of Unmasking Influence -now available via the LSHTM Vimeo channel! vimeo.com/1123819285 There is overwhelming evidence that many industries are undermining public health.This documentary makes the issues visible and relatable.

Here's a paper we wrote about how it's actually very bad that a "context of constrained funding has incentivised... providers of adult education, sports, arts and community services to demonstrate ancillary wellbeing benefits." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40447986/

Jesus Christ. We go mad about one bloke we wrongly released, yet hear next to nothing about this horror? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

New post out: "The worst social policy ever" Today we have a guest post from @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social on the abomination that is the two-child limit and why Labour need to scrap it ASAP. Lots of data but also powerful testimony. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

X is a cesspit led by an unhinged billionaire who is desperately trying to stir up civil war in Britain. Nobody with any sense or decency should be there. No organisations, government departments, or politicians should be there. Everyone who is, is enabling this monster.

We are in the process of creating a new journal for our community, the Population Health Journal, and we are now inviting applications for editors: journals.gla.ac.uk/phj/announce....

Shocked that this is on X - a lawless, extreme platform where the majority of Westminster still mingles without any thought to whether they should be there.

The relationship between UPFs and the environment is miles more complicated than this. UPFs are a hugely diverse category, but this article pretends they are all like M&Ms. What about plant-based meat and dairy alternatives?

What timing! The "planetary health diet" has just been updated: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NEW systematic review of the evidence shows that raising incomes is how to reduce food insecurity. The evidence does not support food-based interventions as reducing food insecurity. Food retail subsidy programs and housing assistance programs don't ⬇️ food insecurity. www.canada.ca/content/dam/...

Big news today: price or multibuy promotions on unhealthy food and drink (e.g. BOGOF deals) are now banned in England! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is not open or tolerant. It's ridiculous. There is no positive policy justification here. It's just inflicting cruelty and hazard on people who want to contribute in order to appease the unappeasable. Morally wrong, politically stupid.

Corporate profit is being prioritised over public health. Discover how corporate power is driving public health crises in the upcoming documentary, Unmasking Influence. #CDOH #CorporatePower @maizie333.bsky.social

If we don't measure it, then perhaps we can forget that 13.5% of the US population (in 2023) does not have consistent access to enough nutritionally adequate and safe food. That is 1 in 7 people! 😢

UNBELIEVABLE - USDA terminates 'redundant' Food Insecurity Survey, because it does "nothing more than fear monger" and "failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder". www.usda.gov/about-usda/n...

beyond healthcare, TBI's work on food systems / obesity is a another example of how AI is being promoted as a 'technological fix' to what is fundamentally a political problem institute.global/insights/pub...

✨ Please repost!! ✨ Calling all qual researchers working in clinical trials! Can you help? Fill in a short questionnaire for my wonderful PhD student @ythqual.bsky.social. Any questions, give him a shout!

1/5 We have published a new article in Lancet Public Health on how a transition to a #WellbeingEconomy might impact positively on population health tinyurl.com/yc4w9xbd @mmbuchs.bsky.social

What @eric-reinhart.com said. www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/t...

We're are now accepting applications for an exciting DPhil at the @oxprimarycare.bsky.social, *FUNDED* by the THRIVING Food Futures research hub! The project is about divisive policies, supervised by me, Dr Rachel Pechey @petescarbs.bsky.social @ashakaur.bsky.social lnkd.in/eezGaZZ3 Pls share! ✨

🏡 Our new report: what role can Scottish housing policy play in reducing health inequalities? See here: scothealthequity.org/raising-the-...

"it’s material deprivation, not social diversity, that threatens to tear the social fabric. Perhaps it’s harder to have trust when you’re competing for resources. Whatever the cause, the solution seems to lie less in measures to limit immigration than in investment to tackle poverty and inequality"

From a thread yesterday - successive governments are (so far at least) positively selecting this as an acceptable tradeoff bsky.app/profile/toma...

#AcademicWriting be like

Tapping the sign

Good, careful review justifying calls for action on alcohol marketing – and also noting that in some areas such as sport and sporting events, gambling exposure and advertising were even more common than alcohol. As so often, predatory industries use similar strategies.

‘Ursula von der Leyen announcing that Gaza’s civilians have suffered enough; Keir Starmer’s sudden realisation of what he calls “the pressing need for Israel to change course”: none of this is any more than a shift in rhetorical positioning, the striking of a pose of moral condemnation.’

At TFF we're setting up a network for ECRs interested in policy for a healthier, more sustainable food system. We think we can learn from and support each other, with workshops, collaborations and connections. Please see the link below and sign up if yr interested!

All UK charities, universities, councils and govt departments should stop using promoting a website that deliberately promotes racism. #LeaveX

One front page headline does 5 things at once: (1) it takes the focus away from the the obvious: the majority of prisoners are born here. (2) it makes something that is unrelated to migration suddenly about migration 🧵

".. increases in death rates among the 20% most deprived populations of almost every city. " A new era of inequality: profound changes to mortality in England, Scotland, and 10 major British cities url: academic.oup.com/eurpub/artic...

How can the government meet its commitment to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between regions? Reading this excellent summary of some of the @healthfoundation.bsky.social latest analysis from @charlestallack.bsky.social would be a good place to start! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

You need to read this incredible testament to power of hating and prepare yourself for what will come once the pathetic fallacy of AI collapses.

New article alert! Interested in crisis narratives in public health? (Including in AMR...?) Find our work HERE: journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...

Bloody Sunday used to be the most shocking event I knew. The British army fired on civilians and killed 14 people. David Cameron gave an official apology for the atrocity 38 years afterwards. 57 times as many people have been killed whilst trying to obtain food aid in Gaza. This is not normal.

I've been involved in some convoluted strategy documents in my time, but never anything as awkward as 1 expression of purpose, 5 organisational values, 6 key priorities (4 of which are sub-themes) and 3 principles. Not necessarily saying Oliver Cromwell was good, but he'd never have stood for this