Can anyone tell me about a NHS long term conditions policy initiative in the last 20 years that *wasn’t* evaluated according to reductions in hospital admissions? Hearing that most of the work in the INTs isn’t changing this vital (?) indicator.

I’ve been waiting since November. Capita inherited massive backlog from previous contractors. And made it worse, by all accounts. What I want to know is who designed their contract and allocated the budget? Any penalties for failure to deliver? Any enforcement capacity?

Social care reform, immediately. Bon the commission, give task force 3 months to propose final recommendations building from Dilnot proposals, implement immediately with penny on basic and higher rates of income tax to pay for it. Immediately transforms local govt fortunes too…

When we say medical misogyny kills people, this is the shit we mean.

Sadly not available. Died on this day 32 years ago.

Fashion tip of the day: To deal with clothes moths, fill your wardrobe with thousands of tiny spiders, the moth's natural predator. To deal with the spiders, fill your wardrobe with scorpions. To deal with the scorpions, fill your closet with RFK Jr. This way, you avoid harmful chemicals.

Last seen at the Little Angel Theatre narrating Venus and Adonis for the puppet interpretation. #MichaelPennington.

My first Hamlet just died. #MichaelPennington.

This sounds unspeakable.

Apart from anything else, this is just really stupid. If you want a broad demonstration of support for the UK Jewish community, don't make it the "we love Reform and hate the Greens" demo, or a lot of people will stay away. Board of Deputies. Bravely shattering stereotypes of Jews being smart.

I am officially a doomscroller.

please rememember: we are conditioned to think individualistically by capitalism - "I must stop this" which is a surefire route to exhaustion, impotence, despondency. Vital to find community w shared beliefs. You won't find a "perfect community" - work out what your red lines are & work within them.

Proud of high turnout in my ward but still depressing that “high” is barely more than 50%. People really don’t get the importance of local government (I know there are reasons).

As a child in the 1970s, I remember thinking: gosh, when I grow up I hope there are no libraries, no English Literature degrees, no bookshops, no decent public services, no Top of the Pops, no Woolworths, just an endless plain of sport and home computers. Feel blessed to have lived to see it happen.

Today’s newsletter: the United Kingdom doesn’t have the antiracism movement that its politicians, or much of the British Jewish community, thinks it does:

Like a gut punch, this quietly spoken sentence from Lubaina Himid who is representing the UK at the Venice Biennale www.ft.com/content/2a58...

Very good youtu.be/GMFyg3VFSeQ?...

After Golders Green adamwagnerkc.substack.com/p/after-gold...

Probably because I have booked to see the Little Angel Theatre Venus and Adonis (again), my thoughts turn to a narrated puppet show version of this fabulous telling of the story of Arachne.

Extremely pleased to hear this from Mark Rowley, much needed clarity when a community which has been repeatedly gaslit by senior figures about its own safety

Over 28,000 young people signed on for a Seattle Public Library card, which enables access to e-books even if they don't live in Seattle. The program was started by Brooklyn Public Library to expand service in communities impacted by censorship.

Nigel Farage, Reform’s leader, asked by Sun about rise of Greens "I don’t see the Green vote as being working people. I see the Green vote as being ethnic minorities. Many who don't speak English. Many who have foreign passports, but are still allowed to vote for reasons that are totally beyond me"

Two BBC Radio 4 journalists have just referred to “Olly” in their reports…

Good morning, and welcome to another day of law and process being used to obscure and evade questions of politics and accountability. Often politicians and political pundits tut-tut at issues of law and process being raised in political contexts, but many of them are happily doing it themselves.

Woah!

Sharing this one as I see that the latest attack is on the synagogue we attended when I was growing up. #MoreInCommon www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ap...

Some worrying new data from the ONS today. - Healthy Life Expectancy in the most deprived areas has *fallen* for both men and women, compared to both 2019 and 2021 data - Life Expectancy in the most deprived areas has still not recovered since COVID

Flawed methodology plus conflict of interest. #Palantir #NHS

Potholes on London’s roads scare me more than the cars. Partly because navigating them makes collision more likely. Not good for anyone. #potholes #cycling

Is there some legal reason for this framing (not just the headline)?Reads like the language was the problem rather than calling for people to be shot. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

More positive framing of messages by Islington parks. Good for them. #Signs #EnjoyYourDay

@tds153.bsky.social Heong Gallery a little Caruso St John gem amid Downing’s neo-classical mishmash. And yes you can just walk in.

FFS “Is the Iliad a good read?” Why this nonsense puff interview of Yann Martel on Radio 4 PM news programme? Respect for Evan Davis but he’s out of his depth. Oh now we are on to treadmill desks.

Much taken with the notion of “tonal shifts in the urban fabric” achieved through colour and texture. #publicrealm #design

Someone buy Pip a copy of @hayleygullen.com book #TheArchers

Distribution of matzah by the Zydowska Samopomoc Spoleczna (ZSS - Jewish Social Self Help Organization) in Warsaw, 1940.

Glad to see this statement about the awful new death penalty bill passed in Israel. Made worse by the ongoing killing of palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli settlers with no legal consequences.

In Hebrew school growing up, I was told repeatedly that the fact that only person "officially" put to death by the state of Israel was Adolf Eichmann was a point of pride. Of course that claim ignored everyone killed in military shootings, but now even that de jure point of pride no longer exists.

Vincent Van Gogh was born OTD in 1853. “Oh yes! He loved yellow, did good Vincent, the painter from Holland, gleams of sunlight warming his soul, which detested fog. A craving for warmth.” —Paul Gauguin

“We love women.”

This is the kind of question the govt will have to answer if it enacts the retrospective ILR changes. Imagine the headlines once we see cases of British families ripped apart because the foreign spouse can’t travel back in time. Some journalists might want to consider whether that will be ‘popular’.

A lovely initiative indeed. And will bring a breath of fresh air to the RA.

Top read. Set yourself free: there really is no right way to be a woman!

Do you know of someone who might be interested in doing a #PhD on the urban, architectural and environmental history of the University of Liverpool? If so could you point them in my direction?

Also Peter Rabbit.

In praise of dirt, repair and longevity …

"It's amazing to find that so many people, who I thought really knew me, could have thought that SUNSET BLVD. was autobiographical. I've got nobody floating in my swimming pool." —Gloria Swanson #botd At home with #GloriaSwanson in New York City, 1960 📸: © Jack Mitchell

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks talking to people about environmentally sustainable approaches to AI development, and the absolute raging cognitive dissonance of the huge under-investment in sustainable approaches compared to this kind of all-in hyperscaler data centre bonanza is wild

“Someone decided to build a system that produces 1,000 targeting decisions an hour and call them high-quality. Someone decided to start this war.” www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ma...