João Martins

How five years of Brexit reshaped Britain [FREE TO READ] Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘reset’ with the EU could reduce friction and improve relations for some sectors of society

Five years after Britain officially left the EU, @pmdfoster.bsky.social and I looked at how Brexit has reshaped Britain for @financialtimes.com

on.ft.com/4grjwj8

4.3 million children are in poverty

UK govt won’t see progress on child poverty by 2029 even with high economic growth 📢

Our analysis shows under our central scenario only Scotland will see child poverty rates fall by 2029 in part due to social security policies 1/5

YouTube video by Novara Media Everything They Tell You About the Economy is WRONG | Aaron Meets @garyseconomics

@garyseconomics.bsky.social doing again what he does best - raising alarm bells on the disastrous consequences of wealth inequality.

"if you don't stop the rich from getting richer & richer & richer, they'll outbid you for everything you need, one at a time"

Palù dei Mori (Lago di Garda) cycle lane from above

Palù dei Mori (Lago di Garda) cycle lane from above

Imagine if we paid farmers properly to enable sustainable transport in rural areas?

It would:
✅ Provide travel choices that work on people’s own schedule, especially important considering infrequent bus services in rural areas
✅ Improve road safety on country lanes
✅ Increase access to nature

Calorie labels encourage people to eat less by only a single crisp, study says Review of labelling’s effectiveness finds average reduction is equivalent of 11 calories in a typical 600-calorie meal

Calorie labelling encapsulates all that is wrong with the last govt’s approach to wicked Public Health problems such as obesity - transfer all the responsibility to individuals and pray it works (disclaimer, it rarely does)

Donald Trump signs order to withdraw US from World Health Organization President accuses global health agency of mishandling Covid-19 pandemic and other international health crises

“He’s not that dangerous”, “It’s all rhetoric”, “We’ll be fine”…

Paris showing that meaningful change is possible

Europe’s urban air quality is killing you. Blame gas-guzzling vehicles. Pollution in EU cities, while slowly improving, is still killing more than a quarter million people each year, a new report finds.

Despite mounting evidence on the negative health impacts of health and noise pollution (primarily cause by motor traffic), European cities continue to drag their feet…

Redefining obesity, report of a new commission, to override current BMI categories and better define features and pathophysiologic consequences of pre-clinical and clinical obesity
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... open-access

New

The coming battle between social media and the state

Behind the alignment of X and Meta with Trump is a cold business logic — and a position of weakness rather than strength

By me, in todays @financialtimes.com

www.ft.com/content/917c...

Poor quality housing is harming our health The UK is not a good place to be poor. It is not even a very good place if you are middle income or below. Over the past 14 years, life expectancy has not improved, health inequalities have increased,...

🏠 Poor quality #housing is harming our #health and #healthequity

“Poverty is a cause of poor housing. Housing is a cause of poverty”

Prof. Sir @michaelmarmot.bsky.social

www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Latest @theguardian.com cartoon
#GisèlePelicot

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why the TikTok era spells trouble for the establishment Populism is the winner in the shift from traditional to social media and from text to video and audio

"The emerging media landscape became unfavourable to an educated centrist establishment, but a boon to populists and radicals."

How video-based news consumption is shaping the political landscape by @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social

on.ft.com/3ZLWKMz

Syria: There is hope and this is what it looks like Sometimes it feels like everything tends towards ruin. This week, we were reminded just how false that is.

The Syrian civil war was the origin of many of our problems: Isolationism, hatred of refugees and Russian disinformation. Now, finally, there is hope. iandunt.substack.com/p/syria-ther...

Politics vs Policy The paralysis of technocratic government in a populist age

New post just out:

"Policy vs Politics: the paralysis of technocratic government in a populist age"

Why Labour is getting stuck on identifying an approach to governing.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...

The hardest thing about public health training for me so far, is adjusting to being a generalist not a specialist.

My brain is a deep-diver and wants to have a solid grasp a topic.

Now I need to know just enough about lots of topics to get by. But all those topics change often. How do I keep up?

Health, the missing chapter in the Draghi Report on Europe's future Presenting his report1 on Europe's future competitiveness, Mario Draghi, a former President of the European Central Bank, wrote that “Europe faces a choice between paralysis, exit or integration. Exit...

🇪🇺 #Health, the missing chapter in the #Draghi Report on Europe's future #competitiveness.

“despite being over 400 pages, it has one major omission: the health of the people of Europe.”

By @martinmckee.bsky.social @deruijter.bsky.social @tamarahervey.bsky.social

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Trying to make a damn bit of sense of the assisted dying debate Everything you need to know about a profound change in the law

If you’re trying to make sense of the assisted dying (lack of) debate, @iandunt.bsky.social’s piece is truly excellent.

This topic could have been an excellent opportunity for a UK-wide, govt-sponsored, Irish-style citizens assembly. Instead, it’s been “an absolute godforsaken shitshow”…

Trying to make a damn bit of sense of the assisted dying debate Everything you need to know about a profound change in the law

If you’re trying to make sense of the assisted dying (lack of) debate, @iandunt.bsky.social’s piece is truly excellent.

This topic could have been an excellent opportunity for a UK-wide, govt-sponsored, Irish-style citizens assembly. Instead, it’s been “an absolute godforsaken shitshow”…

20mph limit project progress | Oxfordshire County Council Updated information about phases 1, 2 and 3 on 20mph projects.

Very true. At the same time, I'm pretty certain that those living close to 20mph roads quite enjoy the safer, less noisy environment.

One alternative is the Oxfordshire approach, with local areas given the option to apply to become a 20mph - there has been a proliferation of these!

I suppose I meant it as a way to avoid the "we don't have enough evidence" excuse for avoiding or delaying action. But you're right, there will always be trade-offs with PH interventions!

YouTube video by LBC 'Small farmers deserve support but not tax-dodging landowners' | LBC analysis

"1% of the population own half the land in England...the media have portrayed a very distorted view of the countryside, how land is used & who owns it"

Great to speak to @mrjamesob.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk about the #ClarksonTax protests - watch the full interview:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-kR...

Beautiful reflection on the atomisation of modern society by @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social

Wales’s 20mph speed limit saves lives and money. So why has it become a culture-war battlefield? | Will Hayward In a world of online outrage, evidence is no longer enough – for a policy to work, politicians must explain it and stick by it, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

A great example of why evidence is no longer sufficient to command #PublicHealth policy.

How should PH professionals effectively advocate for what works (or for what is right, in the absence of strong evidence) without getting vilified/attacked?

NHS ‘will be overwhelmed unless patients look after themselves’ The public must be motivated to take charge of their own health, a Labour adviser has said

I’m getting tired of all of this narrative. You look after yourself when you’re looked after by others & when you’re not struggling with poverty, social isolation & discrimination. The state has a pivotal role in preparing the soil. Whether that’s NHS or beyond.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

More than one in three children in poverty as UK deprivation hits record high Exclusive: Study finds almost quarter of UK population living in poverty, reaching the highest level this century

1 in 4 Brits, including 1 in 3 children live in poverty!

Politicians should spend less time on culture wars, faux outrage and gimmicks and more on raising living standards.

Outrageous figures, even if unsurprising…

Word of this morning is ‘procaffeinate’: to put everything on hold until you’ve had sufficient amounts of coffee.

The case for investing in preventative services is really clear, yet councils have no option but to cut these to balance the books and pay for social care.

The current govt's silence on local government funding, social care reform and the Public Health grant is deafening!

The streetlights going out over Britain tell a brutal story: austerity isn't over – it's getting worse | John Harris Labour won’t achieve its aim of reviving the UK’s economy until it takes the plight of cash-starved councils more seriously, writes Guardian columnist John Harris

This is not a way to run a functioning local democracy

"Of every £5 [Shropshire Council] now spends, she reckons that £4 go on social care. “Of the remaining quid, 50 pence is spent on our waste contract, and everything else we do – including other statutory services – comes out of that last 50p.”"