Keir Starmer says it is in Britain’s interests to “align more closely with the EU single market” and “we should”. Interestingly this is one of his most passionate answers in a long interview. I think we can expect movement on this issue in 2026. Brexit still remains an unsettled matter.

‘… the “middle ground” doesn’t exist like it used to because demands for better wages or public services can’t be easily satisfied without redistribution in a stagnating economy.’

@mancunianmedic.bsky.social I thought this might interest: manchestermill.co.uk/a-mancunian-...

How can we accelerate human trials of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics against priority pathogens in advance of epidemics and pandemics? Well, if we can identify safe, weakened versions controlled human infection model trials might be possible: journals.plos.org/plosntds/art... 🧪 🩺 #IDsky

Flocean, a Norwegian company, is set to open the world’s first commercial-scale subsea desalination plant, an approach that could cut the cost and energy used to make seawater drinkable

@anaesjournal.bsky.social we aim for (and mainly achieve) a two week turn around for time to first decision.

A DR Congo supporter has watched all their of three African Cup of Nations 2025 games holding his pose as the statue of Patrice Lumumba, who was born a century ago in 1925, and assassinated as prime minister in 1961 shortly after independence www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...

There are actually many more things you can point to as examples of recent scientific breakthroughs www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br... than 'curing Alzheimer's in mice', which people have been claiming to have done for decades and has a tenuous connection to what happens in humans.

Good move. Too much nonsense going on in crypto www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Happy New Year from all of us at Anaesthesia! Thank you all for your contributions in 2025! We look forward to more wonderful papers, discussions and podcasts in 2026! #AnSky

In China, EVs now make up more than half of new car sales, compared with just 1 in 10 in the US. With models ranging from budget to luxury, top safety ratings and competitive prices, here’s how Chinese automakers are reshaping the global market and leaving US carmakers behind.

STRENGTHEN PRIMARY CARE. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Terry's insight into human nature was at its sharpest and most cutting when it came to those who manipulated others, especially using the trappings of religion or mysticism he knew it worked, and he had quite a lot to say about anyone who took advantage of that

Was thinking about approach to ward rounds at the weekend. I very deliberately speak to patient first (if not sedated), then bedside nurse and then resident doctor before going over charts and making a plan. Is this unusual?

‘We want the mullahs gone’: economic crisis sparks biggest protests in Iran since 2022

I won’t say the catchphrase but it’s how I feel, loved Isiah Whitlock Jr in the Wire www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New post! There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost. Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end. www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...

Malawi now spends more on debt servicing than on health. 🚨With public debt at 86% of GDP, fiscal pressure is undermining social protection and food security efforts. ✍️Dingaan Mithi @newhumanitarian.bsky.social 📖⬇️ & 🙏

Hydrogen gets plenty of hype as a zero emission fuel, but direct electrification is increasingly recognised as safer and more efficient wherever it’s an option. Our new report explains where hydrogen does and doesn't makes sense, + the challenges around production, leakage, storage and transport.

I am from Northenden and my mum and her family from Chorlton so i grew up very close to the Manchester Mersey and spent a lot of time on these riverbanks and the water parks next to them. Good to see www.theguardian.com/environment/...

How do you know how far to reposition your patient!? "Around 6 inches"? "a smidge"? Check out RUDOLPH - Rough Units of Distance in Operating theatre Longitudinal Patient Handling #AnSky

Your kid when he asked Santa for a £1,200 iPhone and holiday to Disneyland but opens the £5 voucher for Superdrug and 4-pack of beers. (He's 9). "I'll look after those for you, lad"

3/ in "shock-and-kill" approaches, as we found (link to studies below). Indeed, the authors don't seem to generate evidence for detectable reduction of the reservoir size, and (temporal) virus control seems to be achieved predominantly by T-cell responses. #HIVCure is not around the corner!

2/ special profile from start on which may potentially have facilitated things). I really do wonder if the chosen LRA, the TLR9 agonist lefitolimod, modulates cell surface Env presentation (important for ADCC), and/or apoptosis. Many (but not all!) LRAs do, and paradoxically impede "kill"

1/ I agree that (even functional) #HIVCure will probably need a multi-component and staged strategy, and is not close. This multi-pronged approach shows, 18 months post ATI, a delay of viral rebound in 6/9 participants, and remission in 1/9 participants (though the latter seems to display a

Definitely exciting and even more puzzling. Note that the patient himself was heterozygous for CCR5delta32. So either there is a dosage effect of truncated CCR5, and/or (more provocative) the CCR5 genotype is less relevant than we all anticipated and the allo-SCT per se does large part of the trick?

When the Manchester Guardian calls, the people of the North heed the call. And if those people are me, we inject Manchester Liberalism, even from across the Pennines, right back in to the paper of Northern record. Get your fill. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

@goffinetlab.bsky.social is this as exciting as it sounds? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Just finished my first Christmas read. Festive it wasn’t but so so important to understand the damage that tech bros are still doing to our society is stark and reckless. REGULATE, NOW!

An unfortunately rare example of someone suffering the consequences of the Dunning–Kruger effect

A new NEJM paper just dropped evaluating a quadrivalent modified mRNA (modRNA) influenza vaccine in a phase 3 trial. This is the largest test yet of whether the mRNA platform that transformed COVID-19 vaccination can improve our fight against flu. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

This is very exciting. Pfizer’s mRNA flu vaccine substantially outperformed the traditional/control vaccine. This cumulative incidence graph is remarkable. Again, they’re comparing the mRNA flu vaccine to an existing flu vaccine, not to a placebo @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

One year follow up data published with @anaesjournal.bsky.social to round off this piece of work. We've also taken the step of providing open access to the dataset available via a link this publication for investigators in the field. doi.org/10.1111/anae... 🧪 #medsky #IDsky

Lovely systematic review from Emma Carter published yesterday from @lstmnews.bsky.social. Invasive BCG infection is tricky to manage - we were thinking about this for our research (more later) but I think has implications for clincial use too. www.ijidonline.com/article/S120... 🧪 #IDsky #Medsky

Slideset for my talk at #waam2025 celebrating the best airway papers published in @anaesjournal.bsky.social over the past 10 years sthjournalclub.wordpress.com/2025/11/07/w...

For daily updates straight to your phone, come and join us on WhatsApp! whatsapp.com/channel/0029...

Arterial catheter complications: • 13/100 catheters failed for any reason • 20/100 catheters failed for reasons not caused by infection • bloodstream infections - 1/100 catheters • local infections (around the area where the catheter goes in) - 1/100 cases #ICUSky #AnSky doi.org/10.1111/anae...

I think the omerta around Brexit needs to end. Labour are playing the Reform/far right game but they're (rightly IMO) sticking to the rules whereas oponents do not. What Labour (and the Lib Dems) need to do is change the game - highlight the failings of Brexit and grasp the nettle!

Check this out! Thanks for including Akira Alexander (not on Bluesky) and myself. Well done Yonca, Clive and colleagues.

@lstmnews.bsky.social scientists contributing to potentially transformative interventions designed prospectively for disadvantaged populations.

Looking happy about it! We’re just boarded on Eurostar going to Barcelona. Takes longer sure but the experience so much nicer than airports (+obvs climate considerations)

Patients on propofol in ICU often report negative & disturbing experiences, with distorted perceptions of reality, delusions & hallucinations. Propofol is unlikely to achieve reliable unconsciousness and may contribute to a negative dying experience. #AnSky doi.org/10.1111/anae...

What if almost everything we know about addiction is wrong?

Same planet, different worlds.

Mushroom season on the canal towpath by our house.

British.

Beautiful Autumnal colours in Worthington Park this evening

👏 "We've lived here all our lives. And I have never felt so unwelcome in my own hometown as I do since your party came into Caerphilly." "With all the rhetoric that you bring in, I have to say to my sons, please don't go there. Please don't do this." "I blame you for that."

Really nice summary - thanks @apsmunro.bsky.social

New research shows that people in Malawi admitted to hospital with breathlessness are much more likely to die within a year than other patients. Read more: lstm.ac/4n4gC8i