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Derek Ward

@dward-bham.bsky.social
447 followers 271 following 22 posts

Professor of Public Health and Medical Education at the University of Birmingham, UK. Interested in public health, medical education and HTA. Atheist/humanist. He/Him.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Derek Ward
Sir Michael Take CBE @sirmichaeltake.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Surely it is time for the authorities to take this Fairford terrorism case out of the hands of the police & pass it over to Nigel Farage, Richard Tice & Isabel Oakeshott etc. These people have the expertise & skills to have this all solved & explained to the public by tonight.👍
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National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 14h
Nobody has ever regretted a scone after a long walk.
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Naomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
WHOOOP!!!!! This is VERY welcome news - PM will announce a process to introduce PR for Westminster elections: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham expected to say he will push ahead with electoral reform plans
Exclusive: Labour conference speech will kick off process that could replace current system with proportional representation
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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Reform want to indoctrinate our children. Freedom of (and from) belief is a human right. humanists.uk/2026/09/10/s...
humanists.uk
Reform UK Braverman promises 'consequences' if pupils don't sing hymns
Reform UK has said schools will face ‘consequences’ if they fail to make pupils regularly sing hymns and the national anthem under a Reform government. The party’s education spokesperson, Suella Brave...
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I could quote pretty much this entire article by @mjrobbins.com on the bizarre psychology of the AI apocalypse freaks, but you should just read it instead. Such a relief to see someone express my feelings so eloquently. martinrobbins.substack.com/p/the-ai-apo...
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The response when progressive policies that help millions of people are proposed... "How will you pay for it?" The response when the richest 1% ask for tax cuts, or banks ask for bailouts, or defense contractors ask for more contracts... "How much do you need?" It doesn't have to be this way.
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Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I’ve been reporting on the CDC for years, and have written about many of its troubles over the past year. I was still shocked by the extent of the staff losses and political interference I found when reporting this one. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...
nytimes.com
‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission (Gift Article)
The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.
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John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky
I am writing to let you know that, unfortunately, your application was not successful.

Review process

As part of the initial triage of the 179 proposals submitted to this call, each was assessed using an AI-based review. Every proposal was read independently by several different AI models against the same seven criteria used to shape this call (including cyber security relevance, research quality and novelty, importance of the problem addressed, feasibility of the project plan, likely outputs and impact, value for money, and responsible research practice), with each model asked to give a score and a written justification with supporting quotations from the text. To guard against any one model's idiosyncrasies, we also ran a second, independent process in which different AI models debated the merits and weaknesses of each proposal before reaching a judgement, again against the same criteria. Scores from both processes were combined to produce an overall ranking. 

This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review.  Projects selected for funding were drawn from those that progressed to the full human review stage. We recognise that AI-assisted assessment is a new and evolving part of the review process, and we are continuing to evaluate how well it aligns with the judgements of human reviewers on this call. We will soon produce a document detailing our method, so that others can build upon it and improve it.

Feedback on your application

Your application was not selected to progress beyond the AI triage stage.  To provide transparency on the outcome of this assessment, we are sharing below the scores (out of 5) from each of the two AI review processes described above, together with the mean score across the two processes.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The resilience of immigration in these figures is really troubling. We need the reporting of the fall in small boat and general immigration to ramp up. Reform can come back as long as that issue reigns.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Lots of talk of growth ahead of the Budget, as if it were a baroque puzzle. Our problem is basic. It's that we no longer support the things which facilitate growth: Europe, immigration, higher education, tax simplification, policy stability. These are all choices and could stop making them anytime.
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This is about one thing and one thing alone. Steering our research dollars for cancer, heart disease, and new infectious diseases to Trump’s political allies and friends.
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 18/09/2026
It is incredibly important that political violence does not succeed. The far-right mob that shut down Portsmouth wanted this outcome. If the state wishes to avoid more of these actions, it needs to make sure this RNLI branch reopens *immediately*, or as close to that as humanly possible.
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public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
mortality data are sacred. counting deaths accurately is a recognition of the inherent value of every human life. few actions are more anti-public health than fudging these numbers.
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Cat Neilan @catneilan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
When I went to Reform to ask why Tice had not declared his trip properly, Tice's response was to ask if I was antisemitic This is a vindication of sorts (also for @garethceredig.bsky.social, and the Naked Week team who had to reassure me that I wasn't) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Richard Tice apologises for not declaring Israel trip during debate
The visit, funded by Reform Friends of Israel, was declared in his register of interests but not during the debate.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Imagine a Vice President of the United States getting a fact-check Community Note that the heckler was right and you are lying. These people just can’t stop lying.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It's a small world after all!!
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NEW: Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses at Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish wedding, including renting out a private island and paying for the fireworks show.
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"So tell me Mr Farage, what was it about a system favoured by money launderers that allows donations to be totally untraceable that first attracted you to crypto?"
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Riddle me this. If somebody donates £36 million to a political party and £5 million to its leader, how is the £5 million not political? Asking for a parliamentary standards commissioner.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
🔴 More than 80% of all the donations ever received by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have come from just two cryptocurrency billionaires, new Democracy for Sale analysis reveals. “If that isn’t a massive corruption risk I don’t know what is.” democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-8...
democracyforsale.substack.com
BREAKING: 80% of Reform’s funding comes from two crypto billionaires
“If that isn't a massive corruption risk I don't know what is.”
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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If you feel like donating to the RNLI, here’s a link. I just have. Their minimum donation is £2: I think it might be nice for them to receive a lot of donations this week, even if they’re mostly very modest. Just so they know a lot of people out here appreciate their work. rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea
Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
There have been so many impeachable offenses, but lying about how you were a hero on a day that 2,753 people died in NYC in the 9/11 disaster—when you were on the other side of town, safely calling local media to brag about how you now had the tallest downtown building—is such a despicable one
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This airline rules so hard
Ryanair will dispute passenger's claim he was sucked out of window
CEO Michael O'Leary tells reporters the businessman was sucked 'towards' but not out of the opening
Business live -latest updates
Gwyn Topham
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I think this should be kind of a big deal: Elon Musk tweeting at 1:03am, “Only the AfD can save Germany.” The AfD is Germany’s neo-Nazi party.
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Tony Yates @t0nyyates.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A vacuous, cowardly piece by the BBC here, which does little more than launder into the public domain the lies and excuses of Reform www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Nigel Farage tells BBC he 'wasn't listening' in foreign donor talks
The Reform leader also told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that his family are "begging" him to leave his job.
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Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just a reminder, Professor James Orr, Reform UK head of policy, teaches 'ethics' to undergraduates at Cambridge University youtu.be/aXut3s90rUI
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Daniel Moser @dmoser.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
Map showing Lower Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
NEW: French researcher Stephanie Lamy exposes the network of “race realists” who hunted Jason Arday like prey, and the media that fell into his trap. If you think the news cycle has “moved on” from this story, ask yourself why? broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-killin...
broligarchy.substack.com
The killing of a black man
A French researcher exposes the network of “race realists” who hunted Jason Arday like prey and the media who fell into their trap
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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
ICE went to a nightclub in Memphis around 1 AM and reportedly loaded more than 100 people onto buses and vans.
We are at the point where federal immigration agents can descend on a space in the middle of the night, detain masses of people, and leave families scrambling to figure out where their loved ones were taken.
This is what authoritarianism looks like.
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4fuxake @blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
If you owe a woman $5 million dollars for sexual assault, you also owe the country your resignation.
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
On the one hand, some people want to make it so that kids and other people aren't crushed to death by cars. On the other hand, some people are upset that they might have to pay attention, slow down or be inconvenienced by about 15 seconds. So you can see how it's a "war on cars."
bbc.com
Birmingham 20mph limit: a 'life saver' or 'a war on cars'?
Birmingham City Council is proposing the city becomes England's first 20mph city.
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ABC News Australia @news.abc.net.au · 27/08/2026
Twenty years on from Gardasil vaccine launch, Australia on track to eliminate cervical cancer
abc.net.au
Australia on track to eliminate cervical cancer 20 years on from vaccine launch
Twenty years on from the launch of the world-first vaccine against cervical cancer, Australian Immunisation Register data shows HPV vaccine coverage for girls and girls is dropping.
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Joel @itsjoels.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.
Sorry, I can’t type that.
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Clearyb @clearyb.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
An attempt to disconnect our gas connection earlier today👇 SSE Airtricity’s AI chatbot is going a little out of scope 😬
SSE Airtricity
I Account Balance
h Submit Meter Read
* Retrieve Top-up Code
I would like to disconnect my gas supply
09:47J/
I'm really sorry you're feeling this way, but I'm not equipped to help with this.
It's important to talk to a mental health professional or reach out to a trusted person in your life for support.
@ Message
U
09:47
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Humanists UK @humanists.uk · 24/08/2026
A very happy 69th birthday today, to our patron Stephen Fry!
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Roman Sheremeta @rshereme.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Russians shared a video of killing a boy riding his bike in Kramatorsk with a drone. This war crime is direct evidence that this war has nothing to do with territory. It is an attempt to wipe out an entire nation. If Russians shared this video themselves, just imagine the ones they don’t post.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Playing in our faces
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg leaked The Pentagon Papers exposing the lies told to the public about the disastrous Viet Nam war, forever becoming a hero in history. Now... someone PLEASE leak #TheEPSTEINFiles & end the biggest coverup scandal of all-time! 🙏
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Ren Zelen @renzelen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
How the hijacking of the BBC news & politics started -
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The major story of the last decade is the resurgence of overt racist hatred and fascism, on a specific platform of removing the civil rights of citizens, and deporting them where possible. The British press has - at best - used this opportunity to hammer the fuck out of everyone it’s always despised
alexmassie
Follow
@alexmassie
It's open season in the press again and that's fine, I guess. But press freedom remains a vital thing and it needs to be defended.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 17/08/2026
Babies were found with dead brain tissue similar to what follows cancer and the kind of bleeding seen after a stroke. Their autopsies all came to the same conclusion: Their deaths could have been prevented with the long-standard vitamin K shot. (Published May)
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
There needs to be more urgency from the police to investigate + prosecute this clear incitement to xenophobic violence against asylum seekers, the platform + the online regulator Ofcom & ministers to cut off & prevent this malicious & unlawful content inews.co.uk/news/vigilan...
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The BMJ @bmj.com · 13/08/2026
Donald Trump signed an executive order this week that will require the MMR vaccine to be delivered in separate doses. US policies are making a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases inevitable www.bmj.com/content/394/...
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Richard Sambrook @sambrook.eurosky.social · 16/08/2026
BBC’s coverage of Reform’s welfare plans is frankly bizarre. Headlines in Ten, leading on some radio networks. Reform are not even the official opposition and the plans have less credibility than Count Binface. Will BBC News do the same for Lib Dem and Greens policy two years out from an election?
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Ohio Capital Journal @ohiocapitaljournal.com · 14/08/2026
Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio are being required to wear ankle monitors and turn their passports over to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/14/h...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
Haitians in Springfield are required to report to Ohio's ICE offices and wear ankle monitors • Ohio Capital Journal
Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio are being required to wear ankle monitors and turn their passports over to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Trump’s Gift to the Money Launderers Treasury isn’t merely shutting down an anti-corruption database. It’s deleting the data so future investigators can’t use it.
thebulwark.com
Trump’s Gift to the Money Launderers
Treasury isn’t merely shutting down an anti-corruption database. It’s deleting the data so future investigators can’t use it.
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