This study explored the social policy context for international students in the UK and its implications for social exclusion (an inability to fully participate in society). Within a rapid review policy literature addressing international student experience, forty-two articles from the Web of Science and Social Science Research Network (SSRN) were selected through multiple screenings. Migration and education were the most explored policy areas, followed by inequalities, work, health and wellbeing, security, and housing. Results demonstrated that policy both creates barriers to inclusion (e.g. hostile environment migration/bordering practices) and supports inclusion/adaption to social exclusion-related challenges (e.g. sanctuary scholarships for forced migrants, Graduate visas). All international students to some degree lack equitable participation in wellbeing-relevant provision. Overall, policies are constructed so the state and universities can extract value from internationals without fully including them in British society. Policies abdicate responsibility for students’ inclusion, making it expensive and complicated to build a life there.

How do different regime types execute a security response during a pandemic? We interrogate the politics of monopolistic securitization which we argue to have significantly directed and influenced the COVID-19 policy strategies adopted in the ‘democratic’ United Kingdom (UK) and ‘authoritarian’ Thailand. Despite their stark political differences, we contend that the British and Thai states’ parallel resort to monopolistic securitization as an overarching pandemic approach effectively made them ‘functionally similar’ by producing security responses that differed only in magnitude and scale but not in kind. Integrating securitization and democratic standards violations frameworks, we find out that the British and Thai authorities’ monopolistic securitization of COVID-19 initially constrained the intersubjective process required to socially construct the pandemic as a primary existential threat endangering both countries. This significantly diminished their public audiences’ individual/agential and collective/institutional capacity to deliberate the immediate emergency measures they unilaterally deployed, particularly during the pandemic’s early stages. Consequently, whether it was in the UK with a supposedly robust democracy or in Thailand with at best a hybrid regime if not outright authoritarian, the security responses that emerged constituted varying types and degrees of violations within the illiberal-authoritarian spectrum. Nevertheless, as the pandemic progressed, the fundamental deliberative-iterative mechanism underpinning securitization enabled the British and Thai public audiences to gradually reclaim their role and space, allowing them to challenge the appropriateness and legitimacy of the existing emergency measures, thereby weakening the states’ monopolistic control over the process.

One reason given for declining levels of trust in politicians and institutions is the incidence of scandals involving voters' representatives. Politicians implicated in scandals, especially financial scandals, typically see their constituents' support for them decrease. It has been suggested that these specific negative judgements about a representative's misconduct spill over onto diffuse political trust in the system as a whole. We argue that the 2009 Parliamentary expenses scandal in the United Kingdom is a strong test of these scandal spillover effects in a non-experimental context. Yet, using a multilevel analysis of survey and representative implication data, we find no evidence for these effects. This is despite voters being aware of their MP's scandal implication, and this awareness affecting voters' support for their own MP. We conclude that voters' judgements about their constituency representatives are unlikely to affect their diffuse political trust.

Both energy performance certificates (EPCs) and thermal infrared (TIR) images play key roles in mapping the energy performance of the urban building stock. In this paper, we developed parametric building archetypes using an EPC database and conducted temperature clustering on TIR images acquired from drones and satellite datasets. We evaluated 1,725 EPCs of existing building stock in Cambridge, UK, to generate energy consumption profiles. Drone-based TIR images of individual buildings in two Cambridge University colleges were processed using a machine learning pipeline for thermal anomaly detection and investigated the influence of two specific factors that affect the reliability of TIR for energy management applications: ground sample distance (GSD) and angle of view (AOV). The EPC results suggest that the construction year of the buildings influences their energy consumption. For example, modern buildings were over 30% more energy-efficient than older ones. In parallel, older buildings were found to show almost double the energy savings potential through retrofitting compared to newly constructed buildings. TIR imaging results showed that thermal anomalies can only be properly identified in images with a GSD of 1 m/pixel or less. A GSD of 1-6 m/pixel can detect hot areas of building surfaces. We found that a GSD > 6 m/pixel cannot characterize individual buildings but does help identify urban heat island effects. Additional sensitivity analysis showed that building thermal anomaly detection is more sensitive to AOV than to GSD. Our study informs newer approaches to building energy diagnostics using thermography and supports decision-making for large-scale retrofitting.

Before 2000, the UK operated one of the most liberal political finance regimes of any established democracy. Parties were highly dependent on private financing, state funding was minimal, limited transparency requirements existed with respect to party income or expenditure, and no limits applied to national election spending. Far-reaching reforms introduced by Labour in 2000 changed this regulatory environment radically, establishing donation disclosure requirements and capping election spending. However, Labour's reforms did not include significant increases in state funding, leaving the UK as a continued outlier in Western Europe in assuming political parties should predominantly be funded through private means. In this paper, we show how the Conservatives ultimately prospered under Labour's reforms, enabling them to greatly outspend Labour at four general elections from 2010 to 2019. Using the public registers created by Labour's reforms, we document how the party's financial re-stabilisation while in opposition was assisted to a surprising degree by state funding and how the party's donor base has shifted towards wealthy individuals and privately owned companies since its return to government in 2010. We conclude with a number of observations about how the apparently exceptional UK case can help generate important insights for the comparative study of political finance.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a group of bacteria that causes gastrointestinal illness and occasionally causes large foodborne outbreaks. It represents a major public health concern due to its ability to cause severe illness which can sometimes be fatal. This study was undertaken as part of a rapid investigation into a national foodborne outbreak of STEC O145. On 22 May 2024, United Kingdom (UK) public health agencies and laboratories identified an increase in stool specimens submissions and patients testing positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). Whole genome sequencing (WGS) identified serotype O145:H28 stx2a/eae belonging to the same five single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) single linkage cluster as the causative agent. By 3 July 2024, 288 cases had been linked to the cluster. Most cases were adults (87%) and females (57%), 49% were hospitalized with a further 10% attending emergency care. Descriptive epidemiology and analytical studies were conducted which identified consumption of nationally distributed pre-packed sandwiches as a common food exposure. The implicated food business operators voluntarily recalled ready-to-eat sandwiches and wraps containing lettuce on 14 June 2024.

While there is ample evidence for the efficacy of IPT, confirmed through the results of the efficacy review, on the ground implementation factors are less well understood. We compiled a book on the global reach of IPT by requesting contributions from local authors through word-of-mouth methods. This approach resulted in reports from 31 countries across six continents and 15 diverse populations within the US that spanned the age range and types of usage. In this paper, our aim was to collate and summarize book contributors' descriptions of barriers and facilitators as related to their experiences of implementing IPT across the 31 countries. We conducted a conceptual content analysis and then applied the updated Consolidated Framework of Implementation Research (CFIR) to deductively organize the barriers and facilitators into its five domains. Most found IPT to be relevant and acceptable and described minor variations needed for tailoring to context. National level policies and mental health stigma were highlighted in the outer setting. Availability of specialists and general and mental health infrastructure were considerations relevant to the inner setting. Many sites had successfully implemented IPT through delivery by nonspecialized providers, although provider workload and burnout were common. Clients faced numerous practical challenges in accessing weekly care. Primary strategies to mitigate these challenges were use of telehealth delivery and shortening of the intervention duration. Most programs ensured competency through a combination of didactic training and case supervision. The latter was identified as time-intensive and costly.

Diet indices are quantitative assessments of the quality of population intake. Understanding diet quality is crucial to support health and well-being; however, knowledge of diet quality across racial groups is limited. To examine diet quality of acial groups ‘White’, ‘Black’, ‘Asian’, and ‘Other’ in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and United States (U.S.), U.K. and U.S. national survey data were used to calculate Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010), Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I), and EAT-Lancet scores. ANCOVA tests compared median total quality scores across racial groups adjusting for covariates. Kruskal–Wallis tests examined differences in individual component scores. Spearman correlations identified association of diet quality scores across indices. Highest diet quality scores were reported for U.K. and U.S. Asian groups. Most noticeable differences were apparent between U.S. Asian and White/Black groups (62% Asians within highest tertile of AHEI-2010 score vs. 29% Whites; P < 0.001). All racial groups demonstrated poor diet quality in terms of sustainability; EAT-Lancet scores were <40% of maximum total score for U.S. White, Black, and Other groups. AHEI-2010 diet quality scores were moderately associated with EAT-Lancet scores, evident across all groups (r = 0.53–0.65; P < 0.001). There is a need for all groups to increase intake of wholegrains, especially Black groups (mean Wholegrain score for U.S. Black group within DQI-I was 0.60 (maximum score of 5)) as demonstrated within AHEI-2010, DQI-I, and EAT-Lancet component scores. Additionally, increased intake of vegetables and legumes and decreased intake of processed and red meat would improve the adequacy, healthiness, and sustainability of U.K. and U.S. racial diets.

The aim of this study was to explore and identify why young adults aged between 18 and 30 years in the UK and France do or do not consume dairy products. Several studies have associated dairy products with a healthy diet, and the production of soft dairy, i.e. milk, yoghurt, and soft cheese, as more environmentally friendly than some other animal-based products. Yet recent reports highlight that dairy intake is lower than recommended for health, especially among young adults. Using a qualitative methodology, forty-five participants aged 18–30 years (UK: n = 22; France: n = 23) were asked about their reasons for (non)consumption of a wide range of dairy products. Audio-recorded focus groups and individual interviews were conducted in English in the UK and in French in France, transcribed and coded. A thematic analysis found four themes and sixteen sub-themes (theme product-related: sub-themes sensory, non-sensory, composition; theme individual-related: sub-themes mode of consumption, preferences, personal reasons, knowledge, attitudes and concerns, needs or cravings; theme cultural aspects: sub-themes product categorization, social norms, use; theme market offering: sub-themes alternative, packaging, value for money, availability) to influence participants’ dairy (non)consumption in both countries. A seventeenth sub-theme (theme cultural aspects: sub-theme structure of the meal) was found to influence dairy consumption only in France. Further studies are needed to investigate these themes within larger samples, but these findings contribute to understanding dairy (non)consumption in young adults in the UK and France and may aid the development of strategies to improve young adults’ diets.

We investigated associations between ‘healthy dietary pattern’ scores, at ages 36, 43, 53 and 60–64 years, and body composition at age 60–64 years among participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD). Principal component analyses of dietary data (food diaries) at age 60–64 years were used to calculate diet scores (healthy dietary pattern scores) at each age. Higher scores indicated healthier diets (higher consumption of fruit, vegetables and wholegrain bread). Linear regression was used to investigate associations between diet scores at each age and height-adjusted dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-measured fat and lean mass measures at age 60–64 years. Analyses, adjusting for sex and other potential confounders (age, smoking history, physical activity and occupational class), were implemented among 692 men and women. At age 43, 53 and 60–64 years, higher diet scores were associated with lower fat mass index (FMI) and android:gynoid fat mass ratio; for example, in fully adjusted analyses, a standard deviation (sd) increase in diet score at age 60–64 years was associated with an SD difference in mean FMI of −0·18 (95 % CI: −0·25, −0·10). In conditional analyses, higher diet scores at ages 43, 53 and 60–64 years (than expected from diet scores at younger ages) were associated with lower FMI and android:gynoid fat mass ratio in fully adjusted analyses. Diet scores at age 36 years had weaker associations with the outcomes considered. No associations regarding appendicular lean mass index were robust after full adjustment. This suggests that improvements in diet through adulthood are linked to beneficial effects on adiposity in older age.

During the last three decades of the twentieth century, John Labatt Ltd., one of Canada’s oldest and most successful breweries, attempted to gain a share of the British beer market. This article examines the push and pull factors of why foreign brewers like Labatt decided to enter the competitive British marketplace and analyzes the strategies of the winners and losers of the “lager war.” The article pays attention to the branding efforts of marketing managers and how some used product–place associations to imbue their brands with authenticity. While positive country images often lead to a favorable assessment of the products from that country, it is also true that unfavorable perceptions often foster negative assessments of their products. By examining the entrepreneurship and structural barriers of the beer industry in the United Kingdom toward the end of the twentieth century, the article adds to our understanding of the dynamics of business failure.