Martin McKee

Then we have Kemi Badenoch talking complete nonsense. The ruling on the Rwanda case said, in terms, that it did NOT rely on the ECHR.

BBC Radio 4 Today takes the political temperature in Manchester by interviewing a cross section of the population … in a golf club
Next, a representative survey of US public opinion in Mar a Lago?

Many congratulations and good luck at a critical moment for multilateral action for global health

Well it has happened.
The leadership of the Conservative&Unionist Party is advocating leaving the ECHR. Not reforming it, or working with other members to alter any rules.
Leave it. Like Putin’s Russia.
I can’t help wondering what those Tories who are rightly proud of 🇬🇧’s support for 🇺🇦 are thinking.

WHO/Europe launches Technical Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health WHO/Europe has formed the Technical Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health (TAG-AI) to guide the ethical, responsible and equitable use of AI in health across the WHO European Region. Th...

Pleased to be invited to join @whoeurope.bsky.social new Technical Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health. Great first meeting last week. So much to discuss
www.who.int/europe/news/...

And well worth a visit (especially during the wine festival!)

Further reading from the always insightful @snellarthur.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/snel...

Encouraging news from Moldova. For those unfamiliar with its courageous & inspirational President, see her Lunch with FT. Now big question is stance of Alternativa (BEA) on 🇪🇺 as sometimes confused
on.ft.com/3HHWNko Moldova’s Maia Sandu: ‘They would like to remake the Soviet Union’

@martinmckee.bsky.social @drrachelclarke.com @parthaskar.bsky.social @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social

RCP Constitutional Reforms - The Case for No (Not Yet) The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is currently asking Fellows to vote on constitutional reforms. The reforms seem relatively straightforward – widening the franchise to allow Collegiate members to...

The RCP is asking Fellows to vote on key constitutional reforms, including extending the franchise.

A group of 27 Fellows tabled a motion saying reform should be slowed down + done properly.

Not enough information. Too many questions.

Our views here:

tinyurl.com/ye5k2fa2

What lessons can Star Wars offer us about the significance of safeguarding democracy? Jean-Noël Barrot, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, shared his thoughts on the subject with students at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

@jnbarrot.bsky.social
@marie-doha.bsky.social

REVEALED: bombshell evidence of the link between Tylenol and autism.

Dear friends at #EHFG2025, could I kindly ask you to monitor #Bluesky for online comments/contributions this year, as so many of our health community have left/are leaving X/Twitter including myself, @martinmckee.bsky.social @freekspinnewijn.bsky.social @carocostongs.bsky.social etc - Thank you 🙏

What we said at the time - I am enraged

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

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

Strongly suspect you’re right but seems reckless to give them the excuse that they’re only enacting laws passed by previous governments (and I simply can’t grasp why we’re not adopting a fair voting system to reduce risks of extremist minority taking over)

A suggestion for UK Parliament. Before passing any new law, consider plausible worst case scenario for how a future Reform government would use it. Then start to review existing laws. And if you don’t, don’t complain when it all goes wrong (assuming that government hasn’t locked you all up)

Rachel Reeves due to appear at gambling lobbyist’s event amid tax review Chancellor’s invitation criticised as ‘strange timing’ with Treasury looking at whether to raise duties on £12bn sector

Leaving aside optics of attending at any time an event hosted by industry that does so much to create misery, transferring billions from the poor and desperate to billionaires, Rachel Reeves’ decision to do so ahead of a budget seriously questions her judgment

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Disappointing but not surprising. Sadly, a few BBC “journalists”, like this one, are little more than note takers (an auto scribe could do better) while many others are outstanding (and courageous). And completely wrapped up in his own little bubble.

Meanwhile on the dark side:

I’ve just been quoted an economy fare that is more than the business fare on the BA website. They are worse than useless

I know AI gets a bad name, with hallucinations and mistakes. But it can’t be worse than the two men doing a press conference in Chequers now. And even the worst versions would surely know the difference between Armenia and Albania.

Ok, we agree that some qualitative research is poor. However, terms like p hacking indicate that it’s not alone. There’s a wider question where researchers divide. How much knowledge is universal and how much contextual. But too complex for short posts. And we may not be so far apart

I’m not sure we are disagreeing?

So storytelling isn’t evidence? If you mean that it’s not a substitute for quantitative data, fair enough. But quant data without context is often misleading. Many widely used variables are socially constructed. I’m sticking with mixed methods because I want my research to be useful.

I’m at yet another conference (this time in 🇨🇭) where a plenary speaker (African) is absent because he couldn’t get a visa.
This is a disgrace. And it’s a direct consequence of the pathetic failure by our cowardly politicians to challenge racism.

Can anyone explain to me what counts as legitimate protest in the U.K. these days? I’m baffled. We should celebrate attacks on police as vibrant free speech but condemn pensioners with slogans on t-shirts and @ledbydonkeys.org with a projector?

Well played @ledbydonkeys.org
If 'unauthorised projections' is an arrestable offence, how about all those 'unauthorised flags' @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social ?

Brexit likely to hit Leave voting areas hardest If people voted Leave to stick it to the metropolitan elite they might be disappointed. A piece of research published in Regional Studies journal this month found that London is a lot less dependen…

Predictable and predicted.

flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2017/03/18/b...

In London, hate will never win.