Positive thinking

Tim Lang, City, University of London; Erik P Millstone, University of Sussex , and Terry Marsden, Cardiff University Even the British eat. But one might be forgiven for thinking that the UK government does not know this for all the attention it has paid to the implications of Brexit for UK consumers and the nation’s food system. We have just published a report on the extent to which the government is engaging with the coming challenge of a food Brexit. It’s been a sobering process for us. We’ve found next to no debate, ideas or external message about what this momentous shift in the UK food system might mean, either for the general public or the industry. There have been a few bland “the environment is safe with us” statements but little more than that. Meanwhile, the general direction looks set for a hard Brexit, or worse – chaos leading to a default exit without even a WTO negotiation. The drop in sterling already means food imports cost more. The cupboard is bar...

Ian Hamilton, University of York and Harry Sumnall, Liverpool Johns Moores University - United Kingdom The Home Office has just published a new drug strategy . The last one was published by Theresa May (then home secretary) seven years ago. The world has changed a lot in that time – not least for May – and so have drugs and the health problems that governments must deal with. So has the strategy changed with the times? The two central ambitions remain the same: to reduce the number of people who use drugs; and to improve recovery rates for those who develop problems with drugs. The Home Office continues to cite falling drug use in the UK as a sign that their policy approach to drugs is effective – but also concedes that drug use now appears to have plateaued. A more important indicator of success would be a fall in drug-related deaths. Sadly, these are on the rise. Deaths versus drug use. ONS   Drug deat...

Professor Paresh Wankhade, Edge Hill University - United Kingdom The Grenfell Tower fire and recent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London have put the spotlight on spending cuts for emergency services. In Manchester, an independent review into the emergency response was ordered in the aftermath of the bombing to look into the “the strain of spending cuts” on police. The city mayor is also investigating the fire service after crews were apparentley “held back” from helping the victims. Whatever the outcome of these investigations – and others like them – I believe the problems go far beyond staff numbers and resources. The only way forward is to engage in a full system “reboot” to get better results. The problems are legion. For starters, the emergency services are far too fragmented. There are huge differences across the emergency services when it comes to size, funding and organisational structures with no overarching body for coordination. Discon...

Sarah Marsden, Lancaster University   It’s hard to talk about deradicalisation in the face of appalling attacks, such as those in London and Manchester: calls for retribution are often louder than those raising the possibility of redemption. But supporting disengagement from extremism is an important part of a long-term response to terrorism. Prominent voices such as  Maajid Nawaz and  Hanif Qadir who condemned the attacks, were themselves once involved in militant Islamist networks. Not only does this show it’s possible to walk away from extremism, it illustrates that former militants can be important in the fight against terrorism. There is also a pragmatic argument for deradicalisation. Compared with surveillance, incarceration or  internment , it is a more cost-effective and long-term solution. Importantly, supporting disengagement also reasserts those liberal democratic values terrorism seeks to undermine, in ways that detention without trial...

Christine Cole, Nottingham Trent University - United Kingdom In Britain and other developed countries, disposing of unwanted things is taken for granted. There is (lots of) legislation in place to ensure waste is collected, transported and treated safely without having an impact on either health or the environment. But waste management is a costly business, increasingly seen by organised criminals and opportunists alike as an easy way to make quick money. Two recent instances of waste crime, in my local area, show how this can happen. In the first, a deserted factory, used for the illegal storage of 5,000 tonnes of partially treated waste was deliberately set alight using an accelerant. It contained combustible materials, such as plastics and decomposing food, making it particularly fire prone. The police investigation looking for the source of the waste, as well as the reason it was set alight, is ongoing. Illegal waste dumps such as this are becoming an incre...

1. "A man who is not afraid is not aggressive, a man who has no sense of fear of any kind is really a free, a peaceful man. " 2. "Listening has importance only when one is not projecting one's own desires through which one listens." 3. "To live is to find out for yourself what is true, and you can do this only when there is freedom, when there is continuous revolution inwardly, within yourself." 4. "It is violence when we use a sharp word, when we make a gesture to brush away a person. So violence isn't merely organized butchery in the name of God, in the name of society or country. Violence is much more subtle, much deeper." 5. "Have you not noticed that love is silence? It may be while holding the hand of another, or looking lovingly at a child, or taking in the beauty of an evening. Love has no past or future, and so it is with this extraordinary state of silence." 6. "You mu...

Jason Ellis, Northumbria University, Newcastle Sleep disturbance in young adults who are at risk of suicide are a warning sign of worsening suicidal thoughts, according to new research from Stanford University. These findings held true regardless of the study participants’ current levels of depression. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people in the US and the leading cause in the UK. Having a better understanding of the signs of suicidal thought is important as it could help prevent suicide. Previous research has shown a link between suicidal thoughts and poor sleep, but the Stanford researchers went beyond this research by closely examining which aspects of disrupted sleep predicted suicidal thought. The researchers examined sleep objectively, using sleep tracking devices, and subjectively, using sleep diaries and records of suicidal thoughts. A group of 50 undergraduate students was selected for the study on the basis that they had recent suici...