Martin McKee | Lightnews

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1h

Yet another example of politicians taking us for fools. So many people go into politics for the most honourable reasons (I know many of them personally), but so often it’s the worst who get to the top of the greasy pole. We have a crisis of trust and this sort of behaviour makes it worse.

Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 2h

When he ran Labour Together, Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons hired a PR firm to investigate journalists

After our revelations, and a flurry of news stories, Simons finally gave his side of the story

But it doesn't seem to tally with the facts... 🧵

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/mcsweeney-...

McSweeney goes - but Josh Simons in the frame over targeting journalists

Cabinet Office minister hired a PR firm to investigate journalists. His explanation is bewildering - and begs one big question. How can Starmer keep him on?

democracyforsale.substack.com

Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 2h

When he ran Labour Together, Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons hired a PR firm to investigate journalists

After our revelations, and a flurry of news stories, Simons finally gave his side of the story

But it doesn't seem to tally with the facts... 🧵

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/mcsweeney-...

McSweeney goes - but Josh Simons in the frame over targeting journalists

Cabinet Office minister hired a PR firm to investigate journalists. His explanation is bewildering - and begs one big question. How can Starmer keep him on?

democracyforsale.substack.com

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 17h

It’s only an exit poll, with all the caveats, but some potentially good news from Portugal

Europe Elects @europeelects.bsky.social · 17h

Portugal, ICS-ISCTE-GfK-Pitagórica exit poll:

Presidential election, second round today

Seguro (PS-S&D): 67.0-71.4% (+69.2)
Ventura (CH-PfE): 28.6-33.0% (+30.8)

+/- vs. Last election result

➤ europeelects.eu/portugal

Europe Elects @europeelects.bsky.social · 17h

Portugal, ICS-ISCTE-GfK-Pitagórica exit poll:

Presidential election, second round today

Seguro (PS-S&D): 67.0-71.4% (+69.2)
Ventura (CH-PfE): 28.6-33.0% (+30.8)

+/- vs. Last election result

➤ europeelects.eu/portugal

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 20h

Feeling depressed about the world? Join the club. So I’m really looking forward to @johnkampfner.bsky.social new book with positive stories of countries that have made a difference in a range of fields. Just pre-ordered my copy.

youtu.be/Ma3LoV841mM?...

Discover the coutries daring to do things differently with John Kampfner

YouTube video by Atlantic Books

youtu.be

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 22h

Doesn’t answer those specific questions but see these shenanigans by last government

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Update on the sale of student loans

This House of Commons library paper gives an overview of the first sale of a tranche of English income-contingent student loans. It gives background to the sale and discusses the impact of the sale on...

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Mónica García @monicagarciag.bsky.social · 23h

Madrid vuelve a salir a la calle a defender su sanidad pública en manos de quienes la desprecian, la privatizan y la infrafinancian.

Hoy, como hace más de diez años, lo decimos alto y claro: la sanidad no se vende, la sanidad se defiende

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

I know people don’t like “What if” questions, but does anyone think Mandelson would ever have been appointed ambassador if U.K. was still in EU? (and of course I know lots of other things would be different). My point is that it is no longer behaving like a serious country.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

I spent a lot of my life studying the legacy of Soviet science. Naively, I thought it was history.

academic.oup.com/ije/article-...

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 1d

In Italy of all places … FGS

Gavin Esler @gavinesler.bsky.social · 1d

When whatever happens at the top of the Labour Party finally happens and given the sorry mess that British politics has been for years, is it maybe time to fix a broken system? Get rid of the “two party politics” delusion? Embrace PR? It’s apparently good enough for Scotland, Wales and N Ireland.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks!

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

bsky.app/profile/mart...

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

We @obshealth.bsky.social will no longer post on the other place. We cannot support its racism, misogyny, and hatred.
For evidence for health policy in Europe you can find us here and on LinkedIn

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

We @obshealth.bsky.social will no longer post on the other place. We cannot support its racism, misogyny, and hatred.
For evidence for health policy in Europe you can find us here and on LinkedIn

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

So true. And by acting as agents of (often dysfunctional and corrupt) states, we undermine our legitimacy with the public. Once again, we should look to Virchow: "the physician is the natural attorney of the poor,"

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

4/ You can read the full paper here: academic.oup.com/eurpub/advan...

Universal duties in a fragmented world: why Europe must reclaim Kantian ethics for global health governance

Long-standing norms that have safeguarded global health are being discarded, threatening the foundations of cooperation and equity on which health security

academic.oup.com

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

3/ Europe learned, at unimaginable cost, what happens when universal norms collapse. That history gives us a duty now: defend multilateralism, defend human dignity, and call out governments that put power before people. Silence is complicity.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

2/ We look to a European philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Kant reminds us: if policies can’t be universalised, they’re immoral. Hoarding vaccines, ignoring treaties, and treating people as tools of foreign policy isn’t just unethical, it destroys the very cooperation pandemics demand.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

🧵1/ Global health is under attack, and not just by pathogens. Governments are walking away from international law, blocking humanitarian access, and even targeting health workers. We need a principled response, which @tiagocorreia.bsky.social & I set out in an editorial in Eur J Public Health

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 2d

Brava Italia. Una cerimonia di apertura olimpica davvero fantastica!
🇮🇹

Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 3d

Our new paper:

Synthesis challenges in complex evidence: A critical analysis of systematic reviews of face mask efficacy

#episky #healthpolicy #medsky

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Synthesis challenges in complex evidence: A critical analysis of systematic reviews of face mask efficacy | Research Synthesis Methods | Cambridge Core

Synthesis challenges in complex evidence: A critical analysis of systematic reviews of face mask efficacy

www.cambridge.org

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

Agree - I was reflecting on how things seem to work, not how they should. As I think you know, I feel that British politics are completely broken, and it’s likely to get a lot worse.

academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/a...

Brexit is just a symptom: the constitutional weaknesses it reveals have serious consequences for health

Abstract. Brexit has direct and indirect negative health consequences, whether from economic damage or from the political paralysis and distraction from pu

academic.oup.com

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

Kudos to @jdmunday.bsky.social & other authors of this really elegant study of viral transmission in schools. 👇
Indoor air quality is very important, something we on @independentsage.bsky.social argued strongly during pandemic. Ventilation matters.

James Munday @jdmunday.bsky.social · 3d

Our paper modelling transmission risk in schools is published in Nature Communications. **The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools** doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

5/ Each understood that control of message and discipline of the machine matter more than ideology alone. Both show that British politics often turns not on speechmakers, but on the operators who decide who speaks, and how.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

4/ Bracken was Churchill’s fixer and media strategist in wartime; McSweeney has been Starmer’s enforcer and architect of Labour’s organisational reset.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

3/ Neither fits the classic mould of a charismatic front-stage politician. Their real influence lay behind the scenes, shaping leaders rather than seeking applause.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

2/ Both were Irish-born outsiders who rose to the very centre of British political power, not by rhetoric, but by organisation, loyalty, and strategic nous.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

🧵1/ I’m not 1st to note parallel (I think @samfr.bsky.social was) but while Morgan McSweeney and Brendan Bracken are a century apart, there are striking parallels in how they wield power in British politics.

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

Me too

Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 3d

5/ Each understood that control of message and discipline of the machine matter more than ideology alone.

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