Clive Needle

Guess what? #VaccinesWork.

They protect us against more than 30 deadly diseases. Choose science, choose health. #HumanlyPossible

Journey Through Time History Podcast · Updated weekly · Forgotten stories from history and how they shaped the way we live today. Hear about the ordinary people from history and the extraordinary impact they’ve had on the...

Looking for a new history podcast? Look no further! Journey Through Time with David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell is fantastic - a perfect blend of storytelling, intrigue, surprise, analysis and contemporary resonance. Informative, educational and entertaining!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j...

'8.2 million people – 1 in 5 people aged 16–64 years – now have a long-term health condition that limits their ability to work. That’s 2 million more than a decade ago.' The Health Foundation

The Commission for #HealthierWorkingLives has published its final report, warning of the challenges and costs of rising health-related job loss. We digest the findings and summarise key actions for government.

Read more ⬇️

https://bit.ly/3RNJAuR

#booksky

Dear Keir Starmer, there is a way to rout Nigel Farage – and it’s staring you in the face | Julian Coman Middle class and blue collar voters both abhor rampant corporate greed. Reform is in league with big business in a way that Labour is not, says Guardian associate editor Julian Coman

Now you're talking...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Scum has been moving thataway for a while...

Big drop in plays staged by theatres over past decade The number of plays and musicals staged by the UK's main subsidised theatres is down by almost a third.

We often enjoyed Colchester Mercury company staging of plays, now noticeably cut back, mentioned here.Theatre & studio still work to attract, entertain, include, but harder times for creators & inspirers.

BBC News - Big drop in plays staged by theatres over past decade
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Thanks primarily to vaccines, child deaths decreased from 11 million in 1990 to 4.5 million deaths in 2022 — over 55% ⬇️.

Thank you to the @ec.europa.eu and the Gates Foundation for their decision to co-host Gavi’s replenishment in June this year. I urge all donors to contribute.

#ForOurFuture

Tomorrow’s #WorldHealthDay is a cause for celebration, and a call to action.

More mothers and children are surviving today than ever before.

But still, every 7 seconds, a mother or baby dies a preventable death.

#OnThisDay - 6 April 1912, Joyce Millicent Pallot was born. A noted #Colchester based artist, she is perhaps best remembered along with her husband #HenryCollins, for her work on concrete murals.

More:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_a...

henryandjoycecollins.co.uk

Taxing wealth is better than a wealth tax Inequality of wealth matters more than inequality of income. We should tax the rich more. But a blanket wealth tax is not the solution.

Taxing wealth is better than a wealth tax eastangliabylines.co.uk/business/eco... An offering from me….

Fitting that we passed through Chesterfield thinking of him today.

What happened next - thread coming?

How to Think (and Act) Like a Dissident Movement AOC, solidarity, and people power.

This piece from @jvl.bsky.social is one of the most important insightful I have read since January 20th 2025.

America.
Shameful.

Quakers in Britain condemn six arrests of Youth Demand at meeting house Police raided the property where pro-Palestine Youth Demand were meeting on Thursday.

Don't have to be a Quaker to condemn this...

BBC News - Quakers condemn six arrests at meeting house
www.bbc.com/news/article...

The average UK worker is paying a lower effective tax rate than their US equivalent (19%).

Great stat via @tomcalver.bsky.social.

‘Plot twist - I’m still a fat person!’: meet the people proving you can be fit at any size In the age of Ozempic and extreme dieting, slimness is still prized over any other body shape – but you don’t have to shrink your frame in order to be powerful, supple and healthy

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Major Reform U.K. Donor Sold Weapons Parts to Russian Supplier The aerospace company H.R. Smith Group was an early backer of the party after Nigel Farage became leader. Reform has faced criticism over comments seen as supporting Moscow.

Terrific reporting by @nytimes.com. Shame the British media can’t expose this for themselves. Will only fuel suspicion that Farage and his Brexit gang are - and have always been - a Putinist front

Met not fit for purpose. Again.

National Theatre Live: Dr Strangelove | Official Website | In Cinemas now BAFTA Award winner Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge) plays four roles in the world premiere adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece Dr. Strangelove, co-adapted by Armando Iannucci and Sean Fole...

Caught this screening. Ridiculous. No-one could believe a nuclear power today would share attack details...

drstrangelove.ntlive.com

Just a screenshot of the report cover page. The report is called "Preventable Diseases, Preventable Tragedies: Why Vaccines Are Essential"

🚨new Indie SAGE report on childhood diseases!

🧵Vaccines have been so successful that once common diseases are now so rare that even many doctors might never see a case.

In this report we describe 12 diseases, their consequences & impact of vaccines 1/15

independentsage.org/report/preve...

🧵 1/ Corporate corruption is a major but often overlooked threat to public health. Our new @thelancet.bsky.social commentary, led by Helen Walls with Dina Balabanova, argues that industries harming health should be called out for what they are: corrupt.

Absolutely

This government has one last chance to take a progressive path. Otherwise, we’re at the point of no return | John McDonnell In her spring statement, I urge Rachel Reeves to look beyond short-term economic stability – and towards tackling long-term inequality, says former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell

This won't happen, but it should.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Guardian letter of the day - and I am a HMHB fan

How a false Net Zero claim became ‘news’: the right-wing disinformation loop This direct debunk and mini-lesson on how the right-wing media ecosystem can work may help you to spot and critique these types of ‘stories’ in the future

How a false Net Zero claim became ‘news’:

'Late that afternoon a tweet by Reform UK Ltd MP and GB News presenter Richard Tice caught my eye. He was claiming that Net Zero was the cause of the Heathrow shutdown, and that the issue was a “refusal to have diesel generators”.'

@monkemma.bsky.social

Masks and respirators for prevention of respiratory infections: a state of the science review - PubMed SUMMARYThis narrative review and meta-analysis summarizes a broad evidence base on the benefits-and also the practicalities, disbenefits, harms and personal, sociocultural and environmental impacts-of...

Small article in guardian on lessons we haven’t learned in covid but one we have learned that this article got wrong was that masks DO work against infection and unsure what harms their expert darkly alluded to. Excellent comprehensive review on masks here

‘Wellbeing’ isn’t a joke – it’s a tool for tackling populism In Britain, the Treasury is taking the idea of social happiness surprisingly seriously – and the chancellor needs to as well

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I’m not sure she knows how oil-cooled transformers work, but that’s fossil fuels for you: combustible critters.