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Julia Thrift

@juliathrift.bsky.social
3K followers 2.9K following 244 posts

People, places, public health Lives in south London, interested in the world... My own views, sometimes here: authory.com/juliathrift

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Reposted by Julia Thrift
Kate Mackenzie @katemac.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Do many people know that the ICC judges, once sanctioned by the US, almost immediately lost access to credit cards, google, amazon & microsoft cloud, etc. www.ft.com/content/4c3a...
"In his role as a judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Guillou had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Months earlier, some of his colleagues in the court had been similarly targeted by the US.

The shock was the reach of the sanctions. “It was not clear to us at that time the extent of disruption that it creates in our daily life,” Guillou says.

Within days, he was cut off from all the services that rely on US companies. He could not have an American credit card and instead had to rely on cash and national payment systems such as iDEAL in the Netherlands for online transactions.

Wire transfers bounced back. His hotel reservations on Booking.com and Expedia were cancelled. He could not rent a bike from the City of Paris’s public Vélib’ Métropole scheme, which requires a credit card guarantee. Packages delivered by UPS were returned to the sender. His health insurer tried to cut him off.
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Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I’d hypothesise this happened here too: hospitals, magistrates courts, police stations etc concentrated in bigger centres, so solid jobs go, local services then fold, shops close - a downward spiral 1/2
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Rosalie Callway @rcallway.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The Pineapple for Health Homes winner for 2026 has been announced! Farmstead Road is an inspiring scheme of 24 PassivHaus affordable homes in LB of Lewisham - produced for Phoenix Community Housing with Buxton Building Contractors, Metropolitan Workshop, Jubb, BPTW, Potter Raper, Etude, LUC & PJR
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Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) @adphuk.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
📝 New data by Office for National Statistics highlight people living in the most deprived areas across England & Wales spend around 15-20% less of their lives in good health compared to those in the least deprived areas. This often means living almost two decades with poor health. bit.ly/4cQ1bg7
bit.ly
Healthy life expectancy by national area deprivation, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics
Life expectancy and years expected to live in "good" health by deprivation level in England and Wales. Includes estimates of life expectancy between 2011 to 2013 and 2022 to 2024.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 24/03/2026
The 𝘓𝘙𝘉 is looking for an experienced freelance podcast producer to work on our fortnightly UK-focused politics podcast. The deadline for applications is the 31 March. More information about the role and how to apply can be found here: www.lrb.co.uk/jobs
lrb.co.uk
Jobs at the London Review of Books
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John Grindrod @grindrod.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
EVENTS! Tickets available for Tales of the Suburbs events in Crystal Palace (tonight), Bath (Saturday), Edinburgh and Glasgow (next week), Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham (the week after), plus Milton Keynes. More to follow! Please come along x www.johngrindrod.co.uk/events
Copy of Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains in front of some suburban semis
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Richard Hebditch @richard.hebditch.org · 16/03/2026
Defra issued new strategic policy statements for the Environment Agency & Natural England last week, pushing them to prioritise economic growth. There are a number of questions to raise on this...(1/)
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Sonia Sodha @sonia-sodha.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Why is this government so useless on women's rights, and protecting single-sex spaces? On the one hand they welcome the Supreme Court judgment, on the other they are trying to thwart it. It's cynical, and insulting. comment.press/govt-womens-...
comment.press
How is the government so useless on women's rights?
Ministers meeting with someone found to have harassed a rape crisis worker is just its latest blunder
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Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
👀 VACANCY: Nature in Sacred Spaces Project Manager @naturalengland.bsky.social www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...
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Dan HIll @cityofsound.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
'Danish startup creates the world’s first cultivated outdoor paver – a natural alternative to cement' (Tip top) www.visibuilt.com/danish-start...
visibuilt.com
Danish startup creates the world’s first cultivated outdoor paver - a natural alternative to cement - Visibuilt
Cement is used to make concrete, which is among the most carbon-intensive building materials known today. Now, the traditional binder faces new competition. The Danish startup Visibuilt has developed ...
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The Ranty Highwayman @rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
The DfT is doing some consultation on the new Manual for Streets with professional bodies and others (I don't know the full list). As I understand it, there will be three sections and section A was released just before Xmas with a response deadline just after.
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Sophy Ridge @sophyridge.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Before Christmas the Baroness Amos report into maternity and neonatal care was pretty horrific reading. Women not being listened to, mums and babies being harmed or even dying. And perhaps most depressing of all...none of it was a surprise. Multiple reports over multiple years have told us the same
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Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) @adphuk.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Around 1 in 5 of us are harmed by gambling, including through stretched public services, financial problems and suicide. These harms disproportionately impact the most vulnerable. That is why we are supporting this campaign along with MPs from across the political spectrum⬇️
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Todd Temkin @toddtemkin.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Good morning friends! While lupines are ubiquitous signs of spring & summer in both Chilean & Argentinian Patagonia, I find the color palette gets more interesting the farther south you go. These beauties literally line the streets of Punta Arenas.
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
The post-war #NewTowns provided homes that people could afford to rent - there is a risk that the propsednext New Towns won't: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Key figures in creation of Milton Keynes criticise UK’s new towns plan
Exclusive: Planners behind postwar new towns hit out at government over lack of ambition and commitment to social housing
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Impact on Urban Health @impurbanhealth.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
📊At age five, nearly 60%of boys from low-income families are not ready to get the most out of school. @instituteforgovernment.org.uk recent report 'Starting Behind, Staying Behind' explores how boys from low-income families are at risk of being overlooked or under-resourced by policymaking.
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
The opportunity gap facing boys from low-income families at age 5 and beyond | Institute for Government
Early attainment gaps mean some boys don't just start behind, they stay behind.
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Voters want #housebuilding, but not at the expense of #nature, says @luketryl.bsky.social writing in the #FT. Housing development that includes #parks and green spaces and enhances #nature would be a vote winner. Pitching nature as a blocker to progress is not.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
It's ridiculous that the Government *still* haven't banned the sale of peat. Peat bogs are still getting dug up and used for compost and in horticulture. Ministers say they'll ban it 'when time allows'. Get on with it already! Sign the petition: actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...
actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk
Sign the petition to end peat sales!
No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
A very good read:
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Significant detail in the government's #child #poverty strategy: section 1 of the #Equality Act (2010), the socio-economic duty, will be commenced and public authorities will have to consider the impact of their #policies on poverty and #inequality. Could be transformational?
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NHS Forest @nhsforest.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
We're hiring! New Nature Recovery Ranger roles for healthcare sites in Manchester, Stockport, Bradford and London. Closing date - 12 January. Apply now: sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/career… #hiring #naturerecovery
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Rosalie Callway @rcallway.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Highly recommend 'Three Ages of a Child' #BBCRadio4! @drguddisingh.bsky.social looks into why UK children face some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. Addressing housing, education, diet, the importance of play & community carers – + great projects on all these. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Three Ages of Child, Episode 2: The Middle Years
A journey through the landscape that shapes the health of our children.
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Last week I gave evidence to the House of Lords' Built Environment committee 🔻 saying that it's vital that every new #home is of a basic good quality such that its occupants can live healthy lives...
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Jim Gleeson @geographyjim.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
New English Housing Survey out today, and it is still saying that average household sizes are far lower than pre-pandemic even though (a) the population didn't fall and (b) neither did the number or rate of empty homes. Which is a puzzle. www.gov.uk/government/c...
gov.uk
English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025: headline findings on demographics and household resilience
Initial findings from the English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025 on the profile of household and dwellings, household demographics, housing costs and affordability, household moves, and wellbeing.
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Do listen to this, it's lovely 🔻 And if you can, please donate, to help plant #trees where they are needed most 🍂 🌳🪾
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Local Government Association (LGA) @local.gov.uk · 04/12/2025
🏘️ Up to £19.8 million is available to councils in England to support the release of brownfield land for #housing development, delivered by One Public Estate. Find out more and apply on our website: www.local.gov.uk/our-support/...
One Public Estate graphic
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
This is really very good 🔻. The thing it misses is that air pollution is a *huge* public health problem: the cleaner air caused by the bridge being closed to traffic will be measurably improving the health of a large population and saving the #NHS a massive amount...
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Oh no - not another one! #planning #nature #environment
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The King's Fund @thekingsfund.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
In 2023, life expectancy for females in the UK was 82.9 years, lower than all other comparable countries. Veena Raleigh reviews the latest international data to assess how the UK’s health compares to other countries: bit.ly/47PQNSQ
A bar graph showing that the life expectancy for females in the UK was lower than all other comparable countries. There is a gap of more than 4 years between Japan at the top and the UK at the bottom.
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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
I remember the bonfire nights of my youth - absolutely freezing As the warmest bonfire night on record hit the UK, the BBC managed to report it without mentioning climate change! www.bbc.com/weather/arti...
bbc.com
UK weather: after warmest ever Bonfire Night when with UK temperatures drop?
After the UK's warmest ever Bonfire Night, Helen Willetts looks at how long the mild November weather will last.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
The value of public R&D
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Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
With some fabulous playwork, youth work, and school-based colleagues - and with local children - we’ve been working in Jarrow to shout about the value of play, so very very pleased to see “further investment focused on a new play strategy for children” in the developing plans of Jarrow Forward.
chroniclelive.co.uk
Ambitious £20m plans to transform North East town unveiled
The Jarrow Forward neighbourhood board has produced a ten-year regeneration plan for the South Tyneside town after listening to the views of more than 1,000 residents
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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
In 2012 I saw a similar ad, for a finance writer at The Economist. A few months later I got the job. It is not a pain-free application (you have to submit an original article) but I could only encourage you to have a punt.
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Pr Carlos Moreno - IAE Paris1 Sorbonne University @carlosmorenofr.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
In Paris, here in October, in the urban park on the banks of the Seine. It used to be a motorway, and now it is a public space for the enjoyment of inhabitants of all ages.
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The Greenwich Wire @greenwichwire.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Breaking news: Councillors voted to approve redeveloping Lewisham Shopping Centre tonight amid angry scenes. We’ll have coverage of this on the website tomorrow.
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Everyone should read this 🔻
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Always a pleasure to visit #Manchester - but even more so now the #Bee integrated public #transport network is up-and-running. Easy-peasy to get around, even for tourists like me...
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Wot no #UniversityChallenge tonight? 😳
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Make Space for Girls @makespaceforgirls.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
A huge thank you to The Developer for this article on Make Space for Girls and helping raise awareness of the fact all donations to our charity are doubled this week: www.thedeveloper.live/opinion/make... #wgmf @biggive.bsky.social
thedeveloper.live
Make Space for Girls launch major donation drive for International Day of the Girl
All donations will be matched until 15 October by the Big Give in honour of the International Day of the Girl. Make Space for Girls is fighting for the inclusion of girls in the creation of places
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
🧵🚨 The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news. Today our report is published! www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n... 1/11
ucl.ac.uk
UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation
Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Well, that's one way of handling global ecosystem collapse Block publication of research that might raise awkward questions about whether UK govt is doing enough about it Can't see any flaws in that approach.... www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
thetimes.com
No 10 blocks report on impact of rainforest collapse on food prices
Downing Street has vetoed release of an assessment that says the loss of the Amazon ecosystem could drive up food inflation as well as lead to mass migration
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Slow Ways @slowwaysuk.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Up for helping with #SlowWays this weekend? This map shows 900 routes across Britain that need just one more good review to be verified🐌✅⭐️❤️ Could you check one... or even a trail of routes? And inspire others to follow in your footsteps? Take look: beta.slowways.org/user/waylist...
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
#Design is facing an existential crisis, as @edwinheathcote.bsky.social explains so eloquently. 🔻🔻 Design thinking could transform lives for the better (eg in #NHS systems; or wayfinding; or products for older people), but many designers' work just fuels excessive consumption... on.ft.com/46M9mXI
on.ft.com
Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world
Design was once seen as a tool to improve lives — but as modernism has become marketing, that sense of social purpose has drifted away
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Nuffield Trust @nuffieldtrust.org.uk · 30/09/2025
@theasrstein.bsky.social warns that other countries haven't made a shift from hospital to community without investment, and we don't have the infrastructure that is ready for that shift at the moment. It's a very difficult equation to make it work with current resources.
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Town and Country Planning Association @thetcpa.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
At this year's TCPA Annual Conference, we'll hear inspiring examples of community planning & nature recovery, learn what the Planning & Infrastructure Bill proposals mean in practice, & consider how local planning authorities should approach the next year. Tickets: www.tcpa.org.uk/event/tcpa-a...
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Town and Country Planning Association @thetcpa.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Parks should be accessible & welcoming to all. Yet in Britain, women are 3x more likely than men to feel unsafe in a park during the day. We must create a community of active bystanders to make our parks safer & more inclusive, writes Dr Anna Barker on the launch of a new campaign. shorturl.at/kti7o
thedeveloper.live
Safer Parks: Design only goes so far – we need to tackle harassment
We must create a community of active bystanders to make our parks safer and more inclusive, writes Dr Anna Barker on the launch of a new campaign. Professionals in the built environment have a vital r...
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The Bee Guy @thebeeguy.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
#theBeeAt3 Basic bee facts every day at 3pm. # 179 Bumblebees are aware of the size of their bodies relative to the environment around them. They know how big they are and can judge where they’ll fit! Knowing one’s body dimensions is a core aspect of self-awareness. #bees #nature #environment
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Trees For Streets @treesforstreets.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Most areas in the UK were affected by heatwaves this summer, with some areas becoming unbearable. This is likely the future of our British summers ☀️🌡️ One way to make your street cooler is to add some trees. Sponsor a street tree today to make next summer easier 👉 sponsor.treesforstreets.org/start
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Julia Thrift @juliathrift.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
#Planners in #Leeds doing a good job of mixing old and new buildings and patching together public spaces... But still a lot to do!
View looking down on old stone building, canal and new flats in Leeds
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