I was on The Nine tonight on BBC Scotland talking further about the rape shield for all those interested. It was a good discussion that as I said may not have been given this level of discussion even 10 years ago. BBC Scotland

Will you also address the risk of a human-made #pandemic by the way we interact with other species? If we really want to prevent pandemics we urgently need attention to the risks posed by industrial animal farming ( #H5N1 in cows and fur farms, #SARSCoV2 in minks) & wildlife trade

Read my The BMJ piece on the necessity of transforming the economy - including how innovation is governed - to deliver #HealthForAll . Read bmj.com/content/385/bm…

“Everyone in Rafah is living in absolute desperation and fear of what is about to happen. There are thousands and thousands of people, so close together.”

Our CEO Melanie Ward speaking about her recent visit to Gaza: theguardian.com/world/2024/apr…

Please consider signing up below for membership of great Leith environmental charity ⁦Earth in Common⁩ lots of perks if you do but no need to be a member to visit great pavilion cafe.Many challenges in current climate any support amazingly helpful. earth-in-common.org/general-7

Have you seen this campaign from Child Protection Scotland raising awareness about child sexual abuse? #SexualAssaultAwarenessMonth #SAAM #SAAM 2024 #WhatIfYoureRight

'All too often issues such as bullying or victimisation of whistleblowers have led to experienced doctors quitting one after the other from the same department or hospital, leading to services which are disproportionately dependent on locums' - this wk's Inside the NHS newsletter

Quite a coup getting Edward Troup on board. I don't know anybody with a deeper understanding of the tax system. theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

Tony Payne on the politics of embedding a new economic consensus for Renewal - an optimistic response to Rachel Reeves's Mais lecture

renewal.org.uk/the-politics-o…

'I don’t feel trapped by my past. I feel I can walk right through it if only you’ll allow me to go with a pencil & a pad in my hand.” I interviewed the always-interesting Andrew O'Hagan about Caledonian Road - 'a maze of immoral interconnectedness' - & his 'dissociated' family.

RIP Prof Evan Stark. Read about his incredible life and the impact of his research on coercive control in domestic abuse in his obituary -

theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

For the next three days, I am co-leading the 'change' theme at the International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare. A big message is that we need to stand back & take a systematic view to address large scale, complex problems. See this brilliant set of graphics by Virpi Oinonen / Business illustrator…

Please consider signing up below for membership of great Leith environmental charity ⁦Earth in Common⁩ lots of perks if you do but no need to be a member to visit great pavilion cafe.Many challenges in current climate any support amazingly helpful. earth-in-common.org/general-7

Very sorry to hear of the death of one of north Edinburgh's most outstanding and distinguished residents Professor Peter Higgs(book below is superb on his life and groundbreaking scientific contribution)condolences to family and friends.

Posted about Prof Higgs last night book below a superb study of a scientist and his era and also fascinating in other ways e.g. in excerpt below campaigning against nuclear weapons as many other great physicists including his Edinburgh head of department Prof Kemmer whom I knew.

“Besides his outstanding contributions to particle physics, Peter was a very special person, an immensely inspiring figure for physicists across the world, a man of rare modesty, a great teacher and someone who explained physics in a very simple and yet profound way. (1/2)

New from me: the #InvisibleThreat of #deepfake sexual abuse is now pervading the lives of all women & girls.
It can happen to any of us, any time & there's nothing we can do.
It's time to consider criminalising creating sexualised deepfakes w/out consent
theconversation.com/deepfake-porn-…

Probably one of the most important pieces of new evidence on how to reduce educational inequalities in a long time.

Sure Start worked. It worked best for those who really needed it. And it paid for itself. These findings are huge.

Nobel prizewinning theoretical physicist Peter Higgs has died aged 94. He proposed the particle that gives other particles mass – now named the Higgs boson and discovered by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in 2012 newscientist.com/article/242619…

Thinking today of Peter Higgs - not the physicist - but the friend since 1966 right through parties/ lunches .... to our recent afternoons high up in Darnaway Street. Also of the late Jody Williamson, mother of his boys - and of them and his grandchildren of whom he was so proud.