Review ‘Fatima': Insightful and Moving Account of Muslim Mother Working in France
‘Fatima’: Philippe Faucon’s insightful account of an immigrant Muslim mother living in France Fatima is raising her two teenage daughters in Lyon, having migrated from North Africa to marry a man from whom she is now divorced. She has two...
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Three Weeks in June and One Night in November: Brexit and Trump
The year 2016, with both Brexit and the election of Trump, has been extraordinarily bleak. In June, following a nasty campaign, peppered with a barely concealed racist venom, Britain narrowly voted to leave the EU. Then in November, after an...
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Do speed bumps kill?
Well, no, but you’d be forgiven for thinking they did after UK newspaper headlines last week. In focusing on the much-maligned speed bump, poor reporting of NICE’s guidelines on action to reduce air pollution deflected attention from the real problem...
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I, Daniel Blake – is this the collapse of the social contract?
Ken Loach’s most recent film I, Daniel Blake tells the story of Daniel, a fifty nine year old joiner from Newcastle, and Katie, an out of work single mother of two from London. They become perhaps unlikely friends after meeting...
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‘It’s like being told repeatedly that Father Christmas doesn’t exist’: medicines with no clinical benefit
Sorry to layer disillusionment onto despair for those of us worrying about Trump’s election. This Guardian piece caught my eye a couple of weeks ago for its account of the Choosing Wisely campaign from the Academy of Medical Sciences –...
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Same old story: between disability and disinterest
This week the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled Persons (CRPD) published the results of an investigation that found that UK reforms to welfare have led to “grave and systematic violations” of disability rights. In the same week a...
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Do mental health anti-stigma campaigns work? #IAMWHOLE
To mark World Mental Health day 2016, the NHS, working in partnership with YMCA, has launched a new campaign #IAMWHOLE . This is designed to challenge stigma about mental health and specifically targets young people. It is the first time that...
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The Only Way We’ll Get Change Is Through Involving People In Change
All the evidence suggests that current social policy is failing miserably. It is increasing poverty and inequality, undermining social cohesion and personal relations, spreading insecurity and damaging and stigmatising some of the most marginalised groups in society, like disabled people...
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Remembering Aberfan
The Aberfan disaster of October 1966 is one that will never be forgotten in Welsh – or indeed British – memory. It is five decades since the coal tip which stood on a mountain above the Welsh town, engulfed a...
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A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer
There are perhaps as many cancer stories as people with cancer. There are also many ways of telling them – but a musical is one of the more risky. A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer is described as...
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The (not) Demon Drink?
A synthetic alcohol substitute looks set to challenge legal regulations and cultural norms in the UK and beyond. If there is one person who represents an almost permanent challenge to British Government drug regulators it is flamboyant scientist, Professor David...
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Highlights of 2016